Walking across the street to the laundromat I just ran across a group of scantily clad young people-- the girls in tutus and the boys in wrestling shorts. They were posing in the street to have their picture taken for something called Not Your Mother's Lube Wrestling. I was given a flyer.

All giggles and glitter as they ran to the park when the light turned green, back into the street to pose quickly when it turned back to red.

I love, love, love my neighborhood. I love, love, love my city. I love, love, love all these absolutely gorgeous young queers.

xoxo

Nabil

I've been at FogCon for the last few days, and am just now emerging in an exhausted haze; I adore staying up all night talking about books with smart people, but it does take a toll. Home sick today and hoping that I'm just over-tired, not stricken with yet another flu...

I was on three panels, Friday night's was about Monsters in spec lit and what happens when the heroine/ hero is a monster. I got a bit excited and carried about 40 pounds of books around with me all day, got to the panel at 9pm and spread them out on the podium in front of us to the suprise of my fellow panelists. It was a good and lively conversation; it felt like that lovely intellectual play of writing with a smart person, or daydreaming together, bouncing delightful ridiculousnesses back and forth.

The other two panels I was on had less content, but were still fun-- one where the four panelists and the room created a city in an hour-- more of a city state actually-- and one on the punk, or lack therof, in steampunk spatterpunk witpunk and so on and so on... The punk panel was the most content-free and shallow, but really quite delightful-- much empty posturing, table-pounding, swearing and shouting "No!" at each other and the audience. A good time was had by me, and seemingly by a fair number of other folks...

Other then that, it was a good con-- staying up all night talking about books, meeting new folks & hanging out with people i don't see enough of. (yay frankie! jm! yay jessie the k! yay bill! cynthia! debbie notkin! laurie! w00h00!) But good lord, I don't have the stamina of my youth... I came home very early Sunday morning, slept the whole day away, still felt wretched today (Back out again last night, yargh chronic pain...) Called in for my 10am meeting and my boss pretty much told me I sounded awful and stay home...

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be (at least a bit) sparkly again. But it was a truly excellent con. And well needed-- between Cicely's illness & my work difficulties & the general February pit of despair it's been a bit of a time.

xoxo

N

oh ps-- I want to read everyone's fogcon reports-- link me pls?

So, some of you might already know that I've been reading a lot of economics blogs for the last few years-- for about four years, with increasing intensity over the last year.

For about six months or so, economics bloggers who I consider to be extremely reliable-- some of the same folks who pointed out the problems with subprime loans before the housing crash-- have been warning about a new potential danger:  increased pressure on retirees and other homeowners to take on reverse mortgages.

Reverse mortgages have been around for some time; they are almost always a bad idea.  What's changed?  Well, what I'm reading is that some of the same people who made a lot of money off of commissions from subprime loans-- the same folks who pressured and outright lied to put people in subprime mortgages, even when they qualified for better loans, because the commission on subprime was higher-- have been looking around for new ways to make money.  And they've spotted reverse mortgages.  Like subprime several years ago, there is very little consumer protection or regulation around reverse mortgages.  There is a large population of aging folks facing financial trouble due to the current recession, with all or most of their assets tied up in their homes.  If you aren't too worried about ethics-- and the folks who lied to put people in subprime loans clearly aren't-- there is vast money to be made by swindling retirees out of their homes with reverse mortgages.

I just saw my first supporting evidence outside of the economics blogosphere that this might be a real risk.  I'm doing laundry, and the laundromat just showed an infomercial clearly aimed at retirees, sponsored by a real estate agency, offering to send you a free informational DVD with the facts about reverse mortgages and why they might be the right solution for you.  My blood is boiling; this ad would be very effective on confused retirees like my grandfather during the early stages of Alzheimer's; it was presenting an ad for a particular company as a neutral source of information. 

I'm reminded of the ways that real estate agents and others who financially benefited from the housing bubble and directly from subprime loans were regularly on TV as experts during the bubble.  When I was looking at possibly buying five years ago, it was difficult to find anyone on TV representing the perspective that you should make a 20% downpayment and only take out a mortgage that you could afford.  All the talking heads were repeating that "Housing always goes up; none of the old rules of thumbs on mortgages apply; taking out a huge loan on a small salary is just fine." 

I very much hope that we will _NOT_ see a wave of the same sort of salesmanship presented as objective truth on reverse mortgages.  Possibly the Obama White House will move to add consumer protections and regulation to ward off this risk; possibly enough people have learned risk aversion from the subprime fiasco that we will not have the same sort of massive foreclosures on retirees who have all of their savings tied up in their homes.  I'm not holding my breath.

I just phoned my mother; I assume that she will be targeted over the next few years for reverse mortgages.  (As a retiree, a widow, and a woman she is a prime target for con artists and scum bags.)  She also is a caregiver for a number of older women, also widows, who are even more likely to be targeted.  I strongly suggest that you talk to your parents, friends, and aging relatives and let them know that the same scumbags who did hard-sells on subprime mortgages-- sometimes outright lying, saying that the papers their clients were signing were different contracts then they actually were-- are now targeting retirees and homeowners for reverse mortgages.

And if you see more and more ads selling these reverse mortgages, and more and more talking heads on TV talking about how safe and fabulous they are-- just remember that a few years ago the talking heads were saying the same things about taking out mortgages with 5% or less downpayment, for loans that were entirely disproportionate to your salary.

xoxo

Nabil

I just received the sweetest message from my pal Robin-- at Gender Euphoria in Vancouver, there was a Heroes wall-- and someone had posted my name on it.

Thanks for letting me know, Robin.  That made my day.

I'm thinking back to the work that I did for trans folks, Arabs, Muslims, and folks of color.  Mostly in the 90s, mostly through True Spirit, with some also through Bint el Nas and El Fatiha.  It's funny, I've never really able to give myself credit for the work I did.  It was always so clear to me what I wasn't doing-- that other people were doing so much more then I was-- and that there was so much work going undone.  I never felt that I was doing enough.

But it was difficult work.  Probably not a lot in terms of the number of hours, but a lot in terms of difficulty.  I did a lot of first things-- to my knowledge, I set up and moderated the first listserve for trans folks of color-- was the first contact person/ hub for trans Arabs and Muslims-- organized events for trans folks of color at True Spirit for some years.   To my knowledge, the first English-language erotica featuring an Arab ftm and a Muslim lesbian.   Firsts are always hard; and these were really hard.  It was damn well terrifying to be listed online as a contact for trans Muslims-- I was quite aware of the folks who've been harassed and murdered for similar things.  It was really hard moderating the listserve and organizing the events-- I was seldom thanked, and often criticized-- I quit at the point that I was frustrated to the point of anger with the people I was trying to serve.  I removed my online writings after the hateful emails and threats that followed 911.

There were some people who said thank you.  The award True Spirit gave me-- that I wasn't there to receive, because I was dealing with a crisis with day care.  The lovely art that Mary and Nida gave me, in thanks for my work on Bint el Nas.  Emails from women and trans folks in the Arab world thanking me for being visible.  The court case that I helped to win-- asylum for a trans man from a small Lebanese village.  I was always deeply moved to hear that my work mattered, that it helped.  That the frustration and fear were worth something.

I'm still moved.  I'm really really glad.

xoxo

Nabil

Anybody have current contact info?

xoxo

N

Press release from Catholics for Choice-- original here: http://catholicsforchoice.org/AntiabortionAdvocateAppointedtoHHS.asp

Antiabortion Advocate Appointed to Senior Position at HHS

Washington DC - Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, issued the following statement today about the announcement that Alexia Kelley had been appointed to be Director of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the Department of Health and Human Services:

The antichoice organization Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good (CACG) has announced that Alexia Kelley, its co-founder and former executive director, has been appointed to be Director of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Kelley’s appointment would be a defeat for reason and logic and calls into question whether President Obama’s administration is serious about reducing the need for abortion. And, while it may not gain many headlines, the impact and significance of this appointment should not go unnoticed.

“If Ms. Kelley had been appointed to another position in the administration, there might be less reason for concern. However, the Department of Health and Human Services is responsible for providing and expanding access to key sexual and reproductive health services. As such, we need those working in HHS to rely on evidence-based methods to reduce the need for abortion. We need them to believe in men's and women’s capacity to make moral decisions about their own lives. Unfortunately, as seen from her work at CACG, Ms. Kelley does not fit the bill.

“A look into Alexia Kelley’s leadership of CACG reveals a vehement antichoice stance that is focused on reducing the number of, not the need for, abortions. In voter’s guides the organization Kelley led characterized abortion as akin to war or torture. You can learn more about Catholics in Alliance here.

“From the beginning, Alexia Kelley directed CACG to ignore the question of access to abortion and reframe the debate in terms of reducing the number of abortions—although polls consistently show that the majority of Catholics support abortion rights. This language around reducing the number of abortions should be a huge red flag to anyone who believes in and seeks to defend a woman’s right to choose. While evidence-based prevention methods can go a long way towards reducing the need for abortion, some women will always need access to safe and legal abortion and we must recognize that and ensure public policies support that access.

“Alexia Kelley is on record with her support for restrictions on access to abortion, despite her organization’s efforts to avoid the question of legalization at every turn. In an audio press conference prior to the 2008 election, Ms. Kelley agreed with other speakers who spoke out in favor of restrictions on abortion, saying, “Catholics in Alliance supports these restrictions as well.”

“Under Kelley’s leadership, CACG used flawed economic data to support anti-poverty measures as a means to reduce the number of abortions. While such measures are obviously beneficial for many reasons, poverty reduction will not by itself reduce the need for abortion. As Ms. Kelley’s group opposed evidence-based prevention methods such as contraception and comprehensive sexuality education, its “abortion reduction” rhetoric is simply a newly packaged antiabortion message.

“Rhetoric around “finding common ground” (or common good, as Ms Kelley would have it) and “reducing the need for abortion” has framed the abortion debate for the past few months. While this rhetoric and subsequent efforts may indeed help to move us past the culture wars over abortion and contraception, it is dangerous when these efforts devolve into an abandonment of ideals. In appointing an antichoice advocate to a key position in HHS we are seeing crucial principles abandoned—principles upon which so many men and women rely to lead healthy lives.”

-###-

Catholics for Choice shapes and advances sexual and reproductive ethics that are based on justice, reflect a commitment to women's well-being and respect and affirm the capacity of women and men to make moral decisions about their lives.

So, I was pissed off at the description I heard of Obama's recent speech that we all just need to hold hands and sign Kumbaya with the anti-choicers. And pretty shortly after that speech Dr Tiller was murdered by Christian terrorists, and I'm even more pissed off. Obama, you are being pretty deeply offensive right now to say that pro choicers have common ground with pro lifers.

1. We don't assassinate people in church. Seriously, I have never heard of a pro choice person murdering a pro life person, not in church like Dr Tiller, or in a synagogue like the last doctor murdered by pro life terrorists, or anywhere else for that matter.

2. We don't claim to want to reduce abortions, while opposing contraception and sex ed. There is no national group of pro lifers that supports contraception and comprehensive sex ed. There are individual pro lifers who support contraception and comprehensive sex ed; rock on, I have no beef with you. But the national groups all oppose contraception and comprehensive sex ed-- this means that they don't actually want to reduce abortions, they just want to make sure that women suffer for having sex. They'll lie about it though.

For more information, check out Amanda Marcotte's recent piece on a training program for pro lifers on how to talk to college students-- they're advised to pretend that they support contraception, and pretend that they care about the lives of women, in order to soften up the target to be receptive to the ultimate message: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2009/06/02/the-prolife-movements-hot-rhetoric-and-allout-lies

3. We don't make death threats to pro lifers, gather outside their churches and wave signs and scream that they are murderers, epoxy the locks of their churches shut, or otherwise harass them. We don't try to force them to have abortions. Many of us feel icky about abortion, too-- but we fight for the right of women to choose what they want to do with their bodies.

It's offensive bullshit, btw, to call the routine behavior of anti choice organizations non-violent. I have a friend who did nonviolent protest of a gay-hating church in Virginia; he talked to me about the discussions in his group on how to avoid looking at the folks they were protesting in a way that would hurt their feelings, he and his friends wanted to avoid "violence of the eyes." For more information on the violence that doctors and nurses are exposed to every day, check http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/feature/2009/06/02/susan_hill/index.html and http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2009/06/01/george_tiller/

4. Obama, I hear that you brought up an example of two people who disagree, but work together to solve a real problem. And that you gave the example of a gay activist and an anti-gay Christian who work together to reduce HIV. What a lovely little fairy tale! How unfortunate that you chose an example that has never happened. How interesting that you were not able to give a real-life example of a gay activist and an anti-gay activist working together to do good-- a real-life example of two people who have names, who actually exist in reality-- BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ONE.

I would love to live in the fantasy world where pro choice and pro life people are both ethical, loving, compassionate people working together to cause positive change. That's not where I live though. I live in a world where ethical, loving, compassionate pro choice people have spent thirty years trying to compromise with lying, murdering terrorist who pay lip service to compassion and justice, but undercut it in every way. How fortunate Obama is that he hasn't worked in reproductive justice long enough to learn that the national pro life movement doesn't argue in good faith-- that it pretends to be about reducing abortions, while actually campaigning to eliminiate contraception and enforce abstinence only sex-ed. How deeply offensive that Obama isn't listening to, or acknowledging the work of, the people who have been working in reproductive justice for thirty years, and have learned that you can't compromise with pro-choicers. In the immortal words on Molly Ivins, Obama, time to dance with who brung ya. Quit disrespecting the people who voted for you in order to placate the lying murderers who didn't.

I may have common ground with individuals who aren't comfortable with abortion, but are reasonable human beings. I have no common ground with the lying, murdering terrorists who run the pro life movement in the US.

xoxo

Nabil

I woke up feeling quite tired-- it was the second day of sleep dep, last night I was up late due to Poly Speed Dating, the previous night I was up late due to reading cheesy sf about the Napoleanic war if it was fought with dragons. So, I didn't feel good, but I dragged my butt outta bed, got showered, dressed, and out the door in time to make it in for my first meeting.

I discovered I was sick when I threw up on the street in front of my office building. Huh. Still didn't really feel sick, a little stomach oogy but mostly just tired-- but, well, in general I have this rule of thumb that vomiting = stay home from work. Decided to go on up to the office, do any additional vomiting in the bathroom-- I hate puking on the sidewalk, it's embarrassing-- and tell my boss I needed to be off work.

Didn't quite make it to the bathroom before puking again. Embarrassing!

Made an attempt to clean up the rug outside the bathroom door with paper towels, went into the office, sort of awkwardly told my boss I had just thrown up and was going home sick. Went downstairs and asked my pal the building guard to call me a cab and um, he might want to ask somebody to clean up the rug outside the bathroom on the seventh floor.

It's weird how embarrassing it is to be sick. I was highly tempted _not_ to say anything about the need to clean up the rug, to avoid admitting to causing the mess. After my clean-up with the paper towels, and given that I hadn't eaten anything yet today, I think mostly it looked like somebody had spilled tea on the rug. But, not ethical. Health risk. So, I bit the bullet and told my buddy the guard, apologizing repeatedly for making extra work for somebody.

Weird and awkward to tell my boss I had to go home cause I'd thrown up, too. I feel like I don't look sick, and like I sound crazy and weird and like I'm malingering. Bah.

Anyhow. My pal the really nice building guard called me a cab. And the cabbie was a total kook! He went onto this weird crazy paranoid rant about how racist Latino folks are, totally outta the blue, based on me just telling him my address. From there, he segued into a rant about how nasty men are to other men, and how much he hates Klingons. Kook!

It's kinda pointless arguing with a kook, but I also don't feel able to just let racist shit be said in front of me and not say anything. So, I agreed with him about what jerks Klingons are, and then told him a couple stories about the racism my old Puerto Rican boyfriend faced back in DC. Kinda did that thing where I never directly disagreed with him on a theoretical level, but kept telling anecdotes that contradicted him but that he sort of had to agree with. It actually made the conversation sort of fun for me, and I was distracted from wondering if I was about to throw up the whole cab ride home! (I had brought a trash bag with me from the office kitchen, after the earlier incidents when I was unprepared.) And I didn't puke in the cab! So yay for that. And we both agreed that Klingons are kinda pathetic really, and need to develop a sense of humor.

Anyhow. Now I'm home. Ted's staying home sick too. I made some chai to settle my stomach, and am going to try to get my nap on.

xoxo diseased kisses,

Nabil

 amazon (googlebomb)

ganked from badgerbag.

http://www.eff.org/about/opportunities/jobs/membership

EFF is seeking an energetic, enthusiastic, experienced Membership Coordinator for supporting EFF's current 14,000+ members and to help grow our membership.

Also a Sys admin

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The ideal candidate must have three to five years of systems administration experience. In addition, the candidate must meet or exceed Sage level "Intermediate/Advanced." (See: http://www.sage.org/field/jobs-descriptions.html#Intermediate .)