In celebration of 420, SuicideGirls rolls up a fatty and shares five of our fave mellow interview moments.
On Saturday night, the bold and the brightest came out (both literally and figuratively) to support the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center’s Evening With Women, raising almost $500,000 for its many programs, including LGBT youth advocacy and HIV/AIDS healthcare. It coincided with the non-profit establishment’s 40th anniversary, cementing it as a stronghold in the movement toward queer and women’s equal rights.
by Blogbot
More than 30,000 people are fasting to stop the Republicans pulling a fast one, with budget proposals that would cut funds for vital programs and services, while giving corporations and the super wealthy even more tax relief than they already enjoy.
by Wil Wheaton
Yesterday, I was touched – in my opinion, inappropriately – by a TSA agent at LAX.
I’m not going to talk about it in detail until I can speak with an attorney, but I’ve spent much of the last 24 hours replaying it over and over in my mind, and though some of the initial outrage has faded, I still feel sick and angry when I think about it.
What I want to say today is this: I believe that the choice we are currently given by the American government when we need to fly is morally wrong, unconstitutional, and does nothing to enhance passenger safety.
I further believe that when I choose to fly, I should not be forced to choose between submitting myself to a virtually-nude scan (and exposing myself to uncertain health risks due to radiation exposure*), or enduring an aggressive, invasive patdown where a stranger puts his hands in my pants, and makes any contact at all with my genitals.
When I left the security screening yesterday, I didn’t feel safe. I felt violated, humiliated, assaulted, and angry. I felt like I never wanted to fly again. I was so furious and upset, my hands shook for quite some time after the ordeal was over. I felt sick to my stomach for hours.
This is wrong. Nobody should have to feel this way, just so we can get on an airplane. We have fundamental human and constitutional rights in America, and among those rights is a reasonable expectation of personal privacy, and freedom from unreasonable searches. I can not believe that the TSA and its supporters believe that what they are doing is reasonable and appropriate. Nobody should have to choose between a virtually-nude body scan or an aggressive, invasive patdown where a stranger puts his or her hands inside your pants and makes any contact at all with your genitals or breasts as a condition of flying.
by Blogbot
Even if you actively ignore all news about politics, your panicky uncle probably mentioned something on Facebook about the potential for the federal government to shut down last week over budget disagreements between House Republicans and Democrats. Crisis has been averted, temporarily, but the budget battle touched core issues for both sides and so it’s doubtful we’ve seen the end of it.
Republicans want to de-fund Planned Parenthood, National Public Radio, and the agency that is charged with the protection of the environment of the only planet on which we live. They’ve basically become comic book super-villains. Democrats, to their credit, actually had the gonads to refuse to budge when it came to protecting women’s access to reproductive care and the health of the, y’know, planet. Republicans won deep spending cuts across the board, but the Democrats held on those few core issues – for now. I know. I’m shocked too.
