Time for another link farm…
Partisan republicans will dismiss it as bullshit. But in fifty years, I suspect Hilzoy’s account of George Bush’s Iraq war is going to be pretty much how history remembers it.
Outing Can Change Votes
Interesting post on Pandagon points out that “outing” closeted gay, right-wing politicians does in fact cause many of them to stongly improve their voting records (from a pro-queer-rights point of view).
Hate Crimes Have Been Severely Undercounted
Orcinus extensively quotes a new government report showing that hate crimes are much more common than FBI numbers have indicated. From the report: “The report also showed that 56 percent of hate crime victims identified race as the primary factor in the crimes they reported. Ethnicity accounted for another 29 percent of the total. Hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were 18 percent of the total. Given that the best studies indicate about 3 percent of the American population is homosexual, this means that gays and lesbians are victimized at six times the overall rate.”
Party for Pimps Protested
The Chicago Sun-Times has a good op-ed piece about the annual “Players Ball” – a sort of annual convention for Pimps – as well as two stories focusing on protests. (Thanks to “Alas” reader Samantha).
Everything Is Connected on “Choice For Men”:
“I cannot imagine, except to mouth the platitude that it must be very painful, what it would be like to want a child, to know that I have already helped to conceive the beginnings of that child-to-be’s life and then, with no appeal possible, to have to accept the fact that, against my wishes, the woman who was carrying the beginnings of that child-to-be’s life chose to end it. Nonetheless, to argue from that pain to a social policy giving men the right to take possession of women’s bodies in the ways that Conley suggests is to argue not for a valuing of men’s fertility, or even of men’s desire for fatherhood…which is what Conley insists his argument is about…but, rather, it is to argue that any given man’s desire to be a father, assuming he is willing to put his money where his mouth is, is tantamount to a legally enforceable edict that he should be made a father. Power, in other words, is what’s at stake here, not fairness…”
The Best Post About The Hysteria Over Violence At Katrina
I’m a bit late linking to this very smart post at Respectful of Otters, comparing the media reaction to the shooting at Kent State, to the media reaction to Katrina refugees. But go read it anyway.
More On Pornography
Tiffany at blackfeminism.org responds to my recent post on pornography.
School Argues That 13 Year Old Is Responsible For Being Abused By Teacher
Amanda sent me this story, about a case in Washington state sexual abuse lawsuit in which the school argued that the 13 year old victim “had a duty to protect herself against sexual abuse but failed to do so.” The Court ruled against the school.
Average Loan Interest Rate In Portland Is 521%
Yeesh.
On Countering Anti-Feminist Rhetoric
Good Mind the Gap! post on how feminists can respond to anti-feminist rhetoric.
Technology is Neat! MIT unveals $100 dollar laptops.
Not for commerical sale, but for mass sale to school systems, including in developing countries; the goal is “a laptop for every child.” A neat idea, and a neat design.
Technology is Neat! (2) Windmills in the Sky
A big problem with wind power is that it’s not always windy – not unless you go about 15,000 feet in the air. Some folks are trying to do just that, developing self-powered, flying wind turbines that would draw power from the nonstop winds high above ground.
Yet Sometimes Technology is Just Silly: Toy Helicopter Alarm Clock
Boing Boing reports on a “small, noisy helicopter” alarm clock: “…at the desired time it escapes from a cage in your room. It starts moving and producing sound around you – to turn it off you should catch it and put it back in the cage.”
Pingback: The Mahablog » Some Things Aren’t Equal
O.K., Average Loan Interest Rate In Portland Is 521% is a misleading headline. It makes it sound like you have to pay those rates for something like a car. It should read “Average Payday Loan Interest Rate in Portland is 521%”.
It’s still pretty predatory. But then no one is forcing you to take the loan. And there’s apparently competition? Why are rates so high if there are multiple lenders? Is there collusion going on? Or is the risk of getting repaid that high?
being too lazy to open my email and swing this at amp, I’m gonna do this here.
This piece which includes scare mongering about “stuff the kids can get their hands on,” gross misrepresentation of comic books as a medium, and the particular comic book mentioned, and a fair share of implicit racism (I really hope I’m not the only one who reacts everytime “Manga is so full of such deplorable stuff” by hearing implicit “not like good, wholesome american comics like Spidey”)
honestly, can’t say I’ve read much of Peach Girl, as it’s heavy on the “teen soap opera” type material. not my bag. but La Blue Girl it ain’t.
anyhoo, saw that, felt like sharing, and This is probably the only fora I know online that is literate enough to care even a tiny bit. (“ZOMG! WHAT R THEY DOING? ANIEM ISN’T LIKE THAT!!!!11one”)
oh, and that alam clock is the coolest thing I’ve seen since they took Firefly off the air.
In response to the link you posted, Karpad…
I’ve read a little bit of Peach Girl, and I don’t think the content is any different from some of the “teen drama” books that are aimed at high-school students; I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch for an 11-year-old to be reading them. However, because they’re comic books and illustrated, they’re assumed to be aimed at a younger audience, and the fact that these situations that would only be expressed in words in one of the books I mentioned are expressed in pictures might be a little more disturbing to some. But as far as the content goes, I don’t think it’s any worse than anything in, say, Sweet Valley High.
As for the reference to “swinging”…I don’t know much about Marmalade Boy, but the situation, I believe, is that the parents of the main character went on a cruise, and her mom fell in love with a guy’s dad, and and her dad fell in love with his mom, or something like that…which is, I think, more silly than it is about swinging.