Medics detained and harrassed

Medics were illegally detained and removed from hurricane-affected areas because "no one here needs help".

The article below is at these alternative media sources

US indymedia:
http://indymedia.us/en/2008/09/33818.shtml
and upper right hand column (tonight):
http://us.indymedia.org/

Colorado
http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/1202

Houston
http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2008/09/65061.php

Portland
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/09/379983.shtml
~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Street Medics Illegally Detained and Harassed by FEMA in Hurricane Relief Campaign
First Hand Accounts and Update,
Tuesday, September 23, 2008

by Petros Evdokas, ttetpos@yahoo.com
Portland Street Medics member

You might be aware of the situation that evolved on Sunday, September 21st during which a mission of volunteer Street Medics from Colorado arrived in Galveston, Texas, to provide free medical care to the communities struck by the hurricanes. The mission was oriented with a special interest to address the needs of indigenous, poor and undocumented people whose needs are in general ignored by "official" rescue operations. Also, these are communities of people who often have good have reasons to avoid or hide from such "rescue" operations, especially if they are occurring under martial law and in conjunction with immigration Police.

Instead of being integrated by authorities into the efforts, or at least left to their own devices in order to provide help to people, the Street Medics were detained in dubious circumstances, harassed, threatened with arrest and physically removed from the area by Police.

Please see a first hand account from one of the Street Medics published this morning - the Medic speaking here is Zoe Hallez Williams, known to the wider Medics family as "Zoe the Medic":

"...[The agent] spoke for well over 30 minutes about how no one needed our help and our training was worthless. He stepped outside and locked us in the room with the paramedic supervisor. She informed us that FEMA credentials would be required to enter any area hit hard by the Hurricane and that no one needed help–quite contrary to reports coming from undocumented workers fleeing FEMA and the rest of the federal government.
...Moments later a State Trooper and Galveston Police vehicle arrived. Three officers were on scene. The trooper approached, demanded to see IDs and credentials and informed us we were being detained and potentially arrested because we did not work for FEMA. While he ran our IDs another officer began to document our vehicle. The officers were abrasive, rude and...":
From:
"How did we get to Shrimper’s Row?"
http://streetmedic.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/how-did-we-get-to-shrimpers-row/

The first breaking out of the Street Medics story in alternative media yesterday is here:
Street Medics Harassed by Police & FEMA during Hurricane Ike Relief
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2008/09/379931.shtml

Mainstream and establishment media are still ignoring or burying the news about FEMA harassment of Street Medics, even though a few days ago the media themselves were targeted when the iron curtain of the military police state came down on them as the area over Galveston and Bolivar in Texas were declared to be a "no fly zone" (just like Iraq before the US invasion) by a source within the shadow Government which even the Governor of Texas was not at liberty to name. Mainstream media complained about this illegal restriction of Constitutional liberties - you might have seen that report by ABC here:
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/video?id=6391294
or here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arptvzj5bEE


Our colleagues, the three Street Medics who were targeted by this harassment in the Galveston incident are exceptionally well-trained healthcare workers. Two are veterans of the grassroots relief efforts after Katrina, plus all of them are recent veterans of the tremendous organizational challenge faced by Street Medics in Denver during the Democratic National Convention protests - they had helped put together and operate a network and support mechanism of Street Medics that aimed to ensure our safety and liberty as we provided medical care to people who were injured by Police or became ill in the streets, in the parks and in jail during the events there in late August.

Skills among them include First Responder training and certified nurse's aid skills - the latter means providing some very personal care to people who are unable to take care of themselves; it is the most crucial work in healthcare which usually no one wants to do, and which very few are capable to do with the right attitude. First Responder skills include assessing and handling unexpected medical emergencies in both wilderness and urban settings.

The most important part of the Street Medics training is a set of skills, social and personal values and principles which is only taught and learned among Street Medics who are active within the Peace and Justice wings of the liberation movement: how to provide first aid and some forms of aftercare in settings where there is conflict, disaster, or danger, in situations where conventional ambulances, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, rescue workers are unable, unwilling or not allowed to go. These situations include riots, street conflicts, scenes of mass violence, or large assemblies such as marches, parades, demonstrations, etc.

Street Medics abide by a code of ethics which is far more stringent, mindful, all-embracing and inclusive than Corporate or State- sponsored paramedic teams are expected to have: we embrace anti-authoritarian principles, awareness of oppression, we are guided by the politics of solidarity and community self-organizing in everything we do, with special attention to how racism, sexism, homophobia, issues of gender and sexual identity politics play a tremendous role in all sorts of interactions within healthcare and first aid. That's why our charter as Street Medics comes from the liberation Movement's counter-institutions powered by the people and not from Capital or the State.

It's also the reason why the Corporate State opposes our presence and interferes with most of our operations wherever it gets a chance.

Things You Can Do To Help
If you're into writing letters or making phonecalls to officials, politicians, policy makers, media please help us by doing exactly that.
Here's some contact information:

The Texas Division of Emergency Management
5805 N. Lamar
Austin, Texas 78752
(512) 424-2138
(512) 424-2444 or 7160 FAX
www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/

Contact the National Offices of FEMA here:
FEMA-Correspondence-Unit@dhs.gov
Telephone: 1 (800) 621-FEMA (3362)
TDD: 1 (800) 462-7585
Fax: 1 (800) 827-8112

You can also help us by distributing this story plus all the related materials on this page to online open publishing sources, media contacts, email lists of organizations and friends in your address book.

Helping with Supplies and Finances

Money and Supplies are crucial to the rescue efforts. Please keep visiting these pages for the updated list of needed supplies and ways to send them:
http://streetmedic.wordpress.com/2008/09/14/hurricane-relief/
and
http://streetmedic.wordpress.com/
Right now the best we have is this announcement:
"Please contact us at zoethemedic@gmail.com for a mailing address for donations or to set up a pick up." More instructions and specifics will follow as things get better arranged.

Due to the illegal harassment by authorities, the Street Medics were forced to move the relief operation to another hurricane-struck area in Dulac, Louisiana.

The new location they're in is between normality and disaster. According to Bryan Garcia, one of the Street Medics, some services exist in Dulac, some don't. Food is still being distributed in the streets, there's piles of mud and filth around, phone reception is tricky, a few miles down the road there's no electricity, and some places still don't have water. Postal deliveries are not necessarily normalized for every location there, but our friends are going to make some arrangements and we'll have a way for deliveries established hopefully soon.

The Colorado Street Medics' long journey to setting up clinic in Dulac is documented in a series of updates just posted on their website,
http://streetmedic.wordpress.com/
but the team's access to the internet is not guaranteed and updates may be irregular.

The new location in Dulac was worked out in co-operation with the Four Directions Indigenous Solidarity Network:
http://www.eswn.org/
whose network in Dulac operates a grass roots backyard Free Store, a community center from which basic supplies are distributed to the community. Here's a link to an eight minute video about the Free Store and its role in community-based grass roots relief efforts. The video is a brilliant mix of documentary and visual poetry that captures the spirit of co-operation, community pride and love in action that flows out of the Four Directions Free Store in Dulac:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8633161211427080212

And a related update from the Street Medics:
http://streetmedic.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/the-free-store/


At this point, the two most important necessities are:
- to help create a political climate that generates a "Hands Off the Street Medics" safety net and support network, so that illegitimate authorities will think twice before interfering again with the relief efforts,
and,
- to ensure a steady stream of supplies and money to the mission so that it will be able to address the health needs of the indigenous, poor and undocumented people in the community. This is the population toward whom the Street Medics intend to give their primary attention.

Please give your political and material support generously to this volunteer mission. It's the real thing: worthy, honourable, indispensable.

Petros Evdokas
volunteer, Portland Street Medics
http://petros-evdokas.cyprus-org.net/Another-sort-of-Introduction.html
___________

Some Related Materials

How did we get to Shrimper’s Row?
http://streetmedic.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/how-did-we-get-to-shrimpers-row/

Four Directions Indigenous Solidarity Network:
http://www.eswn.org/

Accomplishments in Louisiana
http://www.eswn.org/success.html

Portland Street Medics
http://street-medics.portland-or.net/

Arrested Street Medic Speaks - Press Release
http://colorado.indymedia.org/node/1147
____________

BTW, the medics probably also need donations for their legal fund to fight the illegal arrests that occurred at the RNC. It would be nice if we could donate 46k (in goods and/or cash) for them.

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Some bits of bittersweet

Allen Ray Andrade, murderer of Angie Zapata, was just charged at his preliminary hearing with first-degree murder after deliberation, bias-motivated crime, felony motor vehicle theft and felony identity theft in her death. The case will go back to court on November 16th. Helen has a lot more info, and links to her previous writings on Angie's murder and murderer. I hope he gets life in prison with no chance of parole ever.

Police finally confirm that there was no violence on the part of the trans* folks at London Pride.


A federal court found that the Library of Congress refusing to hire Diane Schroer because she was transitioning is a clear-cut case of discrimination based on sex. This sets an amazing precedent and hopefully the court of appeals will agree with this amazing ruling.
I really like this part:

Imagine that an employee is fired because she converts from Christianity to Judaism. Imagine too that her employer testifies that he harbors no bias toward either Christians or Jews but only "converts." That would be a clear case of discrimination "because of religion." No court would take seriously the notion that "converts" are not covered by the statute. Discrimination "because of religion" easily encompasses discrimination because of a change of religion. But in cases where the plaintiff has changed her sex, and faces discrimination because of the decision to stop presenting as a man and to start appearing as a woman, courts have traditionally carved such persons out of the statute by concluding that "transsexuality" is
unprotected by Title VII. In other words, courts have allowed their focus on the label "transsexual" to blind them to the statutory language itself.

This isn't bittersweet, its just wrong:

Troy Davis was denied clemency last week by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole and is scheduled to be executed on September 23, next Tuesday, despite the tremendous amount of doubt that surrounds his conviction. Besides the Board of Pardons and Parole, the only entity that can stop the execution is the US Supreme Court. However, Amnesty International sent out an action alert today that states that the Board of Pardons and Parole can still reconsider its decision
...
Amnesty International is asking that people send emails and letters to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole urging that they reconsider their decision in the face of the considerable doubt cast upon Troy Davis’ guilt. Please take a few moments to do this; this may be one of the last chances that Troy Davis has to escape being murdered unjustly by the state.

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Three Notices

For Immediate Release
September 17, 2008
For information Contact:
Randy Alexander (901) 359-4982
Marsha Katz (406) 544-9504
www.adapt.org
www.duhcity.org

50 Arrested as ADAPT Takes Affordable, Accessible Housing Crisis to Congress

Washington, D.C.—From their base at “DUH City”, groups of ADAPT activists fanned out on the Hill to hit congressional leaders who have responsibility to help solve the housing crisis for low income people with disabilities. Visits to the offices of Rep. Barney Frank (D, MA), a longtime leader on housing issues, and Senators Chris Dodd (D, CT) and Richard Shelby (R, AL), the Chair and ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs resulted in a total of 50 arrests.

“Our first stop was to see Rep. Barney Frank,” said Diane Coleman of ADAPT in Rochester, New York. “ADAPT has been in talks with him over the past year, and early on he told us in no uncertain terms that he could get 500 housing vouchers from HUD that would be targeted to free people with disabilities who live in nursing homes and other institutions. He repeated that promise for months, and we kept trusting his word, and then one day he suddenly says he can’t help us. We were also working with him to get funding that pays for segregated housing redirected to support integrated housing and more vouchers. Sen. Frank arranged a hearing on this funding, and not only did he not invite any people with disabilities to testify, he didn’t even notify us about the hearing. So, today, we decided to confront him on his broken promises and bad faith.”

Shortly after 13 ADAPT members entered Franks’ office, he ordered staff to have them arrested, refusing to even discuss the ADAPT concerns, or strategies to address the housing crisis for low income people with disabilities trapped in institutions for lack of affordable, accessible, integrated housing.

ADAPT went to the offices of Dodd and Shelby because HUD and housing fall under the purview of their committee. Sen. Shelby declined to work with ADAPT saying, “I don’t help people who can’t help themselves.” There were 19 arrests made in Shelby’s office. An aide to Sen. Dodd spoke with ADAPT, but declined to put her remarks on paper after indicating she might be willing to do so. ADAPT conti
nued to wait for the written statement, and eventually nearly 25 people were arrested.

“The TV is full of news about the bank crisis, and the mortgage crisis, and the need for candidates to appeal to middle income people,” said Cassie James, Philadelphia ADAPT organizer. “Meanwhile, people who live on disability benefits, and people who are trapped in nursing homes because of no housing are being held hostage while the government bails everyone else out. Rent has gone up so much, it’s higher than many monthly disability benefits. Not only do us younger people with disabilities need affordable, accessible housing, older people need it, too. This is a crisis, and we need help to solve it.”

ADAPT has been in D.C. since September 13, erecting DUH City, a tent city, on the plaza outside HUD headquarters to bring attention to the situation of the people who have been ignored in this election year- low income people with disabilities. The crises with the economy and housing extend well beyond the middle class, but the Presidential candidates and their parties have seemingly forgotten that fact. Not so, ADAPT.

Press release also posted here and here.

h/t Monica Helms and Lisa

save Bitch Magazine!
as many of you know, a slew of really awesome independent magazine (such as Clamor, Punk Planet, LiP, Kitchen Sink, to name a few) folded over the last year or two as a result of the whole IPA debacle. One of the few to survive was Bitch Magazine, but now they're facing more financial difficulties. So I highly encourage you to find out what you can do to help!

this is from their website:

First the bad news: The print publishing industry as a whole is staring into a void. Across the board, newsstand magazine sales are in a slump, subscriber numbers are down, and paper and postal costs continue to rise. But it's not magazines like US Weekly or Vogue that you'll see disappearing from the newsstands—they have the parent companies and the resources to weather industry ill winds. It's the small, independent magazines like Bitch that will disappear, because the odds are already stacked high against us. And simply put: We need to raise $40,000 by October 15th in order to print the next issue of Bitch.

Now the good news: While it's true that $40,000 is a lot of money, we know the number of you Bitch supporters is in the hundreds of thousands. And we're asking each of you who values independent, nonprofit media and intelligent feminist cultural analysis to contribute what you can to ensure that Bitch thrives. And while we can't say what form Bitch will take in the future (our direction will depend, in part, on your feedback), we can say that we've been hard at work to find an innovative publishing model that will allow us to maintain the spirit and integrity of Bitch while also reflecting the changing world around us.

As a nonprofit, reader-funded media organization, our fate really is—and always will be—in your hands. We don't need a parent company. We just need you!

Once again, the link to donate is:
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/bitchs-fate-is-in-your-hands

help make the weiner dog grow!
-julia

Copy/pasting Lisa's edit:

Edit:

"As Cedar says in comments:

I’m frustrated, though, that 1)the few feminist presses that actually take (white) trans women seriously and publish folks like Serano & Stryker do busted, racist shit (I want there to be good folks and bad folks, damnit!), and 2)that other folks aren’t willing to say yeah it’s not ok, but they’re the only folks that are not doing this other kind of not ok thing… I don’t know, it feels very hierarchy of oppressions to me. …I want them to be held accountable and not have an option to keep doing this shit, AND I want to have the only people who have my back to stick around. (no, feministing does not have our backs)

And Renee:

I have not been reading bitch for long but I do know that it speaks for some women. They did have a good article up about black motherhood not to long ago. I believe that any magazine that is not created for the specific purpose of serving WOC means that white women will be privilege within its pages. Is that in and of itself reason enough to wish that Bitch closes…I don’t think so. It is still far more progressive that say a glamor magazine and we can over time push for it to take a more inclusive approach. When I think of where the best chance of being heard as a WOC is in a traditionally white magazine, I tend to think it would be at places like bitch over say cosmo.

And of course this scandal earlier this year. There may be other stuff (but I’m not clued in at the moment, and google hates me).

And this kind of thing, I think. Although Lisa Jervis fixed that quickly."

24,700 crowns and 5 years
That is what a Romany teenager's life is worth.

"The youth who beat dead with an axe a Romany, aged 14, in a street in Jasov, East Slovakia, was sentenced to five years in prison today, court spokeswoman Marcela Galova told CTK.

Besides, the assailant must undergo psychiatric treatment and pay a compensation of 24,700 crowns to the family. [currency converts at 813 British pounds, or 1,457 US dollars]

The attack was racially motivated, Galova said.

The attack occurred in early last December when a boy, aged 17, attacked the boy outside a house and repeatedly hit his head with an axe.

The Romany boy tried to escape, but as he fell down, the assailant dealt him more blows. He then pushed the body to a brook and left the scene.

He caused to the Romany boy a fracture of skull and brain concussion. The Romany boy died in hospital after a week.

The punishment was proposed by the prosecutor. The court today approved an agreement on guilt and punishment. There is no appeal against the verdict.

The assailant told the court today he regretted the crime, Galova said."
h/t Debi

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Burnt Armor

I wanna focus on the happy, the good, the correct, righteous love, on that which must be said, on the defiantly awesome for a minute. Though I know others may be getting annoyed at my constant link-farms, I'm just not really ready to post publicly atm. If you're my LJ-friend, look for a friends-only post in the next few days if you wanna know more.


"Ally" is a bad term to use.
Here is some interesting discussion on how "allies" will use snark and their(our) knowledge to one-up and dominate discussions with ignorant privileged folks.

Gauge did hir own write-up of CT. And it was linked to on Feministing!

Cedar is on a roll!
The Standards of Care are abusive and manipulative in practice.
Step Up; Step Back is actually something that came up between us at CT and I've been trying to formulate a response, but with all the shit happening with me personally I just can't right now. I'd love to, but I'm just not up for it.
Where next? What do we need? Another conversation I wish I had the energy/ability to contribute to.

Trans* rights have been protected in Maryland (for now at least).

Theres proposed legislation in the UK to recognize genders other than man/woman! But first, they need to hear that there is a real need for this.

The proposed legislation will initially state the case for necessity of provision of an alternative option alongside male and female in sex/gender field on forms for application and registration, such as passport application, the Census etc. We are presenting the case for a third option of ‘non gender-specific’, ‘gender not specified’ or ‘other’ on all forms.

In order for the legislation to have any chance of succeeding in early stages of procession through parliament, it is vital that we can demonstrate a strong social need for recognition of identities that have until now been unrecognised by law in all western countries and ignored by gendered society.

*This is where I need the help and support of EVERY resident in the UK who does not identify as male or female and for whom the options of male and female provided by gendered society are irrelevant, inadequate and insulting.*

...

Please send an email to my address Christie.Elan-Cane@ukgateway.net with *I SUPPORT NON GENDER-SPECIFIC OPTION* in the subject line. Give your full name and preferably a full address in the United Kingdom where you are resident. If you would rather not provide address details, write anyway with just your name but responses with a valid UK address should carry more weight if used to petition support from other ministers.
Please do not send any attachment documents with your email.

Per also asks that non-UK residents post this on their blogs/LJs/websites/etc so the word gets out.
And I'm wondering, why don't all those interested in a "gender-free society" send their support too? After all, you may be one step closer to that world** and you'll be helping real people at the same time! Or is the possibility of working with trans* folks instead of against us just too much to ask?
**I don't believe that world is possible, but certainly making it so that one does not have to choose woman/man is a way of showing that they are not the only options.


The Sky is Falling and our love is an act of war.
I won't quote it all because y'all should go over there and read and comment, but I really, really loved these parts:

Here's what they're on about: they live in a world where we are monsters. They live in a world that trembles daily, because we snake our faultlines through its foundations and each time we move more crumbles and falls over the yawning edge of the flattened sea. In their world, once near us, their children can be lost to them, and just seeing us represented fills them with the rage of people struck in the face and deprived of their birthrights.
That world needs to end, and we know it. That world will end, and they know it.
...
I say let's call down the thunders, then. Let's stand and fight. Let's own that our love is a matter of artillery, and fire salvo after salvo. Let's hold hands and kiss and fuck and dance while all over, rock shears from the cliff-faces of their shuddering world and it frays at the seams. Let's defiantly exist, exist hard, right next to them, public, brazen, beautiful. Let's drill and march and right on their doorsteps let's have unacceptable bodies and loud music and food whose aromas they find foreign and offensive. Let's fucking sing.

We can call it jubilation. They can call it war. Either way, the results are the same. We succeed, and walk hand in hand into a new world where our very existence is not considered a violation, or we do not--and are no longer in a position to care.

And Flames of Incandescent Terror is an awesome response to that:

Love is an act of blood. Love is an act of bone. It is your breath.

I am a child of the Mother of Demons. My love will rip up the foundations of the world if need be. It will tear apart your safe spaces. It will not let me be silent. My love is a claimed conspiracy to riot stashed in a jail cell awaiting judgement in Minnesota. My love does not wait for a permit or follow an established route. It is here now there then always not with a whimper but a bang and if your world is ending for it then remember that love will divide your families, set kith against kith and kin against kin, that you were warned and said you believed.

Living and other acts of Defiance:

I wont back down from who I truly am. I will not butch up to convince you I am a man, nor will I allow you to treat me as a woman. I am myself, a beautiful gargoyle with a heart of stone. I care not for your insistent and terrified mewling. I will not be convenient. I will not be neat. Your binary will not cage me.

At the moment, I am not sure if I am up for being a warrior, being defiant, up for more ripping and tearing. At the moment, I just want to crawl away and sleep until I can't care anymore.
Right now the world is too empty and too full; I can't bear it any longer.
But that is right now.
That is right after I am thinking of death and loss after my old mentor dies. Right when I am thinking of betrayal and hurt after drama and pain invade my safe spaces.
But that was now and soon now will be this.
I can't just sleep away till revolution comes. I have tough claws for war (and for protecting). I have wide wings for flight (and sheltering under). I have a rough tongue for lapping up the blood (and the tears).
I can rip and tear at hate and oppression with these teeth; even while I heal pain and the oppressed with this tongue.
So I will lick my wounds for now; here in my cave, with a battered and burnt suit of armor at my door and more marching towards this mountain.

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Will be away for the weekend. I'm going to my grandparent's place for a few days. Wish me luck. >.<

--This is mah kitteh, Buttercup. Wasn't she pretty? Mind you, the picture can't show you how mean she was to practically everyone but me. ^.^

--Elijah Blue
--Copper
--Fiddle
--Elijah again
--Fanon Draco!
--The Sand Siblings from Naruto
--Sand Sibs again
--Gaara in soup
--Gaara and Naruto

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RNC Brutality

Theres been a bunch of stuff happening that I really should have been blogging about. I'm sorry, but I just wasn't up to it; loads of stuff offline and personal things, but I'm also getting burned out. I am so tired of the same old cardboard arguments getting thrown at us, the same old trolls sapping our energy, and the constant betrayal for crumbs from the kyriarchy. But I'm not the only one and getting tired of getting shit thrown at you and yours is bound to be tiring. I'll rest when I need it and get back to cleaning when I can. ^.~

So, back to what I should be writing about:

RNC. Blackwater, targeting medics(!!!), illegal arrests (journalists!!!), illegal searches(!!!), police brutality(!!!), fascism, actual assassination plots going unpunished (who cares if Obama gets killed), media blackout, gathering info on undesirables...
Need I go on? (no need, BFP has been awesome)
Of course, everyone is focusing on Palin and her baby's baby and not the Illegal Activity the government is participating in. I don't give a fuck about who is preggers and who wasn't.
I give a fuck that the government is stepping up it's fascism and brutality to levels that are obvious to anyone with eyes. How long until this becomes the common way of treating all citizens? (already intersections of POC, queer/trans* folks, homeless folks, poor folks, etc are treated this way)
How long until running to Canada is more than just talk? How long until the doors of moderate straight, white, cis*, men and women are getting broken down because they said something unpatriotic? How long until the S.O.S. men are real?

PS: petition to drop charges against the journalists.

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War

I just got this video from Lisa; and it's...chilling.
I hope to the Gods that this Scott Ritter is exaggerating or mistaken. I do not want nuclear war; do they not know that MAD stands for Mutually Assured Destruction?


I agree with Lisa; we cannot let McCain win.

Almost forgot, Don't click play if you can't handle disturbing video. Including small children who are injured/dead.

ETA: Sorry Andy, I completely forgot to give a summary I watched the video and thought "I have to post this, I am terrified of this possibility"; parts of the video are text though.
Basically its a bunch of quotes from Republicans and various military higher-ups about how McCain is a loose-cannon and the idea of him being POTUS scares the hell out of them.
I'm not sure about the details or the validity of his statements, but the author Scott Ritter is talking about his book and how the Bush administration has made it easier to use nukes on "enemies".
Theres also a lot of quotes from McCain about how we'll be in Iraq for 100 years and how there will be more wars in the next few years (Iran was mentioned as a specific example). Also about how the "young people" in his audience would be serving in those wars.
This makes me hope that if McCain wins, DADT stays in place; because you just know they will make it impossible for us to get out of McCain's draft otherwise. And yes, McCain would like to reinstate the draft. Fyi, my spiritual beliefs would make me unable to participate in a war unless it was entirely defensive (like, if Canada invaded MI) but because I'm not a Christian, and my beliefs aren't written in some holy book, so theres no way they'd let me out of a draft.

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Various links and a wittle rant

This is why I want a gun of my own.
(Triggering)

A Philadelphia judge has acquitted the killer of a trans woman of murder charges, despite an impassioned plea by the prosecutor that malice was behind the shooting. At the end of a three-hour bench trial on Aug. 18, Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart convicted Terron Oates of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Alexis King.
[...]
Minehart didn’t explain his ruling, but it appears he accepted the defense’s position that Oates acted in the heat of passion after he picked up King for sex in February 2006, then shot her twice after realizing she was a biological male.
[...]
“Mr. Oates isn’t so naïve that he can’t find a gun,” she said. “He has an illegal gun in his car, he’s out at five o’clock in the morning on a school night and he’s going to a strip club when he’s underage. He’s sophisticated enough to be doing those things. Yet the defense portrayed him as an innocent, naïve little boy.”

Oh "trans panic" defense don't we hate you; though cis*folks are all too ready to believe you even when the evidence completely disproves you:

Oates told police he didn’t realize King’s biological status until King grabbed Oates’ hand and placed it on King’s penis, inside the car.

Oates did not testify during the trial but his early statements to police were read for the record.

However, Sgt. Daniel Dutch, who’s worked undercover as a “john” in the area, testified that he’s never heard of — nor experienced — such behavior by a transgender sex worker.

To the contrary, transgender sex workers normally go out of their way to avoid having the johns touch their penises, Dutch said.

And medic William Murphy, who administered emergency care to King after she was shot, testified that King’s penis was “tucked” between her legs, held in place by her panties, when he got to her.

The shooting happened in the Nicetown section, near the intersection of Bott and Kerbaugh streets. King was shot twice, from the side and rear, according to the medical examiner’s report.

Her body was found about 120 feet from Oates’ car, where she collapsed in a pool of blood, evidently trying to run for safety, said Feeney.

McMonagle [the defense attorney] said the shooting happened during “pandemonium” in Oates’ car, after he felt King’s penis, tussled with her for Oates’ pistol, then King moved toward him.

But Feeney refuted that scenario.

“At no time was she ever coming toward him when he shot her, because she was shot from the side and rear,” Feeney said. “That tells you right there that the defendant is lying. If you’re coming toward someone, your front would get shot.”

She said Oates’ actions after the shooting also contradict a heat-of-passion defense.

“He immediately got rid of the weapon,” Feeney continued. “If you can’t think straight, you’re not going to do that. Then he calls 911, does this act on the phone about a robbery and unknown gunman and lies to the responding officer and detectives. To me, that shows a pretty good presence of mind, don’t you think?”

Because Ms. King would totally put herself in danger (and out of a paycheck at the least) by being "sexually aggressive" and forcing her john to acknowledge that she isn't a cis*woman. Because, while getting shot in the back, she would totally be tucking herself back in. Then, more magic powers here, she would teleport herself and her blood into the street (not a hospital).
Fuck that noise.
If there are any mutants or aliens with super powers in Philly, I nominate Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart and Terron Oates as the next recipients of your justice. And, please, only mutants and aliens with super powers; we all know ('cause Marvel told us so) that you folks aren't real vigilantes and you always do things for the right reasons and never get caught.


Helen is asking What If?
I'd like to ask too. So, transphobes whether you be feminist or Christian or just an average Joe/Jane, what the fuck do you expect us to do in your utopia? I know we've been told to pray harder, examine our beliefs, and choose a different life...but what if that doesn't work or we are post bottom surgery? Do we join the priesthood (despite some of us not believing), do we kill ourselves?
What exactly do your theories mean for us--the real live trans* people?

Fuck ableism. Making a woman crawl off a plane, beg for a frigin bathroom break?
Fuck the comments too; access to water and a bathroom are human rights. So is basic respect and dignity.

OMG, the military discriminates against trans* folk! Who knew?

But hey, the APA said they're going to try to take a leading role in ending discrimination based on gender identity! Though for some reason this sounds hollow to me (maybe because Zucker was on the task force and will still be working on the DSM-V).

Shout out to Rozk; and her awesome post about how transphobic feminists can and do really hurt trans* folk and anyone who cares for trans* folk.

Shout out to Cedar; I especially like this piece.

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'Stupid assumptions' is redundant

"Intolerance is the most socially acceptable form of egotism, for it permits us to assume superiority without personal boasting."
"It's surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you're not comfortable within yourself, you can't be comfortable with others."
--Sydney J. Harris

There is a part of me that just can't let go of the idea that we transition to be straight and/or to conform to man=masculine/woman=feminine ideals.

With my knowledge of myself and other trans* folks, it just makes no sense.

This idea ignores genderqueer folks as well as other trans* folks who don't identify entirely as either a woman or a man.
It ignores queer trans* folk.
Theories that contain this idea ignore feminine ftm-spectrum folks and masculine mtf-folks.
The idea completely ignores androgynous trans* folks as well as others whose gender expression is neither masculine nor feminine.
And most of all, this idea erases all that we say about ourselves.

I absolutely hate refuting this idea/theory.
Because I find most simple answers are subversivist and/or ignore trans* folks who do not feel the need to transition.
Because I never remember to answer the base assumptions instead of the surface arguments.
This argument is so tired and old and has been used by everyone from transphobic queers to religious fundamentalists to transphobic feminists to social conservatives.

The assumption that masculinity is forever tied to 'man' and maleness and that femininity is forever tied to 'woman' and femaleness.
This theory assumes that there is something inherently sexual about being trans* or transitioning.
It assumes trans* and trans* folks are a monolithic group/ideology.
Proponents assume that there is something bad about being trans*, something horrible about transitioning. That no one would transition or be trans* if we didn't have to.

When for many trans* folk, being trans* is about their sex, being trans* is about their gender not fitting into either man or woman, being trans* is about their soul, being trans* is a very individual thing and is not easily explained, and there are so many ways of being trans*.
While many of us are sexual beings (just as many cis* people), we do not all view genitals as being inherently sexual.
There is a huge amount of diversity in the trans* communities; both in what 'trans' means to people and in our interests and views.
I am so glad that I am trans*; I feel like even if my life ends tomorrow, I will have grown so much in this life just from being trans* and meeting people through being trans*. I am not alone in this.
I felt so much more free after I was finally able to be out about being a guy. I feel so trapped in not being able to start T or get surgeries. I am not alone in this.
If there was a pill that would make me a cis*woman, I would refuse it. If there was a way for me to go back in time and make me a cis* person (woman or man), I would refuse it. If there was a way to make sure no trans* people would ever be born, I would fight against it. I am not alone in this.

If you listen to us, most trans* folks would not be helped by just getting rid of gender or getting rid of rigid gender/sex roles.
Try listening to us, we know that Jesus/Allah/Kali will not "fix" us if we just prayed more (God[s/ess] makes no mistakes, right?).
Listen and you'll know that ideology and talk therapy will not "cure" us.
Listen and you'll see that drugs and behavioral therapy do nothing to help us.
Listen; don't assume, listen.

For some of us, medical transition is a necessity for continued life and/or happiness.
For some of us, being able to have nongendered pronouns known and respected is necessary.
For some of us, unisex toilets are a temporary or permanent necessity.
For some of us, legal gender/sex markers need to be changed or done away with.
But for all of us, respect and acceptance and love are necessary.

This is the reality, the logical conclusions.

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pictures

Kyute for Gauge and anyone else not feeling well:

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Fucking Hell

I love how much privilege us trans* folk, especially trans* women get.

While so many of you radfems are trying to prove how m33n we are and how we are all liars and can't possibly be telling the twuth about ourselves and how you must know more about "trannyism" than us...
This SHIT was happening!

(Warning for triggers and RAGE)

Kellie Telesford's murderer, Shanniel Hyatt, was declared innocent because she must have killed herself in a kinky sex game and then covered herself with a blanket after he stole her stuff. trans* women, especially black trans* women, have magic powers and are all into kinky sex games! And even if he did kill her, she is a tranny and of color and into kink and probably a slutty whore and she deceived him, so obviously she deserved it. *sneer*

I just missed another anniversary of death.

A neighborhood is harassing sex workers, especially the trans* ones. Because obviously trans* sex workers create all sorts of crime, and they can totally go get high paying jobs with no fucking problem.

And on the radio and TV we have folks dehumanizing more trans* women!
Because Ange Zapata also deserved to her her head smashed in with a fire extinguisher.
And any trans* woman willing to go on TV deserves to get all the fucking tranny jokes you can think of thrown at her.

Zucker and other fucking quacks are being invited to speak on "GID" youth.
Because reparative therapy works so fucking well.

Vancouver Rape "relief" is proven to be fucking bigoted assholes.


I have to hold in my rage and tears. I can't scream and cry and break things.
I can't because I'm at home and I can't let my parents know how much danger being trans* is.
I can't let them worry that much.

Here is my dirty little secret:

I want to put on my most angry music and destroy something.
I want those super powers I've been told we use to destroy feminism.

I want to fly to Shanniel Hyatt's home and destroy him.
I want to hear my metal-enclosed fist break Anthony Tyrone Biscoe's face.
I would like to tear Adrian Williams' mind to shreds and watch him gibber in a corner.
I want to watch the blood flow after I cut Allan Ray Andrade's throat.

And I am not all that violent of a person; vegetarian and anti-war and all.

Where is our super hero?
Where can I find out masked crusader?
How long till we get our Bruce Wayne, or even our Magneto?

Because we don't get justice.
We get told we deserved it.
If the police won't help us, if they take part in raping and killing us, it seems like we will need to make our own justice.
And I am beyond pissed off right now.


ETA: Just remember straight and/or cis*folks, you don't have to be queer or trans* to be killed by a heterosexist/transphobic person.

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Camp Trans is made of win

As I said before, CT was awesome.
Michfest is no longer it's main thing, though certainly its still important to CT. The "WBW"(such a BS phrase) policy is pretty much unenforced and it seems like the majority of festies either don't care if trans* women are there or want trans* women there. In fact, some festies who left early left their wristbands with CT for trans* women to get in and another festy donated money for tickets for trans* women. I missed the days we walked the line, but I heard that reception was mixed which is pretty normal. Though there were some folks that didn't talk to any negative people at all.
The mtf-spectrum folks who went to fest all had a good time, they even hosted a workshop on ENDA. One woman I talked to said that one festie she had spoken with in the line recognized her and came over and said hi and was very glad that she had made it into fest.

There was some bad news. A fest van crashed and, while I'm not sure about details, apparently one fest goer died. When we learned of this, as a community, we immediately decided to get flowers and bring them to the gates. So the next day folks donated money and a few campers went to town to get the flowers. According to those that brought the flowers, the gate keepers were very grateful and I guess there were tears and hugs all around.

Getting back to CT...
I was completely in love with the trans*-centric space there. When we introduced ourselves we gave both our names and our preferred pronouns. Everyone I spoke to respected the gender identities of the others. I can't really put into words how awesome this felt.
It was literally the first time I ever felt really, really safe and not on the defensive in regards to my gender. It was the first time I felt that complete strangers would respect my maleness without me having to hide my transsexuality.
It was just utterly amazing to go somewhere and not second-guess myself and distrust the folks around me (in regards to my gender).

There were all sorts of genders represented; people who identified within the traditional binary to people who couldn't fit into it if they tried. There were butch mtf-spectrum folks; fem ftm-spectrum folks (besides me, though I wasn't feeling all that fem while I was there); and all sorts of flavors of androgynous folks. There were people who didn't use pronouns; some who didn't care what pronouns you used; there were folks who got very offended (rightfully so) if you didn't use the right pronouns.
And there wasn't any excuse for using the wrong pronouns; not only did folks introduce themselves with their pronouns, but it was perfectly acceptable and welcome to ask someone which they prefer. And I say this as someone who did accidentally use the wrong pronouns a few times; and I too don't have any excuse--all I could do was apologize and work to not fuck up again.
But yeah, just being around so many awesome trans* folk and making friends with them and really finally understanding that I'm not alone was just amazing. I really recommend going if you are trans*--especially if you don't know a lot of trans* folk yet. Though obviously only go if you are able to respect all trans* folk. *glares at the HBS folks*
Allies are of course welcome, but this is a, especially a mtf-spectrum, trans*-centric space.
And while I think mtf-spectrum folks were under represented, it wasn't nearly as bad as it used to be and there were a ton of totally awesome mtf-spectrum folks there. *waves at Cedar, Veronica, and everyone else*
There was also a lot of work on becoming better about class, race, disabilities, etc. It was sort of interesting because along with the folks who were in college and/or were rich enough to take a week long vacation, there were a lot of up who just didn't have a steady job or school who were able to come because we got rides or whatnot.
There weren't that many POC, but CT is working on trying to both be a more supportive and anti-racist place as well as reaching out to trans* people of color.
CT is also becoming pretty good about people with disabilities. We had an accessible porta poty this year. As well as folks who signed up to help with stuff like putting up/taking down tents for those who need help, carrying gear, etc. They also have a generator for things like power chairs.

There was also a great medic tent that anyone could go to. They had an herbalist, EMTs, and even a doctor for a bit. They did everything from advising about alternative treatments for long term things to removing ticks to giving folks their hormone shots.
There were also Advocates at most workshops and there was always at least one on duty and sober. They acted as amateur counselors, drama mediators, shoulder to cry on, etc.
I need an advocate now I think, I'm having a hard time writing this post because I want so badly to be back.

The workshops I went to were great. We had all kinds of workshops; serious ones like Accountability, fun ones like Ropes Bondage and Trans* bodies, identity-based ones like Genderqueer Caucus, and all sorts of others.
I attended one informative one about trans* and queer identities and science. An awesome festie ran it, she's a biologist and had all sorts of info and studies that apparently prove that queer, intersex, and trans* identities (at least regarding subconscious sex, gender isn't so concretely proven) are natural (I'm not a scientist and I didn't get a chance to read them through, so I can't say if they do prove anything). We exchanged emails and she got my url, so maybe she'll show up to comment sometime. It was amusing, when I mentioned my "how I experience trans*ism" post she seemed really interested in reading it. I guess my phantom limb syndrome really makes sense in her theory (something to do with the lymph system or something, I can't remember)[ETA: In comments she said it was the ancient mammalian limbic system of the brain, not the lymph system--I is SMRT].

The food was also really, really good. I need to get a hold of the vegan garlic potato soup we had for myself and I think my mom would like the vegan borst (though I'm not a fan of cooked carrots or beets, it was good).
Helping in the kitchen was a lot of fun. The kitchen princess (she's in charge of the kitchen and cooking) was really cool and workshifts were a useful and fun way to get to know more folks.
And you got extra helpings and/or treats for helping in the kitchen (cooking or dishes).

I don't remember how much I've talked about my depression or my current situation here in public, but I think CT will be the goal that gets me through. Not only do I have to goal to get to CT next year, but I hope to be in a place where I can work on various issues at CT.
Like I think that once I've started T, camp will be the perfect place to work on my nudity issues (CT is a very body-accepting place, but I just won't be able to work on certain body issues until I get on T). And I think that if I don't take on too much and keep my eyes on next August I could get through a school year okay, which means that I would have access to health care, which means I could go to an endo and get some vitamin T. I am waiting on my bf to see about possibly living somewhere outside of MI with him, but I think I will be able to deal if I do have to live in MI for a bit. Before I couldn't have dealt with that.
Even this year at CT, with all the problems I have currently, I was able to work on my confidence some while I was there, just by being there with such great people.
In less than a week I feel like I've healed and grown so much thanks to the wonderful folks I met there and the wonderful folks who put CT together these past few years.

And if anyone has any questions about CT feel free to ask. I'll answer what I can. ^.^
PS: CT friends should feel free to comment here or on my LJ (friend me to, I still read my friends page) at any time, I miss you all already. ^.^


ETA: [Removed because I'm not giving them energy]

ETA2: *waves to festies*
Hey, I hope you like my blog; theres a bunch of trans* 101 links to the side if you are interested. My friends who went to fest said it was a lot of fun! I'm glad you all have fun, personally. And I do support women-only space; I just support women-only space that includes all women.
CT was amazing and free (in more ways than one), maybe I'll see you all next year!

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He's Back!

So I'm back from Camp Trans.
It was totally made of awesomesauce. I cannot wait to go back and I wish it could have lasted waaay longer. I am definitely going to do a write up in a bit, but right now I am really tired (first shower and comfy chair in a week) and I'm semi-catching up on the internets. I'm just reading my favorites and skimming a lot; at CT I used up all my alloted excitement and energy for the time being. ^.^
I met sooo many completely rad folks and I hope to get to know them better in the coming year(s).
I am just so happy to have gone. Not only was it a fun place where I met great people, but it was incredibly healing. This was the first time, other than a bit online, that I could discuss really personal trans* related stuff or even stuff that was not directly related to me being trans*, but is still impacted by it, and have a group of people nod and tell me that what I experienced/felt/did/etc was completely natural. Even though many of our experiences and/or identities were very different, we supported and cared for and respected each other so much.
It was just so amazing; yes, there were problems and whatnot, but it was still just so amazing. It was so great, but now I am completely exhausted, and it isn't even 9pm, I can't write much more than that at the moment.

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Pic Dump

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