Decompacting the murder of Theo Van Gogh

On November 2, a prominent and controversial Dutch filmmaker, Theo Van Gogh, was shot and stabbed to death, allegedly by a 26-year-old Islamic extremist holding Dutch and Moroccan citizenship. According to a note left at the crime scene, this was an act of retribution for a Van Gogh’s recent project, which detailed what he saw as the misogyny and backwardness of Islam and Muslim communities in Europe. In the wake of this much publicized political murder, Dutch and European lawmakers have begun using an exclusionary political language “culture” and “European values”, amid promises to “get tough” on immigrants.
Perhaps the most difficult issue to confront in this is the gender politics. Van Gogh’s last project “Submission” is ...

On November 2, a prominent and controversial Dutch filmmaker, Theo Van Gogh, was shot and stabbed to death, allegedly by a 26-year-old Islamic extremist holding Dutch and Moroccan citizenship. According to a note left at the crime ...

Anti-Choicers Beefing As Usual

It looks like anti-choice legislators are at it again, and this time they’re targeting Mifepristone, otherwise know as RU-486, that’s been proven to be a safe and effective form of abortion.
According to Ms. Magazine, Republican Congressman and Senator-elect Jim DeMint of South Carolina is trying to reintroduce a bill that suspends the sale of Mifepristone and authorizes the General Accounting Office (GAO) to investigate the process the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used to approve the drug.
DeMint and his co-sponsors, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) had taken the opportunity to start this shit up again after the FDA announced that Mifepristone’s label will be ...

It looks like anti-choice legislators are at it again, and this time they’re targeting Mifepristone, otherwise know as RU-486, that’s been proven to be a safe and effective form of abortion.
According to ...

NARAL gets new president; US cringes with jealousy


New president of NARAL Pro-Choice America Nancy Keenan is well prepared for the upcoming battle over choice. A former Montana public official and seasoned activist, Keenan is going into the position with the right attitude. “I really believe that pro-choice is an American value and that it is shared by women and men across the country,” she says in the Washington Post today.
Pro-choicers are so often put on the defensive, especially with this new liberals-have-no-moral-values crap. What seems to be lost in most conversations about reproductive rights is that the majority of Americans are pro-choice.
Keenan certainly has a fight ahead of her, though. With Bush still ...


New president of NARAL Pro-Choice America Nancy Keenan is well prepared for the upcoming battle over choice. A former Montana public official and seasoned activist, Keenan is going into the position with ...

Say hello to…

It’s been forever and a day since we’ve updated our blogroll, so for the next couple of weeks you’ll be seeing a bunch of new additions. Here’s a start to what will hopefully be a massive influx of new folks:
The Daou Report, run by Peter Daou (a veteran of the Kerry campaign), “tracks blogs, message boards, online magazines, and independent websites from across the political spectrum – providing a quick overview of the latest news, views, and online buzz.” It’s an amazing resource—check it out immediately…
Brutal Women comes to us from Kameron Hurley, a woman with an impressive background and a take-no-shit attitude.
BlackFeminism.org is a community blog that deals ...

It’s been forever and a day since we’ve updated our blogroll, so for the next couple of weeks you’ll be seeing a bunch of new additions. Here’s a start to what will hopefully be a massive ...

Breaking News: Dept. of Labor no longer reporting on women

Working women no longer exist in the eyes of the Bush administration.
I knew things would get bad, but not quite this bad. The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that as of 2005, it will discontinue researching information on women.
Yeah, you heard me right. No more stats on how women fare in the workplace. And where did I find this insanely vital piece of info? Not someplace widely publicized, that’s for damn sure. The DOL apparently thinks a two sentence mini-release on their website is sufficient to explain the exemption of women from labor research:
Following the release of preliminary December 2004 data in February 2005, estimates for women workers will ...

Working women no longer exist in the eyes of the Bush administration.
I knew things would get bad, but not quite this bad. The Department of Labor (DOL) has announced that as of 2005, it will ...

Eek.

Women’s eNews wrote an interesting/scary-ass article this week about a newly popularized form of plastic surgery that makes me quiver — labiaplasty.
Originally, labiaplasty was performed primarily for women in the sex industry who needed their labia reduced for infection or pain. But more recently, it looks like the average Jane is coming to the doc’s to get her vagina “looking pretty.” Some do get the surgery due to physical discomfort, but it seems to be quite a trend for women who feel like their pussy is “old looking” and want it nice and, er, perky again.
And what does it actually mean to get your labia “reduced?” Exactly what it sounds like. “In a labiaplasty, the surgical ...

Women’s eNews wrote an interesting/scary-ass article this week about a newly popularized form of plastic surgery that makes me quiver — labiaplasty.
Originally, labiaplasty was performed primarily for women in the sex industry who needed ...

California teen shoots girlfriend for seeking abortion

The good news is that he faces a life sentence for attempted murder. Sadly, his girlfriend is now in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
17-year-old Jeffrey Cameron FitzHenry shot his girlfriend—identified only as Sara S.—in the neck while she was in a health clinic filling out paperwork to obtain an abortion.
FitzHenry told Sara a week earlier not to have an abortion and that, “If you take something from me, I am going to take something to her from you.” Take something from him? Oh, I didn’t realize that he had claim uterus. Sounds like a real reasonable guy.
For a more in-depth look at the case, check out

The good news is that he faces a life sentence for attempted murder. Sadly, his girlfriend is now in a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
17-year-old Jeffrey Cameron FitzHenry shot his girlfriend—identified ...

Roadside safety for women…with chocolate?


Online gift store Abernook has just put out the Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit, touting it as “‘cool’ and practical.” The fact that they put the word cool in quotes in their press release should probably tell you a little something…
The Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit contains some useful stuff for the driving gal: an emergency blanket, instructions on how to change a flat tire (though the assumption that women don’t know how to do this is annoying), first aid supplies, etc.
The kit also has some not-so-useful (and somewhat bizarre) items: breath freshener, portable stain treater, antiperspirant, an aromatherapy headache remedy, lip moisturizer, an 18-piece emergency sewing repair kit, ...

Online gift store Abernook has just put out the Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit, touting it as “‘cool’ and practical.” The fact that they put the word cool in quotes ...
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