WilliamPitt
WilliamPitt's JournalA Eulogy for #Occupy (very close to the best thing I have ever read in my life)
This was written by Quinn Norton, a reporter for Wired who was embedded in several of the most prominent Occupy camps across the country.
It is an extraordinary piece of journalism, and the best explanation yet of what OWS was, wasn't and still is.
I don't cry very often when I read things. This made me weep.
I'm not going to cut and paste the first four paragraphs. Here are a few sentences that jumped out at me:
"OWS was a place where you didn’t have to pretend it was all OK."
"Occupy was becoming the second most fucked-up group of people in the parks. The first was still definitely the police."
"There was no real cynical distance in this movement. It was the opposite of politics that way; it was dirty and smelly and dark, and if you scratch past the patina of personal cynicism, every heart was made of crazy-glued porcelain. Every body was made of scars. No one walked away from Occupy the same person."
"We all learned so much in the season of Occupy. We learned there is a hostile army threaded through our nation. We learned that children can be casually brutalized, just to keep traffic from being inconvenienced. We learned that Americans can come together and care for one another. We learned there is a great and terrible spirit in this land, the sleeping giant of our spirits summed together."
"The future was still coming and Bloomberg’s army had only guns to fight time."
Read it: http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/12/a-eulogy-for-occupy/all/
"Baltimore Feminists Prank Victoria’s Secret — And Spark an Internet Revolution"
The writer of this story describes the group responsible as "radical feminists," which pisses me off to no end - cuz fighting rape is, like, so totally out there - but try to get past that moment of Derp to the actual story, and the interview that makes up the core of this story. Great stuff. - WRPBaltimore Feminists Prank Victoria’s Secret — And Spark an Internet Revolution
Rachel Monroe
Baltimore Fishbowl
Monday, Dec 10, 2012 11:58am
Last week, the internet was shocked and pleased to learn that Victoria’s Secret had launched a new line of consent-themed underwear. Instead of a thong reading “SURE THING,” these panties said things like “NO MEANS NO” and “ASK FIRST.” Even more exciting, they were modeled by a beaming curvy woman of color. “I’m the first person to go on a tirade about how much I hate VS, but this is awesome,” wrote one blogger — a sentiment that echoed throughout the Tumblr/Facebook/Twitter-sphere. Pretty shortly, though, the campaign was revealed as a sophisticated hoax perpetrated by a group of radical Baltimore feminists. BFB asked Baltimore residents Hannah Brancato and Rebecca Nagle about their intentions, future plans — and the angry reaction from Victoria’s Secret:
(this interview has been edited and condensed)
How did the idea come about, and how did you go about executing it?
Upsetting Rape Culture actually started as an art exhibition in Baltimore in 2010. After we did that, we wanted to keep working, so the next thing we did is we made a line of underwear called “Consent Is Sexy.” We came up with this three-pack of underwear with a set of “No” underwear, “Yes” underwear and “Maybe” underwear, which we thought was a cute way of wearing what you were in the mood for. About a month later, Victoria’s Secret came out with this underwear that said “Yes, No, Maybe,” but it was all on the same underwear. Instead of saying yes, no or maybe – and “I get to decide about what happens to my body” — it’s like, yes, no, maybe, I don’t know.
So instead of “No” being a way for young women to set a boundary, it is a way for them to flirt, which I think is part of this understanding we have in our culture that creates and perpetuates rape. So we were like, wow, this is crazy problematic. So the idea started to do a knock-off of Victoria’s Secret PINK line and we decided to time it with the fashion show. Social media was the way to go, since as individuals, this was our best shot at creating a large impact and reaching a lot of people.
We worked with an amazing web designer named Dan Staples, fantastic photographer Philip Laubner (who also shot the YES consent is sexy line), a fabulous group of models who support consent and the project, two stylists named Michelle Faulkner and Darian Gavin, and a few amazing volunteers. In addition, we recruited a group of about 100 people who were in on the prank and helped us spread the word using Twitter, Tumbler, and Facebook. This was absolutely a group effort!
The rest: http://www.baltimorefishbowl.com/stories/baltimore-feminists-prank-victorias-secret-and-spark-an-internet-revolution/
12/12/12, an interesting anniversary in Patriots history
Today is 12/12/12, the 30th anniversary of "The Snow Plow Game."
On Dec. 12, 1982, the Patriots were playing the Dolphins at home. The field was, quite literally, a skating rink, and neither team could score. In the waning seconds of a 0-0 tie game, the Pats were lined up for a field goal they would almost certainly miss because of the conditions...when Mark Henderson, a convicted burglar on a work-release program, commandeered a snow plow and carved a swath right where John Smith was to attempt the kick. The snap was good, the kick was good, and the Patriots won what was easily the most absurd game in the history of the team. Asked about it later, Henderson quipped, "What are they gonna do, throw me in jail?" The plow - a John Deere Model 314 tractor - is enshrined at the Patriots Hall of Fame in Foxborough.
VIDEO: Michigan State Police Pepper Spraying Michigan Protesters
[/center]Two Renegade Dems Bolt Caucus, Give Budget Control to GOP in Washington State
Two Democrats in the Washington state Senate abandoned their caucus, "vowing to work with Republicans to control the chamber and push conservative budgeting principles," the AP reports.
"Under the new plan, Republicans will chair six committees, including the panel that controls the state budget. Democrats will control another six committees while the parties will co-chair three others."
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/12/10/renegade_dems_give_gop_budget_control_in_washington.html
With friends like these...
Video: MI Senate Dem Leader Gretchen Whitmer BLASTS right-to-work law.
Nails it to the wall.
Pearl Harbor and 26,000 Days of War
Today is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Everyone already knows about the "day that will live in infamy," and how it kicked off America's full involvement in World War II...
...but I'd like you to think about this, as well: we have been at war somewhere in the world - secretly or openly, in large ways and small - every day since, for the last 71 years.
26,000 days of war. Not one or two or five or ten wars. One long war being waged to this day.
Fairytale of New York: the story behind the Pogues' classic Christmas anthem
Here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/dec/06/fairytale-new-york-pogues-christmas-anthem
Great big pile of awesome.
Profile Information
Name: William Rivers PittGender: Male
Hometown: Boston
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 58,179
