"President McCain's Women's Clinic"

FLDS Children and their Brainwashed Mothers

This is video (the sync is off, so just listen, don't look at their mouths) of three of the mothers whose children were removed from their home (a.k.a. "The Ranch") and their lawyer. It saddens me so much, not only to know the abuse those kids suffered, but the blatant brainwashing these women have undergone. Their eyes are vacant, their voices meek, and their thoughts are not their own. They don't answer questions, they merely repeat over and over how they are "free" and their children are "free" and so on. It's disgusting on multiple levels. This other video reports that there is much evidence that many young girls were "spiritually married" to older men and then had children by them. There is speculation that no one is legally married to anyone so that wives and kids can be moved around, young girls are sexually available to men, and welfare checks can be received for the dozens of kids each technically single mother has. This is beyond fucked up.

Library Marketing

In these wacky consumerist and message-saturated times libraries, too, must compete for attention.

Wyoming Libraries has a pretty slick ad campaign which has some witty bumpersticker slogans but also includes a modified "mudflap" girl. I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, it is an image that has been modified and does not necessarily carry the misogynist overtones of the original image.

On the other hand, I immediately recoil at the sight of the image, even though it's modified, because the original is such a powerful one of the objectified female form.

Thoughts?

New Tina Fey project!

Yay! Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are starring in an upcoming comedy, Baby Mama. Watch the trailer and enjoy!

The most retarded thing ever (besides Paris Hilton's wanting to spawn)

A British teacher has been convicted of "religious hatred" in the Sudan because she apparently let her students name a teddy bear Mohammed. Yes, you heard me right. She goes to jail for 2 weeks because she allowed a toy to be named Mohammed, but get this --- any Tom, Dick or Harry Islamist-Dude can name HIMSELF after the prophet, but if a woman names a bear "Mo", well, throw her in jail, then deport her!

Geez. And you wonder why organized religion is waning in popularity and meaning...

I'll also have you note the Sudan is the same country where genocide has been happening for the past few years and yet, the powers that be there have time to have a trial and then throw a teacher in jail because of a teddy bear's name. Wow. Talk about your fucked up priorities!

Yay, Good Samaritans!

Good Samaritans really do exist! This story is so refreshing, especially after all the stories you hear about crime victims' screams and pleas for help being ignored by passerby. This restores my faith in humanity a little bit.

If only "reality" tv were more like reality

Women get the short end of the stick once again in the Catholic Church

To pay the millions of dollars for out-of-court settlements resulting from the actions of predatory priests, Catholic nuns are being evicted from their homes so that the Church can sell the buildings to raise the money needed.

Wow. Where do I even begin with how fucked up that is?

I know a lot of Catholics who are good decent people but I see this latest development as just one more reason to question the Church's relevancy. Maybe if the Pope gave up wearing Gucci and Prada, an old nun could stay in her home. These women did dedicate their lives to serving God after all...guess that doesn't matter if you're not a man.

Ignorance is bliss?

Wow --- the Iranian prez got an earful while visiting Columbia last night. An earful of laughter, that is. What a boob! Read some of his whacked-out statements:

• "For hundreds of years, we've lived in friendship and brotherhood with the people of Iraq. ... Our people are the freest people in the world. ... The freest women in the world are women in Iran."
• "In Iran, every family who is given a girl -- is given -- in every Iranian family who has a girl, they are 10 times happier than having a son. Women are respected more than men are. They are exempt from many responsibilities. Many of the legal responsibilities rest on the shoulders of men in our society because of the respect, culturally given, to women, to the future mothers." [Ed. note: Who apparently exist only to have babies, nothing more.]
• Oh, and my personal fave --- "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country." Check out this link for evidence against his statement.

Newsflash, ladies: "it doesn't matter how smart or award-winning you are, you still have to flaunt your body to get attention."

Kira Cochrane's depressing but true Guardian article.

I have subscribed to Vanity Fair for years, but over the past two or so, the misogyny has really reared its ugly head and the editor has dumbed it down to the point where when renewal time comes around, I won't be sending in my check.

Church of Mel

Mel Gibson, that is. He's decided to dump a huge chunk o' money into his church* out in Malibu. Oh, and "Female followers of Gibson's church must abide by a strict dress code, requiring them to wear veils over their hair and long skirts, with a ban on pants for women."

Guess he doesn't want anyone's "sugar tits" hanging out during services.

*Jesus Complex, anyone...?

Going places? Not if you're a woman.

Here's Ellen Goodman's piece on just how far women have not come this year. Um, when is the rest of the world going to realize it's the 21st century?! [via Feministing.]

Holy crap!

That's hot!

Time fo' some news

Wiccans finally get approval to have pentacles on their gravestones. Dubya doesn't mind sending them to die in Iraq, but he does mind if they rest in peace under the [peaceful] religious symbol of their choice.

Infant mortality rates in the Southeast, especially the Mississippi Delta, are on the rise. Perhaps the MS state legislature could worry about the health & quality of life of Delta citizens instead of trying to ban abortion? Oh, and NOT cutting Medicaid and CHIP services?

Finally, Boris Yeltsin died. That man sure could cut a rug!

Roller Derby!

Just got home from watching a TX Rollergirls bout. The Hotrod Honeys won! Shout out! Also, I'd like to give a shout out to Stef is Super for joining us at the derby and kudos on her spankin' hot new tattoo! I'm actually quite jealous.

Okay, I'm fulla Lonestar...ugh. Gonna go to bed.

Holy sh*t

I was out enjoying dinner with friends Wednesday night, so I did not watch this week's episode of America's Next Top Model. Come to find out (via Feministing) that this week's challenge was for the contestants to be "beautiful corpses" via a "CSI"-style photoshoot.

To echo many of the comments made on Feministing, WTF, Tyra?!

An open statement to Tyra Banks:

Trya, I know you're a ditzy but fun-loving showbiz-crazed gal, but for god's sake, what is wrong with you? It's one thing to herd this gaggle of naive model-wannabes through the hoops of your show; but to glorify violence against women is completely sick and utterly reprehensible.

I've watched all 7 "cycles" of your show, but will watch no more. That's it, it's over. I put up with your and the other judges' comments about the "fat" size 8 girls, comments about the ethnic attributes of some of the girls (see our banner), and the objectification of your willing contestants, all in the name of entertaining television; however, when you have 19- and 20-year old young women painted with bruises and fake blood, their eyes rolled back in their heads and their legs splayed, all in the name of selling fashion, you're sending a very powerful message about the disposability of not only the contestants, but women in general, to viewers.

I get it that the girls are competing (hence, the "knifed by a model" etc themes of the shoot). But I have to say murder is not sexy. Never has been, never will be. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Sincerely,

Tiny Robot