Black Looks: Public Sector Strikes in Africa: Any Subversive Elements?
Women’s Experiences of Abuse as a Risk Factor for Incarceration.
Professor Black Woman has to deal with the racist stupid. (Hat tip: Shannon.)
I thought this was satire. Apparently, it isn’t. Maybe we can get MB to give her a new, “Most Unintentionally Funny Blog Post” award or something?
Shark-fu posts on the recent dustup between Brownback and Romney, and the uncomfortable reality for many conservatives that no, actually, not everyone’s Christian faith similar or palatable to others.
Psuedo Adrienne blogs about the stakes for Moroccan women in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Public sector workers in Israel may have to strike to get decent pay.
Finally, I know I’m an anti-consumerist pinko, but wow. These folks put me to shame. Then again, I don’t think I’d get such a sweet haul in the dumpsters in my neighborhood, which is definitely not affluent. You’ll find no working iPods tossed away.
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Since you mentioned that piece on freeganism, I’m going to spotlight the piece my s/o wrote on it last night. It’s a fascinating article.
Debbie Schlussel is either the dumbest person in the public sphere today, or an elaborate, Sascha Baron-Cohenesque parody.
I agree Yuri. Did you read the comments- most of them ripped her logic apart as they should have. Sad when the majority of people that read a post think you are an idiot.
That freeganism sounds about as doomed as communal living.
Here’s a post Amanda or one of you other Pandas might want to blog about:
Christian Spanking Porn. Blowfish is a sex-toy catalog. They write about “Christian Domestic Discipline” sites that carry CDD stories, rated for “intensity” of the spanking they describe.
My sister is destitute. She barely scrapes by on SSI plus money from our mother and myself. She lives, thanks to rent control, in a building in New York City otherwise inhabited by very affluent people. She’s found the most amazing stuff in the building’s garbage: barely-used running shoes, flawless cashmere sweaters, small appliances that work perfectly, etc.
She also buys her clothes almost entirely at Goodwill, where most items cost less than $5, and always comes out looking like a million bucks. Of course it helps that she has terrific fashion sense and is very skillful with needle and thread, and so can redo buttons, add trim, etc. It also helps that she’s fashion-model beautiful. Of course, it’s just her brother saying so…:)
They say you can tell a lot about a society by studying its garbage. If so, anthropologists of the future will probably conclude that we were either incredibly wealthy or incredibly foolish. Or both.
I’ve never gone dumpster diving, but we have an annual “pick up anything” trash day in town, and people put out all manner of things at the curb at the same time - that’s great for people who want free stuff but are too squeamish to sort through stuff (like me). Just drive around and get what you want. In the last round I got a wheelbarrow, a couch and chair set that are nicer than what I bought new, two matching end tables, an elliptical trainer, and a cedar dresser. Not bad for free, I must say.
People in my complex routinely leave furniture out by the dumpsters (once out on the other side of the parking lot, which had me ready to pummel the idiot). It makes me crazy. First off, because they always do it when it’s freaking raining, so folks who’d want the stuff would have no use for it warped and mildewed. Second, because we have a charity resale shop right down the street that sells clothing, housewares, and furniture, and takes donations. Third, because, um, hello??? FREECYCLE ANYONE???
This continues, despite several mailings with phone numbers to the charity, the web address to Freecycle, and, when all else fails, the number to a hauling company (a sin, IMO).
Sigh.
I have often asked on Free Republic (a conservative site) whether or not someone needs to be Christian to be considered a conservative. This was before Mitt hit national renown, so I wasn’t bringing up the issue of “Are Mormons Christians?” (BTW, according to the Roman Catholics and Lutherans and Methodists and Southern Baptists and just about all of the rest of the well-known Christian denominations, the answer is “No.”)
Anyway, the general idea seemed to be “No”. Now, I don’t know how comfortable the Christian Coalition types would be in working with atheist conservatives, but they’re out there and at least two of them have blogs.
The route to getting fine free stuff is living (or dumpstering) next to a university. Higher education is so expensive any more, even at state institutions, that only the rich can afford it. Their pampered kids throw away entire washed and folded wardrobes because they are too lazy to pack. But you have to be quick and alert, because they are such shits that as soon as one of them discards a useable appliance or piece of furniture, another will come by to kick it to pieces.
Okay, I’m overgeneralizing here. They’re not all spoiled, and they’re not all destructive. Not all, but many.
Speaking of linkspam, I ran into this rather depressing story. Short version: photographer has (not naked or anything) self-portrait at fourteen used as box art for porn. Attempts to confront the people responsible involve them laughing at her in all caps. She can’t get representation. It might do good to get some exposure here, as this seems like the sort of thing that the admins here would be interested in.
I’m a guerilla recycler born and raised (one of my favorite childhood memories is of the time my dad and I found a mostly working church organ at the dump and brought it back to my grandpa’s place). Some of these Freegans frankly seem like holier-than-thou assholes. Is it not enough to get cool stuff for free while helping the environment? Do we really need to wrap the whole thing in layers of ideological mumbo-jumbo while sneering down our noses at folks who occasionally actually *buy* stuff?
In my neighborhood (yes, next to a university full of wealthy students), there’s a time of year in May known as “[Name of University] Christmas.” Students move out and as mentioned, it’s incredible what one can find in the dumpsters and at the curbside. You are limited only by what you can carry.
Wow, that’s one of Debbie bin Schlussel’s creepiest posts yet.
As for dumpster diving, it is a way of life/means of survival for the homeless, and yet it’s become dangerous for them because of the poison additives.
Did Professor Black Woman have a bunch of not-so-nice types infest her blog? There isn’t anything there anymore.
Thanks for the shout-out!
Reduce, reuse, recycle… in that order.
My work spins off a decent number of clean, empty cardboard boxes every week, so I try to freecycle them to people who are moving. I think shopping at thrift stores is fun, and with a little dye and some sewing skills it’s even more fun.
I wonder if someone could start a nonprofit collecting the extra food from restaurants and cooking it into free meals (with no ideology attached to receiving one)… you’d probably need to start it out of your own kitchen though.
But I still don’t know what to throw the cat litter out in, other than a plastic bag.
Do be careful with the “found” treasures,” especially those of a furniture or upholstery type, and ESPECIALLY in urban areas.
Bringing those home is the #1 way to introduce bedbugs into your life. And if you’ve never dealt with them, it’s best described as “hell on earth.”