firecat

I bemoan that Facebook has taken over from Dreamwidth/Livejournal, but I make matters worse by posting things to Facebook that I don't post to DW/LJ. Imma try to stop that. Here are some things I posted to Facebook recently.

"Welcome to the Finger-Wagging Olympics" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who says:

"So, if we’re all going to be outraged, let’s be outraged that we weren’t more outraged when his racism was first evident. Let’s be outraged that private conversations between people in an intimate relationship are recorded and publicly played."

I think finger wagging (prolonged public outrage) has a place in fighting injustice. But I agree that after a point it can distract us from more important stuff.

"Panti's Noble Call at the Abbey Theatre -- WITH SUBTITLES" and transcript. This is a SUPERB speech about the methods and effects of oppression (specifically oppression of gay people, but a lot of what's said applies to other oppressed people too). It's 10 minutes and worth watching the whole thing, but if you can't watch, read the transcript.

You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means: "AFA: Shops who display 'We Don't Discriminate' stickers are bullying Christians". (But I find it distressing how easily words naming injustices can be coopted, which would be a longer post if I had the energy to write it right now.)

"The Use and Abuse of Civil Forfeiture" by Sarah Stillman, which describes how small town cops use forfeiture laws to trump up charges against regular folks, take their cash, homes, and vehicles, and use the proceeds to fund their police departments. A photo of some forfeiture victims accompanies the story. What do you suppose they have in common, other than being forfeiture victims?

Good one about male privilege, and what men can do to push back: "What's a Good Guy to Do?" by Katherine Lampe

Crossposts: http://firecat.livejournal.com/831534.html

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

submarine_bells

Thanks for reposting this stuff here for us non-FB-enabled folk. :-)

From:

firecat

Thanks for being one of the folks still posting here!

From:

sonia

I think your third link needs quotes around "bullying". I assume you're not expressing agreement with that view.

From:

firecat

I just used the title of the post; I added quotation marks around the title to further clarify.

From:

stardreamer

Tenaha is so notorious that Google Maps now routes you around it. There's supposed to be an ongoing Federal investigation, but I haven't heard anything about it for a couple of years.

Other places that are bad about this: Collinsville, IL and all of Tennessee along I-40. This is something we have to be aware of as traveling vendors, because on our way back from events we're frequently carrying a lot of cash.

From:

firecat

That sounds like such a PITA.

When I carpooled with other college students between Connecticut and Michigan, I drove the speed limit (55 at the time) but other students didn't. They sometimes got us caught in Ohio speed traps. But that only involved being dragged to a police station and paying a fine; they didn't take everything we had.

From:

amadi

A friend of mine used to do a circuit of craft shows every summer. When she was in a location where she couldn't make a bank deposit of large quantities of cash, she would use it to buy a money order made out to herself then did a deposit by mail to her bank at home. She did it to avoid theft, but it would be good to avoid issues with overzealous police too.