Charges against Blackwater guards dismissed

come on now, jesus needs a

new pair of shoes lot of money to help rick warren the good ol' american white boy network kill ugandan gays

Mega-pastor Warren's megachurch begs mega-bucks

Rev. Rick Warren may have gotten top votes from many directions as religion newsmaker of the year (not me: I picked President Obama) but that hasn't translated to mega-bucks for his home megachurch.

Now, Warren put out an "urgent" plea to the nation's sixth largest congregation, Saddleback in Lake Forest, south of Los Angeles, for nearly $1 million -- by Jan.1, no less -- to support and continue a banner year of ministry efforts from Southern California to Africa..........

that all said, i also found this entry on frank schaeffer's blog please read it in it's entirety (click the link below)

it's an amazing piece (in my most humble opinion)

Will Rick Warren Go to The Hanging (Killing Gays) Or Just Duck? (Again)

By Frank Schaeffer


Nothing illustrates the danger we face from our own Taliban better than the way American "Christians" are now tangled up with the homophobic—now potentially gay murdering – Ugandan Christian/political leadership.

The Ugandan Parliament is considering a bill that would impose the death penalty on gays. One American must be cheering from the grave. Here’s what the late R.J. Rushdoony, Reconstructionist theologian and founder of the modern movement of that name, wrote in a letter to gay rights activist Mel White: “God in His law requires the death penalty for homosexuals.”

Disclosure: Both Mel White and Rushdoony were friends of mine, back in the day I was a Religious Right leader and sidekick to my father – the late Francis Schaeffer – who is “credited” by many, including by Karen Armstrong and Max Blumenthal – with being a key father of the Religious Right… along with RJ Rushdoony. I quit the movement over its hate for the “other” and got out by the late 80s and started writing novels like Portofino, aimed at the heart of the movement through humor at fundamentalist’s expense.............

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hey

lemmy happy new year and this one is for YOU



via

the nutmeg grater: it's NOT classified

the nutmeg grater: it's NOT classified

serious coolness

Muzorama from Muzorama Team on Vimeo.

Surrealistic cartoon by illustrator Jean-Philippe Masson
Mark Frauenfelder

this is pretty damn good

via

i'm not an israeli and i'm not jewish

but i think we ALL ought to ask this very SAME question of ourselves (after all it's not just israel vs. the people on the gaza strip, is it? IT'S ALL OF US EVERYWHERE)

Rattling the Cage: A taboo question for Israelis

By LARRY DERFNER

There's a question we Israelis won't ask ourselves about the Palestinians, especially not about Gaza. The question is taboo. Not only won't anyone ask it out loud, but very, very few people will dare ask it in the privacy of their own minds.

However, I think it's time we start asking it, privately and in public. If we don't, I think there's going to be Operation Cast Lead II, then Operation Cast Lead III, and each one is going to be worse than the last, and the consequences for Palestinians and Israelis are going to be unimaginable.

The question we have to ask ourselves is this: If anybody treated us like we're treating the people in Gaza, what would we do?...........

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almost makes me want some

(but they'd have to make mine with agar agar of course)

via

hmmmmmmm

via

via

i love her

via

the nutmeg grater: hey da liebs

the nutmeg grater: hey da liebs

misinformer of the year..........and the winner is

like there was ANY doubt

wow, i didn't know about this album

i sure knew about barry goldberg though. i'm a giant bloomfield and kooper fan

looks like the album has just been re-released (with the original vocal tracks which ended up being re-recorded much to the dismay of mr goldberg)
A Secret Masterpiece: The Only Album "Bob Dylan" Ever Produced
By Michael Simmons, CounterPunch.

Thomas Wolfe said you can't go home again. Was he right?

One of the quiet gems of 2009 was an album originally produced by Bob Dylan in 1973. Other than his work under the pseudonymous Jack Frost, it's the only album Dylan ever produced. It's not, however, a Dylan record, it's a Barry Goldberg record. Even if you've never heard of Barry Goldberg, you've heard Barry Goldberg. Keyboardist/songwriter/producer, he wrote a #1 hit ("I've Got To Use My Imagination" by Gladys Knight & The Pips) and played on another ("Devil With A Blue Dress" by Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels). As part of the Chicago blues mafia of the 1960s, he ran with the late string king Mike Bloomfield. They co-founded Electric Flag (with Buddy Miles, among others), and Barry later played on the proto-jam Super Session with Mike and Al Kooper and another Bloomers collab, infamously titled Two Jew's Blues. And then there were the Phil Spector productions from Leonard Cohen to the Ramones.

The cat's been around, he's still playing, he's still cookin'. ........

Technorati Tags:barry goldberg, al kooper, mike bloomfield, bob dylan, jerry wexler
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chronicling the dude

my two cents: i loved the movie. it's NOT the best movie the coen's made though. i also think people tend to see things that aren't there and aren't meant to be there. they tend to OVER ANALYZE. the dude is the dude. no more. no less

Dissertations on His Dudeness
By DWIGHT GARNER

Joel and Ethan Coen’s 1998 movie, “The Big Lebowski,” which stars Jeff Bridges as a beatific, pot-smoking, bowling-obsessed slacker known as the Dude, snuck up on the English-speaking world during the ’00s: it became, stealthily, the decade’s most venerated cult film. It’s got that elusive and addictive quality that a great midnight movie has to have: it blissfully widens and expands in your mind upon repeat viewings. “The Big Lebowski” has spawned its own shaggy, fervid world: drinking games, Halloween costumes, bumper stickers (“This aggression will not stand, man”) and a drunken annual festival that took root in Louisville, Ky., and has spread to other cities. The movie is also the subject of an expanding shelf of books, including “The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers” and the forthcoming “The Tao of the Dude.”.......

pic:

Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Jeff Bridges as the Dude in the 1998 film “The Big Lebowski,” which has crept into cult popularity over the last decade.

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on new year's eve...............

don't drop the ball

Why New Year's Eve?

New Year's Eve is not a good night for birth control use. Condoms break. Pills are forgotten. In fact, sales of emergency contraception more than double in the days after December 31st, according to January 2009 statistics provided by Teva Pharmaceuticals, makers of Plan B One Step ® (the one-pill version of emergency contraception).

What is emergency contraception?

Make a birth control plan before New Year's Eve. But if that goes wrong, as things can, know that you have a back-up option with emergency contraception. Emergency contraception is birth control that prevents pregnancy after sex. It is not the abortion pill. It's available at the pharmacy counter without a prescription for women 17 and older, even in just one pill. If you are under 17, you'll need a doctor's prescription. For more information click here.

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speaking of which

boing boing points us to this:

forensic analysis of a victoria's secret ad


please do read it. it's FASCINATING!

there is NO doubt in my mind the picture on the left

has been manipulated. there is also no doubt in my mind the picture on the right has in some way shape or form been manipulated as well. there is little chance (as this article points out) a picture goes straight from a camera to print without being retouched. i am not just talking models here either (although that is a subject close to my heart - in that 'they' are trying to tell us/women we're not good enough unless we look and act and dress a certain way)

the following is one of the MANY reasons i love boing boing


Demi Moore's lawyers threaten Boing Boing over photo analysis blog post

Xeni Jardin

(Click for large size. Image above: two versions of a "W Magazine" cover featuring Demi Moore, one for the US edition, and one for the Korean edition. Note the apparent difference in the area around the hip.)

Lawyers representing Demi Moore sent a threatening letter to Boing Boing over the holidays which demanded that we remove a post I published in November, or face legal consequences. In the referenced Boing Boing post, I published photographer Anthony Citrano's speculation that a recent W Magazine cover image of the actress may have been crudely manipulated by magazine staff to alter her hip, and appear thinner...............

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wow, how DARE those f**kers

promote peace!

Star Trek is Liberal Propaganda!

Posted on: December 28, 2009 9:16 AM, by Ed Brayton

This could easily also be a dumbass quote of the day, but since I already have several of those saved up we'll give it its own title. From a post by Mike Potemra at National Review Online:

Coincidentally, I have over the past couple of months been watching DVDs of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a show I missed completely in its run of 1987 to 1994; and I confess myself amazed that so many conservatives are fond of it. Its messages are unabashedly liberal ones of the early post-Cold War era - peace, tolerance, due process, progress (as opposed to skepticism about human perfectibility)..........

and from geekologie we coincidentally get THIS: (which is NSFW by the way)

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sick-making

if the people of illinois EVER elected someone that spewed this ugliness they get what they deserve (not unlike the people of connecticut and da liebs)

GOP candidate runs ad citing ‘rumors’ opponent is gay

By Daniel Tencer

California county GOP launches campaign to out 'liberals posing as Republicans'

In a sign that the 2010 primary season is beginning to heat up, and is likely to get ugly, a Republican candidate for the Senate has "accused" a rival Republican of being a closeted homosexual.

Andy Martin, a journalist from Illinois with a long history of controversial anti-Semitic remarks and the man credited with starting the rumor that Barack Obama is a Muslim, released an ad Monday in which he cited "rumors" that Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is gay...............

and as if that wasn't bad enough

.............

But Martin's history of controversial comments goes back much further than last year's presidential campaign. In 1996, his run for a Florida State Senate seat ended in failure when it emerged he had named the committee for a 1986 congressional campaign "The Anthony R. Martin-Trigona Congressional Campaign to Exterminate Jew Power in America."

And the New York Times reports that, in a 1983 bankruptcy case, Martin called the judge “a crooked, slimy Jew who has a history of lying and thieving common to members of his race.”.............

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this is NOT easy to watch

it's important for us to know what's happening in iran. it's important for us to know THEY WANT THEIR FREEDOM just as much as we want ours

Video of protesters stopping Iran hanging hits Internet

shout out to jasper as well as

the ENTIRE crew of flight 253



http://www.nydaily

Jasper Schuringa subdued alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines 253

By Soraya Roberts
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

The passenger who tackled a suspected terrorist on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 said Saturday that he’s “happy” to be alive.

Jasper Schuringa, a video director and producer from Amsterdam, told CNN how he helped the cabin crew to subdue Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old who reportedly ignited a small explosive device on board the plane Friday as it prepared to land in Detroit.

Schuringa said he heard a sound that reminded him of a firecracker and someone yelling, “Fire! .......Fire!”

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io9

has some WONDERFUL snow sculptures for you to see

why does the rnc HATE christmas?

hmmmmmmmmm
john at americablog points us to this

RNC Christmas greeting omits word "Christmas"

i believe in angels

via

awwwwwwwwww

via

if you've not gotten me my christmas gift yet.........

after all, it's a SPLENDID christmas gift!


via

NO figgy puddin' for me thank you

i'm TOO scared!

Bistro: You can’t have any pudding until you sign our waiver

By Agence France-Presse

LONDON (AFP) – A London restaurant has asked diners to sign a legal waiver before tucking in to their traditional Christmas pudding in case they hurt themselves on the silver charms inside, it emerged Thursday.

The owners of High Timber, located on the River Thames in the City of London financial district, said they were advised to draw up the indemnity form by lawyers who regularly dine there.

"It has created a bit of a stir in the restaurant and people looked at it disbelieving at first," said co-owner Neleen Strauss.

"I thought it was going to be a pain but decided to do it to cover my backside.............

these ARE good

or bad depending on your reference point

it's NOT my favorite (it's just way too hard to choose) but here is ONE

The 50 Funniest Celebrity Quotes Of The 2000s

19. Coldplay's Chris Martin, on charity work (2006)

“Can we got on with this? I've got to do AIDS and Alzheimer's and land mines this afternoon, and I want to get back for Deal or No Deal. Plus, Gwyneth's making drumsticks.”

merry christmas (eve that is)!!!

NO video, but click the link for a VERY good christmas song: with special commentary

amen

they FOUND it (not that it was really lost)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

C-SPAN helps MSNBC show and prove hypocrisy by McCain

By David Edwards and Daniel Tencer
The missing C-SPAN footage showing Sen. John McCain preventing a Democratic senator from getting an extra 30 seconds to finish a speech has been found.

The Republican senator from Arizona was outraged last week when Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), who was presiding over the Senate, prevented Sen. Joe Lieberman from getting extra time to finish his comments on the Senate floor.

"I've been around here twenty-some years, first time I've seen a member denied a minute or two to finish his remarks," McCain said. "And I must say that I don't know what's happening here in this body, but I think it's wrong."

Political observers quickly pointed out that, in October 2002, McCain himself prevented Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN) from finishing a speech opposing the Iraq war and Congress' move to authorize President Bush to launch military action against Iraq.

But when MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show went to find footage of that incident in the C-SPAN archives, producers found the relevant part of the video mysteriously blacked out.......

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well at least NO courts martial

which is rather a relief. still DISCIPLINARY action will be taken (and has already been taken in seven cases). as i said, i UNDERSTAND the reasons why someone should NOT get pregnant in a war zone. i don't understand PUNISHMENT for it

US general defends ‘no pregnancy’ policy; vows no court martial for violation

By Agence France-Presse

A US general based in northern Iraq defended Tuesday his tough punishments for soldiers who get pregnant or impregnate a fellow soldier and said fears the new rules could result in courts-martial were unwarranted.

"I see absolutely no circumstance where I would punish a female soldier by court martial for a violation... none," Major General Anthony Cucolo told ABC News. "I fully intend to handle these cases through lesser disciplinary action."

The Stars and Stripes military newspaper reported that seven US soldiers, including three men, have already been punished under Cucolo's November 4 policy statement. They received letters of reprimand that will not remain in their permanent military file.

Under his new rules, which have unleashed a fiery debate, violators are threatened with criminal charges or even a court-martial. They apply both to women who get pregnant and men who get female soldiers pregnant, even if the couple is married.............

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THEY have no qualms about taking the money

they just don't want anyone ELSE (including those who REALLY REALLY REALLY need it) to take it

NOTE: her name is michele not michelle (i don't point that out because i'm concerned about bachmann's feelings. i'm not. i have my reasons)

Study reveals Bachmann to be ’something of a welfare queen’

By Stephen C. Webster

Outspoken Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann likes to make herself out to be a bastion of American conservatism, standing true as a bulwark against alleged socialism.

But that image is about to come crashing down around her.

Bachmann and her family were the recipients of over a quarter of a million dollars in "corrupt" farm subsidies in the nine years leading up to 2006, according to a new report by Yasha Levine, writing for Truth Dig.

Even for a woman who once warned that President Obama was "reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom," that's a lot of dough. In fact, it's almost exactly how much her stake in the family farm is worth.

"Bachmann’s financial disclosure forms indicate her stake in the Wisconsin farm is worth up to $250,000," noted Politico's Glenn Thrush. "Her income from the farm has grown from $2,000 a year a few years back to as much as $50,000 for 2008."..................

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my best wishes to steven

number one, he's part of a GREAT band and number two, he was very nice to me (and that counts in my book)

Aerosmith’s Tyler enters rehab

By Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff

Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler has entered rehab to treat an addiction to pain killers. The flamboyant frontman issued a statement late Tuesday to People and Rolling Stone magazines saying he plans to resume work with his band, but first must deal with his drug problem.

“With the help of my family and team of medical professionals I am taking responsibility for the management of my pain and am eager to be back on the stage and in the recording studio with my bandmates Joe Perry, Joey Kramer, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford,’’ Tyler said in a statement........

pic: by me

my bruins

Over the Glass and Into Lore
By DAVE SEMINARA

When Catherine Kaptain turned on the evening news and saw her son John being struck with his own shoe in a fight with the Boston Bruins, her disdain for the sport her family loved never seemed more justified. “I screamed, ‘They’re beating up my babies!’ ” she said.

Thirty years ago, on Dec. 23, 1979, Bruins defenseman Mike Milbury whacked John Kaptain, a Rangers fan from New Jersey, with a shoe during a bizarre altercation in which all but one Bruins player went over the glass and into the stands at Madison Square Garden. The incident, after a 4-3 Bruins victory, resulted in three players being suspended, lawsuits and the installation of higher glass in the arena. It remains one of the most memorable fan-athlete confrontations in sports.

It all unfolded after Phil Esposito of the Rangers smashed his stick on the ice and skated off to the locker room after failing to convert a breakaway in the waning seconds. When the buzzer sounded, Al Secord, Boston’s rugged left wing, decked the Rangers’ Ulf Nilsson.............

pic: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The Bruins' Mike Milbury being restrained. He and all but one of his teammates went into the stands after a victory over the Rangers.

note: espo was a RANGER (ewwwwwwwwwwwwww) when the melee took place. i'd NEVER post a pic of him in a RANGER uniform

want

gingerbread castles

sarah, you're my sistah grrrlfren'

we both know it's important to trim our bushes!

this is kinda cool

and something i didn't know

All about numbers

Why 1 is one and 2 is two and 3 is three…

The numbers we all use (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) are known as “Arabic” numbers to distinguish them from the “Roman Numerals” (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, etc). Actually the Arabs popularized these numbers but they were originally used by the early Phonecian traders to count and keep track of their trading accounts..............

larisa over at 'at largely' points us to

a repug blug

that wishes death on those who are not of the same opinion. i don't think that's mighty christian do you? (the writer is allegedly a christian, not me)

AND he's proud of wishing death on a us senator: "

"How Dare You Wish Our Klansman to Die! Die, Rethuglican!

It seems our friends on the political left are all but soiling themselves over a post I wrote last night, where I wished West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd to do his nation a favor and go into the light before the Senate votes to destroy the American health care system.

Matt Yglesias seems to think my musings are on par with that of a senator, and his friends Andrew Sullivan are attempting to claim that I speak for the entire political right. Not to be out-done, Larisa Alexandrovna chose to weave in a comparison to a anti-gay dog-park stalkerette in an effort to demonize Christians as well.

While I'm flattered by their attention, I suspect they've overestimated my political clout or my ability to accurately serve as a totem of whichever particular group they'd like to demonize today.

I take full responsibility for posting a blog entry that calls for Senator Robert Byrd to die at a politically-convenient moment, and I won't attempt to walk it back and pretend that I said or meant anything else. I still would find it quite convenient if the senior Senator from Pangea expired prior tothe Senate Democratic plot to force through rushed, potentially catastrophic legislation."

that from confederate yankee's response to all those up in arms over his original death posting.

here's larisa's take:

Wishing death on political opponents...

Posted by Larisa Alexandrovna
This kind of ugly rhetoric is precisely why the far right-wing is destroying the entire GOP. The mainstream Republican party will not cut away this gangrene, so it is stuck with the ramifications of having in their party such violent positions so openly displayed. Just take a look:.................

i want to use the c word and the t word BUT

it's the festive holiday solstice season and i should be nicer than i normally am (ho ho ho ha ha ha)

Palin contradicts herself with illegible climate tweets
By Stephen C. Webster

Former lawmaker Sarah Palin was for man-made climate change before she was against it.

Or to put that another way, Alaska's ex-governor appears to think that she is "Arrogant&Naive".

Ah, the joys of abbreviation.

On Friday just before 3 a.m., Palin unleashed a Twitter volley at reality, slamming anyone who believes mass emissions of greenhouse gasses can have an effect on Earth's atmosphere and climate.

"Copenhgen=arrogance of man2think we can change nature's ways.MUST b good stewards of God's earth,but arrogant&naive2say man overpwers nature", she quipped (direct quote).................

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ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh shite

ON THE OTHER HAND, if EVERYONE was high, there may not BE a war

Video: Afghanistan’s Toking Troops Not Exactly Battle-Ready

By Noah Shachtman

tuesday humor

but it's a real article


'Spy drones' may have been Santa's sleigh: Colombia

Colombia has dismissed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's claims that drones flying from Colombia are spying on him, with a senior official saying Venezuelan troops instead may have seen "Father Christmas's sleigh".

Mr Chavez, a staunch critic of the United States, said on Sunday the United States was spying on his government with unmanned drones that fly from Colombia as well as the islands off Venezuelan's Caribbean coast.

The Venezuelan President called the incursions by the unmanned planes "acts of war" and ordered his air force to shoot them down if they are seen again.

"Colombia does not have those capabilities he describes," Defence Minister Gabriel Silva said.

"Perhaps the Venezuelan troops confused Father Christmas's sleigh with a spy plane."...................

pic i believe is from thomas cook

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they have al franken

but they also have bachmann and THIS gatsu piedi. perhaps i'll stay in da land o' da liebs after all

Minnesota Gov. wants to protect kids from cross-dressing elementary-school teachers

By Diana Sweet

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has been busy working to shore up the support of his conservative base as he mulls a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.

This could explain his views in the following Newsweek interview, in which he enumerates his belief in creationism and announces that while he once may have supported gay equality, he doesn't any more. He even recants a past vote in support of anti-discrimination legislation.

Pawlenty's main reason for recanting the anti-discrimination support? He wants to protect kids from cross-dressing elementary-school teachers.

From the Newsweek interview:

Let me ask you about social issues your party has been dealing with. In her book, Palin claims that McCain's handlers wanted her to be silent about her belief in creationism. How would you describe your view?................

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eff them and the wooden horse from 1809 they

rode in on

i didn't know about this. but if MEN get to ski jump in the winter olympics WOMEN MUST too. i guess that's not how the olympic committee sees it though

it's an ap story so i can't print any part of it BUT the women ski jumpers sued and went to the supreme court of canada. they turned down the request. no women ski jumpers

WHICH IS EFFING ABSURD

Top Court Refuses to Hear Appeal Ski Jump Appeal

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i'm in there at least 3 times a week

i can attest to this being ABSOLUTELY TRUE

via

i have EVERY video ever made by a norwegian band

this by far is the best!

(in all seriousness, i like it a great deal.)



via

i don't want to be an afterthought

and i sure as hell do NOT want to be segregated

“And So Do Girls”: Girls as an Afterthought

by lisa
This 1959 ad for an airplane toy throws in girls as an afterthought in the final seconds (”Every boy wants a RemCo toy… and so do girls”). It’s easy to dismiss the ad as quaint and representative of a different time, but today’s advertising seems equally gendered, with girls thrown in as an afterthought (like in this dinosaur toy website) or neatly segregated (see here, here, and here)............



and here's some ads and gender stereotypes i found:

this is

cool cool and cool









via

black desi and white wanda

via

another angle on women in the military

sex in a war zone, abortion in the military, birth control and PUNISHMENT (as in SHE is the one likely to be punished)

i also wrote about something in this vein a few postings ago

Women Soldiers Forced to Resort to Back-Alley Abortions: Why Are Their Reproductive Rights Denied?
By Kathryn Joyce, Religion Dispatches.

"You hear these legends of coat-hanger abortions," a 26-year-old former Marine sergeant told me recently, "but there are no coat hangers in Iraq. I looked." Amy (who prefers not to use her real name) was stationed in Fallujah as a military journalist two years ago when she discovered she was pregnant. As a female Marine, a distinct minority in the branch, Amy was fearful of going to her chain of command to explain her situation.

For military women, who lack all rights to medical privacy, facing an unplanned pregnancy is a daunting obstacle. Thanks to anti-abortion forces in Congress, military hospitals are banned from providing abortion services, except in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest (and for the latter two, only if the patient pays for the service herself). Amy says her options were "like being given a choice between swimming in a pond full of crocodiles or piranhas."

"I have long been aware of the stigma surrounding this circumstance and knew my career would likely be over, though I have received exceptional performance reviews in the past," Amy explains. Although Fallujah has a surgical unit, and abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures, Amy knew that if her pregnancy were discovered, she would be sent back to her home base at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, where she would then have to seek a private abortion off-base, or she could request leave in Iraq and try her luck at a local hospital. She also knew she could face reprimands from her commanding officers for having had sex in Iraq (part of a broader prohibition on sex in war zones), and that she might not be promoted as a result: a potentially career-ending situation in the Marines, where failure to obtain regular promotions results in being discharged. Moreover, as a woman in the military, accustomed to proving herself to her male peers over her six-year career, Amy was wary of appearing a "weak female."...................

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separate then together!

here's a lot more info on the snowball fight

in dc WHERE A DETECTIVE PULLED OUT A GUN. yes, at a snowball fight. yes, there is much evidence HE DID EXACTLY THAT.

it was a PLANNED SNOWBALL FIGHT. it was a FUN SNOWBALL FIGHT. until a cop pulled a gun.

i didn't post about it yesterday, but today with more info (as in it was all planned out beforehand. a flash mob type of thing), i found the story even MORE interesting.

the wapo article doesn't name the detective BUT he names himself in one of the videos. it's detective BAYLOR

D.C. snowball fight 'fun and games' until gun appears

By Matt Zapotosky

Washington Post Staff Writer

The call went out on a Web site and over Twitter, and hundreds of 20- and 30-somethings, tired of being cooped up, gathered at 14th and U streets NW on Saturday for a little restless indulgence.

Snowball fight!

People squealed as they hurled balls of snow across the largely deserted road. Then, a snowball or two slammed into a Hummer. The driver, a plainclothes detective whom D.C. police refused to identify, got out, drew his gun and exchanged angry words with revelers, according to video footage and witnesses.

Police said initially that the detective had not flashed his weapon. On Sunday, the officer was placed on desk duty after Twitter, blogs and YouTube appeared to show otherwise.,,,,,,,,,,,

Cop Admits to Pulling Gun on Snowballers

Cop says on video he pulled a gun because he was hit with a snowball

By TERESA MASTERSON

A plainclothes police detective allegedly pulled his gun out and waved it at a large group of people in a snowball fight at the corner of 14th and U streets NW Saturday afternoon.

An off-duty member of the Metropolitan Police Dept. was reportedly driving his personal car in the area when the car was suddenly pelted with a barrage of snowballs, according to a statement from the MPD.

The detective stopped his car, got out and approached a crowd of people that might have thrown the snowballs. He then got into a verbal fight with members of the crowd, according to police.............

pic: michael pergam

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who is worse

mr wong and mrs wong OR the people who buy from them?

oh they caught him, they arrested him, they jailed him. he's out and about and killing and/or capturing and selling all sorts of endangered animals STILL

boing boing points us to a national geographic article on an illegal wildlife dealer

asia's wildlife trade

The Kingpin

An exposé of the world's most notorious wildlife dealer, his special government friend, and his ambitious new plan

By Bryan Christy

Photograph by Mark Leong

On September 14, 1998, a thin, bespectacled Malaysian named Wong Keng Liang walked off Japan Airlines Flight 12 at Mexico City International Airport. He was dressed in faded blue jeans, a light-blue jacket, and a T-shirt emblazoned with a white iguana head. George Morrison, lead agent for Special Operations, the elite, five-person undercover unit of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was there to greet him. Within seconds of his arrest, Anson (the name by which Wong is known to wildlife traffickers and wildlife law enforcement officers around the world) was whisked downstairs in handcuffs by Mexican federales, to be held in the country's largest prison, the infamous Reclusorio Norte..............

photo: mark leong
Confiscated at a market in Bangkok, Thailand, slow lorises are held as evidence at a police station. An international treaty prohibits trade in these nocturnal forest animals. Popular in Japan and Russia, they can sell for a thousand dollars each.

Technorati Tags:endangered species, wong keng liang, george morrison, us fish and wildlife service, anson wong, sungai rusa wildlife
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bar tricks bar tricks bar tricks. i think i know what i'll be doing today

(IF i can get out of the driveway that is)

you GO grrrls!

via