Surrealism in Everyday Life: Avoid Sexual Harrassment by Becoming a Spy

Sponsored posts on Facebook often make me sigh in frustration or roll my eyes, but all I could say when this one popped up was — what the ever-loving actual fuck?

Transcript:

Unlike working in Silicon Valley, women in STEM at NSA enjoy the kind of work-life balance that only comes with the Intelligence Community. That’s because you literally can’t take your work home with you (it’s classified). Learn more…

Facebook, November 2, 2019

Maybe someone at the NSA has a sense of humor or something, but is there actually anyone who thinks that the solution to misogynist techbro harassment is — to become a spy? To go into the intelligence business, <sarcasm>well-known for its embrace of feminism and queer rights? </sarcasm>

Screenshot from “New Wave Feminists” website.

I’m undecided about whether this counts as Ultra-Peak White Feminism or not, because it seems unlikely that it came from an actual feminist. On the other hand, we have groups like New Wave Feminists grabbing the handle as a way to make anti-choice politics “hip” again, so you never know. In the age of Trump, every day makes me feel like I’m on a really bad acid trip.

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Surrealism in Everyday Life: Avoid Sexual Harrassment by Becoming a Spy
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Nicole Arteaga is Why I Have No Tears for Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Silhouettes of two pregnant people facing away from each other: One white on black, the other black on white.

On Saturday, I got to indulge in a little bit of petty glee at the story of Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her family getting kicked out of the Red Hen restaurant in Lexington, Virginia. As predicted, there’s been much clutching of pearls and wringing of hands, even from the left wing. Rep. Elijah Cummings, who I revere as a certifiable badass, said that the Red Hen should have served Huckabee Sanders:

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Saturday Morning Schadenfreude: Restaurant Throws Sarah Huckabee Sanders Out on Her Worthless Ass

 

Caricature of Sarah Huckabee Sanders scowling and pointing at the viewer.
Caricature of Sarah Huckabee Sanders by DonkeyHotey (CC)

Soon, we’re going to hear this as the latest evidence that white Xian conservatives are truly the most oppressed population in the United States: The manager of the Red Hen in Lexington, Virginia, told White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her family to leave, allegedly because of her association with Trump.

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Saturday Morning Schadenfreude: Restaurant Throws Sarah Huckabee Sanders Out on Her Worthless Ass

An Ambivalent Proposal: Make “Incel” a Verb

incel-you-banner
I had an idea the other day: Let’s turn “incel” into a verb. Not just a verb, but an insulting curse to wish bad luck on people who just can’t help being assholes. Instead of saying “Fuck you!” now we’ll say “Incel you!”

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An Ambivalent Proposal: Make “Incel” a Verb

The Left Isn’t Killing Language: The Lies and Failures of David Smalley

David Smalley just published a blog post over on Patheos that is so pompous, so hackneyed, so insufferably wrapped in ego and bad argument that I almost feel inspired to start a Social Justice Nonfiction version of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest in order to pay tribute.

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The Left Isn’t Killing Language: The Lies and Failures of David Smalley

Antifa is Not the “Vegan Isis”: A Roundup of Real Information About Antifascism

Point number one: Fuck you, Trevor Noah . The line “vegan ISIS” might have sounded very, very clever in your writers room, but it has fuck-all to do with reality.

There’s a lot of potential, legitimate discussion to be had about the tactics of antifa groups and black blocs. Not a single one starts with the assumption that protesters who oppose fascism and white supremacy are moral equals to the cheap-suit Klanners who marched at Charlottesville and attempted to do the same in San Francisco and Berkeley just last week.

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Antifa is Not the “Vegan Isis”: A Roundup of Real Information About Antifascism

Disinformation at Work: The OK Gesture is NOT a Hate Sign

I’m very happy to hear, courtesy of the Anti-Defamation League, that the “OK” symbol hasn’t been co-opted as a secret sign by White Nationalists after all.

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Disinformation at Work: The OK Gesture is NOT a Hate Sign

The Toxic Centrism of Bernie Sanders

The Toxic Centrism of Bernie Sanders (Image by Gage Skidmore)
Bernie Sanders by Gage Skidmore

For many people, calling Bernie Sanders a centrist is the most counter-intuitive kind of doublespeak there is. He may have lost the Democratic primary last year, but he did in fact win the branding war: in the media, Sanders is immediately associated with the “progressive” wing of the Democratic Party. This is a neat trick, given that he’s steadfastly refused to share his mailing lists with the party, support their candidates, or even join the Democratic Party, something that’s generally considered a prerequisite for being part of the leadership.

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The Toxic Centrism of Bernie Sanders

Why I Support The Decision to Ban Cop Floats from Pride Toronto

Silhouette of cop bashing upraised hands against Pride Flag Background

Sophiya is a young bisexual woman who immigrated to Canada from Pakistan. Because she’s still in the closet about her identity, she asked to publish this piece here. 

Pride Toronto recently made the decision to ban cop floats from Pride. A decision that has led to much controversy, and obviously lots of people being angry at Pride Toronto. Many are also angry at Black Lives Matter activists for having the “audacity to make a demand that excludes/discriminates against a group”. Chuck Krangle, a gay Toronto cop, also recently wrote an open letter to Pride Toronto venting that he was being discriminated against, and he didn’t want his right as a gay person to participate in Pride to be taken away.

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Why I Support The Decision to Ban Cop Floats from Pride Toronto

A Mixtape For Survival and Resistance in the Trump Years

So, the Trump years begin. Whatever I think of it, one of the most vile human beings ever to come out of the United States is now president.

The first few hours brought us instant elimination of the LGBT page and other issues from the White House website. It’s tempting to chalk it up to the sheer incompetence of Trump and his staff; after all, putting up a new website takes a lot of coordination and effort. However, the Trump team apparently had their shit together enough to make sure that Melania’s jewelry line got promoted on the site — at least, until the media started to call them on it.

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A Mixtape For Survival and Resistance in the Trump Years