Drive-by News; Now with Obituary

[liz_marcs]

New Edit:

via entrenous88 and zandra_x

For those of you who don't know yet, cindershadow died several days ago of cancer, a mere three weeks after she had been diagnosed. You can find additional details here and here.

I'll never forget the birthday gift cindershadow gave me in the form of this post here. I was speechless when I read it and I still remain speechless in reading it again. She has done the same for numerous other fanfic writers on LJ by gently pointing them to people who had caught her eye.

She will be missed.

Please leave a comment on cindershadow's last LJ entry so her friends and family can read them.


***

via the_red_shoes:

You might remember this March story about President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Cecilia Fire Thunder deciding to defy the South Dakota ban on abortion and allowing Planned Parenthood to put a clinic on reservation lands.

The tribal council last week responded by banning all abortions from the reservation and suspending Fire Thunder for unauthorized political activity. An impeachment hearing is to be held by the end of this month.

Strangely enough, despite the ban and Fire Thunder's upcoming hearing, a group of reservation women — inspired by Fire Thunder's earlier anouncement — are pushing ahead with building a women's reproductive health clinic called Sacred Choices near Fire Thunder's home town. According to reports, they've already signed the articles of incorporation. As for whether they will offer abortion services, they will go along follow what voters decide when they vote on repealing the state abortion ban in November.

***

Larry Johnson of No Quarter has been blogging about his recent visit to Haditha.

In case you're wondering about Larry's bonafides, he's a former CIA agent and worked in counter terrorism for the U.S. State Department. He now works as a consultant on international criminal enterprises in the private sector. He's neither a dove nor what you'd call a liberal. Personally, I find his insights very interesting and his entries on Haditha are well worth a look.

***

In Boston, Macy's chickened out when anti-gay marriage group MassResistance pitched a fit over two guys standing around in their bathing suits next to the Pride Week legend and removed the mannequins from the display but left the listing for the Pride Week events up.

Here is the offending display that had MassResistance clutching their pearls:

Ummm, as someone who walked by a Filene's Department store (Pronounced FI-lean's if you're a working class schmuck like me; pronounced fih-LEEN's if you're puttin' on the high class airs) on a daily basis as a kid, that sure looks like, oh, just about every single mannequin display I ever saw.

OMIGAWDFILENESHAZCURRUPTEDMEEEEEE! I was staring at gay mannequins all those years and...and...*sob* This explains EVERYTHING!

Ahem.

Anyway, Macy's spineless move has ensured that the well-dressed men of Boston will be very much going elsewhere for their clothing needs.

And the people of Boston did what the people of Boston are bound to do: Call bullshit on Macy's.

The general mood of the Boston Globe chatboards seem to be running heavily in against both Macy's and MassResistance: If you guys were still Filene's, you would've told these mooks to shove it up their asses. Then you would've put up three more Pride Week windows just to piss 'em off.

Let's just say the Boston Globe chat board kept me entertained for a few a hours.

Comments

[anelith.livejournal.com]

If I had a Macy's credit card, I'd be cutting it up and sending it back to them, as one woman on the chat board did. It was fun to read that chat board, thanks for the tip. I hope Macy's gets a spine.

[nycorson.livejournal.com]

~falls over laughing~ and here I never regarded mannequins has having sex at all... who know the secret sex life of mannequins was really a political issue.... need to read the chat boards tonight for entertainment.


hey liz was wondering when you hit writer con would you like some MP3's of some of my weird music in thanks for all the great music you have pointed me at? Was thinking if you like the Pogue's you would probably love Flogging Molly.

[irfikos.livejournal.com]

Thank you for helping me do my mornig eyeball exercises.

Left, right, left, right,
now rooooooolllll around.

Left, right, left, right,
a BIG eyerolll now! Feel the burn!

I just wish there were some simple, non-invasive way to make these people less stupid.

[julia-here.livejournal.com]

Still reeling from the news about cindershadow but you've distracted me with your Macy's hatred. In my neck of the woods it's eaten the Bon Marche, a great old regional chan which, up until the name change, still maintained independant buyers and was a reliable source of other-than-navy-blue-polyester clothing in my size.

I call it a sign of the heat death of the retail universe.

Julia, between Macy's and Walmart there's just so little real choice left

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

I heard about cindershadow this morning. The name was familiar, and although I haven't gone to check I'm pretty sure she had me friended, and I know she left fb for me (which thankfully I mostly replied to -- I don't always manage, but mostly) but I didn't read her journal and when I went and looked at it I discovered that she wrote a lovely long post about me on my birthday just a couple of months ago. I'm so sad that I didn't even know it existed (I couldn't possibly keep up with a flist as large as mine would be if I friended everyone who had me friended, and I prefer not to friend people I don't really 'know' because of privacy issues) and that I didn't have a chance to thank her for it. It was lovely. I'm so sad I won't get the chance to know her now.

[midnightsjane.livejournal.com]

Heee. I thought mannequins were pretty much incapable of any kind of movement, never mind the naughty gay kind...
those MassResistance folks must have really vivid imaginations.

On a serious note, I am very sorry to hear of your friend cindershadow's death. My condolences to all her friends and family.

[nocturnalista.livejournal.com]

Macy's is in the process of devouring the venerable Meier & Frank chain up here in the NW. I grieve at the homogenization of America.

As for the news about the abortion clinic, why am I not surprised? I'm just glad that there's still some resistance.

So sorry to hear about cindershadow. I've read her comments, and she seemed a gentle soul.

[43100.livejournal.com]

Hey; I'm adding you. No need to add me back unless you want to.