Most people officially put their blogs on hiatus in times like these, but since I only have like 5 readers anyway I'll post when I please, thankyouverymuch.
Anyway, for those poor 5 readers, here's some stuff.
Jeanne at Body and Soul has a post about what it means now that the Al-Askariya shrine in Iraq has been destroyed, along with some heartbreaking before and after pictures of the beautiful golden dome.
This is a huge symbol of all that's wrong in Iraq. Not only does it seem to indicate the country is poised on the brink of civil war, it is yet another piece of the Iraqi cultural heritage that's been damaged. From the Spiral Minaret at Samarra to antiquities looted from the National Museum that are still missing, what will be left?
Maybe I'm just a cold-hearted woman, but this is almost more upsetting to me that loss of life. These buildings and these artifacts have managed to survive just fine until now. Like the destruction of the Parthenon, the burning of the Library of Alexandria, or the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban these are act that will be looked upon with shame by posterity.
Next: Who sucks more, the United States or Europe? Honestly, I can't decide.
I honestly believe those Danish Muhammed cartoons would never be published in America (although maybe I am naive...) and if they were, American Muslims are not as apparently marginalized by society as they are in Europe. (Okay, so maybe I'm taking most of my opinion from the film Dirty Pretty Things.)
But so far, the United States has not had home-grown Islamic terrorism the likes of which has plagued London and Madrid, or riots the likes of which were seen last fall in France. To ask an honest question, why not? Are American Muslims allowed a bigger stake in society than European Muslims? Honestly I don't know, but that's the conclusion I'm drawing. Feel free to criticize.
Then there's this. South Dakota is working to pass a law that would ban all abortion, with no exception for the health of the woman included. That is so barbaric it's unbelievable. Can you imagine being a doctor and having to look a woman in the eye and say, "You're probably going to die/be rendered infertile/give birth to a doomed baby with no brain, and I could save your life/uterus/heartbreak, but by law I can't!" I don't care what your position on abortion is, when you think life starts, but you can't possibly tell me you could do that.
This is yet another example of conservatives not thinking about the consequences of the stupid laws they seek to pass. Or, worse yet, maybe they are. Maybe they really do hate women that much. Is it worse, though, than this recent ruling by the Italian Supreme Court?
The court ruled in favor of a man in his forties, identified only as Marco T., who forced his 14-year old stepdaughter to have oral sex with him after she refused intercourse.Ugh. Truly disgusting. Again maybe I am naive, but I really don't think this would ever happen in the US. (Although it does seem to be somewhat of an unwritten rule here...see the Kobe Bryant case.)
The man, who has been sentenced to three years and four months in jail, lodged an appeal arguing that the fact that his stepdaughter had had sex with men before should have been taken into consideration during his trial as a mitigating factor.
The supreme court agreed, saying that because of her previous sexual experiences, the victim's "personality, from a sexual point of view, is much more developed than what would be normally expected of a girl of her age".
"It is therefore fair to argue that (the damage for the victim) would be lower" if the abused girl was not a virgin, Italian news agencies quoted the court as saying.
So who sucks more? It's a wash.
Finally: Am I the only one who thinks Willie Nelson's gay cowboy song is a little too cutesy? "Inside every cowboy there's a lady who'd love to slip out.."? I don't know, this seems to be coming from the stereotype that all gay men are effeminate. Although it's great that he went there with (apparently) serious intentions, that lyric in particular seems to have missed the mark and sound a little too 'jokey.'
Well that's all for now. I'll post again when I feel like it.
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