In this article about a new type of skin bleaching cream based on gene silencing technology, student/researcher Eman Ahmed-Muhsin (a Carleton University student who helped develop the cream) says “The market [for skin lightening cream] exists and we’re not going to increase or decrease that market.”

HMM.

Well, you’re helping to increase the supply of a commodity through your research into a cream which is more effective than the skin bleaching creams on the market right now. Doesn’t an increase in supply CHANGE THE MARKET? Whether it decreases or increases is irrelevant. The point is that people need to stop pretending that their actions have no consequences. When you make something available to people, you’re part of whatever problems that come out of those actions.

You and your fellow researchers are going to make money off the vanity and institutionalized racism of people living in Asian and African countries. You’re changing the market because you’ve seen that demand for these creams has increased, or you wouldn’t be doing this cosmetic research in the first place. You’re bloodsucking leeches and you’re not fooling anyone. And yes, researching, marketing, and manufacturing a cream with the goal of making dark skinned people more “beautiful” by lightening their complexion is racist. There’s no other word for it.

Happy October, adventurers! I went to an amazing show (BLOC PARTY.) yesterday, which was so amazing that I just got up and danced around a bit, again.

Anyway, I’m here to bring up something stupid I saw at the show. There was this really tall dude–now, I know really tall dudes cannot help being really tall, and some really tall dudes are awesome (I’m looking at you Ryan North)–who was wearing a top hat.

This guy is a fucking idiot.

It’s already hard for short people like me to see at shows, just because other people are tall. But to wear a top hat to a show is probably the rudest thing I’ve ever seen. It shows no consideration for people around you. I wish I could ban hats at shows completely, but whatever. In crowd situations, all types of hats get in the way of others, and block people’s view. I never wear my hat somewhere where I won’t have anywhere to put it, other than holding it for hours, because I refuse to wear my hat and block the view of people behind me. This asshole was just extremely lucky that I was in the second row from the front, and had a perfect view.

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I had this dream, where the glass covering the face of my watch kept falling out, or vanishing, and then it would reappear.