This is why I [should] never watch the SOTU address.

Share on Twitter: Tweet

[grumbles] Another cross-post, by the way.

Maybe I’m just too cynical. I was not impressed. At all. There were tons of moments where I was like, yeah, I absolutely agree with that, but [yawn]. Then again I also know that SOTU addresses are just bullshit. All talk and no game. That’s all they’ve ever been, and all they’ll ever be. And it’s an election year, so of course it’s upped. It’s meaningless. What matters is what is actually attempted over the course of a year, not just what’s said.

Maybe my standards are just too high. “Lesser of two evils” just does not cut it for me anymore. I’m not even sure I believe it.

And the GOP response omfg what the fuck was that shit. Nothing less than expected, of course, delivered by a douchey robot, but ugh. This entire government is just… no.

Ok, the whole thing about offshore drilling - do not even fucking get me started. If you knew me before, you know the environment is a big fucking deal to me. THAT IS NOT FUCKING CLEAN ENERGY. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU FUCKING OUT OF YOUR MIND?! IN THE ARCTIC TOO WHAT THE FUCK MAN WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

The “forced to stay in high school until 18 thing” — mixed feelings, mostly negative. Education means a lot to me, and a high school diploma is a necessity these days because practically every single employer in the country (yes that’s an exaggeration shut up I know) will judge you for it, but sometimes there are really good reasons to leave, and I don’t think all learning has to be in a classroom. Some of the most intelligent, most innovative, and most successful people in the world never graduated high school. The focus should be on real education and real education reform, real skill development, not forcing children to stay in sub-par schools just to say they were there and left with a meaningless piece of paper. Forcing people to stay in school means absolutely nothing— that does NOT guarantee that they will actually learn anything or be motivated to learn. I mean really, if you know you have to be in school until you’re 18 but you really don’t give a shit about it, don’t you think the easiest thing to do would be to fuck around and fail til your 18th birthday? You can’t force someone to learn. I’d rather my child drop out and enrich themselves via world experiences (if they so choose) and work than be forced to stay in a school system that doesn’t meet their needs — or expectations, my own included. I'd like to know that we can talk about options for the future, rather than a rigid set of obligations. I think we place far too much emphasis on classroom learning and college as a measure of intelligence and success.We really do. I’m glad I went to college because I truly enjoyed it and I enjoy learning in a structured environment. That said, it is NOT for everyone, and it does NOT guarantee success in life. (Many people are actually better off without college. Debt. Run away, it’s a trap. Even with more government support, it can be extremely difficult.)

While I think it would be FANTASTIC for young parents to have government support to return to school, including childcare services, is this even on the table? Or are you simply going to force them to juggle everything on their own?

Also, how does this affect homeschooling? Many children who are homeschooled are able to obtain a high school diploma before they turn 18. (I technically graduated high school before I was 18. What if I had skipped a grade or two?) Would they be forced to attend anyway, or enroll in college just because they’re underage? Just how literally are they going to take this?

It’s like… I understand the supposed good points of this, and the statistics supporting it, but… It’s just not that simple. You can say the words all you want, but it’s not that simple.

So I think on that particular line, the priorities are just… wrong. And ok, to be perfectly honest, it scares me. A lot. People under 18 pretty much don’t have any rights to begin with, including the right to vote. They’re not treated like autonomous persons, but like property in a way. And in many cases, minors would have a lot of trouble leaving the country on their own. (Not that I’m saying a 13 year old should expatriate, but 16 is old enough, and often mature enough, to make more of their own decisions. If you’re able to support yourself and live on your own, I don’t see why anyone should try to decide your life for you.) There’s no choice whatsoever. So it bothers me that any country spouting “freedom” should force any class of citizens to be detained for any capacity, against their will, simply for falling within a demographic. So on that level, yes, it actually scares me that this government would insist that all states enforce a law like that.

Skimming the rest of the transcript for things I likely missed while screaming at the TV:

• Merit pay, ok. All of that stuff about teachers, awesome. Standardized tests like those are not an accurate way to measure achievement or intelligence.
• Taxation. Yeah… oh look, he talked about the 98%, I remember hearing that. I wasn't surprised. Hm.
• Oh look, more American exceptionalism. That actually really bothers me.

Moving on because I have other things to do tonight.

Anyway, someone needs to compare this to last year. What’s just talk, what actually means something. Prove it’s all political bullshit. Just because.

Migraines and Blathering and #OP-omg learn to read you brats

Share on Twitter: Tweet

I was supposed to blog about SOPA and PIPA, but I have a serious migraine, it's 2 am, and dealing with panicky people on Tumblr hasn't been helping. So I've written about 6 rants on the situation, posted 1 as private, posted another publicly, and deleted the others. When I have worried kids coming to me and asking if they're going for prison for accidentally clicking on something that isn't even related to the issue at hand, because everyone else is spreading around the wrong information... >_< and they know it's the wrong information! It says so right there in the article they're spreading around!!! Does no one read? Quit jumping on the bandwagon and pay attention to details. Fucking tumblr tweens... yes we blame everything on the youngest users. It's just easier that way. I give up, they're on their own. Let them panic themselves into hernias. I tried, and all I got for it was this fucking migraine.

For all of the people panicking about megavideo.bz - no one knows what that is, but look at the source code. AnonOps says they don't actually know what it is. I believe them. It's what I had said before I saw their confirmation. Again, look at the source code. It's bland as hell, and it looks nothing like LOIC. (If you want to know what it looks like, google the pastebin link.) THAT is NOT what you're saying will put you in prison. THAT is something else entirely. READ DAMMIT.

That said - seriously? You clicked on a random link without knowing where it goes? BAD. BAD NETIZEN. I AM REVOKING YOUR INTERNET PRIVILEGES. No really though, don't do that. That is a rookie mistake for the "technologically challenged," not netizens and millenials, ok? We're supposed to know this shit already. And now you know. Also lol evil? Gawker, you baffle me. You know as well as I do that it's nothing new. All of this anti-Anon propa. Fuck... Not what they need right now. This is a time to rally after the blackout and keep the momentum going. Granted, DDOSing probably wasn't the best choice of action, but it's getting attention... so... that's good... maybe.

Something about this war that's brewing makes me so proud... even if I'm mostly just watching from the sidelines and blogging about it. And even if it makes me realize just how different I am from the rest of my friends... "We want the same thing!" My friend, I'm sorry, but we do not. You made that very clear.

I'm going to go throw up now and try to sleep off this migraine so I don't die at work tomorrow.

Captain's Log-- January 9, 2012

Share on Twitter: Tweet

It's starting to annoy me that I don't have a place where I can just vent anymore without pissing someone off or starting a conversation I really don't want. But whatever. I'm pissed now, and kind of hurt, and I just... I hate it when I want to talk about something and I can't. Almost as much as I hate it when I don't want to talk about something and everyone keeps asking about it. Why can't there be a button that let's people know what's ok for conversation and what's off limits?

And how not to be a fucking douchebag when talking about shit you don't understand. Oh my fucking god I mean really. Really. Can I just. I have had enough of these stupid little children telling others to go kill themselves (in excruciating detail) because of a FUCKING FICTIONAL RELATIONSHIP. The dark side of fandom is that it's full of stupid, stupid fail.

Yeah, I don't have anything of particular importance to say tonight. GOP Debate bingo/drinking game was kind of fun Saturday, and I did sort of liveblog, but Chrome wouldn't let me open Blogger so I never made it here. In other news, I dislike pretty much all of the 2012 presidential candidates, and no, I'm not buying the "lesser of two evils" argument. It's pretty much bullshit anyway. Something I decided back in August I believe. I dunno, go ask Patrick and Harmony, they know, maybe. Harmony's voting socialist. I might. I dunno. I'm tired of fucking around-- I want a strong progressive, socialist-leaning leader, not some weak Republican-lite. Democrats are not left, they're center right. And that's not good enough for me anymore. Fuck it all. I think I'm just in a phase where I hate everyone and everything. And I mean that. I'll be the one sitting in the back with popcorn watching as the world goes to hell. It deserves it. Yay resensitization. I kind of liked not realizing all that's wrong with the world. I think maybe escapism really is the only way to experience true, lasting happiness. I don't want to belong to this world. I really, really don't. There's so much beauty in it. That is true. (What else would we escape to, if not for something worthwhile?) But overall, society is just pretty fucking shitty.

Fuck I miss you <3

Acronyms and Inclusivity

Share on Twitter: Tweet

Figured this was worth cross-posting. So an anon (who isn't actually that anon anymore lol) asked me how I felt about the PFLAG acronym since I frequently discuss issues of bisexual and trans* erasure. PFLAG, if you're not aware, stands for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays and deals with LGBT issues -- and I mean that literally, LGBT, as stated on their website. So already we have some issues with inclusivity.

Interesting question, and I’m glad you asked… I’ve been thinking about this lately.
The short answer - yes, sort of… 

It’s not something I would really complain about, because I think it’s mostly just a personal pet peeve, but… yeah, it’s kind of annoying. Especially since they tend to take it quite literally and leave out many people in the LGBTQ+ acronym. 

Every time I see PFLAG or GLAAD or someone talking about a GSA, I do personally tend to feel a little bit left out. I don’t think they mean to exclude, but sometimes it’s like a blatant reminder that there are people who don’t consider you a part of the LGBTQ+ community, or that they’ve conveniently forgotten. It all falls into that gay-or-straight binary— intentional or not, erasure is everywhere, and worse than that, it’s considered the acceptable, if not preferable, thing to do by many. Monosexist/cissexist/anti-ace ideas are still surprisingly flourishing in many groups. (GLAAD is apparently also pretty well known in the bi community for ignoring bi issues in the media… When they say G & L, they really tend to mean “G & L — oh and sometimes trans*.” I don’t think for a second they would ever even think to consider asexuality… I’ve never seen it from them before, but maybe I missed it.) So it’s even more annoying when it’s an LGBTQ+ group or person (like Dan Savage, for example), because then it’s like… how do I describe it… When the exclusion comes from within, it’s like giving non-queer identified people the ok to do it too, whether explicitly or implicitly/subconsciously. “It’s ok, they don’t really matter that much.” And sometimes, people will tell you that you’re not gay or a lesbian, so you don’t belong… you’re not in the title, so you don’t belong… That part kind of… it’s awful. 

And when the gay/straight binary carries over to the media— whether it’s that THEY take the PFLAG/GLAAD acronym literally and completely ignore bi and trans* people in their reporting or discussions, or that perhaps we have these probably predominantly monosexual groups that think that “gay” is a catchall term anyway so no one bothers to correct. Everyone is seen as either straight or gay, binary cissexual male or female, no exceptions, and LGBTQ+ media watchdogs and sites are often just as guilty of this— GLAAD and PFLAG and quite a lot of the other big LGBTQ+ groups included. And we know that “gay” NOT even close to being inclusive. 

So while on the one hand I know that they’re older groups that were started before other parts of the queer community were truly accepted or understood, and they are, for the most part, very inclusive now— with asexuality being a notable exception— I do think they have a long way to go to actually BE inclusive organizations. And if a name change is a way to start that, or at least make people more aware that there are other letters in the QUILTBAG, well then I’m all for it. 

so tl;dr - kind of, but mostly because a lot of people use it as an excuse to BE exclusive.

No, this doesn't mean I'm declaring war on PFLAG or other organizations that focus on "gay and lesbian" in their titles.  I do wish that in general society would be more recognizant of the diversity of the queer community. Every time things are referred to as gay rights, or gay marriage, or the gay community... Really? Hi. No, that's not inclusive. Really. Stop that.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've found a colony of Awful Human Beings who need to feel my rage right now. Oh my fucking god.