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Apparently another element of the WTC just went down…building 7, it’s been burning for some time…

This image probably needs no introduction…it’s all anyone’s talking about today.

You say, “some guy they interviewed on the street in NY…”
You say, “he was saying, ‘there are still bodies falling out of the sky'”
violent_blue says, “oh god, cnn tv is talking about the woman that called from the bathroom of the hijacked plane”
Hildegarde [to violent_blue]: “oh god”
violent_blue says, “they have a pic of her”
violent_blue says, “apparently she called her husband”
violent_blue says, “how fucking sad.”
violent_blue says, “and they’re totally interrogating this guy about details”
You say, “the husband?”
violent_blue says, “and she wasn’t even supposed to be on the flight, but it was her husband’s birthday and she wanted to get home to be with him”
violent_blue nods at you.
wu says, “thats fucked up”
violent_blue says, “barbara olson”
wu says, “fuck”
wu says, “i can see them bringing bloody people”
wu says, “outside my window”
You say, “oh my god”

Meet the The Woodcraft Family. Well, part of the Woodcraft family. Missing from this picture are mother, grandmother, and brother, who are sea org members who have been forbidden to speak to the members of the clan pictured here. The Lisa McPherson Trust has made a series of post-scientologist interviews available in streaming video. I’m conpletely addicted to these stories. The interviews are separated into parts (there are many parts per person). I began hearing Astra’s story. Astra was a fairly highly placed worked in Sea Org, which is a quasi administrative/religious order that requires members to sign a billion year contract. Astra worked with ethics branches, convincing people they couldn’t masturbate, couldn’t be pregnant, couldn’t leave the Sea Org, and knew all the arguments. Knowing how the Sea Org would handle her, Astra got herself pregnant and refused to have an abortion as a way of getting out. She’s bright and eloquent, and she charmed me.

Right now I’m listening to her sister Zoe’s story. Zoe is younger, and was atrociously mistreated by her mother and the few adults who were around to supervise young children. The hardest part of this is watching her father’s reaction to her stories. They did these interviews with Astra, Zoe, and her father all present together. I had no idea Scientology was this….organized, this….cultish.

When I’m finished hearing Zoe’s stories, I’m aiming to hear Lawrence Woodcraft’s story of Scientology…how does a parent let this happen to their children? How do they get pulled into this? I can’t see anything attractive about it at this point…

Must…blog…this backwash conversation….

It was all about marriage. That’s how it started. And while people were talking about the advantages of getting married, I posted this:

Its a step you take, a life step for lack of a better description.

It’s a step straight people take, since they have the option. And it’s lovely to call it a ‘life step’, but all of this seriously degrades relationships that can’t be taken to that official step.

Straight girl: Like it or not, marriage IS how society validates relationships. The fact that you “can’t get married” is moot. You CAN get married, you just choose (yes, choose) not to date men, and same-sex relationships are still, for whatever reason, very taboo.

Cool straight girl Gem: just because that’s how society validates relationships doesn’t mean that it’s right. you’d think the divorce rate would be enought to show just how very silly that is.

The fact that you “can’t get married” is moot. You CAN get married, you just choose (yes, choose) not to date men,

what? i’ve never in my entire life thought of homosexuality as a choice. i am not sure why some people are homosexual and others are not. i have not done a lot fo research. i don’t know if it’s a nature or nuture thing. regardless, i don’t think it’s a choice.

Annoying straight girl: I merely thought it was semi amusing that someone would point out how they felt cheated by not being able to take said “life step”. I’m sure if you really wanted to, you could date elephants; just don’t expect to get married.

Me:Ah…..I see now. Thanks for the clarification. To further your argument….let’s say we have generic woman working at generic factory, making 30 cents less per hour than her male conterparts, just because she’s a woman. She shouldn’t argue that women deserve the right to make as much as men, and therefore the wage gap is unfair. She shouldn’t point out that it’s wrong, that it’s problematic, and that they make that wage on the backs of women like her. That would be silly! Clearly she is choosing to be a woman, and choosing to bear the social penalties that come with that choice. What she should do is go out and get a sex change.

Heeee……(waits for the next segment)

Women being genitally mutilated…and paying for it
I just can’t believe this. These women are going in and getting themselves sliced up because of someone’s stupid idea of what we’re supposed to look like. This really really sickens me. Dr. Alter, put the scapel down. Put it DOWN. Go read bust, bitch, Our Bodies, Ourselves, and all that literature on male circumsion. Sheeeesh. Oh, this is the saddest thing I’ve seen in a really long time.

The CBC asked for a name for the 8 alliance MPs who have left the party caucus in an attempt to force party leader, Stockwell Day (my current favourite political figure–to make fun of) to step down. A selection of the answers they received:
Stock option
Lock, stock, and 8 smoking barrels.
The party formerly known as alliance formerly known as reform formerly known as the Tories
Day olds
Alliance lite
The non-compilant alliance
The defiant alliance
D’alliance
The Day trippers

“People can say what they want about queers and homos and whatnot, but I’ve never ever been woken up on a Saturday morning with a group of homos knocking on my door, asking me to join their church.”
–a viewer letter, cited on QTonline

Well, I’ve continued to have a fascinating conversation with Kyle about gender and trans issues. He is truly a gifted human being, and I’m endlessly grateful that he bothered to answer my email. (Just one more adoring fan, and all that. ) He has said lots of incredibly fascinating things, but I think it would be rude to start sticking bits of my email up here. But let it not be said that I’m not tempted…talk about turning gender arguments upside down. I think the key point is that trans issues are a kind of gender crossroads, it’s what happens when feminism and queer theory hit the pavement, it’s the point when you finally try on the sweater you’ve been knitting for years and discover that it doesn’t fit at all. Like, as if you didn’t leave room for one of your arms, *that* sort of “doesn’t fit”.

Hildegarde sings, o/~ I missed ten thousand miles of road I should’ve seen..o/~