#Rogers Capital

[aziraphalesbookkeeper]

so i hit sabaody

[anthony-the-chicken]

Little nightmares art dump [:

[the-meme-monarch]

something i see a lot in books is like. capitalizing a word where it really doesn’t need to be? like for an example in Who Censored Roger Rabbit they spell toons as Toons. and i understand it’s probably supposed to make it clear that this is a deliberate Word For Something That The Author Kinda Made Up but like. to me it stands out too much. humans are just humans. a cat would still be a cat and a dog a dog. but toons are Toons. idk i think it just feels unnatural and unnecessary. if toons are natural to the world here why do you need to capitalize the T

[mentally-at-home]

[criticalfutures]

The track ‘In The Flesh’ invites the audience to “go to the show” - to come along to the rally and show support before forces mobilise and foment a violent uprising across the streets of London. The band onstage, characterised in live performances of the album by a surrogate band comprised of different musicians adorning life masks of Floyd members Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason, replace a Pink that remains ‘comfortably numb’ in his hotel room:

“I've got some bad news for you, sunshine

Pink isn't well, he stayed back at the hotel

And they've sent us along as a surrogate band

We're gonna find out where you fans really stand!”

This uncanny representation of band members is understood to represent the musicians’ surrogacy as agents of ideological repression, insofar as they serve to perpetuate the dominant ideology, also acting as a form of entertainment to keep the subjects enthralled and entertained while, ‘behind the scenes,’ they are in fact complacent in their own oppression through ignorance and acceptance. Taking into account Freud's psychoanalytic consideration of the role of the uncanny, it is recognised that an intentional feeling of discomfort and unfamiliarity actively subverts and disrupts the individual’s understanding of the reality around them. The use of these masks can also be understood to comment on the role of the musician in a capitalist society - by portraying the band members as masked and interchangeable, Waters suggests that musicians are often recognised to be commodified tools of an industry which promotes capitalist ideals of excess and grandeur.

[nando161mando]

Another great meme I found online

[env0]

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT is such a good film because the villain is so comically American. Buy out the effective, efficient, and cheap public transit and then Destroy Toon Town for a Freeway lined with rest stops, cheap motels, restaurants serving readily prepared food , and bill boards reaching for the heavens.

[evilhorse]

I hope we don’t get a ticket.

(Buck Rogers 2429 A.D. daily strip)

[sataniccapitalist]

“Let’s not delude ourselves, we’re looking at human extinction, the death of eight billion people, and there’s no way that people will be able to survive in anything like an increase of 5º centigrade.”

[the-badger-mole]

Reaching for Hope

These last few months have been filled with the most horrifying stories and images coming out of Palestine, DRC, Sudan, Yemen, and too many other places around the world. We, in the US, have seen our president- our political leaders- roll over and not only allow the atrocities to continue, but to actually financially support and arm the perpetrators, despite the majority of us screaming for them to stop. To me, there is little difference between the Democrats and the Republicans at this point. Both parties are bought and paid for by the same people. As a new presidential election is coming up, I can't in good conscious vote Democrat. Not after what I've seen. Not as long as they refuse to hear us when we tell them we don't want Genocide Joe Biden or any of his cabinet to run.

But what is the solution?

I hate the feeling of helplessness I feel. I hate watching the horrors being carried out with my tax dollars. I hate that our "leaders" are more concerned with keeping the money from groups like AIPAC than actually representing the people who voted for them. They have put my finger on the trigger and they won't let me let go.

I'm trying to figure out how to make my voice heard. I've reached out to my representatives. I've done what I can to amplify voices that need to be heard more than mine. I can't claim any special effort in following BDS boycotts because the truth is, these aren't brands I have a whole lot of intentional contact with in the first place. As for Starbucks and McDonald's, I don't like either place so, cutting them off took very little for my part. I do encourage you to avoid all of these businesses, though. I don't know what else to do.

I will not vote for Joe Biden if he runs again. I will do my best to find down ballot candidates who's values are more in line with mine, but I will not give my support to a man who sees the atrocities being committed in Palestine and gives billions and weapons to the people committing these crimes against humanity. If the DNC is smart, they will be actively looking for candidates who don't openly support genocide, but let's face it, we ALL know how smart the DNC is. So, barring some drastic change, barring the DNC running a candidate who isn't on the take from AIPAC, who will actually pull support from Israel as they try to wipe out an entire culture for the sake of oil, I will be voting third party. I'm considering voting for Claudia De la Cruz of the PSL party, but there's nearly a year left, so I'm open to shopping around.

I know there are those that will say that pulling votes away from Biden is essentially voting for Trump. I know that there are those that will say that if the Republicans take the office again, they'll gut our rights. To that, I say, a vote for Trump is a vote for Trump and a vote for Biden is a vote for Biden. If the DNC can't come up with a better candidate and a better reason to vote for them than the same fear mongering tactics they've been using for years, then Trump is the DNC's fault. What has the Democratic party done to ensure our rights? What protections for voting rights have they passed at a federal level? What protections for education? For bodily autonomy? How do we have FOURTEEN BILLION to spare for freakin ISRAEL, but nothing for public schools? Nothing for student loan relief? Nothing for public health? Police reform? What good is the Democratic party if their only real platform is "Vote Democrat because we're not that guy"? If your conscious tells you to vote for Biden in November, so be it. As for me, I can't look at the man without seeing the blood of innocent men, women and children dripping off of him.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Lobbying commissioner Nancy Belanger says the law needs to be changed to ban former public office holders from lobbying on behalf of corporations. The commissioner, who appeared visibly frustrated, testified before MPs on the House of Commons ethics committee Tuesday about the appointment of former Liberal industry minister Navdeep Bains to a position at Rogers. “I am frustrated,” she said. “This Lobbying Act has to be amended … There are gaps and there are loopholes.” According to the act, an elected official is not permitted to engage in lobbying activities for five years after leaving public office, but Belanger said that rule applies differently if they go to work for a corporation. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[commiepinkofag]

The Divine Right of Kings, Roger Peet

[monstromax]

Bigots Really Want Mr. Rogers to be Transphobic

...But they're wrong

While taking a look at right wing social media spaces, as I often do to keep an eye on what the chuds are up to (and because I am a digital masochist I guess), I came across this video: "Mr. Rogers on Gender Orientation."

first of all what is "gender orientation" even supposed to be gender is not sexuality you numblings

The clip is from a 1980 interview with Fred Rogers on The Tonight Show, where Rogers talks about his song, "Everybody's Fancy," which includes the lyrics "Boys are boys from the beginning / Girls are girls right from the start." Rogers says these lyrics are about addressing small children's fears that they might change into the opposite gender.

The clip's title frames this moment as an example of Fred Rogers being "anti-woke" and speaking "the truth" that gender and sex are binary and fixed. Indeed, the comments on this and similar videos have a lot of people saying things like "Was he trying to warn us???" and "This was once common sense!"

This isn't the only video like this. A glance at YouTube revealed that clips of Mr. Rogers singing this song has been making the rounds among right wing pundits like Glen Beck, Ben Shapiro and even the God-Forsaken Atlas Society.

After Glen Beck and his co-host make some hi-lar-i-ous comments about how Mr. Rogers should be dug up and beaten by the left wing mob, they mention how "I think everyone still knows this, but they're afraid to say it."

These clips stuck out to me because of how strangely they try to bring nostalgia into today's culture war on trans and queer people.

I noticed first of all that, even though all of these commentators are shouting about how Mr. Rogers would be absolutely canceled by the woke mob if he were around today, there is in fact no one in the queer community I can find who is actually denouncing Rogers as a transphobe.

No, Mr. Rogers still remains beloved as the quintessential wholesome media figure 20 years after his death in 2003. Which is precisely why right-wing bigots are holding this particular song up now - to say, "You woke moralists are so sick, you'd even hate Mr. Rogers!" They aren't defending Fred Rogers from anything; in fact they would love for people to get mad over these clips.

But of course, there are actually some people getting mad over this, and it's these pundits' audiences. By holding up this media from the past, the commentators and their audience get to lament to each other about the way things used to be, before "gender ideology," when people knew the truth about the world. It's one of the reactionaries' favourite pastimes.

What makes the use of these clips particularly insidious is precisely the fact that they are old media and Fred Rogers is not available to respond to or clarify them. Any objection that someone could make about Rogers' intentions or attitude can be dismissed immediately as second-hand interpretations.

But am I denying that what Fred Rogers said would be called problematic today? Well, no. The original words to that song don't align with modern understandings of gender identity, and the verse that follows about how "only girls can be the mommies" has some sexist undertones about gender norms. If these words were written today, they would indeed be called capital-P Problematic.

So why has the cancellation not commenced? Why no digital woke mob? As hard as this may be for the right to understand, queer people and their allies can understand context clues. While these comments were very much Not Good, most people are aware that Fred Rogers said these things from the social perspective of the 1970s and 80s, with an intended audience of very young children who were learning about their bodies. It's clear from how he says these things that he was not speaking from the perspective of an anti-trans moral panic. It seems likely that Rogers wrote these lyrics the way he did because, like most people at that time, he simply was not aware of the trans experience.

Another major context clue that Rogers was well-intentioned is that

This is FRED WON'T-YOU-BE-MY-NEIGHBOUR ROGERS

The thing that transphobic, homophobic pundits leave out of this discourse, which most other observers already understand, is that Fred Rogers was one of the most understanding and radically compassionate people anyone can think of.

Fred Rogers dedicated his TV show and much of his life's work to showing children - and in fact people of all ages - that they are valuable just the way they are. He featured people of all abilities, races, genders and backgrounds in positive roles on the show.

Most famously, this included dipping his feet in a pool along with a black man at a time when white segregationists were organizing against letting black people share swimming pools with white people.

Mr. Rogers was not afraid to make political statements with his programming, and importantly, he was also not afraid to learn and change.

Glen Beck and company chose to highlight an early recording of the "Everybody's Fancy" song, but what they won't tell you is how that song gradually evolved over the years that Mr. Rogers was on the air. As Rogers spoke to more people with feminist perspectives, he saw some of the issues with the strict gender norms of his original words and began to change them.

Later on, he began to sing a version with these words...

I am not saying that Fred Rogers was perfect. He was a human being and a product of his own time and environment, and he has likely said or done other things that did not age well. He is not immune to criticism or reconsideration.

What I am saying is that Fred Rogers was certainly not acting from the place of sneering, culture war bigotry from which these right wing pundits are acting.

Commenters such as Beck, Shapiro, and the chuds at the Atlas Society have none of the compassion and radical inclusion that made Mr. Rogers a cultural icon. This makes it all the more profane when they take selective clips of his work and use them for purposes that are opposed to Fred Rogers' stated intentions.

And it's no secret that the right is opposed to Mr. Rogers' intentions. In 2007, Fox and Friends aired their notorious segment about how Mr. Roger's message on the value of every child was EVIL.

So, don't let the right try to claim Mr. Rogers or other dead celebrities for their own bigotry. They resented what he said while he was alive on Earth; they don't get to repackage his words now that he is not available to address them.

The right has tried to do similar things with other late celebrities whose views actually opposed their own - people ranging all the way from George Carlin to Martin Luther King, Jr. Thankfully, there are many people who have resisted these appropriations, but it's important to keep pushing back for the people who may not be aware, especially now that conservatives are pushing hard against trans and non-binary people, and the LGBTQ+ community in general.

The right wing wants their transphobic, queerphobic ideas to be more popular than they really are. They want to make trans people and drag queens into boogeymen so that you will vote for right wing candidates and let them gut labour protections and social safety nets. All of this is ultimately in service to capitalist owners who are concerned about keeping their control over an unsteady, changing workforce. Don't let them do it.

If you've read this far, you probably already know that LGBTQ+ people are not your enemy. This pride month especially, it's time to stand in solidarity with queer people, immigrants, the unhoused, sex workers, people of colour, and all marginalized people to make a more equitable and loving world together.

On that note, I'll end with some of Mr. Rogers' real messages to children everywhere...

[mentally-at-home]