YouTube – Rinku Sen, Tim Wise, Van Jones, and Maria Teresa Kumar at Facing Race 2010
Monthly Archives: September 2010
The intersectionality of feminism and prostitution
Feminism and prostitution have something in common. Prostitutes apparently were feminists before our intellectual bunch decided that it was a good thing. Prostitutes controlled their sexuality and had men pay big bucks for it and they did. Today we are trying to curtail these women’s activities. And isn’t it the use of our sexuality that separates women – those who give it away for the security of one man and those who give it away to control it themselves. In fact according to this article prostitutes made by far more money that most women and they were quite independent and didn’t need “a” man
Prostitutes were especially successful in the wild, lawless, thoroughly renegade boomtowns of the West. When women were barred from most jobs and wives had no legal right to own property, madams in the West owned large tracts of land and prized real estate.
Interesting article however, take a read.
How 19th Century Prostitutes Were the Freest, Wealthiest, Most Educated Women of Their Time AlterNet
Vietnam where dogs are the preferred protein
While here in North America we pamper dogs like human beings, in other countries it is what keeps people alive but with the rise in rabies, those people might have to find another type of meat to eat. North Americans are aghast that in some countries people devour their pets like cats and dog. Some East Indians are appalled that we eat cows – for the Hindus it is like eating your mother. Cows give us milk like our mother did, how can we eat them. So before you turn up your nose at other people’s delicacies, think about how awful your own might be to others.
Americans need to be patient – Fixing a broken economy is not like fixing Mac and Fries
I am sick and tired of the whining middle class in America and blaming President Obama for the failings of George Bush and the Republicans who spent 8 years digging America into a deep hole. It will take half that time to rise to the surface again. Americans need patience. They ought to know they’re not all that powerful and they have to eat humble pie like the rest of the world. Obama is doing his level best but with all the stalemating of the Republican Party that is still trying to fool the people in America that they have a plan, President Obama and the Democrats have to struggle for every single gain they make in the interest of all Americans.
It is good for people in America to experience poverty and hardship. They’ve had it too good for a long time and perhaps they will learn to live within their means and not reach for everything bigger and better. They should return to truth. As Suzie Orman advises all the time, Americans should stop lying by living beyond their means on credit card. Instead, they should read about the sacrifices of their fore parents and their lives will seem like apple pie. Be patient with the President. He is a smart guy, the smartest the White House has seen for a long time. He will deliver but he has to first get rid of the debris left by the previous administration.
Science and religion partner for truth
While many think of religion as merely as something of faith without any basis in factual science, they may be surprised to learn that scientists are now viewing religion as complementary to their scientific pursuit.
According to the Baha’i Faith doctrice if religion goes against science then it is fiction. The faith for today clearly articulates that science and religion must go hand in hand. Read the article below
Scientists see religion as complementary to science Canadian Bahá’í News Service
Is the Bible inspired by God or by Man?
Each Sunday morning, one of my past times is listening to the various religious leaders some shouting their message into the microphone as it the audience is deaf, others quietly bringing home the point that the Bible is the only true book of God without a doubt. The funny thing is only certain parts of the bible are always raised. The bible is such a huge book with all kinds of contradiction but someone the bad parts that these preachers cannot explain away they ignore.
My answer to the contradictions is that the Bible was created for a period when mankind was not as civilized as we are today. God promised never to leave us without a teacher. God has always sent teachers but we have ignored them in our own stubbornness to open our mind to God’s messages because some of the messages does not bode well for some of our half-cooked preachers (- i.e. those preachers who study portions of the New Testament and Revelations, those who are not highly intelligent people) because in the new message from God, we do not need preachers, they are obsolete.
I urge all of those hypnotized Christians and religious believers to open their eyes and take a look at some other parts of the scripture when your minister does not touch upon. God made us with a brain to think for a reason so that we will not be duped by charlatans who feel they know the Bible more than you and me. Do not be afraid of the truth, it’s only the truth shall set you free.
New York Times best-selling author
Posted: August 3, 2010 04:29 PM
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As I argue in my book, Patience With God: Faith for People Who Don’t Like Religion (or Atheism), maybe if there is a God, or if Jesus spoke truth about how we are to care for others or if the Light of Love in my life has taught me anything, then the best thing a believer in any actual God can do is to admit that a lot of the Bible is hate-filled blasphemy.
There is a verse in Timothy that says that all Scripture is for our edification. This verse, not the many Bible stories of the many killings “ordained by God,” is the scariest verse in the Bible.
In Timothy (3:16) we read; “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
The “all Scripture” being spoken of is the Old Testament. The New Testament was just being written at the time. And these days, of course, for conservative Christians, the word “Scripture” covers “their” part of the Bible too.
How scary is this verse? Well, take every vile verse reeking of barbarity in the Bible and append the “All scripture is…” ending to it.
In this unsettling thought experiment for instance take St. Paul’s New Testament “advice” to women: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.” (1 Timothy 2:12) Then add, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” End of discussion! Be Silent!
Or…
“This is what the Lord Almighty says… ‘Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'” (1 Samuel 15:3) “But Christ has changed all that mean stuff” the hopeful Evangelical says. Not so fast! “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
Or…
“So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight. When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. He said to her, ‘Get up; let’s go.’ But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.” (Judges 19:25-28) “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…”
Or…
“Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.” (1 Peter 2:18) Say again? “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” And by the way, that pro-slavery teaching is a New Testament verse to boot!
When rape is sort of “condemned” in the Bible, a woman’s rights aren’t even mentioned. “If a man meets a virgin who is not betrothed, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are found, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife” (Deuteronomy 22:28-29). According to the Bible, the raped women are forced to marry the rapist and the only person made whole is her father! Never mind, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…”
There is another choice besides rejecting religion outright or adopting an all-the-Bible-is-true fundamentalism, one too rarely made. The fact is too few religious people are willing to suffer the loss of approval by their religious leaders, friends and family to make this other choice: embrace faith in God by thinking for themselves and openly reject the parts of one’s scriptures outright that fly in the face of fact, compassion and decency.
“But where would that leave me?” they ask. “I’d be adrift in an ocean of uncertainty!” they say. Yes, and perhaps that’s the only honest place to be.
Maybe the actual God doesn’t like — or accept — “The God-Of-The-Bible” any more than rational and compassionate people do. I hope that’s true because if it’s not, then it turns out that most people are a lot nicer than their “God,” which begs the question: Where did that niceness come from… if (that is) God created everything?
Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of
Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back
One woman’s experience of mysogyny
I watched in awe last evening as this woman, Sarah, spoke through tears about her experience with the two men in the photograph below.
Two men who look like two good boys-next-door type but no one knew the evil that lurked in their hearts. Her exboyfriend refusing to take no for an answer falsely advertised for someone to rape his ex girl friend. Enters a clean cut father of two who held a responsible job as a radiology technician (and according to Oprah 160 more willing rapists had applied as well) who mercilessly mauled this woman that left marks which shocked police and medical officials – who is this animal that walks in the clothes of a man? For Christ sake we need some science to be able to root out animals that walk around in human clothing. How can these people with such deadly intentions dwell amongst us unsuspectingly – where are our psychologists, psychiatrists, tara card readers and all those personality type jokester, why do these animals persist and terrorize.
Craig’s List rapist
http://trib.com/news/local/article_4b04f85a-21a5-54b5-a3a0-798aa0b8f2bf.html
Micheli wrote letter on behalf of Craigslist rapist
Sarah Talks About the Craigslist Ad – Oprah.com
Sarah says she had never been on Craigslist until last December, when she saw pictures of herself featured in a classified ad. “The caption read: ‘Need an aggressive man with no concern or regard for women. If interested, contact Sarah,'” she says. “When I saw the ad for the first time, I was terrified.”
After learning of the ad, Sarah says she called the police but was told there was nothing they could do. Instead, they suggested she call Craigslist directly and ask them to take the ad down. Craigslist removed the ad immediately, but it was too late.
In December 2009, Sarah was attacked at her Wyoming home. “Somebody was behind me, and they grabbed me around the shoulders and pushed me inside the house. His words to me were: ‘You wanted an aggressive man, bitch. Here I am,'” Sarah says. “I begged him to stop.”
Sarah tried to fight back, but her 4’11” frame was no match for her male attacker, who blindfolded her, bound her wrists and ankles with rope and ripped off her clothes. For 30 minutes, Sarah was viciously raped. Her attacker told her that if she didn’t stop trying to get away, he would kill her. At one point, he even held a knife to her throat.
The man who raped Sarah was 26-year-old Ty McDowell, a married father of two who worked as a radiology technician at the local hospital. McDowell told detectives he thought he was fulfilling Sarah’s rape fantasy.
J Lo A good fit for American Idol
J-Lo and Steven Tyler are the newbies on this team. I think it bodes well for an exciting season but just how popular the show will be in general is yet to be determined. The fad of reality stars may be waning a bit and people are ready to move on to the next big thing but our creative juices are stalemated – nothing exciting is on the horizon so American Idol may live another season.
The Brightest Stars in the Universe 1
Today I bring you one of the brightest stars, the youthful founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg. He is prepared to give $100 million towards helping those less fortunate than himself to succeed in a competitive world.
Even though critics says that this donation is self-serving, the fact that the money is going to be there for a good cause is enough cause for celebration. If more could do the same the world might be just a little better. There are those who has the knack to make money and those who just want to be average joes and marys taking care of grassroots situations. It is those who will be helped by the generosity of billionaires. Forget about those big charities who take most of the donated money to prop up their bricks and mortars and highfalutin lifestyles. Education is one of the most important gifts we can given to the underprivileged people in society. It is a gift that no one can take away from them and with which they can make their own dreams come true, so good on Mark and his colleagues for donating to a worthy cause.
Justice Minister of Swaziland caught lurking under the bed in hotel room
Minster of Justice Ndumiso Mamba was fired from his position today when pictures surfaced of Mamba hanging out under one of the King’s 14 wives bed in a hotel room -the twelfth wife, 22-year-old Nothando Dube, former Miss Teen Swaziland. How greedy can a King be. With so many wives to tend to it’s no wonder this woman had to look elsewhere for love. I do not think the King should have fired his minister, instead he should have given the wife over to the Minister so that he would take care of her. After all the King can have any girl he wants – he owns everyone in the Kingdom but he does not own the hearts of everyone.
The Minister ducked under the bed to hide from the King but he was soon discovered and hauled out by the head. This is too funny for words. This is what you call caught black handed with the goods.
The Cassanova Justice Minister
parentsunderground123 
