News from Tehran

The MSM appears to have given up on the story, but due to the miracle of Youtube, twitter, and Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, we can watch events unfold in real-time. Sullivan seems to have the market cornered on Farsi speakers.

The video below, I think, distills events to their essence: A large street protest, police on truncheons riding motorcycles beating the crowd, a crash, the crowd protecting the injured policeman. Harshness, kindness.

Everything I hated about being a teenager

in one simple website! So useful! And who thought so little would have changed after all these years. You just have to click. After taking a deeeeeep breath.

I especially appreciate the scarf-tying examples.

I'm practicing that sultry look. I assume if I master it I can walk freely around town at any time of day or night (picture the poor robber--"Aaaahhh!!!! Run for your life!!!! Did you see that hair?, and why is she strangling herself with some innocent piece of cloth?" This is the point where they fall over laughing.) Of course, we have a higher class of criminal here in Portland.

I'm now wondering if I actually saw this creation walking around downtown Salt Lake and took her for someone in Relief Society drag. Please forgive me, all you unfairly impugned drag queens.

Punk Friday!

First in a new series!

Watch, friends, romans, pirates, hatters, cartwrights, countrymen/wymmen

x-ray Spex in that perfect moment just before they really understood how to play...



Watch watch watch, though, I confess, no cephalpod-human romance; but surely there are other interests in your sad, lonely lives --woops, I may be projecting

much tentacled luuv

Djinn

The US Gov't Hates Contraception and Doesn't Want You to Use It.

Thanks to our friends at Reproductive Health Reality Check, I found out that on Monday, July 14th, the Department of Health and Human Services [proposed regulations to redefine (modified by ed.)] common methods of contraception, such as the pill, the patch, the shot, the ring, the IUD, and emergency contraception, under the classification "abortion."

This is crazy. This is beyond crazy. What this means is that if one more anti-abortion Supreme Court judge is appointed, not only will women not be able to have abortions, but we will not be able to use most forms of birth control. You better hope as hard as you can hope that McCain (who wants to overturn Roe vs. Wade) isn't elected in the fall.

This also means that many more Pharmacists, if the regulations go through, will be able to deny women contraception perscribed by their doctors, should they feel like it. Did you hear about this on the news? Me neither. Someone should be paying attention.

I have a difficult time understanding such rationales. Around 80% of fertilized eggs are naturally aborted. Yeah, only one in five fertilized eggs make it to birth. What happens to those other 4/5ths? Are they really people? Is heaven knee deep in blastomeres?
(Link, above, is from the Bush administration.)

Naomi Wolfe, in only a partial post-jack, explains how to turn America into a facist country, in 10 easy steps.

Cue "Every Sperm is Sacred."


A slightly modified version of this post is now up at feministmormonhousewives.org.

International dispute resolution and bake-off

Billlee in the comments suggested that international disputes should be settled by interpretive dance. I think that there's an existing program that would work even better. A sing-off! All we have to do is expand the Eurovision song contest to include a few more states and raise the stakes just a tiny bit.

The Eurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la Chanson)[1] is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)....The Contest has been broadcast every year since its inauguration in 1956 and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most-watched non-sporting events in the world.

So, for example, with the oil laws now being negotiated in Iraq between the Gov't and, uh, us (read various oil companies) we just have the main parties (Iraq and the oil companies) have a sing-off! Spangly costumes and back-up dancers required.

The pic's of Lordi, last year's winner. From Finland.

Here's the French entry from last year, just to get us all in the appropriate mood. As a bonus question (prize to be determined later) what animal does the bald lead singer have sewn onto his shoulder? A weasel, perhaps?

Mormon Church announces formal opposition to Gay Marriage Ruling in CA

So, in solidarity with my Mormon antecedents, I present Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (AKA "House") discussing how the perfectly decent word "Gay" has been ruthlessly hijacked from our beloved English language.

Self-portrait, plagiarized.

That's me on the left.


Lots more Banksy Goodness here, and all for the perfectly reasonable price of FREE.

Archangel Thunderbird or Kraut Prog-Rock gone terriby terribly right.

I give you Amon Duul II, you can thank me later.

Another two of my favorite flavors -- Son House and the White Stripes

"Death Letter" + a bit of "Don't you mind people grinnin' in your face." Can someone please supply me with one or more adjectives for "awesome?" It would be much appreciated.

Oh, and Meg White totally rocks, or hits things with sticks, or something not quite so unintelligible. Son House, if I may be so disrespectful, would be pleased, I suspect.

All hail our youtube masters. We bow in your general direction. Plus, should anyone ask, the maximum air speed velocity of a common swallow is 45 mph.

New Geography Facts

All hail our mighty google overlords for this;
or, things I found when looking for something else.



From the disinformation league

A useful website

So, another bad week, what with Kathleen Parker, a commentator at the Washington Post declaring that Obama isn't a real American, not because they've figured out that he is one super-hot hologram (ah, that explains it), but rather, because his Father isn't an American citizen. Never mind the fact that his Grandfather fought in WW2, the taint of "Foreign" blood should be enough to make "True Americans" everywhere flee. Who knew John McCain was of Native American blood? (Stolen from Glenn Greenwald, or as he's known around the blogosphere--Glenzilla)

Anyway, it turns out that God is on the internet; a simple click can tell you what he really thinks. He mostly hates things. Duh. Makes life so much simpler. Turns out we agree about American Idol and Sex in the City. Go God.

Day sadly lacking in surreality?

The cure just might be the Nietzche Family Circus, Family Circus cartoons paired with random Nietzche quotes.