EXCHANGE INTERFACE

Apparently I am more Australian than our Deputy Prime Minister, who has automatic NZ citizenship thanks to his parentage and some very flexible NZ citizenship laws.

In breathtaking irony, he's the kind of person who thinks people like me are "the problem with racism in Australia".

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

A clip by SBS Viceland played on this so hard, it was wonderful: A Message From Australians Who Look A Bit Foreign.

First Dog On The Moon: featuring Brenda The Civil Disobedience Penguin.

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In the vein of 'actions, not just wishing and dreaming and hoping and praying for a better world', here's John Pavlovitz's take on Why Christians Need To Stop Praying.

( prayer and action )

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Oh, and for a touch of blackly humourous sarcasm (the kind I really like), have some Roy Zimmerman, "To The Victims Of This Tragedy We Send Our Thoughts And Prayers":

A small tale of hope c/o an Australian author and her daughter: Four Years.

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#WhatIReallyWant: A little cheesy, and somewhat ironic given the election, but I find it...oddly uplifting. There are women and minorities in countries that have far less than women and minorities the west, and yet they're willing to fight for what they want, if it takes decades. At this rate, yes, it may take decades.



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I think the thing that tickled me most about this Joint Statement from California Legislative Leaders on Result of Presidential Election is that it was given in both English and Spanish. I know that's such a small thing, but it just...it was good to see. I'll take what I can get right now.

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The HannahPad - an Australian washable menstrual pad. If you use pads rather than tampons or menstrual cups, this might be your thing. And, hey, it's Australian!

Speaking of which, I need a new menstrual cup. I burned my previous one because I forgot it was on the stove (to sterilise) and all the water boiled away. Yes, this is something I do with eggs, rice, and menstrual cups. (Not all at the same time.)

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For those of you who love smutty het romances, I recommend Anne Calhoun's Alpha SEAL series. I actually started with one of her other books - I think it was free when it was recced by Smart Bitches Trashy Books, and so I snaffled it up. I've spent much more on her books since then.

Oh, and I found a reasonably decent (ice) hockey romance series: Portland Storm by Catherine Gayle. The last (ice) hockey romance series just pissed me off something awful - Deirdre Martin - I didn't like her style, I couldn't like the characters... IDEK.

I've been enjoying Portland Storm, though. Some of the guys are, shall we say, a little more chivalrous than I would expect of white American pro sportsmen - one of them remains a virgin until he's 24 because he's in love with the girl he ends up marrying (she's the daughter of one of the older guys on the team) and wanted sex to mean something. I'm sure there might be guys who do that, but...well, unicorns, etc.

Other than that, I've been re-reading Jo Graham and Melissa Scott's Order Of The Air series, which is about a found family of pilots set in the period between WWI and WWII. If you haven't read it, please do. It's both dark and uplifting - the 5th Book 'Oathbound' features the invasion of Ethiopia where the heroes are on Ethiopia's side against Italy (one of the Ethiopian princes is a friend of the main characters).

I don't know when the 6th book is coming out; the author has been struggling with the parallels between the state of the world in the 1930s and the current state of the world now. That may not seem like an encouragement to read them today, but the books are really good - hope and courage, a little excitement, quiet heroism, duty, and all kinds of love.

And I went back through the Stargate Legacy series, again by Jo Graham and Melissa Scott, 1-6 (the Atlantis expedition), and 7-8 (the Atlantis expedition + Elizabeth). Solid stories, good characters, everyone gets to play a part (that's important if you're like me and your favourites are not the show/fannish favourites), and happy endings.

CrossRoads Press does the Stargate books (SG1, SGA, SGU) with none of the fluff and palaver over DRM or fancy links. The book is yours to download, nice and easy, in EPUB or MOBI format.

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And just a few links for coping and managing:

rydra_wong has some points and ideas

How To Deal With Aggressive Confrontations: I've done this with a non-aggressive but extremely skeevy interaction between an older, clearly socially inept guy who was trying to chat with a 15 y.o. girl travelling by herself on the morning train.

colorblue has a list of organisations and groups to help get us all through this.

Smart Bitches Trashy Books' Self Care, Self Care, and More Self Care post.

Oh man, I just found their 2016 SBTB Gift Guide (Part 3: Crafty Edition) - and there are links to knitting patterns, and papercrafts, and A GHOSTBUSTER LEGO SET that features all the ladies (and Kevin)! *throws money at it*

Okay, so it links to Amazon, perhaps, but hey, A GHOSTBUSTER LEGO SET EXISTS AND IF YOU HAVE A LITTLE GIRL WHO NEEDS A CHRISTMAS PRESENT, HOO BOY! (And maybe it's a bit pricey.)

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Speaking of money: there was a tumblr post I read last night about people seeking American citizenship - particularly adoptees of colour, possibly brought to America by well-meaning white folk who may not have done the paperwork to give these children American citizenship. There is organisation and cost involved and, of course, because of the nature of the situation, politics.

If you know of someone who needs this citizenship and doesn't have the money for processing, DM me. I'm good to assist at least one, maybe two people get papers that means they have a legal way back to the country they've lived in all their life if someone decides they're not the right kind of person to be American. I know what it is to be considered 'not the right kind of person to be citizen of a majority white country' simply because of my race.

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When I first started typing this, I had a cut at the bottom of the post - "oh what the hell, have some more cat pictures" - because I figured I wouldn't have enough links.

Yeah, maybe the cat pics in another post then...

Describing the hydro-electricity client as "the HYDRA [location] project" is probably not going to win any points with them.

Everybody needs a waterbuffalo,
Mine is fast but yours is slow...

"Veggie Tales - Water Buffalo song - Lyrics On sceen & description" (Watch on YouTube)

Apparently God decided that Moore Theological College really did need a couple of waterbuffalo on their front lawn...

*giggles*

Cockholm Syndrome: when a heroine's poor opinion of the hero is reversed by his magic sex.

Masobookism: when you have keeping reading an awful book just to find out what happens at the end.

Things Christians Like: The Sport God Loves The Most

I was grinning after the introduction ("When you're a sports fan, you'll often find yourself praying that your team does well–even if you’re not a person of faith. Sometimes God doesn't answer. Hockey fans, it's not because He doesn't like your team. It's because He doesn't like your sport and ignores all your prayers, no matter which team you support.") but nearly choked on my coffee when I got to #7:

7) There are 11 players on a soccer team. Jesus had 11 people on his team. Judas doesn't count as he got himself a red card.

I think I need more humour of this kind in my life.

But hilarious:

The Avenger Song (a.k.a. "The Song Formerly Known As 'The Llama Song'")

So, I'm sure many of you remember THAT song. :D

This is the HD version - you can actually see faces and everything. It's awesome! And yeah, Jerry Springer is fantastic at the end...

I was pointed towards this Etsy shop: Sign Fail, and laughed until I cried.

I suggest clicking on the 'Greeting Cards' section.