i shuddered when i read this and i'm STILL shuddering

i couldn't believe what i was reading! no wonder women are still being discriminated against. no wonder women are earning less than men. no wonder women are thought to only be breasts and high heels. no wonder women will continue to be downtrodden. why? because of absolute giant flaming assholes clueless people like amy wilson

p.s. good thing we're not in india when it's not unusual for girl children and girl fetus' to be killed

p.p.s. not only is it obviously outrageous for amy giant flaming asshole wilson to be writing this, it's effing outrageous for cnn to EFFING PUBLISH IT

Why I didn't want a girl
By Amy Wilson
In an elevator, in line at the grocery store, waiting for the bus, it always goes like this: Strangers' eyes zero in on my belly first. Then they dart furtively to my face, as if to make sure I'm not a mutant, just visibly pregnant.

After this, they ask, "Is this your first?"

"My third," I answer. "I have two boys at home."

And for the kicker, they unfailingly give me a sideways grin, and say: "Going for your girl?"

"Nooo, just going for a baby," I reply, gritting my teeth a little. "Another boy would be fine with us."

I know these people are just making conversation. But this constant assumption leaves me a little offended. What's wrong with boys? Why wouldn't I want another one? It bothers me that people assume I feel incomplete without a daughter, let alone that it's my motivation for being pregnant with a third child in the first place............

.............I sat there in a daze. This child I was just starting to feel stir inside me was a girl? I waited for the excitement to wash over me. It didn't come. Not only was I not thrilled -- I was disappointed. I'm still not sure whether I was more bummed by how I found out or what I found out. Either way, I was shaken...................

a ticking time bomb spells trouble.......

or if you'd rather;



(ht: evil slutopia)

oooooooooooooooo

picture: Picture: AP

(click here to see what it is)

effin' funny

'appropriated' from boing boing

why all the fuss

about 'miss' california? i really don't get it. she is a 'beauty queeeeeeeeeeeen' contestant. most of them (let's be honest here) are NOT known for their minds, their points of view, their leadership, their examples and on and on. is perez hilton or anyone else surprised at her views? i sure as shite am not. if she was of 'average' intelligence, i'd expect her to be actually articulate on the subject of homophobia. what did you EXPECT her to say anyway? i'll bet if you asked all the contestants (i think it was 'miss' usa, right?) the same question, 90% would have answered in the same vein. a particular type of person enters beauty pageants (am i prejudiced against them? you're damn straight i am. women who walk around in high heels, bikinis and fake breastesesesesees thinking it's ok to be judged on that alone?). a person i really do NOT wish to associate withn enters them


c'mon now, she's just a bubble-headed boob (really her boobs ARE made of bubbles)

Olbermann and Musto on Miss California
by John Aravosis (

oh snap!

guess who owns SEVERAL pairs of docs? yup, moi! (they ARE vegetarian mind you. made of fabric)

guess who is NOT a threat. who is in no way shape or form A TERRORIST? ME. i am NOT A TERRORIST.

(my personal favorite on the list you ax? i tell you then...it be RACIAL NORDIC MYSTICSM. yup, 'racial nordic mysticsm'. isn't that the shite?)

you know the f**k what? radical terrorists from other lands don't have to attack us. we're self-destructing on our own

New Homeland Security memo lists black power, shaved-head Doc Marten wearers as ‘extremist threats’

By John Byrne
It’s not just right-wing “radical” groups on the Department of Homeland Security’s black list anymore.

Another embarrassing Homeland Security memo (pdf here) detailing those the agency believes are extremists has leaked. The first was sent to police and warned of radical groups on the right; the second is sure to offend an even broader array of those involved in activism.

The memo, dated March 26, 2009, is titled “Domestic Extremism Lexicon,” and came after the original memo fingering right-wing groups as a threat.

Those now listed as dangerous extremists include: Mexican separatists, “black power” advocates, “racial Nordic mysticism” practitioners and black nationalists.

Homeland Security told The Daily Beast’s Benjamin Sarlin, who posted the Lexicon, that the memo had been recalled almost as soon as it had been sent out.

Notably, Sardin says the memo includes no mention of Muslim extremism.

Perhaps the most amusing item is the document’s loose definition of “skinhead,” which appears to encompass anyone who shaves their heads and wears Doc Martens. Even those skinheads who merely preach “group unity” are worrisome, the memo says..........

i know this is true for a fact

i have many many many friends in the service industry. some have benefits (insurance that is) but almost NONE of them have sick time, paid sick days.

there are a LOT of immigrants in the business too. it's not unusual for them to work well over 8 hours a day, 6 and 7 days a week. while they get paid MORE than the flat $30.00 a day mentioned in the article (i mean they get paid by the hour and it's NOT 3.00 unless they are waiting tables and/or getting tips), most of them do NOT have the medical coverage.

of course this effects both men and women, however, women are going to get hit a lot harder.

it's idea to stay home when one is sick. SOME PEOPLE CANNOT STAY HOME WHEN THEY'RE ILL


A Sick Situation
-Judith Warner

Early this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that anyone with flu symptoms stay home from work or school.

President Obama reiterated that advice at his press conference on Wednesday night. “If you are sick, stay home,” he said. “If your child is sick, keep them out of school.”

“I know it sounds trivial,” the president said, after asking families to start taking other “very sensible precautions” like washing hands and covering up during coughs. “But it makes a huge difference.”

The president’s admonition to the sick to stay home didn’t sound trivial to Silvia Del Valle, a 42-year-old restaurant worker in Miami.

It sounded impossible.

When I spoke to her Thursday morning, Del Valle was sick in bed with a cough and a fever. Was she planning to go to work, I asked her, Obama’s press conference still fresh in my mind.

“Yes,” she said. “I need to go. Because if I don’t go, I lose my job.”...........

uh oh

(ht: super touch)

say whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhattttttttttttttttttt

this article restates what we already know

and what i've posted about a LOT. i will never stop posting about this subject though. women in the military being raped and/or brutalized (i will NOT stop posting about lavena johnson either. i won't stop posting about lavena johnson until the truth comes out. until her family gets the TRUTH AND PEACE. lavena johnson did NOT commit suicide, SHE WAS MURDERED AND THE MILITARY IS COVERING IT UP



Culture of Unpunished Sexual Assault in Military

by Dahr Jamail

MARFA, Texas - Sexual assault of women serving in the U.S. military, while brought to light in recent reports, has a long tradition in that institution.

Women in America were first allowed into the military during the Revolutionary War in 1775, and their travails are as old.

Maricela Guzman served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002 as a computer technician on the island of Diego Garcia, and later in Naples, Italy. She was raped while in boot camp, but was too scared to talk about the assault for the rest of her time in the military.

In her own words she, "survived by becoming a workaholic. Fortunately or unfortunately the military took advantage of this, and I was much awarded as a soldier for my work ethic."

Guzman decided to dissociate from the military on witnessing the way it treated the native population in Diego Garcia. Post discharge, her life became unmanageable. The effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from her rape had taken a heavy toll.

After undergoing a divorce, a failed suicide attempt and homelessness, she moved in with her parents. A chance encounter with a female veteran at a political event in Los Angeles prompted her to contact the veteran's administration (VA) for help. She began seeing a therapist there who diagnosed her with PTSD from her rape.

She told IPS that the VA denied her claim nevertheless, "Because they said I couldn't prove it ... since I had not brought it up when it happened and also because I had not shown any deviant behaviour while in the service. I was outraged and felt compelled to talk about what happened."..............

beautiful song

unfortunately way too many drunks in the audience

the illness isn't funny

(said the same thing on facebook and twitter)

BUT

this sure as shite IS pimp my swine flu mask

(from guanabee via craftzine)

this is a story about knitting

and i usually post knitting on the reformed pirate but i thought i'd post this story HERE instead (not to worry, i'll link to it). there are so very many organizations like this one (not all crafts mind you). so many helping women who then in turn help their entire families. everything from solar ovens (using just some cardboard and tin foil) to making jewelry out of recycled materials.

it's funny i didn't see a link to hathay bunano in the story itself (i guess i could have missed it) so here it is!


Taking jobs to Bangladesh's poor
By Mark Dummett
BBC News, Ratankandi

Never mind the global downturn, even in the good years, Ratankandi would be an unlikely place to come across a positive business story.

It is a thin, sandy strip of an island that sits in what is known in Bangladesh as the Jamuna river and in India as the Ganges.

Every year the island floods and the 100 families living on it know that it is only a matter of time before Ratankandi is washed entirely away. They are among the poorest people in the country.

But 40 women among them now work for a thriving company called Hathay Bunano (translates as hand-made) that sells hand-knitted baby clothes and toys to customers in Europe, Australia and the US...............

"Before Hathay Bunano came here, we had nothing to do. The women just sat in their homes," one of the workers, Shilpy, explains.

"But now we have learnt a skill and we can earn some money and pay for our children's school fees," she told me as we walked along a sandy path past the simple homes of the island's inhabitants........

pic: from bbc

Women in Ratankandi make toys and clothes for export to the West

fair and balanced my big fat ass

do all of these people say these BEYOND ASININE things because obama is a democrat OR is it simply because of the color of his skin? guess what i think?




100 Days of Obama-Bashing on Fox (Must-See Video)
posted by Ari Melber
This fast recap of Fox News' Obama coverage is actually rather effective. Media Matters runs through one quote a day from the first 100 days, revealing Fox's early and abiding interest in tarring the new President as a socialist sell-out presiding over an "Obama bear market." There are also reports of a "Blame America vibe.".......

it's nrbq thursday

why is nazi memorabilia

theorists who think being sold at american gun shows i wonder?????????? i'm not saying all gun owners are racist nut jobs. they're not. i AM saying there is a whole camp out there, you know conspiracybarack obama singly, by himself is trying to pry the guns out of their cold-hearted, racist, sexist, homophobic hands

hey ginny (see previous posting for who she is)

this PASSED (in the house) any damn way!

House bill would provide gays new protections

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

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate crimes, reported that there were 926 active hate groups in 2008, compared to 602 in 2000.

Forty-five states have hate crime laws, according to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The exceptions are Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Wyoming..........

because there is no such thing as hate crimes

because 'the gays' and 'the blacks' and 'the mexicans' and 'the jews' (and on and on) aren't really part of being human so how the fuck can the crimes committed against them be based on hate? i can really see inside this woman's mind and this is what she's thinking

hey ginny, matthew shepard's death WAS NOT A FUCKING HOAX. he was killed NOT for a robbery. he was KILLED BECAUSE HE WAS GAY

what's wrong with you? what's wrong with the people of north carolina who elected you? do they really want YOU to represent them? i know i sure wouldn't

GOP Rep.: Notion that Matthew Shepard murder was hate crime ‘a hoax’

By Jeremy Gantz
Less than one month after she used the term “tar baby” on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) has managed to offend another group of Americans: gay people.

Speaking on the House floor Wednesday while a hate crimes bill – known as the “Matthew Shepard bill,” after the gay 21-year-old who was brutally murdered in 1998 – was being debated, Foxx called the University of Wyoming student’s association with the legislation “a hoax” because, she said, Shepard was not killed because of his sexual orientation.

“The bill was named after a very unfortunate incident that happened, where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of robbery,” Foxx said. “It wasn’t because he was gay… The hate-crimes bill was named for him, but it’s, it’s really a hoax, that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”.............

on the surface this is one of the coolest things i've seen

then under the surface, you notice NOT ONE WOMAN. NOT ONE (well i believe a couple ride by WITHOUT HELMETS in the beginning of the video. they don't get stopped. they don't get hugged and they don't get helmets)




(shout out boing boing)

just in case you're one of those

evil hearted id-jits who are blaming people with perhaps a darker skin color than yours and perhaps a different accent than yours (and different language even) for bringing that nasty pig virus across the border, ponder this why don't cha (who really owns that pig shite anyway? NOT the mexicans. i'm guessing it's the effing gringos)

Residents near Smithfiled farm insist area played role in flu
The Virginian-Pilot

From Pilot and wire reports

The people of La Gloria, Mexico, a town of 3,000 in the Veracruz mountains, believe their community is ground zero for the swine flu epidemic, even if health officials deny it.

Their suspicions point toward pig farms co-owned by Smithfield Foods Inc., which Tuesday reiterated that no signs of the flu had been found in its pigs or workers in Mexico.

The town is home to Mexico's earliest confirmed case of swine flu, a 4-year-old boy who was among more than 450 residents who complained of respiratory problems. They blame contamination spread by pig waste at the Granjas Carroll de Mexico breeding farms, which are half-owned by Smithfield..........

Swine Flu May Come From Corporate Pig Poop

By Daphne Eviatar

Although the mainstream media in the United States hasn’t picked up on it, at least one Mexican newspaper and some U.S. bloggers are reporting that swine flu may have originated from mounds of porcine fecal matter at the Mexican subsidiary of U.S.-based Smithfield Foods — the world’s largest pork packer and hog producer.

As Tom Philpott at Grist writes, Smithfield operates massive hog farms Perote, Mexico, in the state of Vera Cruz, where the outbreak originated. According to the company Website, the operations are part of a Smithfield subsidiary called Granjas Carroll, which raises some 950,000 hogs per year.

Grist refers back to the Website Biosurveillance, which has this fascinating piece of information in its timeline of the swine flu outbreak:

Veratect reported local health officials declared a health alert due to a respiratory disease outbreak in La Gloria, Perote Municipality, Veracruz State, Mexico. Sources characterized the event as a “strange” outbreak of acute respiratory infection, which led to bronchial pneumonia in some pediatric cases….officials indicated that 60% of the town’s population (approximately 1,800 cases) has been affected. [...]..............

hey babies, it's taj mahal wednesday!

she's effing INSANE

why why why is she serving? why did the people elect her? there is a great big difference between being a conservative and being someone living in an alternate reality

hey mark regnerus

FUCK YOU. i would hope your article or piece or steamin' hunk o' shite was a joke. unfortunately, i don't think it is. i think you were quite serious.

by the way, i do NOT have 'market value' nor do my sisters. we're human beings not commodities you giant katsu piedi. and also by the way, if men get better with age, so do women. people like you are just too blind to see it

anyway, some dude in the wapo is telling us women we better HURRY up and get married cause once we're past 14, we're over the hill and good for nuthin', not worth the time it takes to write about us


Say Yes. What Are You Waiting For?
By Mark Regnerus

..........This is not just an economic problem. It's also a biological and emotional one. I realize that it's not cool to say that, but my job is to map trends, not to affirm them. Marriage will be there for men when they're ready. And most do get there. Eventually. But according to social psychologists Roy Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs, women's "market value" declines steadily as they age, while men's tends to rise in step with their growing resources (that is, money and maturation). Countless studies -- and endless anecdotes -- reinforce their conclusion. Meanwhile, women's fertility is more or less fixed, yet they largely suppress it during their 20s -- their most fertile years -- only to have to beg, pray, borrow and pay to reclaim it in their 30s and 40s. Although male fertility lives on, it doesn't hold out forever, either: Studies emerging from Europe and Australia note that a couple's chances of conceiving fall off notably when men pass the age of 40, and that several developmental disorders are slightly more common in children of older fathers. ..............

i'm warning you in advance

VERY disturbing
paul scheer's photos of some of michael jackson's things

c r e e p y
another link to the pics


(ht: boing boing)

you know every now and again

i try to watch him. i get about 30 seconds in and must either shut the tv off or change the channel. i can't do it, not even for research or comparison purposes. i really can't decide if it's all an act though. i'm leaning toward YES it is

More Beck paranoia: Links Obama administration's swine flu public health emergency declaration to already scheduled Sebelius confirmation vote

Published Mon, Apr 27, 2009 12:51pm ET by Media Matters staff

well i'd rather it be moot than brangelina

(now come on peeps, just a few short years ago she was making out with her bro {LITERALLY} and wearing billy boy boys blood around her neck. one doesn't become 'sane' overnight you know)

Time's 'Most Influential Person' list hacked by 4chan

Time magazine reported on Monday, with a palpable air of embarrassment:

In a stunning result, the winner of the third annual TIME 100 poll, and new owner of the title world's most influential person, is Moot. The 21-year-old college student and founder of the online community 4chan.org, whose real name is Christopher Poole, received 16,794,368 votes and an average influence rating of 90 (out of a possible 100) to handily beat the likes of Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and Oprah Winfrey. To put the magnitude of the upset in perspective, it's worth noting that everyone Moot beat out actually has a job.

Since Moot launched 4chan.org in 2003, the site has given birth to Internet memes as diverse as Lolcats and Rickrolling. 4chan averages 13 million page views a day and 5.6 million visitors a month; by some estimates it is the second largest bulletin board in the world............

interesting...............

Fox Says It Won’t Show Obama Press Conference
By Brian Stelter

President Obama’s prime time press conference will air on one fewer channel this week.

Fox is “sticking with its regular schedule” on Wednesday night, The Associated Press reports, marking “the first time a broadcast network has refused Obama’s request” for airtime........

(not sure i'd actually go all the way and call faux a 'broadcast network' though)

the.......reformed....... pirate: amazing scrabble commercials

the.......reformed....... pirate: amazing scrabble commercials

i have to link to these incredible scrabble ads. please watch them. you'll thank me

i have always hated cosmo

(NOT cosmopolitans silly. if it has vodka in it, i most likely LOVE it).

and here's a good example why i hate it. and no, this wasn't taken from 1971. it is current (i know it's hard to believe)
from evil slutopia (love the moniker)


cosmo quick hit: sports are icky

I watched the NFL draft today. I watched it because I wanted to, not because I was with some guy who was into it. I'm also a woman. According to Cosmopolitan, this apparently makes me some sort of mutant. Here are two items from their May 2009 issue to illustrate what I mean.

The "Cosmo For Your Guy" section is the page that you're supposed to give to your boyfriend to read (no comment on that), so it has relationship tips for guys. This month it's "Small Moves That Score Big", and here's one of them:

Get Girlie With Her: Believe it or not, your girlfriend probably isn't sitting by your side watching SportsCenter because she's dying to see the highlights of the Bobcats/Thunder game. She does stuff like that because she wants to spend time with you...and she'd love it if you returned the favor. That means doing things like going shopping without pouting the whole time or dozing off in one of those massage chairs. "Making small sacrifices shows her that you're a team player and her happiness is a priority," says Carol Bruess, PhD, coauthor of What Happy Couples Do.

See, because women don't like sports. Not a single one of us...............

oh and for the record, I HATE SHOPPING. HATE HATE HATE IT (not a big sports fan, but the bosox are beloved to me. i be liken' me some bruins too and ok ok ok a celtic now and again. i don't watch espn too often but i DO like their commercials)

this my dears is tres interesting!

especially the part where air france had NOT shared it's passenger list with the u.s.. hmmmmmmmmmm how then, did they get that list??????

US refuses to let jet into its airspace because it is carrying a journalist who criticizes US foreign policy
Posted by Cory Doctorow
Irene sez, "On April 24th, an Air France flight from Paris to Mexico had to make an unscheduled stop in Martinique when US air traffic controllers notified the jet that it would not be receiving permission to fly over US airspace. The plane was not en route to the US, just passing over some of it. On board the plane was Colombian Journalist Hernando Calvo Ospina, who works for the French left-wing journal Le Monde Diplomatique and wrote about US involvement in Latin America. Ospina and his publisher said they will sue for compensation." What makes the whole incident even more interesting is that Air France had only sent its passenger manifest to the Mexicans, but now it is clear that Mexico shares this information with the United States. .........

from the cdc

here are some faqs on swine flu

remember though (and your moms told you this when you were a kid) WASH YOUR HANDS

wash 'em frequently. wash 'em all the time. 80% of the cases of flu are spread by hand. so WASH 'EM

wash 'em after touching that grocery cart. that door to enter work or school.

oh and don't hang in crowds for a while

i think it's time i talk about

precious

the above is a wiki entry and it says she's 'full figured'. hell no, she's NOT 'FULL FIGURED'. she has a 'TRADITIONAL BUILD'


i've not read any of the books by alexander mccall smith


i've just watched the episodes on hbo. it's wonderful! oh sure, it's hokey all right. BUT it's fun and funny and chuck full o' women (of color!). it's full of women and their problems and issues and their abuse and their power. it's full of women of BEAUTY.

botswana............africa.
plains. bush.

hot

precious was married to a jazz musician. he abused her. he beat her so badly she lost a child she was carrying. she left. she's her OWN woman now. (oh, she still pines for him no doubt)

watch it. you'll feel good inside


hbo: the no. 1 ladies detective agency

and here's the imdb entry for and here's the bbc entry

oh p.s. anika noni rose (the second lead) is from BLOOMFIELD CT

jazz singer jill scott is the lead

this is sad

bible belt or no.

pssssssssssssst guess what? there ARE gay people EVEN IN OKLAHOMA


Lessons of Hate in the Bible Belt from Stuart Productions on Vimeo.

Lessons of Hate in the Bible Belt

THE best video i've seen all week

(ht: the agitator)

i've never heard of it or seen it

but if i do see it, i won't be purchasing it and in my most humble opinion, YOU shouldn't purchase it either

Rockstar Energy Drink's Assault on LGBT Rights and Autism

Filed by: Guest Blogger

April 23, 2009 9:30 AM

Editors' Note: Guest blogger Michael Jones is change.org's Gay Rights editor, and the Communications Director of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School. Prior to his life in media, Jones worked for the late Senator Paul Wellstone as a field organizer in Minnesota.

A few facts about Rockstar Energy Drink. It was co-founded by conservative radio host Michael Savage. It's current CEO is Russell Weiner, Michael Savage's son and a co-founder of the "Paul Revere Society" here in the States.

A few facts about Michael Savage. Better yet, here are a few comments directly from the mouth of Michael Savage:

• "You want me to tell you what makes me sick? When I see two puffy white males kissing each other, I want to puke. When I see two women kissing each other, on the lips, as lovers, I want to vomit."
• "When you hear "human rights," think only one thing: someone who wants to rape your son. And you'll get it just right. OK, you got it, right? When you hear "human rights," think only someone who wants to molest your son, and send you to jail if you defend him. Write that down, make a note of it."
• "...children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia, that's my position. They're raping our children's minds."....................

you're with us or against us flush

i hadn't heard much of what jabba the flush had to say about the somali pirate / us ship hostages episode.

but hearing now what he said, makes my skin crawl (ok, in all fairness, just THINKING about flush limburger makes me puke). a special shout out to shane murphy. i'm sorry you had to go through what you did not only when you were taken hostage, BUT what you were exposed to from jabba the flush. i extend my heartfelt thanks to you for speaking out. i know there is always hope when i read about someone like you mr murphy

if you're ever in the greater hartford area..................i know one heck of an irish pub

Freed pirate hostage reacts to Limbaugh’s racism

by Joe Byrne
Shane Murphy is a sailor trying to get his land-legs on home turf. Less than a week ago, Somali pirates took his ship’s captain hostage, and Murphy took over at the helm while a hostage-rescue team freed his captain. Murphy told his father that the crew used “brute force” to overpower the pirates, who were armed with AK-47 assault rifles. Three Somali men were killed in the rescue of the ship’s captain. On returning to America, Shane was disgusted by what some people think its okay to say on the radio. The second-in-command on the American merchant ship has come home to find that Rush Limbaugh has personally offended him with comments about “black teenagers” being killed in covert operations on “the high seas.”.......