SOME BROS BROMANCE BROS, BRO.
Or, Why gay male culture is so fucked that we need sex to sell our own equality to ourselves.
Immersion (Piss Christ) slashed after protests organised by fundamentalist Christians
happy easter, everybody! this kind of thing is exactly what jesus wanted.
Gillard likely to appear on Oprah show (abc news)
i knew she’d have a good reason to be too busy to offer any support to assange.
i guess a lot of the principles i proudly touted as an idealistically ‘socialist’ 14 year old (in underinformed and overimpassioned debates with my father) i still hold, to a degree. the importance of equity over wealth, intelligence and hard work over ignorance and laziness, a steadfast commitment to socially ethical and accountable behaviour and governance. standing arm in arm, mutual respect and doing all you can to be deserving of that others place in you. reason above all. of course, we falter; i falter often, despite the high standards i hold myself and others to - and the corresponding irritation and/or shame are my most obvious and frequent side effects of i guess a strong sense of justice.
the biggest belief to have fallen away, since those times, are that anything else i believe in is workable. a fierce faith in the brotherhood of man (so romantic!) that must be able to put reason before fear, that must extend our hands, that must be able to work together when (and hopefully well before) things appeared most grim. i no longer believe that. i was probably naive to - the failed corrupt ‘communisms’ of eastern europe that my father pointed to a lot, were really evidence enough (“but they were just never implemented properly! and what about cuba?!” “go to bed.”)
i think and write often about the state the world is in, the decline of the american empire. i love america, which is not to say i champion it. i’m amazed and enthralled by its incredible contradictions. there is something incredible about this country that manages to continue to delude itself with its charm and bravado and sentiment and small-town-boy-finds-his-way-in-the-big-city stories - and of course occasionally delude me with them as well. there is a part of me - a large part - that still so desperately cannot wait to live in new york. that still cannot shake the feeling that i’ll find my way in the big city (lighters in the air!).
but; reason above all.
every generation is keen to predict its own downfall. but this one, more than most. the debate over julian assange and wikileaks prompt in me a return to that 14 year old boy and his changing ideals; yes - transparency. yes - accountability. but colouring all that is the feeling that it’s all too late, and it’s all forced. the way the world has been architected means that the truth will either fall away, or destroy us, and i feel that it will be the latter - not by its own fault, but maybe by speeding up the process of unravelling that was already underway. the western empire was falling anyway, and everyone with a modicum of a world view knew it; just as we knew we were unable to change it because it would mean reversing everything - every single thing - about our lives. even then there would not be enough of us to slow the grind.
i guess what it comes down to is that my 14 year old devotion to my ideals stay true when it comes to cablegate, amongst a whole lot more. my 26 year old self, at the same time, is deeply doubtful of a chance to turn ourselves around anyway. so hold to your ideals, we have little else.
as is to be expected, professor alfred mccoy outlines the likely courses a hell of a lot more intelligently, eloquently, and without the hollowness and cynicism.
as exciting as this is can you IMAGINE the notifications?! imagine being the poor first bitch to like this, only to be followed by 2000 more people agreeing with you. you could just put your iphone on your cooch, sit back and vibrate the day away.
i think that’s how adam bandt spent the night.
(welcome back, fgut)