Ask Surly Amy: How to Deal with Hate – (((((Trigger warning for threats of violence against women.))))))
I couldn’t read this whole article because it triggered me, but as usual, Surly Amy makes some great points…and there are puppies involved! For your good deed of the day, every time you see a hate message against a woman online donate 25 cents to Planned Parenthood.
Ibogaine is a substance used in a Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode (SE11EP07, “Users”) for opiate addiction (such as heroin, methamphetamines, etc). The psychiatrist (played by B. D. Wong) in the SVU episode claims that Ibogaine can and does end addiction overnight (91% success rate according to the characters) and that it is safer than methadone. There’s only one catch to this miraculous treatment. Wong’s character explains, “It’s illegal in the US, because the patent expired and drug companies don’t want to pay to renew it when they make more money treating people with the less-effective methadone”. Is it just me, or is that weird and not in the best interests of patients who want to end their addictions? Money may make the world go round, but in this case, I think the money needs to stuff it. Something I didn’t know: “Canada and Mexico both allow ibogaine therapy facilities to operate and contribute to further understanding of the detoxification and therapeutic process that ibogaine has the potential to facilitate.” [Wikipedia: Ibogaine.]
Is There a Point to Veil Bans? Personally, I see no reason to ban them, any more than banning the wearing of crosses or kippas/yarmulkes makes any sense. It’s supposed to be an individual’s choice of what she wants to wear – despite what the media trumpets, Islam is a democracy, and those who force women to cover themselves with niqabs have no right to call themselves Muslims, because they are oppressing women in the name of Allah. It’s the same problem with fundamentalist Christians’ objection to gay marriage – religion is used as a crutch to support hatred with the argument from authority, but if people actually took the time to study what Jesus and Mohammed (peace be upon them) actually did or said about such things, it would quickly become clear that people who use religion to bolster hate and ignorance, and to cause mass death and destruction, should have no right to declare themselves followers of those religions – BECAUSE THEY AREN’T. Prophets are turning in their graves, I tell you. I’ve written about what a joke the TSA is when it comes to airport security, so this latest restriction/objection just seems like more of the same nonsense that amounts to racial profiling.
Update on My Guide to Islam – The writer spent her childhood as a practicing Muslim who never in her right mind would have believed that she would grow up to be an atheist feminist secular humanist, or, in other words, a Skepchick writer.
DarthxErik singing “On My Own” in an impression of Frances Ruffelle – Ruffelle was the first “Eponine” I ever heard in Les Misérables, and in my opinion, still the best. Lea Salonga is my second favourite.
Knitting Maternity Shirt – I must have this when we have kids.
