Hey everyone!  This is Jenny, posting from my new collective house in West Philly.  I wanted to share with you a crappy NYTimes article that was written about collective living and features my house.  Several of my housemates participated in a long and thoughtful interview with a reporter to explain why we wanted to live in a space that was actively anti-oppression, the most important reason being our physical safety (we are two POC, two trans people, lots o’ queers and ladies, etc).  Unfortunately the reporter took a very condescending attitude towards our politics in the article.  You can read the original here, a response about anti-abelism here, and my housemate Emili’s experience at the end of this Philebrity post.  In response to the article, Emili is planning a book about collective living and why/how we resist oppression in our environment.   When the call for submissions goes out, I’ll make sure to send a copy to Batten– I know you all would have a lot of awesome things to say.

Hope everyone is well! I miss Batten like crazy.  All  my best <3

I was mistaken. The enemy of women is not men. No, and the enemy of the black is not the white. The enemy of capitalist is not communist, the enemy of homosexual is not heterosexual, the enemy of Jew is not Arab, the enemy of youth is not the old, the enemy of hip is not redneck, the enemy of Chicano is not gringo and the enemy of women is not men. We all have the same enemy. The enemy is the tyranny of the dull mind. There are authoritative blacks with dull minds and they are the enemy. The leaders of capitalism and the leaders of communism are the same people and they are the enemy. There are dull-minded women who try to repress the human spirit and they are the enemy of just as much as the dull-minded men. The enemy is every expert who practices technocratic manipulation, the enemy is every proponent of standardization and the enemy is every victim who is so dull and lazy and weak as to allow himself to be manipulated and standardized.
~tom robbins
even cowgirls get the blues

word.
♥Batten house

?lboyle@bmc.edu
these views do not necessarily
represent those of every
member of batten house.

This is an incredibly insightful and disturbing article from the current issue of The New Yorker. Worth a read (though a little short on who is taking action to get this changed and how to help):

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/03/30/090330fa_fact_gawande

http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_11273340

Brown: Invalidate Prop. 8

By Mike Swift

Saying Proposition 8 violates constitutionally protected liberties, Attorney General Jerry Brown on Friday asked the California Supreme Court to strike down the same-sex marriage ban, even as supporters filed a brief that would erase the legal recognition of couples married before Election Day.

In a brief filed with the high court, the state top’s lawyer argues for the first time that Proposition 8 should be invalidated, saying it is ‘inconsistent with the guarantees of individual liberty safeguarded’ by the California Constitution.”

Bitchin Kitchen with Nadia G.  - With recipes like Rehab Ravioli and Pissed Penne Arrabiata, Nadia G. brings attitude to delicious recipes.

Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Kitchen – Ani makes things like raw Pad Thai and Rawsagna.

Cooking With Rock Stars - An Indie Martha Stewart, Jen Robbins interviews and cooks with artists like Jenny Lewis, Sam Beam (of Iron and Wine), and Rufus Wainwright.

enjoy! <3 liz

a nytimes feature Food Fighters

also this

<3 liz

“Mammals facing extinction threat”

At least 25% of the world’s mammal species are at risk of extinction, according to the first assessment of their status for a decade.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7651981.stm

Here are some posters I enjoyed:

- liz

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

From Philly IMC:

Gov. Rendell is going to apply for funding for ABSTINENCE ONLY Education for Pennsylvania for the first time in four years??!?!?!

Join ACT UP this Thurs. August 28th at 10:00am in front of the Bellevue 200 s Broad St. to tell Rendell – Don’t be blinded by the Abstinence money to the bad science.

Four years ago, Rendell joined California in rejecting harmful federal abstinence funding. Next week, Rendell will formally make the application for abstinence money again. We can still prevent Rendell from making this embarrassing and harmful plea for funds, but he needs to hear that Philadelphia is outraged.

Evidence proves that comprehensive sexual education prevents the spread of HIV and encourages people that are having sex to have SAFER sex. Abstinence Only education promotes shame. It has also been disproved as a method of preventing the spread of HIV. Shame on Rendell.

His bad policy decison will effect the future of sexual education in Philadelphia, and we can stop it. Join us this Thursday at 10am at the Bellevue Hotel (where Rendell keeps a Philly office) to tell him to not be blinded by money to the bad science.

For more information, contact Sam Sitrin from ACT UP Philly at samsitrin500@hotmail.com or 215.870.7741.

For more about the decision: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/breaking/news_breaking/27505059.html

For the IMC article: http://www.phillyimc.org/en/node/73029

For ACT UP Philly: http://www.critpath.org/actup/

For Governor Rendell’s contact info: http://www.governor.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=2998&&level=1&css=L1&mode=2&in_hi_userid=2&cached=true