#I am starting a Kerry Deserves a Friend campaign

[irenespring]

I have started an autistic!Wilson fic but after that is finished I may answer the call to write an extremely angsty Kerry Weaver character study fic (probably with a Susan/Kerry ship affiliation because I have never been fully able to get past Sandy outing Kerry). I have been rewatching ER and my girl deserves better. She is the very best, I adore her with my entire being, and like 80% of "protagonists" of the show participate in a campaign to hurt her for no clear reason except that she doesn't seem neurotypical. It would probably be some heavy angst because when I watch certain scenes in seasons 7/8 I get the distinct sense of "this character is severely depressed to the point of being suicidal, and no one knows or cares." It would probably follow the trajectory of Susan realizing at some point just how bad things have gotten for Kerry since she left, and feeling Remorse.

Rewatching ER sometimes feels like watching someone's villain origin story. Because Kerry starts out intense, but clearly trying very hard to make friends. She just wants to make things better for everyone. And she has Ideas of how to do that and wants to share them. But by season 8 she starts to close off and retreat behind walls of hostility, because all the nt characters were attacking her anyway. She starts looking out for herself more, because she is aware that everyone else hates her for things she can't fully control, and would stab her in the back eagerly and happily if they got the chance. She becomes less "let me help you all with my Charts!!!" and more "I need to stay on top to survive please don't take the only thing I have in my life away from me let me just have this job." So if Kerry stayed at County General until a hypothetical season 23, and a new character is like "why is she so closed off/cold/compulsively pushing everyone away?", the flashback sequences would be to seasons 2-8.

I may also answer the call to write a surprising friendship fic between House and Kerry because of character parallels I've discussed in a previous post and because I think it would really work. They would NOT get along working together, but at a conference, especially post ER season 7, they might become quasi-kindred spirits. Because they both NEED to be right to justify their existence, and I think House would recognize how Kerry is slowly becoming afraid of showing any kind of soft edge to people, even if he would never acknowledge that recognition. I think they would settle into a kind of "I would rather crawl over glass than work with you, but outside of work we can sit and drink and ruminate about how other people are wrong and ignore how we are one of each other's only friends" dynamic. They are similarly intense, but in conflicting ways (Kerry hyperfixates on administration and House hyperfixates on cases in a way that makes him rebel against administrators). Also Kerry just deserves a friend.

#house md #gregory house #james wilson #fanfiction #er #er tv show #kerry weaver #I am starting a Kerry Deserves a Friend campaign #If you are familiar with my fic- SII's girlfriend Kitty was originally my Give Kerry a Friend OC #I somewhat ship Kerry/Sandy and Kerry/Susan #I usually default to Kerry/Susan because of the whole “outing” issue #Anyway a warning; if anyone asks for elaboration I WILL elaborate #I was ranting to my therapist and she was like “wait I remember that show when it aired I thought Kerry was suicidal and was scared for her #tw suicide mention #Kerry Weaver deserves better #I will die on this hill #One of my characteristic “this was supposed to be two sentences and now it's a mini essay” posts #I am trying to write fic I promise it's just my brain had too much autism last week to function #Yes I am biased towards Kerry she is my favorite I am not accepting criticism at this time #The urge to hate post about some other ER characters (Mark and Doug) is strong but I shall resist

[thejealouscactus]

System of a Down Are Why I’m Communist

Originally written for a Street Fight zine about a year or two ago. 

Like a lot of people in my generation, I became politically aware during the dark days of the George W. Bush presidency, particularly around the time of the 2004 election. The same year Green Day released the liberal anti-Bush magnum opus American Idiot. By that point I realized that Bush was a fascist buffoon and a repulsive Christian chauvinist. The Weapons of Mass Destruction that were hyped to sell the Iraq War turned out to be totally nonexistent. It was the first time I became aware that the government would blatantly lie to the people. All the people killed and maimed and an inconceivable amount of money spent was founded on a lie. I rooted for John Kerry, since I thought he would stop Bush’s reign of terror, greed and ignorance and there were no other options. But we all know how that turned out. It was demoralizing for me, the “good guy” lost and the country and the world would have to endure another four year term of Bush.

The next year was the year System of a Down released Hypnotize and Mesmerize and it was when they entered my radar. The music videos for the albums were played fairly frequently on MTV and VH1. As a young metal-head and peacenik, B.Y.O.B. was right up my alley. At the time I was a big fan of Black Sabbath and Megadeth because of their lyrics with similar themes. After I heard that I had to dig into their discography. Not necessarily the easiest thing living in the middle of Ohio and with a dad who was iffy on letting me hear albums with a parental advisory sticker. Through borrowing from friends and Sam Goody trips in a nearby city I was able to get most of their CDs. 2005 was also the year of Hurricane Katrina, when Bush’s incompetence cost thousands of lives and ruined the lives of many more. A sign of how the rest of Bush’s second term would be. The music of System of a Down were the perfect soundtrack for it.

The lyric books that came with the CDs taught me more than I would learn in school. Listening to them made me feel smart. Prison Song taught me about the prison industrial complex; how it punishes and controls rather than reforming people, and the governments’ dirty hands in the drug trade that fills the prisons up. “Minor drug offenders fill your prisons, you don't even flinch/ All our taxes paying for your wars against the new non-rich.” They also have lyrics that treat drug users with an empathy that is not often seen in media or in school. Boom! Is another antiwar song of theirs that hit me hard. “Manufacturing consent is the name of the game/The bottom line is money, nobody gives a fuck/ 4000 hungry children leave us per hour from starvation/While billions are spent on bombs, creating death showers!” I had the naive thought in my head that if everyone heard that song there would be no more war. They have other songs dealing with propaganda, environmentalism, big business’ influence on government, and so on.  I didn’t learn about the Armenian Genocide in school, I learned about it from System of a Down.

As the years went on my taste in music changed. I stopped considering myself a metal-head and no longer listened to System of a Down. My political beliefs evolved as well. I was a Daily Show watching progressive liberal in my high school years. In 2008 I had high hopes for Obama. His advertising campaign made me think he would be the anti-Bush. He promised to close down Guantanamo Bay and end the Iraq War. I thought he would be the new Franklin Roosevelt as we went into the Great Recession. After several years into his first term I realized he was a phoney. We were still blowing up the Middle East, and didn’t crack down on Wall Street or rebuild the welfare state. He basically solidified Bush’s legacy and didn’t bring the hope and change he promised. The disappointment led me to anarchism and socialism, and I started reading books on the subjects from the college library. I began as many leftists do with Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, and when reading them I noticed how many phrases and concepts in their writings were in System of a Down songs. Deer Dance referenced Zinn’s memoir You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train. The seeds of my becoming a socialist were planted with System of a Down.

It’s been 15 years since I first heard Hypnotize, and it feels like a whole lifetime ago with the overwhelming amount of history that has happened in my life and in the world since then. A lot has changed, but so much has unfortunately stayed the same. There’s a different fascist buffoon in the White House. The forever wars in the Middle East have not stopped, they’ve just become easier for most people to ignore. Bush’s image has been largely rehabilitated. He got to floss dance with Ellen DeGeneres and Democrats approval rating has increased over the years since at least he’s not a dang Cheeto like Drumpf. The ghouls in Bush’s circle deserved to be tried at the Hague or at least pelted with shoes whenever they go outside, but they are still free and continue to hold power and influence. Some of them are working for Joe Biden.

Over the last year or so I rediscovered System of a Down, and am surprised at how well it held up musically and lyrically. Deer Dance could have been written in 2020, since the subject of police brutality against protesters is perhaps more relevant and in focus now than ever before. “Pushing little children/ With their fully automatics/ They like to push the weak around”. It was probably inspired by the Battle of Seattle but since then we have seen the police brutalize protesters at Occupy, Ferguson, Standing Rock, and reaching a boiling point in this year. I can’t say if more people listened to them they would also be socialist. Even their drummer John Dolmayan turned out to be a MAGA chud this year. It had a lasting and significant influence on me at least. It at least gave me a head start in my political education.

#system of a down #soad #communism #left wing

[wigwurq]

WIG REVIEW: THE PROM

You guys. Remember when just last week week I LOLed at my mom when I told her I had finally watched the lesbian holiday movie (The Happiest Season) and she thought I meant The Prom and I told her (and then you, dear readers!) that it would take me forever to hate watch that. WELL I JUST HATE WATCHED THAT. There is a lot to discuss, you guys. ALSO WIGS.

We begin in “New York City” or the CGI hellscape replication of it. Nothing about this movie is authentic except for maybe NY1′s theater reporter, Frank Dilella at the opening of a fake musical called “Eleanor! The Eleanor Roosevelt Musical!” which is meant to be a hilarious joke (it is not) starring Meryl Streep as Eleanor and James Corden as FDR and JOKE IS ON THEM AND US because why are they in this terrible movie and why the hell am I watching it? Oh right: THE WIGS. YOU GUYS THE WIGS. Meryl, who is truly slumming more in this than any other actor in this garbage also has to endure the very worst wig. SHE DID HAVE AN EVEN WORSE WIG IN MARY POPPINS RETURNS. But here this wig is so very much a bad wig that I struggled for a while wondering if this was going to be a wig within the narrative but no. Sadly, it looks like a castoff from some QVC Liza Minnelli wig collection.

AND EVERYONE LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE DRESSED IN A QVC LIZA MINNELLI NON-HALSTON SEQUIN COLLECTION GHOSTMARE (Liza should probably trademark that tho). I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY SEQUINS OUTSIDE OF DAVID GEST’S GUEST HOUSE. Also, after the fake Eleanor musical opens, Meryl and James retire to “Sardis” or the CGI version of it where they discover that their show got (gasp!) bad reviews. EVERYONE LEAVES IMMEDIATELY except Meryl, James, Andrew Rannells who is another actor/bartender and NICOLE KIDMAN.

SHE IS ALSO WEARING SEQUINS AND HAS A BAD WIG. But we are talking about Nicole Kidman, so the chances of her wearing a bad wig are 110%. I couldn’t honestly tell you what her role is in this other than “another Broadway actress”(?) Her wig is likely the same one that Joanna Lumley wore for 10 seasons as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous which has in the last decade or so been slowly decaying in a crawlspace somewhere only to reappear on the head of Nicole Kidman in the role of “another Broadway actress” in this movie. Anyway, all these washed up randos decide they need to stop acting and start activist-ing and pin all their hopes on a lesbian in Indiana who wanted to go to the prom and got the whole prom shut down due to smallmindedness. They travel to Indiana in a non-equity Godspell touring bus during which time my husband asked me who designs bus seats and truly: that is a question more profound and interesting than anything you will find in this “film.” But I do have many questions! If these actors have all been on Broadway and Meryl’s character has a few Tonys even, why do they need to bus it to Indiana?!?!

Anyway, over in “Indiana” (all places are actually LA or a set or a CGI hellscape), there is a big community meeting or something which is still all about not having a prom, because the only damn thing that matters in this community is THE PROM. The NYC actors show up and turn the meeting into a musical extravaganza with Meryl and her tragic wig center stage. More questions!! As a theater piece, it would make sense for this whole meeting to suddenly become a musical performance complete with spotlight entrances and sparkle curtains because it is already all fantasy. Ryan Murphy has no interest in creating a more realistic presentation in this new medium and just lets that happen here too? Sure - I guess the actors could have just arrived with all stage cues and crews to make this happen (LOLOL NO THEY COULDN’T) and this is honestly exactly why most stage to screen adaptations rarely work (though to be very fair - I had just about as much interest in seeing this on stage as on TV - negative 1000%). All realism, logic, quality, are not at all what this “movie” is aiming for. JUST SEQUINS! CONSTANT GODDAMNED SEQUINS! 

It should be noted that Kerry Washington plays the conservative PTA mom at the center of canceling prom and bitch got away with the very best wig! Also the big spoiler here is that her daughter is the secret lesbian love of the lesbian she is trying to stop from going to the prom! GASP! Kerry also made really terrible career choices this year between this and Little Fires Everywhere which also involves secret lesbians. 

Also those lesbians have a love song that looks like this - aka that one scene in the loathsome La La Land which was itself completely derivative. There are many (many!) derivative scenes in this movie - a later one on a staircase with Nicole Kidman is a clear nod to that one staircase scene in All That Jazz (RIP ANN REINKING!) This was all done intentionally for us theater nerds but also all the movies it ripped off I also hated so? NO THANK YOU THE PROM. ALSO THE MAIN LESBIAN’S GRANDMOTHER IS PLAYED BY MARY KAY PLACE AND I LOVE MARY KAY PLACE FYI. 

Anyway! The NYC actors start their very ill-advised get-back-the-Prom campaign at......CGI monster truck rally wherein Andrew Rannells wears THIS GODDAMNED COAT. Trying to find any logic or realism in this movie is about as foolhardy as being Andrew Rannells wearing this coat and singing a musical theater song at a CGI monster truck rally in “Indiana.” 

Also! Keegan Michael Key is in this (WHO I LOVE ALWAYS) as the liberal principal who is trying to make prom happen. He also is a HUGE MUSICAL THEATER FAN though that doesn’t actually translate to being gay - it translates to him being obsessed with Meryl Streep who is his favorite stage actress. Sure! It all turns into Keegan Michael Key being a love interest with Meryl Streep which I DID NOT SEE COMING but I would love to watch an actual rom com with the two of them and not whatever this is? THEY HAVE A DATE AT AN APPLEBEES YOU GUYS HOW DID THIS HAPPEN.

At said Applebees (or “Applebees” more accurately because I’ve never seen one that sparkles like this), Keegan has a nice ballad which I couldn’t possibly hum for you now where he sings about the escapism of THEATRE and there is a flashback to him seeing Meryl in a musical called “Swallow the Moon” which is a pretty hilarious title and the whole thing looks exactly like another Liza Minnelli fashion show - this time with maybe a circus theme? At any rate, Meryl’s flashback wig is longer and more of a fashion bob but is still very fretful. 

I would like to take this opportunity to say that although I never saw The Prom musical on Broadway, from the pictures I have seen, Beth Leavel’s wig (in the same role as Meryl) is vastly superior in every way, despite the fact that stage wigs are allowed to be different/inferior as they are viewed from further away and not in bitter bitter closeup. 

Meryl looks great in close-up by the way BUT THAT WIG!!! I couldn’t find a good picture of it, but the hair part (if you can call it that?) is a dangerous ravine of mysteries none of which have anything to do with looking like real hair. MERYL HAS MORE OSCARS THAN ANYONE HOW WAS SHE GIVEN THIS WIG?! HOW!!!!!

Anyway, back to the “plot” of this movie, the PTA somehow agree to having a prom and all the kids go around prom-posaling (which is an awful horrible thing that I’m glad I was never part of) and which truly begs the question: if the kids hadn’t prom-posaled (UGH) to begin with, how did word get out that two lesbians were going and how did this prom get derailed in the first place? WHY AM I ASKING ABOUT PLOT HOLES WHEN THIS ENTIRE THING IS A PLOT HOLE?!?!?! So they have the prom, but it’s all an elaborate and cruel ruse and the real prom is at some hotel and the fake prom only for this one sad lesbian is a really depressing affair in the school gym (THIS PART OF THE MOVIE IS LEGIT HORRIBLE AND SAD). So Nicole Kidman, in the very important role of “another Broadway actress” that definitely needed to exist, decides to tell her to just “razzle dazzle ‘em” (WHICH ABSOLUTELY MEANS NOTHING IN THIS CONTEXT) in a very Fosse inspired (AND INCREDIBLY NIGHTMARE INDUCING) and also very confusing number. Also Andrew Rannells convinces a bunch of teenagers in a mall to like gay people! Mazel!

ALSO TRACEY ULLMAN IS IN THIS MOVIE AND NO ONE TOLD ME AND SHE HAS AN AWFUL WIG! So ok - James Corden, who I normally adore, plays a gay character with an American accent and in conclusion, is very miscast in this role. One of the few things Ryan Murphy has done which I actually liked was the revival of Boys in the Band (the play - I have yet to watch the movie!) And the entire cast was gay men playing gay men. Not sure why he then cast James Corden in this role because it’s not like we’re having a shortage of gay men who can sing? A friend of mine rightly pointed out that this character should have been played by Titus Burgess and VERY YES. Anyway, that’s not what happened and anyway, Tracey Ullman plays his mother who he reconnects with and I’m pretty sure the wig she wears was from her own collection from one of her past sketch shows and though I applaud wig recycling, bitch deserved better.

So yes - all these Broadway actor characters inexplicably are still in Indiana just TRYING TO MAKE THE PROM HAPPEN and Meryl, who somehow has both a celebrity ex husband and a Hamptons house (AGAIN WHY DID SHE TAKE A BUS TO INDIANA) uses both to get the main lesbian a forum on TV but she doesn’t take it and instead makes a singer-songwriter YouTube video which everyone on earth simultaneously watched!!! We are supposed to believe that this random video got 8 million views and she decides to use that leverage to make her own inclusive prom. This is a very lovely idea but again: not based in reality so Keegan is all: girl we need $$ to have a prom and somehow she doesn’t immediately make a go-fund me from all those YouTube views she got and instead all these actors throw down their credit cards to fund The Prom which is really horrifying knowing about real events which will totally make all those actors very unemployed (#2020) and YES I KNOW THIS MOVIE IS THE OPPOSITE OF REALITY BUT STILL.

In the end, ALL OF LIZA MINNELLI’S NON-HALSTON SEQUIN COLLECTION QVC FASHIONS get their own damn prom and even Kerry Washington shows up in the most outrageous sequined number after her daughter finally comes out to her and everyone dances it out and life is reaffirmed and Meryl’s wig IS STILL A PILE OF GARBAGE AS IS THIS MOVIE.

VERDICT: DOESN’T WURQ

#wigwurq #theprom #netflixtheprom #merylstreep #nicolekidman #jamescorden #keeganmichaelkey #NOTHANKYOU #LIZAMINNELLICOLLECTION

[mylifeincinema]

My Week in Reviews: December 22, 2019

This was supposed to go live last night, but instead of having it scheduled, I had it in drafts. Oops.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (J.J. Abrams, 2019)

*This Review May Contain Spoilers.*

Well, it's not very good... but I still kinda loved it.

Things to Love about The Rise of Skywalker:

-It actually wraps up the saga, characters that we've grown up with get endings, and the characters we were introduced to a few years back get closure to their beginnings.

-Babu Frik. He could've very easily been another Jar Jar, but thankfully his screen-time was limited and executed well.

-The action sequences. Pretty much anything with a lightsaber involved is fantastic, here. Especially the dual location duel between Rey and Kylo and their duel on the ruins of the Death Star.

-Poe. I've always liked Poe, and he's given some more backstory/personality here. So that's good.

-Kylo's arc. It's satisfying and suitable for the character both on the page and as Adam Driver brought him to life.

-Zorii Bliss. She felt shoehorned in to give Poe a potential backup love interest. And to steer people away from 'shipping' Finn and him. But she was interesting, and brought to life with a good sense of mystery and conviction by Kerri Russell, so unlike Finn's forced (new) love interest, she didn't distract and/or annoy.

-The production design. The world building in this new trilogy has been absolutely stunning, and thankfully it didn't slow down any with this finale. There's nothing quite as eye-popping as Crait. But there's still a lot of interesting and beautiful work all over this film.

-Babu Frik. Seriously, I want to hang out/go on adventures with that little dude. He's awesome.

-BB-8... that dude deserves his very own trilogy.

-The Harrison Ford cameo. His 'I Know." damn near killed me. Very well done moment.

-The benching of Rose. Nothing against the actress (she's fine), but the character and her subplot in The Last Jedi was so awful and awkward, that I was really happy to see her role in this film diminished.

-The Knights of Ren.

-Any/all Chewie moments. I love him.

-Porgs!!

-Did I mention Babu Frik?

Things Not to Love in The Rise of Skywalker:

-The screenplay. There's so much painful dialogue and convenient, underdeveloped plot points, here, it's torture.

-The pacing is all over the place. The beginning is edited like a sloppy 'previously on' segment, and later scenes that should've flown by feel sluggish.

-That fucking 'I guess he must have been on a different transport!' bullshit. Are you fucking kidding me? Did these useless assholes actually get paid for this shit.

-D-O... what an unnecessary/annoying little droid. They could've easily replaced him with a simple discovery from BB-8 or C-3PO. Easily.

-Palpatine. It all felt convenient and forced. The story shit actually mostly works, but McDiarmid's hammy performance drags down any of the scenes actually featuring him.

-That festival. Ugh.

-Jannah and the hinting that she, Finn and other ex-Stormtroopers may be Force-sensitive. Stop giving this shit away to anyone you think might inspire any fucking nobody watching... it's lazy and pandering.

-Kylo Ren's helmet. Ugh. It looks so damn corny and he only wears it for (what seems like) one or two brief scenes.

-That clearly shoehorned, painfully cheesy 'I am all Sith', 'I am all Jedi' bullshit. We get it, another Disney backed film had an amazing, wildly effective moment with a similar exchange... that doesn't mean every film you release from here on out need to rip it off.

-Same goes for the cheesy 'Resistance Assemble' type moment, except J.J. executed that one fairly well, so I definitely didn't hate it in the moment.

There's surely plenty of other things I could put into both of these categories, and surely a lot more I could put into the latter rather than the former. But it's a Star Wars movie. Only three or so have ever actually been good movies. If you go in knowing what to expect it's really easy to let go and have an amazing time. Despite all of the major flaws throughout this one, that's exactly what I did. - 6.5/10

Uncut Gems (Benny & Josh Safdie, 2019)

Wow...

Who knew a two-hour anxiety attack could be so fucking fun??

Adam Sandler is spectacular; probably the best he’s ever been. He takes this wildly unlikable loser and makes us start to cheer for him in a way that pulls us into the film similarly to the way the game pulls him deeper into his gambling addiction. Despite knowing he’s a loser, we begin to cheer for him to win, forgetting that losers don’t win… not really. The Safdie Bros. fill the film with never-ending tension, making even the few relaxed scenes pop with a sense of urgency and trepidation. Together they form a wild ride that scarcely loosens its grip on the viewer, building up an unbearable pressure that explodes in the most sudden and shocking manner. In the only manner it ever really could. - 9/10

Richard Jewell (Clint Eastwood, 2019)

Richard Jewell is a film about a simple man who wants to live a simple life by simple rules. When he's given his moment, he delivers, only to have it snatched away from him from an establishment that just doesn't like the who and what he is.

Richard Jewell was a hero. Plain and simple. He wasn't a smart man, but who cares? All he wanted was to do some good in this world. He did. And that's the truth.

Paul Walter Hauser is fantastic. He brings Jewell to life with an overeager sense of duty and an often too black and white view of right and wrong. He doesn't fully understand what is being done to him, and certainly doesn't understand why. It never totally clicks why the FBI is treating him like a bad guy, after all, he's law enforcement just like them. He's at once completely naive and downright better than them. He doesn't understand their game, but he does understand it's not fair. Hauser taps into all of this completely, and shows us everything that made Jewell the man he was, for better and worse. It's a damn shame Hauser won't see any of the awards attention for this, as it's one of the more impressive real-life performances we've seen in recent years.

Kathy Bates and Sam Rockwell deliver scene-stealing performances as Jewell's mother and lawyer/friend, respectively. They both care for him, albeit in different ways, and their dedication comes through loud and clear through these performances. Jon Hamm is solid, and frustrating, portraying a composite FBI agent who failed in the moment, and who will damn well do anything to succeed in closing his case regardless of the truth, just to prove he himself isn't a failure. Olivia Wilde gives AJC journalist Kathy Scruggs a far more redemptive and complete arc than the film's detractors would like you to believe, and certainly more than she actually deserves. But in the end, I don't really care about Scruggs. Wilde did fine work, but at the end of the day, she's just someone who wrote a smear-campaign about a good man. In 2019, she's a dime a dozen.

Sure, the screenplay is slanted. It cares only about painting Richard Jewell as the hero he was, and won't be bothered by treating Scruggs fairly or losing itself in the media circus. It does this to help give a full picture of the nightmare Jewell was going up against and never seems excessive or unfair.

Eastwood's work here is as tight as ever; there isn't a wasted shot to be found throughout the film. He's not a director whose style ever blows me away (save for Million Dollar Baby, maybe), but his work's consistency and efficiency is astounding, filling scenes with just the right amount of emotion (that press conference) and tension (that bombing sequence) without ever losing focus of the story at hand.

Here, Richard Jewell is that story. - 8/10

Enjoy!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

#film #movies #star wars #star wars: the rise of skywalker #uncut gems #richard jewell #jedi #Adam Sandler #Clint Eastwood #Film Review #Movie Reviews #my week in reviews #etc.

[theflynnstitute]

An Open Letter: Marriage Equality and MSHS

Dear Kerry and all Staff at Manjimup SHS,

I hope this letter finds you well. For those who may not recognise my name, I am an alumnus of MSHS, past Dux of School ‘09, Head Boy 2009, student representative on the School Board 2008-2009, and all round advocate for the quality public schooling that MSHS provides its students. I certainly would not be where I am today without the investment that MSHS and its superb teaching and support staff placed in me during my time there. And where is that? I’m currently completing my Doctor of Medicine and Masters of Public Health at the Melbourne Medical School and University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health, with a view to practicing medicine in rural and remote Australia. However, I am not writing to you to tell of the 8-year adventure that has been my life following graduation from your fine institution. Rather, I am writing to express my concern over the current debate that is occurring on the issue of same-sex marriage, and the effect that this debate may be having on current MSHS students. I appreciate that this is a contentious issue for many people, and I respect that there will be a range of opinions within the MSHS community on this topic. While I will be sharing some personal anecdotes to illustrate how I have reached my own stance on this issue, my primary objective is the well-being and support of all students at Manji High. I moved to Manjimup just before the end of my 5th year in primary school. I distinctly remember my first recess break at Manji Primary, sitting with a group of new classmates as a nervous city-slicker kid, who had moved to the country to start a new chapter. Not even 2 hours into my first day at school, and I was called a ‘poofter’ by a boisterous young classmate, much to the enjoyment of the rest of the boys in the group. I didn’t even know what a poofter was, and so laughed along with the joke that was my presumed sexuality. I soon learnt that poofter was not something I wanted to be called… and so began a decade long journey of suppression and denial, the ramifications of which I still deal with today. I do not wish to portray Manjimup or MSHS as a particularly homophobic place, or community. Overall, I think that my experience growing up in Manji was a good one, and certainly has contributed in a positive way, to shaping me into the man I am today. However, like many towns across rural and regional Australia, homophobia in Manjimup was present, and was something that I had to deal with growing up in that place. More pertinent to the objectives of this letter however, are my experiences as a young, closeted, queer student at MSHS. Academically, the level of support I received at MSHS was outstanding and served as a superb foundation for both my undergraduate and postgraduate studies. However, lying behind the narrative of good academic achievement I experienced at MSHS lies a more insidious story of homophobic abuse that I experienced at the hands of my peers. “Faggot”, “poofter”, “pansy”, “homo”, “gay-boy”, “pillow-biter” were all terms that were occasionally used to refer to me in the school-yard. I was told to perform lewd homosexual acts by some of my male classmates, and on several occasions I was intimidated physically, even with teachers present in the room. Needless to say, there were numerous occasions where I did not feel safe at MSHS. While I have little doubt that these experiences contributed to the anxiety that I deal with today, I consider myself lucky to say that I survived high school relatively psychologically unscathed. The friendships that I formed at MSHS served as my haven, and it was these individuals who accepted me for the person who I was without question or suspicion, and supported me and shared in my high school journey. Of course, there were social support resources available at the school during my time there, and perhaps people will criticize me for not accessing these resources. The reality is, I did not feel safe, nor justified in accessing support from the school counsellor or chaplain. I existed in an environment that told me that what I was, was abnormal, and the treatment I was experiencing was simply a natural consequence of the ‘affliction’ I was suffering from, and something that I had to endure in silence. In some ways, I feel my devotion to my academic studies was a compensatory mechanism for the supposed homosexual flaw in my underlying character. Over the course of my university studies, I have become increasingly concerned with social justice, and in particular how it relates to health. My decision to undertake a masters of public health is emblematic of this. Public health is a discipline of health science that is concerned with the prevention of disease, disability and suffering through interventions that occur at a population level. Many who work in the public health arena speak of taking an “upstream” approach, where one assesses the broader social, political, and economic determinants that have contributed to whatever health issue Is being examined. Mental Health and suicide is an important health issue for all of Australian society, but is also one that disproportionately affects the LGBTIQA+ community. LGBTI Australians aged 16 years and over are 5-11 times more likely to attempt suicide; 16-18 times more likely to experience suicidal ideation; 2-6 times more likely to self-harm; and twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental health condition, when compared to the general Australian population[1]. And what is fueling these disastrous outcomes? Homophobia. Be it personal, interpersonal, institutional, or cultural, homophobia creates environments where queer individuals (and even people who are simply perceived to be queer) are attacked physically and verbally, are made to question and defend their own validity, and are expected to see themselves as second class, and less deserving of the rights and privileges that are attached to being heterosexual. While personal and interpersonal homophobia is damaging and should be called out and dealt with, particularly in our schools, these acts are often the product of underlying institutional and cultural homophobia. And as a student of public health, I know that fighting this more insidious form of prejudice is where the real money is, if we have any hope of progressing Australia towards the more inclusive, “fair go” society that it professes itself to be. Policy and law, must play an important role in shaping cultural and institutional perceptions of what is acceptable and unacceptable in our secular society. In doing so, they in-turn function to mold individual perceptions, particularly for our young people. This is why the marriage equality debate is so important to me, and why I will be voting YES for marriage equality. As a young person growing up in a rural community, the concept of even being in a same-sex relationship was not something I was privy to. It wasn’t until I reached undergraduate studies at UWA that I began to explore concepts outside heteronormativity, and even then, it was a number of years until I decided to come out to my friends and family. Having marriage equality will allow young, closeted and openly-queer teenagers to see that there are options for them to have their love and relationships celebrated in the same way that their straight friends and family members do. It will help to fuel a culture of acceptance, that embraces diversity and values the collective strength of a diverse nation. While I do think that marriage equality is an inevitable legislative end, it in no way justifies the means by which our current Federal Government is using to achieve it. Using a $122 million, non-binding, non-representative postal survey to inform government policy is unprecedented, and is an example of the institutional homophobia I mentioned earlier. Homophobia that expects myself and other queer individuals to sit by while the rest of the country ”respectfully debates” the validity of our relationships, and whether we should be granted the same rights under Australian law. Because make no mistake, the campaign for same-sex marriage is not just about the label of “Marriage”. Our illustrious former PM Mr. Abbott would have us believe that same-sex couples already have the same rights under civil union legislation, however it only takes a quick google search to find the flaws in that argument. Same-sex couples experience a deficiency in rights in all manner of ways from carer-rights, Medicare and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme, to tax concessions, employee rights and superannuation [2]. The fight for same-sex marriage is a fight for these rights. The debate that has been occurring on this issue has been undeniably toxic. The ‘Honorable’ Mr. Turnbull continues to harp on about the ability of the Australian public to have a respectful debate, yet seems blind to reality of what is actually occurring. While I acknowledge that majority of Australians are capable of having a perfectly civil discussion around this issue, thanks to social media and the current speed of the media cycle, much of the content we are seeing relating to this debate is extreme, vitriolic, and often uninformed. And while I do not purport to say that the NO campaign hold exclusive claim over the extreme views seen in this debate, I do believe that it is these extreme views that sell newspapers and website clicks, and ultimately hinder our ability to have civil discussion. It is these extreme, and widely publicised views that have real ramifications for the queer community. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the past 12 months has been the most concentrated period of homophobia that I have experienced in my (relatively short) life. Not direct homophobia, although I have been accused of spreading hate speech simply for expressing my support of same-sex marriage, but more indirect homophobia. Having to see nasty and vitriolic comments on social media, listening to hateful and ill-informed rhetoric on national news bulletins, watching TV ads that tell me I am advocating for pedophilia and radical gender theory in classrooms. This all has power. Words have power, and we (the queers) of all people know the power of words. I have seen many colleagues withdraw from social media over the course of this campaign to protect themselves from the hateful vitriol. I myself have decided to remain engaged, but have also felt the need to seek professional support during this period. And if I am finding it tough to deal with the day to day commentary that is happening in this debate, imagine what our queer youth are going through. I believe that school should be a safe haven. Not necessarily apolitical, as I believe that our youth are our dreamers and visionaries, capable of imagining a future that is better than the present, and politics is an important part of this. However, growing up these days is difficult enough without the added pressure of dealing with this ongoing debate. And it’s not just queer youth we should be concerned about. Many straight-identifying young people also support same-sex marriage, have friends that identify as queer and are having an equally distressing time having to deal with the ongoing commentary that is occurring in homes, playgrounds and other spaces around the country. I really do urge the MSHS community to draw together during this time to support all its students. While I cannot attest to the current socio-political atmosphere of MSHS or the broader Manjimup community, I do strongly urge all individuals to call out homophobia, or any other type of prejudice or discrimination as completely unacceptable. Acknowledge the divisiveness of this debate and the effects it may be having on individuals, especially our queer youth. Give people the space to express their feelings openly, and if there must be debate within the school environment, ensure that it is respectful and factually informed. Student support systems must be proactive in addressing this issue and ensuring that MSHS strives towards being an environment that is respectful and inclusive of all individuals, regardless of sexuality, race, gender, social status, physical or intellectual ability. I would love to hear what initiatives MSHS has put in place to support LGBTIQA+ students, and to hear how the school community is going in general. I am also more than happy to be contacted by any staff or students who are seeking support around this issue, or would simply like to discuss the topic or share their insight. I hope this letter has been relevant and informative to the MSHS experience, and I hope that it contributes in a constructive way to the progression of a discussion around how MSHS can best support all its students and strive towards a culture of respect, diversity and inclusion.

Sincerely yours,

Sebastian Kirby MSHS Fan-boy

[1]

The Statistics at a Glance: The Mental Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex People in Australia Accessible at [http://lgbtihealth.org.au/statistics/]

[2] Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Report, Australian Human Rights Commission  available at [https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/same-sex-same-entitlements-executive-summary]

#voteyes #marriage equality #ssm #lgbt #gay #gayaustralia

[politicalfilth-blog]

Video: Trump and Putin Meet, What Does The Future Hold?

We Are Change

This is Luke Rudkowski of WeAreChange.org. I have a very special guest on today. We have Angelo John Gage, and we’re going to be talking about a slurry of important issues dealing with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. With all the latest developments that happened after the G20 summit, and the potential ramifications for American foreign policy and with what’s taking place inside of Syria.

I wanted to talk to Angelo mainly because he doesn’t tell you things that you want to hear. Angelo has pissed-off people in the white nationalist community, as well as both pro and anti-Trump, he is also a US Marine Corps War vet. He’s been there, he’s seen it on the ground, and he’s been making important videos telling people exactly what’s happening. Angelo doesn’t go soft; he tells you exactly how he sees it.

Angelo, I wanted to talk to you about all these things that are happening, unlike a lot of the other popular social media figures who are pro-Trump you held Trump’s feet to the fire. You were one of the few people who didn’t placate for views and fame. You told people the hard truth whether they wanted to hear it or not. People were angry with you, just like people are angry at me for calling out Donald Trump when he bombed the Syrian air base. When he took down that Syrian airplane when he was doing things that were incredibly horrible towards world peace and the future of Syria. Now with the latest developments that just happened between Trump and Putin what do you take from these latest meetings?

Angelo John Gage:

Well, I like Putin, starting with back in 2013 when ‘apparently’ Assad gassed his own people. Putin was like wait, let’s just hold on for a second. While John Kerry was pushing for war, Putin said let’s send people in there, let’s see what is going on, let’s take away those weapons. So I liked Putin for that, he’s not the kind of person that just goes in, and begins to bomb everybody to show off the strength of a country.

Trump Supporters often claim that Trump is playing 4D chess, which is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. I like Putin; he is a chess player. I like that we can work with Russia, why are crazy liberals or leftists against world peace. We’re not at war with Russia yet, that’s great, I don’t want World War Three with any country. I’ve been to war twice, so to all of these people who are playing Call of Duty, who want to go to war should know. Nobody wins in a war, the politicians might, the special interest groups do, the globalists and the bankers will, but the soldiers, the children and the families who are obliterated don’t. I got PTSD, a lot of my friends came back messed up, some of them never came home. War is not something that’s good, we should always avoid it, but the special interests they want war and are glad to see it. I’m hopeful to see two world powers, get together and hopefully do something good, get rid of ISIS.

Luke Rudkowski:

It does seem like there was a shift at that G20 meeting but it is difficult to determine what is going on. If you look at US defense spending, they spend almost as much as the other ten highest countries in this world. More than China, more than Russia, more than the UK, Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, India, Germany, Italy, and Brazil combined.

If you look at the United States as a country we’ve been at war, for almost 220 years, the country is only 241 years old. One interesting factor thing in this whole game with ISIS is that there is so much information missing from the mainstream dialogue.

I have one chart up here showing you all the countries that ISIS operates in, all the countries that are against U.S. foreign policy objectives. Look at what happened in Libya, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan, all of them have been targets of ISIS. While other countries like Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE, and Kuwait who have co-operated with the United States, those countries don’t have ISIS destroying their nation.

There’s a bigger scheme here, with the policies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and now with Donald Trump. Trump has continued some of those failed, horrible policies. What are some of the bigger truths for you, when it comes to the bigger geopolitical picture that we’re all dealing with? What do you think people need to know more about?

Angelo:

You know Israel is very powerful, it’s a very small country, if you criticize the government of Israel or some other country you are called an anti-Semitic or an Islamophobe. That would be like criticizing Nigeria and being told you’re racist. It’s not the case, and we all know it. If you listen to the UN reports Israel, Qatar, all of our allies are funding these different rebels, including the United States. Yes, rebel groups and AIPAC is a powerful lobby with the US Government, and there are other lobbies from other countries. Look at the Saudis they’re very powerful. Trump’s giving them four hundred billion dollars in weapons, what do you think they’re doing with those.

It’s interesting, WikiLeaks posted that Qatar and Saudi Arabia are clandestinely funding ISIS. Trump gives them four hundred billion in arms, where are those arms going? It’s important to see that our allies are involved, there’s interest in the Middle East with many different alliances. We’re spending our tax dollars supporting their air forces, which are shooting down planes that are taking on ISIS.

Hillary Clinton email reveals she knew of Saudi & Qatar government funding for ISIL (ISIS) by August 2014 https://t.co/tlWxkEZ8FN pic.twitter.com/RmaFi9lQQP

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) June 5, 2017

Israeli government officials have come out and admitted that they’d committed war crimes, in Palestine. The U.S. has also committed war crimes, which is one of the reasons why I woke up. When I got back from the second tour in Iraq, I was just googling things when I learned that we were dropping white phosphorus in Fallujah. They say we are looking for chemical weapons, but when you see the pictures of corpses that are completely toasted black skeletons, you change your perspective. The Israelis do that in Palestine, and Saudi Arabia is doing it right now in Yemen.

So we’re using this nonchemical weapon that burns you to a crisp when it touches your skin. I’m thinking ‘wait I thought we were the good guys,’ so I started questioning Iraq and then 9/11, that’s where I started. I started going through everything, asking about everything and watching all the videos. I started researching all of this, and I got into different types of politics.

I pissed off every group the SPLC, white nationalist, leftist Trump supporters, and one of the reasons why I pissed off Trump supporters Luke is because everyone voted for Trump. Now when I saw him and what he was saying during the campaign that we’re going to bomb the hell out of ISIS. I thought awesome; we’re going to make America great and rebuild the wall, all these wonderful things. No more globalism, that’s what I wanted to hear and what did he do. He launched Tomahawk missiles into Syria without investigation, a sovereign country who’s fighting ISIS.

That was it for me; he just killed people. This man killed people just to show strength. We’re the only country on planet earth that has ever nuked civilian targets. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were civilians heart we nuked them. I mean everyone knows we’re crazy, even Obama was droning people the whole time. It’s not defense spending, I say it’s offense, it’s offensive, we’re spreading our bases all over the world. We keep creeping in, killing Qaddafi, killing Saddam, were they great people, I don’t know. Apparently, Libya was amazing under Qaddafi. Saddam maybe he was a little mean, I don’t know, but all we do is a regime change. We do it for special interests, for our allies, while you and I pay for it all, it’s terrible.

Luke:

There are the drone strikes that Barack Obama conducted, including the one that killed a 16-year-old American citizen. Donald Trump carried out an attack recently that was planned by Obama and it killed an eight-year-old American girl. You see Trump colluding with Henry Kissinger, and continue the same policies of Barack Obama. I have sounded the alarm for some time, and people hate me for it as you know if you’ve been watching my YouTube channel.

I don’t hate any group of people; I am not racist, I am not anti-Semitic. However, I do not like governments who abuse their authority. Like when Israel decides to bomb Syrian government forces that are fighting radical Islamic terrorists. These same rebel groups that Israel provides support to, that they take care of in the Golan Heights region. I’m reporting this news, but other press is afraid to go that far because they’re concerned about being labeled. It’s common sense, we speak the truth, not to placate an audience, not for fame, not for money because you deserve it. We don’t care about this outside society, and that’s why I wanted to have you on Angelo. Your one of the people who has been holding their feet to the fire, one of the people who are not afraid to be critical of them. In this media game, if you want to be successful, you pick a side, a gang, an affiliation. If you stick to that side, the other will hate you, but supporters will follow you and defend you. You will get the greatest number of followers but guess what, that dichotomy I believe is breaking down, the truth is somewhere in the middle. It is gray, it is not just black and white, there are bigger ramifications, there are bigger things that we all need to understand.

The way you came about this was from a very personal experience; you went through it, you saw it. Is there anything else you want to share, about the journey that you have been on whether it’s waking up or speaking the truth and having people being mad at you. What sticks out to you the most from this journey that you have been on?

Angelo:

I started with Fallujah then I learned about World War Two and the banking system. I ended up watching David Icke; he’s got a very spiritual approach to things. I got into everything; I read all these different books and groups then I realized that everything was about picking sides. It’s all left or right no matter what, race, religion, and politics. Meanwhile these globalists, they’re all over the place, they’re all one big agenda, they’re all different people working together to control everyone. They want us in these boxes, these categories, where we fight over all of these petty problems, and they manipulate us. I realized it’s all just good versus evil.

If you are a good person, I don’t care what color you are, or where you are from. We have to work together to stop evil people. The evil people are a minority on the planet; we have the power to do it. My journey was going through all these different realities and different truths. There are a lot of them, they are very deep, but it’s ultimately irrelevant to the bigger picture.

We have to take action because you could sit there and read a thousand books. It’s like if you were a surgeon, you go to medical school, but you never performed a single surgery. What if you never take action in the real world, then you’re not a surgeon, your just one on paper. I got addicted to reading conspiracy theories and information, and I didn’t do anything with it other than to make some videos, I had to start taking political action.

When Trump bombed Syria, my heart broke. Imagine going to war twice, thinking your there to save these people. There are children; I would throw them water, they were thirsty and starving, we weren’t supposed to do it. Then coming back home, being thanked for your service, then learning that it was all nonsense, it was all a lie.

Then I busted my ass to get Trump elected. I was in all the chat rooms; we were destroying the narratives. I’m in there with people who are making up new hashtags; that trend like crazy. I am busting my rump getting people to vote for Trump, including my family, everyone I know. Then he ordered the Syrian Tomahawk attack, and my heart just snapped it, just broke.

So now I am trying to hold Trump accountable, for what he’s done. So either Trump’s in on it or he’s just too naive, or he’s playing 4D chess.

Luke:

We’re on the brink of World War 3, it’s ridiculous, it makes no sense at all.

Angelo:

A lot of people have become famous because of Trump, many pundits, that have all these followers, they don’t want to go against him. It’s not about Trump; we could make America great again with or without him, there’s almost a cult of personality with him.

Here comes Trump from out of nowhere, he’s not part of the establishment, he kicked everybody’s ass in his first try, becomes president, it was the greatest victory. I remember watching the election waiting for him to win, we got our country back.

A lot of people have this faith in things; they don’t even care if the person comes through or not, they just live in a fantasy world. While we are here in the real world. That’s why when people say let’s just turn the Middle East into a sheet of glass, which pisses me off. There are people there and children. The people that are saying these things, they haven’t been to war. I’ve been there it’s horrendous, it changes your life, it will mess you up.

I’m susceptible to it; I won’t even watch a war movie. I can’t watch “Saving Private Ryan,” I will be crying. I’ll tell you straight up; it’s because they make it very real looking, you know you lose people, one second you’re talking to a guy, the next second his head’s gone. There are people that want us to go to war, war hawks like, Madeline Albright former Secretary of State who said that Iraq was worth the 500,000 dead children. Think how many stadiums you could fill with their dead bodies. These people are cold-blooded, psychopaths, they are mentally insane.

They are a minority, so we are the majority, but they have a great way of playing on our tribalistic ways. You can be part of a particular race and be proud and happy and your parentage. I’m all for identity, I’m all for protecting yourself, and your people and culture and everything. You can’t allow yourself to be manipulated over pride; it’s okay to be happy. You have to work together with people, who are on the same side as you, even though they might not look like you, they might not quite think like you, but they’re under attack as well.

The globalists are doing this whole thing of picking us off one by one, you know let’s pit this group against that one, it’s all divide and conquer. Eventually, they will try to destroy us all. We need to convince other groups, that while we may have different views on things, we’re all under attack and we need to help each other out.

Even the Republicans and Democrats they’re all pretty much on the same team, we pick a side, we vote for who we want, we argue about the small things that don’t matter.

What about the Federal Reserve, what about the income tax of 30%, every four years you work for a year for free. Our forefathers had a revolution over 3% tea tax. Meanwhile, we’re getting taxed to death, and they are making up theories about global warming, that it’s our fault, it’s not the sun.

Nobody cares because it’s all a big dog and pony show, it’s all bread and circus’s, we got our gadgets our Netflix, our cars that talk to us, our phones are smarter than us. It’s like what Alex Jones says, that it’s a technocracy.

Luke

There’s a lot of attention towards drama, should this civil disobedience be done this way or that way. Hang on, wait a minute; there are people dying in Yemen and Syria because of horrible foreign policy decisions. People don’t want to see that; there is a lot of money to me made, there’s a lot of clicks, there’s fame, ego, and pride. Instead of caring about everyone in this world, they care more about themselves or their group or their gang or their affiliation and the material things they are tied to. These people just get me mad. That’s why I’m so happy, that there are people like yourself.

I just wanted to leave you with the last question, we know it’s down to just love and fear, that’s the two basic dichotomies, how do you see things going in the future especially with Donald Trump as our president and with the situation in Syria?

Angelo

I hope that have some agreement where they stop mingling in Syria. I hope that Trump keeps his word and bombs the hell out of ISIS. I hope he is really playing 4D chess and just playing everyone. I think Putin knows what he’s doing, so I have more hope for Putin. I hope Trump delivers; I’m not going to worship him if he says he is going to do something than I am holding him accountable.

If Trump is naive or being deceived maybe he will stop doing it. It’s up to us to be vigilant and keep the pressure on the people that work for us. We like the guy; he is really funny, he makes funny jokes. However, that’s how you get seduced, and it becomes a cult of personality. Then you let him slide for killing people. There has to be justice in this world, without it, we are just animals.

We have to be more than that, so my message Luke is that, yes it’s fear and love. We’ve got to start loving ourselves enough and respect each other, so we don’t have this new world order elitism trample us.

We don’t have any self-respect because we’re sellouts. We don’t hold our leaders to their promises because were too comfortable. I would rather fight to the death than be enslaved, that’s just me.

Luke

Angelo thank you for all your incredible work. I want to thank all you beautiful, amazing human beings for your support; please subscribe to stay in touch with real independent media. Love you guys, stay tuned.

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from We Are Change https://wearechange.org/this-is-luke-rudkowski-of-wearechange-org-i-have-a-special-guest-angelo-john-gage-and-were-going-to-be-discussing-donald-trump-and-vladimir-putin-with-all-the-latest-developments-that-happened-af/

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