Hmmm.. France to ban Scientology?

I wonder how this would work with one of those "real" religions. Gee- imagine what feeling "pressure"* and "blackmail"* from a "real" religion.

"The Church of Scientology faces trial on deletion fraud charges in Paris, with the possibility that the organization, which claims around 5,000 active members in France in addition to a bevy of Hollywood celebrities such as Tom Cruise, could be banned in France if it loses.

While it enjoys an active presence in the U.S. -- it has been recognized as a religious organization by the I.R.S. since 1993 -- Scientology has faced strong opposition from French authorities.

France has refused to acknowledge Scientology as a religion, and Miviludes, the French government agency in charge of protecting its citizens from sectarian manipulations, has warned French citizens against participating.
"Scientology is a dangerous movement," Milivudes president Jean-Michel Roulet told ABCNews.com. "It puts pressure on its victims, it tries to intimidate them and blackmails them." LINK

*hell, etc.

Christ, Disney is freaking loathsome.

"But now the film studio finds itself fending off a chorus of accusations of racial stereotyping in its forthcoming big-budget cartoon, The Princess and The Frog: An American Fairy Tale, which marks a return to hand-drawn animation.
A musical set in 1920s New Orleans, the film was supposed to feature Maddy, a black chambermaid working for a spoilt, white Southern debutante. Maddy was to be helped by a voodoo priestess fairy godmother to win the heart of a white prince, after he rescued her from the clutches of a voodoo magician.
Disney's original storyboard is believed to have been torn up after criticism that the lead character was a clichéd subservient role with echoes of slavery, and whose name sounded too much like "Mammy" – a unwelcome reminder of America's Deep South before the civil rights movement swept away segregation.
The heroine has been recast as Tiana, a 19-year-old in a country that has never had a monarchy. She is now slated to live "happily ever after" with a handsome fellow who is not black – with leaks suggesting that he will be of Middle Eastern heritage and called Naveen. The race of the villain in the cartoon is reported to have also been revised.
The film studio began making changes a year ago, first to its title, The Frog Princess, which some had interpreted as a slur. Amendments to the plot followed." LINK

Revolting article.

Some rotten journalist wrote this sick making article about how good and clean the 'new' tween stars are. Gah.

"No longer is teen pop based on the Lolita principle. Instead, it's a tool for learning, transforming the individualism and irreverence of the rock era into good-girl-and-boy self-empowerment.
...No matter what the Jonas Brothers do next, they're still easier to explain to your kid (or for your kid to explain to you) than Kurt Cobain." LINK

More of the same kiddie sexualization, only now it's in the UK.

"Child beauty has become big business. Research by market analysts Mintel of 6,000 youngsters from the age of seven to 19 found that more than six out of 10 girls aged seven to 10 wore lipstick and more than two in five wore eye-shadow or eye-liner. Almost one in four wore mascara and three in five wore perfume. According to a 2005 British Journal of Developmental Psychology study, almost 50 per cent of girls between five and eight want to be slimmer.
...The growing popularity of child beautification in Britain has caused concern among some parents. Sally Wray, 43, a book publicist, said: 'I recently took my three-year-old daughter to a birthday party and was horrified to see three girls from her nursery class had make-up on - it wasn't face painting, it was properly applied and blended eye shadow, blusher and lip gloss that had presumably been applied by the girls' mothers.
'It deeply disturbs me that girls are being sexualised in this way. I certainly would never take my daughter with me to a beauty salon, and I find the whole idea of little girls having beauty treatments both inappropriate and bizarre.'
LINK

WHAT?!?!?!

Read this whole article, right now, if you care at all about the right to access information.


"Today through medical librarian channels, I got word that entering “abortion” as a search term in the POPLINE database now returns zero results because of a move by the database personnel to block that search. For background, POPLINE is “the world’s largest database on reproductive health, containing citations with abstracts to scientific articles, reports, books, and unpublished reports in the field of population, family planning, and related health issues.” This may seem like a long and libraryland-focused post, but I think it’s important, because it touches on government, reproductive health, and access to information, so stick with me on this one.
The librarian who noted the problem inquired about it, and was informed that it wasn’t a simple technical glitch; the response she received was, “We recently made all abortion terms stop words. As a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now.”
If you’re not familiar with “stop words,” they are typically words like “a,” “an,” and “the” that are omitted automatically from the search, because they is assumed to have no added value or meaning. Suffice it to say, it’s quite unusual for a word with “real” meaning to be a stop word, especially one so relevant to the resource being searched. "
LINK

Argh it is all too horrible. Thank God I don't have a daughter.

I really don't know what I would do if I were a mom now.

New kiddie site, Miss Bimbo.

"In the month since it opened the site, which is aimed at girls aged from 9 to 16, has attracted 200,000 members. Players keep a constant watch on the weight, wardrobe, wealth and happiness of their character to create “the coolest, richest and most famous bimbo in the world”. Competing against other children they earn “bimbo dollars” to buy plastic surgery, diet pills, facelifts, lingerie and fashionable nightclub outfits."
LINK to Times Online article about the horror.

ugh now I need brain bleach

"She chooses gold nail polish to match the gold embellishment on her Bratz T-shirt — she's always looking for ways to accessorize. A stylist paints her nails amid the noise of a birthday party.Blue eye shadow, a little bright pink blush and some shimmery lip gloss and its time for the big moment."
from this article



This is hideous beyond all reason. I came across the company in an article on CNN about how with the economic downturn, mall stores are repositioning themselves to provide services and experiences rather than just selling stuff, and when I saw this, I thought, well, here we go again with forcing girls to think pink. And whorishly. Blech.

Some of their party options include:

All Dressed Up and Runway to Go
Rockin' Pop Star
Perfect Princess
A Night on the Red Carpet
Sleepover at the Spa
SPA-tacular!
Popular Party Add-Ons

"First impressions: Think of a beauty salon crossed with a Claire's Accessories mixed with a Chuck E. Cheese for girls dropped into the middle of a Teen Beat magazine. Long pink limousines stretched in front of this strip-mall shop -- part of a 26-store national chain of beauty salons for kids. My daughter asked if she could ride in one. I said that it might only be for birthday parties. Indeed, it was for one of two birthday parties that had just finished at this unrelentingly perky and girly salon...

We walked in and told them about our manicure appointment. "You must be Miranda," the nice lady said. "Heather will be taking care of you today."

We walked over to the manicure and pedicure area with its soft, curvy green and orange booths and booster pillows that give a lift to shrimpy kids like my 4-year-old daughter...

To pass the drying time, Heather suggested Miranda have a walk on the runway (yes, there is a mini runway for future models) in the middle of the room. We also browsed the store for purses, custom-made lip glosses, mini makeup sets and many hair accessories. Miranda chose a little pink bow attached to a clip that cost almost $8..."

Sweet Jesus.
LINK to revolting article about hideous place.
LINK to terrifying homepage of this freaking company

Hi, Big Brother, can I help you?

"The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists.

But it's an issue that raises major privacy concerns -- what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans.

"It's the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Project."
Link to CNN article- one of the mildest on the topic.

Health insurance companies can deny your coverage if they don't like your Myspace. True!

No, seriously, if you've got an eating disorder, don't put it online. Well, that should go without saying, but, hey, people do stupid things. Especially online. But this is pretty dodgy stuff here- read on and be horrified!

"Litigation over an insurer's refusal to pay health benefits for anorexia or bulimia may turn on what is revealed from the alleged sufferers' e-mails and postings on the social networking sites MySpace and Facebook.

...In December, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patty Shwartz ordered the plaintiffs to turn over by Jan. 15 the children's e-mails, diaries and other writings about their "eating disorders or manifestations/symptoms thereof, and related health conditions" that had been "shared with others, including entries on Web sites such as 'Facebook' or 'MySpace.'"
LINK