quoththeraven

I'm going to quibble here and say "form of" means it is one of, but not the only, way white supremacy is expressed. It's not openly genocidal, but all that's required is a belief that whites should be at the top of the pecking order and in charge. By that definition, the United States still operates on white supremacy. The Twitter threads I see about white lady tears over diversity and inclusion in books and publishing and the belief that either white authors writing PoC (rather than PoC writing themselves) or having one or two authors of color are good enough are all the proof I need. Sample Twitter thread: https://mobile.twitter.com/SashaDevlin/status/922492929419173888?s=02 Sample tweets: We can change things as long as white comfort is always held as our first & strongest priority. And at their core that's what these bks are "It's abt quality." Ima let you finish but someone wrote those bad bks you published & it can't all be AoC cuz you've only got two "It's so hard to connect w a POC MC" B/c POC only speak in ancient obscure dialects and it has nothing to do w your internalized prejudices A well-known, established (white) writer of romantic suspense thought it was appropriate to use a e-mail chain/author's loop sponsored by a trade organization of authors in her genre to decry diversity as a fad and drag the organization's Board of Directors for its advocacy of diversity because it wasn't serving her or other long-term (read: white) members well. She did this (deliberately, I suspect) shortly before the Board of Directors election. But mostly what she did was get herself on people's "will not buy or read anymore" lists.

You aren't being radical enough. There is an assumption that whiteness is the norm, including in fields that like to think of themselves as progressive, like publishing (which I hear about a lot on Twitter), the performing arts, movies and TV, and academia. The assumption that whiteness is the norm and everything else is some exotic exception to the rule is pernicious, pervasive and itself a form of white supremacy.

I agree with you! I think Asian/Asian-American men are swell and attractive-looking. (As the daughter of a Korean-American man, it would be a bit self-loathing of me to think otherwise.) But there are many who do not agree, possibly (to bring in another factor) because Asian men are perceived by Westerners as looking feminine, just as Africans and African-Americans are perceived as hypermasculine and white men are perceived as "just right." (There's actual research on this subject.)

Just because an area has a lot of Asian-Americans doesn't mean there isn't prejudice against them. It's great that you don't feel the need to disclose, but that's not true for everyone. I really doubt it. Totally different context, but some Black authors went to sit down at a table at lunch while attending an annual conference for writers in their genre and some white women sitting at the table got up and moved elsewhere. The Black women interpreted this as racially motivated. Based on the context and subsequent developments, including a white woman walking out of a presentation on social media at a subsequent conference when an Indian-American author said she is political on social media of necessity because her existence is political, I believe them. This is why when people say their preferences are their preferences and are untinged by racism, I find it hard to believe them. Hiring only sandy-haired bulked-up men with pink skin (to use a hypothetical) may not be the product of conscious racism, but it's sure affected by societal standards of beauty, attraction and so on. Some people aren't as open-minded as you.

Maybe that was it! It was also a room shared by two college-aged guys, so his roommate could have contributed to it as well.

I used to think sex (and semen) smelled a certain way but have since concluded my college boyfriend had unusually smelly laundry. Or maybe it was just his dirty socks.

My mother sent away for pamphlets from the companies selling what passed for menstrual supplies back then (this was before maxipads) when I was ten or so and gave me a book that described intercourse and went through basic anatomy and the facts about reproduction at about the same time. In sixth grade, the boys and girls were split up and given separate slide or movie presentations on reproduction and sexual development. That was the extent of my sex education in school other than the making out that inevitably happened on every school trip in high school. Anything I knew about birth control and STI prevention I learned on my own, other than the poster I saw in a school hosting a choral event I was part of that said "VD is not the flower of love." I also don't remember any mention of masturbation, which I had discovered for myself (entirely by accident) when I was nine or so. The emotional aspects of sex also were never covered.

Pocket puppy source

source

There are potential thorny legal issues with the payment and reimbursement by the company.

Not exactly the kind of joke I was expecting, but okay. I Googled "squirrel testicles" and found this. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/files/2010/09/squirrel_nuts.jpg source

Squirrel tries to hide nut in dog. https://mobile.twitter.com/FluffSociety/status/917359075662409728?s=02 (I'm just waiting for the jokes.)

Fly like a beagle...

The best mayor. (I hope that doesn't make this a political post.) source

when you want to get in shape for the summer but life is hard source

There's a big early-page writeup in the WaPo (2nd article in digital edition). What it describes is really horrific. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/10/09/fast-moving-wildfires-ravage-northern-californias-wine-country/

Does that exclude 401(k) and mutual fund investments? If it doesn't, 3/4 seems high.

Not as bad, but parts of LA are under evacuation watch because of fires. They had to evacuate a couple of weeks ago. A friend who's on his way back or just got back from San Francisco toured wine country late last week. I'm glad he missed this.

Greed was the downfall of Rentboy? Funny, I thought it was hubris.

*waves*

Ditto for this. Otherwise it's exploitation, pure and simple.

Still giving the "tryout" idea the sideeye.

Are you describing yourself or the movies?

There's more than one movie version of Dune?

Kung Fu Hustle would be my alternate, but it would probably replace Do the Right Thing.