Prince Henry's test results came back yesterday, and he got a clean bill of health. He got to fly with everyone else for the first time. Sir Dubbins freaked out and had to go back to his cage, but the budgies didn't seem mind him much. None of the budgies approached him too closely, but it was evident Skye wanted to. We're not going to have Prince Henry and Sir Dubbins out at the same time until they get a little more used to the idea of each other.

I went to a equinox dinner yesterday at lady_babalon's and sophiaserpentia's. I must say that sophiaserpentia makes the most excellent apple crisps. I was happy to see that x_bluerose_x was there to. We sat around the table and discussed what we viewed as our "harvests" this year, however I'm more planning for the spring then harvesting now. Of course, there were other topics, but that was the planned topic. I wish I could have stayed longer, but I had fun while I was there.

After leaving the equinox dinner, I went over to merryperseis's place, where I ate again. I knew that we would be having roasted cauliflower, so I intentionally ate sparingly at the early dinner. I brought her my serpent staff. I've known that my bird staff is what I'm meant to use at this point, and merryperseis told me she needed something that symbolized a serpent: so the transfer seemed right. I wanted to do it on the equinox for balance. There wasn't really any ceremony about the transfer, it was just done.

ganked from sophiaserpentia:

"I heard somebody say, Where's Mandela?' Well, Mandela's dead because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas."        —George W. Bush, September 20, 2007

I'd really like to know what the hell he's on.

Yesterday, sophiaserpentia commented that she had heard Domina at Club Choices was canceled, but indicated that she was unsure of the accuracy of what she heard. To confirm this I looked online, but could only find one source and wasn't sure who the source was or how accurate they were. I called the number on the flier and the person who answered (apparently it's the promoter's cell number) didn't know if the night was happening or not. She said she'd call someone else and find out. Victor called after I did and she told him it was not canceled. So, we went and it was canceled. In my opinion, if you're going to put your number on promotional material under "Call for more info:", then you should be in the loop about the night. The people running the night really need to get it together.

We ended up going to Queeraoke at the Ramrod. I'd never been to the Ramrod before, but like anywhere I've gone with Victor he seemed to know everyone. I actually got up and sang, only the second time I've done karaoke. Unlike when I went as Phil to Glitterswitch Drag Karaoke at Club Hollywood many years ago, I wasn't absolutely horrible. I'm sure I wasn't memorably good by any stretch of the imagination, but at least this time I wasn't memorably bad.

Ganked from sophiaserpentia and cowgrrl:

Yesterday I had a faux shrimp cocktail for breakfast, faux turkey on a focaccini roll with mayo for lunch, and for dinner I had breadsticks covered in mozzarella cheese. For my first healthy snack I had cashews, for my second I had an orange.

I got in plenty of exercise. I took an hour-long cigar walk, then ended up taking a 30 minute walk with Sara as she pushed her new craigslist kickass moped to Alewife. Later I took a short 10 minute walk around Spy Pond with sophiaserpentia. All together, I more than fulfilled my 30 minute exercise quota, but it was such a nice day out yesterday it practically felt like cheating.

I've introduced purpleglitter to Firefly. We've watched the first three episodes, and she loves it. I myself have yet to see the whole series, but I'd previously seen the episodes purpleglitter and I watched together.

Before, I've watched firefly with dicotomygrrl and merryperseis, and lady_babalon and sophiaserpentia. However, the viewings have been sporadic, especially since most of them are simply rewatching the series with me. purpleglitter likes to dive into a good series, marathon-style. Now that I've suckered her in, I'll probably get through the series in short order.

Ganked from sophiaserpentia:

For Immediate Release: July 8, 2006 From: The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) Contact: NTAC Chair, Vanessa Edwards Foster; Houston, Texas Contact Email: ntacmedia@aol.com media@ntac.org Contact Phone: 832-483-9901 Website: http://www.ntac.org Transgenders Claim FEMA Sex Change Scandal Was Fabricated, Fraudulent Last month, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) testified before a House Homeland Security subcommittee to spotlight $1.4 billion fraudulent waste of Emergency Assistance Funds (EAF) to Hurricane Katrina victims. The unprecedented level of Federal Emergency Management Agency fraud was blared over television newscasts and emblazoned on newspaper headlines: "FEMA funds paid for a sex change." However, the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) is now publicly calling the media and authorities on this claim, demanding proof that this occurred and calling the press on this claim "fabricated" and "fraudulent." In reviewing both House subcommittee testimony and the GAO report that uncovered the fraud there was no reference of a sex change, nor any surgery of any type being paid for by FEMA funds. "It appears [the sex change] story was prime red meat for conservatives looking to turn attention away from the President, and onto Katrina victims and FEMA," said NTAC President Vanessa Edwards Foster. "It also appears there's no veracity to the story that EAF funds were used for gender reassignment surgery. These press claims are what's fraudulent." House Homeland Security Investigations subcommittee chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) called the discovered waste "criminal" but never mentioned anything about sex changes. However Rep. Charles Dent (R-PA) did note the sex change claim shortly after the House testimony, commenting, "I don't understand how this could happen." How the sex change allegation originated remains unclear. The June 14, 2006 story by Larry Margasak of the Associated Press noted a sex change in a laundry list of items scammed from FEMA. While outlets as diverse as Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, ABC News, MSNBC, Bloomberg Report carried the story, the more conservative news outlets such as Wall Street Journal or Fox News made no mention of the sex change accusation. When questioned about the story, the GAO's Office of Public Affairs stated "there was no reference to that allegation … because we cannot confirm it." "The press reported on fabricated claims of sex changes paid with FEMA funds, but no media ever mentioned $2,000 paid to a Christian Broadcast Network from EAF payments," Foster of NTAC commented. The GAO report listed $2,000 paid to Colorado-based LeSEA Broadcasting Network. After anguishing over the initial FEMA news reports, NTAC Vice President Courtney Sharp said she "was shocked to discover that the [GAO] report didn't mention anything about anyone misusing funds to have gender reassignment surgery." A New Orleans resident who lost nearly everything during Katrina, Sharp said she listened as co-workers and friends disparaged the person who used FEMA funds to obtain a sex change. "[It] was extremely hurtful to realize that someone had embellished the GAO report and was probably using the negative stereotypes about transgender people [for] media attention." Sharp said she now feels the public was "bamboozled" by the news report. "There's an inherent media bias in this story," NTAC's Foster continued. "If you have transsexuals having sex changes it's great press - even if it is uncorroborated! But a confirmed report of emergency victims' funds paid to a faith-based broadcaster is deemed not press-worthy." While acknowledging many Americans have no problem with faith-based groups receiving money, she noted that they would likely not be keen on funds intended for needy victims in an emergency being given instead to a broadcast group to spread the gospel. "I smell a rat behind the fabrication of this news report. It's very Karl Rove," Foster commented. "It uses an unwitting transgender community to bludgeon Hurricane Katrina victims." She called the uncorroborated claim in the press "despicable." "Ten months after Hurricane Katrina, residents of the Gulf Coast continue to struggle to rebuild their lives," NTAC's Sharp observed. "The impact has been truly unimaginable. Like the majority of residents, transgender people are responsible, productive, law abiding members of the community and they are also playing important roles in rebuilding the devastated areas. "The media attack on the transgender community," Sharp finished, "served as my fifth personal "tidal surge" post-Katrina." Whether originating from Congress, the press or an administration press operative, NTAC urges the responsible party to own up to, and publicly apologize for unfairly portraying the transgender community, and for deceiving the American public. ----- Founded in 1999, NTAC - the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition - is a civil rights organization working to establish and maintain the right of all transgendered, intersexed, and gender-variant people to live and work without fear of violence or discrimination.

gacked from daffidoll:

I tried out TrustFlow II for LiveJournal. The following people not on the friends list for neitherday are close by:

• psychosynthesis (750 - 800)
• robertkelley (1450 - 1500)
• softanimal, zb1 (1750 - 1800)

( More results below the cut... )

Created by ciphergoth; hosted by LShift.

TrustFlow II: Who is closest to your friends list?

sophiaserpentia's post on the meaning of oppression triggered a realization for me. I agree with the premise of the post. Oppression is a societal manifestation as opposed to things such as discrimination and exploitation, which are person. While both the oppressed and the oppressors can discriminate and exploit others, there is a strong difference between prejudice and discrimination in word and action committed by a member of an oppressed group toward their oppressor group and prejudice and discrimination in word and action committed by a member of an oppressor group toward those a member of an oppressed group. To paraphrase sophiaserpentia, the difference is that at the end of the day the members of the oppressor group still have the rights, privileges, and entitlements in society that the members of the oppressed group does not.

While the anger members of an oppressed group feel toward their oppressors is real and legitimate, the danger with hateful rhetoric and action of the oppressed toward the oppressor lies not in the now but in the future where the formerly oppressed may have overcome their oppressors. The hateful rhetoric becomes dogma combined with their newfound privilege and power make it all too easy for them to then become oppressors. The old words then become justifications for the new oppressive paradigm.

For example, the early Christians were outcasts from and generally hated by the Jewish community where their religion drew its roots and they were harshly oppressed by the Pagans that ruled the Roman Empire. Their early words against the Jews and the Pagans could not be seen as oppressing either group at that time, because the Christians did not have the power and privilege to oppress. But the words became cannon and when the Christians gained that power and privilege, the words drew blood.

In the past I have not tempered my words against those I see as oppressors because I was not thinking of the future. That is a sort of blindness, as who else is such a struggle for, but for those who will come after? The future is just as real and our actions now will set in motion the events of lives we will never see. Politics that neglect the people in the future, neglect that the politics of now will be what the politics of the future are based upon. And it neglects that those people in that future are just as important as those who are here now.

Over the last several days, I've been going out more than I have in quite a while.

Wednesday night, zarthon took purpleglitter and I out to Uno's to celebrate purpleglitter's fabulous new job. zarthon accidentally spilt my entire Second City Whisky Sour on me as soon as it arrived, and I smelt completely like a brewery. I used the foamy handsoap in the Uno's bathroom to wash the aromatic drink off my clothing. The rest of the dinner went wonderfully and their new olde fashion tomatoe soup was quite lovely.

Thursday night, purpleglitter and I went over to iamacliche's and recoiling's apartment for a small holiday gathering. I always love hanging out with them and it is convenient that they live so close. They gave me, among other things, a turtle coprolite and a polished fiber optic piece of ulexite. I went through a phase in the early nineties that I was very into geology and rocks and minerals. I lost my entire rock and mineral collection when I was homeless, and am glad to add some nice new specimens to my very small current collection.

Friday night, I met dicotomygrrl at the Diesel Café. We shared a chocolate mint square and played a game of chess. I still remember dicotomygrrl's speech about chess at my birthday party last year, which was the last big party that has happened at the house_of_clocks. She gave me a rose, which I was hoping to put in some water when I got home, but unfortunately left in the back of Glen's van.

Last night, I went to sophiaserpentia's birthday gathering. Early on in the evening I committed a minor faux pas. I'm not sure if anyone noticed and if they did I don't know if they cared. However, I felt really bad about it. It took me a little bit to get past my embarrassment and guilt to get back into the feeling of the gathering, but once I did I had a swell time. I got to hang out with friends as well as meet a handful of new and interesting people (all on LiveJournal), including galaxygrrl, who has been on my friends list for some time but never have met in real life.

That's a whole lot of social activities in a short number of days for me. I'm used to sitting at home the majority of my evenings. I like getting out and if I can get my neurological problems taken care of and find a way to bring in a small amount of extra cash, I would like to make a regular habit of it.

I had fun at kyrene's party tonight, even though merryperseis and I got quite lost on our way there. I wore a new hat I picked up today at a tag sale for 35¢. It's bright red and purple and green and blue and orange with baubles at the tips of it's points.

I got to see lady_babalon and sophiaserpentia, and met some new people like brontosproximo. There was quite a lot of food stuffs there, and that will make for quite and interesting Project Three Meals post tomorrow. The wine flowed like wine, and I drank quite a bit of it, including some pomegranate wine which was quite tasty. Yum.

My favorite part of the party was teetering on the totter with brontosproximo. I haven't teetered on a totter in a very long time.

I'm glad I'm back in social mode.

I posted this meme a little over a year ago. The program has been improved to allow you to exclude your own and anonymous comments from the result, which I have done. Here are the results:

Top Commenters on neitherday's LiveJournal
(Self and anonymous comments excluded from rankings)

	Top 10
1	purpleglitter	185
2	strangedoll	185
3	biker_boi_dhane	181
4	lady_babalon	167
5	circebe	160
6	dykestar	130
7	borggrrl	128
8	ruakh	107
9	lusciousdame	106
10	azurelunatic	101
	( 11-100 )

Total Commenters: 968 (868 not shown)
Total Comments: 10399
Report generated 8/10/2005 2:57:33 PM by scrapdog's LJ Comment Stats Wizard 1.6