(no subject)

[cblj_backup]

Good morning all, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Clearly, some News to Know today is the fact that Osama bin Laden has been confirmed dead. I am honestly not well-educated enough about the war(s) or politics to give reasoned commentary on this, so I won't. But I have for you today a list of people who are asking for help, who are working to make the world better, and who are creating beautiful things.

Ways to Give:

kallaneboi kindly helped me out because I was at loose ends over the tornadoes that have hit the Stateside southeast this week and last: here are lists of places to give and ways to help. queenlily also suggests Help Marion County.

majoline notified me of the Help Comm going up for tornado aid. The auctions are not a go yet, but if you'd like to auction something or bid, HelpTheSouth is the place to be.

Yasuko Akiyama, an Osaka native living in London, is raising funds for children affected by the recent earthquakes and tsunami in Japan. She has translated a poem, "Unbeaten by Rain", into English and created a gorgeous poster of it that she's selling to raise funds.

A new help_japan lightning round is also now open! Including, for those Pern fans who popped up on the cafe recently, a Fire Lizard omg.

maidenjedi kindly came up with a list of aid orgs for the Texas wildfires:
The American Red Cross of Southwest Texas
The Jeff Davis County Relief Fund
The Cattlewomen Care Wildlife Relief Fund
The Texas DoA STAR Fund
There's also a benefit being advertised for May 13-15.

axeslade let me know about the Jim Collins Foundation, which raises money "to fund gender-confirming surgeries for those transgender people who need surgery to live a healthy life, but have no ability to pay for it themselves."

sevenswells let me know about Kiri, who is in desperate need of some cash right now and offering "flash commissions". You can read more and take a look at some of her fantastic chibis and sketches at her deviantart site.

Jill let me know about Melissa Abrantes, who is riding from Austin to Alaska (holy shit!) to raise money for cancer research, in memory of a friend's mother. Her fundraising page is here.

kath_ballantyne let me know about Bella and her (frankly adorable) seven-year-old daughter, Maysie, who will be doing the Race For Life on May 7th, raising money for cancer research in memory of Lis Sladen, Maysie's favourite actress.

fleur_de_liz and her family are participating in the South Shore Arthritis Walk on May 15th in honour of Liz's sister, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis. They're looking for donors, but also to raise awareness about the debilitating effects of this disease.

Give for Free:

bree_black asked me to remind Canadians to get out and vote! Last election, less than 22% of those eligible to vote actually voted for the party that took power.

News to Know:

evilstorm linked me to the story of Chrissy Lee Polis, a 22-year-old woman who was attacked by two other women, beaten severely, and left to seize on the floor of a McDonald's bathroom while others filmed the incident or watched, laughing. Why? She's a transgendered person. You can read her story, partly in her own words, here. If you want to see what happened to her, the video is archived here, along with information on the story. There have been support rallies, though I can't find any info on fundraising to help Chrissy (if you have some, please share). I think the object lesson is clear enough: Don't stand by. If you see someone, anyone, being assaulted, intervene. If you can't or you're scared to, call the police. Don't let this kind of shit go down. It costs you nothing and might save the life, and at the very least the dignity, of another.

imagines let me know that Tennessee is trying to ban discussion of homosexuality in schools. If you're in the state, be aware. If you have any news about protests or fight funds, please let me know. George Takei, in the meantime, is displaying his usual, wonderful irreverence and generosity of spirit towards the kids of Tennessee.

Fans helpin' Fans:

bloodrebel333 is living in an increasingly unsafe situation with a landlord who is sexually harassing her (she's had to call the police on him). But she can't afford to move, and can't apparently get aid (there's more info at the post). She's looking for advice, assistance, or tips on cheap housing in the Den Bosch area of the Netherlands.

effex and sitara are looking for a new roommate in Central Dallas. They've got an info post here.

amand_r made A VERITABLE FUCKTON OF COOKIES. She's selling them for very reasonable prices!

Just for Fun:

This awesome mug reveals famous gay figures from history when hot water is added. Nifty, or niftiest?

It is not a well-known fact (though I guess now it is) that I am scared to death of balloons. Shut up, everyone has their quirks. Anyway, these I kind of like: Crappy Balloon Animals.

I'd like to close this week's post on a quote by one of my literary heroes, John Steinbeck:

It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try to live so that our death brings no pleasure to the world.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can always post items for my attention in comments here (or on any post) or email me at copperbadge at gmail dot com. If you're not sure how to proceed, here is a little more about what I do and how you can help. Remember, non-embedded links are love.

Comments

[kallaneboi.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Sam! :D

[chandri.livejournal.com]

It is not a well-known fact (though I guess now it is) that I am scared to death of balloons. Shut up, everyone has their quirks.

You are not alone. My little sister is terrified of balloons - wave one in her face and she runs screaming. Also, my dad? Had button-phobia. There are weirder things. :)

[bloodrebel333.livejournal.com]

Button-phobia is awful, yes. My best friend's cousin won't come near anyone with buttons on their clothes/items.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

In regards to the attack on Chrissy Lee Polk. The police were called-- by the manager, I think. It took them some time to show up. An employee repeatedly tried to separate them, but didn't succeed.

Intervention in violence takes skills or overwhelming strength. It involves some risk. Maybe more people should have martial arts training and/or bouncer training.

I don't know whether video makes things better or worse, but there's something to be said for having a better chance to identify the attackers accurately. And, of course, something to be said against passing the video around for entertainment.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

It seems like accounts differ -- I'm glad someone did call the police. And intervention is difficult, definitely. But there were multiple people standing there watching/filming, and that's definitely not okay.

As far as I'm aware, the attackers have been arrested -- one will be tried as an adult, one as a juvenile.

[meret.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links!

[beyondthesunset.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Sam, for being your usual thoughtful self.

[lavinialavender.livejournal.com]

I might have told you already that I was also scared of balloons (as a child, not to discount your continuing phobia). Anyway, this is my attempt at offering solidarity.

[bloodrebel333.livejournal.com]

*grins a bit*

[lavinialavender.livejournal.com]

Hey there.

[gracefulfool.livejournal.com]

Scaredy-cats unite! I, too, fear the balloons (or, rather, their potential for sudden, loud noises). ;)

[izhilzha.livejournal.com]

Oh, man, thank you for the Steinbeck quote. That's awesome.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

It's from East Of Eden, of which I am a huge fan :) So many good lines in that book.

[panaili.livejournal.com]

Hey, I was wondering if I could get you to help me promote something on your blog. I read your Radio Free Monday blurbs all the time, and I think they're awesome. I have something that sounds in line with the kind of stuff you tend to promote.

My brother currently works in Chicago, and he just got a grant to run a Pepsi Refresh Project (http://www.refresheverything.com/chicagobookdrive), wherein he wants to collect old and unused books and donate them to Chicago public schools and other organizations that might want them. He needs people to vote for his project to get more funding.

I know that you live in Chicago (which is awesome -- every time I visit there, I adore it more and more, tbh) and you often have Chicago-related links posted on your site. Would you be willing to help publicize this? I think it sounds like something fandom would really get behind. :)

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I can absolutely RFM! Tell your brother good luck from me :)

[athene-51.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure how that 22% figure was reached (wasn't it more like 36% of voters?), but even your reminder was not enough to turn this around. What a clusterfuck.

For the first time ever, the ruling (minority) government was found in contempt of parliament, which forced an election, and yet somehow voters turned around and gave that same party a majority. I am so thoroughly disgusted right now that I can hardly stand it.

GO NDP!!

[pommery.livejournal.com]

*fistbump*

I am both bemused and enraged. Here's hoping the NDP will throw a wrench in the works.

[athene-51.livejournal.com]

I LOVE that they are the official opposition for the first time! But I'm afraid that with the hefty majority numbers, the NDP won't have that many wrenches to throw. Harper basically has a free pass to say "fuck you!" and do whatever he wants, whenever he wants.

[pommery.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know, but my anxiety could use the optimism. :) Anyway, he already owns the senate, and three or so supreme court judges get to be replaced by him in the coming years, and the Auditor General set to retire sooner than later, so I'm not sure a minority would have done much to stop him... Basically, keep your head down and hope we can elect someone to repair some of the damage in 2015.

[arsenicjade.livejournal.com]

I just want to stand in solidarity, once more, with you and your balloon fear.

[emily miller (from livejournal.com)]

Re people standing around a crime.

It's an actual studied phenomena, dating back to the murder of Kitty Genovse in New York.

Here's a link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

Although the bystander effect is a recognised phenomena that really began to be studied thanks to newspaper reports of Kitty Genovese's murder, the actual details of the murder don't support it (http://www.psych.lancs.ac.uk/people/uploads/MarkLevine20070604T095238.pdf). (link goes to a pdf of an academic paper)

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Yeah -- it's the reason some states have Good Samaritan laws. But I think also the reason for this is that not enough people understand what to do in that situation; social rebellion is difficult to commit, but it's easier if we constantly reinforce in each other the urge to take action. It's easy to say it's a syndrome and leave it at that, but I think it's better, for us as a species, to say "It's a syndrome -- perhaps we should treat it".

[flutteringazure.livejournal.com]

As I am in the Den Bosch area of the Netherlands as well, I have tried to leave a comment at the lj of bloodrebel333 containing some URL's to websites that offer free legal advice in the area. Unfortunately lj seems to regard these comments as spam nowadays. From her post I realise her internet connection is at best shady at the moment. The second part of my comment (without any URLs) did appear in reply to her post. Does anyone know of a way to get the information across without bumping into lj's comment filters?
Thanks!

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

I think if you put spaces, or leave off the http://www part, it should come through -- the comment will go through to her notifications, anyway, even if it doesn't show up on the blog.

[bloodrebel333.livejournal.com]

Hi! You can e-mail me at oceanrebel333@gmail.com. I have a pretty strong spam filter, so maybe you can give me your e-mailaddress here, so I can add you to my address list. Internet is shady at best, yes, but I'm trying to find a way to get online at least once a day (long live the public library).

[flutteringazure.livejournal.com]

Hi! My e-mail is ninedegeus (at) gmail (dot) com. I see you already consulted the Juridisch Loket, but there might be one or two other places you could try. Let me know when I can re-send the e-mail? In the meantime all the best wishes and stay strong!

[bloodrebel333.livejournal.com]

You can resend it now, I've added you. Thank you!

[maidenjedi]

I've got another one. The Texas Forest Service has set up an emergency fund to aid volunteer fire departments dealing with the wildfires in Texas. More info: http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/main/article.aspx?id=13348

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'll RFM this next week.

[maidenjedi]

You ROCK.

[terrie01.livejournal.com]

Personally, I support George Takei's tweet in response to the Tennessee bill:
In case you missed it : TN bill willprevent use of word "gay" by teachers. I'm lending my name: "It's okay to be Takei."

I may be a little in love with that man.

[copperbadge.livejournal.com]

*grins* It's linked in the post. It's a great tweet.