Painting, with toxic mustard

Reblogging from anticutsspace: Unapologetic solidarity and support to those involved in the UK uprisings these past nights. This sentiment extends to both the rioters and to those communities affected by them....

I support this statement wholeheartedly. I also refuse to take part in any of the condemnatory (and frankly racist and classist) rhetoric being circulated about those taking part in the uprising. And I say this living only a short distance from areas where rioting has been taking place since yesterday.

I further condemn the prioritizing of self-indulgent personal fear over a vision of broader political context.

It is short sighted to view these events (as so many people are now doing) as an opportunistic response to the single event of the shooting of Mark Duggan, and anyone who tries to frame this uprising as such would do well to remember this:

Oh, the irony.

What seems equally inescapable to me is the resonance between current events in London and past events in the US. Events like the Rodney King Uprising in 1992--another case of systemic inequities and the inchoate rage of the dispossessed boiling to the surface.

A riot (as I think Maxine Waters said edit: Martin Luther King Jr. said) is the voice of the unheard. It is a demonstration of the fact that even in wealthy industrialized nations, there is still a subaltern population which routinely goes ignored, not because the people have nothing to say, but because what they have to say--the very fact that they are there to say it--is inconvenient for the establishment, for the wealthy, for the system which benefits from the structures of their deprivation.

And when both the government and the mass media ignores or trivializes mass protest, criminalizes peaceful public action, and sticks their fingers in their ears going "lalalalala" as nearly half a million people take to the streets to demonstrate against state policies (as happened in London back in March), it should be no surprise that vast portions of the population feel very unheard indeed.

Back in March, I carried a placard with this Langston Hughes poem:

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

I think those words--written by an African-American poet speaking of Harlem in the 1950s--are apt in thinking about the events of the past three days in London.

ETA:

Yes, BBC. Have some damn respect. Shame on you and your attempts to discredit all voices of dissent.

From dr_ghost's post here where you'll find on-site photos and videos.

Yesterday afternoon over fifty Goldsmiths students occupied the senior management offices in Deptford Town Hall, New Cross.

The action was spurred by the Senior Management’s refusal to publicly take a stand against the government’s ideologically driven fee rises and regressive education cuts. [Read the Student Union Press Release.]

For those of you abroad who might not know about the situation in the UK, this article from the BBC gives an overview of the proposed cuts being made to the public sector, cuts which the Office for Budgetary Responsibility warns will put half a million people out of work. That comes combined with a wholesale slashing of university teaching budgets, particularly in the arts and humanities, and a simultaneous tripling of fees for home/EU students.

As Peter Selby said in a lecture at King's College the other day, along with their degrees, students in the UK are getting an education which they didn't bargain for: they are learning how to be debtors.

These proposed tuition hikes assure that the debts they incur will be, for the vast majority, debts that they must carry for life.

Selby said something else as well, which I find even more disturbing: interviews and surveys done of university students at the beginning and end of their degrees show a striking difference in attitudes towards debt. For those in their first year, debt was something they were overwhelmingly committed to avoiding. By their third year, they had become resigned to the notion that dept was simply an inescapable part of life.

The (endlessly depressing, I think) conclusion Selby drew: if you want to change someone's opinion (at least about how they understand their relationship to money and debt), force them first to change their behavior, and they will then alter their own opinions to align with what they have been forced to accept in their actions.

He may be right that the tactic works, but it is no less totalitarian for that. And it demonstrates exactly the reason why we must fight now, why we must refuse to be forced to behave in ways that go against our ideals and our beliefs.

This is the time to resist and refuse! This is the moment to stand up and fight against the new hegemony which the Tory-led government wants to impose! And for all those in the UK, whether you are students or not, this is why you should come to the national Fund Our Future demo on November 10:


Please send emails and messages of solidarity to the Goldsmiths' student activists at
co901af [AT] gold [DOT] ac [DOT] uk

ETA:

Please disseminate widely, folks!

Whether or not you are involved with higher education, the following should be of concern to you:

Middlesex University decided on late Monday, April 26, to close all its Philosophy programs and to shut down its Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy.

This is a department with high standing in its discipline and a proven track record of important contributions in its field:

The Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy at Middlesex makes a significant and distinctive contribution to the teaching of philosophy in the UK. Its set of MA programmes is currently the largest in the UK, and Philosophy is the highest research-rated subject at the University.

The CRMEP is now widely recognised as one of the most important centres for the study of modern European philosophy anywhere in the English-speaking world. Building on its grade of 5 in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, in the 2008 RAE Middlesex was rated first in philosophy among post-1992 universities, with 65% of its research activity judged ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.

More importantly, work carried out at the CRMEP is characterised by a unique emphasis on broad cultural, artistic and intellectual contexts, and a marked sense of social and political engagement.

Shockingly however, in a meeting with Philosophy staff, the Dean said that despite its excellent research reputation, the Philosophy Department had made no "measurable" contribution to the University.

This is a logic which can only make sense if the sole "measure" which is deemed to count in the eyes of the administration is a measure of profit.

If you believe that education should function under a different logic than that of businesses and corporations, if you believe that there is value in actions and ideas even when no one stands to get rich off of them, and if you believe that there is value in education beyond lining administrator's pockets, then please speak out.

Sign the petition here or, if you're feeling inspired, send an email to the Dean (contact details on the petition page).

This is more than a local issue at one UK university. This is about transnational understandings of the value of knowledge qua knowledge and free thought, and whether or not spaces for those will continue to exist in our world in the years to come.

Title: The Spermatic Economy of Sound (or, Allen Walker and the Voice of Cross Marian in “What Timcampy Saw”)
Fandom: D. Gray-man
Genre: PWP, One-shot
Pairing: Allen Walker/Timcanpy (and maybe Cross/Tim and hints of Cross/Allen if you squint at it juuuuust right).
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Voyeurism and exhibitionism (sort of), discussions of the masturbatory habits of a young teenage boy.
Word Count: 3160
Summary: Sometimes it’s hard to know what your best friend wants. Especially when your best friend is a winged golden golem with an over-eager playback function and dubious sentience.
Disclaimer: Me no own. You no sue.
Notes: Written for dgm_fuh_q, round 1. Wow, it's been a hell of a long time since I wrote fic. “Spermatic Economy” is not a phrase of my making—the term comes from a 19th Century theory of sex (particularly of men’s reproductive capacity) that’s not too far from Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper’s obsession with preserving his “precious bodily fluids” in the movie Dr. Strangelove. Also, for all those HP fans on my flist, for Timcanpy read: "the golden snitch."


( There were certain inescapable falsities in Allen Walker's life. Truth be told, there had probably always been. )

From the "Fossil Fools Day" protest in NYC.

Because my last public post was like months ago (and is now very outdated)...

1. If you don't already know about the newly uncovered US plan to start a Palestinian Civil War, please read the article in Vanity Fair

March 4, 2008: Vanity Fair reported that it has "obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the US and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams to provoke a Palestinian civil war." The magazine adds that the plan "was for forces led by Dahlan, and armed with new weapons supplied at America's behest, to give Fatah the muscle it needed to remove the democratically-elected Hamas-led government from power."

2. Also, a petition: Release 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails

Israel arrested 20% of the total number of citizens living in Palestine over the last decades, and this is the largest percentage in the world.

3. And finally, an interesting article (linked by shehasathree--thnx!):

Dangerous Intersections: Intersex and Transgender Differences

Yes this was plastered up all over the place yesterday, but I spent yesterday watching all the incredible marathon runners (every one of whom totally rocks and is OMG SO BRAVE and tough and everything!!) so anyway....

Sectus 2009 will be taking place June 26-29, 2009 at Bodelwyddan Castle in Wales.

Yuppers, that's right folks: a castle! The real deal! And we're going to have it all to ourselves for the whole weekend (which, as far as I'm concerned, would be enough on its own to make me attend).

But besides the wonderful castley-goodness, there shall be loads of fabulous programming, both of the formal and informal varieties. (Although the submission vetting won't open until October 2008, the CFP is already available on the website for anyone who'd like an advanced look.)

As some of y'all might have heard, I have the honor of serving as head of formal programming for this little shindig incredible event. So I'm doubly excited and squeeful. I'd be squeeful anyway though, because Sectus '07 was such a totally amazing event, and '09 is going to have all the best parts of a conference and a residential course all rolled into one!!!

I know it's a long way away, but never too early to start planning, methinks! I'd love to hear from everyone who's registered or is thinking of going!!

Yes I am back in Tucson. No, I'm not caught up with the interwebz yet. Yes I am posting two public posts back-to-back. Yes we did all make it to NY safely, proper update coming soon but FIRST.....

Title: Arghhhh Ketchup!
Pairing: House/Wilson
Author:unsymbolic, with prodding creative collaboration by wheatgerm
Rating: C (for Cheesy! and Crunchy! and Cinnabon! and KCetchup! and CRACK!!)
Word count: 1600
Summary: Two men, one car, and too many miles of road.
Warnings: Ketchup. And Hanson.
Notes: This is the fault of everyone who allowed me and Vee to be in a truck together for a week.
Brought to you by Hanson KETCHUP, The Comical Condiment!
Any resemblance to actual road trip events is purely coincidental. No ketchup packets (or members of Hanson) were harmed during the writing of this fic. Cinnabons, however, may have been consumed.

( Falling ketchup may exist. Use extreme caution. )

Personally, I'm hangin' in a happy middle ground where I can squee and flail about Hogwarts' fabulously flaming fearless leader while still being sympathetic to frustration with the way that the revelation finally came about.

I am, however, all headdesky over the (maddeningly persistent) argument that outing a Potter character would have been "distracting," thematically incongruous, "inappropriate," or somehow "overburdening" in a children's book.

I've seen permutations of this from people who generally think are pretty clever and clued in, people who I'm shocked to see trying to compartmentalize things like "love" into neat little sub-categories so as to justify a position so heteronormative that it would effectively wall queer desire and affection into a literal ghetto of untouchability. I've even seen this position defended by those whose own personal lives and loves are being shunted into that ghetto, and who just seem not to notice.

So I'm taking this opportunity to post a transcript of the paper that I gave this past May at Phoenix Rising (well before Dumbledore was outed, obviously) which I think is particularly germane to the topic at hand. Comments and discussion are, of course, welcome.

The file (approx. 6000 words/19 pages), in .pdf version, can be downloaded by clicking the link:
“A Power He Will Never Know”: Love, Public Space, and (National) Salvation in Harry Potter

So I'm not a big fan of HRC (they're too assimilationist for my tastes), and you should have seen the text they suggested for spreading the word about this--it was like an OMGWTF SENTIMENTALITYSTEAMROLLER!

But the legislation itself is important, so pls to be checking this out:

There's a bill in the Senate right now that would address the issue of hate crimes against queer and gender non-normative people, and we only have a few weeks until the vote. The link makes it easy to send a quick note to your Senators expressing support for the bill and urging them to vote yes. It is absolutely unconscionable that U.S. federal hate crimes law does not currently cover violence against LGBTQ folks (or those perceived to be LGBTQ). Please visit the link and spread the word.

http://www.hrc.org/FightHate

I've actually been meaning to do this for a long time but couldn't settle on a new name that I liked. And then as I was driving home tonight it suddenly came to me, and I was sure the name would be taken already, but it wasn't so I guess that's some sort of a sign.

He who was formerly tathren is now unsymbolic.
*waves*

If anyone is interested in what inspired the new name, I attribute it largely to Lee Edelman's book No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive which I'm reading at the moment and which I ♥ so hard.

And here's a quote, because quotes are love:
"I mean to insist that nothing, and certainly not what we call the 'good,' can ever have any assurance at all in the order of the Symbolic. Abjuring fidelity to a futurism that's always purchased at our expense, though bound, as Symbolic subjects consigned to figure the Symbolic's undoing, to the necessary contradiction of trying to turn its intelligibility against itself, we might fight rather, figuratively, cast our vote for 'none of the above,' for the primacy of a constant no in response to the law of the Symbolic, which would echo that law's foundational act, its self-constituting negation" (Edelman 4-5).

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Pairing: Warrick/Sirius
Prompt: #08 Silence
Word Count: 1400
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crackishness, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.

( 08: Silence )

Getting the word out, because I am a good little worker bee (sometimes):

The Department of Women's Studies at the University of Arizona is pleased to announce the inauguration of its Ph.D. program. Incoming students will be admitted for the '08-'09 academic year. The University of Arizona Department of Women's Studies is a long- established leader in the field, one of the oldest and most widely recognized programs in the country, with twelve years of experience in graduate education through the MA program. Our thirteen core faculty and more than 70 affiliated faculty include internationally renowned scholars of Chicana/Latina Studies, sexuality, transnationalism, racialization, health, science, history, film, sociology, literature, life writing, among many others.

The planned Ph.D. program will equip students to produce new knowledge in the field of Women's Studies from a foundation in diverse theories of gender, critical race theory, feminism and related social movements, history, literature, critical and cultural studies, and studies of the relation of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality to transnational economic and political processes.

For specific information about the course of study and application procedures, go to http://ws.web.arizona.edu/

( Program strengths )

Ph.D. students are encouraged to pursue wide-ranging and interdisciplinary projects, and Women's Studies is taken to describe a field defined as "the feminist study of everything." The department and the campus as a whole have exceptional strengths in tremendously various fields. We welcome the opportunity to add Ph.D. students to the vibrant intellectual community, and have confidence that the rapid institutionalization of Women's Studies around the country, together with UA Women's Studies extraordinarily strong intellectual reputation, will put our students in an excellent position to seek academic jobs.

Or, alternately, students may choose to pursue research projects through SIROW that emphasize community-based participatory action research of importance to women and girls living in the southwestern US and Mexico. The institute maintains extensive collaborations with schools; community agencies; governmental entities, including criminal justice institutions and local health departments; tribal governments; and other universities and colleges.

For more about the department, the faculty, and the curriculum, see our web site at http://ws.web.arizona.edu/.

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Prompt: #07 Relief
Word Count: 1600
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crack, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.

( 07: Relief )

Confessions of a Torturer: The story of Army interrogator Tony Lagouranis

Warning that the story is very difficult to read, but if you can get through it, you should. I would, however, suggest not reading it right before bed. I'm convinced I'm going to have nightmares tonight. At any rate, thanks to patagonian for the link.

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Prompt: #06 Sunset
Word Count: 480
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crack, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.

( 06: Sunset )

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Prompt: #05 River
Word Count: 1600
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crack, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.


( 05: River )

From MoveOn.org

Subject: Election meltdown in Florida

Have you heard about the outrageous electronic voting machine meltdown in Florida? Voting machines appear to have flat-out lost 18,000 votes for Congress—votes almost certain to change the outcome of a close House race in Sarasota.

This election meltdown demonstrates the insanity of paperless voting machines. There's no way to recount the votes short of holding a new election. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—along with Republican and Democratic leaders—are deciding now if Congress will tolerate this broken election or call for a new one.

Join me in signing this petition urging Congress to call for a re-vote in Sarasota, Florida and to repair our nation's elections. Take a look at:

http://pol.moveon.org/floridaelection/

No matter what party you're for, we can all agree we need to repair our broken election system.

Thanks!


....This has got to be some sick fucking joke, right? Florida, again?!?!?! I'm sorry, I just don't believe in that kind of a coincidence.

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Characters (this chapter): Sirius Black, Harry Potter, Remus Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt
Prompt: #04 Autumn
Word Count: 1800
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crack, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.


( 04: Autumn )

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Characters (this chapter): Warrick Brown, Jim Brass, David the coroner's assistant
Prompt: #03 Delirious
Word Count: 2400
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him yields some unlikely bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crackfic, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.



( 03: Delirious )