on norway

“Then the devil took him into a high mountain and showed him the kingdoms of the world and said that he would give them to him if he would fall down and worship him. But Jesus said: Get thee hence, Satan. That’s the end of the story according to the good simple Matthew. But it wasn’t. The devil was sly and he came to Jesus once more and said: If thou wilt accept shame and disgrace, scourging, a crown of thorns and death on the cross thou shalt save the human race, for greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus fell. The devil laughed till his sides ached, for he knew the evil men would commit in the name of their redeemer.”

-The Razor's Edge, W. Somerset Maugham.

I find I don't have very many words to say.

Except - that in the face of such extreme violence, and a manifesto of violence, the reaction of the Norwegian government was to say more democracy, more humanity.

There is so much hope contained in those four words; so much promise that violence never has to define us.

another very short letter

Dear Speaker Boehner (Again),

NO YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SAME RESPONSIBILITIES AS THE PRESIDENT.

Are you serious?

You, sir, are not the leader of the free world. You sir, are akin to a four year old brat, stomping his feet and saying 'no' for no other reason than you like how it feels.

I'm not sure I could hate you any more than when I do right now.

Please don't throw the fragile world economy into chaos because you have some grave delusions of grandeur.

Still absolutely positively no love,
me

a very short letter

Dear Speaker Boehner, STOP IT, STOP IT RIGHT NOW.

You are an idiot. A giant, massive idiot.

Absolutely, positively no love,
me

this is just to say-

it is ten pm and still hot as hell.

91F/31C.

But the humidity has fallen to 57% and the dew point is 74.

So there's that.

summer's eve ... wtf

These Summer's Eve ads cannot possibly be a real thing.

They cannot. Because if they were, I would have to talk about how utterly horrific and offensive they are. Especially for how racist they are. Not to mention ...

Why, why, why, why does our society which already over-pressures and over-sexualizes women by telling them what to wear and how thin/beautiful to be, feel the need to tell women how this particular organ should smell?

Groom your hair to silky shiny perfection! Look like a beauty queen with eyelash-lengthening mascara! Do up those luscious lips! Wear this perfume! And this dress! And these shoes! And if you do it, and we think you're doing it wrong, you're either a slut or asking for it! Or both!

Oh, and please make sure your vagina smells good too.

Just ... wtf? What the ever-loving fuck?

These cannot possibly be a real thing. They cannot. I refuse to believe it.

oh Marilyn, what have they done to you?

I'm not going to post a picture of the new Marilyn Monroe statue that is up in Pioneer Court in Chicago. You can Google it. I will, however, talk about how disgusting it is.

Of all of the alluring images of Marilyn that could have been chosen, one that even further sexually objectifies her is the one picked.

Marilyn Monroe is the epitome of sexual objectification. The fact that she died at age 36 and we never got to see her fall from that ill-begat grace, the slow decline of sexual allure, means she is eternally locked into it.

Why, knowing all of that, would you design a statue that will allow people to further exploit her objectification by looking up her panties, or standing between her legs with thumbs up signs, or grabbing a leg with a devious look on their faces, or anything sexual, really. Chicago Tribune has some images you can look at, if you're so inclined. But they are absolutely beyond disgusting.

Many who have seen it in person have been saying the proportions are all off; that the detail on the face isn't great, but every line and crease of her panties is perfect.

Excuse me while I go throw up.

number of the day: 6

That's the number of states that have passed recent legislation banning abortion past 20 weeks - and more states are set to follow. Great. Getting into a discussion about this arbitrary date would be ridiculous, and a waste of my time, but I am just going to gently point out that a FETUS ISN'T EVEN VIABLE AT 20 WEEKS. Not to mention wondering what we as a society are doing when we put the autonomy of a non-vialbe 20week fetus over the autonomy of the pregnant woman. But I digress.

After Ohio's women-killing bill, there is a glimmer of ... something, in Missouri's bill, passed Thursday. Because, see, unlike the Ohio bill, in Missouri, if the life of the woman is in danger, or if being pregnant will cause substantial injury to her major bodily functions, then an abortion is okay.

It's still women-killing, extremist, and, make no mistake, Gov Nixon is a coward for not signing his name to the bill and instead letting it pass without his signature.

But at least Missouri puts some of the rights and health of women above Ohio. Not that Missouri is much better at all. But in this crazy war on women, I have to find something to latch to. Because see, sooner or later we're going to realise, as a society, that you cannot recognise the autonomy of one women who is 20weeks pregnant, and not the other who is also 20 weeks pregnant. This could backfire, and we could have more Ohio bills which scream 'hey, let's kill women', but I'm hopeful that's not the case. Mostly because hope is all I have left.