these are some brilliant ideas for preventing sexual assault

sexual assault prevention tips guaranteed to work. they seem like they would really help.

1. Don’t put drugs in people’s drinks in order to control their behavior.

2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!

3. If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!

4. NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.

5. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON’T ASSAULT THEM!

6. Remember, people go to laundry to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.

7. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.

8. Always be honest with people! Don’t pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of someone you want to assault. Consider telling them you plan to assault them. If you don’t communicate your intentions, the other person may take that as a sign that you do not plan to rape them.

9. Don’t forget: you can’t have sex with someone unless they are awake!

10. Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone “on accident” you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.

apparently, china wrecked the copenhagen deal

“How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room” by mark lynas.

To those who would blame Obama and rich countries in general, know this: it was China’s representative who insisted that industrialised country targets, previously agreed as an 80% cut by 2050, be taken out of the deal. “Why can’t we even mention our own targets?” demanded a furious Angela Merkel. Australia’s prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was annoyed enough to bang his microphone. Brazil’s representative too pointed out the illogicality of China’s position. Why should rich countries not announce even this unilateral cut? The Chinese delegate said no, and I watched, aghast, as Merkel threw up her hands in despair and conceded the point. Now we know why – because China bet, correctly, that Obama would get the blame for the Copenhagen accord’s lack of ambition.

cool infographics that i just had to share

i’ve been reading a lot of webdesign sites recently. came across a post full of cool infographics. 389 years ago is a good one about the progression of slavery to the election of barack obama. piggy trouble is about swine flu; i like the ‘fear of swine flu vs knowledge’ figure.

yeah… i could look at this all day.

i return to share some terribly NSFW pictures of women burned by acid

i guess these pictures made a pretty big impression on me…

terrorism that’s personal (12 images). NSFW pictures of women who have been burned by acid, mostly by boys that they rejected for marriage, some by familial disputes, and one by her father because he “didn’t want another girl in the family”.

Since 1994, a Pakistani activist who founded the Progressive Women’s Association (www.pwaisbd.org) to help such women “has documented 7,800 cases of women who were deliberately burned, scalded or subjected to acid attacks, just in the Islamabad area. In only 2 percent of those cases was anyone convicted.”

to the boys who were rejected by marriage: suck it up. seriously.

healthcare insights

An American living in France gets breast cancer, and points out the ludicrousness of how ‘socialized healthcare = hell-hole’.

I haven’t blogged in here much lately because I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and I’ve just (today even) gotten a letter from one of those “death” panels. Amazingly, I wasn’t shaking when I got the letter. They are called Medical Councils here and they determine whether someone is eligible or not for 100 percent medical coverage provided by the state, due to a prolonged illness that is in no way the fault of the patient.

This “Council” provides an essential service that is desperately needed in the US. It makes a decision about a patient’s health that does not depend upon considerations like age, income, pre-existing conditions or lifestyle. The council has only one question to answer: does the patient have an illness (or trauma) that requires long term treatment? If the answer to that question is yes, the person is immediately covered at 100 percent for the duration of the illness. the NHS functions in the same way, hence Hawking’s extended care.

the opening paragraph was… “let me go bash my head against a wall”:

The editor of Investor Business Weekly speculated that the eminent scientist Steven Hawking would have been eliminated by NHS death panels had he been, erh.. British.

i enjoyed the the daily show’s extended interview with austan goolsby, chief economist of the economic recovery board. here is part 1 of the extended interview (hulu.com).

there was a segment, reform madness — white minority (hulu.com) where they showed a clip of a woman crying “i want my america back”, and larry wilmore’s like “she wants *her* america back, go tell that to the indians.” seriously!

at times like these, it becomes evident why young people are notorious for political apathy. there are a disturbing number of people in the current generation who seem to be hell-bent on screwing up our future. they think obama is changing america for the worse, but they don’t recognize progress when they see it. they spout conservative vitriol that breeds xenophobia and fear of change. the exasperating stupidity exhibited in what is happening now… it’s hard for me to believe that this is actually happening. people would rather have the status quo? seriously? and making shit up like “death panels” and ‘obama wants to kill your grandma’? to paraphrase from the daily show, we already have death panels, they’re called insurance companies

all i know is that i better stay healthy in the years to come.

or i could move to canada.

ironic how moving to canada was also an option when bush won the re-election. less far-fetched now, perhaps.

malailai joya

Malalai Joya: The woman who will not be silenced — “Enraged by Taliban oppression Malalai Joya became a women’s rights activist, and after the US-led invasion, took on the new regime as an MP. But speaking out has come at a cost. She tells Johann Hari why death threats won’t stop her exposing ugly truths about Afghanistan.”

wow. just wow. all these brave women living in countries of oppression… these things make me realize all the things i take for granted. being considered a whole, functional human being, to start with.

it’s not that hot, really…

even though it’s 103 degrees, it doesn’t feel that hot. i keep telling myself that it’s always this hot in other parts of the country, and probably hotter right now. i think that after spending summers in places other than seattle (taiwan, new york), i’m in denial that it’s actually this hot in seattle.

wurt a crappy day. my whole family was up before i was. for some reason, my mom asking me a pointless question (“what is your shower thing?” “what shower thing?” “i don’t know, albert’s said you had a shower thing.” “the shower tote?” “what?” “the pink thing.” “what pink thing?” … and on…) when i just wanted to go to the bathroom just an unpleasant way to start the day. bus was twenty minutes late, so i was late for math. coming home, i realized that i was dangerously low on gas. the first gas station wouldn’t accept my card nor cash, so i had to go the roundabout way to a chevron three blocks down the street. all while it was gaining 100 degrees outside. lack of AC wasn’t a problem, but i was hungry. rargh. then i come home and walk into a spider web. i got around the reading the news, which is fucking depressing (#9 on reddit).

“don’t ask, don’t tell”

Lt. Dan Choi may be fired from the military for refusing to lie about who he loves. Sign a personal letter of support for Dan before Tuesday’s trial and help him fight “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

goo!!!

(if you’ve ever wanted to let the army know how you feel about their discrimination tendencies… now is the time…)

Pixar grants girl’s dying wish to see ‘Up’

Pixar grants girl’s dying wish to see ‘Up’.

so sad, but so sweet.

ex-christian.net

so there is this website/blog called exchristian.net that offers support for those who have abandoned the christian religion. it has this really great article comparing the move from christianity to atheism/skepticism to the move from windows to linux.

why i moved to linux” by neal stone.

But once in a while someone, like me, sees the truth and realizes there is an alternative to following the crowd blindly. We then sit down and totally replace our Windows with Linux. We discover a true freedom that sets us apart from the rest. We find life easier to live and enjoy and discover others who have also found this truth. No more lies from the “company”, no more bugs or unexplained issues that people choose to ignore or accept as part of the great plan.