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In my inbox today -_-

Dear friends,

Prime Minister Harper is trying to force American-style hate media on Canada. Sign the petition to support CRTC Chair Konrad von Finckenstein (above) and encourage him to protect Canadians from a “Fox News North” channel funded by our own cable TV fees:

Prime Minister Harper is trying to push American-style hate media onto our airwaves, and make us all pay for it.

His plan is to create a “Fox News North” to mimic the kind of hate-filled propaganda with which Fox News has poisoned U.S. politics. The channel will be run by Harper’s former top aide and will be funded with money from our cable TV fees!

One man stands in the way of this nightmare — the Chairman of Canada’s Radio and Telecommunications Commission Konrad von Finckenstein. He’s rejected the plan as a violation of CRTC policies, so now Harper is trying to get him out of the job. Let’s urgently send a massive wave of public support to von Finckenstein, with 100,000 Canadians encouraging him to keep standing up for Canada, and standing firm against Harper’s pressure. Sign the petition below and forward this email to everyone — we’ll publish full page ads in Canadian papers when we reach 100,000:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_fox_news_canada/?vl

Harper hatched his scheme in a secret lunch last year with media-mogul Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News. Harper’s top aide Kory Teneycke also came to the lunch, and then left the government to head up Suncor Newspapers and the new “Fox News North”.

Fox News fuels hate. While constantly claiming to be “fair” and “balanced”, it allows hysterical anchors like Glenn Beck to compare Obama to “Lucifer” and “Hitler”. Bill O’Reilly, another anchor, has threatened to boycott Canada, and Anne Coulter says Canada is “lucky the US allows it to exist on the same continent.” The network has calculatingly spawned the tea party movement in the US, a mobilisation of the fringe right which threatens violence upon its opponents and wears guns to political rallies.

This is a fight for the soul of Canadian democracy. Our media is not perfect, but a ‘news’ network that slavishly serves a political agenda through mass manipulation and fear threatens the fabric of our democratic society.

The CRTC is part of our democracy — it was made an independent commission precisely in order to protect against this kind of government manipulation of the media. Harper knows that he must bully his way through this institution in order to create “Fox News North”. And there are dark rumours in Ottawa that if von Finckenstein will not leave his job, Harper will simply force him to give in. Konrad von Finckenstein is upholding the best tradition of Canadian democracy and civil service in the face of a full scale attack on that tradition. Let’s show him, and Harper, that Canada stands with him.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_fox_news_canada/?vl

“Fox News North” is Harper’s long term strategy to make radical conservatism the political centre in Canada, tearing down the country we love to make us look like the U.S. Thankfully, Konrad von Finckenstein and the CRTC are standing in his way — let’s stand with them.

With hope,

Ricken, Emma, Iain, Laryn and the rest of the Avaaz team

Sources:

Globe and Mail, “Is Harper set to move against the CRTC?”:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/lawrence-martin/is-stephen-harper-set-to-move-against-the-crtc/article1677632/

CBC, “The absolute last thing this country needs”:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/10/f-vp-newman.html#socialcomments#ixzz0r6MC4p46

Globe and Mail, CRTC refuses Sun TV’s bid for preferred status on dial:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/crtc-refuses-sun-tvs-bid-for-preferred-status-on-dial/article1641654/

The Star, “Harper’s foxy luncheon”:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/851510—mcquaig-harper-s-foxy-luncheon

Mediaite, “Canada and Ann Coulter: a volatile relationship”:
http://www.mediaite.com/online/canada-ann-coulter-colleges/

Media Matters, “Glenn Beck compares Obama to Lucifer”:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201008040051

Media Matters, “Glenn Beck smears Obama’s 11 year old daughter”:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201005280025

The Examiner: “Bill O’Reilly again confuses facts about Canadian health care system”:
http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-national/video-bill-o-reilly-again-confuses-facts-about-canadian-health-care-system

Support the Avaaz community! We’re entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way — donate here.

Avaaz.org is a 5.5-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz’s biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

To contact Avaaz, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US).

Aug 31, 2010

#fox news #canada #harper #cable #tv

Aug 30, 201016,295 notes

huzzah~

15/15!

now for the detailed character designs, and then the finals! AND THEN IT’S DONE

w00t

Aug 30, 2010

#i will stop updating about this soon no worries

Aug 30, 2010250 notes

#skull #art

Aug 30, 201038 notes

2 pages in 2 hours

9/15….

U_U

Aug 30, 2010

Aug 30, 2010161 notes

#beauty

last night she said, they were discussing that people of color have so much trauma in their lives, that the focus is only ever on survival, never healing. she said, it made me think. last year, i think both of us were going through our own traumas. and we were so focused on surviving our own…

Aug 30, 2010

#emotion #healing #love

Aug 30, 201072 notes

#owls #cute #scary

Aug 30, 2010341 notes

wah

my work ethic is terrible when i’m working from home.

7/15 pages done. just drafts. after finishing these i’ve gotta do the finals, and then hopefully there’ll be no problems and it’ll be done. I’m having fun, no doubt, but I really don’t like staring at le comp this much, haha.

EDIT hohohoho taking a break for the BET AWARDS! MJ SPECIAL! hausuhaudhsdjfg

Aug 29, 2010

Aug 29, 201045 notes

Aug 29, 2010

#me #bichon frise #is deh shyt

Aug 29, 20102 notes

#photo cred akuma makoto #love #life #passion

Aug 29, 2010

Aug 28, 20101 note

#cities #industrial

Didn't you know? Race is irrelevent!

ihatethismess:

bowfolk:

kafuka:

heroics:

I don’t participate in many discussions on Tumblr, but I need to put my Serious Cap on for a second.

Like most of Tumblr, I was really happy when I read Marvel’s reaction to Racebending’s concerns about the Runaways casting. After the way M. Night brushed off concerns about The Last Airbender casting, I really didn’t think there was much hope for Nico. Fortunately, I was wrong, and Nico will be the first Asian-American lead in a Marvel movie! Excellent!

Anyway, I was in a fantastic mood until I read the comments on the Spinoff Online article about Marvel’s reaction. I know 70% of comments on any website are ignorant, but some of these are ridiculous:

Read More

this again? when will people get that this stuff counts, matters, reflects everything right and wrong about the industries so many look up to! asfadasdasd

Aug 28, 2010

#marvel #race

i disagree. i definitely think that there are certain privileges that come with being skinny in societies where skinny is ideal. and let's face it, western ideals and the effects of this reach all over the world even in societies where thick is sexier. i'm not gonna sit here ranking privileges and powers, but being skinny is one of them. you might not see how it is, but it is. i'm not skinny but nor am i fat. i can see my own privileges with being the body shape that i am, i can also see the non because i have throughout my whole life been criticized for being fat by everyone in my family and strangers. society tells you that skinny is how you should be. and this kind of power ideal has numerous effects - eating disorders that affect all sizes of people, people who aren't skinny and can't be skinny and are ostracized for it by society. what i'm saying is that yes i'm sure that skinny people are criticized for being skinny by people who are imposing their assumptions on said skinny people, but at the end of the day that skinny person is still the ideal. you might get shit for it, but you're what "everyone wants to be". not wanting to be skinny doesn't change the fact that this is what society tells us is beautiful. i'll compare it to white privilege. specifically something like white guilt, and white people saying "i was born this way i didn't ask to be this way i would change my skin if i could". which reeks of privilege. because that person isn't acknowledging the privileges of being white, or all the things that go along with not being white. by saying i'd be a poc if i could, you're making invisible all the shit that poc go through. it's not productive. because honestly, if someone could really choose... why the hell would they forego their attribute of privilege for something they're gonna get shit for EVERY DAY. people look at skinny, pretty people differently than they do fat, ugly people. if you're saying you'd rather be the latter, you're saying that from a place of privilege. it would never be an option for you so you can say it without consequence. as far as being sick of people giving you shit for being skinny... fuck em. that's bullshit. i think most of this isn't making sense. i'm not attacking you, i'm just trying to make you think about it.

I definitely understand everything you’re saying.
Eating disorders and the like are not a product of those who are naturally skinny. It’s a product of society and the media telling you you should be like that. It’s a mind-fucked attitude reinforced by corporate entities, not individual skinny people. And yes, there are those who ride on their skinniness and are bigots. However, I am not one of those.

Like I said, I was born skinny, and can never know what it’s like to be born otherwise, and i’m definitely not telling anyone who IS born otherwise that they should stop harping or whatever. I have never said I wish I was fat, either, and not because of what society deems attractive, but because personally I have learned to LIKE my body. I like it because I have no choice. However, should a fat or ugly person come by me, i’m not gonna judge them based on what society thinks; I specifically go against what society deems sexy or attractive, and I will never be one to epitomize those ideals. Perhaps I have no SOLID aim to change my body because I am subconsciously the “ideal” at this moment in time. However i’m trying to make the point that I don’t have luscious locks and big boobs and lipgloss and whatever else, because I don’t give a fuck what society wants me to be like, I want to be what I want to be. And I suppose finding out why I want what I want is a whole other existential thing I can’t even being to approach yet.

The only privilege I have ever experienced due to the size of my frame is to be seen as aesthetically pleasing, or desirable. That is all. And for me, me personally, that has never ever been a priority or a goal to keep. Again, maybe this is because I was born this way and don’t know what it feels like to want to be what society wants, because i’ve never had to want it.

I am still a person of color, I am still queer, I am still everything else and all my goals and wants and needs are watered down into being attractive according to society and nothing else counts. It’s true, I may have it easier in the branch of society that wants thin to be sexy, but that’s really where it ends. The skinny vs fat argument has nothing to do with health, wealth or happiness, and everything to do with aesthetics and being sexually desirable. This is not really high on my list, never has been. I quite despise being seen as a sexual object by many men (and women) just because of my body type. Again, maybe I despise it because it’s always been present, but this is my experience, and I have never asked for such attention. This could again be twisted into “oh, poor you being preyed on, life is so tough eh?” and no, that’s not at all what i’m suggesting. But the privilege of this body stops at the privilege of being desirable. This body doesn’t get me a job, this body doesn’t get me an education, this body doesn’t get me respect in the school or workplace, this body doesn’t get me good friends, good environments to live in, this body doesn’t get me anything except the notion of attractiveness, that which I aim to tear down anyway because it creates insecurity for all other bodies.

I am also ridden with scars and stretch marks everywhere, (from my neck down) due to the months in hospital at birth where numerous surgeries and tubes where given and done to me to ensure my health. I don’t try to hide any of this. Society would deem both those features undesirable, and perhaps take away from the skinniness that I am. Who the fuck cares? I don’t. I never will.

Again this is just my experience, and I know it doesn’t apply to everyone. I’m speaking from the point of view of someone who is born skinny but does not ever use it as a tool for anything. If it is a subconscious tool I have yet to see it pay off except in the area of unwanted attention and sexual objectification. Being skinny is not good for anything other than being desirable in the eyes of others. And the eyes of others have never been mine.

Anyway, I do appreciate the time taken to write all that you did, and add a voice to the discussion. I hope you don’t mind me publishing it. If so i’ll take it down!
I think it is just very important for people (especially on tumblr it seems) to understand that just as there is such a thing as naturally fat and undeserving of fatophobic criticism, there is such a thing as naturally skinny and undeserving of skinny-o-phobic (i dunno, is there a word?) criticism. Nobody can live and look and be healthy at this rate, where everyone wants to say what’s best.

EDIT: there was also the recent time that I aimed to gain weight specifically to ward off the notion that I have a problem or MUST have some issue because I am skinny. I still eat more than is comfortable, but it has become the norm for me. This is directly caused by the notion that skinny = privileged. Is it right that I should act this way, do something that makes me uncomfortable, so that others can feel comfortable around me? How is it different that a fat person not eating around their skinny friends?? The point is, again, that the skinny vs fat is about attractiveness and sexual desire, not health or happiness and therefore I think it quite superficial. My original post is basically about how THIS argument is superficial compared to that of race, gender, class, sexuality, etc.

But again, thanks kai for the input, freals.

Aug 28, 2010

skins

I don’t think being skinny should be grouped into the same power as being white, cis, abled, or male.

yeah, I was born 3 months premie and as a result cannot physically get any larger than my skinny five foot 3 self, this i’ve been told by doctors and the like. (trying to do so would make me sick. -_- fail) and so I don’t know what it’s like to live in a world where the skinny is in and everything else is not. I don’t know that kind of prejudice. No matter how much cheese i’m eating at night, no, I can’t walk in your shoes.

But I do know the kind that comes from being told whenever i’m out to eat more, to cover myself up because people will think I have a problem….all because what? It’s unbelievable to think someone can be born and live healthily with this body and didn’t have to have a disorder or a diet or whatever you think, to get that way.

Being skinny doesn’t give you any of the power the aforementioned groups have. In fact, i’d argue people take me less seriously because they think i’m either chasing some stupid superficial ideal and don’t have a brain, they think I couldn’t win in a fight, orrrrr that i’m just “cute” because my skinnyness MAY reflect THEIR ideal. emphasis on their and not mine.

This was basically a rant. I’m just sick of the whole “You’re skinny, so you are ana or bulimic, or you are doing something to stay that way. You’re skinny so you’re priveledged. You’re skinny so people love you more. You’re skinny so you’ve got it easier. You’re skinny so you will score more.”

are you kidding me? your goals are not my own, don’t generalize. Do what you need to do to make yourself feel better, feel healthier. But not at the cost of others.

Aug 28, 20102 notes

#body image #skinny

Play

Aug 28, 20102 notes

#sailormoon S #haruka #queer #anime