Making Rape Victims Pay for Rape Kits?

New Evidence: Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams

Why not make victims of other crimes pay to have the perp's fingerprints taken so he can be run through the FBI database?

Anna Quindlen Speaks Some Truth

Can You Say ‘Sexist’?: If you're a Republican, you'd better learn. The right wing that trashed the women's movement suddenly finds its inner feminist.

Amid the drumbeat of female Amazonian competence occasioned by the Palin nomination ran one deeply discordant assumption, the assumption that women are strong and smart and sure and yet neither sentient nor moral enough to decide what to do if they are pregnant under difficult circumstances.

EXACTLY.

Rosenbergs Innocent?

Rosenberg transcripts raise possibility of perjury.

Newly released grand jury transcripts add strong evidence to the argument that the conviction and execution of Ethel Rosenberg in the Cold War's biggest espionage case were based on perjured testimony.

In recent years, one of the two key witnesses against Rosenberg recanted his testimony. It now appears that the other witness made up her testimony. too. The witnesses were Ethel's brother and sister-in-law, David and Ruth Greenglass.

Thanks to the work of a team of lawyers and historians, the government released the grand jury testimony that formed the basis for the charges against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Holy Crap!

About John Bush's - er, McCain's - VP Pick

Sarah Palin is the Governor of Alaska, and the former mayor of my hometown, Wasilla Alaska. (That's Wasilla, not Wassilla or Wassila. Thank you.)

Here's what I have to say: Once I learned that she's a creationist and thinks that humans don't contribute to global warming, I figured she's just Johnny's attempt to keep the Evangelical vote in his pocket. She plays to the GOP base, and tries to claim the mantle 'reformer' for herself and for him. That's the critical point that must be debunked, since Miss Earmarks and Firings is just as much of a party hack, corrupt and self-centered, as all the rest of the GOP. McCain ain't no maverick, and neither is Palin.

That anyone, in today's economy, can claim "this election isn't about issues" boggles the mind.

POW Experience Doesn't Qualify One for Presidency

"I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate."

I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.

It is also disappointing to see him take on and support Bush's war in Iraq, even stating we might be there for another 100 years. For me John represents the entrenched and bankrupt policies of Washington-as-usual. The past 7 years have proven to be disastrous for our country. And I believe John's views on war, foreign policy, economics, environment, health care, education, national infrastructure and other important areas are much the same as those of the Bush administration.

I'm disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not accurate. He is not a moderate Republican.

NO MORE HOTHEADS! NO MORE IDIOTS. I want a smart, articulate, thinking human being in the White House! No more Fox News Presidents!

The Era of the American Peso

Well, it was nice being number one for a while until the Republicans took over and now we've been turned into yet another cheap vacation spot where foreigners come to take advantage of the insanely weak local currency. The era of the American Peso has arrived, and you can thank George Bush, John McCain and all the Republicans for guaranteeing America's second place status in the world for the 21st century. This is an issue that Obama should be talking about. How John McCain and the Republicans have failed to invest in our future, how the world keeps advancing ahead while America keeps falling behind.

H/T to Americablog

RAWA

The Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan is still doing their work, to help the women of Afghanistan. They've been battling since 1977, and still going strong. Help them today. RAWA.org

Treasure Trove of WWII Spy Info Released

Julia Child, spy?

I know the article leads in with Julia Child, but what amazes me is that a Supreme Court Justice was a spy. Holy crap!

Lifted wholesale from Twistedchick

Lifted wholesale from Twistedchick:

1. Why is the federal DEA raiding legal medical marijuana users in California?

2. What are Blackwater mercenaries doing working on these raids?

3. Why haven't more newspapers picked up on this?

Now, with all this in mind, consider the following: John McCain's idea of law enforcement in the cities is to do Iraqi Surge-style military raids. Martial law.

We are already at war in Iran. The public just hasn't been told.

10 of the most important economic events of the last 10 years. This is the rock bottom behind what is happening.

The real reasons for the upcoming war in Iraq: a macroeconomic and geostrategic analysis of the unspoken truty, by William Clark, revisted and updated

And Seymour Hersh says the White House has been actively brainstorming ways to fabricate justification for an Iran war.

You can't walk your dog in Riyadh any more.

Andrew Simms in The Guardian says we have 100 months to stop irreversible climate change -- and suggests how it can be done.

Writing and the Military

An ode to clear writing, in Proceedings Magazine.

I'll leave it to you to read the article, including the great translation at the very beginning and the Orwell quote, and instead zero in on this:

[B]ad writing handicaps DOD and the services in their communication with important external audiences like Congress, other federal agencies, and the general public. Jargon is especially problematic. Overly formal, technical language alienates the audience whose support the Defense Department seeks.

This is why, no matter how lawyerly I become (I hope), my instinct to continuously rephrase things in simple, straightforward language, will pay off. Why? Because who wants a lawyer who can't explain stuff to them unless they're already a lawyer themselves?

Yes, you should speak precisely, but there is a difference between jargon and precise language.

Great quote

Snagged from Will Shetterly's blog:

“It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.” —Thomas Paine

Peruvian Glaciers Melting

Peru mountain glaciers 'receding rapidly'

"At present, there are more melting glaciers and therefore there is a relative increase in flows in rivers and streams", Nelson Santillan, a researcher at the INRENA glaciology unit, told SciDev.Net.

Santillan says that, while this currently does not have any significant negative effects, people must be warned about the correlation of this with the increased glacier melting and the future halt in water flow. INRENA estimates this could be as soon as 2020.

Powerful Stuff

The Conquest and Theft of América, Pt. 13

“You all do and undo,” he said. “So you can do whatever you want with me.” To him we were part of the system keeping him from being deported back to his country, where his children, wife, mother, and sister depended on him. He was their sole support and did not know how they were going to make it with him in jail for 5 months. None of the “options” really mattered to him. Caught between despair and hopelessness, he just wept. He had failed his family, and was devastated. I went for some napkins, but he refused them. I offered him a cup of soda, which he superstitiously declined, saying it could be “poisoned.” His Native American spirit was broken and he could no longer think. He stared for a while at the signature page pretending to read it, although I knew he was actually praying for guidance and protection. Before he signed with a scribble, he said: “God knows you are just doing your job to support your families, and that job is to keep me from supporting mine.”

There was my conflict of interest, well put by a weeping, illiterate man.

EPA: Climate Change Puts US Way of Life at Risk

Interesting framing. I mean, you could say, 'climate change opportunity facing America', instead, and it would be the same, wouldn't it?

Dr. Horrible Rocks!

Watch Act I & II now (and III on Saturday), then buy the DVD/download when it comes out!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog. It's a supervillain musical! Hooray!