Thank goodness he’s wearing a safety harness. (h/t, Rita) || Insertion of note. (h/t, Obo) || When tarpaulin attacks. || Unprovoked shark attack interactive map. (h/t, Things) || A caterpillar transforms. || Caffeinated energy ham. || “As sure as my name’s Boris Karloff…” || A brief history of Soviet calculators. || Lordy, that’s a big one. (h/t, Dicentra) || Shimla, India. || Irony. || Return of the social justice kittens. || Animated book covers. || Today’s word is binary. || Shibboleth names, by which the elevated identify their social inferiors. (h/t, Coudal) || Oh dear. || I detect dissonance. || “Neither age nor death need stop performers from working.” || And finally, Love Will Tear Us Apart, a tweaked rendition.

A student group at a California university is hosting a month-long “Body Love” celebration, which includes events about how “menstruation and environmentalism go hand in hand.”

Not, I think, an entirely happy image. But apparently, students will be “empowered” and “feel more comfort” by exploring the “intersection” – because you knew there was going to be an intersection somewhere – of “body love and Earth love.”

Students could also attend a “Self-Care for Body Hair” event that offered answers to questions such as: “What do you do with your body hair? Does your relationship with your body change when you’ve shaved recently? Do you shave at all?”

Because when you call yourselves The Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment at the University of Southern California, and proudly declare a mission to fight for those “oppressed by the patriarchy,” while “working towards intersectional, collective liberation,” then obviously you’re going to focus on the big, meaty issues of the day. And so,

At the group’s “signature event,” a “body love fair,” students were treated to “crafts, donuts, boba, music, and self-lovin’ vibes!” At that event, attendees were also invited to “release your anger at our Scale Smashing!”

Yes, students with weight issues – issues of such magnitude that they have anger to release – will be encouraged to gorge on doughnuts and thick sugary drinks containing various types of pudding and requiring an extra-wide straw, before hating themselves all over again, while pretending to be empowered and totally okay with it. You see, the way to help overweight people is to encourage the kind of high-sugar consumption that results in weight gain, and inviting them to smash objects that remind them of how unhappy they are about being fat. A situation that they’ve just made slightly worse.

It’s intersectional science, people.

As the holiday of frights and horrors is nigh upon us, it seems an apt time to remind patrons that this rickety barge is kept afloat by the kindness of strangers. If you’d like to help it remain buoyant a while longer, and remain ad-free, there’s an orange button below with which to monetise any love. Debit and credit cards are accepted. For those wishing to express their love regularly, there’s a monthly subscription option top left. And if one-click haste is called for, my PalPay.Me page can be found here. Additionally, any Amazon UK shopping done via this link or the search widget top right, or for Amazon US via this link, or for Amazon Canada via this link, results in a small fee for your host at no extra cost to you.

For newcomers wishing to know more about what’s been going on here for the last decade or so, in over 2,500 posts and close to 90,000 comments, the reheated series is a pretty good place to start – in particular, the end-of-year summaries. If you can, do take a moment to poke through the discussion threads too. The posts are intended as starting points, not full stops, and the comments are where much of the good stuff is waiting to be found. And do please join in.

Again, thanks for the support, the comments, and the company. 

Contrasting invitations, spotted in the central lobby at Evergreen State College:

The college in question has of course been mentioned here before.

Dining room scenes. || He does this better than you do. (h/t, Obo) || His collection of giant boomerangs is more impressive than yours. || In Japan, you can rent a middle-aged man. I did not know that. || A mystery unfolds. (h/t, Rita) || Miracles happen. || Fine print of note. (h/t, Damian) || Portals. || My precious. || Today’s word is playtime. || Parking of note. || King Kong: The Musical. || Norwegian train driver cab cam. || Doritos will do it. || Dead leaf of note. || Quiet, ladies. Men who identify as women will speak on your behalf. (h/t, Dicentra) || You first. || “This is something very, very common.” || Tiny grumbles I can relate to, #47. || A History of Horror, parts 1, 2 and 3. || Hallowe’en is coming.