Passing along more links

[stakebait]

Man from Washington State lynched in Mississippi over oil on the land. My god.

Quebec study urges decriminalization of prostitution

New report shows Bush administration removed 25 reports from its Women's Bureau web site, deleting or distorting crucial information (Salon.com, you'll have to view an ACLU ad to get the full story.)

Why fat is not a health risk, and why America is so invested in believing it is.

Clearing out the bookshelves? Books for Soldiers has requests from soldiers serving overseas.

For Angel fans, An interesting analysis of ATS up through Origins by ascian3.

Comments

[fairestcat]

In defense of my home state here, the man who was lynched was from Washington State, the actual lynching was in Mississippi.

Not that that makes the whole thing any less disgusting and disturbing, of course.

[witling.livejournal.com]

That link to Books for Soldiers is really interesting. I've gone back and forth on so much of it, in my sheltered idealistic Canadian way. I don't support the war. But that doesn't mean I don't realize there are good people fighting it. I know they need the support of their country, even if I don't agree with what they're doing. (Sometimes radically, as in the situation in Fallujah. So I think, I should send books. Then I go to the boards to see what's being requested. DVDs of Three Kings and Reservoir Dogs. Maxim. FHM. Also other stuff, it's not all stuff that freaks me out, but there's a heavy percentage of stuff that I just... I don't know what to say about it, quite. Class politics in this country are so loaded, and if I say I don't think FHM is the healthiest thing for someone to read, I feel like I've painted a big red "feminist intellectual" target on my chest. And not in a good way. And besides...DVDs? The troops are watching Lord of the Rings in their down hours? I just bought a DVD player myself a few months ago. It isn't that I think soldiers, or anyone for that matter, should suffer unnecessarily, but...DVDs are now a basic amenity? And not DVDs of, I don't know, I can't even think of any big American movies that talk about befriending people from other cultures right now--are there any? It must be my mood, but right now it seems like America doesn't make movies like that for entertainment, so I don't even know what to cite, here. Anyway. The requests are for shoot-em-ups and bad guy go boom and, you know, schlock. Daredevil. Comic book worlds. Which God knows, I live in a comic book world plenty of the time, but I don't then pick up a rifle and go sniping "insurgent" women and children in the streets. Just...ugh. Argh.

And then I think, who am I to judge what other people use for recreation? I'm a librarian, I'm not supposed to judge, I'm supposed to provide access. And not just when someone wants something that I agree with and support, like Bill Bryson and Harvey Pekar and Arianna Huffington. To everything that's legal--everything that doesn't actively hurt someone else. And whether or not watching Quentin Tarantino movies causes people to go out and hurt others, well... That's not something I'm prepared to say. That's for Dworkin and MacKinnon to talk out.

Good lord, I'm verbose. I'm pre-menstrual, I blame it on hormones. The world seems so packed with troubles right now, and also with potential for good. And we seem to do the same things over and over and over.

And now I will stop spamming your LJ.

Thank you for the link.

[batyatoon]

On "Why fat is not a health risk":

Have you seen those "The Ultimate Comeback" ads in the subways lately, featuring before-and-after photos of Anna Nicole Smith?