i've avoided posting on susan boyle

until now. why now? well i came across an article i could really really really relate to. oh, i watched her youtube video and cried just like everyone else. (i do have a question or two though. why were cameras following her PRIOR to her appearance? i've never seen the show, or american idol for that matter. is the camera following contestants normal? hmmmmmmm, i sort of wonder)

anyway, i know what it's like to be laughed at so this hit home for me. i look 'different'. i'm NEVER going to be an ivory snow grrrl OR the grrrl next door. i wear too much makeup, i have too much ink, i have too much silver, i speak my mind, i dance if i want to dance, my clothing is 'eccentric'. oh AND I CAN'T SING WORTH A HILL OF BEANS (not to worry, that does NOT stop me)

What if Susan Boyle Couldn't Sing?

Dennis Palumbo

Posted April 16, 2009 | 05:05 PM (EST)
Like millions of viewers, I was thrilled and moved when 47-year-old Susan Boyle wowed the judges and audience on Britain's Got Talent with her superb singing. As everyone knows by now, the unmarried, "never been kissed" woman from a small village was greeted by both the audience and the talent show's judges with derision when she first took the stage. Looking matronly in her somewhat frumpy dress and unkempt hair, her appearance initially elicited smug, condescending and even cruel smirks, smiles and chuckles. What could this "un-cool," plain-spoken woman have to offer? What right did she have to share the stage with all those young, pretty, talented people?......

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

But I can't help wondering, what would have been the reaction if Susan Boyle couldn't sing?

What would the judges and the audience have thought, and said, had her voice been a creaky rasp, or an out-of-tune shriek? Would she still possess that "inner beauty?"............

there's a storm a comin'

(top video ht - once again from dependable renegade)

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

i keep telling everyone

including my dentist (yesterday i was in the ol' chair for some lovely work. man, i LOVE my dentist but i HATE going. i have a fear that is beyond imaginable. there i've shared with y'all), the teabagging 'parties' on 4/15 were made up MOSTLY (most, NOT ALL) of racist, homophobic, soul-less, morons. still don't believe me?

well, LOOK at this

(and it's only ONE of MANY examples)


anyway,
found over at dependable renegade

who found it: [photo courtesy progress now colorado]

saturday smiles

from tesla motors (pic from the website)


Electric Pink Bunny Slippers
by Greg Solberg

(ht: dark roasted blend)

john waters talks to boing boing

about teabagging (and of course, that's who I'D ASK about teabagging as well)

BB Exclusive: John Waters on the Origins of Teabagging.

Posted by Xeni Jardin



i LOVE LOVE LOVE him

i was going to say

another example of us bringing our brand of democracy to iraq....however, on second thought, WE WOULD IN FACT DO THE SAME THING HERE (we do it now). stone or beat gays, lesbians, transgendered or bi. instead of worrying about someone else's family (in THAT way) worry about your OWN. (yes, i believe we should look out for one another BUT NOT HURT ONE ANOTHER)

Iraqi gays face 'lives of hell'
By Jim Muir
BBC News, Baghdad

Grainy footage taken on a mobile phone and widely distributed around Baghdad shows a terrified young Iraqi boy cowering and whimpering as men with a stick force him to strip, revealing women's underwear beneath his dishdasha (Arab robe).

"Why are you dressed as a girl?" roars one of the men, brandishing his stick as the youth removes his brassiere.

The sobbing boy, who appears to be about 12, tries to explain that his family made him do it to earn money, as they have no other source of income.

The scene, apparently filmed in a police post, reinforced reports of a campaign against gays in Iraq which activists say has claimed the lives of more than 60 since December.

In the latest manifestation of the campaign, posters have appeared on walls in the poor Shia suburb of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, listing alleged homosexuals by name and threatening to kill them.

Those named have gone underground, while gays throughout the city and in some other parts of the country also live in fear..................

want to see MORE PARANOIA?

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Nationwide Tax Protests
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

more stories of paranoia

and lunacy. i don't get it. things are really NOT TOO very much different under the new administration. sure, a tiny bit better (i had hoped for a LOT better). no one is coming to take your guns away or trying to put you in a concentration camp or attempting to rename the capital obamagrad. no one is going to give you an abortion UNLESS YOU REQUEST ONE (and even then in many parts of the country it's next to impossible) or make you marry a gay (unless you're another gay and WANT TO MARRY her/him - BUT only in a handful of states). no one is going to secretly wire tap you without a warrant oh wait, that's already been done...........

anyway you paranoid asshole soul-less racist stupid piles o' shite, WAKE THE FUCK UP


Paranoid Right-Wingers See Obama's Volunteer Service Project as Sinister Plot to 'Re-Educate' Americans
By Alexander Zaitchik, AlterNet.

The far right has seen the fresh face of fascism, and it looks like the civic-minded legislative love child of Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

Most Americans applauded last month when the Senate voted across party lines to expand national-service opportunities. How could you not? The Serve America Act, which passed easily 78-20, invests $5 billion in volunteer corps focused on education, clean energy, health care and veteran issues. In a symbolic but meaningful gesture, the bill also designates Sept. 11 as a National Day of Service, thus expanding a post-9/11 concept of patriotism previously limited to dying in Iraq and shopping at JC Penny.

The Service Act will help millions of people learn to read, go to college, stay warm and connect with their fellow citizens. Upon passage, it was immediately hailed by 9/11 survivor organizations, literacy advocates, veterans groups and the AARP.

But not everyone feels warm and fuzzy about the bill whose House version was dubbed the GIVE Act. Among readers of WorldNetDaily and other sites that bridge mainstream conservatism and the lunatic fringe, the biggest question was whether President Barack Obama had shape-shifted from Stalin into Hitler, or had morphed into some grotesque dictatorial hybrid unique to history..........

this is very sad

and rather shocking. this is VERY bad karma indeed

King family draws fees from memorial project
Scholar: Civil rights leader would have been 'scandalized' by payments
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has charged the foundation building a monument to the civil rights leader on the National Mall about $800,000 for the use of his words and image — an arrangement one leading scholar says King would have found offensive.

The memorial — including a 28-foot sculpture depicting King emerging from a chunk of granite — is being paid for almost entirely with private money in a fundraising campaign led by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation. It will be turned over to the National Park Service once it is complete.

The foundation has been paying the King family for the use of his words and image in its fundraising materials. .....

Check this out!

we are hunted


Sneak Preview: A Fantastic New Way to Find Hot Music
By Eliot Van Buskirk
A new, playable music chart is like a Billboard chart for the P2P generation -- and you can play anything on it with a single click.

It would take an army of listeners to keep tabs on all the music being recorded and posted to MySpace, YouTube, BitTorrent and the like. How to filter it all?

We Are Hunted, a clean and simple music chart cuts to the chase. It tracks the most-favored music on P2P and social networks, Twitter, web forums and blogs. It then presents the 99 hottest tracks (according to its calculations) through an intuitive Brady Bunch-style interface. Best of all, it slaps a play button on each track. Clicking the play button starts the song playing right there on the page, using links to YouTube audio tracks, record label sites and other internet locations that the site's automated system finds online.............

this is america?

this isn't even a foreigner we tortured. it's AN AMERICAN PREACHER WE TORTURED


from boing boing
Posted by Cory Doctorow,

Border patrol alleged to have beat up and tazed pastor, smashed his car, on US soil, because he insisted on 4th Amendment rights

Border patrol alleged to have beat up and tazed pastor, smashed his car, on US soil, because he insisted on 4th Amendment rights

Border patrol alleged to have beat up and tazed pastor, smashed his car, on US soil, because he insisted on 4th Amendment rights

Border patrol alleged to have beat up and tazed pastor, smashed his car, on US soil, because he insisted on 4th Amendment rights

this appears to be a legitimate article

although, i really am taken aback. i just cannot believe it. how the hell stupid are we?

NRC says it can't ban importation of nuclear waste
By BROCK VERGAKIS

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it doesn't have the authority to prevent foreign radioactive waste from being imported into the United States.

The NRC wrote in an April 9 letter to Reps. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., that the Atomic Energy Act doesn't distinguish between domestic and foreign waste. The NRC says that as long as the material can be imported safely and someone is willing to accept it, the commission can't keep the waste out.

Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions' is seeking a license to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy's shuttered nuclear power program. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would be disposed of in the western Utah desert.

Matheson and Gordon are sponsoring a bill — which has yet to get a hearing — that would ban the importation of low-level radioactive waste unless the nuclear material originated here or the waste was imported for a strategic national purpose.

They contend that the country should restrict space at its dumps to domestic waste. The site in Clive, Utah, is the only low-level radioactive waste facility available to 36 states, although EnergySolutions says capacity there isn't an issue.

The company has agreed to limit the amount of foreign waste accepted in Clive to 5 percent of its remaining capacity.............

hmmmmmmmmm

alanis morisette could have sung about this in her 'isn't it ironic' tune. and people don't see how evil and vile and wicked and soul-less the bush administration was? I DO NOT GET IT

Bush Officials Accused Iraqis of Geneva Convention Violations
Written by Jason Leopold

Newly released U.S. government documents, detailing how Bush administration officials punched legalistic holes in the Geneva Convention’s protections of war captives, stand in stark contrast to the outrage some of the same officials expressed in the first week of the Iraq War when Iraqi TV interviewed several captured American soldiers.

Then, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, President George W. Bush and other administration officials orchestrated a chorus of outrage, citing those TV scenes as proof of the Iraq’s government contempt for international law in general and the Geneva Convention in particular.

“It is a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention to humiliate and abuse prisoners of war or to harm them in any way. As President Bush said yesterday, those who harm POWs will be found and punished as war criminals,” Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said on March 24, 2003.

That same day, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the BBC that “the Geneva Convention is very clear on the rules for treating prisoners. .........

scary AND it makes me want to puke

these people are so close minded, so EFFING STUPID, so racist, so paranoid, so ignorant. i don't get how they can blame the new administration for what has happened (and is happening) to our country. it started LONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG before THIS administration.



blogger interrupted

too bad there is no hell

because the people who deny claims like this one (or give the recipients a hard time) deserve to burn forever

there's a video at the link below (no embed code)

Blind Amputee Has to Fight AIG for New Plastic Leg, Wheelchair

While Executives Get Bonuses, John Woodson Gets "Cheapest They Could Get Away With"

By AVNI PATEL and BRIAN ROSS

An Oklahoma man who lost an eye and a leg in Iraq says the giant insurance company AIG refused to provide him a new plastic leg and fought to keep from paying for a wheelchair or glasses for the eye in which he has 30 percent vision.

AIG has made everything a battle after injury, he says........

because these women

don't want to be raped (even by their husbands) and because they don't want to ask a man's permission to seek medical treatment and on and on, they were greeted with ugly shouts and pelted with small stones

Afghan Women Protesting Law Pelted

Hundreds of Afghan women protesting a new Shia family law that would severely restrict women's rights were outnumbered by hundreds of the law's supporters today in Kabul. Some of the women were pelted with small stones. Afghan civil rights and women's rights activists organized the protest, according to the The Guardian. In a statement, the groups said that the law "insults dignity of women as fellow human beings and increases ethnocentrism and inequality."

Masuma Hasani, a 14-year-old protester, told the Associated Press that "I am concerned about my future with this law….We want our rights. We don't want women to just be used." A counter-protester, 24-year-old Mariam Sajadi, told the Associated Press "we don't want foreigners interfering in our lives. They are the enemy of Afghanistan."

According to The Guardian the law contains provisions that would restrict women from leaving their homes, working, going to school, or obtaining medical care without their husbands' permission. The law also includes a provision that women cannot refuse their husbands sex and a provision that grants child custody only to men...........

a very worthwhile post

from By Scarlett Johansson, Huffington Post. (of all people)

one always thinks movie stars are secure in their looks. think again. how can they be with their faces and bodies and lives on the covers of a zillion magazines and tabloid tv shows. the media's (and i use the term loosely in the case of tabloidism) perception of what women SHOULD be like and look like should NEVER bother us. we are all who we are. we cannot be comfortable with someone else, if we're first not comfortable with our own selves

Scarlett Johansson: Sexist Tabloids Make Me Feel Bad About My Weight and Body

While training for an upcoming film, I've come to this conclusion: chin ups are near impossible and lunges suck. There is no magic wand to wave over oneself to look good in a latex catsuit. Eating healthy and getting fit is about commitment, determination, consistency and the dedication to self-preservation. While I've never been considered a gym rat, I have, in fact, worked up a sweat in the name of cardio before, and although I enjoy a grilled cheese as much as the next person, I combine the not-so-good foods I crave with an all-around balanced diet.

People come in all shapes and sizes and everyone has the capability to meet their maximum potential. Once filming is completed, I'll no longer need to rehash the 50 ways to lift a dumbbell, but I'll commit to working out at least 30 minutes a day and eating a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables and lean proteins. Pull ups, crunches, lunges, squats, jumping jacks, planks, walking, jogging and push ups are all exercises that can be performed without fancy trainers or gym memberships. I've realized through this process that no matter how busy my life may be, I feel better when I take a little time to focus on staying active. We can all pledge to have healthy bodies no matter how diverse our lifestyles may be..........

if you think you're immune

(go look at your eyes, they're full of moon..............sorry, couldn't help that part. it's from a joni mitchell song)

i meant the 'if you think you're immune' part though. your emails, my emails. if i was suspected of committing some type of crime (which, let me tell you, I HAVE NOT) AND they got a warrant, i'm all fine with that. if there are no warrants, MY EMAILS (and stuff) ARE OFF LIMITS
period!
N.S.A.’s Intercepts Exceed Limits Set by Congress
By ERIC LICHTBLAU and JAMES RISEN

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.

Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in “overcollection” of domestic communications of Americans. They described the practice as significant and systemic, although one official said it was believed to have been unintentional.

The legal and operational problems surrounding the N.S.A.’s surveillance activities have come under scrutiny from the Obama administration, Congressional intelligence committees and a secret national security court, said the intelligence officials, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because N.S.A. activities are classified. Classified government briefings have been held in recent weeks in response to a brewing controversy that some officials worry could damage the credibility of legitimate intelligence-gathering efforts.

The Justice Department, in response to inquiries from The New York Times, acknowledged Wednesday night that there had been problems with the N.S.A. surveillance operation, but said they had been resolved.............

a very good tribute

to a very good woman who was also a very brave woman indeed. she had the strength and courage of many.

Sitara Achakzai, Martyr for Muslim Women

By Kamran Pasha

Hollywood filmmaker, author of “Mother of the Believers”

This weekend, the Taliban murdered Sitara Achakzai, Afghanistan’s leading activist for women’s rights. She was gunned down in broad daylight by assassins in front of her house. Ms. Achakzai was an instrumental figure in promoting women’s rights in the war torn country that has become the symbol of everything that is wrong with the Muslim world today. Earlier this year, she led a nationwide sit-in of 11,000 Afghan women in seven provinces who gathered to pray for peace on International Women’s Day.

As a Muslim man, as a believer and as a voice in Hollywood and the media, I am here to say to her killers: you are evil, twisted men, and you will not escape the consequences of your crime against our Muslim sister, who stood for peace and justice. Even if you flee into the protective arms of your Taliban sponsors, Allah is the Lord of justice, and you will never escape Him, in this world or the next.

And you will not succeed in destroying Ms. Achakzai’s legacy. In fact, you have only given it greater power. For you have made Sitara Achakzai a martyr. She died for the same reason as the first martyr of Islam, a woman named Sumayya bint Khayyat, who was killed for speaking truth to power................

effing scary

the taliban powers that be in the uk start busting people for THINKING ABOUT PROTESTING? holy shite. is that the uk or is it iran?

Police raid dozens of homes as climate change activists arrested
Computers and mobile phone records seized in pre-emptive strike on summer climate action

• Matthew Taylor and John Vidal
• 
  

Police have raided dozens of homes across the country as they questioned climate change protesters planning action this summer against coal-fired power stations and airports.

More than 200 officers carried out a pre-emptive raid early on Monday, arresting 114 people thought to be preparing a protest at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station in Nottinghamshire.

Yesterday it emerged that as the campaigners were in custody, officers raided homes around the UK, seizing computer equipment and mobile phone records.

All of those arrested but not charged for conspiracy to commit criminal damage and aggravated trespass were released yesterday on police bail – many with onerous conditions, including bans on approaching any UK power station or attempting to disrupt their operations.

Campaigners said this was an attempt to reduce numbers at major climate camps and demonstrations planned over the summer and to limit protests if the government decides to go ahead with a major new coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent........

equal?

hardly

(but i am NEVER going to stop until we are. i mean we ALL are)


They Fought the Law: Fred Strebeigh's Equal

By Michael O'Donnell

A colleague of mine recently argued an important civil rights case before the Supreme Court. In the hectic days before she left for Washington, as she reread every relevant decision and practiced clearing her throat, her attention was diverted by a niggling question: what would she wear to the oral argument? A fellow lawyer had set her to worrying by telling the cautionary tale of a female assistant solicitor general who some years earlier had shown up to court in what then-Chief Justice Rehnquist apparently regarded as an unlovely shade of brown. Halfway through her presentation, Rehnquist sent a note to the solicitor general, saying that he never wanted to see a government attorney wearing that color to the court again. ...............

.............And Felix Frankfurter, a giant of the court, turned down a young attorney named Ruth Bader Ginsburg when she applied for a clerkship with him in 1960. She had graduated near the top of her class from Columbia Law School, but her grasp of the law didn't figure in Frankfurter's decision. "I can't stand girls in pants!" he reportedly said. "Does she wear skirts?"............

i can't get enough

of this clown

from the suicide girls



Glenn Beck Goes Insane (i'd change that to MORE insane)

Submitted by FearTheReaper. Edited By nicole_powers.

I have to admit, the greatest thing since Obama took over the presidency is watching Glenn Beck’s quick descent into insanity. It really is epic theater and could easily have been a movie, or a television show. He is completely out of touch with reality – and it’s fucking awesome. It’s as if the crazy conspiracy guy at the coffee shop got his own show........

there are some horrid pieces o' shite out there

he denies saying the rape comment, but there are other things he CANNOT deny. the racism he cannot deny. the homophobia he cannot deny. his feelings about native americans he cannot deny............ oh what a prize!

Palin's New Disaster
by Max Blumenthal
The governor is reeling after nominating for attorney general a man who allegedly defended the right of men to rape their wives. Now, Max Blumenthal reports, she may dump him to save herself.

While priming her political machine for a likely 2012 presidential primary run, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has fomented a scandal that threatens to further erode her reputation in the Last Frontier. In March, Palin nominated Wayne Anthony Ross for attorney general. Ross, a colorful far-right lawyer and longtime Palin ally who sports his initials, W.A.R., on his Hummer’s vanity plates, was once considered a shoo-in for confirmation. However, his nomination was thrown into grave peril when his opponents presented evidence that he called homosexuals “degenerates,” leveled invective against an African-American student offended by a statue of a Klansman, vowed to undermine the sovereignty of Native American tribes, and allegedly defended men who rape their wives. According to two sources close to the confirmation hearings, Palin may ask Ross to withdraw before his appointment comes to a vote.

According to Burton, who detailed the allegations for me, Ross allegedly declared during a speech before a 1991 gathering of the “father’s rights” group Dads Against Discrimination, “If a guy can’t rape his wife, who’s he gonna rape?”.................

............But as pro-Palin forces attempted to push back against Ross’s critics, dozens of op-eds Ross authored during the 1980s and 1990s surfaced as key exhibits in the case against his confirmation. Among them is a 1993 piece entitled, “KKK ‘art’ project gets ‘A’ for courage,” in which Ross defended a local college student who had offended an African-American classmate by creating a statue of a Klansman with a cross in one hand and a flag in the other. “It might have been fun to see [the African-American student] try to remove the display,” Ross wrote. “Then she could have been arrested and her future as a student of the university could have been resolved through the university disciplinary proceedings.”.............

fuck disney

and all of the other tv channels and producers and people responsible for the perception grrrls aren't equal to boys


grrrls are MORE than hannah montana and princesses in pink (don't get me wrong. unlike some women i DO like the color pink but i also like black as well)

boys are more than davey crockett and skateboards as well

if we keep up these separations and stereotypes we're all in for the shite.

children to have minds of their own? to NOT depend upon a prince to save them? oh, it's why can't grrrls AND boys be interested in a science show or a math show or even just a comedy show that BOTH find they like to watch? there is NO reason EXCEPT for the almighty dollar. if we allow this to keep happening our grrrls will turn into addle brained submissive women. don't you want your grrrl children to be equal to your boy children? don't you want your grrrlok for a prince to be in the picture, but NOT as a saviour, as an EQUAL

Disney Expert Uses Science to Draw Boy Viewers
By BROOKS BARNES
LOS ANGELES — Kelly Peña, or “the kid whisperer,” as some Hollywood producers call her, was digging through a 12-year-old boy’s dresser drawer here on a recent afternoon. Her undercover mission: to unearth what makes him tick and use the findings to help the Walt Disney Company reassert itself as a cultural force among boys.

Ms. Peña, a Disney researcher with a background in the casino industry, zeroed in on a ratty rock ’n’ roll T-shirt. Black Sabbath?

“Wearing it makes me feel like I’m going to an R-rated movie,” said Dean, a shy redhead whose parents asked that he be identified only by first name.

Jackpot.

Ms. Peña and her team of anthropologists have spent 18 months peering inside the heads of incommunicative boys in search of just that kind of psychological nugget. Disney is relying on her insights to create new entertainment for boys 6 to 14, a group that Disney used to own way back in the days of “Davy Crockett” but that has wandered in the age of more girl-friendly Disney fare like “Hannah Montana.” ......

i liked him a great deal

he wasn't the BEST pitcher in the world. that's not why i liked him. i liked him because he was different AND i liked him because he liked to have fun. to the family and friends of mark, my thoughts and prayers are with you

Former pitcher Mark 'the Bird' Fidrych dies at 54

By HOWARD ULMAN

The Associated Press

BOSTON -- Mark "the Bird" Fidrych, the fun-loving pitcher who baffled hitters for one All-Star season and entertained fans with his antics, was found dead Monday in an apparent accident at his farm. He was 54.

Worcester County district attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said a family friend found Fidrych about 2:30 p.m. Monday beneath a dump truck in Northborough, Mass., about 35 miles west of Boston. He appeared to have been working on the truck, Early said.

Joseph Amorello said he had stopped by the farm to chat with Fidrych when he found the body underneath the 10-wheel truck. Amorello owns A.F. Amorello & Sons, a company that does road construction, and said he sometimes hired Fidrych to haul asphalt or gravel in the truck.............

hope y'all had a good holiday (if you celebrate it)

EASTER AIG HUNT from ABOVE on Vimeo.

(ht: wooster collective)

watch it!

(ht: americablog)

it's not like we're living in china or anything

is it? hmmmmmmmmmmm, let me see.

spinach
peanuts
pistachios
tomatoes

and on and on an on

(if you use baby formula, helpful hint: HAVE IT TESTED)

Health agency covered up lead harm
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention withheld evidence that contaminated tap water caused lead poisoning in kids.

By Rebecca Renner
April 10, 2009 | From 2001 to 2004, Washington, D.C., experienced what may have been the worst lead contamination of city water on record. Tens of thousands of homes had sky-high levels of lead at the tap, and in the worst cases, tap water contained enough lead to be classified as hazardous waste. Not that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the government oversight agency for public health, was worried.

A 2004 CDC report found that water contamination "might have contributed a small increase in blood lead levels." The study has been influential. School officials in New York and Seattle have used the CDC report as justification for not aggressively responding to high levels of lead in their water, and other cities have cited the report to dispel concerns about lead in tap water.

But the results of thousands of blood tests that measured lead contamination in children were missing from the report, potentially skewing the findings and undermining public health........

sick making

and i NEVER want to lose my right to say, ANY country, ANY religion, ANY person who allows a 47 year old man to marry an 8 year old girl IS FUCKED UP

Saudi judge refuses to annul 8-year-old's marriage
By Mohammed Jamjoom
CNN

(CNN) -- A Saudi judge has refused for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man, a relative of the girl told CNN.

The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, who was seeking a divorce for her daughter.

The relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for her daughter.

The case, which has drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, came to light in December when al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. The judge ruled the girl's mother -- who is separated from the girl's father -- was not the girl's legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court, according to Abdullah al-Jutaili, the mother's lawyer.

The girl's father, according to the attorney, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is "a close friend" of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl's husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, the lawyer said............

speaking of freedoms

OR, lack there of

Germany deletes WikiLeaks.de domain after raid
WIKILEAKS PRESS RELEASE

On April 9th 2009, the internet domain registration for the investigative journalism site Wikileaks.de was suspended without notice by Germany's registration authority DENIC.

The action comes two weeks after the house of the German WikiLeaks domain sponsor, Theodor Reppe, was searched by German authorities. Police documentation shows that the March 24, 2009 raid was triggered by WikiLeaks' publication of Australia's proposed secret internet censorship list. The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) told Australian journalists that they did not request the intervention of the German government.

The publication of the Australian list exposed the blacklisting of many harmless or political sites and changed the nature of the censorship debate in Australia. The Australian government's mandatory internet censorship proposal is now not expected to pass the Australian senate........

this is an interesting article

i'm torn here

i'm all for free speech. i'm NOT for hate speech. truth is truth though (again, hate is hate though)

a 15 year old being arrested (in britain) for holding up a sign saying scientology is NOT a religion, it's a cult? hmmmm.

i understand wanting to stifle evil, hateful words but some words are innocuous (i know, where does one draw the line?). i also understand it's my RIGHT to say certain things.

at the end of the day, i don't want to lose my right to say what i feel. i don't want us turning into saudi arabia when one is killed if one says the wrong thing.


The Free World Bars Free Speech
By Jonathan Turley

For years, the Western world has listened aghast to stories out of Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations of citizens being imprisoned or executed for questioning or offending Islam. Even the most seemingly minor infractions elicit draconian punishments. Late last year, two Afghan journalists were sentenced to prison for blasphemy because they translated the Koran into a Farsi dialect that Afghans can read. In Jordan, a poet was arrested for incorporating Koranic verses into his work. And last week, an Egyptian court banned a magazine for running a similar poem. ............

.................And in India, authorities arrested the editor and publisher of the newspaper the Statesman for running an article by British journalist Johann Hari in which he wrote, "I don't respect the idea that we should follow a 'Prophet' who at the age of 53 had sex with a 9-year-old girl, and ordered the murder of whole villages of Jews because they wouldn't follow him." In India, it is a crime to "outrage religious feelings." ...............

cool stop-motion animation

(ht: tywkiwdbi)

this is for a kids meal?

i'm guessing it is because it features sponge bob. oh yeah, IT ALSO FEATURES WOMEN SHAKING THEIR BOOTIES. baby got back

it's weird, it's stupid, it's inappropriate for kids, it's insulting and IT'S FUCKING SEXIST

i can't give up burger king since i'm a vegan and i gave it up a LONGGGGGGGGGGG time ago. i CAN ask everyone who reads this to think twice about frequenting bk though. (that dude is really really really creepy)

shocking

in that jabba the flush let's this caller through

Caller criticizes Limbaugh, Hannity, etal, on torture: "It's like you're all brainwashed"

bo's here!

i would have preferred them choosing a rescue hound from hell but bo was a gift (the rescue animal issue is also addressed at the end of the article linked to below). anyway, i'm not sure the obama's could have a CUTER dog!

The First Puppy Makes a Big Splash
Bo, the Portuguese Water Dog, Is All Over the Web Before His Official Debut

By Manuel Roig-Franzia

Washington Post Staff Writer

Who let the dog out?

That's the Washington mystery du jour.

The identity of the first puppy -- the one that the Washington press corps has been yelping about for months, the one President Obama has seemed to delight in dropping hints about -- leaked out yesterday. This despite White House efforts to delay the news until the big debut planned for Tuesday afternoon.

The little guy is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin' senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo -- and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama's father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo . . . Diddley?)................

picture:

The Obamas' new pet is a 6-month old Portuguese Water Dog, which Malia and Sasha have named Bo.

Pete Souza-The White House