I'm Getting Trumped - Tuesday Blogwhoring

Geez, a couple of the things I was going to mention were trumped on tonight's national news - hmmph.  I wasn't planning on blogwhoring again for a couple of days, but the folder is ridiculously fat, so here's hoping you haven't heard of some of these on the news.  I have to say the politics section is particularly juicy today!

HEALTH:

Goddamn that Kate Harding and her spot-on articles - I wish everyone would read this, no matter how much or how little they weigh.  It's frickin' genius. 

Mom, I'm Too Fat!

If this is the typical kind of article on Fibromyalgia, I feel really sorry for y'all who have it.

OMG if this is the standard of pharmaceutical trials we are in deep doo-doo.

Insurance companies are insane! (think they cover that?)

Remember when I told you about the English girl who'd been raped and sexually abused, then self-harmed, then got treatment, got her life in order, is getting  a degree in Neuroscience, 'fell' pregnant, then had some asshat* decide she was going to have Munchausen's-by-Proxy and that her unborn baby should be removed immediately after it was born?  Yeah, well, she's fled Britain.

Paul Campos on  the silliness of  'overweight'.

Yet another reason why I'm glad I left Britain, now with huge baby pic!  Seriously, how could they have missed this?  Surely the mother would have had to have had gestational diabetes?

POLITICS/FINANCE:

Of course he's been deported, cuz we don't want any of them illegals to be thought of as being decent or hard working.

I always thought Mother Teresa's heart was in the right place, although I completely disagreed with her methods.  However, I've got to admit I was pretty shocked by this article.  Here's the post that got me to that article in the first place.

More on Christianity and Thanksgiving.  Works for me!

Owie.  Never have I been so grateful for my 'as long as you're cool you're cool with us' friends.

Heinous rape or 'sex for food'?  Gotta love that biased language.

The price of war is paid for in the blood of patriots.

You can have welfare so long as you don't mind your home being searched for no reason whatsoever.  I can't believe this is happening in California...oh, wait, we're talking about poor people.

Food for thought about  representations of Islam and the bind Muslim women are in within the framework of the Saudi woman who was raped and given a sentence of 200 lashes. Don't forget the comments, they're interesting and enlightening.

I can't think of what to say about this story, Woman Jailed on Immigration Charge Can't Give Breast Milk To Son beyond wtf?  There oughta be a law...

More on how damaged children will be if lesbians in Britain get the power to reproduce via IVF.  My favorite lines:

This sundering of the bond that normally defines parenthood goes hand in hand with a divorce between sexuality and reproduction. As medical technology advances, sexuality is becoming a less essential part of parenthood. Instead, sexuality is seen as a matter of lifestyle, of recreation rather than procreation.

My god, someone's having sex without guilt!!!  Too bad the whole 'procreation' bit doesn't work for everybody, eh?

In its place we see the re-emergence of an uglier, more brutal society. For youths, gangs serve as father substitutes, while young women are expected to sacrifice their virtue and with it their only defence against unbridled masculinity.

Unbridled masculinity!!!  Wow, whole papers could be written about that entire paragraph.  I'm not even sure where to begin - the assumption that without men in their lives boys become hooligans?  That the only defense against 'unbridled masculinity' ::giggle:: is an unbroken hymen?  What is unbridled masculinity, anyway?  I keep flashing on Tom of Finland's (wikipedia) hypermasculine  men - just do an image search (nws, but no nudity, either) and you'll see what I mean.

Hence the primitive patriarchal code of Sharia law may seem preferable to anarchy. Loss of freedom, unequal status, polygamy, restrictive dress and lack of education do not sound enticing. Many Muslim women put up with public and private degradation. For these women, misogynistic rules, however, may be better than no rules at all.

Words.  Fail.

Oh Mitt.  A Mormon talking about how Muslims need not apply because of their religion?**  Pot?  Kettle?  Black?   Bueller?   Anyone?  Anyone?

School is scary.  I have a friend who used to be a teacher in California and the stories she tells are not only horrific, they're heartbreaking.  She, too, had students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades who couldn't read, she too was told by parents that she was a racist (for using  multicultural books and topics), and was asked why she, a white woman, wanted to teach in non-white school.  Answer?  Because she believes in the power of public school. 

COOL STUFF:

People actually buy this??

My favorites are Jay & Silent Bob and  Garth Vader.  (dialup need not apply!)

Most excellent sports photos ever. (yet again with the dialup)

Remember ads like this?  Me neither, thank goodness. (ditto)

3 pics from Indy 4!  Harrison's still got it going on.

10 easy ways to improve your cooking - so simple, yet so true!

Interview with Journeyman (cancelled or not, I can't tell!) creator - possibly spoilers if you haven't seen episode 11 which aired Monday, November 26, 2007.

The amazing life of Mrs Gaskell, author of North & South, Mary Barton, and Cranford.

Sweet book sale from Small Beer Press!! I'm tempted just for Maureen McHugh's Mothers and Other Monsters...

Tech deals, including a BOGOF  ticket deal from Virgin USA to specific airports.

More coupon codes...

WTFF?

Only in Scandinavia - my favorite bit is the last sentence.

~*~

Wow, this has been an arduous post to make...I hope the news quiets down for the next few days!

Oro out.

*why no, Dr David Southall doesn't have any training in pediatric forensics - why do you ask?  Do you think that might be important in determining whether or not a child has been abused or murdered?   In fact, when looking over his credentials, one might notice that any studies in the field of pediatrics is missing entirely...now, of course, I am looking at Wikipedia, and it's likely that the full list of his qualifications is missing...still...as far as I'm aware Pediatrics, like Obstetrics or Oncology and pretty much every other field of medicine apart from General Practice, is a specialized field requiring certification and other such neato things.  Or am I completely wrong, and should start freaking out now and searching for someone who knows some shit?

**folks meandering over from Racialicious, my sudden preponderance of posts about Islam are, I swear, completely coincidental to  my comment!  I'm totally not trying to get street cred or anything.  Just hit the blogwhore category to see what I mean.

Comments

[Muslimah Media Watch]

Did my last comment show up?
Ehhhh, anyway. Thanks for your kind comments on Racialicious. It's not Islamophobic to condemn the victim's sentences. It's Islamophobic to assume that the sentences are Islamic and "what Muslims do." I didn't think you were hinting at that.

[Orodemniades]

Cool. Sometimes I worry that I'm overstepping or completely misunderstanding something and that drives me crazy. I mean, I've got strong opinions and all, but don't like to stereotype entire categories of people just because of things I think are stupid or just plain wrong (from an 'oh the humanity!' point of view).

[Calliope]

wow. Your link posts are always just stunning to me.
just. wow.

[ouyangdan]

excellent blog here! very broad!

re: fibromyalgia. i am not shocked at all at that article, not sure, since this is my first time here, how you see it, so here is my two cents:

every fibromyalgic is different. everyone's body reacts differently. i tried the therapy drug fiasco, and overdosed twice, badly, b/c they just wanted to mask my pain to get me to work faster, and not actually trying to help me deal. i like blogging to escape. when the pain wakes me up, i read and write. the author was ridiculous and judgmental. just having it doesn't make you an expert. it means you have to find a way to cope. other than therapy for depression, i handle my own care now, b/c the doctors just don't want to do anything but drug me.

just MHO. wonderful site!
ps, i am brandann from the feministe thread...

[Orodemniades]

Hi Ouyangdan, thanks for stopping by! Have a blog of your own?

[ouyangdan]

hi! i do! you can find the inner workings of my brain at randombabble.com

thanks!

loving the blog!