highrise living for a joke like me

Originally posted by acelightning at Signal Boost: Dear GOP - You are killing people!

Saw the stupidest eHarmony ad on tv today. Basically, it said that going to bars to pick people up was "passive", but that using eHarmony was the active way to find twu wuv. I would have thought it was the exact opposite; when you use eHarmony, aren't you just sitting back and letting them do the work?

And why am I putting that much thought into this?

Speaking of lots of thought, here's an interesting meme:

( controversy meme )

This meme's questions are really badly phrased, but I think they're still thought-provoking.

Got this from my dad (emphasis mine):

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 1, 2009

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- - - - - - -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION


Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration -- in both the White House and the Federal agencies -- openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

link

Take that, Gathering Storm assholes.

Got this response, which seems to be the form letter people have been getting:

Thank you for contacting Amazon.com.

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles - in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon's main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we're in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

Thanks for contacting us. We hope to see you again soon.

Eh, I'm still not convinced that it was just a cataloging error, since LGBT books were overwhelmingly targeted while books with similar but heterosexual themes were not. Yay, conspiracy theories.

And also yay, the power of the internet.

(wording largely borrowed from copperbadge, here)

As a person with a brain, the fact that Amazon.com is stripping sales rankings (and thus killing publicity) from gay and lesbian literature is offensive. As a writer, it is insulting. As a writer who is in the process of publishing a book about gay men, it's annoying on a business level.

http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11369.html

Amazon sez:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Sales rankings on erotica have also been pulled. Apparently "adult" material doesn't include non-erotica romance and literature aimed at heterosexuals, however, as their rankings have not been stripped. Way to be, Amazon.

This hits every anger nerve I have, including the one where I AM NOT YOUR BABYSITTER and it is not my responsibility to protect YOUR CHILD or YOUR DELICATE SENSIBILITIES from the internet.

I strongly suggest that if you read slash online, support equality in the arts, dislike censorship, or, you know, think gay people are people, you follow this link to Amazon's support page (you will need to log in):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us/general-questions.html?ie=UTF8&type=email

and notify them that you will not be giving them your business, as they are engaging in discriminatory practices. There is an excellent letter here.

There is a petition here as well.

Update, if you're keeping track.

Watch on YouTube

OMG Willy licking the peanut butter off John's face at the end? Almost made me not so furious at my actors.

So, the Monologues got an e-mail about possibly performing at Maryland Day, an event on campus aimed at advertising campus programs, clubs, departments, etc. to local schools, parents of students, alumni, the works. A and I responded saying that we'd love to perform. We got this in response:

( stupidity and bending of the truth, I'll cut to the important part )While we value your organization and you mission, the Stamp unfortunately cannot offer you a performance space at Maryland Day.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

[name redacted]
Program Coordinator
[contact info]

I just started to laugh, and then I called A, who started ranting at me about censorship and bigotry and "how dare they!" and "we should!"; basically all the things I'd been thinking, but louder. We've decided to fight the decision, of course. We're going to send an e-mail, of which this is the first draft:

We were already aware that Maryland Day is a family-friendly event, and had been planning on selecting a set of monologues that were not too extreme in their content or language. However, we think that as an activist student organization, especially one whose beneficiary is a campus program (SARPP at the Health Center), we think it is our right and responsibility to perform, raise awareness, and collect donations whenever we can.

We would be perfectly happy to send your office a copy of the exact script we intend to present so that you know what to expect. We do not, however, believe that it is fair or reasonable for us to be unequivocally denied the chance to present at a University event.

Then, if they still say no, we're going to put the word in the appropriate ears (Women's Studies Department, Pride Alliance, etc.) and watch the fireworks.

Mom's told me not to get myself arrested.

(title quote by Tommy Smothers)

from copperbadge:

Quincy Jones has started a petition to ask President-Elect Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts. While many other countries have had Ministers of Art or Culture for centuries, The United States has never created such a position. We in the arts need this, and the country needs the arts -- now more than ever. Please take a moment to sign this important petition and then pass it on to your friends and colleagues.

www.petitiononline.com/esnyc/petition.html

If you like music, theatre, good television drama, museums, sculptures in parks, fiction, beautiful architecture, or having a country with a soul, sign it!

Got up at 11. Watched the inauguration on CNN.com; turned it off once people got up to go to lunch. I'll write all about my thoughts later.

After that, I was in a good emotional mood, so I was PRODUCTIVE!

- folded load of laundry from Saturday
- threw out a small pile of garbage (mostly packing material) I'd been collecting
- flipped the futon and fixed one of the damaged hinges
- fixed the vacuum cleaner (one of the hoses was hooked up wrong)
- vacuumed room (I had tumbleweeds!)
- flipped futon back down and remade bed

And then a pipe broke somewhere in the system and our water pressure bottomed out. I was going to take a shower and wash dishes, but clearly that wasn't going to happen. S, who's never lived in a house before (she's from NYC, cut her some slack) thought the pipes had frozen again, but I quickly corrected her. We left a series of frantic messages for Landlady & Co., which is how we discovered the break, and I arranged to have dinner at the 'rents'.

Water came back on just as I was leaving, of course, but I showed S what to do to get the air bubbles out and left. Dinner and the usual arguments at the 'rents', including Mum's usual hypocrisy, and then back home.

At least I got stuff done.

And now, to bed.