Objectify This

I think that Americans are best represented by Obama for several reasons:

1. He does not support a continuation of the foreign policy that created the War Against Afghanistan or the War Against Iraq.

2. He does not, as McCain does, state that the military should be making foreign policy decisions and suggest that it would be "fine with" him if we were in Iraq for "maybe 100 years. "

3. In the past, or so I’m told, people protested when we had to have a draft because we had long, ongoing wars, like Vietnam. I don’t support war in the first place, but senseless war (where are the WMD? ) makes even less sense when we’re planning to continue it indefinitely.

4.  McCain has stated, on television,  "I don’t think Americans are concerned if we’re there for 100 years or Read more »

As The Austrailian reports, “In his remarks, UN chief Ban Ki-moon stressed the world body was “profoundly committed to its zero-tolerance policy against sexual exploitation or abuse by our own personnel”.”

“”Violence against women has reached unspeakable and pandemic proportions in some societies attempting to recover from conflict,” he said.”

The BBC notes that China, Russia, Indonesia and Vietnam expressed reservations about the universalized classification of rape as a weapon of war, but in the end, the entire Security Council voted unanimously to condemn rape.

While it’s good to hear that the U.N. is no longer turning a blind eye to the problem of rape, it’s unclear whether this resolution will have many consequences, especially considering that in the past, U.N. Peacekeepers have engaged in rape and pedophilia and employed child prostitutes, according to the Read more »

I’ve been listening to the London-based Simian Mobile Disco, a music production team who call themselves “Electro/ Psychadelic/ Alternative” on their Myspace page. They are composed of two guys named James (foreground, left) and claim to sound like “good, old-fashioned, analogue party music” (as their wacky Brit-ball spelling has it).

Specifically, I’ve been listening to their song “Hustler,” off of their recent release “Attack Decay Sustain Release,” in which a mediocre synthy beat backs a husky female voice claiming to be a hustler and telling a story about shoplifting vinyl. The song has some merits — it’s catchy- and subversive-enough to be hot, in a pseudo-pop kind of way.

What makes it post-worthy, though, is the video.
There are two videos for “Hustler” on youtube - one of which, released by Universal Music Group, appears to be a group of model-thin female hipsters sitting in a circle and Read more »

Hat tip to Sabotabby of Punkassblog for the scoop on this one: the Russian Government has released a statement officially limiting children’s toys that are “psychologically incongruous” (thus, threatening irony in the next generation of Russian childhoods) and stating that, as Sabotabby has it,

“Apparently, the Russian government feels it necessary to fight the growing emo menace:

“The drafters of the concept took a particular negative stance in regard to the Goth and emo youth subcultures, which are characterized by black clothing, piercings and a depressed outlook on reality. They authors compared the danger those subcultures hold for society to the dangers of skinheads, soccer hooligans, National Bolsheviks and even anti-fascists. Emo youths, according to the concept, “are subject to suicidal tendencies” and Goth children cultivate bisexuality. “The cost of the sexual services of an underage boy prostitute with Goth attributes is lower than for students in military schools but higher than for usual gay prostitutes,” the authors say, demonstrating their knowledge of life. Read more »

Sphere: Related Content

In the past, women who experienced rape or sexual assault were faced with the immediate decision of whether or not to prosecute, even as they still reeled from the trauma of violation, which is often manifested as post-traumatic stress disorder. This was necessary because any action such a woman took following her rape, such as showering, would likely diminish the evidence against her attacker.

Yet rape is a shock to the system, like any demonstration of overt oppression. Rape reminds women that they don’t have power, and attempts to prosecute rapists are so unsuccessful (and until recently, they usually consisted of a public examination of the victim’s sexual history, as if a decision to have sex with anyone was an open invitation to everyone) that most women thought twice about prosecution.

That’s only natural: anyone whose agency has just been squelched is less equipped to make decisions about prosecution; part of the reason that so little evidence is collected in rape Read more »

To the left, we see Anna Kournikova and George H. W. Bush giving each other a gesture of mutual “greeting, departure, or respect,” known as “the pound”.

Yet when Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama reproduce the same gesture, Fox News calls it a “terrorist fist jab” (see video after the jump).

Fox also called Michelle Barack’s “baby Mama” recently, apparently unaware that the term is usually reserved for the unmarried and uninvolved whose only relationship with their Read more »

First of all, this post is long overdue. Listenbetter and Life on Uranus are both excellent contributions to the discussions about life, politics, thongs, and horseracing, among other things.

Listenbetter, a wry yet approachable blog, is the brainchild of an proto-journalist whose cutting tongue has won her the admiration of at least one of the great novelists of our day. Listenbetter has dark fig and marmalade aromas with soft smoked oak and coffee nuances. It is dry, medium-bodied and possesses some extract sweetness due to ripe fruit. The tannins are abundant and firm, neither astringent nor completely rounded and supple. The finish is not extremely long. This is a quality wine of a modern popular style tuned for the mass market, as she finds pearls of wisdom in both the manslaughter incident at Sweet Valley High and belated coverage of torture in the popular press. Medical professionals recommend one dose daily, for your heart.

Life on Uranus is the conglomeration of three brilliant artists and aliens, J., H., and S. Their discussions are a picnic of Brazilians, ethnomusicology, politics, the pleasure of going commando, and of course, dramaturgy. It is a group endeavor, so conventional courtesy dictates that you take two and pass, so that everyone can get some. A blend of New York City Diesel and Durban Poison, with a touch of White Queen, each encounter with L on U will leave you floating dreamily through divigations like a singular jazz melody. Enjoy.

I’m still in the process of cleaning out my room after college. Bear with me — I know I graduated (ahem) more than two weeks ago, but I also am doing a deeper cleaning than I’ve done in my room since, well, I was about eight, apparently.

I recently came across a Valentine that local archaeologists date to approximately 1993, based on the Kidpix-like illustrations and the signature, “Chris”, (names may have been changed to protect the now-strangers) which indicates that it was made by a boy who later went on to demonstrate a magnetic interest in me that resembled the emotional habits of cement.But the illustration (not pictured) does feature some truth: over the caption, “Modern Day Cupid,” the intrepid young artist Kidpixed a Schwarzenegger-like man, Read more »

Like Gil Scott-Heron (you may be familiar with his hit “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised“), I’m going to spend this post, the first in a long time, asking the admittedly pretentious-sounding question, “Who’ll Pay Reparations on My Soul?”. I’m asking because it sure won’t be Whole Foods, or hybrid cars, or organic cigarettes, or bottled water  (which is not better for you than tap water) or any of that other shit that’s supposed to purify the American lifestyle, and elevate the upper-middle class consumer above the Kraft E-Z Mac of the middle class and the Mickey D’s of the working people, to hover like indecisive chopsticks over a sushi platter. Read more »

Recently I stumbled upon this website run by that beacon of truth and goodness, the Christian Right. In fine form, they announced at the beginning of the page, “FEMINISM IS EVIL! Beware of the feminists, many are LESBIANS!” Ah, yes, such tolerance and open mindedness is exactly what we have been taught to expect from our Christian siblings. I’m going to rebut some of the points they make, in the interest of respectful dialogue, despite the site’s admission that they’re “not going to sugarcoat this article in an attempt not to offend anyone.” Right. 1. “Feminism is rebellion against God’s AUTHORITY!” Hmmm. Actually, in the original language of the Bible, God is referred to as both male and female - see this paper from Dr. Margo G. Houts, Professor of Religion and Theology at Calvin University. This suggests that divine power is both male and female, implying that a movement for female power does not undermine “god’s authority” but strengthens it. 2. “ I don’t know where the term “feminazi” originated, but it accurately describes the Feminist Movement.” The term was first popularized, according to the Oxford English Read more »

The New York Times recently reported that yet another rapist is being let off of the hook - as the majority are. Nearly 95% of men standing trial for rape in the United States and the United Kingdom are cleared of all charges, which is a shocking number considering the social, personal and political consequences that a rape survivor faces in bringing the charges to court in the first place.

In this case, “An American marine accused in an alleged gang-rape of a 19-year-old Japanese woman last year was sentenced Friday to two years in prison after being convicted of “wrongful sexual contact and indecent acts” but cleared of rape, the United States military said.

“The marine, Lance Cpl. Larry A. Dean, 20, was the first of four marines who are to face court-martial in the case, involving an episode in Hiroshima in October. Japanese authorities had investigated the matter but in Read more »

Again, Obama says it better than most.

Because I am in finals, I’m going to turn it over to him.

The video is after the jump.
Read more »

The BBC reported in August that abstinence-only sex education programs are not working in the United States. Shockingly, studies found that avoiding education about sex does not reduce risks of teen pregnancy or slow the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

It turns out that sex is so good that even pretending it doesn’t exist does not make it go away. Kids want to have sex; they will have sex even if they don’t know what they’re doing.

And guess what? If they don’t know what they’re doing, they will make more mistakes. Just Saturday, the BBC followed up with a report about policymakers debating “whether to cut government funding for health education programmes Read more »

On November 25th, 2006, Sean Bell was shot the day before his wedding date — because he was going to a bachelor party with friends at the Kalua Club in Queens, New York. He was shot by three detectives; two friends in his bachelor party were wounded and he was killed by the fifty shots that the detectives fired.

Yet despite the complete lack of justification for this police brutality, a Queens courthouse found the detectives not guilty of killing Sean Bell. The Justice officiating, the “honorable” Arthur J. Cooperman, suggested that “many of the prosecution’s witnesses, including Mr. Bell’s friends and the two wounded victims, were simply not believable,” according to the New Read more »

In high school, I was once asked to read this article about Male Answer Syndrome. Here’s an excerpt I just found online:

It is called `Male Answer Syndrome: Why Men always have opinions, even on subjects they know nothing about’ — by Jane Campbell (from Utne Reader, Jan/Feb 1992)

“In the animal kingdom, males exhibit what is known as “display behavior” in order to attract females and to ward off rival males. They thrust out their chests, ruffle their plumage, and generally try to appear more impressive than they really are. On nature shows, this is comic. It appears comic, too, when it shows
up among humans: the guy in the Camaro with all the gold chains, say, or Vanilla Ice’s haircut. Lately however, it has been discovered that display behavior is much more common among humans than had been previously believed. Have you ever wondered why:

* Men who have never been west of Kentucky can tell you about the mentality of the Japanese? Read more »