Just some random cool links for the day:
The new 7 wonders of the world Pretty excellent choices, if you ask me. And while I’m the biggest history nerd in the world, I do think it’s nice that they chose from a wider variety of cultures, as well as choosing monuments and structures that are still mostly intact…as opposed to “Colossus of Rhodes! If it was still there…Hanging Gardens of Babylon! They’re still kind of here…somewhere…”
African women speak out against Bush’s abstinence-promoting HIV/AIDS policies courtesy of Feministe. AWESOME. The U.S. funding abstinence-only programs has failed a lot of people, and it’s hit African women in a HUGE way. These women are awesome for speaking out and calling attention to what is NOT working.
Mortifying moments in parenting Hosted at Flea’s blog. Laugh, cry and cringe!
Presidential Candidates in First Ever Gay Debate 2008 U.S. Presidential candidates will be debating solely LGBT issues. The event will be held August 9, and you can watch through a live streaming video on LOGOonline.com Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Chris Dodd have confirmed that they will participate.
Enjoy!
Good Criticism is NEVER Dated
Two not-particularly-recent but still damn good articles on the X-Men:
In X-Men’s Last Stand: One for Patriarchy, Mekani Themba Nixon criticizes “the disempowerment and basic all around ‘girlification’ of X-Men leader Storm,” voicing many of my own misgivings about the movie version of the character.
In Beyond Children of the Atom: Black Politics, White Minds and the X-Men, Morpheus Reloaded examines the idea of X-Men as a metaphor for the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, in which Charles Xavier serves as an analog for Martin Luther King, and Magneto, for Malcolm X. He extends the metaphor further, as well, looking at characters and situations in X-Men as reflections of a frustratingly narrow white perspective on black people and politics in America.