Madeline is On the Web

tonight may have been the highest point in my life. we proceeded to win 9 comp games in a row, before losing one. i’ll never forget you, you ruskie rein. i have only one photo of us together

It’s happening now. Disney bought out all of the venues they usually go to and they couldn’t compete with the cost so he and his fiancee aren’t going to have jobs after they get married. This is officially the last set of tours by Sesame Street, indefinitely.

He and his fiancee don’t really know what they are going to do. They think they might move to Atlanta but, honestly, they’re going to have to go where they can find work. That’s part of being a freelancer and one of the reasons I had to get out of theatre (constantly being on the lookout for a job is mentally taxing).

But, like, honestly, Sesame Street is struggling and has been for a while. Their agreement deal with HBO was a good thing.  Sesame Street’s funding is dying and I will be really shocked if it survives the next four years or remains publicly available. The people in power don’t want Sesame Street to exist. It teaches kids empathy and kindness and thoughtfulness. It exposes kids to diversity and teaches them openness and caring about others, which is exactly what fascists DON’T want. It’s exactly what CONSERVATIVES don’t want.

However, the financial situation may not be as dire as it looks from this one example. Yes, some parts of the franchise, like the tours, may close. Financial statements for Sesame Workshop indicate it will probably continue to operate, even with more limited government funding, because it gets a minority of its funding from the government now. However, it may indeed have to cut more jobs and some aspects of programming; there’s no guarantee that won’t happen even if it gets a larger portion of its funding from its parent non-profit. Here’s an article from Slate about the PBS financial situation in 2012, with historical accounts of previous tough times. Here’s the New York Times take on the same issue, with the key note that loss in state funding for local stations is a large (and largely ignored) issue.

Financial statements for 2016 for PBS are not yet available, but several previous years’ financial statements are. It would take an accountant to read those statements properly, but the for-profit subsidiaries of PBS were paying 200+K and 300+K in corporate taxes respectively. That indicates they were probably turning a small profit in those years. However, I’m not sure such profits could cover Sesame Workshop’s potential losses.

This student emailed her philosophy TA after getting her wisdom teeth removed and it’s one for the books

but also fuck bowser

Below, a million hard exoskeletons glitter in the light streaming through the open door. The floor is completely covered in them, the hard-packed dirt rounded and molded into their home.

With a sigh, she starts down the stairs. “Don’t you swarm at me. I give you food, I give you shelter and this, this is the repayment I get! Where’s the Queen?”

There’s the sound of insects rushing past each other and a black mound begins to form. It grows higher and higher, moving slowly towards the bottom step, until it’s at her waist. Slowly, the top layer of workers peels back to reveal the Queen in all her glory.

The Queen is easily the length of her hand, glittering and gorgeous in the faint light. She had been the one to make the Queen last semester as part of her final project. Her professor had given her an A on the condition that she destroy the Queen and her genetically enhanced children, but, instead, she’d taken them home.

“Look at this,” she says, thrusting her bill in front of the Queen’s tiny head. “I can’t afford this! I don’t–where did you all even get computers?”

The ants surge guiltily, producing a mac that looks very, very familiar.

“You stole my ex’s laptop.” It’s not a question. “That’s–alright, that’s pretty funny. I’m not going to take it away, relax, but you all need to figure out how to pay for this, okay? I can’t feed you and entertain you on my stipend, okay?”

The Queen regally nods. There’s a shift in the air as she communicates with the others and another mound of ants forms and pushes forward. This one opens to reveal a plastic bag filled with dirt-covered jewelry and a handful of…ancient coins?

She takes the bag, staring blankly at it. “Okay…I’m not going to ask. I don’t want to know. I’ll invest in better internet and pretend that you guys aren’t about two seconds from opening a chop shop or crime ring or whatever in my basement.”

The ants wave agreeably.

She turns to go and pauses halfway up. “I have to ask. What do you guys even need internet for?”

The mac flickers on to show Jessica Jones paused halfway through episode six.

Pay attention, everyone. This video by Sandy Hook Promise is the most powerful anti-gun violence PSA we’ve ever seen

At last, we see the high school would-be couple finally — finally — stumble upon each other while signing yearbooks. But despite what it may seem, that is not the climax of this story. Rather, the climax comes bursting through the door like a dramatic record scratch when we least expect it — and boom. We are forced to realize that we are not, in fact, watching the story we thought we were. The full video will give you goosebumps. And it will probably save lives.

Gifs: Sandy Hook Promise

It is not a child’s responsibility to keep themselves safe from gun violence. They are children who should be focused on children problems like, say, whether a cute girl likes them or how to keep from dying of boredom during a study break.

The whole ‘spy on your neighbour to Keep Us Safe’ is a creepy and disturbing ideal that has been prevalent in America for a long time (I’m not American, but off the top of my head I know it was a common cry during the Cold War) and it disturbingly places the onus on regular citizens to identify and stop dangerous individuals. This is a problem for several reasons:

1. regular citizens aren’t actually trained to spot people who my pose a threat and this is how people get shot for pulling out their wallets and things ok 2. establishes a great distrust between people that damages communities; 3. replaces actual efforts to solve problems like gun violence

You know what will stop an antisocial bullied child from lashing out? Laws to keep him from being able to access weaponry freely. Educational policies to deal with bullying and harassment in schools. Counselling programs that reach out to children to learn healthier coping mechanisms and redirect harmful thoughts away from violent outbursts.

There is no way or reason any of the children in that video should have been able to, or needed to, assess a peer and determine that they were planning a violent attack, let alone take action. Where were their teachers? Where were his parents? Where were the politicians who insist America doesn’t need gun control laws?

- grabbed me by the shoulder and put his hand over my mouth at 3am and pointed to the wall, whispering “do you see it? the barbed wire.” - woken me up and muttered “he’s here” while staring at my bedroom door - rolled over last night and said “you don’t know what’s out there. You don’t know what’s in the swamp.”