Diaries

Open Thread - Wednesday October 7, 2015

Submitted by gulfgal98 on Tue, 10/06/2015 - 11:00pm

Good Morning 99%'ers!

I have been battling a very ill computer for several days and while it is still working, I am drafting an Open Thread diary. I often draft up the skeleton in advance and then try to add a little meat after I have the skeleton complete. However, depending on what transpires with my computer in the next two days, this may be all you see.

Deflation, negative interest rates and the derivatives mountain

Submitted by gjohnsit on Tue, 10/06/2015 - 5:32pm

In a press conference last week, Fed Chair Janet Yellen was asked about negative interest rates. Yellen dismissed the possibility, but also said if "we found ourselves with a weak economy that needed additional stimulus, we would look at all of our available tools, and [a negative rate] would be something that we would evaluate in that kind of context."

Shivi can come home

Submitted by Robyn on Tue, 10/06/2015 - 1:33pm

A week and a half ago I shared the story of Shivi, a transman who is a student at Cal-Berkeley and whose parents tried to arrange a marriage for him with a man in India, to "fix his sexuality." (Parents traffic their child to India as attempted cure for the trans). Though Shivi was born in India, he has lived in the US since the age of three.

When last we saw, Shivi (who only uses the one name) was stuck in India because his mother had stolen his passport, green card and cellphone, and returned to the US with his siblings). His father, a researcher in the US, tried to enroll him as a girl at Dayalbagh University in Agra. But Shivi got access to her grandparents internet and contacted friends in the US who put him in touch with the LGBT NGO Nazarya. Members of Nazaraya helped Shivi escape from Agra and go to Delhi, where he filed a petition with the Delhi High Court claiming he had been wronged by his parents. The High Court found in his favor and granted Shivi an order of protection.

Beautiful as I want to be

Submitted by Robyn on Mon, 10/05/2015 - 2:00pm

Transgender model Geena Rocero has joined forces with the cable network Logo to produce a video series which will highlight transgender young people. The series will be called Beautiful as I Want to Be and will consist of four part episodes which will be introduced by Rocero and "focus on partnering young trans people with successful trans leaders to explore how they define beauty and identity. Young trans people share their backstories, their identity journeys and their dreams for the future. Their mentor/coach then readies them for a transformative photo shoot and offers life advice."

I am excited to share with trans youth the ways that I’ve used modeling and art to creatively express myself and to realize my dreams. This project is to affirm our youth’s potential, their beauty and the possibilities when we celebrate and allow them to be their most authentic selves.

Monday Morning Open Thread

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Mon, 10/05/2015 - 7:00am

Monday Morning Open Thread, 10-05-2015

When this posts I will be camping on an island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. I will worry, but not too much, about how this is being received. Once I wake up and get up and have coffee and let the cats out, that is. I could assign topics, like "Aleister Crowley and Anton La Vey - compare and contrast" or "You are the eyes of the world - discuss among yourselves", but that would defeat the purpose of an open thread. I might even get to check in via 'phone, but that remains to be seen.

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