http://www.amptoons.com/blog Feminist, anti-racist, pro-fat, plus whatever else we feel like talking about. Wed, 14 May 2008 14:17:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As’ad, a professor at CSU Stanislaus and a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, blogs about the radical left and the situation in Lebanon and the dangers in blindly supporting Hizbullah: I believe that the radical left, or the revolutionary left, should be careful in evaluating the situation. I see that the ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/14/the-left-religious-fundamentalists-and-lebanon/ The Red Mantis hosts the 23rd Carnival of Socialism: The Red Mantis is proud to host the twenty-third edition of the Carnival of Socialism. After a much needed revival led mostly by Jim Jepps of The Daily (Maybe) and John Angliss of the Labor Left Forum, the Carnival has had a ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/13/23rd-carnival-of-socialism/ Kleefeld on Comics has published a very flattering review of Hereville. Here's a sample: The story is very well crafted. [...] Indeed, even after Mirka's competition with the troll begins, her foregone victory (it's in the title, after all) comes about in a surprising manner. [...] The storytelling itself is very solid. ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/13/kleefeld-on-comics-on-hereville/ At Salon, a Democratic speechwriter discusses post-campaign negotiations (using the example of Chuck Robb vs. Doug Wilder in Virginia, a campaign he was involved with), and speculates over what kind of concessions Clinton may want the Obama campaign to make in exchange for peace. Here's an interesting speculation: A Major Platform ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/13/speculating-about-the-post-campaign-negotiation/ Neela blogs: I’ve recently watched a couple of documentaries about radical movements in the 1960s and 70s:Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst, The Weather Underground and a narrative film about the Naxalite movement in West Bengal called Calcutta My Love.  Both of the first two films were fascinating but left me feeling irritated at the ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/12/revolution-and-white-privilege/ At some point -- I think in Locus? -- I read an interview with Gordon Van Gelder in which he described his reaction to elves as being like lactose intolerance. "I'm elf intolerant," he said. I am also elf intolerant. And that extends to fairies. Actually, I don't bother to distinguish between ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/12/another-review-of-an-older-anthology-2004-this-time-the-faery-reel-eds-terri-windling-ellen-datlow/ This is an image from the Icarus Project, a radical mental health support network. I saw it when it was reprinted in a local zine (more on that later): You can find a larger version here. [Image description: It's a poster headed taking care of the basics. ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/12/to-become-skinny-find-a-woman-to-cook-for-you/ Here are some views from the blogosphere on what is going on in Lebanon: Razan blogs: I just came back from the funeral wake of my neighbor’s son. He was 16 and he and his friend were shot this morning in my street. His family owns a bakery and a cafe in ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/10/crisis-in-lebanon/ Wil Wheaton has a post on his blog entitled "Hillary Clinton: the psycho ex-girlfriend of the democratic party," and there's really nothing more you need than the title to understand what the post is about. I've seen altogether too much of this from Obama supporters; not just sexism, but also bitter ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/10/a-quick-annoyed-note-to-my-fellow-obama-supporters-regarding-sexist-jokes-and-other-forms-of-clinton-derision/ I have $1000 to donate to charity. I'd like to split it among 3 or 4 charities. Could people please make suggestions? Obviously, charities that relate to this blog's themes (anti-racism, feminism, disability rights, cartooning, etc) are of special interest to me, but that's not a hard and fast rule. http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/10/1000-to-donate-suggestions-please/ The word 'Haka' caught my eye. It's not one that I'm used to reading on American blogs. It was a headline on Reclusive Leftist Hilary vs the Haka. I clicked on the link, although I assumed she didn't meant what I would mean if I used the word. ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/10/haka/ Angela Melick, the cartoonist behind the online dairy / general silliness comic Wasted Talent, has posted a positive review of Hereville. The author, Barry, was my across-the-way neighbor at Stumptown. Hereville is "Easily in the top 3 comics about troll-fighting orthodox Jewish girls". But in all sincerity, the book is awesome. ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/09/wasted-blog-reviews-hereville/ I recently read through Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling's anthology The Coyote Road, which isn't a new release or anything. But hey. Since I took notes on the anthology, I thought I'd share them, for whatever they're worth (probably not much). I thought this was an excellent anthology. Anything edited by ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/09/a-totally-timely-review-of-the-anthology-the-coyote-road/ So I find the American political process completely mystifying. At this stage it seems apparent that you guys have reached the baroque stage of elections - a complicated, expensive edifice that references nothing but itself. ((unless I've got what baroque means wrong, in which case it's something else)) Both ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/09/electoral-politics-friday-obama-or-his-preacher/ Sokari posts: The 15th May - a day for bloggers to unite and focus on human rights everywhere. For more information Bloggers Unite. Via Devious Diva http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/08/bloggers-unite-for-human-rights/ Clinton: “There was just an AP article posted that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.” "There's a pattern emerging here," she said. Yes, there is a pattern emerging. Elrod: [...] The implication is, ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/08/clinton-hard-working-americans-white-americans/ Did you know that Dorothea Lange, famed Depression-era photographer, had polio and that her experience with disability informed her work? Ms. CripChick presents the latest Disability Blog Carnival on Disability Culture and Identity: "Here They Come!" “I think it was perhaps the most important thing that happened to me. It formed me, ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/07/check-out-the-37th-edition-of-the-disability-blog-carnival/ A. R. Sakaeda blogs at the Chicago Tribune News Blogs When people talk about the model minority, “model” is code for never making other people feel uncomfortable about racism. “Model” means not being like all those other troublesome people of color. It means keeping your mouth shut and your ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/07/rejecting-the-model-minority-tag/ A blogger at the Revolutionary Democratic Front (India) blogs about the rise, and current trend, of Hindu fascism in India, relating to the BJP and RSS parties: The Hindu fascist ideology has been in existence for as long as seven and a half decades with the inauguration of the RSS in ... http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/07/democracy-and-fascism/ The Terminator TV show (all nine episodes that exist so far) is an extremely pleasant surprise -- who would have expected it to be good? Heron61 deduces some implications of time travel in the Terminator show and movies (some spoilers): http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2008/05/07/heron61s-geeky-musings-on-terminator-the-sarah-conner-chronicles/