ASN October e bulletin

You know how this goes:

Welcome to your ASN eBulletin. Thanks so much to those of you who donated to our recent appeal! Make your past, present or future ASN donation worth 25% more. We hope to see you at our birthday party 26 October – please note the new venue! Women we’ve helped this month. Live in Liverpool and have a spare sofa or room? Are you a poster person for choice? Read on!


• We got what we wanted for our birthday!
• Register for Gift Aid
• Come to our birthday party – please note the new venue and RSVP!
• Women we’ve helped
• Seeking hosts in Liverpool
• Pro Choice photo project

Happy birthday to us!
Last month before we experienced the circumstances that resulted in our emergency appeal, we asked for people to donate in honour of our second birthday party. We never got to send out the official request card (it’s attached) but despite this, your generous response to our call for help put us ahead of our goal, which was to raise £2,222 in honour of our 2nd birthday. Our recent campaign brought in more than £2,300, including almost £100 in Standing Orders - putting us just over 80% of the way to our goal of £1,000 in SOs every month, and in a position to have reached our birthday goal before publicising it! Big thanks to all who donated – including a special shout out to our friends in NYC for their extraordinary support! An individual acknowledgment and thank you is on its way to each of you. If you don't receive one by Monday, don't hesitate to email us to make sure we have your contact details.

If you would still like to make a birthday donation – or better yet a birthday Standing Order – to ASN, you can find out how to do so here: http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/support-us/donate/.

(And if you need a fabulous designer like the one who did the attached card, please contact Ruth)

Register for Gift Aid!
If you are a UK taxpayer, registering for Gift Aid will make your gift go 25% further. If you have donated to ASN in the past, or plan to do so in the future, please fill out a Gift Aid Form so that we can collect Gift Aid on your donation. You can fill out the form here and post it in, or wait until next month, when we will have a link to an online form that you can fill in. http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/files/2011/01/ASN_GIFT_AID_FORM.pdf

Party! Party! Party!
We have so much to celebrate – the success of the recent campaign, the fact that we’ve heard from and helped THREE TIMES the number of women this year compared to last, and how much we appreciate you, our wonderful supporters and volunteers. Please come celebrate with us – and special guest speaker Diane Abbott MP!

ASN 2nd Birthday party
Wed 26 October
7.00-10.00 pm
THE ROEBUCK
50 Great Dover Street
London SE1 4YG

Can’t wait to see you there! PLEASE RSVP to mara@abortionsupport.org.uk.

Women we’ve helped
In August, ASN heard from 27 women, including the four urgent cases we emailed you about last week. We are immensely grateful to all of you who enable us to help women, the phone coordinators (Katie, Maddie, Sarah, and Jane) who help these women navigate their way to a safe and legal abortion, to Women on Web for the amazing services they provide, and to the clinics we work with for making it all possible.

In addition to the four women we emailed about last week, women we helped this month included:

A woman who delayed paying rent in order to afford flights to come to England

A woman late in pregnancy who was further delayed in coming to England as she needed a visa to travel.

A woman in a relationship with an abusive man who is against her having an abortion and spends the little money they have on drugs and alcohol.

A young single parent, recently laid off from her job and pregnant as the result of rape. She was so desperate for funds for her procedure that she was considering contacting her rapist for financial assistance. To add to her distress, the counselling service she contacted when she was raped were not supportive of her choosing to have an abortion.

A married couple with several children and financial difficulties. Prior to getting pregnant again they were so determined not to have more children that they asked their doctor about sterilisation, only to be told that she was too young, and that they could not afford it anyway.

A college student who can barely afford rent and groceries, let alone travelling to England to pay privately for an abortion.

ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you. We also thank the clinics, counsellors and other groups who ensure that these women receive the care they need.

Do you live in Liverpool & have thoughts of becoming an ASN host?
ASN will be in Liverpool on Saturday, October 8 to interview a potential host for the women who travel to the bpas Merseyside clinic. If you live near this clinic and have a spare room, pull out sofa or air mattress and the willingness to participate in this direct action work, please contact us.

Pro Choice Photo Project
We were contacted by a student obtaining her MFA in photography in N Ireland. She is in the process of putting together a photo journalism project about abortion, and has already interviewed a number of ASN volunteers. If you consider yourself to be someone who works, volunteers or campaigns in or around abortion, and are interested in being a part of this project, please email Emma. More about Emma on her website, www.emmacampbell.co.uk.

Thank you thank you thank you!

ASN is funded almost entirely by the generous donations of individual supporters – like you! Without ASN, the many women we help wouldn’t be able to access vital financial and practical support towards covering the costs of their procedures and their journeys. Donations to ASN are vitally important to the lives of women faced with unplanned pregnancies.

We are entirely volunteer-run, and our small overhead costs are covered by a regular donation. This means that any money you donate goes directly towards the cost of a woman’s abortion or transport to England.

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.


With best regards


Abortion Support Network
+44 (0) 7897 611 593
info@abortionsupport.org.uk
http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/
Charity Number 1142120

Abortion Support Network (ASN) is an all-volunteer charity that provides accommodation, financial assistance and confidential, non-judgemental information to women forced to travel from Ireland and pay privately for abortions in England. The cost ranges between £400 and £2000 depending on circumstance and stage of pregnancy. While other organisations campaign for law reform, ASN is the only group on record providing women travelling for abortions with the thing they need the most: money.

ASN is now a charity! Registered Charity Number 1142120

Abortion Support Network Emergency Fundraising Appeal

Crossposted from their website:
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Today we were planning to send out information about our upcoming 2nd “birthday”, something cute with a play on the theme on our 2nd anniversary, along with the formal invitation to our party on 26th October (with special guest speaker Diane Abbott MP!!).
Instead, we have to send out an emergency fundraising appeal.
ASN has £175 in the bank and the following four women need our help. Without additional funds, we will only be able to help one of them.
A 30 year old mother of one who was extremely distressed to learn that she was pregnant. She recently lost her job, is facing eviction from her home and her family is currently going through another crisis which means that she has little financial or emotional support.

A young teen whose mother called us on her daughter’s behalf. Struggling to make ends meet on benefits and already behind with the rent, they borrowed what money they could for a procedure. When they arrived in England they found out that the pregnancy was further along than they’d thought. As there was no doctor at the clinic to do the later procedure, they’ve had to return home and do not have the funds for the combined costs of a more expensive abortion procedure + new flights. With nowhere else to turn they called ASN.

A woman in her 30s with a late term pregnancy who has just one week left to access a safe and legal abortion. Having recently broke up from her long-term partner and giving up work to care for a sick family member, she has no way of finding the money she needs. She called ASN after having to put her appointment on hold because suddenly a friend who was going to lend her the money she needed changed their mind “for moral reasons”. Unable to get a loan from a bank or to turn elsewhere for support she desperately needs help to meet the costs of her expensive late-term procedure.
A 29 year old mother of three, who recovering from postnatal depression following her last pregnancy and trying to return to education said “she simply can’t do it again – for me or my children.” With both herself and her partner both out of work they’re trying really hard to scrape and save the money they need for her procedure.
Huge thanks to the phone volunteer on duty this week for having to navigate this very emotive situation.
Can you help? Help can come in the form of a single donation, a standing order, or a direct debit. If you can’t help with a donation, you can help by forwarding this email to your prochoice friends, family and colleagues, tweeting the appeal, and posting it on Facebook.
We are 4 days from turning 2. With your help, we will still be able to say that ASN has never turned down a woman unable to access an abortion without our help.
Thank you for your continued support.
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You can donate by clicking on the 'Donate' button at the bottom of this page.

An article on those Catwoman/Starfire comics

It's good, and can be read here.  Some of the comments are horrible.  Seth Vlan has a good point when he says that:

"Which brings me to my second point; nearly EVERY SINGLE MALE in comics drawn with an Olympian physique that's every bit as offensive as the equally exaggerated proportions of female characters. According to these comics, even Reed Richards could beat me at arm-wrestling without resorting to his stretchy powers. If you can't see that, if you can't even try to understand what it's like to constantly be told that you need to have huge muscles and bed lots of women to earn respect, then you're a hypocrite of the highest order, maim."

Apart from the last sentence which is rude, he has a point.  Then he continues with:

 

"As for how you view "sexually liberated women", stop hiding your true feelings. At the end of the day, you just don't like it when women go to bed with TOO MANY men. Probably because no one gives you the opportunity"

Whichmakes Mr Vlan a bit of a dick really.  Patriarchy and sexism hurts everyone.  To make a generalisation, under the patriarchy women get objectified to look like sexed up vacant dolls, men get objectified to look like strong muscle men.  These actions help no one.
 

Happy Equinox!

Today is the Autumn equinox, where the day and the night is of equal length.  I believe some people also refer to it as Mabon, Harvest or Herfest.  This year, I like 'Autumn Equinox' myself.

As this posts (at exactly 6 hours 5 minutes after sunrise and before sunset) I shall be preparing to go toa  friend's wedding where I am bridesmaid.  The wedding is taking place tomorrow, and initially I thought that tomrorow was the quinox, which made me think what a perfect day it would be to get married.  It's a day of balance and surely that's what a successful relationship should be about?  As it is, the equinox is the day before the wedding, nut no matter.  If we have to experience the dark, miserable days of winter I figure it's also pretty good to start the shortening days with a marriage ceremony to solidify the partnership and join you with someone who will supoprt you when it's cold, dank and wet oustide.

I came back from my week long holiday in France to find that the season had changed.  It was unmistakably Autumn when I arrived in Kent.  The leaves have turned and there was that cold snap in the air.  I shall celebrate this turning of the season with a (vegetarian) minestrone soup on the 22nd, a pre wedding meal onteh 23rd, and my friend's wedding on the 24th.  I love weddings and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get really soppy at this one.

Happy equinox everybody!

My eyes! Can I unsee this please?

Not safe for work.
Contains images of sexy sexy sexy sexy mcsexy from sexytown Catwoman #1.
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It's not really sexy.
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I did not buy Catwoman #1 this week. Or red Hood #1.  I am pleased by this.  Why you ask?  Well first there's the preview pages where she appears to have turned into insectoid woman (shudder) then there's this:

Selina and Bruce, fucking, quite explicitly, on the last page of Catwoman #1.  I concede that's in character for them to screw on a rooftop, but the art is horrible.  The art makes it objectifying.  The art makes it thoroughly for adults, and not because it's mature or complex, but because you wouldn't want a 9 year old reading that.  It's crude, it's vulgar and this is not a fecking porn comic or an exploration in fan wank, so this doesn't need to be in a damn superhero comic.

And ugh I can't even be arsed to go into the Red Hood images.

Good Old John.

Norcon 2011

It was fab!  Organised by the Norwich sci-fi club, Norcon is a celebration of all things geeky.  The emphasis was on Dr Who and Red Dwarf but there was also comics nerdiness there, including Barry Kitson who pencilled JLA Year One (I didn't get a sketch, he was very busy and I didn't understand the queueing system, meaning that I inadvertently pushed right in to the front and then got very very embarassed).
There was also a writing fella named Simon Furman there who I didn't know, but we got chatting, and it turns out he wrote the 80s Thundercats comics.  Now that was the series that got me into comics, so you can imagine my glee at finding this out!   Anyway I told him this and also bought some signed transformers issues that he wrote as a gift for the boyfriend.

I of course bought some comics for myself too - Lobo and Black Orchid ones, and a Captain Britain one, on the recc of Anj from Supergirl Comic Box Commentary.  Captain Britain was surprisingly good, I haven't read the others yet.

I was at Norcon cos I was helping out on the Reynard City stand - we got lots of people interested in the project and even met a few fans! Some who remembered us from last year and some who met us for the first time.  Near enoguh everyone who came to the stand was postive about the comic, I got to chat comics and superheroes (DC, Marvel and webcomics) with so many people, young and older, my colleagues on the stall were brilliant.  We even made some links with industry people so the future is looking bright for Reynard City!  Professionally, it was a really successful day :D  I loved it!
Below the cut is lots of photos of Con wonderfulness.

New Eschergirls tumblr!

The wonderful Ami Angelwings has started a tumblr, titled Eschergirls, showcasing crap comic art. Actually the tagline is: 'Float like a butterfly, sting like a WTF!?  This is a blog for female characters in impossible or ridiculous poses because the artsist need to show teh sexy'

It's highly amusing.   Here are some fetaured pictures, but bear in mind that as with most tumblrs the brilliance is in the commentary:

  Go check it out! 

Bristol's Deaf Community feel under seige

Cross-posted in it's entirety from this article at The Guardian.

Last week, it was announced that Bristol Deaf Centre, which celebrated 125 years of serving the local deaf community just two years ago, will lose £240,000 worth of funding from Bristol city council. This money paid for their core funding, equipment service and special projects. As a result, the centre is faced with closure, with many staff who have worked there for years served with notices of redundancy.
This comes on the back of the University of Bristol's decision a year ago (despite a campaign that gained international support) to cut a key course at the Centre for Deaf Studies. This year, the student intake for the deaf studies BSc course has stopped and as a consequence, by 2013, the number of deaf studies staff – many of whom are deeply skilled, with years of experience in their field, themselves deaf – is set to be cut by more than 75%. This is a groundbreaking, world-renowned research centre that was the first in the UK to undertake sign language research over 30 years ago.

These two cuts to deaf hubs in the city look like being just the start. In December, the future of Bristol's specialist school for deaf children, Elmfield Deaf School, was placed in doubt after Bristol city council launched an informal consultation about whether its pupils could instead attend units in mainstream schools. Crucially, due to many specialist deaf schools closing across the country, the school also serves many children from far outside the city itself. Elmfield has taken new pupils for this year's intake but its future remains in the balance as staff and pupils await a new council review.

Perhaps just one of these decisions to cut or try and cut, particularly in the current climate, wouldn't seem like the end of the world. But when this all happens in one place, you see how a community can feel under siege, with the very psychological and physical landscape of a city for the deaf people who live there seemingly set to irrevocably change. Jobs are about to be lost, or are in the balance. Deaf and hearing people who currently work together in the deaf community wonder whether it's time to move away, or change careers – if they can. Meanwhile, children wonder whether the environment in which they are educated will completely change, just as older deaf people see a place they have known all their lives, received services from and often contributed to, on the edge of extinction.
We're only just beginning to understand how cuts are affecting deaf services nationwide, most starkly in this online map from the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) showing local authority cuts to education services for deaf children. But never before have we seen so many cuts bite in one place, and so quickly.
Bristol's run of cuts and attempted cuts could be an anomaly, a freak series of decisions that happened to land in the same place at the same time. But there's fear now within the deaf world that it may instead be just be the start. Deafness at its heart affects communication. Are cuts to deaf services seen as an easier cut, when they hit people who use sign language or lipread to communicate, and, as a consequence, may be perceived as being less likely to be able to articulate their concerns to the media and the wider world? As we see services, jobs, places and institutions come under threat and disappear, very few deaf people both in Bristol and elsewhere can now hope to escape the impact of the cuts unscathed.

Forgot to say...

I'm gonna be at Norcon - Norwich's Sci-Fi Convention - on Sunday.  I'm helping out on the Reynard City stall and I'm quite excited about it.  The cast of Red Dwarf will be there, along with Daleks, Sophie Aldred (Ace from Dr Who), Davros, lots of Dr Who folk and Barry Kitson.  Mr Kitson did the pencils for JLA Year One, so I'm pretty darn excited about him being there.  Gonna get my trade signed and nerd out a bit.  I will possibly get a sketch done too - I think a Black Canary/Black Cat piece would be rather good.  Or possibly an Aquaman/Canary piece, to honour Aquaman's new series.  I dunno yet.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to it.  The fella who runs Reynard City is lovely and quite possibly the most dedicated person I've ever met.  It's a fun universe that he's created and of all the creative people I've met, he's the only one who I think will actually go somewhere with his product.

Not around much

Blogging is likely to come to a complete slowdown over the next few months.  I've started my BSL level 3  course in London, with Remark!, I've attended one weekend so far and have a few more to go.  It was great, really great, but I've got a lot of work to do inbetween classes.  So, I have set up a youtube channel, and I intend to upload videos of myself signing, dunno what about yet, I suspect comics will come into it somewhere.  Hopefully this will give me the confidence to sign in front of a camera and also provide me with a way to self evaluate and improve my skills.

Anyway, for the next few months or so I reckon I'll be concentrating on that and New readers... more than on Pai.  If you're interested in the channel, or if you know BSL and would like to leave me comments, the channel is here.  I think that's the right link - the channel is called sarangabsl.

I've read Justice League #1, and loved it, my review is on New readers....  I have yet to read the other number ones as I haven't picked them up yet.  Will do so Friday or Saturday.

What does everyone else think of the new DCnU titles?  What are the good ones what are the bad ones?  Leave reccs and warnings in the comments please!

Oh, and I'm particularly keen on comixology!  I downloaded JL from it before getting my hardcopy and it's easy to use and cheap.  Awesomesauce.

You def won;t hear from me over the next week though, as I'll be on holdiay in France :D

@AbortionSupport Network August Bulletin

It's ASN's August bulletin.  As usual, copied and pasted from my email.  Unusally, I ahve a efw words to say about them and this bulletin.

In particular they are looking for someone who knows Gift Aid and can help them understand the process, and of course, more donations! At the time of writing they only have £400 in their coffers, which is only enough to help one woman. Please, please PLEASE consider donating to them, a one off payment or a standing order.

If you don’t know why you should support them please read the sections titled ‘Women we’ve helped’ and ‘A woman we couldn’t help’.

I donate to ASN because I believe that every woman should have autonomy over their own body, because I do not believe that foetuses are sentient and because if we reduce the opportunity and availability for legal abortions backstreet abortions will take place. These back street abortions will not be regulated, could be dangerous to the health of the women and could be botched.

Please support ASN.

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Welcome to your ASN eBulletin. We’re counting down to our second anniversary, and hope you all plan to attend our birthday party on Wednesday 26 October. We are currently in desperate need of funds as the more and women contact us for help. What better time than our birthday to make a gift to ASN – or ask your friends to? Read on!

• Happy almost birthday, ASN!
• All we want for our birthday is . . .
• £1000 campaign
• Gift Aid
• Women we’ve helped
• Thank you!

Happy almost birthday, ASN!
ASN is incredibly happy – and proud – to be turning 2. We couldn’t have made it without you, our wonderful supporters. We are busily putting the finishing touches on our second annual report, looking at all of our accomplishments, and planning for the future. We’re on track to TRIPLE the number of women ASN has helped this year compared to last. This growth has come with its share of challenges, but it has been incredibly rewarding to have helped more than 200 women who have contacted ASN since we opened.

We hope to see you all at our 2nd Birthday party, Wed 26 October from 7.00-10.00 pm (at Navya’s, 61 Swinton Street, Kings Cross, London, WC1X 9NT). An official invite will follow later this month.

All ASN wants for our birthday is . . .
Right now, we have just under £400 in our coffers. This is just over the cost of ONE abortion under 14 weeks, and not enough to cover abortions at later gestations. While we are expecting another £300 this month in standing orders, September is generally a very busy time at abortion clinics as some female students make the decision to carry on with their studies (instead of their pregnancies) and women with children facing crisis pregnancies are only able to make the trip to the clinic now that their children are in school in the day.

We’d like to use our birthday to request donations. As it’s our second birthday, we’d like to ask you to do any – or in keeping with the theme, any two – of the following:
- Increase your existing Standing Order by £2 a month
- Double your donation (2 X what you give every month or have given in the past)
- Set up a monthly Standing Order in a multiple of two - £2, £4, £8, etc
- Make a “2” themed donation – £2, £12, £22, £200, £222, £2,000
- Get 2 friends to set up a Standing Order

If you make a Standing Order or Direct Debit, please email ASN to let us know, so that we can track, acknowledge, and claim Gift Aid on your gift.

Other ways to give a birthday gift to ASN are:
- Tell 2 friends about ASN
- Get 2 friends to sign up for our mailing list
- Bring 2 friends to our birthday party!
- Promote ASN through #Fan Friday on Facebook or #Follow Friday on Twitter!

£1000 campaign
Last year, we announced a campaign to raise £1000 a month in regular income (Standing Orders) over the course of the year. We need just over £300 more a month to reach our goal! That’s just 30 people making a commitment of £10 per month to help a woman access a safe and legal abortion, or 60 people making a commitment of £5 per month. Or you can help of course by increasing your existing regular donation! Standing Orders help us to know how many women we can help each month.To set up a Standing Order you can complete this form and pass it on to your bank. Many banks also allow you to set up a Standing Order online if you use internet banking.

GIFT AID
Now that ASN is a charity (woo-hoo!) we are looking into how we can best claim gift aid – which means that if you are a UK tax payer we can claim tax on your donation making it worth an extra 25%. Please help us do this by:

- Filling out the gift aid form, attached and (NOTE: Email ASN if you need a gift aid form)
- Letting us know by email that you have made a donation via Direct Debit or Standing Order. As banks do not provide us with this information, emailing ASN is the only way for us to acknowledge, track, and claim gift aid on your donations! This holds true for donors both future and past -- if you have made a donation in the past but have not received acknowledgement, please let us know.

Do you know Gift Aid?
We are seeking someone with knowledge of the Gift Aid scheme to help ASN get set up. If this is you, and you have a few hours to spare, please get in touch.

The calls keep coming in
In August, ASN heard from 25 women. Last August, we heard from 6. We are immensely grateful for our donors who enable us to help women, the phone coordinators (Katie, Maddie, Sarah, Jane and Mara) who help these women navigate their way to a safe and legal abortion, to Women on Web for the amazing services they provide, and to the clinics we work with for making it all possible.

Women we helped this month included:
A woman who was literally £20 away from being able to have the funds to travel and pay for her abortion. Can you imagine £20 being the difference between an abortion and having to continue an unwanted pregnancy? Of course ASN was able to help!
A young woman who ran away to a friend’s house to escape her partner who was physically and mentally abusive and using drugs. She was desperately afraid that her family would find her and force her to continue with the pregnancy. ASN was able to help her cover the costs of her flights and procedure.

A lone parent with a young daughter. In addition to needing financial assistance, she also needed an expedited procedure as her passport was due to run out in a matter of days.
A young student who lives with her mother. Her mother, who supports the family on benefits, was refused a crisis loan from the bank. With the help of a discount from the clinic, ASN was able to help.

A married, unemployed couple unable to afford any more children.

A mother of four whose partner has just found work after more than a year of unemployment.

A young mother whose partner recently died tragically. She is living on benefits with no credit card, savings or internet access.

A woman who has been living in a hostel paid for by the housing agency since her partner left her and their children. She has no family support or friends who can help her. She was able to get a crisis loan of £90 and raise enough for flights and we were able to help her with the balance of her costs.

A woman who called very distressed about getting the money together. She couldn't tell her two older children who are unemployed anyway and the father "told her where to go" when she told him and changed his phone number. She was unable to receive a loan and tried but failed to borrow from family and friends.

A Woman We Couldn’t Help
At the end of July, we heard from a woman who only discovered that she was pregnant at 20 weeks. After trying to raise money for flights and travel in every way possible, she found out about ASN. A few phone calls and days later, we were able to arrange for a reduction in the cost of the procedure, a grant, and a host for two nights in London. Unfortunately, when she was scanned at the clinic, she was ONE DAY past the legal limit. Our hearts break for this woman – who, if she’d had the financial means to travel and book immediately, would not now have to continue an unwanted pregnancy.

ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you. We also thank the clinics, counsellors and other groups who ensure that these women receive the care they need.

Thank you!
ASN is funded almost entirely by the generous donations of individual supporters – like you! Without ASN, women would be left with no other financial and practical support towards covering the costs of their procedures and their journeys. Donations to ASN are vitally important to the lives of women faced with unplanned pregnancies.

We are entirely volunteer-run, and our small overhead costs are covered by a regular donation. This means that any money you donate goes directly towards the cost of a woman’s abortion or transport to England.

Due to your support, we have never turned down a woman who could not access an abortion without our financial assistance. (And we’re hoping our 2nd Birthday request will mean that we never have to!)

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.

With best regards

Abortion Support Network
+44 (0) 7897 611 593
info@abortionsupport.org.uk
http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/
Charity Number 1142120

Abortion Support Network (ASN) is an all-volunteer charity that provides accommodation, financial assistance and confidential, non-judgemental information to women forced to travel from Ireland and pay privately for abortions in England. The cost ranges between £400 and £2000 depending on circumstance and stage of pregnancy. While other organisations campaign for law reform, ASN is the only group on record providing women travelling for abortions with the thing they need the most: money.
ASN is now a charity! Registered Charity Number 1142120

Gross sexism comes to Outline

Outline is a local, free magazine for my city, Norwich.  Cover here:

It gives info on the club nights, the gigs, and up and coming fun events in the city.  It’s considered a bit alternative.

It has a jokes page, with stuff that’s a bit of a laugh, right?  Anyway August’s jokes were just chock full of  misogyny:

Urg.

This is rape culture and this is the stuff that distresses me about modern life.  This is why I fill my blog roll and my twitter follows with people I trust who don’t perpetuate this shit or instead call it out, because otherwise the world’s just too damn depressing.

Thank you John Stewart.

EDIT - It looks like they have a facebook page and a twitter account.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

To celebrate the new DC Universe, launching today.  This is Cliff Chiang's cover to Wonder Woman #1.  or will it be?  Will she have the trousers or not?  I hope she has the trousers.  She looks fierce here, I'm really looking forward to this title.

A question about menstrual cycles

(accidentally posted this on new readers.. shit, sorry guys!)

Ok, this is one for the ladies.  For women not on the pill, implant or hormone releasing coil, how regular are your menstrual cycles?  Like, are they exactly 28 days? (or 26, or 30, or whatever).  I have been led to believe that by the time women have had a period for a few years they will be unerringly regular each month.

Now me, my cycle varies between 26, 28, 30 and more days (36 days was the last one).  It's not that I'm stressed, or eat badly or anything.  I've never ever been regular and I'm now 31 and haven't been on the pill for seven years.  Pretty much all my friends are on the pill and have an artificially imposed cycle I can't ask them, hence why I am opening this up to the general Internet.
I guess I'd like to know how normal this irregular cycle is and if I need to worry..
Anonymous comments are welcome, if you want to answer but don't want to identify yourself.

30 days of DC! Day 30

Day 30: Build your dream team of five characters.
Oooh heck.  Ok, this is actually quite simple given my recent Green Arrow readings.  It's basically team Arrow - Green Arrow (Ollie), Black Canary, Green Arrow (Connor ), Speedy (Mia) and Arsenal.  I love reading about these guys.  I shall miss this in the new DC Universe.  But hopefully we will get more (but different) goodness coming out of the relaunch.

Read comics in public day!

It was yesterday, so as I did last year, I toddled off to my local pub's annual beer festival and got a picture of me reading a comic there.  At the prompting of alexanderlyons and theyallfalldown on twitter I chose an old Robin issue with Spoiler in it - we decided to all read a Stephanie Brown book seeing as she's not gonna be Batgirl anymore.  I am VERY pleased to hear that she is still gonna be in the new DCU as Spoiler though!

Anyway, I proceeded to taste a lot of beers and ended up rather drunk and playing ridiculous drinking games that were altogether (un)successful, depending on your point of view.  I then came back and had a drunken twitter discussion with Ragnell about Perez's Wonder Woman.  I just started reading that run, and I'm quite frankly rather pissed off about the Amazon's origin story, wherein they are raped, tortured and bound by Heracles and his army.  Bah.  Then they are charged to wear the bracelets forevermore as a reminder of their incarceration.  Bah, I say.  Apparently this run was approved by Gloria Steinem?   Bah.   I nearly stopped reading it after the first two issues, but I'm glad I carried on, because the rest of it is rather good.

Thankfully (as we'll be heading back to the beer festival later today) I'm not too hungover today. I think continuing to read old Robin comics definitely helped.  Say, if DC were to put 'good for hangovers' on their books I'm sure they'd sell more..

There are tons of photos of folk reading comics in public on the Flickr stream and of women reading comics on the dedicated tumblr.

30 days of DC! Day 29

Day 29: Favorite Not-so canonical Romance
Batman and Wonder Woman.  Click through to the link.  These guys are made for each other.  Sod Catwoman, Steve Trevor and all the other pretenders.   I want Batwondy!!

Super Silly Sunday

Ok so this is a very catty entry.  But with the new DC Universe looming I wanted to point out how fucking ridiculous a cape with boots, jeans and an ordinary S shield t-shirt is.  Clark - get your mum to make you a new costume please.  She had some sense of design.

Honestly.

30 days of DC! Day 28

Day 28: Favorite Canonical Romance
Clark and Lois or Wally and Iris* Linda.  I'm looking forward to reading about Clark and Lois rediscovering each other, I'm guttes that Wally and Iris* Linda don't seem to exist.  At least at the time of writing they don't. Maybe something will change over August.  We can hope.


EDIT
* Linda.  I mean Linda.  Thanks to @mijder fon twitter and Gary in the comments or pointing that out.  I think there's something wrong with my brain.  I thought Linda and wrote Iris.  I'm doing this a lot recently.  Missing out words, replacing words with other ones, making  worse than usual typos and not noticing them.  Bah. Maybe it's just cos I'm busy and tired.

Links!

There's lots of interesting stuff that I've seen over the last few weeks.  As I don't have time to blog properly about the, you all get a list go links instead.

Never before seen levels of political bad-assery  Can we follow Iceland please?

Supergirl redesigns Nuff said really.  It's a Superfangirl's ideal post.

More Superman in costume pictures Henry Cavill won't be wearing the red underwear. Damn.  Then again, the costume looks much better without the pants.

Batgirl and Supergirl team up in a short web comic  Lovely

London 2012 Olympics seek performers any BSL signers want to put themselves forward?

Impulse number 1 An imaginary story from the DC Fifty-Too blog.  It's Iris, not Bart.

Supergirl/Babsgirl #1 Also from DC Fifty -Too

Wonder Woman #1 Also from DC Fifty-Too!

The UK's best sculpture of women  Beautiful.

I hope you're all well. Enjoy the Bank Holiday weekend my UK followers.  Enjoy the regular weekend the rest of you.  Sorry I haven't been able to respond to comments.

30 days of DC! Day 27

Day 27: Favorite Origin?
Aquagirl's (Lorena's) origin is pretty good, what with all the Sub Diego thing.  I just wish those stories were traded.  Plus, I liked reading about her back then.  I also liked reading about Dolphin, but she's dead now. :(

30 days of DC! Day 26

Day 26: Least favorite DC “other media
Any Batman thing, excluding The Dark Knight Returns.  I just don't like Batman.

Again, nobody should be surprised by this.   Having said that, I will be buying the Nightwing title, cos although I dislike Batman, I do like his supporting cast.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Wonder Woman redesigns from Colleeen Doran:

How beautiful?  My favourites are the right hand coloured one and the left and right hand pencilled ones.  *Swoon*

30 days of DC! Days 25

I'm having to slow these down now, or i'll run out of posts and have to think of something new (oh noes...!!)

Day 25: Favorite DC “other media” (movie, cartoon, etc).
SMALLVILLE!!


Really, is anybody remotely surprised by this?  I love Smallville.  Even the crappy episodes.

30 days of DC! Days 23 and 24

Day 23: Favorite Costume
Jay Garrick's.  Classy, practical, down to earth, no fuss, no frills, just like Jay.

I am part of the way to creating a Jay Garrick costume, I just need to get the motivation to make the hat.  Or fond someone else to make me one.

Day 24: Least Favorite Costume
Wonder Woman's fucking stupid shorts and cropped jacket look.  How 90s.  How horrible.  How completely inappropriate for the character.  It's the costume on the far right.

I supppose I could also add her Star sapphire costume, except that Nicola Scott made it look ok:

This is how everyone else drew Wondy's Star sapphire costume: Actually that's Carol Ferris.  Still a fucking awful costume but doesn't really help my point.  See the comments for a link to Wondy's actual Star Sapphire costume.

*gag*

Super Silly Sunday

Adventures of Superman 638 went a little odd and gave us a few spoofs of various other well known comics.  Check them out:

The top one is a Frank Miller - Sin City piss take (lethal little Dinah - ha!).  The second is Calvin and Hobbes and I don't recognise the third, but I did enjoy it!

30 days of DC! Days 20 to 22

Day 20: DC Storyline/Book you could read over and over again?
Supergirl - Many Happy Returns.  Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon.  Judd Winick's entire Green Arrow run.  Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th grade.

Day 21: Favorite DCU Event?
Blackest Night!  Zombie zombie zombie zombie zombie!  Flashpoint isn't doing a whole lot for me.

Day 22: Guilty pleasure character?
I don't have guilty pleasures.  I either like characters or I dont.  I've never understood these guilty pleasures questions.  Why be embaressed about something you like and take pleasure from?

30 days of DC! Days 16 to 19

Day 16: Favorite lantern corps?
Indigo Tribe or the Blue Lantern Corps.  But much like the least favourite female character question, I don't really have a favourite Lantern Corps.  They work together as a concept, and individual characters I like, but as for the Corps themselves, well, I enjoy them all.

Day 17: Favorite legacy hero (Hero that took on a previous hero’s ID)
Iris Allen.  Now can we see more of her please?
(EDIT - I first wrote this months ago, in January 201, writing now (August 2011), I'd like to ask that she exist at all)


Day 18: Best Butt?
Did SallyP write this?  What the hey, let's say Guy Gardener.



Day 19: Character you used to hate/dislike, but now you don’t?
Cassandra Cain.   She's more interesting than I gave her credit for.  Now I'm really very keen on her.

30 days of DC! Days 12 to 15

Day 12: DC Location You’d Most Like to Visit?
Metropolis.  Get me in with thoise Super folks, please!

Day 13: Favorite artist(s)
Amanda Connor, Bernard Chang, Amy Reeder, Renato Guedes, Cliff Chiang, Ben Caldwell, Ale Gara, Nicola Scott, Ed McGuinnes, Eric Jones.


Day 14: Favorite writer(s)
Greg Rucka on his Wonder Woman run.  Judd Winick on his Green Arow run.  Landry Walker on Supergirl Cosmic Adventures.  Those are (today) probably my favourite comics of all time.  Land


Day 15: Character that should have their own movie
Wonder Woman.  Hell, at least Supergirl got her own movie once, even if it was critically derided.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

This came out of SDCC and is a drawing by Jill Thompson.  Beautiful.

30 days of DC! Days 8 to 11

Day 8: Least favorite female character
You know, I don't think there's any female characters that I hate or dislike.  Some I think are pointless, like Mera's sister Siren, but I expect that's because they've not been written right, or were introduced in a manner I disliked.  So, I can't really pick a least favourite.  I enjoy reading about all of Dc's women.

Day 9: Least favorite male character
Captain Shinypants.  Or captain Atom if you insist.  He's shit and he's boring.


Day 10: Most cracktastic moment
I'm the goddamn Batman.

Or that scene in Many Happy Returns where Kara is trying to push the earth away from an oncoming meteorite.  I don't have a scan to hand but it makes me laugh every time.

Day 11: Favorite Elseworlds/Multiverse?
Ooh blimey.  The gender swapped universe is of course fun. I've enjoyed a lot of the Elseworlds stories but I'm not sure I'd enjoy the actual world.  Regular earth 1 is fine with me.

30 days of DC! Days 4 to 7

Day 4: Character you would bring back from the dead
Kid Devil!  Without a doubt.  Or Boomerang junior.

Day 5: Favorite rogues gallery
The Flash's rogues.  They seem far more human and well rounded than most.  They aren't all about the unthingking smashing of their enemies, they have thought and consideration behind them.  Plus, they have tight relationship/friendship with each other.  It makes for a very interesting read.


Day 6: Power or Ability You’d Like to Steal
Flight.  Without a doubt.


Day 7: Favorite Team/Corps/Family
The Super family.  That's including Lois, Jimmy, Perry, Cat Grant, Lana, Pete, the dog, the extra Kryptonians.  Bring it on.

Super Silly Sunday

Cheap shot I know.  Still, it made me giggle.

30 days of DC! Days 1 to 3

Yes yes, I know this meme went round last year, but i'm incredibly late to the party.  I started writing it in January, left it until August, and now I've decided that what with the DC relaunch it might be nice to post it over August, as a sort of farewell to the old DC.  Just don't expect any commmentary, it's mostly short answers.  I'll be posting several days in each post, to make sure it's all done by 31st August, before JLA #1 launches the new DC Universe.

Here goes:

Day 1: Favorite Female Character
My favourite icon is Supergirl.  My favourite character swings between Dinah Lance, Rose Wilson, Mia Dearden or Wonder Woman.  I love reading about Dinah, but I admire Rose and Wondy more.  I respect Mia as a character.


Day 2: Favorite Male Character
Oh gods.  Ok, Aquaman is definitely up there in the top 3.  Superman, well it's Supes, of course he's one of my favourites.  Oliver Queen is also in the top 3.  Sure he can be a jerk, but I have soft spot for him.  Then there's Guy Gardner, who would be top, but he's not brain damaged any more.  I liked the anti hero jerk Guy.


Day 3: Favorite Friendship
Oh crap, this is hard.  Connor, Bart and Tim I love.  Kara and Steph are fun.  Steph and Cass are better.  The Birds of Prey's friendships are wonderful to read about.  I also love Wonder Woman's and Superman's friendship.  Or Ted and Booster.

New Oliver Queen

Urgh.  The costume is fine.  The change in facial hair, hair colour and the de-aging is not fine.  I like Oliver as a cocky, grumpy, fun loving, promiscious dick, committed ot social justice and aged about 40.  I'm not entirely sure I want to read about a de-aged trendy Oliver.

I'll buy the first few issues anyway.  Hopefully they'll surprise me.

DC's relaunch

So as I read this week's comics I realised that everything I now read in August will be wrapping up, and I will now get a month's worth of final issues.  This will make me a little sad.  Not just because some titles are ending, but also because I think the books will feel like goodbyes, swan songs if you will.

I have a lot of things to be excited about in the new DC universe, my pull list is getting longer after all, but I shall miss the current incarnations of the characters.  I know that some of the backstories will change and I know that we will be reading new re-tellings of the classic stuff - Lois and Clark getting together, hopefully Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, hopefully Barry and Iris - and that's actually fine by me, because I'd like to read these stories in a modern style.  It'll be fun to see another version of these myths.

But I'm still sad because I like the stories with their rich history as they are now. I like the characters' relationships as they are now.  I'm hoping that Black Canary and Green Arrow will still have a thing, I'm hoping that Wally is brought back and we get to see him and Linda reform their relationship.  I hope that Bart is till from the future with big feet, a short attention span full of innocence.  I'm hoping that Supergirl settles down and becomes a hero.  I hope Roy Harper still had a drug problem and Ollie was still a dick when dealing with it.

I don't mind if we lose specific, minor, stories - after all I can still read them, I have the issues, but it's the core themes and events and relationships and networks that I want kept.

I do applaud DC's efforts on trying to bring in new readers.  I am pleased that they have made an effort to be more diverse and are now committed to hiring more female creators.  I love the fact that they will be selling digital comics the same day the print copies are published.


So I'm a weird mixture of excited and apprehensive.  We'll see how it pans out. I'll be buying lots of issues anyway, and I'm sorely tempted to get an ipad to read the digital comics on.

England riots

I want to write about the riots but i'm a) really tired and b) out every night this week.  This causes a problem.

Basically, lots of teenagers and kids are running around big cities in England (not Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, you'll note) and muggin people, setting fire to things and looting shops.  It started last weekend after a guy got shot by the police in London and a protest was organised.  It's no longer a protest (in my eyes, though undoubtedly some of the kids think they're protesting) and it's pure criminal damage.  People have died, others have been put in hospital, many have lost their livelihood as their businesses are burnt to the ground.

My city isn't affected but my friend's cities are.  It's not caused by social media, tuition fees, bad diets, alcohol, single mothers or video games.  It is a fucking nightmare for the people in the areas where the kids are rioting.  It's not even organised riots, just many seperate gangs of kids.

Now they're talking about bringing in the army, rubber bullets and water cannons.  The poor police have not got enough coppers in the force to maintain control.  Personally, I'm swinging more towards arresting all the rioters and chucking them in gaol, cos they know full well what they're doing.

I'll leave you with The Clash, singing London's Burning.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

Here we have another Amanda Connor depiction of a Wonder Woman, this time Diana's mother, Hippolyta, rendered in statue form.  Fierce.

I don't own this statue, I wish I did.

Abortion Support Network - August bulletin

Find them on twitter: @abortionsupport

-----------------

Welcome to your ASN eBulletin. July has been another busy month – and things show no sign of slowing down. ASN’s Mara Clarke stood up for women in Ireland at a Pro Choice demonstration. We have a new phone team! ASN is looking to expand our hosting network outside of London. Save the date for our second birthday party – and why not take advantage of the opportunity to organise a film screening for ASN? Check out the second London Reproductive Health Happy Hour!

• The calls keep coming in

• New phone team

• Pro Choice Rally 9 July
• Upcoming events
• Hosts wanted and other ways to get involved

• Keep in touch

The calls keep coming in

In July, ASN heard from 24 women. In comparison, last July we heard from five. In fact, in our busiest month last year we heard from 12 women, whereas this year we’ve had several months where we’ve heard from more than 20 women. We are incredibly grateful to our donors, who provide us with the means to help these women when they call, and to the clinics we work with, who do everything in their power to help these women in need.

Women we heard from this month included:

• A 20 year old woman who became pregnant despite using oral contraceptives whose partner became violent and abusive when she told him about the pregnancy 
• A woman who felt so guilty and alone she spoke of suicide
• A mother of two who arrived at the clinic at a later gestation than anyone had suspected, and on a day when there was no doctor available to perform the procedure at her gestation. We were able to book her an appointment at a nearby clinic the same day.
• Three women in various circumstances who we helped to access a medical abortion through Women on Web.
• A single mother of two and recovering substance user. Her sister was able to help her with some of the funds, and ASN was able to make up the balance.
• A single mother who was advised not to have another child due to complications in her last pregnancy. When she approached her family for help she was told that she’d ‘made her bed and would now have to lie in it.’
• A young married couple facing a pregnancy affected by severe foetal anomalies. Their situation is so dire they are hoping she miscarries to save making the difficult and costly trip to England.

Email from a woman looking for help:

• Hey i really dnt know wat to do im 23 yrs old and i cant get an abortion over here and im now pregnant roughly 7 weeks i have 200 pounds i am on benefits no 1 will help me my doctor called me a murderer earlier and told me to leave his clinic please help i feel suicidal and have depression and severe anxiety, thank you

And finally, a thank you from the mother of a teen we helped in June:

• Hi I was wanted to Thank you again without your kind help I don't know how I would have been able to help my daughter as there is no help for woman/young girls here! She found out about your charity through talking to a Councillor. You were so caring, understanding of my predicament. I hope that if any other single mums of a 16 year old daughter finds themselves in my position find out about your charity as the cost of travel & clinic costs are horrendous on a single wage.

ASN thanks these women and men for sharing their stories with us, and for permitting us to share them with you. We also thank the clinics, counsellors and other groups who ensure that these women receive the care they need.

New phone team

Thank you to everyone who came forward to volunteer as ASN phone coordinators. As the link between women in difficult circumstances and the funding and information that can help them, the phone is a vital channel for ASN. We are just now in the final stages of interviewing and training our new team.

Pro Choice Rally 9 July

We were glad to see so many of you at the Pro Choice Rally held 9 July at Parliament Square. For those of you who missed it, we have a clip of ASN’s Mara Clarke, who was among speakers including Dr Evan Harris, Dianne Abbott MP, Lisa Hallgarten of Education for Choice, writer Laurie Penny, and Darinka Aleksic and Kate Smurthwaite of Abortion Rights.

Hear Mara’s remarks.

Upcoming Events

• ASN’s second birthday celebration will be in the evening of 26 October in central London. Save the date!

• Interested in hosting a film screening? The fabulous Sarah Diehl is returning to England with her film, Abortion Democracy: Poland South Africa. She will be attending a screening/ASN fundraiser in Newcastle 20 October and is looking for other venues to show between Newcastle and London between 20 Oct and 25 Oct. If you live in the UK and are interested in organising a screening of Abortion Democracy: Poland South Africa, get in touch!

• The Repro Health Happy Hour returns! Join pro choice Londoners at a networking/drinks/social event 23rd August. More details here.

Get involved

As a volunteer-run organisation, ASN counts on its wonderful volunteers and supporters to help the women who contact us. We are currently seeking the following volunteers. Please contact us if you are interested in one of these roles.

Hosts - ASN is expanding! In addition to seeking hosts within an easy commute of Richmond, Ealing, Streatham or Brixton, we are also seeking hosts in Birmingham, Merseyside/Liverpool, Bristol and Manchester. Have a spare room, pull out sofa, or air mattress and the desire to host a woman in need? Get in touch! And make sure to tell your prochoice friends who live in these places about ASN!

Event Planning - Host a film screening, help plan an ASN event, or create something of your own. For inspiration, check out our Fundraising Toolkit.

A few words from you

As ASN starts writing our second annual report, we want your input. If you have made a donation, what compelled you to choose ASN to support? If you are a host, what makes you host? Why are you involved with ASN? Let us know!

Keep in touch! - mara@abortionsupport.org.uk

Are you one of the more than 500 people who follows us on Twitter? If not, sign up now! Have a friend who would be interested in receiving this newsletter? Forward this to them and encourage them to visit www.abortionsupport.org.uk to sign up to receive our monthly eBulletin.

Thank you!!

Thank you again for all your support. Without you, we wouldn’t have been able to provide accommodation, financial assistance, and confidential, non-judgemental information to the women in difficult circumstances who have contacted us.

With best regards

Abortion Support Network
+44 (0) 7897 611 593
info@abortionsupport.org.uk
http://www.abortionsupport.org.uk/

Charity Number 1142120

Black/Hispanic Spider-man!

Crossposted from here:
Revealed in Marvel Comics' Ultimate Fallout Issue 4, out Wednesday, the new Spider-Man in the Ultimate universe is a half-black, half-Hispanic teen named Miles Morales. He takes over the gig held by Peter Parker, who was killed in Ultimate Spider-Man Issue 160 in June.

In his first appearance, he simply breaks up a fight. But readers will learn the true origin of Morales and how he became the new Spider-Man when Ultimate Spider-Man relaunches in September with a new No. 1 issue.

"The theme is the same: With great power comes great responsibility," says writer Brian Michael Bendis. "He's going to learn that. Then he has to figure out what that means."  The new Ultimate Spider-Man series, as well as Wednesday's Ultimate Fallout issue, will be available digitally the same day as in stores.

In the regular Marvel Universe, Peter Parker will still be the same web-swinging Spidey as he has been since his first appearance in 1962. But in the Ultimate line, launched in 2000 to tell contemporary stories, he received a new origin and a reimagined supporting cast that paralleled the Spidey in regular Marvel continuity.

Morales' journey will be a similar vehicle for today's fans, says Marvel's editor in chief, Axel Alonso.

"What you have is a Spider-Man for the 21st century who's reflective of our culture and diversity. We think that readers will fall in love with Miles Morales the same way they fell in love with Peter Parker."

In addition to an alliterative name, Miles has a connection to his predecessor in how he received his powers. But he will have different abilities, too. Supporting characters such as Peter's Aunt May and Gwen Stacy also will give Miles nuggets of wisdom to help his transition from young kid to New York City superhero.
Italian artist Sara Pichelli, who was integral in designing the new Spider-Man's look, says, "Maybe sooner or later a black or gay — or both — hero will be considered something absolutely normal."
-------------

Sweet! I'm quite tempted to buy this.  If you click through to the page I got this from there's a picture.

(and yes, I know I'm late to the party on this, but I'm now writing posts in advance and scheduling them.  It makes the blog(s) much easier to manage that way).

Super Silly Sunday

I got this from Ragnell's tumblr.  I think Superman and Hal are in hell, and I believe this story showcases how stupid Hal is.

Even if it doesn't, LOL!!

Married lesbian heroes of the Norway tragedy

From here:

Hege Dalen and her spouse, Toril Hansen were near Utöyan having dinner on the opposite shore across from the ill-fated campsite, when they began to hear gunfire and screaming on the island.
“We were eating. Then shooting and then the awful screaming. We saw how the young people ran in panic into the lake,” says Dale to HS in an interview.

The couple immediately took action and pushed the boat into Lake Tyrifjorden.  Dalen and Hansen drove the boat to the island, picked up from the water victims in shock in, the young and wounded, and transported them to the opposite shore to the mainland. Between runs they saw that the bullets had hit the right side of the boat.

Since there were so many and not all fit at once aboard, they returned to the island four times.

They were able to rescue 40 young people from the clutches of the killer.
“We did not sleep last night at all. Today, we have been together and talked about the events,” Dalen said.
----

Now, I've only seen this on twitter from gay news sources.  As the article I cross posted this from rightly states, this sort of hero story is usually incredibly popular with mainstream news.

So why haven't they covered it?  Because the heroes are women, or lesbians, or married lesbians, or are there other reasons?

Whatever the reason is, I take my hat off to these women.  Despite all my hero fantasies I'm not sure I could do what they did.

Green Arrow!

I've been re-reading Winick's run.  I love it.  I know he's incredibly unpopular but I think his Green Arrow run is great and it's one of my favourite series.  Here are some reasons why.

All from the Road to Jericho trade.

Henry Cavill in the Superman costume!

You can also see a cropped shot focusing on Cavill only here.

What do you think?  I'm a little underwhelmed.  The new costume itself is fine, a little modern, a little Thor influenced, a little like the DCnU relaunch style.

But Mr Cavill himself..I don't know.  He looks to me like a man dressed up as Superman for a fancy dress party (do foreign folk know what I mean when I say fancy dress?).  He doesn't look like *Superman*.  Not to me.  He looks a little older than he should, he doesn't look as kind as she should.  Superman should inspire awe and thrills.  This shot of Superman doesn't.

Earlier this week we saw images of Cavill as Clark:

And this I'm really not keen on.  His hair is wrong - it's too long and harks back to the 90s mullet.  See more here.  Superman's hair shouldn't be curly.

None of this will stop me seeing the movie, but I'm now feeling a little concerned.  I mean, I know there's plenty we're not seeing and it's entirely possible (and likely) Cavill will blow me away as Supes, but from these photos, I just don't feel like this is *my* Superman.

Then again, I'm a massive Christopher Reeve fan so I'm very hard to impress.  Although Brandon Routh did do a good job aping Reeve.
What do you all think?

Meanderings on language

I keep using the word idiot to mean stupid. I know there’s been a lot of discourse in online activist circles about the use of ablest language, including how ‘idiot’ is used to mean stupid. I have come to the conclusion that idiot can be (is) offensive to quite a few people because idiot is/was (not sure which) a medical term for people who are..and here’s where I fall down, because I don’t know the right term. I want to say retarded, special needs or slow. What is right? Retard certainly isn’t, I’m pretty sure retarded isn’t either. There are probably loads of cognitive disorders/disabilities /syndromes that these terms are used to mean, and those folk who aren’t affected them probably gloss them all into retard/idiot/slow/special needs.

But back to idiot. I use it to mean stupid. And to me, with my limited knowledge, that is what it means. If someone is a bit slow they are stupid – not bright, not clever. I think where using idiot gets offensive is where it is used to dehumanise people, to outright say or imply that they are worth less than others because they are not as intelligent. That is plainly wrong.

And again, if people use special needs/retarded/slow to refer to a range of developmental abnormalities as the same thing, that again becomes problematic. I don’t know enough about this area of human experience to say what the different syndromes/disabilities etc are.  I know I wouldn’t call those with these disabilities an idiot – I don’t know if I’d call anyone other than myself an idiot to be honest, cos I don’t like abusing/insulting people (at least not to their face).

I was going to end this post by saying that I will continue to use idiot because I don’t use it in a dehumanising manner to other people, but if someone found it offensive I would stop using it around them. But then, someone could be reading this blog (it is in a public space after all) and could be finding it offensive, so I’d just be undermining my intention. I would be effectively making excuses for myself and putting the blame for the offence onto the person who is offended, and that’s wrong. The offender needs to take responsibility for their actions, I feel.

Where am I going with this? I don’t really know. Other than that I shouldn't use the word idiot in public.

Wonder Woman Wednesday

The talented Amanda Connor draws a wonderful Wondy and Peej, complete with cat, Stinky.  I think is from the New Beginning trade, but it might be the sequel to that one.

Anyway, I think this sequence of the Amazon Princess translating for Peej's cat is great.

Wonder Woman pilot

Well a couple of clips from the Wonder Woman pilot made it onto the web.  Two were posted by DC Women Kicking Ass, both have now been removed, presumably for copyright reasons.  If anyone knows of anywhere else the clips are still live, let me know.

They were bad.  They were very very bad.  Diana killed a common criminal by throwing a pole through his neck.  She is mean, she is angry, she is unlikeable.  That is not a Wonder Woman I want to see.  That is not Wonder Woman.  There was no Wonder!  Diana of the Amazons should inspire hope and joy.  a sense of the mythic and the magical.  She should look like she could beat you up, but also like she would give you a hug (thanks to either innerbrat or fullofwhoa for pointing this out, I forget who said it, sorry!).  She's truthful, optimistic, graceful, compassionate, polite, understanding, wise, mature, funny, dedicated to her mission and believe in peace.

None of these thing were shown in the clips.  Here is a transcript from one clip, where they are discussing new action figures:

Diana (talking over the man): I never would have done that

Man: You had the idea to merchandise--
Diana: (standing up) I never said merchandise my tits.
Etta: Wonder Woman isn't vulgar.
Diana: No. Of course Wonder Woman isn't vulgar. Wonder Woman is perfect. Perfect tits. Perfect ass. Perfect teeth. I mean, look at these teeth. She always does everything right. God forbid she make a mistake. It's not like we should expect the world to accept her being human.

(Thanks to Ragnell for the transcript).

She says all this with a sneer of contempt.  And she should be swearing by the GodS, plural.  Wonder Woman without the pagan background is simply not Wonder Woman.

The other clip had her chasing, catching and then murdering criminals.  When she catches the first one she is reluctant to hand him over to the cops because they "won't give him what he deserves" or something.  The cop then says something back to her about him needing to face justice, I think.  The initimation was Diana thought he deserved to be killed (there and then) and not go through the judicial system.

Diana has never, never been above the law.  That's what the aftermath of killing Maxwell Lord was about (contained in Greg Rucka's Mission's End trade).

Ugh ugh ugh, it was horrible.  I know I was excited about the series, but based on those clips I would not have watched it.

Edit - I also thought this had posted.  It hadn't.  Damn blogger.

Kara facepalms

This was the only panel I enjoyed from Superman 713:

Clark had just told Connor and Kara he was giving up his Sups identity.  Kara is obviously very despairing of this.
(Scan nicked from Anj's site).

As for the rest of this week's haul - only Dollhouse #1 and Birds of prey really stood out.  The latter cos it had chicks fighting nazis.  Always a winner with me is that.  I have 3 Wonder woman trades coming my way this week, hurrah!

But for now, back to reading Dance with Dragons.  I am 10% of the way through and it's pretty damn great.

Edit - I thought this had posted a week ago.  It didn't.