Another angle on the Bhutto affair

WaPo

The turning point to get Musharraf on board was a September trip by Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte to Islamabad. "He basically delivered a message to Musharraf that we would stand by him, but he needed a democratic facade on the government, and we thought Benazir was the right choice for that face," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and National Security Council staff member now at the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy.
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As part of the deal, Bhutto's party agreed not to protest against Musharraf's reelection in September to his third term. In return, Musharraf agreed to lift the corruption charges against Bhutto. But Bhutto sought one particular guarantee -- that Washington would ensure Musharraf followed through on free and fair elections producing a civilian government.

Rice, who became engaged in the final stages of brokering a deal, called Bhutto in Dubai and pledged that Washington would see the process through, according to Siegel. A week later, on Oct. 18, Bhutto returned.

Yes, what everyone needs - a democratic "facade."

Xenia Dormandy, former National Security Council expert on South Asia now at Harvard University's Belfer Center, said U.S. meddling is not to blame for Bhutto's death. "It is very clear the United States encouraged" an agreement, she said, "but U.S. policy is in no way responsible for what happened. I don't think we could have played it differently."

Yes, because when it comes to US involvement, it's all a great game.

The nature of joy in this joyous season

Thoughts on Joy

'Tis the season to be jolly, right? With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, we often forget to take time to enjoy. We are so busy with gifts and guests and galas, we overlook the essential spirit of the season.

How can we stay unruffled by the holiday chaos and truly celebrate this magical time of year? I offer these suggestions for making your transition into 2008 a joyous one:

Don't Wait, Be Happy: Deep in the subconscious, most people believe joy is something that must be attained or earned. Once you complete the next project, close the next deal, get through the holidays or "pull your life together," happiness will be the result. Your permanent happiness is waiting just around the next corner.

Consider instead: Joy is your birthright, your essential nature. Joy is ever-present. Joy is without beginning or end. The yogis teach that 'sat-cit-ananda,' or 'Being-Consciousness-Bliss' is the core nature of the Self. Bliss is not the result of success, wealth, or achieving your goals -- it is the very essence of who you are. It is available right here, right now, without restriction.

Something about this post really got to me. Something about joy being a birthright. I think this is the problem I have with most major religions: They don't treat joy as a birthright. Joy is something that can only be earned in this life and experienced in the next. My birthright, according to these religions, is as a miserable sinner, a "wretch" to quote an oft-quoted song. I reject wretchedness. I reject misery as the natural state of human beings. If we could only believe that our natural state is joy and that in that joy our duty is to help others to joy as well, our world would be a joyful place. Imagine.

Happy Holidays!!!

Whether you celebrate Christmas (the birth of the Son), Solstice (the birth of the Sun), Hogmanay, Kwanzaa, Diwali, Eid, Hannukah, Boxing Day, or just plain old Festivus, I wish you a joyous and peaceful new year.

As Catharine would say - Peace Out Baby!

Who's in Huckabee's camp? Women haters of course

Steven Hotze just threw a fundraiser ($4600 per couple please) for Hucklechuck. And who is Steve Hotze and what does he believe? Here's a start

Hotze was able to better articulate his views in 1986, when he was one of dozens of ministers, professionals and laypersons who signed the Coalition on Revival's Manifesto for the Christian Church. The coalition claims on its Web site to be a national network of religious leaders aligned in a mission "to help the Church rebuild civilization on the principles of the Bible so God's will may be done on earth as it is in heaven." They want all aspects of life -- government, science and education -- to adhere to fundamental biblical beliefs. These beliefs include the following:

• A wife may work outside the home only with her husband's consent

• "Biblical spanking" that results in "temporary or superficial bruises or welts" should not be considered a crime

• No doctor shall provide medical service on the Sabbath

• All disease and disability is caused by the sin of Adam and Eve

• Medical problems are frequently caused by personal sin

• "Increased longevity generally results from obedience to specific Biblical commands"

• Treatment of the "physical body" is not a doctor's highest priority

• Doctors have a priestly calling

• People receiving medical treatment are not immune from divine intervention or demonic forces

• Physicians should preach to their patients because salvation is the key to their health

• "Christians need better health to have more energy, tolerate more stress, get depressed less often, and be more creative than our non-Christian counterparts for the advancement of God's Kingdom."

All rightey then...

States Rights!! (when it's convenient only)

So today there were two stories about states being trampled by business interests. First, California was told by the EPA that they cannot set CO2 emissions standards because there is "no compelling reason." Second, New York was told that they can't pass a Passenger Bill Of Rights requiring airlines to provide food and water to stranded passengers.

So I guess all this bullshit about throwing the abortion decision "back to the states" which is the hue and cry of most conservatives is only valid when "back to the states" means "they'll rule the way we want them to."

But when business is hurt in any small way by states trying to stand up for their citizens, then out come the huge guns and the millions of dollars in court costs to FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT for the RIGHT of the corporations.

I'm getting discouraged again. What w/Cheney's bonfire of the office and who knows what evidence and then these rulings against the people over and over, perhaps there is nothing that will change this country's slide into an oligarchy after all.

Spears' mom: A book on Christian parenting??!! C'mon.

AP

Britney Spears' younger sister Jamie Lynn Spears has announced in OK! Magazine that she is pregnant. Meanwhile her mom Lynne Spears' book on Christian parenting, due in Spring 2008, has been indefinitely delayed. Us Weekly reports Jamie Lynn's father - Lynne's ex-husband Jamie - is "furious" that mother and daughter sold their story to OK! and "devastated" at the news that his youngest child is pregnant. Jamie Lynn supposedly got a $1 Million back-end deal for the interview.

You can't make this stuff up. She's got one daughter who's sixteen and about to be a parent (didn't go to a purity ball or get her abstinence-only education I guess); and another daughter being watched by child protective services. And this paragon of parenting is going to write a book to tell how to parent? As a Christian!??!?! As I said, the jokes write themselves.

Trading in Sophie and Dominic

Carla appears to be considering it, but I doubt that she'll be able to bring them back in the cargo bin

I have succumbed to the "elfing"

Yes, kids, I got sucked in. It's just a little too funny.

Here you go

Have you heard this one? A Jew, a Muslim and some Christians get on a train...

A Muslim man jumped to the aid of three Jewish subway riders after they were attacked by a group of young people who objected to one of the Jews saying "Happy Hanukkah," a spokeswoman for the three said Wednesday.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating Friday's incident on the Q train.

Friday's altercation on the Q train began when somebody yelled out "Merry Christmas," to which rider Walter Adler responded, "Happy Hanukkah," said Toba Hellerstein.

"Almost immediately, you see the look in this guy's face like I've called his mother something," Adler told CNN affiliate WABC.

Two women who were with a group of 10 rowdy people then began to verbally assault Adler's companions with anti-Semitic language, Hellerstein said.

One member of the group allegedly yelled, "Oh, Hanukkah. That's the day that the Jews killed Jesus," she said.

When Adler tried to intercede, a male member of the group punched him, she said.

Another passenger, Hassan Askari -- a Muslim student from Bangladesh -- came to Adler's aid, and the group began physically and verbally assaulting him, Hellerstein said.

Another in the charming series of incidents in which religious beliefs unite us all? Umm, maybe not. God, protect me from your followers. Particularly those who need to "protect you."

The beauty of belief?

When Hitchens or Dawson carry on about the dangers of religion and irrational beliefs, someone always pipes up about how much beauty and good are owed to religious beliefs. I have a feeling if we pulled out the old cosmic balance and placed the good done through religious beliefs on one side and the evils on the other, the evil side would drag much further toward the center of the earth. Here via The Guardian is some of what we have to thank religious beliefs for in 2007:

Evangelical pastors are helping to create a terrible new campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered while the preachers make money out of the fear of their parents and their communities...

Almost everyone goes to church here. Driving through the town of Esit Eket, the rust-streaked signs, tarpaulins hung between trees and posters on boulders, advertise a church for every third or fourth house along the road. Such names as New Testament Assembly, Church of God Mission, Mount Zion Gospel, Glory of God, Brotherhood of the Cross, Redeemed, Apostalistic. Behind the smartly painted doors pastors make a living by 'deliverances' - exorcisms - for people beset by witchcraft, something seen to cause anything from divorce, disease, accidents or job losses. With so many churches it's a competitive market, but by local standards a lucrative one.

But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as [Christian] preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.

Some parents scrape together sums needed to pay for a deliverance - sometimes as much as three or four months' salary for the average working man - although the pastor will explain that the witch might return and a second deliverance will be needed. Even if the parent wants to keep the child, their neighbours may attack it in the street.

This is not just a few cases. This is becoming commonplace.

When you have beliefs without tests, without reason, anyone can put forth any f(**#ed up wacky bullshit idea, can't they? If I believe your left eyebrow is to blame for my divorce, I may feed the need to burn it off with this torch, 'kay? Is that a valid belief? I've been thinking a lot about beliefs in light of the whole Mormon-Huckabee-my-god-beliefs-are-better-than-your-god-beliefs brouhaha. Here's a little more to illustrate the danger of irrational beliefs:

Mary Sudnad, 10, grimaces as her hair is pulled into corn rows by Agnes, 11, but the scalp just above her forehead is bald and blistered. Mary tells her story fast, in staccato, staring fixedly at the ground.

'My youngest brother died. The pastor told my mother it was because I was a witch. Three men came to my house. I didn't know these men. My mother left the house. Left these men. They beat me.' She pushes her fists under her chin to show how her father lay, stretched out on his stomach on the floor of their hut, watching. After the beating there was a trip to the church for 'a deliverance'.

A day later there was a walk in the bush with her mother. They picked poisonous 'asiri' berries that were made into a draught and forced down Mary's throat. If that didn't kill her, her mother warned her, then it would be a barbed-wire hanging. Finally her mother threw boiling water and caustic soda over her head and body, and her father dumped his screaming daughter in a field. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she stayed near the house for a long time before finally slinking off into the bush. Mary was seven.

What more is there to say?

More creed vs creed in the news

Hucklechuck apparently disparaged Romney's religion by asking "innocently" something like "isn't Mormonism the religion that thinks that Jesus and Satan are brothers?"

First of all, why are we arguing creeds 300 years after the enlightenment? I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU BELIEVE ABOUT THE FORELIFE and AFTERLIFE. I care what you believe about life here on earth. I care about what you believe about how we all should work together for the betterment of all (or don't believe that in case you're a "bootstraps" republican). That this is the state of American politics in the 21st century helps me understand why we're a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. We have seen our highest days of empire and are now on a long, slow decline.

Secondly, isn't this a little like me asking "Southern Baptists, aren't those the people who believe women should be barefoot, pregnant and under the lead of their husbands at all times?" Again, I don't care what you believe for your personal life. I care what you believe about our communal life on earth. If you want to be the spiritual "head" of your family (or the spiritual "tail" for that matter), have at it. But don't come to me with that idea as a basis for CIVIL LAW.

And speaking of Hucklechuck's little signing statement on the "submission of women", how about we really talk about how the religious right picks and chooses bible verses. For example, that little gem comes from

Ephesians 5:22-24: "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife...wives should submit to their husbands in everything." (NIV)

I find it interesting that the rabid-righters ignore the equally biblical

Galatians 3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (NIV)

Now why would that be? Why one over the other as being touted in a national newspaper ad signed by almost 200 "religious leaders"? Anyone? Does something come to mind? Oh, yeah, right, the ABSOLUTE NEED to be the big men on campus by ensuring that women are to be lower on the totem pole than men. The fear of their not being in control of their women is so obvious. In fact there are many bible verses that speak to the equality of women, especially in the New Testament

Romans 16:3: Paul refers to Priscilla as another of his "fellow workers in Christ Jesus" (NIV) Other translations refer to her as a "co-worker". But other translations attempt to downgrade her status by calling her a "helper". The original Greek word is "synergoi", which literally means "fellow worker" or "colleague."

Get that "colleague" not helper. But notice how "some translations" translate the word as "helper." Interesting this "translation" business, huh? Now anyone who's worked in almost any setting understands the difference between a "colleague" and a "helper." Basically, you are NOT in charge of your colleagues. You cannot hire them nor fire them nor direct their work assignments. However, the opposite is true of a "helper." So why is it that the theocrats are so positively stuck on downgrading the status of women? Why do they only sign on to those verses that fit their narrow worldview? Is it because that's the only way they can get someone to do what they say? she asked innocently?

I heart Barbara Ehrenreich

The Nation

Disney likes to think of the Princesses as role models, but what a sorry bunch of wusses they are. Typically, they spend much of their time in captivity or a coma, waking up only when a Prince comes along and kisses them. The most striking exception is Mulan, who dresses as a boy to fight in the army, but--like the other Princess of color, Pocahontas--she lacks full Princess status and does not warrant a line of tiaras and gowns. Otherwise the Princesses have no ambitions and no marketable skills, although both Snow White and Cinderella are good at housecleaning...

Seen from the witchy end of the female life cycle, the Princesses exert their pull through a dark and undeniable eroticism. They're sexy little wenches, for one thing. Snow White has gotten slimmer and bustier over the years; Ariel wears nothing but a bikini top (though, admittedly, she is half fish.) ...

It may be old-fashioned to say so, but sex--and especially some middle-aged man's twisted version thereof--doesn't belong in the pre-K playroom. Children are going to discover it soon enough, but they're got to do so on their own.

I think this is one (of the many) issues I have w/the princesses. Aside from my favorite "you can't grow up and be a princess (and you wouldn't want to)", I guess the heart of my discomfort stems from the idea that these damn "role models" are just too tart-y. Can maybe ONE of them wear pants or shorts? Do they ALL have to have wasp-waists, big boobs and other male-fantasy body parts? We don't need role models who do more teaching about how a young woman's role is to be beautiful; BritneyLindsayMaryKate have done more than enough of that. We need role models to teach young women (and young men) to believe in themselves; to know what's important to them; to follow their instincts; to find joy in the world; and to do as much as they can to help others. Disney needs to get Sleeping Beauty into social services; Snow White into med school; and Belle into a post-doc program.

And lest you think this is just a bunch of kid stuff, recall that Disney has recently announced the arrival of "princess-inspired" wedding gowns. These princess ideas can follow one all the way to "adult"hood if they're not challenged at least a little.

Huckabee: Women SUBMIT!!!

Mike Hucklechuck was a signatory to a full-page ad which had a little to say about what is "right."Baptist Press from Aug '98

The evangelical leaders' USA Today ad states to the Southern Baptist Convention:
"You are right because you recognized that the family was God's idea, not man's, and that marriage is a covenant between one man and one woman for a lifetime.
"You are right because you called husbands to sacrificially love and lead their wives.
"You are right because you called wives to graciously submit to their husband's sacrificial leadership.
"You are right because you affirmed that the husband and wife are of equal worth before God.
"You are right because you reminded us that children are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.
"More importantly, you are right because your statement is based on biblical truth."

I don't need no stinkin' sacrificial leadership, thanks all the same Huckleberry. How about you arrange your marriage your way, and leave the rest of us the hell out of the hell you have in mind in marriage for any woman of intelligence and opinion.

Submission is not about "equals". Submission means someone is deciding and someone else is forced to go along. Jeebus, you really don't quite understand what "equal" means, do you? I can't wait until you try to legislate your perfect vision into US Civil Law. What's that saying about hell hath no fury....?

Christian kills other Christians - FRC blames "secularists"

ThinkProgress

In its Action Update today, the Family Research Council (FRC) partially cast blame for the tragic shooting at a megachurch in Colorado yesterday on “the secular media.” In the e-mail, which was sent under the name of FRC Action President Tony Perkins, the group says it’s “hard not to draw a line between” the shooting and “hostility” by “some in the secular media toward Christians”:

It is hard not to draw a line between the hostility that is being fomented in our culture from some in the secular media toward Christians and evangelicals in particular and the acts of violence that took place in Colorado yesterday. But I will say no more for now other than that our friends at New Life Church and YWAM are in our thoughts and prayers.

Crooks and Liars

When Perkins can’t explain why this sick young man turned against his church and why God spared some people, but allowed others to be slaughtered, he sloughs it off on “evil secularists.” Tony, do you think that the fact this kid was kicked out of the missionary school he shot up had anything to do with it? Isn’t it possible that this rejection may have driven him to seek revenge? The secular media didn’t reject this young man, nor did it give him access to the gun. Mr. Perkins, you might want to look at the real root causes of this tragedy rather than blaming secularists.

Now realize that the shooter in this case came from an extremely religious Christian family. He'd been home-schooled along w/his brother who now attends Oral Roberts. This doesn't sound like a den of secularism to me. Sounds like rabid-righters have just as many issues with mental illness in their families as does the rest of the population. These crimes always spark the "gun debate" but rarely the "mental health" debate wherein we question the decisions of our states and federal government at not treating mental illness on parity with illness in our other organs. Kidney problems, step right up. Brain problems, shhhh, don't talk about it, go away, don't seek treatment and if you do, it's not covered.

But Tony Perkins, spare us the ooga-booga-secular-boogeyman fairy tales. This was a kid from a very Christian household. You scare-monger.

Making music

Catharine made a little recording you might like to hear ;*).

It's here

Another Republican Pedophile

OC Register

a former aide to an Orange County congressman stood between his two lawyers Wednesday and admitted molesting two boys...

Nielsen decided to plead guilty to molesting both boys – and accept a three-year prison sentence – rather than risk convictions during a second trial. He would have faced a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison had he been convicted on all counts.

Now he must serve at least 80 percent of the three-year term, and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life...

Besides a stint as a legislative aide for Rohrabacher, Nielsen also worked on an Assembly campaign of Scott Baugh, now the Republican Party chairman in Orange County,...

Is there something about the GOP's love of authoritarianism and domination that causes them to seek out the young and weak and dependent for sex? Is it their overwhelming desire to be listened to as "anointed leaders", "head", and all those other male-centric terms that doesn't allow them to find happiness in relationships with equals? Their arrests and charges in cases with straight or gay prostitutes (who have to do what you tell them because you've paid them) and children (who have to do what you tell them because they're vulnerable) continue. This blog alone has several instances of just such sickening encounters. Granted, it happens to Dems too:

A member of U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell's staff has been charged in federal court after a sting operation in which he allegedly solicited sex from what he thought was a 13-year-old boy.

James Michael McHaney, 28, was charged Saturday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., with using a computer to arrange a sexual encounter with an informant posing as a boy, according to court records.

McHaney was arrested Friday afternoon by the FBI after he allegedly told an FBI witness he was ready to meet. He later asked for the boy's photo.

But, by far, the majority of cases seem to be with those on the right.

If the GOP and other rabid-righters could ever admit that men and women are equals and that men have no god-given right to take on the "headship" over any woman, maybe they'd find peace in their lives and stop going after men in toilets, boys in dependent positions, and women in need of cash.

McDonald's force feeds school kids

McDonald’s is taking in-school marketing to a new low.

Last week, students in Seminole County, Florida received their report cards in envelopes adorned with Ronald McDonald promising a free Happy Meal to students with good grades, behavior, or attendance. Targeting children directly with the message that doing well in school should be rewarded by a Happy Meal – which can contain as many as 710 calories, 28 grams of fat, or 35 grams of sugar – undermines parents’ efforts to encourage healthy eating.

The promotion highlights McDonald’s duplicity when it comes to marketing to children. The company has received kudos for their pledge to stop advertising in elementary schools, but this promotion violates that pledge. It is targeted to children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Please take a moment to tell McDonald’s Global Chief Marketing Officer Mary Dillon to stop advertising on report cards.

Here

Hey Cheney, Stick It

Politico

Vice President Cheney warned in an interview Wednesday that a premature withdrawal from Iraq would invite “further attacks” against the United States and said he has been surprised by the weakness of the Democratic Congress.

Most striking were his virtually taunting remarks of two men he described as friends from his own days in the House: Democratic Reps. John Dingell (Mich.) and John P. Murtha (Pa.).

In a 40-minute interview with Politico, he scoffed at the idea of two men who spent years accruing power showing so much deference to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in the big spending and energy debates of the year.

Murtha “and the other senior leaders … march to the tune of Nancy Pelosi to an extent I had not seen, frankly, with any previous speaker,” Cheney said. “I’m trying to think how to say all of this in a gentlemanly fashion, but [in] the Congress I served in, that wouldn’t have happened.”

But his implication was clear: When asked if these men had lost their spines, he responded, “They are not carrying the big sticks I would have expected.”

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), who as Democratic Caucus Chair is the party’s fourth-ranking House leader, replied: “Some of us were surprised that the president didn’t have a bigger stick when he could have stood up to Dick Cheney.”

Hey Dick, bet my stick's bigger than your stick. Your stick got all shriveled up at the thought of going to Viet Nam, right? My stick sustained and gave birth to a life. I guess when you can't give life, you try to make yourself feel better about your pathetic stick by taking life, huh? And then you sit in your cushy chair in your cushy office and worry about the size of your opponents sticks and premature withdrawal. Dick, seriously, you need to get laid.

More fallout from "Abstinence Only"

AP

In a troubling reversal, the nation's teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials and reviving the bitter debate about abstinence-only sex education...

However, some experts said they have been expecting a jump. They blamed it on increased federal funding for abstinence-only health education that doesn't teach teens how to use condoms and other contraception...

The new report offers a state-by-state breakdown of birth rates overall. Many of those with the highest birth rates teach abstinence instead of comprehensive sex education, according to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America...

The CDC also reported that births to unwed mothers reached an all-time high in 2006, but that is part of a continuing upward trend and was expected.

Health officials cautioned that the rise in teen births is not the chief cause of births to unwed mothers, however. Women in their 20s and 30s represent the largest proportion, with teens accounting for fewer than a quarter, said Stephanie Ventura, head of the CDC's reproductive statistics branch.

STOP THE INSANITY. Teach children about sex. Talk to children about sex. Give them information about this very big part of human development and human existence. Stop pretending it's not going to happen if you "scare" them about it. Teens are going to have sex; particularly older teens. EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE.

And what's with this counting of births to "unwed" mothers? Who gives a shit if the mother is wed or unwed? How about knowing the financial status of the mothers? That is a MUCH BIGGER PREDICTOR of the child's overall well being than if the mom just happens to have roped a child-abuser or wife-beater into the magical state of marriage. Why don't we publish stats on that? Income level? Education level? Availability of a pension? Don't tell me whether or not she's "wed".

The fact that we still talk about "teen moms" and "unwed moms" in the same breath shows how ingrained our misinformation is about what's important in a child's life. Having a "teen mom" is probably highly correlated to having a harder life. Having an unwed mom, much less so. If I were an infant, I'd much rather be born to an unwed 30-something, wealthy, educated mother than a teen mother of almost any income-level. Teen moms are not even done developing their own brains, let alone being responsible for someone else's.

Women should be seen and not heard

Live Science

In the land of romance, ladies might do well to shut their traps, while men can continue to blab.

That's the message of new research revealing that both men and women judge harshly couples in which the guy is a timid talker and the gal dominates conversations and shows assertiveness.

The scientists suggest gender stereotypes are to blame for study participants' negative views of couples breaking the mold.

"We reasoned because men are expected to be in a position of power over women, couples in which the woman is verbally dominating the man would be rated more harshly than couples that adhere to the traditional role," said lead author Jennifer Sellers, assistant professor of psychology at Green Mountain College in Vermont...

Both men and women were more critical of the couple when the female partner was verbally assertive. They also viewed the submissive men as less competent than their loquacious counterparts.

But when the roles switched and women bowed out of talking while men stood up to the plate, participants reported liking the couple, and they gave high competence scores to the men...

"We have these gender stereotypes where we expect men to be dominant and assertive," Sellers told LiveScience. "And if they're not out there speaking and taking charge of situations they're accused of not being a man."

It's such a shame that we're still here in 2007. Men AND women view videos of women talking more and interpret the women as bitchez. Men AND women view videos of men talking less and interpret the men as wusses. In 2007. Men AND women. Walking around swallowing and regurgitating the tripe we've been fed for generations. No concern for individuals, just stereotypes. Just what "he should say" or "she should do". Comparing every single person we meet to some theoretical version of "normal" we carry around in our heads. Men: assertive. Women: submissive (and beautiful). Boys: rowdy. Girls: sweet. People over 30: married. Couples: with 2 children.

There is no SHOULD. There is only IS. Somen women talk a lot. Some men like that. Some men don't. Some men talk a lot. Some women like that. Some women don't. Some women are quiet. Some men like that. Some men don't. Some men are quiet. Some women like that. Some women don't. GET IT?????

Is France a Country?

Is our children learning?



OMFG - the level of idiocy that is alive and well in our country - with no shame or attempt at betterment - is depressing. Can this really be true or is it just staged for a laugh? Even if it's the latter it's depressing in a different way. That we need to be "entertained" by yet another dumb blonde woman. Yes, we haven't had enough of those over the past 50 years. We need to see and laugh at it again. Ho ho ho. So freakin' funny.

Chew on this Larry Summers

Business Week

In a first for the prestigious Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology for U.S. high school students, girls walked away with top honors in both the individual and team categories.

The individual grand prize of a $100,000 scholarship went to Isha Jain, a senior at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa., for research into bone growth. Results of the nine-year-old competition were announced on Dec. 3. As winners of the team grand prize, Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Harinoff, seniors at Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, N.Y., will split a $100,000 scholarship awarded for their research on tuberculosis.

Yes, Larry, that's GRRRRLS winning a Math, Science & Tech competition. Did I mention PUBLIC-SCHOOL-EDUCATED GRRRRLS?!?!?!

Women lag far behind men in professional math, science, and computer fields, an issue that became the subject of renewed debate in 2005 when then Harvard President Lawrence Summers suggested the lack of top female scientists may stem in part from biological differences between men and women. Jain vehemently disagrees, but acknowledges with some annoyance that "the guy-to-girl ratio in math and science competitions is absolutely ridiculous. It's usually seven or eight guys to one girl." The results of this year's Siemens Competition may signify that more girls are "finally stepping up to the plate and are more than capable," Jain says. "And I'm proud to be a part of that."

Perhaps Larry, the lack of women in the sciences is due more to the societal pressure (see Dora posting below) for girls to be beautiful and good, but not to be pushy, smart, dirty, curious, or anything remotely "boy-like". Walk down the aisles at the local ToysRUs, Larry. See if you can spot which are the "girl" aisles and which are the "boy" aisles. Go ahead, try it. Bet you can. Bet you can see the pink and purple from 100 yards. Bet you can spot the blue and red and gray from the same distance. And what's in the pink/purple aisle? Baby dolls, irons, phones, make-up, tiaras, washer/dryers. And what's in the red/blue/gray aisle? Microscopes, blocks, gears, motors, model airplanes.

Hmmmm. I DO wonder why girls don't do well in the sciences. What could it be?!?!?!?

Oh goody, Dora gets a makeover

'Cause she was like WAY TOO BOY-ISH, what with the tools in her backpack and lack of attention to eye-liner.

Whew, I can rest now, because Dora has finally been princessified. How wonderful. Now Catharine can have a proper lingerie-wearing role model to help her be the perfect eye-candy vs. just being a rag-tag little girl wanting to explore and get dirty and yucky stuff like that.

ARGGHH!!!!

From here

That damn co-operation - fixing things again

In honor of yesterday's post on the choice between competing and co-operating, The Guardian has a little ray of light on the side of co-operation:

Europe is considering plans to spend more than £5bn on a string of giant solar power stations along the Mediterranean desert shores of northern Africa and the Middle East.

More than a hundred of the generators, each fitted with thousands of huge mirrors, would generate electricity to be transmitted by undersea cable to Europe and then distributed across the continent to European Union member nations, including Britain.

Billions of watts of power could be generated this way, enough to provide Europe with a sixth of its electricity needs and to allow it to make significant cuts in its carbon emissions. At the same time, the stations would be used as desalination plants to provide desert countries with desperately needed supplies of fresh water.

Last week Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan presented details of the scheme - named Desertec - to the European Parliament. 'Countries with deserts, countries with high energy demand, and countries with technology competence must co-operate,' he told MEPs.

The project has been developed by the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Corporation and is supported by engineers and politicians in Europe as well as Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Jordan and other nations in the Middle East and Africa.

Now that's I what I call co-operation. If only we could get the government into the business of incenting co-operation and disincenting competition - what a world.

Oil Barrels and Gun Barrels

I admit this one has get me very low. It seems humans will always look for ways to have the few hold the power and money and the many to be beholden to the few. From Naomi Klein at The Nation via Common Dreams:

Anyone tired of lousy news from the markets should talk to Douglas Lloyd, director of Venture Business Research, a company that tracks trends in venture capitalism. “I expect investment activity in this sector to remain buoyant,” he said recently. His bouncy mood was inspired by the money gushing into private security and defense companies. He added, “I also see this as a more attractive sector, as many do, than clean energy.”

Got that? If you are looking for a sure bet in a new growth market, sell solar, buy surveillance; forget wind, buy weapons...

So why is “homeland security,” not green energy, the hot new sector? Perhaps because there are two distinct business models that can respond to our climate and energy crisis. We can develop policies and technologies to get us off this disastrous course. Or we can develop policies and technologies to protect us from those we have enraged through resource wars and displaced through climate change, while simultaneously shielding ourselves from the worst of both war and weather. (The ultimate expression of this second option is Hummer’s new TV ads: the gas-guzzler is seen carrying its cargo to safety in various disaster zones, followed by the slogan “HOPE: Hummer Owners Prepared for Emergencies.” It’s a bit like the Marlboro man doing grief counseling in a cancer ward.) In short, we can choose to fix, or we can choose to fortress. Environmental activists and scientists have been yelling for the fix. The homeland security sector, on the other hand, believes the future lies in fortresses.

The big money needs to be in "fortress building" rather than in shared progress in order to make money. That is a damning assessment of capitalism if I've ever heard one.

Maybe the issue is that we're a nation of fearful people, many many of whom were not loved growing up but taught to "suck it up", "take a punch", "don't cry", "don't need", "grow up", and "be a man". Fearful parents breed fearful children.

Maybe the next generations, being "coddled" as many see them to be (i.e., hugged and told that they are loved), might be less resentful, less angry?

Maybe if we actually educate kids on how to think critically, how to reject "conventional (commercial) wisdom", we might do better in the future?

I don't know, but I do know that profts before principle is the way to ruin. The market is a beast that only cares for itself. It has no compassion. It has no sense of humanity or community. It celebrates disaster (GDP goes up) and disease (GDP goes up). If we don't wake up and get it under control, it will be the death of the Enlightenment in the US and the rest of the world and we will be plunged back into brute-strength, bloody feudalism. Not that that is a long ride from here.