House Republicans reject Iraq timetable

Cause if we don't stay the course, what have we proven? That we're total dumbshits. Thanks Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for just calling it like it is, The war in Iraq has been a mistake. I say, a grotesque mistake.

Things are crazy...

. . . and I'm not just talking about Bush flying to Iraq to cover for the Guantanamo suicides or the fact that over 2,500 soldiers have died in Iraq (not to mention all the civilian casualties). I'm crazy busy and apologize for the sporadic posting (which you all have clearly gotten used to by now). Thanks for the love and patience.

Jesus Christ votes for more war

And the fucking apocolypse nears. But he still loves gays. Because let's be honest: they make the government lots of money.

Who would you rather ...

. . . sexually assualt? On Tuesday, that question was posed to a slew of Chinese radio listeners. In an internet survey, a popular Hong Kong radio station asked its listeners to choose an actress they would most like to sexually assault. Luckily, this egregious and highly threatening gimmick didn't go unchallenged for long: The Commercial Radio poll drew widespread criticism last week, with teachers, legislators and ordinary citizens slamming it for advocating violence against women and for corrupting youth. And although the hosts have publicly apologized, the fact that they felt comfortable putting the question out there in the first place is highly indicative of a culture and a world that still sees violence against women as acceptable and even funny. Who would you rather rape: your wife's best friend or your daughter's? Which black actor would you most like to see lynched? Similar and unasked questions aren't funny, so why is this shit? And they say we've come so far, that feminism's dead.

Exposed women banned from church

An Italian priest tired of gazing at young women's navels, has issued a ban on bare midriffs in church. "God knew what your navel looked like even before you were born, so there is no need to expose it in church," commands a sign at the entrance to the church in Cinisello Balsamo. Frankly, I think he should be happy that young people are still going to church. ...Father Felice says he resorted to the signs because his parish cannot afford guards to keep out the low-cut jeans and high-cut tops, newspapers reported Monday. Cover yourselves up you slutty heathens! Don't you know you're the reason that men still sin, sexually assault, and cheat on their wives?!? Jesus was always the first to cast stones.

200 metres stand between sex work and death

Sort of. To respect the dead, the local council in Queensland, Australia wants to establish an "exclusion zone" that prohibits brothels from operating within 200 metres of cemeteries. "It's totally inappropriate. There's a place for brothels and a place for cemeteries and we don't believe the two mix," he said. I couldn't agree more.

The politics of food

A recent study in the Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people living in poor communities are more likely to be obese than people living in wealthier neighborhoods. People residing in poor neighborhoods who shopped in even poorer neighborhoods were more overweight than those who shopped in grocery stores in wealthier areas, found a recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. While some people would surely contend that this clearly indicates that poor people just have crappy eating habits (and deserve everything that happens to them), I think this illustrates the political geography of food. Specifically, fresh foods and produce. For years, researchers have been trying to document a connection between obesity among the poor and the limited selection of healthy foods in their local grocery stores. I live in a low-income, minority neighborhood. When I walk down to my local grocery store I've got approximately five fresh produce items to choose from--and let me assure you that they're just a little less than stellar--but more than three aisles of canned goods. There's little to no organic or natural products and much of what's there has been sitting on the shelf for months, maybe years. For example, I bought some jam last week and only yesterday noticed the "Best by 12/17/2005" date on the bottom. And that's happened way more than once. If I lived five blocks over in a high-income, white hood, I could shop from a range of organic and natural food selection in the numerous grocery and produce markets. But I don't live five blocks over. And I can't really afford that. And I've got a Master's degree, a relatively well-paying gig and no kids. It's not a choice if you've got no options. Poor people and low-income communities deserve choices. Imagine what would happen if fresh produce and organic foods were not priced and distributed for the wealthy only. Imagine if the all the poor families living in urban and rural communities had the same food choices as wealthy families. Imagine the heart attack rates for blacks plummeting because they've got better food choices. Imagine healthy kids doing better in school because they're getting proper nutrients. Imagine community vegetable gardens. Challenge the politics of food.

NJ girl wins spelling bee

Despite the rumors, (and lived experience) my former home state is good for something! After 19 rounds, Katharine Close, a 13 year old from New Jersey, correctly spelled "ursprache" to become the 2006 Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee Winner. This is the first time in seven years that a female has won the bee. And you know I was right there re-living all of my bee memories . . . .

Child molester deemed too short for jail time

Even I couldn't make this appalling stuff up: In leiu of a ten-year prison sentence, a (female) judge in Lincoln, Nebraska issued ten-years probation to a 5'1" child molester because she doesn't think he'd survive prison. Well, perhaps that's the point. While I'll be the first to advocate for prisoner's rights and a complete overhaul of the prison-industrial complex, this fucker is disturbed and I don't think that ten-years probation is going to do anything to fix his pedophilic tendencies. Residents and local council members have started a petition drive calling for the resignation of Judge Kristine Cevaca and to challenge the ruling.

Brilliance and imbibing go hand in hand. At least for chicks.

All those years of downing alcohol have paid off. A study of 7,000 older US women found that those who drink a moderate amount of alcohol have slightly higher levels of mental function than non-drinkers. You might be saying, "But Anique, they stress moderate you libacious slut." And I, with indignant vindication, offer this: . . . women who reported drinking up to two or three drinks per day performed better on measures of global cognitive function, which includes concentration, language, memory and abstract reasoning. Booyakasha bitches. Drink up! Via Feministing.