Lenin Gets it in the Butt

Via AFP:

Vandals blew a gaping hole in the rear end of a statue of Communist leader Vladimir Lenin on Wednesday, but Russian officials were not amused by the “monstrous” act of vandalism.

The April Fools Day blast damaged one of the last Soviet-era monuments to Lenin still standing in Russia’s former imperial capital of Saint Petersburg, allowing daylight to shine through a huge hole in Lenin’s hindquarters.

See some more photos here.

The timing of this is perfect with my April Fools’ Birthday.  It’s also funny because the first present I got (from M) is a metal drinking flask covered with Soviet pins and an image of Lenin.

(thanks to Arielle for the link)

 

God Hates Fags – and Obama

My friend and bandmate Jesse from Campus Progress got some great videos from the Westboro Baptist Church’s protest over at the White House on Tuesday.

Some highlights:

The protest was also used to raise money for Gays and Lesbians Opposed to Violence, a DC-area group I wrote about here.

Watch it!

(Ooh, and Towleroad linked to it!)

 

The Neoconservatives Are Baack…

From the dudes who brought you the Project for a New American Century:

The Foreign Policy Initiative!

(basically PNAC 2.0 but neither better nor improved)

Hurrah! These are the guys who:

• support an increased use of the U.S. military force in pretty much any situation
• an increasingly bipolar world with the U.S. (“democracy”) on one side and Russia+China (“autocracy”) on the other
• comprised the key lobby for the Iraq invasion of 2003
• and made their way to high positions within the Bush adminisration

From an article on the recent launch of FPI (this link provides a good summary of both PNAC and FPI):

“This reminds me of the Project for the New American Century,” said Steven Clemons, director of the American Strategy Programme at the New America Foundation. “Like PNAC, it will become a watering hole for those who want to see an ever-larger U.S. military machine and who divide the world between those who side with right and might and those who are evil or who would appease evil.”

Yikes.  Keep a look out.   They are hosting their first event as we speak, a series of panel discussions in support of a surge in Afghanistan.

 

Saying “That’s Problematic” is Problematic

Sita deconstructs (and ultimately trashes) the word “problematic” and its over usage in certain activist circles.  Check it out — I couldn’t agree more:

Last week, I was talking to a McGill student about upcoming elections for one of the student groups. She was concerned that the political gains she had ben working on would be lost if the group faced a coup d’etat by people she deemed to be “problematic.” This word seems to stand in as a bizarre synonym for another equally strange term: “oppressive.” In her mind, people were divided into two camps: oppressive and anti-oppressive; problematic and unproblematic; good and bad.

The whole conversation made me want to scream. Her perspective was so woefully simplistic, and an apt demonstration of the way in which the language of “anti-oppression,” in this particular social milieu, has replaced the usual youth vernacular. Put simply, you can’t call someone a bitch (that’s like totally oppressive and like, patriarchal, y’know?), but you can call them “problematic,” and essentially mean the same thing.

 

BEST EVAR: Animals Who Hate Baths

Click this link – it will change your life.

Some highlights:

 

I totally called it: Miss Cleo is gay!

OMG, remember Miss Cleo?! You know, the face and voice for a late night TV informercials promising to read your cards and change your life?

Well after a rough legal battle where she and Psychic Readers Network, her employer, were sued by consumers for being consistently overcharged, she’s come out of hiding. And thank god.

This headline says it all:

The former spokeswoman for the Psychic Readers Network has moved to Lake Worth, has come out as a lesbian, and gotten involved in gay rights. She still gives readings, too.

Now she’s working on a podcast, a poetry CD, voicings for video games, and a TV show. Check out her ridiculous website. The header on her “Press and Interviews” page is my favorite:

“We have only included the media and press that’s full of love and balance.
If you want to read the “other stuff”, you’ll have to go somewhere else.” — Cleo

Didn’t we ban the use of the Papyrus font a long time ago?!

 

The Neutrality Defense

A state legislator in Tennessee has just introduced a bill that would ban any discussion of homosexuality from the state’s public elementary and middle school classrooms:

TEP – HB 821: Prohibits the teaching of or furnishing of materials on human sexuality other than heterosexuality in public school grades K-8.

Rep. Stacey Campfield’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill aims to prevent teachers from talking about the topic. Luckily, the education committee in the Tennessee state house has decided to wait to vote on the bill for a year while they “study the issue.” Currently, individual school boards decide whether or not sexual orientation and gender identity will be discussed within the sex-ed curriculum.

First off, Rep. Campfield has one of those awesome names that used to be for men only, and now is popular for women, too. So that alone is pretty gay.

Second of all, he’s using the argument that he’s not anti-gay–the topic is just too heavy and “confusing” for youngsters to have to face. That’s bullshit. This article quotes Chris Sanders from the Tennessee Equality Project, pointing out Campfield’s homophobia:

“If you can’t mention something, that sends a signal that there is something wrong with it,” Sanders said.

Third, this is the same state rep who apparently introduced a bill to require death certificates for aborted fetuses, and who recently signed onto a lawsuit questioning Obama’s nationality.

Loony!

 

New Blog! Hurrah!

I used to blog over at www.t-paperny.blogspot.com, but I gave up on Blogger’s platform when they made it nearly impossible for me to add a “Read More” link to my posts. So now I’m here at WordPress, and I’m much happier. Hopefully this new template and platform inspires me to blog more often.

Stay posted for more frequent writing about:

• LGBTQ (QIA…TGTS…OIJSDOIFJSODIJFOSDFJ) movement insider debates, important stories, and more
• The progressive movement in a post-Bush era (no more easy target!)
• My artsy photos and stories about life in DC and all my travels
• The prospects of graduate studies in creative writing (and why that is or is not a waste of time)
• Russian things, culture, silly photos, stories, and the prospects of…moving there?
• TEH INTERWEBS (ie funny silly phenomenons, cute puppies, etc)

I hope you’ll join me! (P.S., Pushback has been shut down, but you can still see an archive of some of my writing here.)