Caged Boy

This is why it is obscene and immoral to fill the universe with unwanted children.

Slutwalk Comes to London

Very important anti-fundamentalist message. Thanks, slutwalk.

Slut Walk was first held in Toronto earlier this year after a police officer caused outrage by stating that "women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimised" during a speech to university students.

US cop finds starving, caged 6-yr-old eating her own flesh to live | The Asian Age

US cop finds starving, caged 6-yr-old eating her own flesh to live | The Asian Age What the world needs now: more random parenthood.

Osama & Cricket & Kids: Children reveal how they would never get their balls back | The Asian Age

Children reveal how they would never get their balls back from Osama compound| The Asian Age

Right-Wing Spin: OBL Death Proves Torture Works!

But of course they would say that, would they not?

Torture at Gitmo leads to OBL Death down the line.

Christian Domestic Discipline (The Mayburg Chronicles)

You just can't make this stuff up. And I don't have to. I never have to.

The Mayburg Chronicles.
Contains the full text of "Ask and Ye Shall Receive," "Seek and Ye Shall Find," and ""Knock and the Door Shall be Opened."

All the married ladies of Mayburg know that irate husbands spank. In this series of three inspirational historical romances, three young women learn the same lessons. Lily, Daisy and Lizzie are just three of the women brought to heel by their men in this print version that combines three novellas featuring action, adventure, inspiration along with a healthy dose of spanking. The Mayburg men have their hands full, but one thing is for sure - they are all up to the task of making sure their headstrong wives honor the vow to obey.

Print: $19.92
Download: $14.95


It's just like light fluffy Harlequin Regency Romances, except, um, like, not.

Hat-tip to Jesus' General, "Submission And the Paddle."

Hooked on Health Care

Hello, gentle readers of my poor neglected blog.

Blogging just isn't the same since the Bushist Fascists were finally rustled out of town. I used to think (until maybe five minutes ago, even) that it was my personal life that was posing an obstacle to blogging, and now I fear that is not so. I think it's more the Obama Letdown Syndrome, if you catch my drift. Beyond that, I won't go there. It's very very STFU. See how very shut up I am become? And of my own free will. Now, that's slick.

On an unrelated note, via the great PZ Myers of Pharyngula, a classic bit by eminent Fetus-Firster Rick Santorum, a guy good for bringing one a toothy sparkly smile:

The Frothy Mix of Lube and Feces Speaks:

Think about how they view you," he [Santorum] told the crowd of Republicans. "They view you no different than the drug dealer views the little kid in the school yard. They want to get you hooked, they want to get you dependent. They want to get you relying upon them for your wellbeing. And once they've satisfied you, giving them that drug, that narcotic, then you'll be reliant on them and, by the way, you'll also be less than what God created you to be."

Yes! They want to get you Hooked on Health Care!

Guess what? Libya is all Hillary's fault! Woo hoo!

The Clinton Derangement Syndrome raises its itchy greasy acne-pocked sexist head once more, with a fab slam article on how Libya is all Hillary's fault (plus it's Bill's fault, too) accompanied by an unflattering picture because why not, eh? They print unflattering pix of Gaddfi, don't they?

Yes, Let's Get Behind Physically Assaulting Kids in School

Why? Because that'll larn 'em!

White House Stones Afghan Women: "Gender Issues" = Pet Rocks

Yes, the liberal Democrats in Washington DC are throwing Afghan women under the bus, because gender issues are just pet rocks, see, and there's this a big fat effin' bus, see, and somebody's gotta get thrown under it, and that would be you, sweetie.

A senior U.S. official involved in Afghanistan policy said changes to the land program . . . stem from a desire at the top levels of the Obama administration to triage the war and focus on the overriding goal of ending the conflict.

"Gender issues are going to have to take a back seat to other priorities," said the senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy deliberations. "There's no way we can be successful if we maintain every special interest and pet project. All those pet rocks in our rucksack were taking us down."

The changes come at a time of growing concern among rights advocates that the modest gains Afghan women have achieved since the fall of the Taliban government in 2001 are being rolled back.

New rules being drafted by President Hamid Karzai's government would bar private safe houses for women who are fleeing abuse and place new rules on those seeking refuge in the country's 14 public shelters, including forcing women to submit to medical examinations and evicting them if their families want them back. The proposed rules would also bring the shelters - funded by international organizations, Western governments and private donors - under the direct control of the Afghan government.

Even the Soviets and the Shah were better on the great pet rock of gender equity, were they not?

But hey, ladies, don't get your panties in a twist.

No biggie.

Fighting the War on Two Fronts

Well, dog my cat or something, I inadvertantly stepped on a twitter hornet's nest, and I'm just so sorry that I did. I mentioned in a tweet that I thought the conditions of Bradley Manning's confinement, as I understand them, seemed rather Abu Ghraib-y to me: being kept naked, in solitary confinement. Now, if this is not the case, then I will happily STFU.

If it is the case, I will not happily STFU, and my unhappiness at his being kept in such conditions does not merely include Manning's condition, but extends to anyone who would keep anyone in such conditions anywhere anytime.

I am happy to wage war on two fronts: toward the right wing, and toward the left, when it appears to be supporting things I think ought not to be supported: you know, like keeping one's fellow humans in unacceptable conditions. You don't like it? Meh.

Obama is too timid-centrist for me. Always has been, still is. I held my nose and voted for him, and I'm glad he won. That being said, I don't appreciate a lot of what he is doing, and I don't appreciate a lot of what he is not doing. However, I dislike the behaviors and goals of the rabid right wing much much much much more.

Right wing, left wing, throwing people into solitary confinement, naked, and keeping them in those conditions is unacceptable. Stripping people naked is a form of humiliation, and sexual humiliation at that, and it is not a method to address suicidality. Mental hospitals all across America are filled with suicidal people who, remarkably enough, still have their clothes on.

Rly.



ps.
Here's what Arthur Silber has to say re: Manning. Go fight with him.

Former Nepal PM Bhattarai dies - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English

Former Nepal PM Bhattarai dies - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English

Notables on Left Don 2L4O T-Shirts to Express Dissatisfaction with Obama

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Obama's left/liberal critics make a fashion statement of their disapproval of his policies

WASHINGTON, DC, March 1, 2011 — In one sign that Barack Obama has alienated the left, more than a dozen blogs now promote union-made "2L4O: Too Liberal for Obama" and "2L4O: Too Left for Obama" T-shirts. . ."

You can do the same, ladies and gentlemen. Buy one, don, express. (lather, rinse, repeat).

Not calling a spade a spade? For Al-Jazeera & CBS, Rape Is Not Newsworthy

Journalist beaten, sexually assaulted in Egypt.
A story that vaunted "democratic" news source Al-Jazeera simply refused to cover. Not to mention once-great CBS News.

Shh.

OK, I turned it back on again . . .

Very kind of those of you who noticed it had been turned off . . .

Yes, I turned the blog off for a bit

because I felt guilty that I haven't had time to blog. And where did that get me?

There are better blogs to read. See this blog list.

Will blog when/if. No promises.

It's life.

I don't think I even posted my virtual buddhist part of Christmas Christmas tree, either, this year.

Hmm.

Department of HateSpeak, Cause & Effect

"We're on Sarah Palin's targeted list but, the thing is that the way she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gunsight over our district, and when people do that they've got to realize there's consequences to that action." - Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in March 2010 MSNBC interview

Home-Grown Terror Via Palin's Rabid Right? You Betcha!

Stirling Newberry, at Corrente: Attempted Assassination of Congress Member Giffords of Arizona.

Peace On Earth, Good Will Toward All Sentient Beings

Help thy fellow bloggers here, through the kindness of corrente.

Cow gone: quick! Close barn door!

What were they thinking?

Evolutionary Psychiatry: Magnesium and the Brain

Evolutionary Psychiatry: Magnesium and the Brain: "Time to go back to Eby and Eby. I have an inexplicable fondness for this paper. The information is decent if a touch unorganized, and the..."

Evolutionary Psychiatry: Pleasure, Pain, Wheat, and Psychopharm

Evolutionary Psychiatry: Pleasure, Pain, Wheat, and Psychopharm: "There is something of an addiction theme out in the blogosphere today.  Mark Sisson is talking kicking the junkfood habit, and Dr. BG i..."

Evolutionary Psychiatry: That Tapeworm Ate Your Depression

Evolutionary Psychiatry: That Tapeworm Ate Your Depression: "I'm a little embarrassed that Mark Sisson got to this one before I did.  But I'm sure he has several minions to scan the literature for..."

US diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies - Americas - Al Jazeera English

US diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies - Americas - Al Jazeera English

A real career diplomat, who used his skills effectively, especially in Bosnia. It is, I think, our loss.

Journo to Red China: Have You *Studied* Confucius? [Epic Fail]

An article demonstrating that, when it comes to the brand new spontaneously-arising Confucius Peace Prize, Red China is very confuscshed.

Ya rly. Srsly.

It was an event for the benefit of foreign media. But if the organisers had hoped the Confucius Peace Prize would convince the world China is right, it failed. And, in the opinion of this correspondent, it was an epic public relations fail.

During the question and answer period in the increasingly stuffy conference room of a central Beijing hotel, the Confucius Peace Prize Awards Committee couldn't even bring themselves to say Liu Xiaobo's name, instead circuitously referring to him as "he of the three-character name you mentioned".

When Liu Xiaobo conjures up Harry Potter's Lord Voldemort, the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you know some Chinese are experiencing a crisis.

The press conference went from bad to worse, as question after question was asked.

"Jimmy Carter was one of your nominees for the first Confucius Peace Prize. Carter signed a letter asking for the release of Liu. Does this make you a supporter of a supporter of Liu?"

Or, "Doesn't it bother you and speak volumes if Lien Chan, the winner, hasn't shown up? Do you just have a hard time accepting the truth?"

Or this one, by a Hong Kong journalist, "Have you studied Confucius? Because you appear to have gotten the concepts wrong..."

[Pardon my abbreviated blogging of late. Things are ch-ch-ch-changing. Hopefully, for the better.]