| Julian Assange and socialist disappointment |
[23 Jan 2012|01:28pm] |
Trigger warnings for discussion of sexual assault.
Guys.
When you pick your heroes, try not to pick a massive rapist. This should surely be a (admittedly quite low-level) baseline in what you admire about people, along with e.g. not actively being in the KKK or Nazi party.
As a lot of you have ignored this advice lately, some even after it has been pointed out, here is what your female friends have learned about you:
If we are raped, or have been raped or assaulted in the past (and the figures are 1 in 4) you are not a safe person to tell. We cannot count on you. Especially if our rapist shares your political beliefs, or if you just happen to think welp, he's a nice guy.
If we have been sexually assaulted, we may not feel safe around you full stop, as someone who does not think rape is a big deal is not safe to be around full stop.
We've learned that actually our justified fears and concerns (1 in 4) are not that important to you. We don't know why, but it's pretty disappointing.
Or we do know why, and it's even more disappointing that it's because of a level of misogyny and privilege that you are unwilling to examine in yourself because it would probably make you feel uncomfortable. Well, you now make us feel very uncomfortable.
And you've taught us that that's one less of our friends to trust. And when it happens again and again, you've taught us that if we want to get involved in political activism, we've got to accept being around a lot of unsafe people who don't think rape is important. You've taught us a lot of those people, including you, don't think women are important. You've taught us that in your awesome, freer, more left wing society, turns out women aren't any freer, because it's still not important if we get raped, and no one believes us. You've taught us that in this very important way, your vision of a new, better society is still built on oppression of one kind or another. And that really, you don't give a shit about that.
And I guess I could go into why this is a Bad Thing for socialist movements, but at the moment, I'd like you to realise that something, or someone, being bad for women is bad enough for it to be important. And that that should mean something to you.
'The revolution does indeed start at home. This phrase should not be interpreted as a depoliticized call to focus on self-development instead of building movements to to dismantle white supremacy, capitalism and imperialism. Rather, this phrase reminds us that for our movements to be successful, they must prefigure the societies we wish to build.'
- The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities
Ching-In Chen (Editor), Jai Dulani (Editor), Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (Editor)
If you are interested in being part of the solution, male allies are busy being awesome on these links:
http://www.whiteribboncampaign.co.uk/
http://www.mencanstoprape.org/
http://www.stopstreetharassment.org/male-allies/
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| Driving test |
[29 Jan 2010|01:15pm] |
So I could book it for the 9th Feb, or the 9th March.
If I pass it in Feb, that gives me a license before all our big events start, but am I less likely to pass it? On the plus side, I have leave that week beforehand to take more lessons, and I don't think I'd have any more lessons before the March date, so the only thing would be practice (and Stu has just got a new car he is understandably loath to let me anywhere near, haha).
My driving instructor says I should pass first time, as long as our lesson tomorrow doesn't bring up any problems with the parking stuff.
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| Vans |
[21 Jan 2010|09:49am] |
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I need a van. I am looking at 2nd hand vans. Who knows of this bizarre world, and can nevigate me through it by maybe coming to see vans with me?
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[20 Dec 2009|09:33pm] |
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Stuart is out watching Avatar tonight, so I am taking the opportunity to watch Legally Blonde 2, dressed in some old tracky bottoms and one of Stuart's oversized t-shirts, stuffing my face with microwaved Indian takeaway leftovers and smoking. I am hot shit. When he gets back he will NEVER HAVE WANTED ME MORE.
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| Hallowe'en |
[19 Oct 2009|08:19pm] |
Does anyone have a white corset I can borrow? Or white-ish.
I nicked one off Lolli but it is too tiny for my stomach, haha.
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| Boat update |
[16 Oct 2009|01:31pm] |
Boat found and keys reclaimed, oh yes.
Man currently sorting out massive mess John has made of the engine room - boat not moved yet as does not go.
Boat safety certificate man coming to inspect on Tuesday, so I can then get insurance and license for BW
Meg keeping good and full records of all cash and equipment owing. Woop woop. Going back down to London next weekend to hopefully move the boat if she moves by then.
Meg
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[13 Oct 2009|05:17pm] |
I have been renting my boat out through a company called Narrowboat Homes. The man behind this is John Driver, previously known as Eddy Rayner, but has changed his name by deed poll. This is how it was meant to go:
John picks up boat, and promises he will get a boat safety certificate and insure the boat, so I can cancel my insurance.
John pays me the £600 for this month in advance, minus the fee for the safety certificate.
He then pays me £600 per month, regardless of whether the boat is being rented out or not.
When he asks me for a payment break for 3 months, in exchange for doing loads of work on the boat, I say yes, as boat needs some work, apparently. He then starts paying me from the end of September.
During this time, I pay my boat license fee to British Waterways, and he pays me back every month for this. He assures me I do not need a business license (which costs more). He continues to assure me of this when BW say I do, and gives me loads of details about meetings he is having with BW. I am inclined to believe him because every time I phone BW they say something different, and are generally confusing. Also because the man who phones me up from BW is a smug bastard who insinuates I wish to break the law a lot. And does not send me letters even when I give him my new address. Twice.
What has actually happened:
John picks up boat and pays me, minus the fee for boat safety certificate. I later find out (last week) that he has not got a new safety certificate. This is bad.
He pays me for some time, then misses a month before the payment break. I point this out. He does not reply. He has never paid me anything towards the license.
He does not pay me at the end of September. He claims that he has put the money transfer in last Saturday, which I am not holding my breath for.
I search the internet and find some interesting information about him:
'Eddy Rayner who has changed his name by deed poll to John Driver. (that should create suspicion) was in court on July 31st on 6 counts of fraud and deception to do with Narrowboats. He pleaded not guilty and has opted for crown court. His next date in court will be 11th August where the date for crown court will be advised.
If this is a man of integrity and honesty as he says he is, then why would he be in such a position in the 1st place.
I notice his website has been cut down to a minimum, not the signs of a successful business man. I think its only fair that people are warned of this corrupt man so no more people can be sucked in his unethical world and lose their money.
The quote above states that my posts can be put back up when there is proof of allegations. I have stated pure facts and these can all be found out as its public knowledge.
I urge you to re-instate my posts or at least leave this one up as I feel John Driver aka Eddy Rayner has not only monopolised this forum to his best advantage and pulled the wool over many peoples eyes but has gained notoriety of the wrong kind to enhance illegal activities in his so called business.
These comments are not in any way slanderous but true facts and can be found on the public court website.
If anyone desires to wish him well on his next court appearance, he can be found at South Western Courts, Lavender Hill Battersea sw11. See you there!'
Also:
'we engaged ed rayner/john drivers services on two counts. one to convert our boat to a live-aboard and two to act as agent to let it out. we paid a lot of money to him for materials and equipment and upon a surprise visit to our boat, have discovered that very little of what he'd been saying he'd been doing had infact been done. almost everything he told us was untrue, including even going so far as to provide the names of tenants. on the advice of the marina where our boat was moored, we transported the boat away, and upon advice of the police, didn't report this movement to ed/john. he continued to correspond with us as though he were on the boat working, when infact the boat wasn't even there. prior to this, our suspicions were aroused by repeated inconsistencies in his stories, and continual postponement of the promises he made. when we found this blog we realised that he is definitely operating under two identities. he has always been known to us as eddy rayner, and he showed us his passport to support this name. we were making payments into the account of john driver and when we asked him who this was he said john is his silent business partner who supplies the capital. so either the passport or the bank account are definitely illegal. we have reported everything to the police. if you are involved with this man or his company Narrowboat Homes, and are feeling suspicious, contact the police immediately. if you don't intend laying a civil charge, the information you provide can be used in the criminal case they are building against him. '
His website is now down, by the way, and he is advertising under the same number as a 'man with van' hire company.
http://www.manandvanuk.eu/ContactUs.html
If anyone wants to phone him regarding any man with van jobs, I am sure he would be happy to do them. Even if they started from, like, really far away.
Meanwhile, I am trying to apply for a new license from BW, due to needing to do this every year (this is a boat thing). I cannot do this because he will not send me any information I need about the boat safety and the insurance. I phone BW and luckily speak to someone who is lovely and knows all about him, as BW are about to take enforcement action against me because the boat was moored illegally somewhere, and has no license.
I must now:
Go find the boat, which is hopefully where John says it is. But I do not know this, and apparently BW are still looking for some boats he has.
See what kind of condition it is in, as I suspect he has done no work on it. He also says he has left it somewhere I know to be well dodgy, with the keys in the front. Nice.
Drive the boat to a marina about a day away, and moor her there, paying £285 a month for this.
Get some new insurance and a new boat safety certificate, and pay for all the work required to bring her up to standard for this.
This takes my living expenses up to around £200 below my income, not including food, or the loan I must pay back for buying the boat in the first place, as I am now renting a house, because the boat loan was covered by the rent money.
I am annoyed.
I think it would be nice if this showed up in google a lot. And also when I get back from London I will be talking to the police.
Meg
PS Does anyone wish to buy a boat which is PROBABLY still VERY NICE.
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[01 Oct 2009|09:41pm] |
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Ok, I have planned my Hallowe'en costume. You may now vie for the privilege of having me at a party. Woop woop!
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[05 Sep 2009|12:52pm] |
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Who can play the guitar and wants to come do some folk music at my house with me and Dug one weekend this winter? Other instruments also welcome. We reckon we're going to listen to load of music first to kind of work out how to play it and then jam a lot. There might also be actual jam.
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| Gathering 2009 |
[01 Sep 2009|02:55pm] |
HOT
- Seeing loads of mates and having a huge faction.
- Tribe - awesome to roleplay with, having ace fun being in a group more. Especially Whispers, with whom I had a great conversation about idiots, and how being curious gets you killed.
- Party in the Albion Jugga club, and finding a reason for the battle on Monday (Harts cheat at Twisty shocker)
- Wah wah wah wah wah embody unliving, wah wah wah, thanks Stesha, you're great.
- Signing pyjamas
- 'Hold my shit; I'm gonna cut her'
- Plot being ALL ABOUT ME. Although mostly seeming to involve death threats. Ah well. I still felt speshul and important.
- Awesome emo rolemaplay around the whole M4 plot. Again, I did no crying.
- Scouts guild cake being amazing success. Got my guild fees paid, counted as my guild service, and got offered free training. Might make them another cake next year to keep up my profile.
- Cake-off. Oh my god, cake-cake. Also people asking for my cake recipe, which I'll post here later.
- Talking to Darren about catering his Heroes and Dragons events. Really looking forward to this.
- Lord Rone getting the crap kicked out of him.
- Stu not getting the crap kicked out of him, phew.
- Finally sorting out what to do with my OSPs. Slightly sad thing to feel pleased about, but I've never understood how they work before. Also it's useful to know from character perspective what is going on.
NOT
- The toilets being well mankier than usual. I had to utilise my boat-learned skills of breathing through my mouth, from when I had to manually empty my toilet every week.
- Don't feel entirely confident doing emo rolemaplay, always feel slightly stupid and like I am taking things too seriously. This is probably a side-effect of the amount of comedy scheming I have been doing over the last few years. Think I'm getting better at it though.
- I think my kit is rubbish, but plans are underway for more and different kit in varying degrees of cheapness. It does not help that I cannot fit into my leather trousers anymore, and someone asked if 'there was a reason for this that meant I shouldn't be drinking that booze and smoking' but plans are also underway for more excermacise and eating of vegetables to counteract this problem. My military jacket is pretty slagged, but I have got at least 6 years wear out of it, so not too bad going.
EDIT: Forgot most hilarious conversation of the event:
'You skipped out on our date 20 minutes in'
'Yes...to SAVE your LIFE.'
'Pfft, whatever.'
Meg
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[08 Jun 2009|02:39pm] |
Hallo girls
It's that time when I am broke, none of my clothes fit me, and I am throwing loads of them out. Woop! If you find yourselves in the same situation, come round to my house and bring loads of your old clothes that you do not wear any more or the like, and take some of mine. Big fun times! There can also be frothing, customising, and general girl talk. Yay!
We could possibly do it 21st June, the Sunday. Or maybe another day.
EDIT: Definitely another day as that one is Katy's birthday party. Oops! Thought it was the weekend after.
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| I NEED STUFF |
[27 May 2009|10:10am] |
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On what should I spend my OSPs?
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[28 Mar 2009|01:01pm] |
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Might head into town later to pick up some ingredients, then home for inventive cooking, and maybe a Firefly marathon if anyone's interested? Stu's off at a stag do in Notts, and my other wifey is busy making props for the Viper event.
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| Dragonfire |
[18 Jul 2006|10:29pm] |
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It's bad, but it's no Timelash...
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| Tonight |
[19 Jul 2004|04:30pm] |
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Tonight I will be mostly cleaning and organising my house. Until I get bored, at which point I will welcome visitors.
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