Most of the world is calling on both Russia and Georgia to show restraint in their current conflict, without attempting to cast one as more of an agressor than the other.
Not Campaign McCain
ethics & philosophy
ideals, breaches, disappointments and inspirations
WWTTMD?
What would Tiananmen Tank Man Do?
I don’t think he’d watch the Olympics. Of course I can’t know this, because we don’t know who he was, whether he is still alive, or whether he would actually be an enormous fan of the Olympics right now.
Still, I am not watching these Olympics, simply because I can’t square my conscience with supporting the regime’s propaganda exercise.
Musing on male contraception
Until now both technical and psycho-cultural barriers have prevented the development of effective chemical male contraception, with the psycho-cultural barriers being the primary reason that there does not exist a sufficient potential market to drive investment in R&D to overcome the technical barriers. Even the MRAs who so bemoan women trapping them into unwanted paternity appear oddly unwilling to consider funding the R&D for an effective Male Pill
Shonks and sensationalists
Andrew Funnell on today’s Radio National’s Media Report [transcript] examines the reaction to ABC-TV’s Gruen Transfer from the public and from within the industry. GT was a ratings hit, is being attributed as the source of new interest in advertising as a career from bright young things, and is also accused of doing more harm than good to the industry through the panel-members playing up to an existing image of advertisers as quipping show-ponies with a cynical streak.
The range of opinions about the show is interesting, and the controversy obviously plays into why the show has been renewed. To me the criticisms of the show as lightweight ring a very loud bell, as I was disappointed by the lack of substantive discussion regarding the manipulations of advertising – they keep on circling the issue and backing off.
Anyway, one line in the program caught my attention as especially well expressed:
Got Breastmilk? Californian Milk Board Threatens Batik Artist Mum
Remember when Jennifer Laycock of The Lactivist was stomped on by Big Pork for selling a T-shirt saying “The other white milk”?
“Your use of this slogan also tarnishes the good reputation of the National Pork Board’s mark, in light of your apparent attempt to promote the use of breastmilk beyond merely for infant consumption”,
the Pork Board whined, with a side serve of insinuation that The Lactivist was a sexual lactation fetish site. (Or were they really, truly freaked out that she is just fine with toddlers and preschoolers breastfeeding, not just infants – and thought that that any association with all that booby malarkey would reflect badly on an organisation that intensively tortures pigs before making them into bacon? We’ll never know.)
The gap between American justice and that of the rest of the world is enormous and growing
Xeni Jardin notes that it’s official: more than 1% of the US population is now in jail or prison. The stats one finds can be a little confusing because of that particular US distinction (between jail (a remand facility for those awaiting trial or convicted of misdemeanours) and prison (convicted criminals only)), but most studies find between 750 to 800 persons imprisoned per 100,000 US populace. Other nations treat jail/gaol and prison as synonyms, so their incarceration rates may well include those held on remand or for misdemeanours, making the difference in figures between the US and other countries even more striking.
Thread of the week: playful pedants alert
From John Scalzi: Another Entry in the Annals of “People Who Haven’t the Slightest Idea What They’re Saying” Awww, look. Someone’s trying to lecture me on speech and the Internet! A fabulous exploration into what does and what does not… Read More ›
They lied about the air too
Like Andrew Bartlett, I agree entirely with Andrew Bolt regarding the shameful weaseling by the International Olympic Committee regarding the whole idea of granting the 2008 Olympic games to the authoritarian dictatorship of China in the first place. Addit: just… Read More ›
Sunday inspiration: simple, effective action
Via Catherine Price at Salon comes the story of Olga Murray, who devised a simple, practical philanthropic solution that has virtually eradicated a tradition of starving Nepalese farming families selling their daughters into indentured servitude. 1n 1989 Murray was horrified… Read More ›
On women “competing for male attention”
A whole thread on LP about the social insecurities that lead to the cosmetic surgery makeover culture has been derailed by some men who are insisting on reframing it as women’s individual sexual insecurities about their looks, and how if… Read More ›
Hoyden About Town 