blah to the world

[verbicide]

Jeff sent me an article about the Pakistani woman who was sentenced to a gang-rape by her village because her brother allegedly had an affair with a woman from a neighboring village. Which, it turns out, was a bullshit charge. I remember reading about this case a year or so ago. It was interesting to see a follow-up. It makes me homicidal.

Greg was telling me the other night about how people in Florida, so grateful for federal aid, are interviewing that even though they disagree with the way Bush has done things and disagree with his policies, will vote for him to show their gratitude. The mind boggles.

I feel like the squirrel from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe who loses its head: "He can't win! He can't win! He can't win!!" Speaking of which, can't wait for that movie to come out.

From nikkinewsnet:

On a lighter note, a survey reports that people watching the Daily Show scored higher on a political quiz than viewers of the Dave Letterman and Jay Leno show. You can even take the quiz yourself.



You got 5 out of 6 correct on your first attempt.

Excellent work! But when do you sleep?

Check your score against these averages:
"The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart viewers - 3.59 correct
"The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno viewers - 2.95 correct
"Late Show" with David Letterman viewers - 2.91 correct
No late-night comedy viewing - 2.62 correct

I didn't actually find the quiz hard and was surprised how low the numbers were. I missed: "John Kerry says that he would eliminate the Bush tax cuts on those making how much money?" I picked the highest number, and it was the second highest. In retrospect, I felt very 'duh' about it.

Comments

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Mukhtaran Bibi is an incredible woman. You're not the only one enraged by this—not just what happened to her, but people's reactions.

A research project I did for school last spring showed that equal rights before law and society for women are closely tied to economic, technological, and social development. Ultimately, the cost of such programs has to be less than going to war, and making poor countries even poorer.

People suck.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love your icon. How fitting!

As I emailed Jeff this morning, it amazes me that a woman raised in such an environment can still develop such a strong sense of self.

What makes me crazy is that there are women in that village who believe Mukhtaran Bibi is wrong for not committing suicide(!!!), as other women in her situation have done. Would they feel the same way if it was their daughter? The scary thing is--maybe. Better to die than live defiled.

People definitely suck.

[rimrunner.livejournal.com]

Thank you! A friend sent me the image for icon-ing purposes.

Yes, her sense of self is exactly what makes her so extraordinary. That, and the fact that she's trying to change the way things are in her community; I think my own first reaction would have been to apply for asylum somewhere.

And people think she should commit suicide. People are reportedly planning to kill her as soon as her official protection is gone. (And I wish I could say otherwise, but I've read in the past that in communities like this, in situations like this, the worst persecution often does come from other women. I don't know why, but it's probably for the same reason that we're so cruel to each other in high school.)

It sucks, and it disturbs me on a fundamental level.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Not to keep chiming in with "Yeah! And YEAH!!" but, I can't believe she didn't use that money to get the hell out of there. And as much as I admire her strength, part of me wishes she would leave. I keep bracing myself for an article that tells us she ran out of money to keep appeasing her protection and was killed.

[chipperspragish.livejournal.com]

I got five out of six too; missed the first one. of course, I don't really watch any of those shows, but if I ever get cable I will definitely be watching the Daily Show.

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I actually never remember to watch it, but I really want to.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

The best thing about that article is that viewers of any late-night TV were, on average, more knowledgeable than non-viewers who nevertheless read the newspaper or watched TV news! What does that say about our so-called "news media"?

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I believe it says: thpppttttt!!

[neojima.livejournal.com]

I scored 6/6. To be honest, I'm not sure I actually knew most of the answers so much as made educated, sometimes generalistic, guesses. (I did know Kerry was a trial lawyer, which helped on question 4.)

This rather puzzles me, as I don't consider myself politically well-versed. At all.

Tonight's debate ought to be interesting. They were listing off some of the rules for the debate on the radio this morning. Apparently they can't remove their shoes to throw at their opponent. Which is probably a good idea; it'd make it harder for Bush to get his foot in his mouth. :-D

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I made a lot of educated guesses, too.

Oh, I think Bush could get his foot in his mouth wearing SKI BOOTS.

[paris-of-priam.livejournal.com]

I found all of those debating rules pretty amusing. I remember when I was young I used to think that there must be some sort of RULES governing Presidential debates written into THE CONSTITUTION or something! WHen, in fact, the rules are just whatever the two parties can manage to agree on, after weeks of negotiations. Sort of like the way they used to organize 'gentlemen's DUELS' in the 19th century! Swords or pistols? Shirts on or shirts off? Firing at ten paces or twenty paces? One shot only, or re-loading for two? The challenger is expected to bring two pistols that are exactly the same, while the challenger gets to choose which one he wants to use, etc.

So, I thought it was amusing that they had a rule about how neither candidate was allowed to use a 'riser' or platform shoes etc. to appear TALLER than he actually is. I'm pretty sure the Kerry people insisted on that one, because Kerry is six inches taller than Bush. But then, they had podiums be ten feet apart. I'm pretty sure the Bush people insisted on that one, and refused to accept the rule about no risers or platform shoes UNLESS the Kerry people agreed to have the podiums ten feet apart. Because, looking at the candidates, if they're ten feet apart it's pretty difficult to actually TELL that Kerry is taller. In order to see that, they have to be standing closer together. I'm sure Karl Rove was conducting experiments with a focus group before the debate, to see just what was the minimum distance that the podiums had to be apart before you couldn't tell that Kerry was taller. Feh!

Apparently, however, there was a rule about 'no reaction shots' being permitted, but only CNN (or one of the other networks) had agreed to follow that rule. So that they would only show a shot of the guy who was speaking. And that's why I deliberately chose to watch it on CBS, because I knew that CBS would probably ignore that rule. (At least, if DAN RATHER had anything to do with it! ;)

[paris-of-priam.livejournal.com]

Actually, I got 6 out of 6, but I don't watch ANY of those programs. (Well, that's not true. I've seen two episodes of The Daily Show.) Otherwise, I try to avoid all those late night bozos, sitting behind cardboard desks, talking to gag men with pluggs, and fluff girls with silicon lip implants. Yikes! Nah, I'd rather stay up late watching the MASADA tapes that some wonderful woman gave me. :)

I think all that poll demonstrates is that insomniacs know more about American politics than people who SLEEP at night. Although, this is a dangerous fact, because it also means that the people who are the best informed, and know the most about the candidates, are usually ASLEEP when the voting polls are open!

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

I don't watch any of the shows, either!

I think all that poll demonstrates is that insomniacs know more about American politics than people who SLEEP at night.

You know, that was my first thought, too!