If I Disappear…

You can blame the Evil Empire, aka Verizon. Trying to get net access has been extremely trying lately; I have to kill and reboot the wireless unit from 4 to 12 times in order to even have my connection show up, and even when it does, I keep getting kicked off, making blogging a right pain in the arse. There’s a tower down or summat like, and as Verizon doesn’t seem to be overly aware of rural users, it might be a while until it gets back to the normal level of truly crappy, overpriced ‘service.’

Anyroad, if I’m late getting started (like today), or gone entirely for a day, I’m fine, I’m just probably trying to walk off the desire to smash the wireless unit into tiny splinters.

Aaaaaaaaand, in line with this being a remarkably shitty day, just pulled a fucking godsdamned tick off my head.

Yes, It’s April 1st. That Said…

Scary-Clown-Court-jester-stockholm-631.jpg__600x0_q85_upscaleI don’t like the whole “April Fool’s Day” nonsense. So, there will be none of that crap here at Affinity, and if you’re someone who just loves it, I’ll thank you to indulge elsewhere. I have enough to do already, without having to track down even more deliberate bullshit.

So, if you love your pranks, jokes, whatever, please keep them off Affinity, and we can get through the day with a modicum of sanity. Thanks.

It’s My Party…

Untitled-1

but it wouldn’t have been much of a party without all you wonderful people who bother to read and comment here. You are what keeps me going, and you have provided a great deal of support through many dark days. You have also provided me with a wealth of content, my profuse thanks for that, too! So…

TY

And Happy Anniversary to us all!

A COOL FRIDAY: ALL ART DAY.

NOTE: this post is stickied, there is new content!

ADC

© C. Ford. All rights reserved.

There will be no politics here today. No reporting of ugly people doing ugly things. No evil assholes. Today, I’m going to ignore reality, and dive into all the good things, art, photography, cool stuff, neat science, the whimsical, geeky, fun, and informative, all that. If you’re paying attention to reality today, and need a break, I’ll do my best to provide one, all day long.

Drain the Swamp? Admin Note.

The Drain the Swamp? thread is being used as a link repository, for all things pertinent to the election and state of government. I can’t cover everything, so check there now and then, to see what’s up. Also for open discussion on current affairs, so bookmark it, and when you need to grumble or panic, you have the place. There’s a thread link on the sidebar.

Have Something to Say?

If your answer is yes, you do have something to say, consider saying it on FTB. We are actively seeking applications now. Here’s what you do:

send an email to ftbapplications@googlegroups.com, in which you give us this information:

Name:

Contact email:

Do you want your email public?:

Twitter account, if any:

Link for donations, if any:

Links to your current blog, any biographical material, or best examples of your writing in comments or forums or other media:

Why do you want to write for us?

As someone who is privileged to read the applications, personally, I’d like to hear a bit about your particular point of view, say as a person of colour, or queer nation member, a woman, military, educator, parent, artist, crafter, and so on. Whatever it is that drives your particular perspective on issues. That’s not a requirement at all, just a wish of mine, so you can ignore me with no consequence. Group blogs are happily considered and accepted, you just need to have one person who will consent to being the ‘head’ of the blog, meaning they get all the headaches, and the job of dividing up all the pennies. Give it a bit of thought, and if you have something to say, send it our way. I look forward to seeing all manner of bright, shiny people here.

Have a comment go missing?

Urban Threads.

Urban Threads.

I just rescued a comment (by parrothead) out of the spam filter. There was nothing wrong with it at all, but my comments at other FTB blogs have been swallowed by the spam filter too, so it seems Akismet may have a bit of a problem right now. If you comment, and notice it doesn’t show up, please don’t hesitate to let me know, and I’ll go looking for it. Email address is linked on the sidebar. My apologies to parrothead, I don’t keep a sharp enough eye out for that kind of thing. I’ll do better.

EC Statement, Richard Carrier.

The FtB Ethics Committee has released an official statement on the departure of Richard Carrier from our network.

Freethought Blogs unequivocally condemns any behavior that threatens the safety of atheist community members, including particularly marginalized groups. Freethought Blogs also recognizes the role of sexual harassment as one of numerous barriers for women that limits access to and participation within atheist conferences and spaces.

When the recent allegations against Richard Carrier were made public, Freethought Blogs initiated a process to investigate these claims and formalize its policy concerning the conduct of its members. The FtB Ethics Committee received several reports of Carrier’s behavior and was in the process of reviewing them when Carrier chose to leave the network. A thorough review of the allegations against Carrier cannot be completed by Freethought Blogs without his cooperation.

As part of our commitment to equitable access to freethinking spaces for all, Freethought Blogs members who violate our commitment to social justice by creating or maintaining barriers to participation will be removed from the network as a matter of policy. All reports submitted to us in furtherance of this policy will be kept in the strictest of confidence, unless the accusation was made publicly or in the event we have express permission to reproduce the complaint.

-The FtB Ethics Committee

ETA: For those just wondering why this post has not gone up on every blog? Two things: posting was not made mandatory, and time zones, how do they work?