idealists are the cruelest monsters of them all.

Today is Veteran's Day. Unfortunately it's also been a right pisser for me. To that end I'd like to point everyone towards maurheti's thoughtful post.

I'd also like to reiterate what someone else said today, "Veteran's Day is the one day of the year that effects everyone on this earth regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or location."

This world is built on wars. Everyone has been affected by one war or another.

I'll finish by doing something I don't normally do, which is reposting what I said last year on this date:

Today is Veterans Day. I thought about writing about my feelings about war in general. About how being a liberal wine-sipping communist dick-suck does not preclude my sense of awe and appreciation for all branches of the military. How serving your country is not a second-rate choice if you don't want to go to college. How passionate I am about Veterans Affairs, about volunteering to help people when they come back from serving overseas. About trying to make a point of saying "thank you" to servicemen and women, because this is their JOB. They aren't doing this to pay the rent, they're doing this because it's something they believe in. How many people can say they're doing something that they honestly believe in? And then I realized this isn't about me, this is about them.

This is about every man and woman who has chosen to go out in the world and put on a uniform in service of their country, of this country. This is simply to say THANK YOU for putting this country first. The United States/United Kingdom/Canada/Australia/France/Spain/New Zealand/Brazil/Mexico/Israel [insert your country here] is not perfect; it has problems and faults and dysfunction that would be Viagra for Freud, but you have seen past that. You go out every day, and to paraphrase Rudy Reyes "put on your Superman suit" and sacrifice for the bigger picture.

There is no greater service than the one you provide.

You are deeply appreciated, admired and respected.

THANK YOU.


Also, I know times are super hard, but if you have a few dollars (or books or extra hours in your week) please consider donating to one of the following:

Veterans UK

IAVA: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: Volunteer, donate, or even just read up and think about what they're saying.

ReMind: The Bob Woodruff fund which gives to injured servicemen (and women) and their families.

Books for Soldiers, which accepts books, games and movies.

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is the National Intrepid Center for Excellence, which treats servicemen with brain injuries

Military.com has a list of charitable organizations. Everything from Adopt a Platoon to Wounded Warriors Family Support and National Military Families Fund.

I know a lot of people are suffering to no end because of the inclement weather and for that I am sorry. I know people are probably stranded with cabin fever, maybe even without power (in which case, um, damn, son). But as bad as that is the people of Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation have been without power or water or heat for nearly two weeks. No, that's no typo.

I know people have been emptying their pockets for help_haiti, which just goes to show the power of fandom, but if anybody's got a few dollars left that that they might want to throw this way for Emergency Assistance (or here via Piryx) to help these people or could even just pass the message on to people that might be able to help that would just be amazing.

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It will never cease to baffle me as to why people feel the need to read and comment on stories they clearly don't like. Is your 'back' button broken? Do you really think your rudeness is so invaluable? Why would you say 'I didn't really like this story, I don't think you're a really good writer, but whatever, I read it.' Or better yet, "Everybody said this was good, but I just don't agree." I just... what?

Can someone tell me where manners went to die, becuse I'd like to put flowers on their grave?

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In less irritating news, since I missed this when it was going on, I'm doing it today:

Today has been declared lurker amnesty day (by me!) Have you read me but never commented? Do you surf by occasionally? Here for the ficinsanity? Say hello! You are under no obligation to ever comment or delurk again, but here's a chance to do so in a post just for that.

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Oh, and since this is my all-inclusive post, anybody have the new Sade, Corrine Bailey Rae or Massive Attack albums to share? SCORE! Thanks sugargroupie and jcase!

Today is Veterans Day. I thought about writing about my feelings about war in general. About how being a liberal wine-sipping communist dick-suck does not preclude my sense of awe and appreciation for all branches of the military. How serving your country is not a second-rate choice if you don't want to go to college. How passionate I am about Veterans Affairs, about volunteering to help people when they come back from serving overseas. About trying to make a point of saying "thank you" to servicemen and women, because this is their JOB. They aren't doing this to pay the rent, they're doing this because it's something they believe in. How many people can say they're doing something that they honestly believe in? And then I realized this isn't about me, this is about them.

This is about every man and woman who has chosen to go out in the world and put on a uniform in service of their country, of this country. This is simply to say THANK YOU for putting this country first. The USA is not perfect; it has problems and faults and dysfunction that would be Viagra for Freud, but you have seen past that. You go out every day, and to paraphrase Rudy Reyes "put on your Superman suit" and sacrifice for the bigger picture.

There is no greater service than the one you provide.

You are deeply appreciated, admired and respected.

THANK YOU.


Also, I know times are super hard, but if you have a few dollars (or books or extra hours in your week) please consider donating to one of the following:

IAVA: Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America: Volunteer, donate, or even just read up and think about what they're saying.

ReMind: The Bob Woodruff fund which gives to injured servicemen (and women) and their families.

Books for Soldiers, which accepts books, games and movies.

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is the National Intrepid Center for Excellence, which treats servicemen with brain injuries

Military.com has a list of charitable organizations. Everything from Adopt a Platoon to Wounded Warriors Family Support and National Military Families Fund.

Once a year, I whore my LJ for charity. Don’t get me wrong, I whore for charity 365 days a year* (366 this year), but once a year I make up a list of five of my favorite charities in hopes that someone might have an extra ten dollars/quid/euros/yen/galleon that they wouldn't mind parting with.


1. Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation -- Yes, every year I start off with the Pediatric AIDS charity, and with a damn good reason. There are more than a million people in the US living with HIV/AIDS right now. More than 40,000 new cases are diagnosed every year, and a good portion of those are children who are born with AIDS. This isn't about who gave what to who or what started where, this is about babies, about children, who just need your help.

2. Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation -- Live Journal fandom is a community that is predominately female. Not all, but a lot. 1 in 8 women in the US will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. In 2007, breast cancer was expected to take the lives of more that 40,000 women, but the Komen Foundation is working to decrease those numbers. They don't just do research, they fundraise, they offer lifestyle support, they want to beat this and if your $10 or $15 or $50 is that extra bit that they need to beat this disease, how awesome would that make you feel?

3. Habitat for Humanity International -- This isn't about Hurricane Katrina, or it's not just about Katrina. It's about tsunamis and earthquakes and people living in ramshackle lean-tos that could fall down any second in Africa or South America. Donating to this charity is a way of realizing how grateful you are for the roof over your head and giving that gratitude to someone else.

4. First Book -- We are media fandom. We watch TV. We read books. We surf the next. We write. We draw art. We study. We are informed. We wouldn't be any of these things without the ability to read and you can't read without books. Without books we can't develop our imaginations. Imagine not knowing about Austen. Imagine never reading Pratchett or Gaiman or any author that makes you heart race or that gives you hope for a better day. Horrible thought, isn't it? So shouldn't you make sure that doesn't happen to someone else too?

5. Planned Parenthood -- This isn’t about being pro-choice or pro-life, this is about needing a place to go if you're in trouble. This is about having a place to turn to if you can't afford healthcare and need condoms or a pap smear or if you've got a itch and you can't talk to your family GP. This is about having some control over your life. Planned Parenthood is about giving your sister or your daughter or your BFF a chance to have some control too.

And last, but not least, #6...

The Gratuitous Charity Shilling
My BFF is a grade school teacher in one of the Brooklyn public schools, and I think that pretty much speaks for itself. The US public schools are in a pretty deplorable state, and my BFF is constantly telling me stories that pretty much horrify me, and it's not about the children, it's about the horror of No Child Left Behind. It's about not being able to have story time, because teachers are required to allot every last minute for standardized testing. So, when my BFF said she wanted a Smart Board for her class, my first thought was, I'll buy you one! Because this is what teachers do now. They can't rely on the school systems to fund them, so they buy supplies on their own. And then she told me about the cost. And so I told her, go to Donors Choose, and this is where we are now. If you would like to learn more about helping to fund her project that would be awesome. If you think you might like to fund something else, I cannot urge you highly enough to at least click through the possibilities on the Donors Choose website. There are thousands of teachers out in the world, teaching the next generation, who could use your $6.99 designated beer fund to make their classes run a lot better.


*And to assure you that I'm not asking you to do anything I don't, I can proudly say that last year I donated to Donors Choose, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, One.org, Save Darfur, RAINN, Oxfam, Goodwill and Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Why did I donate to all these charities? Because they say if you want the world to be a better place, you have to contribute, and even if you're only contributing $5 that's better than nothing at all.

Fun stuff in a bit, but first this. I got home after a gig last night and realized I hadn't done a charity posting this year, and because this is important to me, I had to do this this morning.

I know solicitation on LJ is a dodgy thing, but this is charity, and I would never ask you to give if I weren't already giving away each month, too. I'm not asking you to give a lot, not more than you'd spend on a packet of smokes or two beers at the bar. If you want to give more, that's fabulous, but $10 can do plenty. $20 is just fantastic. Even if you've only got $5 to spare, that could make all the difference in someone else's life. Wouldn't you want someone to do the same for you?

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation -- I don't have a long speech to go with this foundation. There are loads of other AIDS foundations that are worth your time and money too, I've just chosen this one, because these are kids. Little kids with their whole lives ahead of them.

Habitat For Humanity -- From New Orleans to Thailand, everyone needs a home. It doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to have DSL and Sky, it just has to have a roof. It just needs walls to support the roof. Help someone else put one over their heads.

Book Relief -- You would think that finding a literacy charity or a book donation partner would be an easy job, you would be wrong. Everyone has a site, but nobody has a charity. Or it's just for adults, or you can only send X type of censored books, or it's just so the UN can promote literacy day (8 September), and yet I only found this foundation after much hunting. I don't think I need to tell a bunch of readers and writers the importance of books and literacy, otherwise you wouldn't be able to read this.

Save Darfur -- I feel like I could go on about the Save Darfur campaign for years, but I reckon it's just better if you see for yourself. I know this charity was up last year, but things aren't better. They're still too slow. Just a little donatation could make things better for a lot of people, even if you don't donate, at least fill out a postcard to send to someone and tell them that this time we won't let things be swept under the rug.

Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation -- I could've just as easily put up the American Cancer Society or the Cancer Research UK, but I wanted to make the cancer charity more of a personal thing. I wanted it to appeal to everyone, because face it, most of the people reading this are women, and the likelihood of someone you know getting breast cancer, well, it's not small. So if you can, donate. Every little bit goes a little further for a cure. Or you know, donate to prostate cancer, which will affect 1 in 6 men, because we are totally not sexist around these parts. Really.


And even if you don't have any money, or you're like, hackthis, today really isn't the day for this, you can still donate by going to the following sites and clicking on the tab. Just two clicks. IT'S FREE. It'll take you longer than that to scroll past this entry. The Literacy Site -- The Breast Cancer Site -- The Hunger Site -- The Child Health Site or The Rainforest Site


Thanks, guys. ♥

1. The Breast Cancer Site needs your fingers. Seriously, this is a site where one click daily contributes to giving free mammograms to women who can't afford them. Please, if you only click on one link, make it this one, because they're having trouble meeting their daily quota, and if you can take a hour to hunt down some story, you can take 30 seconds and click on this link once a day. *

*If you scroll down on the page, or look at the tabs at the top, there are also links to The Hunger Site, The Literacy Site, and The Child Health Site, and all you have to do is click. Even with a broken finger you can do that.

on a cheerier note...

2. Pink is the New Blog. My favourite gossip site in town.

3. Harry Potter and the Hogwarts Dancers, because there is no wrong when 80s soundtracks meet Harry Potter and some seriously agile dancers. Who knew Draco could kick that high? *gacked from phineasjones

4. lyra_sena directed me to The Panda Cam at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. where you can see the newest addition to their panda family, a baby boy, and his mum. Try not to OD on the adorable.

5. yuletide is just around the corner, people, so if you said that this was the year you wanted to get on board, you need to get with the on boardness. To participate in the Yuletide Obscure Fandom Challenge you need to have written a story last year or filled in a request this year, and I really do love this challenge. I've completed it the last two years, and there's nothing like the anticipation of someone writing a story in some tiny obscure fandom just to make you happy! Think of it! Empire Records! Goonies! Fight Club! Entourage! Rome! Yeah, you know you want in.