not just for the nfl: even pastors beat their wives

edmontonsun.com - World - Hubby charged in minister's beating

so. bishop thomas w. weeks (the 3rd) put the beat down on his wife, gospel singer/televangelist, juanita bynum in a hotel parking lot. he chokes her, 'stomps' on her, flees the scene, she ends up in the hospital, he's arrested and released on $40,000 bail, and then he goes to church.

his supporters, instead of fleeing from a so-called spiritual leader who has poor impulse control, have instead chosen to circle their wagons around him and say totally sheeplistic, insane things like:
"There are three sides to every story. Nobody has the right to judge anybody. God is in the midst of that and will work it out."
"We all make mistakes. He deserves another opportunity."
"Let's love and pray they stay together! It may be a blessing to us all!"

and then there's this love letter from a commenter on an aol board:
"He might have a short fuse. He was obviously tryna walk away from the situation and SHE followed him. A man can only take so much from a nagging ass wife."

ah, yes. the 'nagging ass wife.'
the mouthy, back-talking, sassy, 'don't know her place' emasculating jezebel that all men must beware.

according to church folk, here's the lesson for all you single church gals out there:
if your man has a 'short fuse,' it's no one's fault but your own nagging ass self for making him stomp you so hard in the face a parking lot attendant has to pull him off you.

i hate ignorance. i really really really do. and ignorance crossed with self-hatred and misogyny?
even worse.

[shudder]
sorry; i'm having a flashback to my old church where attitudes like this grew like rotten fruit on a tree.

ah, geez. and this morning, i came across a piece discussing Christian Domestic Discipline.
i really can't take church people's lame excuses for smacking a woman. (and there is a huge difference between consent and acquiescence. one implies enthusiastic participation, the other implies coercion.)

maybe that's what bishop weeks was practicing - just some good old christian domestic discipline.

Jena 6: action down in Louisiana

it's amazing what our news media buries. the events in this campaign happened one year ago, but it's just now beginning to filter to the attention of progressive bloggers and folks who keep tabs on racial justice issues.

truthout has an awesome profile of the story here.

this is the short story:

Last fall in Jena, Louisiana, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school
accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their
protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can
take away your lives with a stroke of my pen."1 A series of
white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when
a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by
charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit
murder.

the first of these students is about to be sentenced for 22 years and a campaign has begun to halt the legal process because it is so clearly uneven, biased and racist. it's like something happening out of 1952 Jim Crow south. the families of the remaining 5 students are frantically trying to stop what's happening to their kids.

ColorOfChange.org has the full story and a petition to be sent to the louisiana governor.

dogs v. women: not even dogs safe

Vick Apologizes, Vows to Redeem Himself - The Huffington Post

but when will he apologize to the dogs??

i think i like this quote best. it sums up why nothing will change in pro sports re: criminal behavior, least of all the invisible crime of violence against women by professional athletes:

"We cannot tell you today that Michael is cut from the team," [Atlanta Falcons owner] Blank said. "Cutting him today may feel better emotionally for us and many of our fans. But it's not in the long-term best interests of our franchise."

ahh. of course.

on the move

i think i wrenched something.

my back is all stiff from bending at awkward angles and lifting boxes.
i stink.
i'm covered in dust and grime.
i really stink.
my hair looks like i've been pulled through the underbrush.
the apartment is totally jacked up.

got a text message asking if i was free to go out tonight from a boy.
there is NO way i'll be in any shape to be girly and sexy in under 48 hours.

moving sucks.

more on women and dogs: the clueless need to get a clue

Sara Whitman: Michael Vick: You Should Have Been Beating Women Instead - Living Now on The Huffington Post

her column is, granted, a little loose and baggy. the sports writers i've read on the same issue had a much sharper way of making their point. i also think her comment about race distracted her readers - clearly, they didn't get what she was saying at all. (it's not about the action itself, it's about the reaction in the media! two separate things!) once you imply there's a racial double standard, folks are either going to agree with you (rare) or they're going to reel back in denial that such a thing, and their participation in it, could ever exist.

anyway, her commenters are interesting. they remind me of the creepy guys who work really hard to define exactly what rape is so they'll know what to do the next time some girl gets drunk at a party. ("is it rape if she's totally drunk but we were flirting earlier and i know she would have wanted to do it even though i never actually heard her say the words? what about if she's ... blah blah blah rape apologist rape apologist")

i did a few hours research yesterday at work (because i think i'm going to write about it in our next newsletter) and it was stunning what i found; in most cases charges had been dropped, dismissed or, in the rare case a conviction was ever made, the athlete usually got a slap on the wrist. a fine, a paid suspension, a few hours community service. if ever someone was actually fired or dropped from a team it was because he was on his way to prison, or the assault was so bad it was undeniable and was going to be a PR nightmare. in other words, the franchise couldn't ignore it anymore.

(or their attempt to smear the victim failed.)

here are notes on a sampling of what i found (and the more you dig, the more of a chain of out of control male behavior you uncover. totally reprehensible.) questions in brackets are details i didn't have time to confirm, yet:

Carolina wide receiver Rae Carruth conspired to murder his pregnant girlfriend. Nonetheless, a jury found him guilty in 2001, and he's serving a 19- to 23-year prison term.
February 2007 - Pacman Jones - Tennessee Titans was involved in an incident at a Las Vegas strip club that led to the shooting of three people, including a guard who is now paralyzed from the waist down. [suspended for 2007 season; must reapply for reinstatement]
mid-1990s - Lawrence Phillips - Nebraska college football star pleaded no contest to trespassing and assault after allegedly beating his girlfriend, who said he dragged her by her hair down three flights of stairs. 2005 - wanted in connection with two alleged domestic abuse incidents in san diego and one other domestic abuse incident in los angeles; [suspended from nebraska college team; went on to play for rams, dolphins, 49ers, european and canadian football teams until 2003; guilty in 2006 of assault with deadly weapon ]
2003 - Kobe Bryant - (nba) LA Lakers - accused and arrested for sexual assault; charges dropped when accuser refused to testify; matter settled out of court
1999 - Bobby Chouinard - (mlb) Arizona Diamondbacks - hit his wife and held a loaded gun to her head and served a one-year sentence — but in three-month increments during off-seasons. [now with Colorado Rockies]
2006 - Brett Myers - (mlb) Phillies allegedly dragged his wife around by the hair on a Boston street in front of witnesses. He still pitched the next day at Fenway Park, and was later granted a paid leave of absence. [wife dropped charges]
2004 - Michael Pittman - Bucs - was indicted three years ago on two counts of aggravated assault for intentionally ramming his Hummer into a car carrying his wife and 2-year-old son. It was the fourth time Pittman had been arrested on domestic-abuse charges, but his wife, Melissa, told police there were 30 or 40 others that she never reported. Pittman got a three-game suspension.
mid-90s, Christian Peter - Nebraska, then an All-Big Eight defensive tackle, arrested eight times at Nebraska, where he was twice accused of brutal rape — charges resulting in one out-of-court settlement and another conviction for sexual assault. Patriots gave up draft rights to Peter, but he would eventually play for three NFL teams.
Summer 2007 - Former Seahawk Chad Eaton was arrested for investigation of domestic violence.

2007 - Lionel Gates - Tampa Bay - placed in a pre-trial intervention program and ordered to take anger-mgmt courses after being arrested for an altercation with a pregnant woman in March
1996 - Lamar Thomas - Tampa Bay - rammed pregnant fiancee's head through a window; later released from team
May 2007 - AJ Nicholson - Bengals - arrested on domestic violence charges; suspended from FSU while accused of sexual assault
2005 - Brad Hopkins - Tennessee Titans - arrested and charged with domestic assault for allegedly choking his wife
2005 - Samari Rolle - Tennessee Titans - wife needed stitches above her eye; released from Titans, re-signed with Ravens
2001 - Jason Kidd - (NBA) NJ Nets - guilty of spousal abuse; no punishment
2007 - Ron Artest - (nba) Sacramento Kings - fighting in the stands and arrested for domestic assault in March; received a 2-game suspension and $600 fine
2006 - Bretty Myers - (mlb) Phillies - assaulted wife on street and charged with assault and battery; 'off-field' incident not punished by MLB
2005 - Reuben Droughns - Cleveland Browns - arrested for domestic violence (3rd degree assault and harassment); [charges dropped; currently playing for NY Giants]
2006 - Santonio Holmes - Steelers - arrested for domestic violence and assault; judge dismissed charges
2006 - Markus Curry - Chargers - domestic assault [dropped by team]; 2002 - while at UM, pleaded guilty of assault on girlfriend
2006? - Rob Reynolds - Titans - domestic violence, charges reduced and pled guilty to misdemeanor; suspended for one game?
2006 - Randy Starks - Titans - domestic violence [punishment by league?]
2006 - Sean Locklear - Seattle Seahawks - alleged assault on girlfriend (grabbed around her neck); [result?; punishment by league?]
2007 - Brandon Marshall - Broncos - arrested for false imprisonment and domestic violence
2000 - Patrick Roy - (nhl) Colorado Avalanche - domestic violence [result?; punishment by league?]
2007 - Elijah Dukes - (mlb) Tampa Bay Devils - violating domestic violence injunction
1986 - Darryl Strawberry - (mlb) NY Mets - domestic assault and battery; eventually suspended for drug abuse, not violence against women
2007 - Julio Matteo - mlb/Seattle Mariners - beat, kicked and bit wife's lip; knocked down to Triple-A and suspended for 10 days without pay; traded to Phillies and Double-A

this is just through 3 hours of research, tracking names mentioned in columns written by sports writers who are disgusted that pro athletes are basically being told it's OK to assault a woman. when there is no consequence for hitting a woman, they'll keep on assaulting us; when fans twist themselves into knots to excuse behavior that would otherwise land their best buddy in jail (for at least a night), they're telling pro athletes that it's ok; when advertisers turn a blind eye to these charges and incidents, they're saying it's ok.

so fuck vick and his dogs. i don't care if a guy's found with a funeral pyre in his backyard full of dead animals.

these guys, these batterers, should have been in jail and shame on all their fans and supporters who collaborate with them.

women v. dogs: dogs win

ChicagoSports.com: The greater outrage
kudos for rick morrissey for writing something that more men need to say. and not just sports writers.

last night Roomie and i were watching the daily show where stewart (love!) ripped on the nfl for their reaction to the vick/dogfighting thing.

Roomie looked over at me and said, ' you know, dogfighting is bad but i don't get all the fuss.'
'i think it has something to do with his role in the dogfighting. he wasn't just a participant but he was, like, crucially involved. the ringleader or something.'

'oh. but i still don't get it. i mean, they're dogs. awful but they're dogs.'
'i know. i think about every pro athlete that's been arrested for beating the shit out of their girlfriends or wives or raping some woman and no one gets all twisted like this.'

Roomie said, 'exactly. bizarre.'
i snorted, 'typical.'

it's typical of an all male bastion of privilege and money protecting itself. oh sure, the big bad men might get a pass for knocking a few teeth out or blacking some woman's eye. he might pay a fine and serve some community service hours but nothing really happens to him. however, kill a pooch and then he loses his fancy contract and serves jail time.

just goes to show you where women are on the big manly patriarchal chain of being, huh?

other stuff:
this is also a pretty good article about pro athletes and the pass our culture gives them when it comes to domestic or sexual assault. this is a better article from the village voice.

in fact, if you want to see some good stuff, just google 'NFL domestic assault' and see what comes up.

and these are some recent news articles that have noticed the deafening silence when women are on the receiving end of some pro athletic pulchritudinous punching.

this is a non-profit formed to educate the public and support women who have been assaulted or raped by college or pro-athletes.

between american princess and bratz, there's jesus toys!

wasp jerky: Toy Story

down in comments, the ever-reliable WaspJerky has brought to my attention the existence of faith-based toys. barbie makes me gag, bratz make me want to hide in a cave and american girl place just makes me tired. i have NOTHING against wholesome toys. i, myself, had a very modest Holly Hobby that i loved until my german shepherd ripped off her head and it had to be repaired. she wore the cutest bloomers!

but wasn't leah the Ugly Sister jacob picked??
so why is the Ugly Sister dark skinned? huh? huh?
i mean, come on - elizabeth is a shiny blonde! when do OT women get to be blonde and fair-skinned??

(how embarrassing it would be if some bible savvy reader discovered a verse in the OT that said something like '...and Leah, who was black as pitch, went to the well and drew water...blah blah blah.')

but that's not what i want to bring to your attention. direct your eyes to Wasp Jerky's mention of the sex shoppe for christian married couples!

tee hee!

dear jesus, teach me to fry it up in a pan

from Feminary we get this nifty post about Southern Baptist Seminary offering a new set of courses for women (i.e, the wives of seminary students.)

gender studies? sorta.
hermeneutics of gender? a little.
historical context of women's lives in the bible? uh...
how to whip up a casserole, sew a dress, keep that quiver full AND help your husband with his greek?

exactly!

read on (bold and italics are mine because i just can't believe it):

Southwestern Baptist, one of the nation's largest Southern Baptist seminaries,
is introducing a new academic program in homemaking as part of an effort to
establish what its president calls biblical family and gender roles.
It will offer a bachelor of arts in humanities degree with a 23-hour concentration in
homemaking. The program is only open to women.

lordy. lordy lordy lordy.
it's christian home ec. i can't take it. i really can't. there is nothing more nightmarish for me than hours of Home Ec specifically designed to bolster frakked up traditional gender roles. maybe if my mom had taken some of these courses she wouldn't have been so angry...she would have sipped the kool-aid and learned to play some hymns on the organ, like a proper pastor's wife.

OMG! you have to look at their brochure: the sanitary napkin font, the soft focus photo, the uplifted (white) face. it's a christian romance novel cover! and it has the ubiquitous lavender rose!!

some of their course offerings:
Embracing Femininity

i think i'll just stop there. my brain just broke.

a sobering reminder we're at war

anyone catch The Daily Show last night?

there was a really sobering moment when jon stewart confronted the author of dick cheney's new biography and it was a thing of beauty.

earlier, he'd played the clip of Cheney being eerily prescient, but then he said that the difference between the liberals and the conservatives on the iraq war was that the right lied and used their lies (even when they admitted they knew the truth) to brand those who didn't believe their lies as traitors and un-American. then he wondered why we should believe anything this administration, especially cheney, has to say about their accomplishments when they've been wrong about everything.

when the author tried to mitigate all this and say that the right never really did any of those things, they just have a different way of viewing solutions, he was booed by the audiience and Jon Stewart got super serious:

Stewart: Let me say this: I think there's a real feeling in this country that your patriotism has been questioned, by people in very high-level positions, not fringe people. You know, I myself had some idiot from Fox [News Channel] playing the tape of me after September 11th, very upset, and them calling me a phony, because,
apparently, my grief didn't mean acquiescence. So, I think that it's a fair point to say—
Hayes: I think we can agree that we shouldn't be questioning other people's patriotism; on the other hand, I think it's totally legitimate to talk about different ways of handling the war on terror and for them to make their case.
Stewart: If they were to make their case on that, I'm saying to you, I think we'd have a fair argument and agreement on how to move forward. They haven't done that, and the evidence that they haven't done that is, he made that case in 1994, he knew those were the problems, and they never brought it up in the run-up to the war. (snip)

the segment was very sobering. no laughing. no jokes. just really disappointed resignation that our administration just screwed the pooch for the past 6 years and turned against its own citizenry to do so.

you can find a transcript here.

what did we expect? competency?

Air Force turns tables on rape accuser - Los Angeles Times

i've said it once and i'll say it again: our military has NO capacity to deal with sexual assault. whether it's tailhook, academy assaults, rapes overseas or sexual harassment that leads to assault, our military does not know how to address either a rape victim's needs or a perpetrator's crime.

this unfolding story has a way of ginning up the bile in a way that most stories of sexual assault in the military have not. perhaps it's the way that the military apparatus that is supposed to investigate a crime has suddenly turned its eye on the woman who reported it. perhaps it's the obvious way that the men involved are wholly protected while she's left to twist in the wind. perhaps it's the unease with which i can imagine that this could totally happen outside the closed world of the military.

the question needs to be asked: do we believe women? do we believe women when they've said they've been raped? or do we look for any excuse to absolve a man of that crime?

'well, i've heard that women make up charges. so how do we know she's telling the truth?'

is that our job, to make sure someone is telling the truth? or is our duty to believe someone who says she's been raped? wouldn't we believe any other victim of crime?

another church gal!

Christian Feminist is a blog found through a commenter and i think i like it!
(and, no, it's not just because she links to me, too...)

Illinois General Assembly : overtime in hell

you can listen to the IL general assembly argue about the operational budget here:

Illinois General Assembly - House of Representatives Audio/Video

fascinating.
it's like a twilight zone version of mr. smith goes to washington.

[via capitol fax blog]

men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses...

Feministing has a great post about some bullshit article that whines about a 40-year old woman who can't find a man.

are you kidding me??
WHY are people still writing these lameass articles?
why are we still listening to fools who say things like 'smart girls will never be married because they're too smart?'
conversely, why can't i find the article that says 'smart women tell little man-boys to take a flying fuck'?

i mean, please. PLEASE!

aargh. the inherent sexism of our popular culture is almost enough to make me wanna send a stink bomb to some magazines.

Paid Family Leave: Take Action

if you go here, you can send a letter urging dick durbin and barack obama to support paid family leave legislation (or whoever your federal legislator is).

what's the issue? (from the Women Employed action page):

The Family Leave Insurance Act of 2007, introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Ted Stevens (R-AK), would provide eight weeks of paid benefits to people who must take time off for a family or medical leave. The Act builds on the foundation set by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which allows workers to take unpaid time off for reasons that include the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a child, spouse, or parent with a serious illness, or to care for their own serious illness.

The Family Leave Insurance Act provides eight weeks of paid leave over a 12-month period. Benefits are based on salary, with the lowest wage earners receiving 100 percent of their wages. The program will be funded through small, shared employee/employer premiums. Businesses with more than 50 employees would be required to comply with the Act, though smaller businesses may choose to opt in.

The Family Leave Insurance Act is an important step in ensuring that Americans can balance work responsibilities and family needs. It is especially important to the millions of low-wage workers who cannot afford to take the unpaid leave provided by the FMLA.
Contact your federal legislators today to ask them to support the Family Leave Insurance Act of 2007. Americans should not have to choose between the job they need and the family they love.

Women Employed : Take Action

hello, Kitty: threat to global masculinity

horror of horrors!
who will save us from the egregious crimes of bad policemen?
Hello, Kitty!!

one one hand we have the 'isn't it funny?' factor of modern thai crimebusting; on the other hand we are presented the same old tired thinking that anything 'girly' is kryptonite for 'real' manly men. what is more shaming than an official reprimand? this from a police officer:

“This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor,” he said. “Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps.”

cute. pink. girlish. childish. feminine. danger to masculinity everywhere. elicits shame and guilt.
who knew Hello, Kitty had so much power?

hey, let's make a bunch of these armbands and drop them on iraq.

To Punish Thai Police, a Hello Kitty Armband - New York Times

i rock.

no, no. it's true! they told me.

today, at a regional conference, i totally rocked my panel presentation (How Advocacy can be a Tactic in Your Overall Internal/External Strategic Communications Strategy.) barely looked at my hastily cobbled notes, delivered my message, kept the energy level up, elicited some laughs and made my office look really really good.

i. rock.
...
of course, i'm also horribly cash poor right now (thanks to bad budgeting math) so my head won't get too big anytime soon.

thank goodness my Roomie lent me cab fare, or i'd be in northbrook, selling my blood to get back to the city.

justice for iraqi girl

G.I. Gets 110 Years for Rape and Killing in Iraq - New York Times

the prosecution of the rape and murder of the 14 year old iraqi girl, abeer qassim al-janabi, and 4 members of her family seems to be drawing to a close, with 3 soldiers convicted and sentenced; the ringleader, steven d. green, is scheduled to be prosecuted in federal court. his cohort is going to testify against him and i can only hope he gets the death penalty.

vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.
but sometimes justice gets served here on earth.

wow. prayer really DOES work

OMG.

my doctor's office just called and told me my surgery (which i was totally freaking out about below) has been cancelled!

why?

because, apparently, i'm so freaking anemic (6.8 out of 11 scale) it scared them and now i have to spend the next 4 months raising my blood levels.

mysterious ways, folks.

the meta-narrative of my fibroid: or, fibroids as God's feminist punishment

it is 4 days until Agatha-extraction. (i named my fibroid Agatha; it brings to mind a pink, lumpy old lady huddled in a warm snug place who's about to get evicted. a miss marple of uterine invaders.)

against my will and despite my best 'think positive-ness' my imagination is full of those awful NBC Dateline-esque news stories: Stone Philips fills the tv screen with his big impassive face and says, 'It was an ordinary procedure. One performed millions of times before on millions of ordinary women just like her. But, sadly, the family and friends of Ding would soon realize that sometimes tragedy strikes despite the ordinary."

or something lame like that.

i can't help but think that if the next 4 days was a plot point in a novel bought in the checkout lane at the supermarket, i'd be worried about Me about now. reading about the protagonist who has made some questionable decisions over the past year and blatantly flaunted a 'whatever' face to the world at large, i would be worried that the Author would take this opportunity in the narrative to 'teach Me a lesson'. (sort of like the annoying holly hunter show Saving Grace.)

in such a mass market novel, this would be the moment in the story where the hard drinking/smoking/sexing wench (Me) would be given the opportunity to Learn Something Valuable about strength in perseverance as she recovers from the stroke she's had because the anathesia was wrong and she struggles to form basic words;
or i learn the love of a good man as the doctor, who accidentally removed all my reproductive organs because he's a drunk, falls in love with me when i sue him in a malpractice case that will change the shape of litigation forEVER;
or maybe i learn the identity of the 5 people i'd talk to in heaven after i bleed out on the operating table because i forgot to tell my doctors i've been taking an aspirin a day to stop a toothache.

these are the mental stories that fill my days when i'm not paying attention. needless to say, i'm a little stressed out.
...
the other day, when i was with Roomie and some friends celebrating Roomie's birthday, i was asked how i was holding up.

i said, 'uh, ok. i'm just slightly anxious about, you know, dying.'
Roomie said, 'you have to go into it thinking you're going to die. it's liberating.'
'you know, that's SO not soothing,' i said. (although there was a little voice asking me, If you're so cool with your faith, how come you're anxious? then i told the little voice to shut the frak up - i'm a weak human, that's why!)

she shrugged. 'it's soothing to me. i don't know why you're worried. you have no issue with dying. you talk to jesus and stuff.'

i said, 'it's not dying. it's the southern baptist superstition that i could still be wrong. i mean, yeah, i've done and believed almost all of the right things - almost - but what if i could still go to hell? presbyterians have that 'sealed' thing. baptists? not so much. God has a crazy sense of humor and right when you think you're all right, BAM! He could let hell could getcha.'

Roomie said, 'you are crazy.'

another friend, who also grew up fundamentalist, laughed and said, 'no. punishment or the devil's always there. ready to get you.'

i said, 'see? you can take the girl out of the baptist, but blah blah blah. still there. and i was with B- last week? yeah. could totally be punished for being a tart and God will kill me and i'll go to hell.'

my laughing friend said, 'but that's not the worst case scenario. worst case scenario is you end up a vegetable.'
i said, 'SEE?? she gets it! that's it! i could end up a vegetable because i had sex last week and i'm really supposed to be a repressed baptist virgin my whole life until i get married!'

'totally. nutbag. the two of you,' my Roomie said. but she doesn't get it.

she made artsy-craftsy dioramas in sunday school while i memorized scripture, learned about the rapture and was told how everyone was going to hell to burn in eternal hell fire if they knew gay people or had sex.

(and, yeah. any comment resembling this will get deleted: 'well, if you were a REAL christian woman you wouldn't be so worried. i hope God sends you a blood clot and you end up like terry shiaivo. then you'll learn.')

i don't read Hugo Schwyzer enough and i should. he's thoughtful, smart and takes care of something called a chinchilla. (yeeks.) but he's also one of the rare churchy guys around who writes about women, feminism and modern masculinity in a way that doesn't make me want to get in a black van, roofie a few guys and take a hammer to someone's penis.

(hey. sometimes i get angry. i'm bad. i know that.)

check out his post about male posturing and also his link to this blog that talks about grace and faith and choice. it's not about reproductive choice but whether faith is a choice. it's all very somber and honest and real writing about faith.

ok. now i'm going to leave my office and meet Roomie for a birthday drink.

Soldier Testifies in Rape - Slaying Case - New York Times

although this story has dropped into the memory hole the trials against the american soldiers who raped and killed an iraqi girl (also killing other members of her family) continues.

i'd think that this trial alone should give us pause about our 'mission' over there and call us home.
but i guess not.

what's a little rape and murder when we're defending freedom?