(no subject)

So last night I showed more self restraint and good old fashioned common sense than I ever thought myself capable of. We're working on 3 new choreographies for Rakkasah right now and are splitting into 3 teams to do it. We want to have them finished by January 15. Realistically speaking the creation of an entire choreography, if done with a modicum of organization and determination, can be finished in a few hours time usually. Certainly Aelf, Alyne and I managed to hammer out a reasonable start to our first piece in about a half an hour on Saturday. I expect one or two more Saturdays will see it finished and then we can check one off the list.

Of course, that's the easy one.

The other two are a great deal more complex and challenging and I can only hope we're ready to tackle them. I'd like to think so, but we're seriously pushing our boundaries on these two with props that 90% of us are almost entirely unfamiliar with. On the other hand I don't know why I'm stressing about it as there's a very good chance I won't even be able to do Rakkasah anyway due to work, but I'm going into this hoping I can dance this with the troupe because if it works out it's going to be fucking phenomenal.

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via Pandagon:

Ford has decided that it would rather lose gay and gay-friendly business than face the wrath of the extreme fringe element of the Right Wing by agreeing to the demands of the American Family Association. Initially, it was over the decision not to advertise in gay publications, but now we have learned that it's over way more than just a few ads -- Ford has agreed to no longer sponsor any gay events (via AmericaBlog):

This is from WardsAuto.com, the publication that broke the Ford story last week, and it's owned by Primedia, it's a real industry publication:

Ford Motor Co.'s decision to cease advertising in gay publications for its Jaguar and Land Rover luxury brands is part of a truce between the auto maker and the American Family Assn. (AFA) to avert a threatened boycott by the right-wing Christian conservative group, Ward‚s learns....

As part of the latest agreement hammered out Nov. 29, sources confirm Volvo Cars will continue to advertise in the publications but will use generic ads not tailored to the gay community.

In addition, Ford has agreed not to sponsor any future gay and lesbian events but will continue to maintain its employee policies, such as same-sex partner benefits.

(Note: This is a subscription only publication.)

Gee, isn't that swell. Ford agreed not to viciously revoke its benefits for all of its employees. Gosh, I'm so proud of them. Not to mention, if Ford is stating that it's not revoking its benefits, then it sounds like the religious right wanted them to. Yet Ford told us that the issue was only about a few ads.

I think the best part of the story, though, is when a Ford employee then trolled Americablog spouting pro-company propaganda without realizing that tracing an IP address isn't exactly rocket science. Well I guess we can chalk this up to another win for the American Taliban.

Speaking of which, the radical fundies show their true colors on the Intelligent Design debate:

LAWRENCE - A professor whose planned course on creationism and intelligent design was canceled after he sent e-mails deriding Christian conservatives was hospitalized Monday after what appeared to be a roadside beating.

University of Kansas religious studies professor Paul Mirecki said that the two men who beat him made references to the class that was to be offered for the first time this spring.

Originally called "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies," the course was canceled last week at Mirecki's request.

Ah, but it's the Christians who are the persecuted ones. But while we're on the topic, this seems like a kind of holier-than-thou-a-thon between William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, and of all people, President Bush, over the president's choice in...Christmas cards:

"This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture," said William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

[...]

At the Catholic League, Donohue had just announced a boycott of the Lands' End catalogue when he received his White House holiday card. True, he said, the Bushes included a verse from Psalm 28, but Psalms are in the Old Testament and do not mention Jesus' birth.

"They'd better address this, because they're no better than the retailers who have lost the will to say 'Merry Christmas,' " he said.

Donohue said that Wal-Mart, facing a threatened boycott, added a Christmas page to its Web site and fired a customer relations employee who wrote a letter linking Christmas to "Siberian shamanism." He was not mollified by a letter from Lands' End saying it "adopted the 'holiday' terminology as a way to comply with one of the basic freedoms granted to all Americans: freedom of religion."

"Ninety-six percent of Americans celebrate Christmas," Donohue said. "Spare me the diversity lecture."

So, to paraphrase, unless someone's Christmas cards actually contain images of the baby Jesus and New Testament verses, they're giving into the secularist commie fascists? Right, got it.

(no subject)

Christ am I happy I'll have my student loans paid off next year:

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the government can seize a person's
Social Security benefits to pay old student loans.

Retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the decision that went against a disabled man, James Lockhart, who had sued claiming he needed all of his $874 monthly check to pay for food and medication.

His government benefits had been cut by 15 percent to cover debts he incurred for college in the 1980s.

Lockhart also lost at the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said that Congress had eliminated a 10-year time limit on the government's right to seek repayment on defaulted student loans by seizing payments, including Social Security, to individuals.

The Bush administration had maintained that the case was important because outstanding student loans total about $33 billion, which includes about $7 billion in delinquent debt. Of the delinquent loans, about half are over 10 years old, government lawyers have said.

"And goddammit if we don't squeeze every last cent out of penniless retirees we might have to do something crazy like raise taxes on the rich!"

[...]

Groups like the AARP and the National Consumer Law Center had urged the court to safeguard Social Security benefits in the Lockhart case, arguing they "are critical in preserving a measure of financial independence for older and disabled workers."

Lockhart, 67, a former postal worker who now lives in public housing in Seattle, has heart disease, diabetes and other health problems. He has about $77,000 in student loan debt.

O'Connor's ruling, a brief 4 1/2 pages, will likely be one of her last. She is retiring after 24 years.

Why do I get the feeling she won't be living off canned dog food on $874 a month?

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Oh man, I wonder if I could get some "Merry Fitzmas" stamps in time for the holidays...