06 November 2009 @ 10:53 pm
SPN 5.08  
This show is breaking my brain. Read more... )
 
 
 
07 November 2009 @ 04:14 am
Batman, The Joker, Vagrant Story, The Pirates of Dark Water fandom asylums  
[info]octopon - Pirates of DarkWater fandom asylum. Completed!

[info]gotham_gazetteCompleted!</i>

[info]vagrant_story - Vagrant Story fandom asylum. WIP; will be deleted unless more interest is shown.

And,

Please feel free to join [info]commedia; a personal project of mine, aiming to review and analyze comics (and other selected media) that feature DC Comics' The Joker.

It is currently a WIP because I am still going through my 500+ hardcopy!issues collection. I do not download torrents/scans.

I'd like to point out that currently I have two polls up for debate, as can be seen here explaining two routes the asylum's project can take. IE: spoiler free reviews, spoilerific reviews, and whatnot. =) Otherwise, the FAQ and The Rules are already up. The tags/memory post is still a WIP.

I am also open to affiliating with other comic book and/or Batman related asylums, except for RPGs.
 
full
feeling full
 
 
06 November 2009 @ 11:23 am
Save the Bunnies!  
sunsetmog has declared Bandom Appreciation Day, airgiodslv has declared WIP Amnesty (with one of the most chilling stories I've read in a while), so I'm gonna get in on the act by declaring this my own personal Save the Bunnies Day.

For today and today only, I am willing to write a drabble, a snippet, or a page from one of the many bunnies I have thrown at you guys over the years. I can't make any promises about length - I might only get out a 100 words or I might take off and write the full story.

I've tried to keep track of all my many bandom bunnies through Delicious, but there are also some unsaved ones under my "bunny" tag on IJ. If I've talked about a bunny with you over email, those are fair game too (as long as you don't mind me referencing personal email correspondence). And, well, there's always the Black Parade AU, but I think the less said about that the better.

So CHOOSE. But CHOOSE WISELY. >>>:)
 
 
 
06 November 2009 @ 09:53 am
Broken Computers and Broken Healthcare  
1. Computers.  I would like to say tat my Vista computer problems are easing....but that would be a lie. I did have enough crash free time yesterday to balance our checkbooks/bills in Quicken (all 3 months dating back to when my older computer died). This means that - once again - I am not online or reading mail.

2. Healthcare.  One issue that has been overlooked - until recently - in the healthcare debate is how certain federal laws already give health care insurance companies and employers wide discretion to deny health claims with little or no penalties.

Under ERISA (a law created in the 70s to protect pensions and retirement accounts), health care plans funded by employers face no penalties or liability if the employer hired claims administrators falsely deny a health care claim. In fact, if you were to sue you would have to prove that the claims administrator acted arbitrarily and capriciously. In laymen's terms this means you will need to find a memo that says: "I think we should deny this claim because I think the person is really a donkey in disguise and we don't insure donkeys." The memo that says: "We can deny this claim even if we have objective medical evidence to support it because (a) we were able to find one doctor in the world who agrees with us and (b) this is an ERISA claim.  In fact, thank God this is an ERISA claim 'cause if this were any other claim we'd have to pay it.." Well that memo would not help you win your case. And yes there have been those memos.

Currently 170 million Americans get their health care insurance from employers. Many employers over 5000 workers are  "self funded" - that means the employers pay the claims costs and they hire the United Health Cares and the Kaisers and the other insurance companies to administer the claims (for a transaction fee). The claims  administrators use their own insurance claim guidelines and also negotiate fees with the hospitals and doctors on behalf of everyone - both the insurance carriers own clients and the employees covered under the 'employer plan.' But the money to pay for the employee medical bills comes from the employers. Thus, your claim is subject to pension and retirement laws - not bad faith insurance law.

If you buy health care insurance on the open market (or if your employer does), then it falls under insurance state laws. if the insurance company wrongfully denies your health care claim under state insurance law, you can sue and get penalties and recover for the loss of life. Or recover damages to pay for your loved one's ongoing medical care if the person is injured or made more ill because of the claim denial.

Under ERISA all you get is the value of the health care benefits that were denied. If you're dead....well, no need for that health care.

So when you hear pundits talk about doing away with those pesky state laws that make it so hard for health care insurance companies to do business across state lines ..or pundits talking about changing the laws to make certain that *all* employers  won't be required to abide by state health care insurance laws...they're talking about extending ERISA to privately purchased health care plans.

Check out your employer health care plan and remember... your health care is already being rationed and if you have employer funded health care insurance, well you're already living under a different 'standard of care.' ... More here  and here

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06 November 2009 @ 01:11 pm
Asylums for you!  
On any asylum, you should always read their info first for rules and any regulations. :)
(Please note that all asylums listed below have been around for a good while; these are not new.)


[info]graphix - A great graphics asylum that offers making and posting of many types of graphics.
NOTE: We currently are in need of active makers, please help!

[info]ijelite - Another great graphics community that offers icons and all sorts of graphics.

[info]christians - A place for Christians and non-Christians alike to discuss the Christian faith, prayer, and problems.
NOTE: Need active members; please join us!

[info]iconism - An icon only asylum.
NOTE: Sister asylum of [info]graphix.

[info]hardball - Want to debate? This is the place to do it. Please read rules before posting/commenting.

[info]addme - A place to find friends to add!
 
creative
feeling creative
 
 
05 November 2009 @ 10:07 pm
 
Guys, can you send some prayers or good vibes or whatever the fuck my way? One of my childhood friends, who I've known since age 3, might have been at Fort Hood.

She's a nurse and I know she was heading down to Texas sometime soon to re-deploy - which means she might very well have been in the readiness center where the shooting took place.

I called her parents but they weren't answering their phone. I've emailed her sister, also a soldier. Haven't heard back yet.
 
 
05 November 2009 @ 11:30 am
-.-  
I just read an addme-type post where someone said one of their hobbies was "raping [their] computer". As English is not their first language, I sincerely hope it's a misunderstanding of sorts and not a deliberate attempt to use the word rape in "edgy", "hip", "funny", or "un-pc" ways. Which I disapprove of. *

The world and the people in it are pissing me off in lots of other ways, too, but I'm too tired to even list these. Maybe I should just go back to bed.

* Eta: I've explained my issues with the usage of the word in casual contexts in this IJ comment.
 
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 04:11 pm
 
HERITAGE LAKE LODGE )
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 05:41 pm
Prompts W-Z, Crossovers, RPF  
Prompts W-Z, Crossovers, RPF )
 
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 05:38 pm
Prompts Q-V  
Prompts Q-V )
 
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 05:34 pm
Prompts K-P  
Prompt K-P )
 
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 05:33 pm
Prompts E-J  
Prompts E-J )
 
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 05:11 pm
Prompts 0-9, Symbols, A-D  
Welcome to Round Nine of Porn Battle! This will run until midnight EST on November 11th. Please remember to post the prompt as the subject title of your post, and if the story exceeds the length of one post, make the second as a reply to the first part. Happy porning!

Prompts 0-9, Symbols, A-D )
 
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 01:39 pm
zine of the day  
1. first, more computer and browser instability = makes me cranky and less online/reading checking email.

2. but second: zine o' the day: "The Centaur Tales is an AU Houston Knights series in which, according to the art, the heroes are centaurs. The second volume is a Sentinel crossover. "

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calm
feeling calm
 
 
05 November 2009 @ 07:51 am
Update: Stories and art added to the Master Lists during September and October 2009  
Here are the stories and art that have been added to the Master Lists during September and October 2009.

Just in case it's not clear, we don't list all Snape/Harry stories or art. We are neither exactly a recs list nor a comprehensive pairing list. For a fuller explanation of what we're doing and the choices we make please check our FAQ.

Click here to see newly added stories and art. )
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 02:13 pm
Hideo Kojima to judge Twilight fanart contest  
Just a light wanky snack.

(Read more ...)
 
 
04 November 2009 @ 05:05 am
PROMPTING IS NOW CLOSED!  
Thank y'all so much for all the great prompts!

Now I need to finish putting them in order, then I'll send them over to be posted.

See you soon!
 
 
 
03 November 2009 @ 04:40 pm
Drumming diary: Beautiful Day II  
Man, the choruses are giving me problems. The snare goes ...2&......4....&2...3....4, the hi-hat pedal hits at 2 and 4, the eighth notes are on the bass drum, and the crashes change with each chorus. It's REALLY testing my four-way independent coordination: I find myself having to break it down and play two parts at once until my muscle memory kicks in, then trying to add a third part. That's going to be a long process. The good news is that once I get that down, the verses themselves are easy.

A word about muscle memory: essential. Even more so at higher levels of skill. Fast stuff like Green Day or My Chem, the drummer can't pause to breathe, let alone think about where hir limbs should be moving next. It has to be purely automatic. And sie has to have that same automatic memory for every single song in the set. It's not easy to say the least.
 
 
 
03 November 2009 @ 01:07 pm
Ficlet -- MCR gen - "Mr. And Mrs. Phallic Foodstuffs" - PG  
Because this awesomeness could not go unficced. (And yes, I'm 90% sure that Frank the Banana picked out Bandit's costume.) I'm not sure about the others so this is all guesswork.


 
 
 
03 November 2009 @ 04:04 pm
Might be of interest to the people who also post to Dreamwidth  

Crossposting the link in case they read me here, not there: Info about Dreamwidth's Latest Entries Feature (and how to opt out if needed)