sundries

[rm]

Patty's in the shower. Then it's time for breakfast and off to the city center to sit in a Starbucks and catch up on all the work we're both behind on. Yay. I'll also do some of the Thanksgiving grocery shopping today. Since it's not a holiday here, it's perfectly safe for me to wait until tomorrow to go to the market.

I go through this thing, wherein when people tell me yes (i.e., the DW/TW/SJA book chapter) I get very into submitting for more things so more people tell me yes. This isn't, at all, a bad thing, but it would be better if I was a) this driven towards submissions all the time and b) better at acknowledging the work to be done before I acquire even more of it. Anyway, I've got a a few CFP-like things I'm idly contemplating on now. The one that's the least relevant to my work is, of course, the one tantalizing me the most, and if I come up with something good, it will be awesome.

Around the time I wrote the proposal for the book chapter, I also wrote a pitch letter about something to a new publication, from whom I've not heard in any manner. It was the sort of note I would have at least expected a "thanks, but no thanks" from, and I wonder now if I will actually hear something soon, if only because I'd also written off the book think because I was originally supposed to hear in September. Life is strange.

intothenightx is trying to raise enough money so that she and her sister can see their grandfather before he is taken off life-support.

Hey, hate crimes statistics show that 18% of hate crimes happen because of perceived sexual orientation or gender non-conforming, when, as we know, at most, 10% of the population is queer. The piece at the link also notes that the SPLC reported that gay people are far more likely to be victims of hate crimes than any other group.

arjache made a great post about how the TSA's new tactics to see what's in your pants intersects with the risks trans folks face.

Also useful information for those flying while trans in light of the new TSA policies.

Hey, can anyone clarify this for me? Do I have to go through a security search after getting off my flight now? In addition to customs and immigration? What the hell? As a US citizen who was out of the country when all this shit started, I thought I wouldn't have to deal with scanner vs. grope until my next fight out from a US airport (presumably in December).

Also, if the new security machines just show what's in people's pockets or hidden under their clothes why can we see leg bones in these snaps?

kalichan wrote a thing about *fail and fandom and the way(s) that thought and speech orthodoxy in addressing some very real problems aren't helping, and are often missing the point. Also, stop abusing "freedom of speech!" in arguments, it's annoying. There's some good stuff in the comments too.

Further clarification from the Catholic church on AIDS and condoms. Statement now seems to be even more significant.

Since I've linked to it before, more on the Spiderman musical, which looks kind of awesome.

Central Park's ghost boots.

Comments

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

When I came back from the UK this past June, I had to go through a security checkpoint in order to make my connection. Luckily, I had several hours available before my flight. Other people near me in line had cut it close and probably missed their flights. I can't really remember if I went through a backscatter machine, but I might have.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I don't have a connection in the US though -- I just go home.

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

I think that someone said the additional security line was only for connecting flights, but I'm not completely sure. This was the Philadelphia airport.

I envy your ability to fly out of a major airport. I'm stuck with a regional airport that always requires a connection.

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

We went from Mexico through Philly on the way back to New England last week and we did indeed have to go through security on our way into the airport so that we could make our connecting flight (we had plenty of time, though) but again, this was a connection, so hopefully it won't apply to rm.

[jcbemis.livejournal.com]

I've certainly had to reclear TSA for a connecting flight after customs in the past - I don't know about when it is your destination - sorry

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

My guess is that we see the tibia in that scan because it lies just under the skin, and is dense and large and extremely reflective. You'll have noticed that it doesn't show up from the back.

But that only goes to illustrate more of the issues with these machines. How carefully can wavelength really be managed so that only clothing is penetrated? The answer certainly seems to be, not carefully enough, especially given that I've seen discussion that seems to admit that at least some of the intended radiation penetrates the skin, a nontrivial issue especially for those flying frequently and for those who have been treated with radiation.

Like, for example, most breast cancer patients who have opted for breast-conserving surgery, since it's usual practice to irradiate the tumor bed to be sure of having killed any stray cancer cells. Or like any breast cancer patients who've had mastectomies but whose tumors had high-risk characteristics, where best practices often call for chest wall radiation. After these treatments people are advised not to even allow the affected area to get any sun, like, ever again in their lives; they (we) carry tiny tattoos so that medical personnel know where to make sure they avoid hitting us with any further radiation; changes in the skin from the treatment are obvious to those in the know. (I do not look forward to explaining all of this to the nice ladies and gentlemen of the TSA next time I fly. And I'm good at explaining these things without irritating security people.)

And these safety problems are only the ones that come up if the machines work as intended, and if there's never an accident with the operating software. If and when there is, all bets are off. It's enough that on balance, I'm more pleased than not to have a medical issue that would and will force me to opt out of the backscatter machines, no matter how dreadful the alternative becomes.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The more reading I'm doing, with my family history of both breast and skin cancer, I'm opting out out of common sense at this point, rather just the general desire to be an irritant in an irritating system.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

And now, via Digby, I understand that we have a handy new term for what can happen when you opt out. New on Urban Dictionary, and no doubt in increasingly current use everywhere: gate rape.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just... WOW.

I'm hoping, probably vainly that some degree of roll-back in this mess will happen by the time I have to deal with it (probably the day after Christmas).

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

And via Josh Marshall at TPM, a solid-looking explanation of the unaddressed risk factors with the backscatter machines.

I think we can reasonably conclude that you need to opt out, and would need to even if you didn't oppose them on other grounds.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

February in my case, but agreed.

I was intrigued to see that the Opt Out Day meme has penetrated so far into the media consciousness that the latest BBC News article on the TSA actually not merely referred to it but linked to the site of the group that thought it up.

[rm.livejournal.com]

NYTimes too. Including all the discussion about wearing kilts.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's...not offensive at all.

*boggle*