Blogger infidel posted a link to an article on China's proposed ban on the human consumption of dogs & cats, here. I find it interesting that people will jump on the bandwagon for certain animals while ignoring the plight of other livestock that is also used for human consumption. Really, the whole issue should focus on inhumane practices involving any animals, whether they are used for food or for our pleasure. Although eating dogs & cats has not been an issue here in the US, the slaughter of horses for consumption (mainly as pet food) has. An interesting post about the subject here.

Of course, we all know that there are emotional & cultural values attached to how we personally feel about which animals we are willing or not willing to eat & how certain animals should be treated. My question is where do we draw the line on the ethical treatment of animals ? In the scheme of things, how important is something like this.
Compared to this...

You never know what you'll find in a book....

I really love book sculptures. I don't remember where I found this particular image, but if you google Book sculptures images, there's oddles of them.


In the last post I talked about being married & influenced by puritan attitudes about sex, while that is true, my conversation with Ranch Chimp about the symbolism of the painting "The Pink Beast" reminded me of all the smut I used to devour as a kid in the form of literature. Not having access to anything else, I found sex in novels. Even when I was in juvenile detention, I'd find it in the pathetic excuses for they generally had for libraries. Of course if the authorities had known it was there, it wouldn't have been on the shelves.* Fortunately for me they never read that shit, anyway. I remember one ponderous obscure novel, I can't recall the name of it, very weird, with all these references to Gog & Magog. It didn't make any sense, but it had this great satyr character that was always luring women into the woods & having graphic sex with them. The book was my little secret & was great company in my cell. ;)

Funny thing, though, I've always hated those smutty Harlequin style romance novels that some women read. Empty headed crap, that makes women look like spineless simpering fools. Now, that's the kind of book you want to throw against the wall. The characters have as much depth as a paper doll cutout. Actually, that's a pretty good description, because it's the same set of characters, over & over...they just change clothes. I could write one! Let's see...The male character attached to the ever present throbbing member would be named "Rodrick Remington"...

*Those little New Testaments that the churches were always donating were great, too...for cigarette papers. We would pilfer cigarette butts from ashtrays in the supervisors offices & use the new testament pages to roll new cigarettes from the butts we collected. ;)

Pink beast By Jason Randolph Burrell

I was considering writing a post about highbrow vrs. lowbrow literature but decided to write about pornography & sexual repression instead. Mainly, because the conversation in the last post steered around to the adult sex market and got me thinking...

My own sexuality & the subject of sexuality in general is something I've given a lot of thought to since I became single after spending the major portion of my adult life married & influenced by convention & puritan attitudes about sex. After leading a sheltered life for so many years, I suddenly find myself with the freedom to do what I want & with whom I want. I have unlimited access to the internet & nobody looking over my shoulder to see what I'm looking at.
Also,when my oldest daughter chose exotic dancing (stripping to some people) as a way to make a living. I've was forced to rethink some of my assumptions about that profession, so I could come to terms with her choices.

With all of that being said, I still have very mixed feelings about pornography.
I used to think all pornography was strictly bad & immoral. I never allowed it in my house & fiercely "protected" my family from it. I still believe pornography should be treated like the other vices; drugs, alcohol, & gambling & children should never be exposed to it. I also believe the pornography trade has the potential to be very exploitative & often is. But for all it's downsides, I would rather live in a society that allows for expressions of sexuality ...

In climates of fear & repression, where expressions of sexuality are considered shameful & forbidden, human sexuality is still expressed, but it morphs into something dark & evil...

This article contains interesting comments about Islamic society & sexual repression.
An excerpt:
Ates: "Conservative forces have a lot of political power in the Islamic world. They have power and control over half the population, namely the women. They spread fear and they use violence. Making sexuality taboo enables them to isolate themselves from the West, which, of course, is a monster and is to blame for all the bad things in this world. Our religion, they say, helps to keep us from being taken over by the West. We are the better ones, the authentic ones. This mentality makes it possible to avoid even mentioning one’s own failure."

This article highlights the degree of frustration experienced by people under the Islamic reign of sexual repression. An excerpt:
The sexual frustration of many young Arabs has countless causes, most of them economic. Jobs are scarce and low-paying, and most young men are unable to afford and furnish their own apartments -- a prerequisite to being able to marry in most Arab countries. At the same time, premarital sex is an absolute taboo in Islam. As a result, cities across the Arab world -- Algiers, Alexandria, Sana'a and Damascus -- are filled with "boy-men" between 18 and 35 who are forced to live with their parents for the foreseeable future.

In this article Austin Cline gives us his take on who sexual repression played a role in the medieval practice of persecuting of witches:
It seems to me that witches served a symbolic role for the male, celibate religious authorities in Europe.
Indeed, most of those accused of witchcraft almost certainly weren't guilty of anything of the sort. Instead, their treatment at the hands of men, and the rationales used by those men, indicate that the oppression of witches was somehow symbolic of the oppression of women in general, of women's sexuality, and of sexuality in general.
I think that it was the religious authorities who were obsessed and insatiable with their sexuality, but since their repressive ideology couldn't allow that, they had to project their desires onto others. If women, sexually evil beasts, were actually responsible for the priests' sexual desires, then the priests could in turn still feel holy -- and better yet, "holier than thou," more righteous and holy than the hated women around them.

Why is it in political systems, in which religion plays a major role (theocracies) , sexuality is repressed & women oppressed?

I AD"WHORE" YOU

To read text, click here
Sorry, I couldn't help myself. With all the blog conversations about sexism & objectifying women... here & here ...when i saw that image the title just popped in my head. Thanks to soubriquet for turning me on to Modern Mechanix


Hee! Hee!

Politics...More Questions Then Answers.

"Tower of Subconsciousness". Surreal art by Jacek Yerta. *

My job requires to me stay mainly focused on local issues, which means ferreting out the intricacies of local politics in my small sphere of influence. Consequently, I don't have much time to stay abreast of national & international politics, which I find somewhat confusing & frustrating. I don't have a television so I even miss that perspective (for what ever it's worth). My own strategy for understanding politics is by getting involved with it at a local level, reading political commentary, & studying some political science type stuff. I rely on the internet (the news contained therein) & my politically astute blog buddies to keep me abreast of what's happening in the big picture.

I know what my worldview is & what my orientations are, so I gravitate toward bloggers that hold the same views & rationals as mine. (I feel I can pretty much pick out what is slanted & or irrational.) Even then, I try to keep an open mind about the issues. I have gotten involved with a couple of political action groups but I found the narrow focus too confining & the actions more divisive then constructive, so I dropped out.


My questions are ..Is what I'm doing enough? Is it adequate? Should I be more politically active? Or should I just join a major political party & let the talking heads dictate my vote? Does it matter? Maybe my perspective is just wrong? AGGGGH!

* I just added this picture because I think Jacek Yerta's art is really amazing & I wanted to share it. Besides a nice picture dresses up an otherwise potentially dull blog. :)

PS. Tonight I finally start lessons in the belly dancing class. Wish me luck! I anticipate it will be mostly a comedic situation. :)

Happy New Year!

This picture came from the catholicshopper.com website. For some reason I just can't imagine Jesus playing touch football. Just think of the implications...Gaaa!
Update: Thanks to blogger buddy breakerslion for this link Drop Kick Me Jesus Through the Goalpost of Life.
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I was trying to explain the joys of under the sink worm composting to a friend last night over the phone. I decided to do it on my blog instead.


This is a red worm or Eisenia foetida

This link gives you the basic instructions for composting with red worms.

Drilling holes in the top bucket for aeration & drainage.Here I used a couple of plastic 5 gallon honey buckets I got free from the Health Food Store. They fit nicely under my kitchen sink. The top bucket will be placed in the bottom bucket. Worms, bedding, kitchen waste goes in the top bucket...


This is liquid that was drained from the bottom container of a large outside worm bin. We call it liquid gold, plants love it

Some of the finished compost, ready to be used in the garden.

One of the cool things about worm composting....
When you harvest your compost you can always spare some worms to pass on to friends so they can start their own composting project.