I'm just going to stand behind Teppy and her rant instead.

I'm just going to stand behind Teppy and her rant instead.

The shit people pull in the name of religion -- and, sorry to the guys here, but it's well-nigh always men pulling some oppressive shit on women -- makes me sick.

You see it all the time with very fundie Christian groups that try to suppress interaction between the sexes -- women are always told to not wear anything, or *do* anything, etc., that might cause "a brother to stumble."

Bullshit. Looking at *linoleum* can cause them to "stumble." Blame the goddamn linoleum, then.

When I was a kid our parents just turned us loose in costumes without adult supervision from the age of 7 or 8. That allowed a great combo of trick-or-treating fun with other kids and the thrill of getting scared without Mom or Dad right there to reassure us. I feel sad that modern parents are so protective their kids never really get that scary rush of adrenaline from Halloween.

I can't remember a time when my parents came with me. It was sort of nice to have a staircase with a turn because, unless the kids were super little, the kids were by themselves with the parents around the corner down on the sidewalk.

One little doctor (2-3) was scared to come up the stairs and called us bad girls!

I wasn't sure if I should post that link, as I thought it might be rage-inducing for no reason. But maybe it's good to know about men like this.

I've been thinking about this guy - I guess he and men like him are so used to having complete control over women that when that control is lessened a little bit he flies into a a rage.

Or maybe it's more about this guy's power in general (not just power over women). The guy is the "spiritual leader of the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party" so maybe it's more about his rallying political support behind him by scapegoating women.

Or maybe it's that people who are so convinced they're right just bug me....

Women’s Sexy Clothing ‘Distracting Muslim Men From Sleep’

I read an article (in Salon probably) by a western woman who'd spent time working in Saudi Arabia and one of the things that struck me about her adventures in staying covered up at all times was that the reactions of men who would "see" her (like, once she was -- fully covered -- waiting for a friend outside of a bank she wasn't allowed to go in to and the guard asked her to stand to the side instead of right out in front because it men were staring. and when she told her friend he was not sure why this upset her...) was that the men acted like they'd just hit puberty. They stared, they stammered, they got really freaked out whenever they had to deal with her.

I can believe those guys would be distracted to sleeplessness. And I can believe someone who thinks men never need to, oh, mature and learn a little self-control, would feel bad for them.

Ew.

It was the LA Times.

Very interesting article [link]

[edit: hmm. the stammering men must have been another article. but you get the idea]

So, the elevator informs me that 11% of Americans would be willing to have a device implanted in their brain that would provide constant internet access.

I heard that on BOL the other day too. And have the same questions as brenda. Come on people, you could have Google in your brain!

You see it all the time with very fundie Christian groups that try to suppress interaction between the sexes -- women are always told to not wear anything, or *do* anything, etc., that might cause "a brother to stumble."

Yep -the first thing I thought of when I read that was that survey awhile back about "And when girls wear [x], does THAT cause you to stumble?" where the results basically said girls should wear burlap sacks and also try not to move if they can at all help it. (Of course, what too few people pointed out was that it was a survey of TEENAGE BOYS. And yet, not one question on there about "Does looking at linoleum cause you to stumble?")

On a totally different note....

The Dread Pirate Annabel

Gotta work on our swordsmanship...

A picture of me I actually don't hate for a change

I'm just going to stand behind Teppy and her rant instead.

joins Daisy, waves her hockey stick

I can't remember a time when my parents came with me.

Seriously. I think we laughed at those kids.