Below are the most recent 3 friends' journal entries.

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
limyaael	7:38p	Signal boost Winterfox on LJ asked me to link to this post about a friend of hers who is facing eviction. This is what Winterfox says about it, since she explains the situation better than I can: A friend of mine, shuju_the_red (http://shuju-the-red.livejournal.com/) is facing eviction if she can't gather $2,500 within a few days. She lives in the Philippines and this amount is very, very hefty for her; combined that with the fact that she had to bribe the police to get her mother out of a military camp not long ago--it cost her $10,000--she's severely hard-pressed to dredge up more money right now. My own journal has limited exposure and I was hoping you might be willing to link to my friend's entry detailing Ju's circumstances, because every cent will help. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
limyaael	8:39p	Rant on avoiding a villain monologue I’m sorry to have been gone so long. Major health issues as well as writer’s block on the rants meant that I had little to post. While I think I’ll be posting more regularly again, I can’t promise it. _____________________________________________________________________________ This rant brought to you by Magic Bites, an urban fantasy novel that I read recently and liked well enough—with the exception of one major irritant. I bet you can guess right now what it is. ( This is a temptation, yes, but there is a difference between feeling it and giving in to it ) Villain monologues irritate me for the same reason that idiot plots do: there’s no reason for them to exist, not when you have so many interesting tricks to avoid them. (44 Comments |Comment on this)
dtissagirl	5:56p	syphilis is a bitch but contracting hiv is much worse Today is World AIDS Day, so take a little time to learn about what you can do to stay safe, and to help others as well. Also, because my country is awesomer than yours: - Brazil proves developing countries can use generic medicines to fight HIV/AIDS epidemic - Brazil has paved way for tackling HIV/AIDS, says study - Brazil faces fresh HIV/AIDS fight -- the new challenge is how to provide free treatment for complications of chronic HIV and AIDS. - And figure out how to solve the AIDS problem in Brazilian prisons ... Brazil is among the countries that hold the highest number of patients actually living with HIV in the world. Estimates say about 650,000 people here live with the virus. Fact: that is HALF of what the predictions said in the early '90s. Back then the AIDS epidemic in Brazil was on the same growing curve as the African continent. Except the Brazilian Federal Government devised the freaking brilliant strategy detailed on the articles I linked above. So, AIDS medication here is FREE. We said a loud and clear FUCK YOU to the USA and the pharmaceutical industries and we broke the patents and we produce almost all of the drugs in the AIDS cocktail for 70% less than they would cost otherwise. And the Health Department banks the complete treatment. It's free for anyone who's diagnosed with HIV. We still have a long way to go. We still fight the prejudice [and OH MY FUCK, the prejudice is GINORMOUS], and we have to deal with A LOT OF religious zealots who won't wear condoms [and then when infected will deny the disease and refuse treatment], we have to fucking figure out a way to stop single white male USAers and Europeans from spending their vacations here -- because here's where the sex tourism industry is [and most of the sex workers are minors, btw]. But my government and many non-profits have produced a massive amount of nationwide awareness campaigns. Condoms and needles are massively distributed. Radio spots, magazine ad spreads, TV commercials. Dudes. TV ads [sponsored by the Federal Government] with famous actors making double entendre jokes about erections and telling everyone to wear condoms are like, the most common thing in the world for us. The Health Department fights the disease with awareness and information. Because that is what works -- you stop AIDS by talking about sex. It's not a theory, it's a fact. Brazil has been proof of that for the last 20+ years. Current Mood: productive Current Music: Turin Brakes - Future Boy (Comment on this)