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Mr. Radical and I were recently on a shopping trip. We walked up to a store with a ton of Christmas decorations.
“Oh look-it’s yet another store trying to get us all to buy their brand of monotheism.”
(pause)
“Hey, that’s my first bitter comment of the season. That must mean the holidays are here.”
-me
“Honey, you’re bitter all year.”
-Mr. Radical
“True enough.”
-me
Posted by Vixen as Quote Book at 5:07 PM CST
From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:
EFF Obtains Records from Behind-the-Scenes Negotiations on Telecom Immunity
“Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) posted thousands of pages of records detailing behind-the-scenes negotiations between government agencies and Congress about providing immunity for telecoms involved in illegal government surveillance.
The documents include drafts of legislation and communications between Congress and the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) about amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). They were released as a result of litigation that started back in 2007, when Congress first debated granting immunity to the telecommunications companies for taking part in massive, unchecked surveillance of Americans’ telephone and Internet communications. EFF used the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to request information about communications between the DOJ, ODNI, Congress, and telecom lobbyists.
(snip)
The government has said it will continue to try to block the release of additional documents, including communications within the Executive Branch and records reflecting the identities of telecoms involved in lobbying for immunity.”
—
This info was released November 12th but I didn’t find it until today. So the current administration and Democrat led Congress are trying to block the release of documents from the Bush administration? I don’t have punchlines for this shit anymore. Bleh.
I will say the EFF is a kick ass activist group. Why not join? Better still, why not give EFF memberships away as holiday presents if you celebrate? You can join here.
Posted by Vixen as News at 11:01 PM CST
Babeland sent me a Candy Vibe to review.
From the product page:
“You’ll be flooded with trick-or-treating memories when you reach for the Candy Vibes—until, that is, you see what’s inside. These small, surprisingly powerful one-speed slimline vibes come cleverly disguised in candy bar costumes; you’ll covet 100 Orgasms, Crotch, and Better than any Finger just like you used to covet their tasty counterparts, but with a whole different purpose in mind! We challenge you to come up with a better gift or party favor for the upcoming Halloween season. And don’t forget to share—these guys taste even better when you invite someone else along for the ride.”
It’s a cute vibe with a cute case. But it was a disappointment. I turned it on and wow-the thing is crazy loud. Not subtle at all. There’s only one speed which I didn’t like. I like several vibe varieties.
The vibration is a higher vibration that my other toys. I didn’t like it. My favorite toys have a deeper, lower vibration. I played with it and while it excited me it didn’t get me off. I ended up grabbing an old fave to finish the job.
The screw on cap end doesn’t quite close down completely. Not a big deal but I found it annoying.
I can see this being a cute holiday present. But if you want to really treat yourself go with another of their vibes. I like their waterproof pocket rocket vibe or the classic Slimline Vibrator.
From Adbusters:
Buy Nothing Day
“There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less.
So this November 27 (November 28 in Europe and overseas), we’re calling for a Wildcat General Strike. We’re asking tens of millions of people around the world to bring the capitalist consumption machine to a grinding – if only momentary – halt.
We want you to not only stop buying for 24 hours, but to shut off your lights, televisions and other nonessential appliances. We want you to park your car, turn off your phones and log off of your computer for the day.”
I celebrated Buy Nothing Day this year by staying home and working on some DIY house projects. This year’s challenge is a bit steep eh? Turning off the tv I understand but all your lights? How can you read a book in the dark?! I see what they’re going for but I think they could have worded the message better.
I like this bit:
“Take just one small step toward a more just and sustainable future. Make a pact with yourself: go on a consumer fast. Lock up your credit cards, put away your cash and opt out of the capitalist spectacle. You may find that it’s harder than you think, that the impulse to buy is more ingrained in you than you ever realized. But you will persist and you will transcend – perhaps reaching the kind of epiphany that can change the world.”
Posted by Vixen as Activism at 7:04 PM CST
From The Christian Science Monitor:
Police: Census worker Bill Sparkman staged his suicide
“Bill Sparkman, the Kentucky census worker found hanged and wrapped in duct tape with the word “FED” scrawled on his chest, concocted the entire scenario as an elaborate ruse to commit insurance fraud, Kentucky police said Tuesday.
Kentucky State Police said the 50-something substitute school teacher and part-time census worker committed suicide. They said he tried to make it look like a murder in an attempt to force two insurance companies to pay out policies that did not cover suicide to his remaining relatives.
Unable to find evidence of foul play and noting that the letters in “FED” were written from the bottom to the top in a way that an assailant would have found difficult to do, police ultimately came to a simple conclusion: “He could’ve stood up, taken the pressure off his neck, and not died,” Kentucky State Police spokeswoman Lisa Durzinski said.”
—
Call me a conspiracy nut if you like but I don’t buy this story. I think it’s a cover up. I want to see an autopsy picture to see if the word FED was written or cut into him.
Here’s my theory. An anti-fed type did kill him to send a message. This freaked out the feds who worried it would start a trend. So they faked this suicide story to discourage copycat killers.
Posted by Vixen as News at 10:19 PM CST
From this gallery. The model has little cloth swirls on her chest that I first mistook for seaweed.
Posted by Vixen as Sexy Sensations at 10:53 PM CST
Yesterday I got an email from John Unger telling me that my Fire Imp will be shipped soon. Yay! Originally I had planned it as a Yule present for Mr. Radical but I bet I’ll give it to him early.
John is selling more art over at 1000 Markets. In addition to his work, other artists have donated work for his cause. He says “All funds that exceed my legal expenses will be used to set up a foundation when this suit is concluded to protect other artist’s rights at defendart.org.”
His store is here. 1000 Markets is a neat site; I hadn’t heard of it before today.
Posted by Vixen as Activism at 11:44 PM CST
“You’re nasty.”
semi-regular client
“You too.”
-me
said with a giggle so he didn’t detect my annoyance
Posted by Vixen as Quote Book at 10:23 PM CST
From TDOR’s site:
About the Day of Remembrance
“The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. The event is held in November to honor Rita Hester, whose murder on November 28th, 1998 kicked off the “Remembering Our Dead” web project and a San Francisco candlelight vigil in 1999. Rita Hester’s murder — like most anti-transgender murder cases — has yet to be solved.
(snip)
We live in times more sensitive than ever to hatred based violence, especially since the events of September 11th. Yet even now, the deaths of those based on anti-transgender hatred or prejudice are largely ignored. Over the last decade, more than one person per month has died due to transgender-based hate or prejudice, regardless of any other factors in their lives. This trend shows no sign of abating.
The Transgender Day of Remembrance serves several purposes. It raises public awareness of hate crimes against transgender people, an action that current media doesn’t perform. Day of Remembrance publicly mourns and honors the lives of our brothers and sisters who might otherwise be forgotten. Through the vigil, we express love and respect for our people in the face of national indifference and hatred. Day of Remembrance reminds non-transgender people that we are their sons, daughters, parents, friends and lovers. Day of Remembrance gives our allies a chance to step forward with us and stand in vigil, memorializing those of us who’ve died by anti-transgender violence.”
Their Memorializing 2009 page has a list of remembered victims. Event details can be found here.
Posted by Vixen as Activism at 1:50 PM CST
When the Sugasm went on hiatus I figured another sex blogger would pick up the torch and carry on. Elust is the first one to crop up. It’s pretty similar with a few new tweaks. I’m not sure if I’ll hop on for every edition but here’s the first one.
Elust #1
Welcome to the first edition of e[lust]! Below is your source for inspirations of lust and sexual intelligence from a wide range of sex bloggers. Want to be included in the next edition? Submission period opens for e[lust] # 2 on November 20th – subscribe to the RSS feed and Twitter for all updates! Check out the submission guidelines and rules of general conduct here.
This week’s top three picks as chosen by fellow e[lust] participants:
At Your Service - His hand pushes on my thigh and I turn away from him, allowing him to inspect my ass. His hands spread my ass cheeks and again I flood with wetness.
Cinderella – “‘I want to fuck you…’ he growled, nipping at her neck and kissing down over her breasts, biting at her nipples through the fabric, making her cry out.
Anal Sex Pt 2: The Ins and Outs of Butt Sex - Butt sex is what you make of it. Enjoy yourselves, be careful, and try everything that looks interesting.
Editor’s Pick:
The Slut Chronicles #5 – The Flight Delay – “When her eye caught his blatantly checking her out, he only grinned wider, with no remorse at all and it was she who blushed furiously.”
A note from the editor: And so it begins…
See also: Pleasurist’s #54 for your sex toy review needs.
Erotic Writing
Just A Little Taste
Older and Better Than Ever
Good Morning
Your Eyes
MFM: The Student. The Teacher.
Get Me Off
The Club & Introductory Note
Don’t Come
The City
Howl at the Moon
Rimjob
Consumed
The Devil Inside
One of the Greats
Room Service
Kink & Fetish
A Busy Night
Bad Taste?
Protocols
The Illusion of Beginning: Pt 1
“You hit me…”
Reconnecting
Too Many Buttons
Nadia’s Wishing Box
The Mason Jar
So Sexy Boots
Thoughts & Advice on Sex & Relationships
Swing Shift Vol. 18 – Safe Sex and Getting Tested
Libido Resurrection Programme™
Check Up
Oh, Baby, Baby
UnderRated: Fucking the Mind
Sex News, Interviews, Politics & Humor
Vixen Invites
I’m Quoted in Time Out NY!
Top Five Tuesday – Euro Studs
She Makes Me Feel Like a Whore
HNT Courtesy of Coy Pink
Posted by Vixen as Sugasm at 10:54 PM CST
Belle de Jour has come out of the anonymity closet and revealed herself as Dr Brooke Magnanti.
From her blog:
Now I’m not anonymous…
“I suppose I always thought that the part of my life I wrote about would fade away, that I could stick it in a box and move on. Totally separate it from the ‘real me’.
What it took me years to realise is that while I’ve changed a lot since writing these diaries – my life has moved on so much, in part thanks to the things that happened then – Belle will always be a part of me. She doesn’t belong in a little box, but as a fully acknowledged side of a real person. The non-Belle part of my life isn’t the only ‘real’ bit, it’s ALL real.
Belle and the person who wrote her had been apart too long. I had to bring them back together.”
From the Times Online:
I’m Belle de Jour
“She’s real, all right, and I’m sitting on the bed next to her. Her name is Dr Brooke Magnanti. Her specialist areas are developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology. She has a PhD in informatics, epidemiology and forensic science and is now working at the Bristol Initiative for Research of Child Health. She is part of a team researching the effects of exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos on foetuses and infants.
From 2003 to late 2004, Brooke worked as a prostitute via a London escort agency; she started blogging as Belle de Jour — after the Buñuel film starring Catherine Deneuve as a well-to-do housewife who has sex for money because she’s bored — shortly into her career as a call girl, after an incident she thought funny enough to write down.”
—
Props to Belle for coming out of the sex worker closet! I support her courage and willingness to share so much of her life publicly. I love that she has such a prestigious career as well. As much as I love my hippie off-grid life if I came out I wouldn’t be breaking nearly so many sex worker stereotypes. Hell, even some of my friends are weirded out by my composting toilet. (For newbie readers-I blog anonymously because I’m still an active sex worker.)
But it’s a little hard for people to say prostitution ruins people forever when Belle is a specialist in developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology.
Of course, that won’t stop some. Not surprisingly her story has been getting some ignorant, judgmental comments. If you support her why not leave her a message on her blog?
Posted by Vixen as Sex Workers at 9:19 PM CST
From the Pueblo Chieftain:
Man sentenced for sexually assaulting boys
“A prominent scoutmaster, mentor, foster parent, Republican Party consultant, church and youth supporter admitted to misusing his prominence Wednesday in district court.
Jeffery Claude Bartleson, 53, told the court he used his positions of trust to lure and molest juvenile boys.
“All the things he’s done to be a leader, a mentor, he’s taken that trust and violated that trust. He used mentoring in the church as a way of getting to my son,” the mother of one of Bartleson’s victims told the court Wednesday.
As part of a plea agreement, Bartleson pleaded guilty to four of the original five counts of sexual assault on a child.
(snip)
Pueblo District Judge David Crockenberg sentenced Bartleson to six years to life in the Colorado Department of Corrections.”
—
The Chieftain merely says Bartleson was a “Republican Party consultant”. But back when he was arrested there were some more details. Bartleson was the “manager for Sen. John McCain’s presidential-campaign office in Pueblo” Colorado. That little nugget seemed to drop off the radar pretty quickly with this story. Since the McCain/Palin ticket put on such a show of family values I think this information is quite relevant.
Also missing from the new story is the victim’s age. The Denver Post article reported one of the boys was five.
I originally blogged about Bartleson here.
Posted by Vixen as News at 6:49 PM CST
From Divine Bitches. This pic sums up my last foot fetish call pretty well.
Posted by Vixen as Sexy Sensations at 10:27 PM CST
From Feministing:
Whose health care victory?
“I’m sure you’ve heard by now that, last night, the House passed a health-care reform bill. I got this lovely email from Barack Obama telling me what a victory this is:
This evening, at 11:15 p.m., the House of Representatives voted to pass their health insurance reform bill. Despite countless attempts over nearly a century, no chamber of Congress has ever before passed comprehensive health reform. This is history.
But you and millions of your fellow Organizing for America supporters didn’t just witness history tonight — you helped make it. … You stood up. You spoke up. And you were heard.
Actually, I wasn’t heard. Because I think I made pretty damn clear (as did Obama, in several speeches during the campaign) that reproductive health care is essential health care.
So what the FUCK is this Stupak amendment doing attached to the health-reform bill? You know, that amendment that takes away women’s access to health care?”
Feministing is spot on in this post. What the fuck indeed.
—
From LA Times:
Healthcare provision seeks to embrace prayer treatments
“Backed by some of the most powerful members of the Senate, a little-noticed provision in the healthcare overhaul bill would require insurers to consider covering Christian Science prayer treatments as medical expenses.
The provision was inserted by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) with the support of Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and the late Edward M. Kennedy, both of Massachusetts, home to the headquarters of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
(snip)
It would have a minor effect on the overall cost of the bill — Christian Science is a small church, and the prayer treatments can cost as little as $20 a day. But it has nevertheless stirred an intense controversy over the constitutional separation of church and state, and the possibility that other churches might seek reimbursements for so-called spiritual healing.”
Ok, so if a girl gets knocked up by her stepfather her much needed abortion wouldn’t be covered by this “health care reform”? But if someone prays to the Invisible Man In The Sky that’s covered?!
—
From Salon:
RNC’s insurance covers abortion
“Holy hypocrisy, GOP: The Republican National Committee’s health insurance plan covers abortion. This news comes by way of Politico’s Meredith Shiner and Jonathan Allen, who appropriately point out the obvious conflict here: “The party’s own platform calls [abortion] ‘a fundamental assault on innocent human life.’” The RNC didn’t opt out of abortion coverage, though, even though that is allowed by Cigna, its insurer. Worse yet, though, is the fact that 176 House Republicans voted for the Stupak amendment, which restricts federal funds from going toward insurance plans that cover abortion. God forbid the government help you to get an insurance plan just like the one enjoyed by the RNC.”
Classic political “do as I say, not as I do” move.
—
Want to keep up with how your womb is getting stripped of it’s rights? Keep up to date with NARAL.
Posted by Vixen as News at 9:44 PM CST
