commondreams has this up on the women of Togo protesting the government by a sex strike. They will refuse to have relations with their men for one week.
…I’m not sure a week is long enough, ladies…better count on making it longer…
I forget how long it took the Greek women in Lysistrata…
Well, I’m glad Senate hopeful Todd Akin has cleared up the definition of rape. /snark
See, it’s not *really* rape if she gets pregnant…
Sadly, there are too many of the R’s that believe this garbage. Truly appalling that they don’t see women as human beings. I’m left to wonder what category they place us in? As a wise woman once said, rape is the only crime where the victim has to prove they didn’t want the crime to happen.
Link here. The first question I have: Why in the hell would you take a dog up on that kind of terrain? Second question is why didn’t you mount the same efforts to save her as the complete strangers did?
Of course, I’m for the people who saved her to get to keep her. The original owner lost is claim on her when he abandoned her. You’re done.
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The local case here of the soulless creep who allegedly threw a kitten in a fire was back in the news–he is claiming that he *might have bumped* the kitten into the fire while he burned pictures of his now ex-girlfriend….um-hmmm.
And when the reporters told the story, it led one to believe that the kitten perished. It’s still alive and people have called in wanting to adopt it. If they don’t get this particular kitten, they should get their butts over to the humane society shelter and adopt a pet from there. Two of the best pets I’ve ever had came from animal shelters.
…and if one goes to a shelter (or anywhere to get a pet) let the animal *choose* you…you’ll know what I mean with their body language–they’ll move in towards you, their eyes will brighten up, their tails will be wagging (dogs), or if it’s a cat, it will make its feelings known like my kitty Sammy did–she rubbed up against the cage as if she were rubbing against my leg….these two were the best pets because they chose. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, as I wasn’t where I’m at now in understanding, but now I get it.
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More animal stuff–
Remember that cool picture I linked to recently with the lion and porcupine? I thought that the porcupines were holding their ground….
…yeah, well, things weren’t quite as they appeared.
My kids used to have a subscription to National Geographic for Kids. I saved a few issues and found this same picture in it. The caption had three questions of what was happening. One of them asked if the lion flipped the porcupine over and pounced. With a feeling of dread, I looked at the answer…yep…the lion flipped the porcupine over….<sigh>
commondreams has this up on the statement made by Romney on his visit to Israel, trying to look the part of a statesman. Failed.
If you read the comments, skeezyks has a link to the star tribune and their take on the GOP strategy–the same old, tired–let’s-divide-them-by-creating-enemies-along-racial-religious-lines….
From the comments section, a few posters are arguing about the uninformed public making poor choices because…they’re uninformed. SiouxRose makes the point that a single mother with 2 kids doesn’t have the time to do what we do–looking for the news on the internet…because she sure the hell isn’t getting the information she needs to make an informed decision on the network news.
Then another poster comments that people need to take responsibility.
The problem with that is with media consolidation into the rightwing mania, the information access is extremely limited. It’s difficult to get accurate, mostly unbiased (there’s no such thing as un-biased) news reported by intelligent individuals with a grasp of the subject at hand. Like I reported earlier, the only station that reports news like it used to be reported, prior to Reagan’s assault on the Press and Marketplace of Ideas, is a rightwing station. They report every half hour. The other stations? You’re lucky if you get the news in the morning, and then you’re SOL for the rest of the day. Nothing. Nada. And when the storm hit my area, there was nothing the next day–Saturday–to tell folks what was happening and where they could go for a cooling center. But you can be sure that there will be half-hour segments when/if a ter__ist event is happening.
So…to blame the public for not getting access to information is blaming the wrong folks–they already have very little power. And if you’re like me, you only get access to news through the internet. As has been said before–you control information, you control people.
I just wish there were as much outrage over the consolidation of media and the end of the Fairness Doctrine as there is against war.
…Good Grief. The grown-up version of hiding under desks because the Ruskies are coming, the Ruskies are coming…
So…we all should be afraid, be very afraid. Don’t go to movies. Don’t go out to eat. Stay in your homes with the curtains drawn….
common dreams has this up.
I was reading about all the consequences of nuclear disaster in the ecology textbook yesterday…brought back a lot of that anxiety of the 60s and 70s…
The costs are enormous and not necessarily recoverable. The book likened it to what happened in Hamburg during WWII– it was July, 1943, that Hamburg was just plastered with bombs. There were fires that shot flames 1500 feet into the air. People were incinerated by the heat. They reported that bomb shelters were turned into infernos and rescue workers could not enter them for two weeks following the bombing. The book likened this to nuclear disaster because of the chemical component that poisoned the land, rivers, killed the humans and wildlife in the area. It was total devastation of life. And the soils would not recover from the chemical devastation that killed not only vegetation, but the beneficial soil bacteria that helped the rooted ones to survive.
I’ll have to write a more thorough report of how the book details the ripple effect of nuclear disaster–chilling.
DN has this up today.
Let’s only hope that the carbon emissions news is followed by actual, you know, action. Because if anything this administration is famous for–it’s tough words with no backbone. The other day, I was listening to Limbaugh rant about the immigration law and Arizona and how the Obama Administration was instituting an “800” number for anyone observing a police officer violating someone’s civil rights. Limbaugh was all for civil rights and said it was about time that they started doing something about it.
bwahahaahahahahahaha. *snort*
Um, okay, he really didn’t say that. He was incensed that the Obama administration was actually trying to provide a way for folks to speak up. He immediately said it would be the sniveling liberals who would be calling in and the police officers would be afraid of lawsuits, yada, yada, yada.
My heart was lifted at the news of an “800” number…but then I recalled all the past “strong” words by this administration, followed by…no action. So, yeah, unless there is a full time staff behind this 800 number, and the people at the other end of the phone are actually empowered to DO something, well, I don’t see it providing much help. And it might even hurt someone who calls in thinking they are doing a service for the community, give their name, phone number and they themselves are harassed. I’m just saying this is a possibility. An administration that allows illegal wire-tapping against the Fourth Amendment leaves me doubting the sincerity of this program. Why now? Especially after record deportations?
Onto the other stories on DN:
The Tar Sands pipeline being once again pushed by Big Oil and the Obama Administration going along is another red flag that this administration continues to say one thing and do another. I’m just cynical enough to wonder if the sudden decrease in gas prices has anything to do with the Administration’s agreeing to Tar Sands?
Lawmakers making money off of legislation? No way. They’re the most fine, upstanding individuals ever to walk the Earth. /snark
You see, entitlement only applies to little old ladies trying to collect Social Security and the poor trying to collect food stamps to eat. They make the laws, so members of Congress are entitled to make profits off of it.
Sorry to see Nora Ephron has passed. I was watching “When Harry Met Sally…” last night. Peace to her.
I’m glad to see Bradley Manning has a good lawyer that is willing to go toe-to-toe. Good for him.
If you read the comments section, there’s a poster who mentions that one can take the flag lapel pins and turn them upside down…as a symbol that the country is in distress.
…hmm…I recently inherited one from my mother’s collection… ::idea starts to roll around in head::
A family member went to see the move “Bernie” over the Memorial Day weekend…starring Jack Black and Shirley Maclaine.
When he described the plot to me, I was appalled. It would seem that I’m not the only one…on the wiki site describing the movie, town residents were also appalled at making a comedy out of murder…a real murder, folks. I cannot understand why Shirley Maclaine would be associated with a movie that applauds murdering a woman because she was a bitch (from others’ descriptions of her treatment of people).
Yeah, women who are bitches *deserve* to be murdered, the murderer even applauded for it. Only *nice* girls’ murderers should be condemned, right?
Misogyny, anyone…?
Maybe Jack Black and his band can write a song about it….Kill Her Gently…
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UN statement on violence towards women.
And there’s the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. (hat tip to this poster)
Passing it grudgingly…is there no end to the callous disregard for basic human rights in the Repub party?
Lastly, here is a research paper on violence against women and the media. Being a Communications Major, I know that the media has an effect on people’s attitudes for everyday life–shaping their beliefs…so why wouldn’t it also be true with violent films?
And why have a Violence Against Women Act to help “mop up” after the fact, when this kind of “entertainment” should be addressed?
Violence against anyone is the dark side manifested in the material world.
Eagle 
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