Blogging on Meds

Weird…two stories in two days on Muslim women who’ve had premarital sex trying to get a hymenoplasty, where a doctor uses “stitches to repair the broken membrane so that it partially covers the opening of the vagina.” Why would women do this? Because in many Muslim countries, women are expected to be virgins when they’re married, so some are opting for the surgery to magically become virgins again. The WSJ did a story two days ago about the uproar in France (subscription needed) following a court’s ruling annuling a marriage because the man discovered that his wife wasn’t a virgin on their wedding night. The court said that it was a breach of contract, and now people are calling for the Justice Minister to resign! Then, the NYT did a story about Muslim women and virginity.

Personally, chalk me down as someone who’s a bit torn on this issue. On the one hand, I can understand critics’ arguments that the procedure perpetuates the repression of women in Muslim countries and stifles attempts to advance womens’ rights in those nations. You can’t become a virgin again, no matter how hard you try…not to mention that you’re lying to your prospective husband and presumably your family, and his. At the same time, shouldn’t this at least be an option for Muslim women, or any woman for that matter, who chooses to do it? One of the arguments in favor of abortion is that women who are desperate enough to avoid having a child will turn to dangerous methods, including underground abortions, that could lead to death. Indeed, around 70,000 women die each year from unsafe abortions. Part of the reason some women get an abortion is cultural (i.e. it’s taboo to have a child out of wedlock and can lead to the woman and her family being ostracized), and that’s true whether you’re Muslim or Catholic. Now, I’m not sure if there is some sort of underground hymenoplasty, and there certainly doesn’t seem to be any way to do it yourself, so maybe this argument is a stretch. But, some women may think that they’ll be severely ostracized and may even be put in physical danger unless they prove that they are virgins, so shouldn’t they at least have an outlet to have this procedure done by a trained doctor in a safe environment? Thoughts?

Now that she’s a virgin again, she only wears white…

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Ok, you’re the chief judge of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California and one of the highest-ranking judges in the land. People say you have a brilliant legal mind, and some people think that you’ll one day be sitting on the Supreme Court. So, what do you do in your spare time?

(a) Pore over legal briefs

(b) Give lectures at bar associations or at university law schools

(c) Post sexually explicit material on your website, including pictures of women on all fours painted like cows, a half-naked man “cavorting” with a farm animal, masturbation, and scenes of public sex.

Judge Alex Kozinski chose (c). When the LA Times inquired about the pictures, he responded that some of them were “funny”, and he said that he’d placed them on the website, because he thought that the public couldn’t access it. Then, the next day, Judge Kozinski told the Times that his son, Yale, called and said that he’d uploaded most of the photos, and that sounded right “because I sure don’t remember putting some of that stuff there.” All of this happened a couple of days before Kozinski was scheduled to hear arguments in a case against Ira Issacs, who is accused of distributing sexual fetish videos that include beastiality! Did Issacs luck out or what?! Overseeing his trial is a guy who’s into bestiality, or at least into viewing it. Of course, the trial was suspended for 48 hours, and Kozinski has now called for the ethics panel to investigate his conduct.

Now, when I first read this story yesterday, I thought…how could this guy have been dumb enough to post that kind of stuff on a publicly accessible website? Naturally, he was under the impression that it was totally private. The LA Times confirmed his son’s claim that it’s on his private server and the domain name is registered to Yale Kozinski. Basically, his son said that he didn’t configure the site properly and didn’t know that it could be accessed by the public. He said that only family and friends had access to the site. Still, it seems like maybe one of those family members or friends sold him out. According to the LA Times,

“Before the site was blocked, visitors to http://alex.kozinski.com saw a message: “Ain’t nothin’ here. Y’all best be movin’ on, compadre.” Only those who knew to type in the name of a subdirectory could see the content on the site, which also included some of Kozinski’s essays and legal writings as well as music files and personal photos.”

How else would a reporter get the name of the subfolder unless someone who knew it sold Kozinski out? Scott Glover, the LA Times journalist, hasn’t said (to the best of my knowledge).

Naturally, people are all upset. To me, the only issue here is that he should recuse himself from this case. That much seems pretty obvious. Should he get in trouble for viewing bestiality? Hell no. The guy can do whatever he wants in his spare time, assuming it is legal, since he’s a judge and all. This is all pretty embarrassing for the Kozinskis, and unfortunately for him, this is going to kill any chance of him ever getting to the Supreme Court. Still, as the LA Times noted, only Congress can fire federal judges, although maybe his fellow judges will censure him (seems unlikely given that it’s California).

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The only pic I could find of the L platform, but it sort of works.

I ran across an interesting story from the New York City News Service a while ago. Basically it says what most New Yorkers could easily guess; the Bedford Ave. stop off of the L Train is the number one spot in the city for Missed Connections postings on Craigslist. These things are my new favorite reads, (as a spectator only, I’ve not fallen to those depths of desperation yet). Sometimes the shit on them is too good:

“You were tall, dark and handsome - plain and simple - in a blue cowboy-style shirt, short running shorts and flip-flops…

“I was scruffy, blue cap, green shirt, jeans, reading some steinbeck.”

“You had a beard , thin and kinda tall, great clothes, and talking on your phone…”

These posts really narrow it down for Williamsburg, eh?

I knew a dude who used to basically search every spot he’d visited the day before on there every day at work. He definitely found himself alot and would actually date chicks off of it. Shit boggles my mind.

That trend will go great with this one, from AFP:

“One in four adults living in New York City has the virus that causes genital herpes.”

Yup.

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“It takes a lot of money to look this cheap” Dolly Parton

Is anyone else creeped out by Mariah Carey? She gives me that uncomfortable feeling when she speaks in public or poses for a camera and it’s eerily similar to a pap smear, no, worse, to the way I once felt when Anna Nicole Smith would talk
Here are some other similarities I’ve noticed…
They both have at one point or another removed clothes on various TV appearances. Mariah on TRL and Anna Nicole on an awards show.

They both dress, or did dress in Anna Nicole’s case, like South Beach or Jersey Shore (no offense Rick V.) mall employees from the nineties.

They both love, loved to say or sing “Touch my body” as in Mariah’s new hit single and like in Anna Nicole’s infamous speech “ Like my body”.  What we need to do now is take away that poor baby Daniel Lyn and give her to her rightful born-again Mommy Mariah! Furthermore, the butt load of monetary compensation that comes with that kid will surely make Nick Cannon’s sacrifice worth it.  I wonder if this explains the whirlwind wedding! Maybe he knew something we didn’t. Hummm….

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The University of Miami is conducting a study to find out if Viagra can increase cycling performance at high altitudes. I think we need somebody to carefully review old Tour De France footage to check Lance Armstrong for raging boners in the mountain stages cause he always killed it there. Does it still work when you only have one nut?

From the Miami Herald:

At a lab on the Coral Gables campus, cyclists swallow a 50-milligram Viagra pill or placebo, step onto a stationary bike, warm up, then pedal at race pace for 3.6 miles while breathing oxygen-reduced air that simulates the effect of riding on a 12,800-foot mountain.

The Tour de Romance? No. None of the subjects has had an erection

BOOOO! What’s it good for then?

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Please excuse the maintenance screen, I’ve just done some worpdress and theme upgrades to make the lives of our bloggers much easier and make our blog slightly cooler.

You may notice that the HOME link is the blog title, so sorry to partially confuse you for a minute.

Please report your problems if you have any!

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He made it, he loved it, and when Dr. Fredric J. Baur died at age 89 this week, he asked to be buried within it. The Pringles chip tube (which to be honest is a pretty amazing container, or so says my 11 year old self) was a huge deal in 1970 and his biggest accomplishment, so being the rational and well thought out man that he was, the obvious place, the only place for his remains were to go in the vertical container he was so proud of.

Rest in Peace Doc! Thanks for the radical tube!

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I listen to right wing radio on most of my commutes to and from the office each day. I listen to the constant looping of short controversial soundbites from Rev. Jeremiah Wright surrounded by pin-point opinions expressed that it’s their proof that Barack Obama will surely destroy America and the world.

But when it comes to the ridiculous sermons from McCain’s cheerleaders for the end of the world, antisemitism is presented as “biblically correct”, Hitler was only doing god’s work and Hagee is held up as “somebody who obviously loves the Jewish people” as said by a failed weatherman turned self-described “neo-con, theo-con” who likes to use the word “wetback” on his Bay Area conservative talk radio recently.
Though it’s not a stretch to say any of this… the bible has some pretty gnarly language that can be spun to validate whatever insane, violent and murderous theory that anybody can think up. Christians have been doing this for 2000 years, (Crusades anyone?) using the words of the bible to kill, control and defraud the population. Antisemitism is baked into the cake, but that doesn’t make it ok to keep around 2008 years later so you can claim Israel is our strongest ally (in concert with the Conservative world view) and court the Jewish voting block as your base while still condemning their people to the depths of hell. Unless, of course, you’re Hagee and you’re waiting for the world to end.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Americans would finally remember why the our country was founded partly on religious freedom? As our Constitution states in Article VI:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Religious extremism in all forms seems (by a guess) to be on the rise but it’s far from new. When there’s urgent issues and problems to deal with for our future, religion is only part of the problem. So it’s time to re-take religion out of the equation and leave the pastors to preach their garbage in the confines of their holy houses.

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Pigs have wings, it’s snowing in hell and the sky is no longer blue. Oh, and Clay Aiken , star of American Idol and now Spamalot, is going to be a daddy. Gross.

I felt the same way when Jacko knocked up his assistant, but what’s really got my goat is that supposedly they did it the old fashioned way. huh?

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I always knew Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was a naughty girl. Any woman who spends the majority of her life getting spanked by the war profit mongers of Chevron and the Bush Administration must deep deep down, at some level, like it rough.

Just when you thought she couldn’t top herself, she becomes enlisted in a badboy club no one saw coming!

From the Huffpost:

“I was thrilled,” Rice said of her late-night encounter with Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs and handed out backstage passes and T-shirts to her staff.

 

“It was really fun to meet Kiss and Gene Simmons,” she told reporters, noting that they seemed well-informed about current events. The band had asked if she could stop by after she finished dinner with the Swedish foreign minister and Rice readily agreed, she said.

What happened to the smart, sweet girl from Alabama who loved to play the piano? Who valued education, womens rights and civil rights at that! Why must she insist on surrounding herself with men that hate women? Men that devalue women and society in general! Is she a dominatrix? An Opus Dei?

What makes an intelligent and savvy woman so fucking evil and self loathing? What happened in 1982 to make Condileezza Rice flip the evil switch?

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An incredibly fascinating science story…from the New York Times:

“Two monkeys with tiny sensors in their brains have learned to control a mechanical arm with just their thoughts, using it to reach for and grab food and even to adjust for the size and stickiness of morsels when necessary, scientists reported on Wednesday. The report, released online by the journal Nature, is the most striking demonstration to date of brain-machine interface technology. Scientists expect that technology will eventually allow people with spinal cord injuries and other paralyzing conditions to gain more control over their lives.”

That’s pretty damn amazing, but my only question is…how long before we go from this…

to this…

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Rapper and pimper of cars, Xzibit suffered the worst and most unnatural of events in a parents life. His new born son Xavier died this morning due to complications from being born prematurely.

A post from his myspace blog reads:

AS you all know, I shared with you the announcement of my newborn son Xavier Kingston Joiner on may 15th and also informed you that he was born prematurely. well this week was extremly difficult for him because his lungs were not strong enough to handle regular oxygen on his own. Xavier passed away this morning at 3:30am and I must tell you this, It is unatural for a parent to bury a child. I am telling you this because of the same reason I tell you when im having great times, life is too short to be fake. Hold on to your kids if you have them, protect them and show them you love them everyday you wake up and see them, dont take a second you get to hug them teach them and care for them for granted. You can have all the material wealth in the universe but it is NOTHING compared to having your family. I am thankful for all of my blessings and im not one to question God’s perfect plan, so I leave you with great love and thanks for the love that was sent earlier on my pervious blog to my son. Of course I need to take some time and handle my loss, STAY FOCUSED PEOPLE. Its not promised to any of us.

R.I.P Xavier May 15th 2008- May 26th 2008

Sad.

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Der Spiegel released a fascinating study on Germans. Here are some interesting tidbits:

:The average German male drinks 540 glasses of alcohol each year, and has erotic dreams 15 times a month.

:The average German female drinks 229 glasses of alcohol a year, and she has erotic dreams 5 times a month.

More from the Guardian…

“The average German…

· Has sex 117 times a year
· Wakes up at 6.23am
· Travels 24.5 miles a day
· Works 30.3 hours a week (41.4 hours in 1960)
· Drives a six-year-old silver metallic Volkswagen Golf which is washed nine times a year
· Walks towards the right when entering a shop
· Considers price to be more important than quality when shopping
· Has 971 sq ft of living space (a family of 2.2 people) which costs €408 a month in rent
· Dreams of stripping the woodchip wallpaper and laying down cherry or walnut parquet
· Takes 15 minutes to fall asleep
· Earns € 3,702 a month”

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(Kanye in egg, flanked by space sluts)

This isn’t a show review, I’m just professing my love for this city.

At 9:45 pm last night I was bummed because I was stuck downtown for work, at some shitty show I didn’t need to be at but had to meet with a promoter for, my allergies were on fire, I was starving, I had homework to do, and I was going to miss seeing Negative Approach play out in Brooklyn.

At 9:55 pm I got a text from Ray to come to a party, so I hopped in a cab and figured I’d make the best of the night, or at least get angry drunk.
At 10:00 pm I got another text telling me to hurry, as Kanye was about to go on.  Kanye?

At 10:05 pm I bullshitted my way  through security, and walked up a red carpet into a giant space under the Queensboro Bridge, built around its arches with huge ceilings that had a Burton-era Batman feel, only filled with 1500 hip dudes and hot chicks with glow necklaces on.  Grabbed two giant bourbons from the open bar, and walked up front to watch Kanye West perform 45 minutes of greatness.  He spent 90% of the time sitting in a futuristic egg chair with his LED shades on, and had a dance team of super hot naked chicks with space helmets on through half the set. My mood had officially been altered, and it wasn’t the bourbon.

I’ve spent time in every major city in the western world, and New York City is the only one where, on a Wednesday night -in a timespan of 20 minutes- you can go from angry- “I’m about to get all Grand Theft Auto on someone”-dude to ecstatic-”I don’t deserve this good of a life”-guy.

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Ya know, I was watching this video this morning and started laughing aloud at yet another double standard shoved down my throat this Mother’s day.
Michelle Duggar, the evangelical white talking vagina, is getting more air time and compliments for her amazing ability to parent and all her accomplishments as a mother.

I would just like to point out, if this lady wasn’t white, the story would have had a totally different angle. The ahhs would become ewws. If a Mexican woman has, lets say for example, 8 children like my gramma Bustos, she gets treated like a pimple on the ass of society.
This wacko has been pregnant 11 years of her life and she’s getting a television show! White people cracker me up.

So, let me just clarify for everyone before you get knocked up…
-As Anthony stated previously in his post, pregnant teens are fine as long as you are white. If not, surely your evil spawn will return to rob us one day. (as Chris Rock would say)
-Having ridiculous amounts of children is totally fine as long as you are both white and a Christian. If not, you are a total burden to society and further justify the stereotypes that have been placed on your race by white people.
-Taking handouts and receiving assistance from various media and religious outlets is fine as long as, you guessed it, you’re white and a Christian. You deserve help and all the people that go to your church and live within your community are more than happy to help you! If you aren’t, you are a lazy bum who is working the system and should be deported back to Africa, Mexico, etc. before your children, who’s futures are obviously not worth investing in, grow up and begin to rape and pillage as you have.

So basically, fuck the Today Show and props to ALL the Mothers out there making it happen, usually alone, day in and day out all over this country.

Happy Mothers Day to my Mom, Valene Bustos-Mathews…
A woman who wouldn’t settle for the stereotypes. A beautiful, strong, educated woman that has given life and love as her true legacy on this planet. You are my hero and I’m so proud to be your daughter.

To all the Mommies out there, makin ends meet, thank you for all your hard work and your unconditional love.
-My Best Friend Leah Suval
-My Cousin Noel Maria
-All my Tia’s and my Grams

Please feel free to give a shot out the amazing woman in your life.

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So the Incest Dad from Vienna, Austria - Josef Fritzl, who held his daughter captive in the basement dungeon and fathered her 7 children…looks an awful lot like the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dr. Jerry Buss. Brothers separated at birth?

Full article from CNN.com

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What is this?  Ads?  Really?  How?  Why?

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MICWU - pronounced Mee-Kwoo

Review of Civil War reenactors - real life, day to day “Joe Blow” type of people.

Spawning from the video gaming idea, referring to the Grand Theft Auto people, I realized that there are soooo many groups of people that could be written about in the Nerd Alert category. Well after seeing a program on TV recently about these reenactors, I have a new appreciation for the dedicated nerds and how much time, money, and energy they spend on their non work days. Doing little research for myself, I found multiple websites here, and here, on strategy, events, paraphernalia, history (not of the war itself but of the reenactor history), etc.

These reenactors are 110% balls to the wall invested in their passion as much or more so than the video gamers. From authentic Civil War era clothing, to the guns and weaponry that they use in their “battles” I’d categorize them with the NASCAR nerds, Coney Island Polar Bear Club people, and “bloggers” like us.

Apparently the Gettysburg Civil War Battle Reenactment is the largest battle with 2 battles per day for 3 days straight. Over 100 canons, fake Abe Lincoln, wannabe General Ulysses S. Grant and rip-off General Lee, and 400 mounted Cavalry.

These reenactors “reenact” the Civil War from Georgia in the south to as far north as Ohio. Maybe next year I’ll go down south and photograph this…I’m now the nerd. (none of the images are mine)

P.S. Fuck the Civil War.* (Edit* No, what I mean is, I’m not a fan of Americans killing Americans - yes apparently I’m ignorant - and it’s not that I’m not interested in the Civil War, it’s that I’m more interested in why people play dress-up and pretend to die  and shoot canons and ride horses in full regalia and negotiate terms and conditions of battle for an event that happened so long ago - 150 or so years ago…)

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The DC Madam was found dead in Tarpon Springs, Florida Thursday by police. She was 52.

Police are calling it a suicide, but this seems pretty unlikely seeing as how she said that if she was taken into custody, that she would be murdered and disguised in the form of an accident or suicide.

The Huffington Post said: During several recent appearances on The Alex Jones Show, Palfrey also said that she was at risk of being killed and that authorities would make it look like suicide. She made it clear that she was not suicidal and if she was found dead it would be murder.

Palfrey had threatened to release the names of well-known clients of her upscale call girl ring in the nation’s capitol, and had indicated that Dick Cheney may be one of them.

“No I’m not planning to commit suicide,” Palfrey told The Alex Jones Show on her last appearance, “I’m planning on going into court and defending myself vigorously and exposing the government,” she said.

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