From the "Fossil Fools Day" protest in NYC.

Because my last public post was like months ago (and is now very outdated)...

1. If you don't already know about the newly uncovered US plan to start a Palestinian Civil War, please read the article in Vanity Fair

March 4, 2008: Vanity Fair reported that it has "obtained confidential documents, since corroborated by sources in the US and Palestine, which lay bare a covert initiative, approved by Bush and implemented by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams to provoke a Palestinian civil war." The magazine adds that the plan "was for forces led by Dahlan, and armed with new weapons supplied at America's behest, to give Fatah the muscle it needed to remove the democratically-elected Hamas-led government from power."

2. Also, a petition: Release 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails

Israel arrested 20% of the total number of citizens living in Palestine over the last decades, and this is the largest percentage in the world.

3. And finally, an interesting article (linked by shehasathree--thnx!):

Dangerous Intersections: Intersex and Transgender Differences

Yes this was plastered up all over the place yesterday, but I spent yesterday watching all the incredible marathon runners (every one of whom totally rocks and is OMG SO BRAVE and tough and everything!!) so anyway....

Sectus 2009 will be taking place June 26-29, 2009 at Bodelwyddan Castle in Wales.

Yuppers, that's right folks: a castle! The real deal! And we're going to have it all to ourselves for the whole weekend (which, as far as I'm concerned, would be enough on its own to make me attend).

But besides the wonderful castley-goodness, there shall be loads of fabulous programming, both of the formal and informal varieties. (Although the submission vetting won't open until October 2008, the CFP is already available on the website for anyone who'd like an advanced look.)

As some of y'all might have heard, I have the honor of serving as head of formal programming for this little shindig incredible event. So I'm doubly excited and squeeful. I'd be squeeful anyway though, because Sectus '07 was such a totally amazing event, and '09 is going to have all the best parts of a conference and a residential course all rolled into one!!!

I know it's a long way away, but never too early to start planning, methinks! I'd love to hear from everyone who's registered or is thinking of going!!

Yes I am back in Tucson. No, I'm not caught up with the interwebz yet. Yes I am posting two public posts back-to-back. Yes we did all make it to NY safely, proper update coming soon but FIRST.....

Title: Arghhhh Ketchup!
Pairing: House/Wilson
Author:unsymbolic, with prodding creative collaboration by fidgetknickers
Rating: C (for Cheesy! and Crunchy! and Cinnabon! and KCetchup! and CRACK!!)
Word count: 1600
Summary: Two men, one car, and too many miles of road.
Warnings: Ketchup. And Hanson.
Notes: This is the fault of everyone who allowed me and Vee to be in a truck together for a week.
Brought to you by Hanson KETCHUP, The Comical Condiment!
Any resemblance to actual road trip events is purely coincidental. No ketchup packets (or members of Hanson) were harmed during the writing of this fic. Cinnabons, however, may have been consumed.

( Falling ketchup may exist. Use extreme caution. )

Personally, I'm hangin' in a happy middle ground where I can squee and flail about Hogwarts' fabulously flaming fearless leader while still being sympathetic to frustration with the way that the revelation finally came about.

I am, however, all headdesky over the (maddeningly persistent) argument that outing a Potter character would have been "distracting," thematically incongruous, "inappropriate," or somehow "overburdening" in a children's book.

I've seen permutations of this from people who generally think are pretty clever and clued in, people who I'm shocked to see trying to compartmentalize things like "love" into neat little sub-categories so as to justify a position so heteronormative that it would effectively wall queer desire and affection into a literal ghetto of untouchability. I've even seen this position defended by those whose own personal lives and loves are being shunted into that ghetto, and who just seem not to notice.

So I'm taking this opportunity to post a transcript of the paper that I gave this past May at Phoenix Rising (well before Dumbledore was outed, obviously) which I think is particularly germane to the topic at hand. Comments and discussion are, of course, welcome.

The file (approx. 6000 words/19 pages), in .pdf version, can be downloaded by clicking the link:
“A Power He Will Never Know”: Love, Public Space, and (National) Salvation in Harry Potter

Arrrrr, it be icon spamage time! [/random pirate voice]

Reply with your Goblet of Fire icons! The slashier the better! Post as many as you want, as many as you have.

Have a Yule Ball icon? Something nifty and animated? Something cracktastical? Pls to be sharing, folks. Make my Mail inbox hate me! Spamity spamity spam!! XD

This post brought to you by the number 89, the letter Q, and my Sectus presentation (No. 1 of 3: "Reading Like a Queer? Camp Effects, Slash, and the Goblet of Fire Film").

So I'm not a big fan of HRC (they're too assimilationist for my tastes), and you should have seen the text they suggested for spreading the word about this--it was like an OMGWTF SENTIMENTALITYSTEAMROLLER!

But the legislation itself is important, so pls to be checking this out:

There's a bill in the Senate right now that would address the issue of hate crimes against queer and gender non-normative people, and we only have a few weeks until the vote. The link makes it easy to send a quick note to your Senators expressing support for the bill and urging them to vote yes. It is absolutely unconscionable that U.S. federal hate crimes law does not currently cover violence against LGBTQ folks (or those perceived to be LGBTQ). Please visit the link and spread the word.

http://www.hrc.org/FightHate

I've actually been meaning to do this for a long time but couldn't settle on a new name that I liked. And then as I was driving home tonight it suddenly came to me, and I was sure the name would be taken already, but it wasn't so I guess that's some sort of a sign.

He who was formerly tathren is now unsymbolic.
*waves*

If anyone is interested in what inspired the new name, I attribute it largely to Lee Edelman's book No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive which I'm reading at the moment and which I ♥ so hard.

And here's a quote, because quotes are love:
"I mean to insist that nothing, and certainly not what we call the 'good,' can ever have any assurance at all in the order of the Symbolic. Abjuring fidelity to a futurism that's always purchased at our expense, though bound, as Symbolic subjects consigned to figure the Symbolic's undoing, to the necessary contradiction of trying to turn its intelligibility against itself, we might fight rather, figuratively, cast our vote for 'none of the above,' for the primacy of a constant no in response to the law of the Symbolic, which would echo that law's foundational act, its self-constituting negation" (Edelman 4-5).

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Pairing: Warrick/Sirius
Prompt: #08 Silence
Word Count: 1400
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crackishness, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.

( 08: Silence )

Getting the word out, because I am a good little worker bee (sometimes):

The Department of Women's Studies at the University of Arizona is pleased to announce the inauguration of its Ph.D. program. Incoming students will be admitted for the '08-'09 academic year. The University of Arizona Department of Women's Studies is a long- established leader in the field, one of the oldest and most widely recognized programs in the country, with twelve years of experience in graduate education through the MA program. Our thirteen core faculty and more than 70 affiliated faculty include internationally renowned scholars of Chicana/Latina Studies, sexuality, transnationalism, racialization, health, science, history, film, sociology, literature, life writing, among many others.

The planned Ph.D. program will equip students to produce new knowledge in the field of Women's Studies from a foundation in diverse theories of gender, critical race theory, feminism and related social movements, history, literature, critical and cultural studies, and studies of the relation of gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality to transnational economic and political processes.

For specific information about the course of study and application procedures, go to http://ws.web.arizona.edu/

( Program strengths )

Ph.D. students are encouraged to pursue wide-ranging and interdisciplinary projects, and Women's Studies is taken to describe a field defined as "the feminist study of everything." The department and the campus as a whole have exceptional strengths in tremendously various fields. We welcome the opportunity to add Ph.D. students to the vibrant intellectual community, and have confidence that the rapid institutionalization of Women's Studies around the country, together with UA Women's Studies extraordinarily strong intellectual reputation, will put our students in an excellent position to seek academic jobs.

Or, alternately, students may choose to pursue research projects through SIROW that emphasize community-based participatory action research of importance to women and girls living in the southwestern US and Mexico. The institute maintains extensive collaborations with schools; community agencies; governmental entities, including criminal justice institutions and local health departments; tribal governments; and other universities and colleges.

For more about the department, the faculty, and the curriculum, see our web site at http://ws.web.arizona.edu/.

Admittedly, this is a bit of an odd request, but here's what I'm looking for:

• Harry Potter slash fics with really clever headers/ front material.
• Fics that you might not have ever read had it not been for the author's ability to hook you with the header (whether by their summary, their notes, their wit, or something else).
• Fics that have made the header into an artform of its own.

- Headers that make liberal reference to other fics, fests, requests, fanart, whatever are a bonus.
- Headers that use and abuse abbreviations of all sorts are welcome as well.
- All genres, all kinks, all ratings, all warnings-- all good.
- Cracktasticness is also appreciated.
- Rec your own stuff, rec your friends, rec your family, rec folks everyone has heard of, rec folks no one has heard of, rec Martians if you like (so long as they're writing in English, 'cause I don't speak Martian).

It certainly helps if the fic that goes with the header is a good one. Also, though I am interested in femslash fics/headers, my primary focus here is on male/male slash pairings (or trios, or groups). And finally, (forgive the sacrilege) fics that are other than Harry/Snape would be very appreciated, not because I don't love Harry/Snape, but because the pairing is somewhat overrepresented in my work at the moment.

( Why I'm searching for good fic headers, for anyone who's interested )
I've certainly seen many great fic headers out there, but I hadn't been saving them because I only realized relatively recently that I want to take a closer look at one or two. Hence the rec request. Thanks in advance, and feel free to pimp this about as you see fit! :)

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Prompt: #07 Relief
Word Count: 1600
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crack, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.

( 07: Relief )

Confessions of a Torturer: The story of Army interrogator Tony Lagouranis

Warning that the story is very difficult to read, but if you can get through it, you should. I would, however, suggest not reading it right before bed. I'm convinced I'm going to have nightmares tonight. At any rate, thanks to patagonian for the link.

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Prompt: #06 Sunset
Word Count: 480
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crack, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.

( 06: Sunset )

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Prompt: #05 River
Word Count: 1600
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crack, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.


( 05: River )

From MoveOn.org

Subject: Election meltdown in Florida

Have you heard about the outrageous electronic voting machine meltdown in Florida? Voting machines appear to have flat-out lost 18,000 votes for Congress—votes almost certain to change the outcome of a close House race in Sarasota.

This election meltdown demonstrates the insanity of paperless voting machines. There's no way to recount the votes short of holding a new election. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—along with Republican and Democratic leaders—are deciding now if Congress will tolerate this broken election or call for a new one.

Join me in signing this petition urging Congress to call for a re-vote in Sarasota, Florida and to repair our nation's elections. Take a look at:

http://pol.moveon.org/floridaelection/

No matter what party you're for, we can all agree we need to repair our broken election system.

Thanks!


....This has got to be some sick fucking joke, right? Florida, again?!?!?! I'm sorry, I just don't believe in that kind of a coincidence.

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Characters (this chapter): Sirius Black, Harry Potter, Remus Lupin, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt
Prompt: #04 Autumn
Word Count: 1800
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him is bound to make for some strange bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crack, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.


( 04: Autumn )

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Characters (this chapter): Warrick Brown, Jim Brass, David the coroner's assistant
Prompt: #03 Delirious
Word Count: 2400
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him yields some unlikely bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crackfic, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.



( 03: Delirious )

Title: Points of Contact
Fandoms: CSI/HP
Characters (this chapter): Warrick Brown
Prompt: #02 Bathroom
Word Count: 300
Rating: NC-17 overall
Disclaimer: Me no own; you no poo sue.
Series Summary: When a Muggle-killing wizard sets up shop in Vegas, the hunt to find him yields some unlikely bedfellows.
Author's Notes: Written for 100_situations. One ongoing story, not a series of drabbles. Set postwar in the Potterverse, circa 3rd season CSI (around 2001, for anyone who’s counting). Crackfic, AU, slash. Previous parts/ prompt table here.


( 02: Bathroom )

Title: And the Next, Just Sky
Rating: PG
Pairing: Hermione/Parvati (with a touch of Harry/Draco on the side)
Genre: Pre-slash, UST
Word Count: ~3600
Disclaimer: If they were mine, it would have happened like this in the first place.
Summary: Set during Half-Blood Prince. In which Hermione asks Parvati on a date, Harry and Draco have an impromptu face off, and Harry has an awakening.
Warnings: Hermione showing a bit of her Slytherin side. And shifting POV.
Concrit: Aye. Please feed the plant author and prune as needed.

( And the Next, Just Sky )