Face Paint, and Images that Lie

If you watch this video

carefully, you'll understand some of the reasons why women struggle so with self-image, and body image. This video is about lying with images.

Keep in mind that this is a promo film for Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty, which, in and of itself, is not a bad thing, and it is in part about increasing the self-esteem of young women.

But keep in mind too, that the ideal of female beauty has changed through time, as this video from Phillip Scott Johnson shows.

We are, all of us, beautiful.

Mind Your Own Beeswax, Facebook

Today I was faced with a big scare when my four-year-old woke up with neck pain, screaming at 2:00 in the morning. We rushed her to the emergency room and waited for a while to discover that, thankfully, it was just a muscle issue and not something broken, meningitis, or anything else from my wildest nightmares. I wanted to post it on Facebook when I got home so my family would know she was okay and I wouldn’t have to call every single person (status updates have been making our lives that much more simple, amirite?), not to mention explain my whereabouts to anyone expecting me for various appointments. Plus, it’s just nice to be able to share such good, relieving news with friends and family.

Except… I didn’t post it. In fact, I haven’t been posting hardly anything remotely personal in weeks since Facebook has decided to go all snoopy in our business. Not only are there websites in existence to search your FB stuff in order to use it against you; Facebook itself has become so lax in enforcing privacy settings—indeed, even in changing them without much, if any, notice—that people can no longer choose which parts of their profiles they wish to remain hidden because, guess what? They’re available for complete public viewing.

It’s not that my daughter’s ordeal is a huge privacy concern, but it’s definitely nobody else’s business. What if she grows up and tries to get healthcare on her own only for someone to discover a “preexisting condition” when she was four? (Hopefully the new healthcare laws will not allow that to happen, but our insurance companies sure know their loopholes.)

We shouldn’t have to peer over our shoulders every time we want to post something for our family and friends to hear about. Sure, posting about every cheese sandwich we eat is very boring and tedious to read, but if that’s what people want to share with one another then by all means, they should share it. Facebook should maintain a general sense of decency by letting people choose what they want to share with whom—and those of us who can’t stomach the BS should just leave until they start doing it. I’ve had plenty of friends either consider leaving, spend less time on the site, or even delete all of their personal information simply because of this baloney, and I’ve definitely diminished my own time spent there, too.

Send Facebook a message through the American Civil Liberties Union website here. Let them know that when you signed up for Facebook and “agreed to its conditions,” you did not agree to the condition changes that have been made regarding your personal privacy.

Buffalo Wings for Mr. Obama?

Yesterday, May 13th, the President of the United States did Buffalo, New York. Mr. Obama was on a trip to show his support for small business. One of the places where he made a stop was at a company called Industrial Support, which manufactures "a variety of products, from aeronautical parts to salad bars for the grocery industry" Mr. Obama was given a tour of the plant and chatted with the owner, managers and workers.

The President also stopped for lunch at a Buffalo wing joint, (Duff's Famous Wings), where he surprised the staff and the customers of the joint, and he ordered ten Buffalo wings, five cooked extra crispy, and he ordered fries. See the video below.

Ten  Buffalo wings? Half extra crispy? And FRIES? Well, did he forget about his wife's anti-obesity campaign? Sure, he looks fit, but is this a good example for the rest of us? And I supposed that he didn't eat all ten wings by himself? But still, Buffalo wings? The order taker did say the menu included soup and salad. But of course, that would have looked too wimpy. Huh, huh -- Yeah, bring on the Buffalo wings, food for a hungry man's lunch.  And the fries too! Progressives can't look wimpy.

Lars Vilks: A University Pulls The Welcome Mat

The Uppsala University, in Uppsala, Sweden, says Lars Vilks, the Swedish cartoon artist will be no longer be  invited to speak at the University, --  and the knee jerk response of Western media is: Oh, the University is kowtowing after Muslim students physically attack him! -- And media light is asking the question,  "Are radical Muslims succeeding in muzzling free speech?"  Mr. Vilks was invited to the University to lecture about the limits of artistic freedom, and maybe to explain why he drew a cartoon of Mohammed with the head of a dog, and what does he do? He shows a film of Mohammed in a gay bar.  An University spokesperson said the movie was provocative," with sexual content." Judging from a video of the incident, there was at least one child present in the audience.

Mr. Vilks told the Associated Press that he has booby-trapped his own house and that he sleeps with an ax beside his bed, that he has to do these things to defend his right to "unfettered speech" -– regardless of whether it offends Muslims -– he does what he does as a point of principle. "This must be carried through. You cannot allow it to be stopped,"  he said, and he said that he wouldn't hesitate to give repeat performance.

He must think that in giving that lecture at Uppsala University, the way he did, was being clever. That was not being clever. That was being an ass. Maybe next time he will pull his pants down and show his willie, and proclaim his freedom.

Of course, I don't condone death threats or violence, but I fully understand the University's position.

An Assist to Lawrence Taylor?

It's the New York Post  to the rescue of its hometown hero?  The headlines shouts, "16-year-old hooker told friend: I didn't have sex with Taylor."

Lawrence Taylor, football hall of famer, ex star with the New York Giants is in the legal soup with law enforcement in Rockland County, New York. The 16-year-old, whose claims about having sex with ex-Giant star, in a hotel located in that county, that led to a rape charge against him, actually bragged to a friend about making “easy money” because “I didn’t even have to f— him,” a source told The Post.

The friend, who drove with the 16th year old to meet Mr. Taylor, that night, gave a sworn statement, that the girl told her immediately afterward, that Taylor had engaged in masturbation before paying her $300 — not sexual intercourse or oral sex, said the source. If what the friend is saying is true, the source noted, “that clears him of rape-3” — the third-degree rape charge lodged against Mr.Taylor.

The Post reports, the Rockland County prosecutors did not respond to a request for comment. and that Lawrence Taylor’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, declined to comment, yesterday, when this story broke of the sworn statement of 16-year old's "friend." Last week, after Mr Taylor was released on $75,000 bond, Aidala said to the press, L.T. told him -- “I didn’t have sex with anybody, period.”

Man Speaks Out After Shark Attack -- Ouch?

Item -- "Florida Man Speaks Out After Shark Attack," Associated Press -- May 13, 2010 -- "A Florida marine researcher is now telling his harrowing story of how he survived being bitten by a lemon shark. The attack happened two weeks ago, but the evidence remains quite visible." See video.

Dude is a what? A  marine scientist?  He was where? In a boat. And he did what? He leaned over to take measurement of a shark. Okay, lemon shark -- Is that like in lemon flavoring?. Does that adjective "lemon" suppose to make the shark less a shark? Maybe somebody thought they were dealing with a cartoon shark, but then life would be a cartoon, and it is not. Oh? So he says he's been doing this kind of thing for six years? That he's been in situations where there have been lots of sharks around? So this is the first time one of them took him for lunch? He says he's going to do it again -- keep working with sharks because he likes working with them. Doesn't that sound lame? He might like working with sharks, but do they like working with him?

Lars Vilks: Provocateur

Swedish artist Lars Vilks who drew a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog was interrupted by protesters yesterday, Tuesday,  during his lecture  at Uppsala University on the limits of artistic freedom  in the world of art. He told the Associated Press that he was attacked by a man who leaped from the front row and head-butted him. An Uppsala University spokeswoman, Pernilla Bjork, said Vilks was showing a provocative film with sexual content to the crowd when the attacker ran up and hit him in the face with his fists. The police later said the attacker was stopped before he could reach Vilks and that the artist may have bumped into plainclothes officers who briskly escorted him from the room. Police said three protesters were detailed. See Video below of the melee.

Methinks Lars Vilks considers himself a hero. a champion for freedom. I don't.  Bare with me. If an artists drew a picture of Jesus on the body of a dog, or the picture of an obviously Jewish person on the body of a dog, or the picture of an African-American on the body of a dog, or the picture of an ordinary Arab on the body of a dog -- what in the Hades would be so heroic about that? Of course one could argue that any artist should be able to draw whatever he wants without fear of death threats or violence, and that is Vilks's cause. Well, no death threats yes. No violence, okay. But there are some things one doesn't do, unless one wants to provoke a violent reaction. One doesn't insult some ones mother, some ones flag, some ones religion, unless one expects a punch in the nose. Mr. Vilks is provoking a punch in the nose. But should he be punched in the nose? No. He should be criticized and then ignored.

Also, there is no excusing these  angry violent demonstrators.  Do they think for one moment that God is so weak -- or is it that their faith in God's power is so weak -- that their faith can be damaged by whatever a foolish person draws? Do they see Vilks as a threat to their religion? Silliness.  The strong don't bend themselves out of shape, when they hear a barking dog. Barking dog? Vilks? But he is one who thinks he's brilliant? Barking isn't brilliant, it is what dogs do.

Okay, one may ask: shouldn't the dog be free to bark? If he is afraid to bark, then what does that say? Barking dogs will bark, that is what barking dogs do. And the strong aren't afraid of the barking of a barking dog.

Trapped By Big Name

For those who haven't heard and seen, former NFL football star Lawrence Taylor has been arrested and arraigned. He has been charged with third degree rape of a prostitute, a 16 old runaway. See the video below.

Lawrence Taylor is in trouble, maybe big trouble, because he is Lawrence Taylor, because he is famous. He's been trapped by his name. Seems that cops were cracking down on prosecution, hauling in a pimp, who was pimping underage girls. Seems that Lawrence Taylor found himself caught up in this. Not condoning prosecution. Certainly, not condoning having sex with children. According to press reports, Lawrence Taylor told police that he paid for sex. Was told by the pimp the girl was legal, was nineteen.  He was wrong. The cops, I'm sure, checked the girl's birth certificate and Mr. Taylor did not. The girl may have looked nineteen or twenty seven. It is hard to tell the difference by sight, of whom is nineteen and whom is sixteen. Anyway, the cops have a big fish, a big football hall of famer.  Note how full the courthouse is. This is a big show. All over the Internet. All over cable. Cops have what they want, to send a message to American men to get your sex at home. Lawrence Taylor looks like he has had and is still having a long, very bad night..

Lifting Rekers' Luggage And Other Euphemisms

So another infamous homophobe's hypocrisy got exposed. The Rev. George Alan Rekers, the co-founder of the Family Research Council,  a  chieftain among  gay bashers, has been shown to be a big blown up balloon of  bowel gas,  and now is a punch bag for gags, a  magnet for buffoonery. For those whom haven't heard, the Rev. Dr. George Alan Rekers, after being outed, admitted that he hired a young man, who happens to be gay, as a "travel assistant" for a 10-day trip  to Europe  -- as a strong young man to help him with his luggage. He hired this man from RentBoy.com. The website is NSFW.

"I had surgery," Rekers  told an inquiring reporter from the Miami News Times, who broke the story, which outed the preacher, "and I can't lift luggage. That's why I hired him."

The euphemisms "lift my luggage" has made it into the Urban Dictionary and has immortalized Preacher Rekers.

The hired young man has admitted to doing more than taking care of the preacher's luggage. The preacher has become a joke. Last night Jimmy Kimmel  took a look at euphemisms, at  Preacher Rekers, and at Preacher Rekers' euphemism.

Ray Towler: Freed By DNA After 29 Years!

Anybody who believes in the infallibility of man, or of the criminal justice system, or of anything run by human beings has bumped his head. Yesterday, in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ray Towler, a man who was sent to prison for life for a crime that he didn't commit, was freed after serving twenty nine years. He spent most of his life in jail. He was released by DNA testing, which proved his innocence. For more details, read the account of the case in the Columbus Dispatch.

Mr. Towler is a much better man than most. He showed no signs of anger or animosity for losing so many years behind bars. I would have had many choice words for the criminal justice system, and for the delay in DNA testing, testing now is  required by a recent state law, and for the prosecutors, whom while in convicting an innocent man, allowed the guilty person to escape justice. And so,  Mr Towler is eligible for a cash payment in the six figures, so what? He lost twenty nine years of his life. Well, I guess, justice, even when it is delayed, is better than justice denied.

DNA testing has exonerated 253 men nationally, but only a few have served more time than Mr. Towler.

 

Raymond Towler freed after 29 years in prison for rape he did not commit

Pages