Yes, it’s me, jogging slowly with a Dixie cup of water at the back of the TV marathon. It’s 2023 and I just watched the first episode of “Hacks” (2021), wildly successful marathon dramedy from HBO, HBO being a channel I’ve mostly stopped watching since their main exports became full frontal nudity and sadness. (Plus, the app is ancient and it makes my TV crash.) But despite these Herculean obstacles, I finally got around to watching “Hacks,” and I’m here to report that I…liked it?
Category: Blog
The LAPD crushes dissent on the orders of the City Council
By telling the LAPD to open an investigation into the identity of the Reddit leaker, the City Council is taking advantage of LA’s standing army to clamp down on protests and opposition. On October Oct. 9, an anonymous whistleblower uploaded to Reddit a tape of Los Angeles City Councilmembers Gil Cedillo, Kevin de León and Nury Martinez… Continue reading The LAPD crushes dissent on the orders of the City Council
LMU should make textbooks more accessible to students
Just this summer, I spent $164 on a math textbook in order to fulfill an LMU graduation requirement. I took Finite Mathematics at Santa Monica College, where all students were required to purchase the newest edition of “Finite Mathematics” by Howard L. Rolf. It felt like a particularly egregious request from a community college; after all, isn’t community college supposed to be the place where you can start your degree for a lower price? But it doesn’t really matter where you go, because whether you’re in high school, community college or a four-year university, you will be subject to extortionately priced textbooks — Loyola Marymount University is no exception.
LMU, put your money where your mouth is
At Loyola Marymount University, it is far too easy to find yourself out of food and out of money. If you can’t shell out $2,700 a semester for a meal plan or can’t stretch the $25 a day that the most expensive meal plan offers, you could always get a job on campus and pay for meals out of pocket…
Suspended Gay Priest Krzysztof Charamsa Wants LGBT Catholics to Get Angry
Alturi catches up with former Vatican official Krzysztof Charamsa, who, since coming out and being promptly fired in 2015, has been quietly stirring up the Catholic Church’s next ideological evolution in his second career as an independent scholar, writer, and speaker.
The Kisumu Feminists Society Wants Justice for Sheila Lumumba
The Kisumu Feminists Society was founded as an LGBT-inclusive feminist organization in Kisumu, Kenya when the women’s movement and the LGBT movement could not stand alone in the face of gender-based violence in Kenya. After the rape and murder of a nonbinary lesbian, the Kisumu Feminist Society has begun to call for #justiceforsheila to make sure that this murder, after so many others, does not go ignored.
How Paul Radecki and LGBT Russians Fought Censorship and Won
Russian Simmer Paul Radecki explains what motivated him to lead the #weddingsforrussia campaign and start a petition to reverse Sims 4 creator Electronic Arts’ (EA) decision not to release a game pack, Sims 4: Wedding Stories, in Russia due to the country’s censorship of LGBT content. Radecki and others explain why The Sims as an uncensored creative space is so important and explain why they fought against EA’s decision.
Aspiring Community Activist Josh Stols on the South African Testosterone Shortage
Josh Stols is an aspiring community activist from Johannesburg, South Africa, working to spread the story of South Africa’s sudden shortage of depo-testosterone and the neglect of the trans community by South Africa’s government and the medical establishment.
Steph Lentz — A Teacher’s Story of LGBT Discrimination and Fear in Australia
Steph Lentz is an LGBT activist and teacher from Australia, working to educate the community of risks to new federal laws non-inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI). Here, she discusses what led her to speak out about the pressure that the LGBT community is under from the Christian lobby, and how fear is the weapon of the religious freedom movement.
Student spotlight: Julia Barker, Mills’ resident voice actor
Mills student Julia Barker is graduating this year, and they’re leaving as a professional voice actor. Barker knew they wanted to be a voice actor since age 14, and they knew that they wanted to utilize their time at Mills to the fullest extent possible, so they entered Mills as a Theater Studies major “for the sake of voice acting.” In addition to taking singing classes during their time in college to improve their technical control, Barker also was able to take a course on recording techniques and learned how to use Protools while improving their audio editing skills…