sundries

[rm]

Claudette is adjusting well. She is more secure and lets both Patty and I pet her. She is eating well and seems to have figured out the temporary litterbox we set up for her after the horrific destruction of a really cheap Ikea throw pillow. Patty took this picture of her (along with many others that are AWESOME) to send to the woman who fostered her:

Openly gay MP to make the case that supporting gay rights is a key element of modern conservatism. I grok the argument, but can barely grok a political landscape in which that is true in the US although my gut tells me that the guy is right in that a lot of gays would vote on conservative/Republican lines here if gay rights weren't part of the issue. This makes me uncomfortable, because too often I see many members of the gay community wanting equality on gay issues so as to have their privilege on other fronts back (seriously, the organized gay activist community has a shit track record when it comes to racial and ethnic diversity).

Pride House opens at the Olympics. Because several countries participating in the Olympics have legal sanctions against LGBT people, Pride House is prepared to address asylum claims. So far, they have already received four inquiries.

Gay boutique hotel planned for NYC. That'll be interesting. Wonder if it'll be no girls allowed. Why do I ask? Similar ones I know of in Europe and the dance club anchorage.

Some states are planning a battery of tests that would let high school sophomores that complete them to skip immediately to community college. On one hand, good. On the other hand... why can't high school be high school and do the job it should and produce students who can write so that a B.A. is something other than people learning skills I had the luck and privilege to master in 6th grade?

The story we were expecting to break on Gov. Patterson finally did. And it's about the sharp rise of one of his aides. It is discussion candy. First, it's filled with framing that's unpleasant, and I feel nearly sure wouldn't be there in so voluminous a fashion if the protagonists in this tale weren't PoC. But then again, the New York Times having RaceFail? Is anyone surprised? It also, however, raises the question of whether domestic violence perpetration should disqualify someone for political work. This is something of a hot topic in New York State politics because of a case involving a state senator as well. If you follow the coverage of the cases there is, I think, a subtle undertone of shrugging acceptance that of course some powerful men beat women, and what are you going to do about it? Disturbing.

John Hodgman on the very weird world of fame.

Daily obligatory promotion of tw_itallchanges. Episodes are staring RSN.

The Infinitus CFP deadline has been extended. I wonder if I should send in another one.

Comments

[karathephantom.livejournal.com]

I'm really conflicted about the new political emphasis on the early-graduation-then-community-college plan. Because I hear good points being made on all sides, but I can't be unbiased, because I graduated HS after my sophomore year and went to community college at 15.

I mean, for full disclosure, I was a mega-geeky homeschooled outlier kid who adored school and had begged to go to college since turning 13. My situation was fairly strange. Early graduation ended up working amazingly for me. But it was a legal/bureaucratic nightmare, so my initial response is to be in favor of making it an easier thing to do. On the other hand, I agree that kids coming into college already have a hard time when it comes to meeting academic standards because of poor preparation in HS.

When I went, the standards for going early were high. We weren't allowed to take any remedial classes, and had to have test scores that proved we didn't need remedial classes. They reviewed our college grades to make sure we were doing well enough to stay in the program. With some kinds of safeguards like that, I think this might be a good thing. But I'm still just a little conflicted about it all.