Sarah Seltzer, Freelance Writer's shared items in Google Reader

Occupy the DOE! Video of OWSers Protesting at Education Meeting

2011-10-26T17:37:37Z

Taibbi: OWS Protesters Aren't Jealous, They Just Want Bankers to Stop Cheating

2011-10-26T18:05:36Z

Where Are the Women at Occupy Wall Street? Everywhere—And They're Not Going Away

2011-10-26T22:36:07Z

Shared by Sarah
Using the last breaths of google reader to self-promote--give this a read!

Women helped found and sustain the leaderless, anarchist-influenced movement—and despite running into bursts of sexism and ignorance, they are determined to stick around.

Crisis Pregnancy Centers Try Converting Jews

2011-10-26T14:00:00Z

Crisis Pregnancy Centers, or CPCs, are problematic for many reasons. These centers, which are designed as sneaky alternatives to abortion clinics, have been shown time and again to give women misleading, medically inaccurate information and to almost always have a conservative Christian agenda. The number of CPCs far outweighs the number of places where women can go to terminate their pregnancies in this country.

They position themselves as offering “options” for women at a time of need, and parade out sonogram machines and staff in white coats. But they don’t disclose the fact that none of their options include abortion, and that women who want abortions will receive no help from them — and are likely to be stalled or dissuaded.

They have been known to shame and humiliate pregnant women who come to them in the most desperate situations. This cartoon by Susie Cagle was a result of her own undercover investigation of local CPCs. Her project is an excellent primer on CPCs for those unfamiliar with the topic.

Occupy Updates: Chemical Bomb Thrown at Maine Encampment, "We Are the 1%" Parody, Sean Lennon Sings Madonna at OWS, Campers Shore Up on Sleeping Bags

2011-10-25T17:48:07Z

Photos: Cornel West Arrested in Harlem Protesting "Stop and Frisk" with Occupiers

2011-10-21T21:39:12Z

Photos: Cornell West Arrested in Harlem Protesting "Stop and Frisk" with Occupiers

2011-10-21T21:39:12Z

Occupy Wall Street: Jesse Jackson Helps Save Medi-Tent from Cops, Shocking Firsthand Arrest Report, Writers Weigh in and More

2011-10-18T18:18:40Z

Taking Times Square, Assaults by the NYPD: Photos from the Weekend

2011-10-17T15:11:33Z

First Zombies, Now Broadway? Pride and Prejudice Musical Comes (Briefly) to NY

2011-10-19T22:00:52Z

: Facebook

In the past decade or so Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” has survived a deluge of outlandish adaptations and mash-ups: zombies, vampires, Bollywood and even a coming time-travel movie scripted by Nora Ephron, “Lost in Austen.”

The novel of love, class and mistaken impressions has proven to be durable text, hard to ruin. But I sat down for the final performance of “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A Musical” at the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) recently I wondered if this resilient novel could withstand something seemingly milder but potentially more dangerous than zombies: the schmaltz of musical theater.

I wondered if Austen admirers like myself, even those who enjoy Broadway, could embrace a play which features the words of our wickedly sharp-tongued icon conveyed through the medium of (shudder) song and dance. Would the show, could it, touch the canniness of Austen’s written work?

Ultimately, the fact that a musical can’t mimic a novel’s subtlety hardly mattered; “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice” was a smashing success within its own form. This production owes much to its main device: writers Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs, who honed their creation over nearly a decade, turned Austen (played during the festival’s run by Broadway veteran Donna Lynne Champlin) herself into a principal character. Austen opens the show by looking back at her first draft, “First Impressions” written ten years previously. She considers how she’ll re-write it and presto, her characters are conjured onto the scene.

While adding a nice absurdist wrinkle to the otherwise straight-shot musical, Austen’s continual presence onstage also gives the production the antidote to any sappiness the medium engenders. Just when things get too heated, emotional, or slapsticky, Austen is there to shake her head, purse her lips, debate with a character, or in the case of the obnoxious clergyman Mr. Collins and his patroness Lady Catherine, even silence them (to cheers from the audience). Over and again, Austen’s interference brings the show to earth, a powerful writer wrestling with her characters’ choices and giving herself the same second chance at writing as she gives them at love.

The show’s writers clearly revere the source material, transposing the novel’s best dialogue into cozy chats between Austen and her prize creation, Elizabeth Bennet. Their musical numbers arrive at moments that are dramatically appropriate: balls and proposals, yes, but the hysterical Mrs. Bennet’s ode to her nerves was a particular audience favorite, as was Mr. Collins’ obsequious ditty about the power of flattery.

In the endless debate over whether Austen was an unabashed romantic or a cynic who thought money and real estate were the best cultivators of amorousness, Baker and Jacobs unsurprisingly side with the first camp. But they do make a convincing case for Austen as a writer of love stories: the romance that captivates their older, wiser Austen is a considered kind of love, one which involves self-knowledge as much as passion.

So yes, “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice” is a more sentimental, campy affair than the book on which its based, but sentiment and camp are what musicals do best. The on-the-nose cast and devoted creators won over the festival audience completely; given the buzz in the packed house during intermission and after the show, I wouldn’t be surprised if this production ends up back in New York for a lengthier run.

Bishops Are Behind the 'Let Women Die' Act and the Push Against Birth Control--Even As They're Under Fire for Sex Abuse Scandals

2011-10-18T06:00:01Z

The first bishop in the US is indicted for child sex-abuse coverup; meanwhile, his colleagues push for laws that will intrude on our sexual freedom.

'Wild Flag' Jewesses Keep Rockin' Hard

2011-10-25T13:06:00Z

I recently went down to the Bowery Ballroom to see the rock band Wild Flag perform. They’re a fairly new all-female rock group consisting of two of Sleater-Kinney’s Jewish former members, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, and two other pioneering female rockers, Rebecca Cole and Mary Timony.

I’d been listening to their new album, “Wild Flag,” on repeat and was excited for show because their stage antics and energy are already legendary. But I didn’t know how much just seeing them launch into an aggressive rock set in person would resonate and feel like a call to arms.

After all, this is a moment when notions of power and pushing back against the status quo are at the forefront of my mind, in light of the “Occupy” movement that has seized the national spotlight and wrapped progressives up in revolutionary fervor.

'Protect Life Act' Continues the War on Women

2011-10-17T08:00:00Z

While the economy stagnates and many additional issues ought to be at the top of their agenda, House Republicans are still fixated on policing the uteruses of America.

The “War on Women,” the name given to an onslaught of state and federal laws that have restricted abortion, birth control and women’s health care in an unprecedented way, has some particularly heartless elements.

One of its most brutal measures, the bill known as HR 358, or the “Protect Life Act,” passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 251 to 172 despite impassioned speeches from many congresswomen. Among advocates for women, it has been renamed the “Let Women Die Act.” Here is why, according to the website Jezebel, the name has stuck:

Watch Disturbing Video of Mass Arrest of Occupy Boston Protesters, Including Veterans for Peace

2011-10-11T14:12:09Z

Maddow: Right Wing Reaching "Panicked Hysteria" Over Occupy Wall Street Shows the Protests Are Working

2011-10-11T14:19:44Z

Occupy Updates: DC Protesters Arrested in Senate Building, NYC "Billionaires March" Confronts 1% CEOs (Including Murdoch, Koch)

2011-10-11T18:33:16Z

Maher, Maddow Talk Occupy Wall Street: Why Does No One Admit that Wealth is a "Fluke"?

2011-10-12T15:17:19Z

Protesters Dressed as Robin Hood Kayak Down Chicago River on Behalf of 99%

2011-10-12T14:23:03Z

No Jail for Beating Up Women? Topeka Let Up to 30 Alleged Batterers Walk Free, After Briefly Decriminalizing Domestic Violence to Save Money

2011-10-12T17:00:01Z

As the county and city volleyed back and forth over the budget, suspected batterers went free.

Live Blog: Occupy Wall Street Protesters Win Battle Against Bloomberg Eviction, At Least 10 Arrested in Clash With Police

2011-10-14T01:00:01Z

AlterNet reports from the scene.