They Heard Her Screams from the Road

Last month, it was reported that a 15-year-old Brazilian girl had been incarcerated, possibly on false or trumped-up charges, in a men's prison facility for nearly a month, during which time she was repeatedly raped and tortured. Today's New York Times has an update on the case. First, to recap, and clarify coverage:

It was at Abaetetuba, in the northeastern state of Para on the fringes of the Amazon, that a 15-year-old girl arrested on suspicion of petty theft was illegally placed among 34 male inmates in late October. For 26 days they treated her as their plaything, raping and torturing her repeatedly. Sometimes she traded sex for food; other times, she was simply raped, federal investigators here said.

"Trading sex" for any basic survival necessity, when there is no other means of securing it, is rape. I'm never sure why news organizations feel obliged to separate the two—"trading sex for food" and rape. Obviously it's because they feel one is less horrible than the other, but I'm not sure which.

Anyway, there are some new details about how the system utterly failed this girl, and, though they are no more graphic than the basic facts of the case, they are quite upsetting.

The police in the jail did more than turn their backs on the violence. They shaved her head with a knife to make her look more like a boy, investigators said, and now are blaming her for lying about her age.

The police claim she said she was 19, though the girl is less than five feet tall and weighs about 80 pounds, and looks about age 12, according to a human rights advocate. Never mind that what the police did to her—and allowed to be done to her—would be an inconceivably, heartbreakingly vicious act no matter what her age.

What has been particularly disheartening to federal human rights officials in the case of the 15-year-old girl is how many people had the chance to protect her. [Márcia Soares, a lawyer and federal human rights official in Brazil] said the police, the judge and a public defender who had visited the jail all knew the teenager was in an all-male setting.

…Residents heard the girl's screams from the road, which is near the jail windows. Yet for weeks no one came to her rescue. It was only after an anonymous note reached the local child protection services agency that she was removed from the jail.

I just honestly don't even know what to say.

The story hints that this case may galvanize a long-overdue prison reform movement in Brazil, and I fervently hope that it does, though I fear the worst—stagnation, apathy, and a slow return to the status quo if the will to revolutionize the deeply ailing system wanes before sufficient funding and planning for women's facilities has been secured.

There are, as are frequently documented on these pages, numerous reasons for the redoubtable prevalence of sexual violence against women across the globe, but perhaps none that has condemned so many women to their dreadful fate as indifference.

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If You Thought Alan Keyes Was Crazy...

Friends, let me introduce you to the Rev. O'Neal Dozier. He's a conservative Christian and an active member of the Republican Party here in South Florida, and a backer of Mike Huckabee. He says he has three good reasons to oppose Hillary Clinton. It's not because of her stand on health care, immigration, or the war on terrorism. It's because of Islam, the family, and, to quote Melissa, because Senator Clinton has a vagina.

"At this time in America we need to have a good strong godly man to lead America, and not a woman," he said.

[...]

Dozier's gender reason No. 1 is Islam.

"This is a bad time for America to appoint a woman as president of the United States of America. And the reason this is a bad time is because we're fighting Islamic fascism. And Islam has absolutely no respect for women. And to have a woman in that position, as a commander in chief of the military and the head of the free world, I'm afraid would cause the Islamic fascists, and the Islamic community to look at America as a weak nation."

Gender reason two is feminism and the family.

"It will weaken the family greatly," he said.

A Clinton presidency "would energize the feminist movement. It would energize that. It would strengthen them. It would also, I think, weaken the marriages out there that are barely hanging on with threads because I think that every time a man and a woman would get into a scrimmage, the woman would remind the man that, 'OK. Now you've got to be careful because there's a woman in the White House and we're all sticking together.'"

Gender reason three is the military.

"It would weaken the military. Because I don't believe that a lot of men would be willing to serve under a woman commander in chief of the military. I just don't believe that. I think that you still have a lot of guys out there who feel like I feel that that's not the role for a woman," he said.

Skipping over number one as being a little late -- what with invading Iraq and labeling anyone and everyone who's not with us in the War on Terror as an "Islamofascist," the ship on inflaming Islam has sailed -- number two, energizing feminism, is my favorite. All this time I thought the threat to marriage was us queers, but no, according to Rev. Dozier, it's the women who think that once Hillary's in the White House, all you married men are going to have to do your own laundry, make your own damn dinner, and jerk off on occasion. Thanks, Hillary, for taking the onus off gay marriage and putting all the blame for the failure of the traditional family right were it belongs: on the uppity women and their controlling vaginas.

I haven't made up my mind yet, but if electing Hillary Clinton will send Rev. Dozier even more around the bend, well...

HT to Alex at Stuck on the Palmetto.

Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.

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On Pink Triangles and Other Symbols

Putting fake balls on your car means you're totally gay. At least according to one local resident here in town:

I followed a truck … the other day that had those very realistic testicles hanging from the trailer hitch in the back. And I just want to say that I'm really open-minded about gay rights, … but isn’t there a less tacky way you can announce your preference for male genitalia than that?

I am familiar with plenty of symbols of gay pride: The rainbow flag, the pink triangle, the lambda, even that little black and blue flag for queers who like to play spanky spanky. But fake plastic balls? This is a new one to me.

I also suspect it's a new one to all those über-macho, tough guy types who actually adorn their vehicles with them. At least that's who I assume buys these things. I've no real evidence of this, just call it a hunch; like gaydar, but different.

So, fellas, while you're running around town hauling sheetrock and listening to Linkin Park with your fake plastic balls dangling from your S-10, you kind of look like a homo.

Personally, I don't care who thinks I'm homo. The first thing I did when I bought my new car was slap an equality sticker on the bumper. What I won't do is attach a pair of phony testicles to it. I'm a fan of male genitalia, mind you, but I, like the caller, find the plastic version "tacky." That doesn't mean I want to make these things illegal, I am just trying to figure out how these get confused with a rainbow flag.

Maybe it's like mudflaps or a mural on the side of your van. I guess "Hey, he really likes naked women!" equates to "Wow, that guy loves him some balls!" Well, okay.

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Onward Christian Soldier

Earlier today in the comments of Bill's post, I noted why I don't think that House Resolution 847, "Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith," is innocuous, even though it's not making new law: Its point is to reassert Christian supremacy in America. Despite not explicitly stating that Christianity is superior to every other religion (or the lack thereof), the mere fact that Congress is not passing admittedly vacuous resolutions decreeing other religions of "great significance" and global importance serves as a de facto commentary on Christianity's superiority.

(And here I noted that I'm not remotely convinced that a government overtly sanctioning such feelings of supremacy has nothing to do with despicable shit like "Happy Hanukkah" eliciting a beating.)

Enter HR 847's author, Rep. Steve King (R-Asswipe) to prove me right.

Though his spokesman had insisted that King merely "thought it was important to honor Christmas," King went on Fox News today to denounce the "assault on Christmas" launched by secularists who want to "eradicate Christ from Christmas."

Ignoring the Constitution, King claimed America is really a "Christian nation":

I recognized that we're a Christian nation founded on Christian principles, and we're coming up to Christmastime. … It's time we stood up and said so, and said to the rest of America, Be who you are and be confident. And let's worship Christ and let's celebrate Christmas for the right reasons.

In his tirade, King attacked the nine "liberal Democrat" "naysayers" who voted against the bill. "I would like to know how they can vote yes on Ramadan, yes on the Indian religions, and no on Christianity, when the foundation of this nation and our American culture is Christian," he said.

King also claimed that Christianity is the "core of Western civilization" and asserted "I think there's an assault on Christianity in America." Not to point out the obvious or anything, but when you can pass a Congressional resolution honoring Christianity and one of its major holidays with only nine dissenters, that's pretty much categorically undeniable evidence that Christianity is, in fact, not under assault in America.

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A Little Spoofy Fun

Hi! This is Kathy at Birmingham Blues. Liss asked me to cross-post this piece on the lighter side of the writers' strike. I cover politics and general wackiness from Birmingham AL, and I also post at If I Ran the Zoo and No More Mister Nice Blog. Thanks, Liss!

While I've been goofing off instead of blogging, I've been following the writers' strike. It seems that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers forgot to buy up all the extensions that go with its domain name. Someone (a creative writer perhaps?) snapped up the .com and put up a really funny spoof site. Check it out.

We are heartbroken to report that despite our best efforts, including sending them a muffin basket, making them a mix CD, and standing outside their window with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel songs, our talks with the WGA have broken down. Quite frankly, we're puzzled as to why this happened. We talked about it all the way home – after we walked into their hotel room, slapped our list of demands on the table and abruptly left the negotiating session – and none of us could figure out what went wrong.

While we're not going to point fingers or assign blame, we do feel justified in saying that they are entirely at fault. The AMPTP has successfully concluded 306 major agreements with unions since its founding in 1982, and there has never been an incident like this. Except for that writers' strike in 1985. And the directors' strike in 1987. And that other writers' strike in 1988. Aside from three isolated incidents, however, this strike is completely without precedent... (continue reading here)

Be sure to read the Strike FAQs. Priceless! And the Just For Fun! button? It's probably NSFW.

[Via the comments at Whedonesque, which has lots of strike coverage from the fans' point of view. Cross-posted at Birmingham Blues.]

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cavalcade of humor

You won't find this at the Christian dollar store with the Jesus tree topper because this little crystal Nativity costs $70. Pricey for something that has an creepy and inhuman looking baby Jesus, eh?

The world is full of interesting such items, and, thankfully, wonderful irreverent humor too: Cavalcade of Bad Nativities, part one; Cavalcade, part two

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There are no stupid questions...

(Liss has already spoken - and quite eloquently - on Huckabee's Mormon question- but she "made" me post this here anyway. :-D )

...but there are plenty of embarrassingly revealing ones, as demonstrated in this Mike Huckabee moment:

I asked Huckabee, who describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology, if he considered Mormonism a cult or a religion. ‘‘I think it’s a religion,’’ he said. ‘‘I really don’t know much about it.’’

I was about to jot down this piece of boilerplate when Huckabee surprised me with a question of his own: ‘‘Don’t Mormons,’’ he asked in an innocent voice, ‘‘believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?’’

This is Mitt Romney's fault, naturally, and not for simply being a Mormon with the temerity to run for president. If only Romney had more forthrightly and courageously explained the tenets of his faith to the populace when he had the chance, Huckabee could have taken copious notes and so avoided sounding like...well, like most of us in this country. That is, non-Mormon Americans who know little of the religion outside of what they learned from the latest episode of Big Love.

I'm kidding about Romney here (a little). Though he did pass up a rare opportunity to address the aspect of his candidacy that seems to concern many voters, each person owns his or her own ignorance and is alone responsible for remedying it. The take-home point is simple: Huckabee, an ordained Baptist minister, doesn't even know what he doesn't know about other people's faiths, and that makes touting the superiority of one's own faith a dangerous practice.

Actually, that's a lesson to be heeded even by people not running for president.

(Cross-posted.)

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Today in Disembodied Things

[Part Fifteen in an Ongoing Series: Parts One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen.]

Now you, too, can house your CPU in plastic molded to recreate a woman's severed nether-regions and dressed like a French maid! Yours for a mere 35,800 yen, or about $319.

And when you're in Japan, you can visit a computer café chock full o' them!


One of the frequent comments on this series is that this item or that item isn't really all that bad, especially compared to [something perceived to be worse; usually the pencil sharpener]. And if you've made that comment, please don't feel picked on; you're not alone. That's why I just wanted to quickly note that the point of this series is not to determine what is the precise worst example of disembodied women's bodies being used as a source of amusement, but instead to illustrate how ubiquitous they are.

Yes, some of these things are violently misogynist, and some of them are merely stupid—and, individually, maybe very few of them are a Big Fucking Deal. Regarded collectively, however, they begin to paint a picture of a culture strewn with objectifying detritus of varyingly violent natures—a culture in which we all swim, in which we raise our daughters, even as we tell them they are men's equal and socialize them from birth on all the things women are meant to do to "avoid rape," despite female bodies being dehumanized and their parts used as hilarious novelties to be played with, and in some cases abused, by our sons.

This series isn't about my (or anyone else's) being personally offended or hurt or oppressed by an individual disembodied thing. It isn't about the capacity to find an individual disembodied thing funny. It's about the cumulative effect that these items have on our culture, and the relationship between their ubiquity and the narratives that perpetuate the most pernicious inequality of regarding women as non-autonomous and their bodies as community property.

[H/T to Shaker Erica.]

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This Day in History

On December 12, 2000, the decision on Bush v. Gore was handed down by the Supreme Court.

About 10 p.m. EST on December 12, the United States Supreme Court handed down its ruling in favor of Bush by a 5–4 vote, effectively ending the legal review of the vote count with Bush in the lead. Seven of the nine justices cited differing vote-counting standards from county to county and the lack of a single judicial officer to oversee the recount, both of which, they ruled, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution.

[...]

Bush v. Gore demonstrated all too clearly that the Supreme Court has a profound and lasting effect on the daily lives of all Americans, who look to the Supreme Court as a fair arbiter of the law and our nation’s highest values.

As I've said before, it all comes down to those three little words: The Supreme Court.

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From the Ridiculous to the Unfathomably Ridiculous: Sublime Ain't Nowhere in Sight Anymore

I truly cannot begin to express how profoundly exhausted I am with election stories about religion, in no small part because they are getting sillier and sillier—and this is surely the silliest yet:

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, ''Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?''

I mean, this is to what our national political dialogue has been reduced by these idiots. Rather than teasing out the flaws in Romney's policy platform, Huckabee instead impugns his character merely by accusing him of believing Jesus and Satan are brothers, because everyone knows that's way wackier than believing that Jesus is God's son but Satan is just a fallen angel!

Are you fucking kidding me?

It's bad enough that presidential candidates are debating the finer points of theology in the first place, but that the debate is supposed to prove who would make a better President of the United States is manifestly preposterous. We have lost the plot, people.

Listen, I don't give a shit if a politician is a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Pagan, a Zoroastrian, a Scientologist, a Pastafarian, or a worshipper of the Great Pumpernickel Loaf from the Eighth Dimension of the Planet Zorgon. All I ask from the people who want my vote is that they not attempt to legislate their personal spiritual beliefs or pen asinine resolutions proclaiming their belief system to be Teh Greatest in Teh Universe!!11!!!—or even "one of the great religions of the world," because you'll never convince me in a million years that a government overtly sanctioning such feelings of supremacy has nothing to do with despicable shit like "Happy Hanukkah" eliciting a beating.

I'm an atheist; I'm married to an atheist; I've got friends who are atheists; atheists contribute to this blog; I also have family members who are Christian; I've got friends who are Christian and Jewish and Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist and Pagan; religious people contribute to this blog—and the one thing on which all of us agree is that religion doesn't belong in politics, because all of us are smart enough to have long ago discerned the basic freakin' concept that religion, no less one very precise manifestation of one specific religion, is not the singular genesis of morality. No one's got the market cornered on morals.

What someone believes has only the capacity to convey about them that they believe that thing. Saying "I'm a Christian" or "I'm agnostic" or "I'm a Sikh" says nothing about a person's intrinsic character, despite what plenty of people who wear each of those labels (and others) would have us believe. Whether one believes that Jesus and Satan were respectively God's son and a fallen angel, brothers, gay lovers, or characters in a fairy tale shouldn't serve as a substitute for the collective quality of a person established by actions; what one believes does not equal who one is.

So it doesn't really matter a fig to me whether Romney believes Jesus and Satan are brothers; I still know he's a disingenuous, opportunistic, integrity-challenged dodo. That Huckabee is trying to make it an issue only confirms that he is a brainless, ethically-impaired gobshite, hiding behind his religion because he's got nothing else to offer.

Their respective religious beliefs didn't figure at all in those calculations.

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Waterboarding: What's Good for the Goose...

I'll have to give kudos to senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) for finally confronting government officials (and their psycho supporters) with the blatantly obvious consequence of this government's tacit approval of using waterboarding in interrogation: If it's ok to use on "them", then it's ok for "them" to use on us.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who asked the hypothetical, pushed [Brigadier General Thomas W.] Hartmann on his answer, asking him directly if it would be a “violation of the Geneva Convention”:

GRAHAM: You mean you’re not equipped to give a legal opinion as to whether or not Iranian military waterboarding, secret security agents waterboarding downed airmen is a violation of the Geneva Convention?

HARTMANN: I am not prepared to answer that question, Senator.

After Hartmann twice refused to answer, Graham dismissed him in disgust, saying he had “no further questions.”

The reality of the situation is that if we hear of one of our soldiers being waterboarded, you will see everyone puff their chests out and scream in righteous indignation for the interrogators' heads. And after they're done screaming, they might come to terms with the fact that their support of waterboarding wasn't just for the scenario of the USA on the giving end. It was support of the procedure itself, in all scenarios.

Update: Even when you think Republicans might join the side of reason, it's really a front. Take a gander at the full speech prior to the aforementioned quote (H/T to Petulant for the clip).

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Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Step by Step



I completely forgot this show ever existed.

And it ran for seven freaking years.

What a pile.

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Question of the Day

What's your most creative expression of exasperation?

This question was actually suggested by Mustang Bobby, who cites "San frijoles!" and "Elbereth!" among his commonly employed exclamations of consternation.

Mine, as three years of archives suggests, are seemingly endless and rarely creative. "Fucking wankstains!" and "Fuckity fuck fuck!" are about as imaginative as it gets, I fear.

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FYI

[FYI 1; FYI 2; FYI 3; FYI 4; FYI 5. Hint: They're better if you click 'em!]

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Vote for Paqaq!

Chicago's (truly awesome) Shedd Aquarium has a new baby beluga, and, in conjunction with the local NBC affiliate, they're holding a contest to choose his name.

Shaker KarateMonkey emailed me to let me know that Shaker RedSonja (who happens to be his wife) submitted a name, and hers was chosen as one of the five finalists! Her submission is the last name on the list, Paqaq (Pah-kak), which means "One who gets into everything." RedSonja is just the most passionate animal-lover evah, and it would be really cool if she could win.

So stop by and vote for Paqaq! Go RedSonja!

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Dude, how much are we paying him to introduce shit like this?

As another shining example of our democracy at work, Rep. Steve King (R-Asswipe) has introduced resolution HR 847, titled "Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith."

As evidence to justify my recommendation that we demand his ass be escorted out of Washington for wasting everyone's fucking time and money, we should probably take a look at the text of the bill.

Whereas Christmas, a holiday of great significance to Americans and many other cultures and nationalities, is celebrated annually by Christians throughout the United States and the world;

No, the holiday is not of great significance "to Americans," as if every single member of the population stands in awe of this day. Americans are not a monolithic group, and are not in unanimous agreement in how they regard the religious and secular aspects of the holiday. I don't particularly appreciate the suggestion that people in this country who do not share King's view of Christmas are de facto un-American.

Whereas there are approximately 225,000,000 Christians in the United States, making Christianity the religion of over three-fourths of the American population;

Whereas there are approximately 2,000,000,000 Christians throughout the world, making Christianity the largest religion in the world and the religion of about one-third of the world population;

In other words, his religion is better than your religion. And you damn well better believe that his religion is much better than that other big religion we're trying to wipe out over there so they don't wipe us out over here. For a religion that has as many followers as King claims it has, he's mighty insecure about it, don't ya think?

Whereas Christians identify themselves as those who believe in the salvation from sin offered to them through the sacrifice of their savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and who, out of gratitude for the gift of salvation, commit themselves to living their lives in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Bible;

This is evidence of King's nuttery, thinking that all Christians live their lives in accordance with biblical teachings. One need not look any further than his current leader for proof. Still, I don't see why this identification needs to placed in US law.

Whereas Christians and Christianity have contributed greatly to the development of western civilization;

I don't consider the Crusades or the Inquisition to be such great contributions to the development of civilization, but hey - to each his own.

Whereas the United States, being founded as a constitutional republic in the traditions of western civilization, finds much in its history that points observers back to its roots in Christianity;

War?

Whereas on December 25 of each calendar year, American Christians observe Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of their savior, Jesus Christ;

Whereas for Christians, Christmas is celebrated as a recognition of God's redemption, mercy, and Grace; and

Whereas many Christians and non-Christians throughout the United States and the rest of the world, celebrate Christmas as a time to serve others:

Given that the event this holiday celebrates occurred 2007 years ago and has been imprinted on our cultural psyche, why the reminder? And can someone please explain what the hell all this is doing in a House resolution? Well, you've not seen anything until you get to the actual resolution. This is where the dividing line is drawn between those who want a picture of Jesus on the country flag and those who don't:

Now, therefore be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) recognizes the Christian faith as one of the great religions of the world;

There's that insecurity again. After all this time, King still feels that Christians need to reassert themselves as the winners of the amazing theology race.

(2) expresses continued support for Christians in the United States and worldwide;

So, does this mean that extremist groups who believe in Christianity will get funded for their activities?

(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;

I acknowledge that without the inquisition, we never would've had the great song and dance number from History of the World Part 1.

(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;

And in the slaughtering, torturing, and execution of countless innocent people, all in the name of Christ. Seriously, if you're going to talk about your history as a faith, then you can't cherry pick. It's all or nothing.

(5) rejects bigotry and persecution directed against Christians, both in the United States and worldwide;

You've got to be completely kidding me. Doctor, heal thyself.

(6) expresses its deepest respect to American Christians and Christians throughout the world.

Everyone else who is not part of that Christian family can go fuck themselves and find somewhere else to live. And to think that these people in DC have the temerity to play holier-than-thou against the people who have already taken the next logical step from this resolution and have turned their countries into restrictive, misogynist, gay-hating, racist theocracies, intolerant of any religious beliefs besides their own.

And this is why Congress approval is at an all-time low, why we don't have affordable health care for the entire population, why we're years behind Europe and Asia technologically and environmentally, why nothing seems to ever get done, and why we're a fucking laughing stock in the global community. It's because the government is full of power-hungry people who do nothing more than pander and spew bullshit instead of figuring out how best to fix our country. It's not just the President, folks. It's the whole stinking lot of them.

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Huckabee Leads in Georgia; Picks Up Hawt Endorsement

Surging Schmuckabee, who's been busily winning hearts and vaginas with ditties like "Stand Three Paces Behind Your Man" and "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Independent Women or Faggots," is now the leading GOP contender in Georgia—and, to put a fat old cherry on top of that peachy sundae, he's picked up an endorsement from Jim Gilchrist, founder of the racist fuck-knuckle brigade known as the Minutemen.

Meanwhile, CNN reports that Schmuckabee would lose to the top Democratic contenders by double digits (John Edwards, who also performs best against each of the leading Republicans, absolutely demolishes the Schmuckster by 25 points!), and Drudge is reporting that the Democrats are "holding fire" on him until he gets his party's nomination—at which point they will unleash a torrent of oppo-research on him that will presumably contain the revelations that he had weight loss surgery, keeps detailed sketches for the Feminazi-Queerbait Detention Center tucked inside his Bible, and originally hails from Planet Douchitron.

Please, please, please, GOP—I don't ask you for much, but I beg you: Make this guy your nominee.

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More, Please

Yesterday, Jeff posted about the appalling ordeal of Jamie Leigh Jones, an employee of Halliburton/KBR based in Baghdad who alleges she was gang-raped by male coworkers and then held against her will by her employer, until, by the grace of a sympathetic guard, she was able to phone her father, who involved their congressman, who, in turn, got the State Department involved.

The story is getting a lot of attention around the blogosphere: Marcella Chester, Pandagon, Pam's House Blend, Digby, Majikthise, Larisa Alexandrovna, Jane Hamsher, Atrios, C&L, Cernig, Michael Stickings, The Carpetbagger Report, Matt Yglesias, Jesus' General, Michael Hussey, Comments from Left Field, Group News Blog, The Democratic Daily, Daily Kos, All Spin Zone, Think Progress, John Cole, The Agonist, Open Left, Oliver Willis, Bastard.Logic, Cliff Schecter…etc. I know there are more bloggers writing about it, and my apologies to those whom I missed.

I'm glad to see so many people blogging about an alleged sexual assault. That is an unqualified statement. I am glad to see my peers blogging about this story.

I'm sad to see how few gave it the compassionate treatment Jeff did, framing it in the long view of an ongoing human rights issue, especially on Human Rights Day, instead of just another opportunity to take a whack at Bush, and Halliburton, and the war generally—not that they doesn't deserve it.

All I can think about, you see, is Shark-fu's post Black and Missing, and how everyone is rightfully concerned for and outraged on behalf of the blond, pretty, white, American Jamie Leigh Jones, for whom I have profound compassion as a sister in the crappy survivors' club which no one wants to join and seeks no new members, and how that spotlighted concern only serves to highlight how much work those of us doing consciousness-raising on the global issue of sexual violence against women still have to do—because about 5,000 cases of rape have been reported (suggesting the number of actual rapes is much higher) in just one eastern province of Congo this year alone, prompting the UN's top humanitarian official to describe the prevalence and intensity of sexual violence against women in Congo as "almost unimaginable," and in Darfur, Sudan, the Janjaweed has turned rape into a systematic weapon of ethnic cleansing, and in the war zone in northern Uganda, rape is endemic and justice elusive, and in Brazil, rape is a problem, and in Saudi Arabia, rape is a problem, and in Australia, rape is a problem, and all over the world, rape is a problem, just like it's a problem all over America every bloody day, but none of that ever gets as many posts as Jamie Leigh Jones has, which breaks my heart in a dozen different ways, especially when I know someone, somewhere, who skims past this line will think I mean that Jamie Leigh Jones should get less attention, when really what I mean is couldn't everyone else have more, since maybe we don't really need another story about that lighter Britney stole.

Somebody hand me my teaspoon.

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Go, Speed Racer, Go!

Casting Christopher Hitchens as Mr. Royalton is an inspired choice. He was excellent in V for Vendetta.

H/T to Oddjob, who got it from Sully, who got it from Peter Suderman, who notes that Speed Racer "perfectly...fits in with and builds on the Wachowskis' aesthetic, what with the brain-melting visual effects, the throbbing techno soundtrack, the comic-book eroticism, the blending of fetish-fashion and high-style designer Eurotrashiness, the stoic, super-powered hero intoning Zen bromides, the bad comic antics."

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Something Exstinks in Here

You're tired, you're dumb, and nobody likes you:

Faster than you can say "Facebook," the under-30 set is moving toward the Democratic Party.

…Forty-four percent of 18-to-29-year-olds consider themselves Democrats, while 23 percent identify with the Republican Party, according to a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll. It wasn't always this way: President Ronald Reagan won 59 percent of the youth vote in his 1984 bid for a second term.

"It cannot help your party if you're a Republican to have had many people come of age in an administration that has so botched so many enterprises," said Michael O'Hanlon, director of Opportunity 08, a broad study of the electorate by the Washington-based Brookings Institution.

A spokesperson for the American electorate said: "Duh."

Despite all the semantic genius of Republican strategists, the one thing they've failed to really address is that the politics of youth—and ergo the politics of the future—is always optimistic. (It's no coincidence that Mr. Audacity of Hope appeals disproportionately to the young.) For the last decade, the GOP has been very successful as a party of doomsayers, a party of fear-mongerers, a party of protectionists who speak to the terror of desperate, aging bigots who see their cloistered world of carefully guarded privilege beginning to crumble. Yes, you're special because you're white, soothes the GOP immigration policy. Yes, you're special because you're straight, soothes the GOP same-sex marriage policy. Yes, you're special because you support the patriarchy, soothes the GOP policies on women's issues and their posture as manly men cowboy-knight-soldier-warriors. Yes, you're special because you're a Christian, soothes the GOP faith-based initiatives. You're very, very special—and we'll protect your traditions. We'll protect you.

The thing is, every American generation is progressively less interested in being protected from brown people and gays and uppity women and atheists, because every American generation is progressively more brown and tolerant and egalitarian and politically secular. Add to that a younger generation increasingly green, and the GOP isn't selling much of anything the future voter is looking to buy.

The depressing, alienating lack of optimism in the contemporary GOP platform also speaks to why Reagan did so well pulling younger voters: For all his despicable conservative scumbaggery and vile policies, he was always sunny. If there was something gloomy plaguing the nation, he wasn't foolhardy enough to address it; he just ignored it altogether. Reagan packaged his insufferable bigotry and corporate cocksucking in a big sanguine package and topped it with a cheerful bow and gave another speech about a shining city on a hill.

Meanwhile, Bush just keeps on smirking as he promises to hate everyone you do.


If you're a dinosaur, that is.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!