Digest 33
I’ve altered it a bit from its original posting in the Yahoo Group.
War and Peace’in it
Ahmadinejad at Colombia: A Libertarian Student’s Perspective
Like him or despise the guy, the attack on the Iranian president on some things is downright war propaganda. I do find the Iranian regime to be deplorable yet strongly oppose an attack on Iran by the U.S. government.
On a related note, check out this other piece on the speech listed below:
Where Raimando links to an elaboration on why homosexuality has a different meaning in Iran than in America. I’ll just quote it in full since it’s short:
“The National Post opines: “Of all the provocative things for the Iranian president to say in his rambling address, the strangest has to be his contention that there are no gay people in Iran.”
Yet not so strange, if you understand his point of view. In Iran, you see, homosexuals are thought of as women trapped in male bodies. That’s why they offer free operations for those who want to change their sex (from male to female, that is. Women into men would be too much for them to handle.)
In the Persian mindset—and in much of the Muslim world—anyone who wants a man is, in essence, a woman. That’s why there’s so much more sodomy in that part of the world than even in certain English boarding schools—coupled with unrelenting hostility to homosexual identity. After all, if women are veiled and generally unavailable, and, furthermore, men who have sex with men are perceived by the Persians as really women, then … well, why not?
So, it’s a trade-off: the Persian gay boy gets laid by a lot of “straight” guys, but unless you’re willing to (literally!) become a eunuch, you’re taking a really really big risk.”
Of course, if you don’t get a sex change and proudly strut around with a gay identity then the Iranian Mullahs — being the closed minded and anti-hot gay sex tyrants that they are — will hang you.
Blinded by Hatred? On So-Called Pro-War Libertarians
What’s up with all this talk of pro-war libertarianism? When did mass murder become compatible with respect for individual life and rights?
Blackwater is about as genuinely private as Halliburtion. When your main business consists of helping out the local superpower occupy the latest conquered province, your not exactly a sterling example of private enterprise, but of that collusion between government and private economic interests that is characteristic of fascist economies. Remember that scene in the movie Schindler’s Listwhere Schindler is meeting with the Nazi war contracts people? Just insert American officials and a guy from Blackwater in there. You’ll understand my meaning then.
Will the Iraqi demand that the personnel involved in the recent alleged unprovoked shooting of innocent Iraqis be tried under Iraqi law cause a major confrontation between the U.S. military and the armed forces of the admittedly weak Iraqi state? Justin Raimando weighs in. I’d note that there is more than one incident in which Blackwater is accused of acting with excessive force. It’s coming to light that there were attempted coverups with assistance from the state department.
And guess what? Blackwater is still getting contracts as we speak. That’s crony capitalism for you.
It’s the Sexual Revolution All Over Again
Sex Toys and the Technology of Orgasm
You have to read this one or the sex police will show up at your door. Not really, but it’s very interesting. I had no idea that vibrators were originally used for the purpose of “curing” people of the “disease” of hysteria.
Get this part too: “Doctors believed that using massage to bring women to orgasm would make them less emotional”
Let’s all deaden our feelings said the medical profession to women.
The lady blogger who wrote the above piece blogged about it too. I want to visit her In the Flesh: Erotic Reading Series when I go to NYC again.
You heard it right. There are hobo strippers in this world. I give them a thumbs up for novelty and living by their own standards.
From the Annals of Mark Morford
I was looking through Mark Morford’s archives today to track down a piece to link to on a message I was sending out on a Yahoo group and found some lovely pieces to include in this digest.
A blast to the past. Before there was Noam Chomsky, or Emma Goldman, or Murray Rothbard for me, there was the great Mark Morford who continues to lead the battle for freedom to access good porn on the net to this day.
Read some of his many pro-free wheeling sexuality columns and you’ll know what I mean.
The piece above was the first I ever read of him that my friend Thea sent me.
And to finish up, one of the aforementioned sexuality columns:
Don’t Disrespect Taco Night Folks
Son, You’ve Made A Mockery Of Taco Night
Song of the Week: Percy Sledge’s When a Man Loves a Woman
Watch it on YouTube
Or
Read the lyrics.
Natasha | LeftLibertarian.org, My Net Digests
