Da Vinci Code: Let's Talk About Sex

I haven't seen the Da Vinci Code yet and, despite reviews, it seemed millions throughout the world flocked to see it anyway. I still think I should read the book first so I will probably dig my copy out and wait for the movie to come on DVD (gotta get some use out of my Netflix account). I saw some protesters outside the theater near my house during the opening weekend. I'm still not sure what the aversion is to this "work of fiction." Even if it were true, so what if Jesus was married? So what if he was married to Mary Magdalene? So what if he had children? Why is it so important for him to have been single and, allegedly, celibate? Clearly he was sent to earth as a man. Why would he not live as a man who, because he is the son of God, lives to set an example? Why would that example not include being married? I'll tell you why. Conflict over sex is at the base of the three Abrahamic religions. There is an obsession with it.

It's all about the sex.

And God.

But mostly, it's the sex.

"A central theme of the book is a question about whether Jesus was indeed sexual and whether there was indeed the possibility that Jesus had a relationship with Mary Magdalene and fathered a child," Haffner said.

"Certainly in Jesus' humanity we can expect that Jesus was a sexual person," because all humans are sexual beings, she said. "That doesn't mean that we necessarily express our sexuality with different people."

The idea of Jesus being sexual -- having sexual thoughts, feelings, urges, or (God forbid!) actually having sex with his wife -- really freaks a lot of people out.

Why?

If we are to believe, as most Christians do, that Jesus was both fully divine and fully human, then by definition it means that Jesus also was fully sexual.

So why the collective flip out?

"In the Christian tradition, we have a religion that's based on a virgin birth that has followed an immaculate conception with a celibate hero God," Haffner said.

Well, there's that.

"There is built into the story an erotophobic emphasis. But that came later," she said. "For example, the immaculate conception idea is [from the] third century. It's not in the original story and it's not scriptural. ... We only tell part of the story. What's happened is that because of people's own fears of talking about sexuality, that erotophobia gets carried forward."

If Jesus could feel all that humans do -- joy, love, sorrow, anger, fear, pain -- why would he not also feel sexual? That isn't sinful.

It's just human.

And it doesn't mean that he had to have sex to be sexual.

But what if Jesus did?

How, exactly, would that threaten the very foundations of the Christian faith? A faith that is, if I'm not mistaken, based on the fact that Jesus came to Earth and sacrificed his sinless human life on the cross to redeem the rest of humanity, so that by faith, through grace, we all could be saved.

A faith that is not, unless I'm overlooking something, based on the idea that Jesus was a celibate man who neither married nor fathered children.[...]

I am a menacing little thing when I get into conversations about religion with friends and acquaintances. My key question, even before The Davinci Code, is always: what if you learned tomorrow that there was no trinity and that Jesus was just a man? What if he was a man, albeit an enlightened man like Buddha and Mohammad, who'd found a perfect and peaceful way of living who was able to show people a better and compassionate way? Do you stop trying to be a good person? Do you stop trying to follow the example of both the biblical and historical Jesus?

Naturally I cannot remember where I heard someone say that religion was basically people's way of coping with the prospect/fear of death. Indeed, most of the thumpingest people I've met are far more fixated on the afterlife than they are on living in the present. You've got suicide bombers in Islam martyring themselves with the hope of getting multiple virgins in heaven (btw, what do female suicide bombers get?). But what about behavior here on earth? Too many fundamentalists, of many faiths and denominations, do not seem to address that at all and their narrow interpretation of religious texts seems to promote and incite behavior that is to the contrary of what their lead prophets taught.

I don't have a problem with the prospect of Jesus being "just a man." One of my college theology teachers, a Jesuit priest, told our dumbstruck class that since Jesus was a man, he had erections. Now, that is totally something I'd never thought about but I will say that hearing a professor say it so matter of factly has been one of the reasons why I haven't been so attached to the "magic" of the bible. I have no problem viewing Jesus as a man because he was a great man. Whether he is seated at the right hand of the father really doesn't matter to me as his mission, I thought, was to teach us how to live here on earth. I cannot say that I fear dying and not being accepted into whatever heaven is. I cannot say that I fear going to "hell" because I don't believe in literal interpretations of the bible or that the only way to salvation is through having narrow, fundamentalist Christian views.

This movie has brought out the worst in some of those who profess to be the best Christian soldiers. I am amazed at how angry and afraid it seems to have made people. I would hope that it would be a challenge to all to study not only the biblical Jesus but the historical, walked on this earth, Jesus. Perhaps some of the things documented in the bible might seem less plausible but it should give people pause to think about what being a Christian really means and how they can live their lives, as mere men and women, the way Jesus would have.

(hat tip Paul W.)

So This Is Democracy

This site isn't updated nearly as much as it used to be nor as much as I'd like it to be. With our reporters being in so much danger, it's hard to get inside information. Baghdad Burning gives an insider's look into life in Baghdad. This time the update is about a soccer fan being intimidated by some of al Sadr's goons. It's sad. This isn't what we promised the Iraqi people.

As it turns out, Muqtada has a fatwa against football (soccer). I downloaded it and this is a translation of what he says when someone asks him for a fatwa on football and the World Cup:

"In reality, my father's position on this topic isn't deficient... Not only my father but Sharia also prohibits such activities which keep the followers too occupied for worshiping, keep people from remembering [to worship]. Habeebi, the West created things that keep us from completing ourselves (perfection). What did they make us do? Run after a ball, habeebi… What does that mean? A man, this large and this tall, Muslim- running after a ball? Habeebi, this ‘goal’ as it is called… if you want to run, run for a noble goal. Follow the noble goals which complete you and not the ones that demean you. Run after a goal, put it in your mind and everyone follows their own path to the goal to satisfy God. That is one thing. The second thing, which is more important, we find that the West and especially Israel, habeebi the Jews, did you see them playing soccer? Did you see them playing games like Arabs play? They let us keep busy with soccer and other things and they've left it. Have you heard that the Israeli team, curse them, got the World Cup? Or even America? Only other games... They've kept us occuppied with them- singing, and soccer, and smoking, stuff like that, satellites used for things which are blasphemous while they occuppy themselves with science etc. Why habeebi? Are they better than us- no we're better than them."

Important note: Islamic Sharia does not prohibit soccer/football or sports- it’s only prohibited by the version of Sharia in Muqtada’s dark little head. I wonder what he thinks of tennis, swimming and yoga…

I listened to the fatwa, with him getting emotional about playing football, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Foreign occupation and being a part of a puppet government- those things are ok. Football, however, will be the end of civilization as we know it, according to Muqtada. It’s amusing- they look nothing alike- yet he reminds me so much of Bush. He can barely string two sentences together properly and yet, millions of people consider his word law. So when Bush raves about the new ‘fledgling Iraqi government’ ‘freely elected’ into power, you can take a look at Muqtada and see one of the fledglings. He is currently one of the most powerful men in the country for his followers.

So this is democracy. This is one of the great minds of Bush’s democratic Iraq.

When her blog isn't updated for a long time, I always wonder if something has happened to her. The updates may be few and far between but they still give us a peek into the mess we've made in Iraq.

We Can't Win Like This

This is the problem. We've never been able to identify the enemy. We went into Iraq under false pretenses and haven't ever had a clear view of whom we were fighting. I am certain that women in labor are not the enemy.

Two Iraqi women were shot to death north of Baghdad after coalition forces fired on a vehicle that failed to stop at an observation post, the U.S. military said Wednesday. Iraqi police and relatives said one of the women was about to give birth.

A car entered a clearly marked prohibited area near coalition troops at an observation post but failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory warnings, the U.S. military said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press.

"Shots were fired to disable the vehicle," the statement said. "Coalition forces later received reports from Iraqi police that two women had died from gunshot wounds ... and one of the females may have been pregnant."

The statement said the incident was being investigated.

"The loss of life is regrettable and coalition forces go to great lengths to prevent them," the military said.

The statement was issued after Iraqi police said a pregnant woman and her cousin were killed by American troops while driving to a maternity hospital in Samarra, a predominantly Sunni city 60 miles north of Baghdad.

The shooting deaths occurred in the wake of an investigation into allegations that U.S. Marines killed unarmed civilians in the western city of Haditha.

AP Television News footage showed the women's bodies wrapped in sheets and lying on stretchers outside the Samarra General Hospital, while residents pointed to bullet holes on the windshield of a car and a pool of blood on the seat.

"I was with the victims, one of them was pregnant and about to give birth," said a woman who did not give her name but said she was a relative of the victims.

But we kill them anyway.

Saving Her The Trouble

This Malaysian man "Bobbitted" himself to prove his faithfulness to his wife. In Thailand, scorned women call it feeding the ducks (scroll to bottom of the page).


Technorati Tags: feeding the ducks

Ward, Ward, Ward

Who is paying this man and why is this so important to him?

As he did in California in 1996 and in Washington state in 1998, California businessman Ward Connerly has led a successful campaign to place an anti-affirmative-action measure on Michigan’s November ballot.

The misleadingly named Michigan Civil Rights Initiative would amend the state’s constitution to end affirmative action programs for women and people of color in public employment, education and contracting. Many feel it’s also meant to subvert a 2003 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allowed race to remain a factor in admissions at the University of Michigan.

Opponents of the initiative believe it will roll back advances women and minorities have made in the state, and fail to correct still-glaring inequities. For example, Michigan is tied with Alabama for having the second-worst gender pay gap in America. In higher education, the state’s women earn fewer professional and doctorate degrees than the national women’s average.

A recent report by University of Michigan researcher Susan W. Kaufmann outlined the types of women’s programs that could be threatened should the ballot initiative pass. Those include:

• Gender-specific screening programs for breast and cervical cancer, and public-health campaigns to promote breastfeeding and prenatal smoking cessation.
  
• Apprenticeship, education and training programs for nontraditional occupations.
  
• Outreach programs to help women and minorities compete for government contracts.
  
• Recruitment and support programs for women interested in pursuing careers in the skilled trades.
  

In the aftermath of California’s Proposition 209, studies show that women have been underrepresented in the state’s skilled trades, graduate schools and college faculties. Gyöngy Laky, a professor at the University of California, Davis, has derisively called 209 “an effective affirmative action program for white men.”

They Killed His Cousin

I could almost laugh but this is just so freakin' ridiculous. The United States Marines shot the Iraqi Ambassador's cousin - in cold blood. Does anyone else see a problem with this? Yes, of course the murder of his cousin. But, I'm talking about having someone as an ambassador who's had a personal loss at the hands of the US Marines serving as Ambassador. It's not his fault but if it were me, I'd be a wee bit salty with the Marines and the United States. I'm not sure I'd be able to serve in that capacity objectively. I'm just saying ...

BLITZER: But even months before the incident in November, you lost a cousin at Haditha in a separate battle involving United States Marines.

SUMAIDAIE: Well, that was not a battle at all. Marines were doing house-to-house searches, and they went into the house of my cousin. He opened the door for them.

His mother, his siblings were there. He led them into the bedroom of his father. And there he was shot.

BLITZER: Who shot him?

SUMAIDAIE: A member of the Marines.

BLITZER: Why did they shoot him?

SUMAIDAIE: Well, they said that they shot him in self-defense. I find that hard to believe because, A, he is not at all a violent -- I mean, I know the boy. He was [in] a second-year engineering course in the university. Nothing to do with violence. All his life has been studies and intellectual work.

Totally unbelievable. And, in fact, they had no weapon in the house. They had one weapon which belonged to the school where his father was a headmaster. And it had no ammunition in it. And he led them into the room to show it to them.

BLITZER: So what you're suggesting, your cousin was killed in cold blood, is that what you're saying, by United States Marines?

SUMAIDAIE: I believe he was killed intentionally. I believe that he was killed unnecessarily. And unfortunately, the investigations that took place after that sort of took a different course and concluded that there was no unlawful killing.

I would like further investigation. I have, in fact, asked for the report of the last investigation, which was a criminal investigation, by the way.

[Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq] is aware of all the details, because he's kept on top of it. And it was he who rejected the conclusions of the first investigation. I have since asked formally for the report, but it's been nearly two months, and I have not received it.

BLITZER: Did you raise these concerns you had with the president today when you were at the White House presenting your credentials?

SUMAIDAIE: No, I did not, because I did not want to bring a personal note into a much wider brief that I have here.

BLITZER: But what I hear you saying -- and I don't want to put words in your mouth -- is there maybe, in Haditha, at least, a pattern to what happened to your nephew, what happened apparently in November when these other Marines went in?

Are there any other examples of cold-blooded murder that you are familiar with in Haditha?

SUMAIDAIE: I am familiar with at least one other killing of three youths, which happened very soon after the killing of my cousin. They were in a car. They were unarmed, I believe. And they were shot.

Now, in that case, there could be possibly [an] excuse or explanation that the Marines were afraid. They were approaching them too fast, or whatever. But the details as they were related to me were such that there was no possibility of misunderstanding.

But in all these situations, you know, you have the word of the community, people around, civilians around -- and you have the word of the individuals in the Marines. ...

When it comes to comparing these two sources, I mean, if my uncle, whom I have known all my life since childhood, and I know he would not make up stories, and I know he would not lie, and I know what is at stake is the life of his grandson, then, you know, I know which word to take.

BLITZER: Do you have confidence the U.S. military will do a thorough investigation?

SUMAIDAIE: Ultimately, possibly, yes. But in situations like this, the ramifications are so profound that they -- they would initially take the attitude that they hope this would go away.

If it can be swept under the rug, it would. But when -- when it goes up higher in the hierarchy, then there are people who recognize the potential damage of cover-up, and there is a better possibility of it being opened up.

Too Late For The Muzzle

It was one thing when John Murtha was suggesting that we pull the troops out. It is another now that he is harping on the massacre in Haditha. I saw him on Good Morning America this morning and he was still fired up on The Situation Room on CNN later today. I agree with him wholeheartedly but this isn't good for those who want to try to sweep this under the rug. I just hope nothing happens to him because he has no intention of shutting up.

CONGRESSMAN JOHN MURTHA (D-PA): "Well, what I worry about Wolf is [that] this happened six months ago and you heard nothing about it. As a matter of fact, the original story was that an [improvised explosive device] killed these 15 people. It became very confusing to the public. Time Magazine came out with an article and they still tried to cover it up.

"Now, there were payments made to victims which aren't made unless we kill them one way or the other. And secondly, they knew about it the day afterwards...

"And the longer it goes the worse it is for us, because it looks like it's our policy to do something like this...

"This helps [al Qaeda] recruit terrorists."

(h/t Raw Story)

Well, Duh!

I think this was pretty much a no brainer. Good!

John Allen Muhammad, already sentenced to death in Virginia for a sniping spree that terrorized the Washington area in 2002, was convicted of murder in the neighboring state of Maryland on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Maryland state's attorney, John McLane, said a jury found Muhammad guilty on all six counts of murder brought against him.

Muhammad and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo used a 1990 Chevrolet Caprice, with a modified rear to allow sniper shots to be fired through a hole in the trunk, choosing victims at random at gas stations, outside shopping malls and elsewhere.

Virginia had already sentenced Muhammad to death for one murder there during the October 2002 shootings, in which 10 people were killed and three were wounded.

Malvo, now 21, has pleaded guilty and testified against Muhammad, whom he had once considered a father figure. Malvo has been sentenced to life in prison in Virginia.

India Now Tops South Africa

I am sure that this is not a contest India wants to win.

India now has more people living with HIV than any other country, a UNAIDS report has revealed.

The report shows that India now accounts for two-thirds of HIV cases in the whole of Asia.

An estimated 5.7 million Indians were infected by the end of 2005, overtaking the 5.5 million cases estimated in South Africa.

However, While 18.8% of South African adults were living with HIV, the figure in India was 0.9%.

Estimates of total deaths in India since Aids was first identified in 1981 range from 270,000 to 680,000.

Most of the infections there were caused by unprotected heterosexual intercourse, according to UNAIDS.

States in southern India have traditionally been the hardest hit by the disease.

A study of prostitutes in Tamil Nadu found 50% had been infected with HIV.

However, UNAIDS said these regions had made progress in combating the spread of infection.

In contrast, little or no progress had been made in cutting infection rates in the north of the country, where injecting drug use is thought to be the main driver of infection.

The UN agency estimates that only 7% of Indians who needed antiretroviral drug therapy actually received it last year.

In addition, only 1.6% of pregnant women who needed treatment to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission were receiving it.

UNAIDS also sounded a warning about neighbouring Pakistan, where around 85,000 people were estimated to be infected with HIV by the end of 2005.

It said the country would have to improve its prevention efforts if it is to avoid a more serious situation.

Moron!

First of all, this man needs to still be in jail! Second, where do women find these retards and why do they leave them alone with their children?

An Australian man has been charged with causing bodily harm after he put a 13-month-old baby in a tumble dryer when she spilt a drink on herself.

Samuel Siddall, 21, was left in charge of his girlfriend's baby while she went to the gym for an hour, police said.

She returned to find the baby had suffered serious burns. Doctors notified police because of the suspicious nature of her injuries.

They expect the baby to make a full recovery and leave hospital this week.

'The injuries are horrific and in my years of being a police officer I have not seen or heard of this type of injury before,' police detective Deb Newman told reporters.

'The person we allege has done the act has stated that he has put the child into a clothes tumble dryer, closed the door and turned it on for a couple of minutes,' she said.

Police said the child suffered serious burns to both feet and her left hand as well as bruising to her face and back.

Mr Siddall, 21, was released on bail and told to reappear in court in June. He was also forbidden to contact the child's mother.

Killed Lounging On The Balcony Again

Laura Ingraham's asinine comments on the Today Show a few months ago were the first things that came to mind when I found out that two CBS crewmen had been killed and a reporter critically injured in Iraq. I wonder what she has to say now.:

Atrios remembers Laura Ingraham's insane rant from the Today Show:

"It's why Howie Kurtz has Assrocket and Hugh Hewitt on his show on a regular basis. I suppose the reasons for this are very simple - by bringing on these idiot critics they placate the right wing frothers while simultaneously confronting cartoon criticism, letting themselves avoid confronting actual criticism. Still, at some point one wonders if enough is every enough? I mean, who would invite Laura Ingraham back on after this crack:

Ingraham: "To do a show from Iraq means to talk to the Iraqi military, to go out with the Iraqi military, to actually have a conversation with the people instead of reporting from hotel balconies about the latest IEDs going off.

Here's the video of Ingraham with David Gregory (Video )

This was when the meme these right wing zombies were peddling was that journalists were too afraid to cover the war. As long as they said it, the networks allowed them airtime to pass out their brand of kool aid.

CBS:

"A CBS News correspondent was critically injured and her two-person crew killed Monday when the Baghdad military unit in which they were imbedded was attacked. Kimberly Dozier, 39, sustained serious injuries in the attack and underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad, the network reported. She is in critical condition, but doctors are cautiously optimistic about her prognosis."

Cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, both London-based, were killed.

Toni Morrison Is Praised As She Retires

It's hard to believe that she taught as she wrote masterpieces.

Former President Bill Clinton last night praised acclaimed Princeton University professor Toni Morrison for her humanity and exquisite touch with the written word.

"I thank you, my friend, for your great big heart and for using that and your mind to help us to see the grace we must all imagine," Clinton said at the end of his three-minute tribute to Morrison as she prepares to retire from the university.

He then walked over to the Nobel laureate author, seated in the front row, and embraced her.

An invitation-only crowd of about 345 people turned out for the Morrison tribute in the Allen Room of Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Time Warner Center in midtown Manhattan.

The event -- "Toni Morrison: Her Triumphs, Her Contributions, Our Future" -- was in the making for about a year and co-hosted by Princeton University and its program in African-American studies.

In 1993, Morrison became the first black American to win the Nobel Prize in literature, an accomplishment reached after the publication of her first six novels.

The Nobel awarded to Morrison was the first to go to an American-born writer since 1962, when John Steinbeck was the literature laureate.

Morrison is one of 10 retiring Princeton faculty members expected to get the honorary status as professors emeriti early next month, pending approval by Princeton's trustees.

Last night Clinton said reading her books can be all sorts of things, depending on the reader's perspective, "breezy or laboriously difficult," inspiring laughter or tears, anger or joy.

"You can be full of pride or covered in shame . . . but one thing you can't do is retire. You have to engage" when reading one of her books, the former president said.

Other celebrities offering tributes to Morrison were Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman and Tony Award winning actress Phylicia Rashad.

Rashad thanked Morrison for "your intuitive understanding and feeling for the power of the word to reawaken in us the knowledge of who we really are."

Known for her lyrical portrayals of blacks who endure poverty and disaster, Morrison has written eight novels -- from "The Bluest Eye" in 1970 through "Love" in 2003.

Technorati Tags: Toni Morrison

Burn That Damn Flag!

I am so sick, sick, sick of hearing about and seeing that damned confederate flag! What is it about "YOU LOST" that these yahoos don't get? How many defeated countries continue to wave their old flag? How many Brits are running around wearing red coats because it is part of their heritage (forget about those confused ones who are still calling the US "the colonies")?

Steve Gilliard has more on the latest behind some 15 year old's right to flaunt the confederacy as well as other stories about blacks and the confederacy.

Chicken George (on the bongos) and Uncle Remus 2006

This is the deal! There was a civil war in America. Both sides had flags and armies. One side won. One side lost. There is one American flag now! ONE! I don't care if the confederate flag reprents Southern pride. I don't care if some strange negroes think they have some stake in the confederacy. You cannot rewrite history or refight the war. The losers have no business flying the flag unless they are at a private pity party for descendents of the losers. Put the flag down and GO HOME!

Which Classic Female Literary Character Are you?

Which Classic Female Literary Character Are you?

You're Elizabeth Bennett of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen!
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We Speak Korean, Hindi and Chinese

A couple of years ago, I accompanied my mom to her doctor's office so she could have some tests run. The neighborhood where the office was has changed drastically since I moved to Cali so when I got in the elevator and saw a sign that said "We speak Korean, Hindi and Chinese" I was flabbergasted and impressed at the same time. Now, I realize that Oklahoma is not as diverse as the city of Chicago but Tom Coburn should realize that this country has changed - dramatically in the past couple of decades. It's not just about Spanish. There are thousands of new Americans - legal or not - who do not speak English fluently. Depending on their age, they are not going to be fluent before they die or leave. What we don't need are people dying due to language barriiers. Coburn needs to get out more and stop pandering to the white sheet crowd. It's too late for that.

Executive Order 13166, signed by President Clinton on August 11, 2000, improves quality health care access for all patients, regardless of their primary language. This executive order requires Medicare and Medicaid providers to offer limited-English-proficiency (LEP) patients with a full interpreter or translator services in their own language.

This week, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) plans to offer an amendment that repeals this mandate. A look at some current problems Coburn’s amendment would make worse:

– Parents with limited English proficiency are three times more likely than parents who report speaking English “very well” to have a child in fair or poor health.

– Parents often report language barriers as the single greatest issue to garnering access to health care.

– 19 percent of Spanish-speakers report having forgone needed health treatment due to a language barrier.

At a time when the United States is more linguistically diverse than at any other time since the early 1900s, we should be working to overcome barriers that may affect an individual’s access and quality of care. Coburn’s amendment undermines the steps this country has taken to ensure access to health care.

I received the sample ballot, for our pending election, a few weeks ago. It was in English but also had translations in Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Chinese. I think I received a card in the mail before that requesting that I declare my language perference. I totally forgot to return it. Perhaps that is why I received another sample ballot last week that was totally in Spanish.

Let's face it. The horse is already out of the barn as far as the number of non-English speakers who are here and who will continue to come. Some will learn English. Some will leave it upon their children to learn it and translate. Limiting medical services is the absolute wrong way to take a stand or change things.

Since When Did Oprah Become MTV?

Since when is Oprah obligated to have every dang rapper on earth on her show? I am sick of this whining! Newsflash rappers: she don't owe you jack!

Rappers Ludacris and 50 Cent have dissed Oprah Winfrey. Now, Ice Cube has a beef with the talk show queen.

"I've been involved in three projects pitched to her, but I've never been asked to participate," the rapper-actor tells FHM magazine in its July issue, on newsstands June 6.

"For 'Barbershop,' she had Cedric the Entertainer and Eve on, but I wasn't invited," says the 36-year-old rapper, referring to his 2002 movie. "Maybe she's got a problem with hip-hop."

Cube adds: "She's had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show. And if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?"

A call by The Associated Press to Winfrey's spokeswoman at her production company, Harpo, was not immediately returned Friday.

Last month, 50 complained that Winfrey rarely invites rappers on her talk show: "I think she caters to older white women." Ludacris, whose real name is Chris Bridges, told GQ magazine that the media mogul was "unfair" to him during a show he appeared on last October with co-stars from best-picture Oscar winner "Crash."

Earlier this month, Winfrey defended herself in a surprise appearance on New York City-based radio station Power 105.1.

"I listen to some hip-hop," she told DJ Ed Lover. "You know, I've been accused of not liking hip-hop and that's just not true. I got a little 50 (Cent) on my iPod. I really do. Love 'In Da Club.' ... Love that, and you know, love Jay-Z, love Kanye (West), love Mary J. (Blige)."

Ice Cube, whose other films include "Friday" and "Three Kings," will release his latest album, "Laugh Now, Cry Later," on June 6.

Perhaps Ice Cube needs to have a chat with 50 Cent who concluded that Oprah's show was for older, white women. Maybe he needs to start pitching to Tyra Banks since many think she is poised to take up where Oprah leaves off.

(Muttering under my breath ... "all these hard ass wanna be thugs whining like little biatches!")

Technorati Tags: Oprah, Ice Cube

Horrifying Indeed!

Via Feministing

This is just horrifying.

Since the Turkish government began cracking down on honor killings last year, a new trend is currently being investigated by the UN: serial suicides among young girls and women.

These incidents have been occurring mostly in the Kurdish southeast. An example is in Batman, where 10 of the 14 people who have committed suicide have been women and girls under the age of 23. (A few were as young as 12 years old.)

Activists are saying that these girls and women are being forced by their families to commit suicide because male relatives that usually commit honor killings are being given life sentences under a new penal code. In result, these girls are being told that if they don’t kill themselves, their father or brother will have to go to jail.

Others speculate that some are being murdered and then presented as suicide to the authorities. The UN Special Reporter on Violence Against Women, Yakin Erturk, is being sent to the area to find out exactly what is happening.

Amnesty International estimates that between a third and half of women living in Turkey suffer from some form of domestic violence.

Too Short For Jail

So, I guess this is like the blond teacher who slept with her student who was deemed "too pretty" for jail. How is it that this guy is exempt from being punished for being a sexual predator because he is too short?

A judge said a 5-foot-1 man convicted of sexually assaulting a child was too small to survive in prison, and gave him 10 years of probation instead.

His crimes deserved a long sentence, District Judge Kristine Cecava said, but she worried that Richard W. Thompson, 50, would be especially imperiled by prison dangers.

"You are a sex offender, and you did it to a child," she said.

But, she said, "That doesn't make you a hunter. You do not fit in that category."

Thompson will be electronically monitored the first four months of his probation, and he was told to never be alone with someone under age 18 or date or live with a woman whose children were under 18. Cecava also ordered Thompson to get rid of his pornography.

He faces 30 days of jail each year of his probation unless he follows its conditions closely.

"I want control of you until I know you have integrated change into your life," the judge told Thompson. "I truly hope that my bet on you being OK out in society is not misplaced."

How is he not a hunter (I guess that means predator)? He's a little man who molested the only person smaller than himself - a child. In jail, someone bigger than him might use that advantage over him. Why does he deserve more protection and sympathy than a child?

Shot For Wearing Shorts

This is the kind of liberty and freedom our solidiers are dying for? These are the psychos Saddam Hussein was trying to keep from grabbing power. We've unleashed them.

The coach of Iraq's tennis team and two players were shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday, said Iraqi Olympic officials.

Coach Hussein Ahmed Rashid and players Nasser Ali Hatem and Wissam Adel Auda were killed in the al-Saidiya district of the capital.

Witnesses said the three were dressed in shorts and were killed days after militants issued a warning forbidding the wearing of shorts.

Other Iraqi athletes have been targeted in recent incidents.

In this case, according to accounts, the men dropped off laundry and were then stopped in their vehicle by gunmen.

Two of the athletes stepped out of the car and were shot in the head, said one witness. The third was shot dead in the vehicle.

"The gunman took the body out of the car and threw it on top of the other two bodies before stealing the car," said the witness, who requested anonymity.

He said leaflets had been recently distributed in the area warning residents not to wear shorts.

Ken Lay Comes To Jesus

Oh Lawd! Here we go with "God" again. Where was his God when he was commiting fraudulent acts? Oh, I forgot. God was probably busy talking to George W. Bush.

"I firmly believe I'm innocent of the charges against me," Lay said following the hearing. "We believe that God in fact is in control and indeed he does work all things for good for those who love the lord."

So what does that say about the thousands of people who lost their jobs and/or pensions? That NONE of them loved the lord? Just a thought but I'll bet God is busy working all things for good for the people that Lay and Skilling ruined! Is it God's fault that he did what he was convicted of doing? George Bush might save him with a pardon but he needs to leave God out of it his quest to avoid his just rewards.

When Will Jesus George Bush Bring The Pork Chops?

Will somebody tell this man he isn't Jesus or the second coming? I don't want to hear nary another word out of his mouth about his faith, his Christ, his prayers or his directives from the almighty. It's making the world despise us and it's getting us killed. Madeleine Albright says it well!

President Bush has alienated Muslims around the world by using absolutist Christian rhetoric to discuss foreign policy issues, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says.

"I worked for two presidents who were men of faith, and they did> not make their religious views part of American policy," she said, referring to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, both Democrats and Christians.

"President Bush's certitude about what he believes in, and the division between good and evil, is, I think, different," said Albright, who has just published a book on religion and world affairs. "The absolute truth is what makes Bush so worrying to some of us."

Bush, a Republican, has openly acknowledged his Christian faith informs his decisions as president. He says, for example, that he prayed to God for guidance before invading Iraq.

Some Muslims have accused him of waging a crusade against Islam, comparable with those of the Middle Ages. The White House says it has nothing against Islam, but against those who commit terrorist atrocities in its name.

But Albright says Bush's religious absolutism has made U.S. foreign policy "more rigid and more difficult for other countries to accept."

In her book, "The Mighty and the Almighty," Albright recalls how Bush, while he was governor of Texas, told Christians he believed God wanted him to be president.

I have a request for God but it would probably get my phones tapped so I won't put it in writing!

What's Next? Illegal Nurses?

In what, exactly, is this country willing to invest? We've outsourced technology to India and China (did I ever mention that I am underpaid and underemployed as a result?). We've let immigrants - legal and otherwise - enter the country in droves to the point where far more than field labor is being impacted (like I've said, people were cool with "all the Mexicans" when they thought they were just replacing "lazy nigras" but now that wages for regular blue collar jobs held by other folks are being undercut, we suddenly have to "protect the borders" and deport folks). Now we don't have enough nurses and they say it is too expensive to train nurses here so what's the solution? Import cheap nursing labor from indigent countries?

Nathan Newman raises an interesting issue here. Democrats in Congress offered an amendment to the immigration bill currently being debated that would allow an unlimited number of foreign nurses to enter the United States, on the grounds that there's a nurse shortage in this country.

 That sounds like a good idea, but here's the problem: won't it cause an even more disastrous nurse shortage in developing countries, perhaps causing collapses in health care systems around the world? That already seems to be the case in the Philippines and India. On the broader issue, the New York Times ran a good piece a while back on the "brain drain" developing countries face when all their skilled workers leave for OECD countries. It can cause "a vicious downward cycle of underdevelopment." Not good for them, and it's hard to know what to do. Restrict immigration of skilled workers? Screw the poorer countries?

Now Newman's solution to the nursing issue seems unexceptionable—train more nurses in the United States, since there are currently more people who want to become nurses than spots in nursing school. On the other hand, for those worried about keeping health care costs down, it's much cheaper to "outsource" nursing education to the Third World, where education costs are naturally lower. Ideally, perhaps, the United States would do more to help develop the poorer countries that are sending us all their cheap labor, but that would involve more drastic changes than anything being contemplated in Congress right now.

I have nothing against immigration. I've said that before. But, before this gets turned into an "Americans don't want to be nurses anymore" con job by the healthcare industry, we need to make people aware that people do, indeed, want to be nurses. But, as one of my sorority sisters (a relatively new nurse) stated: "Problem is there aren't enough nursing educators or funds to educate these nurses. Completing Nursing School is no easy tasks for anyone. We have many professors at <...> alone who are burnt out because they are teaching two or three theory classes and clinical courses as well ... And their salaries are garbage, so almost all of them have 2nd, even 3rd jobs. It's not SAFE for more than 10 students to be in one clinical course. In my opinion there shouldn't even be that many. We can't produce nurses on a conveyor belt. "

Why aren't we willing to invest in vital and critical skill sets? You have people in America who are willing and able to study to become good nurses yet we want to outsource that so that we can get the skills on the cheap. As a result, this may also leave poorer countries without adequate health professionals and care because we are luring them all here (probably to under pay them and thereby undercut the wages of Americans who spent thousands of dollars on a quality nursing education). But then the government will want to use our tax dollars to come to the aid of these countries from whom we've poached their skilled workers. Perhaps I'd rather my tax dollars

Again, who benefits? This country? Patients? ( No offense but as attentive and patient as I am with accents and dialects, the last thing I want to do if I am very sick is try to process some foreign speech patterns? I do it all day long at work and there are times when I just have to nod and pretend I understand rather than continuing to say "I'm sorry. Excuse me?" I could end up dead doing that in the hospital). But you know who benefits! The greedy capitalists of the healthcare industry. They win, again, and regular citizens lose!

My college roommate became a nurse. The program at our university was no joke. Both of her older sisters were nurses too. I know that is a profession I still would not, could not, pursue. BUT, I should have the opportunity and this country, as the wealthiest in the world, the wealthiest in the world should have the resources (schools and adequately paid instructors) for me to do so.

Novak Had Rove's Back

I still don't get why Novak wasn't thrown in jail!

On September 29, 2003, three days after it became known that the CIA had asked the Justice Department to investigate who leaked the name of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, columnist Robert Novak telephoned White House senior adviser Karl Rove to assure Rove that he would protect him from being harmed by the investigation, according to people with firsthand knowledge of the federal grand jury testimony of both men.

Suspicious that Rove and Novak might have devised a cover story during that conversation to protect Rove, federal investigators briefed then-Attorney General John Ashcroft on the matter in the early stages of the investigation in fall 2003, according to officials with direct knowledge of those briefings.

[...]

Rove testified to the grand jury that during his telephone call with Novak, the columnist said words to the effect: "You are not going to get burned" and "I don't give up my sources," according to people familiar with his testimony. Rove had been one of the "two senior administration" officials who had been sources for the July 14, 2003, column in which Novak outed Plame as an "agency operative." Rove and Novak had talked about Plame on July 9, five days before Novak's column was published.

The Things I Never Knew About Tampons

Via Pam's House Blend my mind is blown once again. I'm not really grasping this so I think I need some help. Is the Pope going to be watching a whole lot of TV while he is visiting or is it somehow blasphemous for regular citizens to see tampon ads while the Pope is in town? Are tampon ads something that most people would rather not see any other time but have to as a fact of life (you know, like the homeless people in major cities that suddenly disappear when a potentate comes to town)? If Jesus was both man and God, that means he had to deal with day to day life as a man. Why can't the Pope?

Look at what the government of Poland did in advance of the Prada Pope's arrival.

When Pope Benedict visits the homeland of his predecessor this week he will find Poland and its Catholic Church struggling to adapt to life after John Paul - but he will not see any advertisements for lingerie, beer or tampons on state TV.

Broadcasters have banned the promotion of 'inappropriate products' during Benedict's visit, as well as ads carrying any whiff of sexual innuendo. The three state-run channels have demanded to see in advance material due to be shown during his tour, which begins on Thursday. 'There is always the risk that the faithful may feel hurt if programming devoted to the Pope's visit is interrupted by frivolous ads,' said Zbigniew Badziak, head of advertising at the state network.

The decision about what to deep-six was determined by "teams of Catholic journalists."

When I was listening to a piece on NPR about it yesterday, it also mentioned that any billboards with ads for the same products mentioned above, as well as condom ads, would be covered up so Ratzi wouldn't have to avert his eyes or think about bodily functions or sexual urges as he tours the streets.

Blech! On second thought, I don't like thinking about bodily functions or sexual urges when I tour the streets either! Maybe we can make this effort a global one!

Technorati Tags: Pope, tampon ads

Leave The Stinky Mom Alone!

I never used to like Madonna because I thought she always looked like she smelled bad. Oddly, once she had her first child, she looked clean to me. Britney Spears is totally not someone I listen to but she did, at least, look clean - when she was new to the game that is. Then, she had her bad girl transformation and looked dirty and smelly too. I thought that, like Madonna, she might start looking "clean" again after she had kids. But nope, she still looks like she stinks. However, this stalking job they are doing to her about her child and implying that the things that happen to every mother, everyday makes her a bad mother, is just scandalous and shameless. I'm not a mom but moms agree with me!

Britney Spears. She's so easy to make fun of. Even her song titles conspire to mock her: 'Oops, She Did It Again!' But the latest headlines about America's most maligned mother are evoking a new sentiment from fellow moms.

Almost tripped and dropped a baby? PLEASE, they're saying. What mom hasn't? Give the girl a break!

When little Sean Preston entered the world last September, the blessed event only intensified Spears' fame, as celebrity births do nowadays. But unlike, say, Angelina Jolie or Gwyneth Paltrow, Spears had a way of appearing maternally challenged. First it was the sight of baby on Mom's lap in the driver's seat. (OK, that was bad.) Then, the accidental tumble as he was lifted off a high chair. Next, the car seat facing the wrong way in the convertible.

Not good, the celebrity mommy patrol said. We'd never do that.

Until ... the almost-baby-dropping incident.

Suddenly -- and there's nothing scientific about any of this, mind you -- but suddenly, it seems fellow moms are doing something a bit surprising: defending Britney ...

[read more]

Rocking On With My Old, Spinstery Self

I started to post on the Newsweek article (linked below) that gave "good news" to the many, many women who are in their late 30s and 40s and have never married (apparently a lot women do get married beyond their "expiration" date). But, I think I've spoken enough on me not feeling any less of a person because I am not hitched. Apparently, one of the subjects in the article feels the same way.

Newsweek "spinster" speaks out

Broadsheet's earlier post about Newsweek's nostra culpa ("Actually, we meant that you're more likely to get married than to be killed by a terrorist!") has prompted a breaking "Apology Not Accepted" from one of the allegedly bereft single women featured in the infamous 1986 article.

In a letter in response to our post, Carol Owens writes, "the entire first paragraph of that [1986 Newsweek]