Ongoing Pandemic
by elin o’Hara slavick, August 2020
This is not the time for poetry.
Words deny me.
I deny words.
The world does not need fragments.
It is screaming to be whole.
Category: rants
ruby’s rants & randomness
If you’re not outraged, you’re not reading my blog.
Five things that Drupal site builders need developers to know
Many Drupal developers consider site builders to be one of the most important types of users they are building for. The project lead regularly talks about how to “Improve the site builder experience” in his state-of-Drupal keynotes. But how well do developers really understand site builders and what we do? I put together this presentation to help people understand the realities and constraints of being a site builder.
Continue reading "Five things that Drupal site builders need developers to know"Mapping police brutality
I’m sure this only scratches the surface because it only tracks incidents of police violence that are reported on Twitter but I really appreciate folks (including Durham lawyer Greg Doucette) for putting this together. See also The Guardian‘s site The Counted, which they created to track police killings in 2015 because no-one else was even …
Continue reading "Mapping police brutality"I hate being right
In 2017, I stopped talking about the parallels to 1930s Germany (when fascists were gradually coming into power) because people tuned me out and acted like I was hysterical. Now here we are. It sucks being right when no-one listens.
Continue reading "I hate being right"
It’s not incompetence
I cannot understand people’s insistence on believing that Republicans are failing because they are incompetent. They are extremely strategic, they just don’t have any intrinsic morality. They will grab all the money and power within reach, and they’ll believe it was right if they don’t get caught. Even in the areas where they simply lack …
Continue reading "It’s not incompetence"
Quarantine for kids
After screaming into the void for weeks on Twitter about the desperate need for massive testing and rapid social isolation, we are now living that quarantine life. Like many parents I am trying not to terrify my child (and myself), but unlike many parents I will not sugarcoat things. Especially after spending decades talking about …
Continue reading "Quarantine for kids"
Scumbags for Sanders?
My friends who like Bernie Sanders keep telling me that he disavows the bros and toxicity that his supporters are known for. Then yesterday the Sanders campaign proudly tweeted the endorsement of an absolutely hateful scumbag, Joe Rogan.
It’s one thing to accept an endorsement from someone you don’t entirely agree with, it’s entirely another to EMBRACE AND HIGHLIGHT it as a sign of the kind of support you have. Especially given the deficit of trust Sanders already has, this sends a clear message to marginalized people that we will be thrown under the bus at the first opportunity to get some sexist, homophobic white nationalists on board.
Continue reading "Scumbags for Sanders?"
I had an abortion. I also have white privilege.
I have the same shirt as 86-year-old Florence Rice in this photo. But thanks to quite a bit of privilege in my life, I don’t have the same story. Florence Rice, 86 (at the time the photo was taken), was raised in the foster care system in NYC. She saw her mother only a handful …
Continue reading "I had an abortion. I also have white privilege."
Practice organized resistance and conscious acts of solidarity
About 25 years ago I drove a beat-up old Datsun with a bumper sticker that said: “Practice organized resistance and conscious acts of solidarity.” I wish I still had that sticker.
Continue reading "Practice organized resistance and conscious acts of solidarity"Congressional Slut Shaming
The more I think about Congresswoman Katie Hill resigning the more pissed off I get. The fact is she could have stayed in Congress and served her district while admitting and atoning for her mistakes (like so many Republicans have made), except that her ex-husband is punishing her by illegally sharing private files. It’s this …
Continue reading "Congressional Slut Shaming"