April Reign

Speak your mind even if your voice shakes

Debra

Facebook and Progressive Values

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I deleted my Facebook account awhile ago because I could no longer feel right with myself visiting a site which so clearly violates my principles. Complaints about misogynist groups advocating rape and other abuses towards women, groups degrading those with physical or mental handicaps were regularly met with ‘this does not violate Facebook standards’ yet apparently perfectly lovely shots of breastfeeding mothers do. Tattoos on breast cancer survivors seem to also.

However, I have found myself wondering if standing up for my principles does anything but soothe my conscience. I see many many progressives on Facebook and I have to wonder why it bothers me so much if it doesn’t bother them? At least not enough for them to leave.

This isn’t the first time I have taken a principled stand only for it to seem meaningless. I wonder if anyone else has this type of experience? Is there anything you have done, not done, quit because it seemed right to you, yet others who seem to share your values don’t feel the need to do the same?

Storm pics

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So yesterday July 19 marks year 27 of married life.

also huge storm.

There was either a mini tornado or a downburst and there is so much damage. We ran into the building hall at one point it seemed like all the windows were going to blow in. Windows were slightly opened and by them water was a couple of inches deep in the house.

We were doing fine for power until around 4 this morning 6:30 now still no power. Have been emergency vehicles around diverting traffic all night. There was a fire from a lighting strike about 1/2 a block away.

The pics aren’t that great and don\t really show the extent of the damage.

Classy Move Kickstarter

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Following Facebook’s example of giving sexist, abusive douchebags a free pass, Kickstarter is refusing to take down Redditor Ken Hoinsky’s dating advice book.

Above the Game: A Guide to Getting Awesome With Women, includes such gentlemanly dating advice as “grab her hand and put it right on your dick.” Another excerpt posted on Reddit suggests “force her to rebuff your advances” .

Do Something.org has a petition requesting Kickstarter reverse it’s decision.

As Andrew Nacin opined on twitter;

Devaluing Teenage Girls

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This is so well said and needs said more often;

“As soon as teenage girls start to profess love for something, everyone else becomes totally dismissive of it. Teenage girls are open season for the cruelest bullying that our society can dream up. Everyone’s vicious to them. They’re vicious to each other. Hell, they’re even vicious to themselves. It’s terrible.
“So if teenage girls have something that they love, isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t it better for them to find some words they believe in, words like the ‘fire-proof and fearless’ lyrics that Jacqui wrote? Isn’t it better for them to put those words on their arm in a tattoo than for them to cut gashes in that same skin? Shouldn’t we be grateful when teenage girls love our work? Shouldn’t that be a fucking honor?

“It’s used as the cheapest, easiest test of crap, isn’t it? If teenage girls love a movie, a book, a band, then it’s immediately classified as mediocre shit. Well, I’m not going to stand for that. Someone needs to treat them like they’re precious, and if nobody else is ready to step up, I guess it’s up to us to put them on the path to recognizing that about themselves.”

—
a character from The Devil’s Mixtape.