Eff U Letter for International Woman’s Day

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Leyla Blue’s Fuck You

Ain’t it funny how a man whose never met me tries to tell me what i can and cannot do with my body Ain’t it funny how we tell our little girls don’t be a slut, like it’s my fault he held me down at that party

Ain’t it funny how a man
Who’s never met me
Tries to tell me what I
Can and cannot do with my body?
Ain’t it funny how we tell our little girls
Don’t be a slut like it’s my fault
He held me down at that party

You’ll say my dress was too short
And if I bring him to court
You’ll let him off with a slap on the wrist
Until he does it again
And you’ll have to pretend
You didn’t know that he was dangerous

You know what?
Well you can go and fuck yourself
I got nothin to say to you
But fuck yourself
You don’t know what I’m going through

Do you have girls
Oh, a mother or daughter
Who got something to lose
Well, fuck yourself
‘Cause I ain’t doin’ that for you

Ain’t it funny how the guy
Who gets with everyone in town
Is a baller or a king or a player
When the second that a girl
Gets on her knees before she’s married
You go tell her that she needs a savior

And all the mamas at work
Who don’t get jobs after birth
Because the man at the top don’t understand
That she can still be a mom
And have it goin’ on
If you dare to say I’m wrong

Then you can go and fuck yourself
I got nothin to say to you
But fuck yourself
You don’t know what I’m going through

Do you have girls
Oh, a mother or daughter
Who got something to lose
Well, fuck yourself
‘Cause I ain’t doin’ that for you

I ain’t doin’ that for you

Written by: Kellen Pomeranz & Leyla Blue

Music video by Leyla Blue performing F*** Yourself. © 2020 Island Records, a division of UMG Recordings, Inc.

A Dangerous MeTooMuch Game!

Screen capture of Atari's Pong video game with white digital paddles, ball, net and score on a black background.

Being a video game historian, I consider myself fairly well-versed in the early career of Nolan Bushnell, the man who created the first arcade video game, and then founded Atari and the video game industry with PONG. He ran Atari as part high-tech games company, part R&D technological think-tank and what might seem like part college fraternity… at least in the context of the usually staid business community. Atari was pretty much the template for the Silicon Valley start-up that tried to create a fun company “culture”, with hot-tubs on premises and giant beer keggers held in the parking lot, to encourage employees to forfeit a home-life and pour themselves into their work at all hours of the night and day.

But when the Game Developers Conference, the most storied of associations dedicated to the industry of video game creation, moved to honor Bushnell with their Pioneer award in 2018 for, you know, creating the entire industry, there was a backlash from feminists.

Most of this took place in the form of recollections from former male employees collected in various tomes about the history of video games, highlighting actions such as trying to goad a woman into a hot-tub during a “board meeting”, or the code-naming of various gaming systems with the names of various women around the office considered “good-looking”.

The GDC quickly rescinded its award to Bushnell in the face of this backlash. And in the wake of that, many actual women who had found a place to work in the technological industry at Atari came forward to voice their dismay at the disparagement of the man who gave them their start.

The following Facebook post comes from Loni Reeder, who worked at Atari in communications at corporate HQ from 1977 – 1979, dealing with every facet of the company. She is referencing Brianna Wu in her letter, one of the voices in the “GamerGate” movement attempting to highlight the lack of female diversity in game creation or within the games themselves:

“It started with a 38 year old disgruntled ‘uber feminist’ woman/game designer from Massachusetts running for Congress who had a less than stellar experience in the predominantly male-dominated video game space, resulting in what came to be known as ‘GamerGate.’

Using the ‘MeToo’ movement and a moment in time for which she had no firsthand knowledge…………

And with zero complaints lodged against Nolan or complaints about the work culture by employees working at Atari during that time………

And based on archival newspaper and magazine interviews with Nolan and others chatting about a work environment, time and culture that existed 40 years ago………

A work environment everyone – men and women – happily worked in TOGETHER… and partied in TOGETHER (or didn’t party in – there was no pressure and no judgement)…. an environment that has resulted in decades-long friendships, marriages, ‘little Atarians,’ business partnerships and frequent reunions……… providing us with amazing memories, and for most of us, spending the rest of our work careers attempting to replicate the MAGIC of the Camelot that we were lucky enough to work at.

By arming herself with a topical movement and being personally disgruntled and ‘offended’ by an environment existing 40 years ago which she played no part in – an environment she had ZERO first hand knowledge of………. and ‘intimating’ those of us who worked with or around Nolan, Al (Alcorn), the Gene’s (Lipkin and Landrum), Joe (Keenan), Steve (Bristow) and the rest of ‘Mahogany Row’ had been sexually assaulted, abused and disrespected by (in her estimation) abominations to the male species……

Yes, based on her political aspirations, personal assumptions and libellous accusations against a man where no complaints have been raised or filed – she made a big, unfounded noise against Nolan – and the ‘Pioneer Award’ honor was withdrawn.

Atari was a large corporation with many facilities… but I worked in Corporate Headquarters, interfaced with every department in the company as a part of Communications, Security and Facilities groups……. and in being ‘adopted’ by the Coin-op and Industrial Design groups, I also spent a great deal of time in the Engineering (‘hot tub’) building, which would be the two locations where most of the fun and craziness occurred.

From my vantage point and having a first-person perspective of this time and the Atari environment, what has been done to Nolan is falsely mischaracterizing him for a lifestyle that did no harm or wrong to anyone.

Nolan created a company environment which opened the doors to many women into a field where they were never included before: HI TECH. Nolan never discriminated on any level and gave everyone a chance to prove on their own merits that they could be a part of Atari. From soldering boards to building arcade cabinets, drawing schematics and artwork to working on the assembly line.

For me personally, Nolan was the final word in my being hired at Atari – my first full-time job after college… he continued his belief in me years later, when we cofounded uWink in Los Angeles where I became an ‘equally compensated’ Vice President.

Nolan never profiled a person by their gender as to whether or not they were a fit for the job. He based his decision on the person’s skill, ability and passion for the job – because of that belief, we always rose to the occasion! We were a bonded teamship… AND A FAMILY.

Atari also saw a woman – the amazing Carol Shaw – go on to fame!

For me, and I’m sure for other women who will weigh in……. while this ‘feminazi congresswoman wanna-be’ may believe she is doing ‘Atari womankind’ a favor, in reality, she has done us a disservice by creating victims where there were none.

Personally, I am extremely angered by her words and conduct in this matter… not just for Nolan, but for the women of Atari – all of us!

We ALL were, and remain to this day extremely strong and intelligent women…… and there isn’t any ‘man’ who would dare take advantage of us (not if they intended to procreate in the future!).

My other anger is the callous and unnecessary hurt I’m sure this matter has inflicted on Nancy and their kids and grandkids.

Finally… by not doing their due diligence before terminating the honor, the GDC did a disservice to Nolan, to my fellow Atarians – and to the truth.

Nolan was extremely gracious in this matter via his tweet… Hopefully the GDC will right this misstep on their part at some point in the future.”

Submitted by William Hunter thedoteaters.com

Image uploaded by CGR Publishing. Image content owned by Atari Corporation.

Cookin’ Up an Eff and a U

When a freelance journalist Twitter-contacted Chef and Restauranteur Angela Dimayuga of Mission Chinese Food in New York City to ask for an interview on behalf of IvankaTrump.com (who knew that was a thing?), she plated a spicy response.

Although it was nice enough, in its obliviousness, it is also true that Nazi soldiers were also just doing their jobs. In spite of this huuuge opportunity for a little press, Angela Dimayuga declined.

Hi Adi,

Thank you for thinking of me. I’m glad you are a fan of my work so much that you want to provide more visibility for my career to inspire “other working women.” However, I’m for women who actually empower other women.

I don’t believe that IvankaTrump.com is truly “a non-political platform of empowerment for [women]”. So long as the name Trump is involved, it is political and frankly, an option for the IvankaTrump.com business to make a profit.

I don’t see anything empowering about defunding Planned Parenthood, barring asylum from women refugees, rolling back safeguards for equal pay, and treating POC/LGBT and the communities that support these groups like second-class citizens.

As a queer person of color and daughter of immigrant parents I am not interested in being profiled as an aspirational figure for those that support a brand and a President that slyly disparages female empowerment. Sharing my story with a brand and family that silences our same voices is futile.

Thank you for the consideration.

 

Moby: “America, What the Fuck is Wrong With You?”

america, why are you so afraid of evidence?

you smoke cigarettes, naively believing they won’t kill you. you eat garbage, believing it won’t make you sick and obese. and now you’ve elected donald trump.

‘christians’ and family-values voters have en masse helped elect a twice divorced man who openly brags about infidelity and committing sexual assault. 30% of latinos have helped elect a man who has routinely maligned latinos and called mexicans ‘rapists’. 45% of women have helped elect a man who brags about ‘grabbing women by the pussy’ and has called women ‘pigs’ & ‘slobs’. business-minded middle america has en masse helped elect a man who has led roughly half of his businesses to bankruptcy and lost close to a billion dollars in 1995 alone. and blue collar middle america has en masse helped elect a trust-fund baby who has, over-time, inherited over $600,000,000.00 from his father.

and in the process you’ve denied the presidency to an experienced and erudite woman whose only shortcoming is being on the receiving end of a 30 year right-wing smear campaign. as a life long progressive i’m supposed to be diplomatic and understanding, but america, what the fuck is wrong with you? but then i ask myself, very sadly, why am i surprised? this is the same america that eats at burger king and is baffled as to why it ends up obese and cancerous and dying. this is the same america who thinks that granting health care to 20,000,000 people is somehow treasonous.

and this is the america who has now elected a dim-witted, racist, misogynist. a dim-witted, racist, misogynist who has ruined businesses and has no policy proposals other than ‘build a wall’. i guess there will be some cold, bitter schadenfreude in spending the next 4 years watching middle america wake up to the fact that donald trump is an incompetent con-man.

the rust belt jobs won’t come back. the wall won’t get built. and hillary won’t get locked up.

donald trump will be impeached, or end his presidency with single digit approval ratings. and hopefully, somehow, america will finally wake up the fact that republicans are, simply, terrible. reagan and bush sr. and the republicans ruined the economy, bill clinton and the democrats fixed it. george w. bush and the republicans ruined the economy all over again, obama and the democrats fixed it. in some baffling, habitual masochism americans keep going back to what’s bad for them, whether it’s food or political parties.

and the climate will suffer. the inner cities will suffer. children will suffer. animals will suffer. gun deaths will continue to skyrocket. we will suffer. all because americans live in this delusional, upside down world wherein they’re unwilling to look at evidence.

but here are the facts: junk food makes you fat and kills you. cigarettes give you cancer. and donald trump is a racist and a misogynist who has ruined countless businesses and will be the worst president our country has ever, ever seen.

-moby

An Open Letter to Employers with Ridiculous Requirements

April 11, 2013 by  

Dear Wayward Employer,

I’m writing you this letter because I was perusing your website and saw a job that looked awesome. I read through the description and everything about the job was me. Then I read the “requirements and qualifications” and found myself flabbergasted and appalled. I’ve done everything you describe in the responsibilities, but some of your requirements are…umm, how can I say this? Ridiculous? Kobe bullshit? And this is why you’re single.

I have five years of experience in this stuff, so I can talk ish and back it up. My problem? You’re asking candidates to have a Master’s and industry certifications, but you’re paying 35k. In the words of the graceful Sweet Brown…

degree inflation

I love — well, loved — your company and all, but this ain’t what my student loans are here for. This ain’t what my job search is here for. I’m supposed to be progressing professionally and financially. I don’t send money to my Capital One 360 (RIP ING) account so that I can take a job doing what I do well for less than I’ve ever done it. And I damn sure ain’t going back to school to get an extra degree just so you can pay me in monopoly money. F*ck. That.

Aight, so I just clicked another job on your site for giggles. An entry level customer service job to be specific. This sh*t is pitiful.

You’re requiring a Bachelor’s, experience with six technologies and a past life as a dragon. THIS IS AN ENTRY LEVEL CUSTOMER SERVICE JOB! If I was a college senior, I’d be tight right now. Tuition for telephones? Terrible. Just five years ago, this same job only required a high school diploma, a positive outlook, and a nice personality. But this mess you’re talking…

You’re lucky I’m at my computer.

You should read up on degree inflation and understand how much a part of the problem you are. Then again, you probably know this already and are ready to say “It’s a buyer’s market for employers thanks to the recession.”

Yes, we’re still coming out of a recession, but this foolishness you’re on will come back to bite you in the ass when things pick up. The person you get to take that 35k job will be gone with the wind as soon as the job market rebounds. Then you’ll spend the money you thought you saved trying to recruit and train his or her replacement. You’ll take a bigger loss than Ross… and I clearly don’t mean weight.

If and when I come back to your site, I’m sure I’ll see another ridiculous job posting. Maybe you’ll only be hiring janitors from ivy league schools, or secretaries with MBAs and five years of experience…for 30K. Eat 30K rocks.

Wayward employer, may you get stuck in a cabin in the woods with the ghost of recessions past. May you be slapped repeatedly by Dikembe Mutumbo, or covered in a thousand dirty diapers. I rebuke you, your insulting salary, and your ridiculous “requirements.”

Without Regards,

slim jackson

 

SingleBlackMale.org

Fuck You, Fuck You Very Much…

Lily Allen “Fuck You”

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Look inside
Look inside your tiny mind
Now look a bit harder
Cause we’re so uninspired, so sick and tired of all the hatred you harborSo you say
It’s not okay to be gay
Well I think you’re just evil
You’re just some racist who can’t tie my laces
Your point of view is medievalFuck you
Fuck you very, very much
Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don’t stay in touchFuck you
Fuck you very, very much
Cause your words don’t translate
And it’s getting quite late
So please don’t stay in touchDo you get
Do you get a little kick out of being slow minded?
You want to be like your father
It’s approval you’re after
Well that’s not how you find it

Do you
Do you really enjoy living a life that’s so hateful?
Cause there’s a hole where your soul should be
Your losing control of it and it’s really distasteful

Fuck you
Fuck you very, very much
Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don’t stay in touch

Fuck you
Fuck you very, very much
Cause your words don’t translate and it’s getting quite late
So please don’t stay in touch

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you,
Fuck you

You say, you think we need to go to war
Well you’re already in one,
Cause its people like you
That need to get slew
No one wants your opinion

Fuck you
Fuck you very, very much
Cause we hate what you do
And we hate your whole crew
So please don’t stay in touch

Fuck you
Fuck you very, very much
Cause your words don’t translate and it’s getting quite late
So please don’t stay in touch

Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you
Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you

Written by Lilly Allen and Greg Kurstin
2009

George Bush: Eff U N R A.

This relic was discovered by William Hunter, the Curator of The Dot Eaters: Video Game History 101, an awesome source for the history of video games (am I being redundant?). Hey Bill, I hear there’s a new game starring his son, it’s called Grand Theft Oil! How could I not?
http://www.thedoteaters.com

Letter of Resignation Sent By George Bush to the National Rifle Association May 3, 1995

Dear Mr. Washington,

I was outraged when, even in the wake of the Oklahoma City tragedy, Mr. Wayne LaPierre, executive vice president of N.R.A., defended his attack on federal agents as “jack-booted thugs.” To attack Secret Service agents or A.T.F. people or any government law enforcement people as “wearing Nazi bucket helmets and black storm trooper uniforms” wanting to “attack law abiding citizens” is a vicious slander on good people.

Al Whicher, who served on my [ United States Secret Service ] detail when I was Vice President and President, was killed in Oklahoma City. He was no Nazi. He was a kind man, a loving parent, a man dedicated to serving his country — and serve it well he did.

In 1993, I attended the wake for A.T.F. agent Steve Willis, another dedicated officer who did his duty. I can assure you that this honorable man, killed by weird cultists, was no Nazi.

John Magaw, who used to head the U.S.S.S. and now heads A.T.F., is one of the most principled, decent men I have ever known. He would be the last to condone the kind of illegal behavior your ugly letter charges. The same is true for the F.B.I.’s able Director Louis Freeh. I appointed Mr. Freeh to the Federal Bench. His integrity and honor are beyond question.

Both John Magaw and Judge Freeh were in office when I was President. They both now serve in the current administration. They both have badges. Neither of them would ever give the government’s “go ahead to harass, intimidate, even murder law abiding citizens.” (Your words)

I am a gun owner and an avid hunter. Over the years I have agreed with most of N.R.A.’s objectives, particularly your educational and training efforts, and your fundamental stance in favor of owning guns.

However, your broadside against Federal agents deeply offends my own sense of decency and honor; and it offends my concept of service to country. It indirectly slanders a wide array of government law enforcement officials, who are out there, day and night, laying their lives on the line for all of us.

You have not repudiated Mr. LaPierre’s unwarranted attack. Therefore, I resign as a Life Member of N.R.A., said resignation to be effective upon your receipt of this letter. Please remove my name from your membership list. Sincerely, [ signed ] George Bush

Published by New York Times May 11, 1995

LETTER FROM A FREEDMAN TO HIS OLD MASTER

[Written just as he dictated it.]

Dayton, Ohio, August 7, 1865.

To my old Master, Colonel P. H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee.

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin’s to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the[266] folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, “Them colored people were slaves” down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor’s visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams’s Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq.,[267] Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

From your old servant,
Jourdon Anderson.

 

Source: The Freedmen’s Book by L. Maria Child