Gluemeat

Kudos to Wendy for being a part of the collective effort to take the Canadian government to court over its inability to provide laws for the protection of those who work in the sex trade.

A Commons subcomittee recently pined over the issue and failed to recommend the full decriminalization of prostitution. In fact, the subcomittee suggested that it would be preferable to engage a campaign of information and education to keep people from entering the sex trade.

Ah, yes, the old “we told you so” attitude. Let’s wash our hands from anything that could happen to these people and give them a paternalistic wag of the finger, followed by a “I told you what you were getting yourself into.” Real constructive.

By propping themselves up like that, the government is creating a second class citizen, one who by choice of his or her lifestyle and career forfeits his or her rights which are available to all Canadians. An idea that the law doesn’t need to stick its head out for you since there were risks which came with the job. Frankly, I don’t consider crippling beatings and homicide as occupational hazards.

It’s no surprise that this kind of stance would be taken from a government which has decided to close three quarters of Canada’s Status of Women offices after announcing a 5 million cut to its budget and preventing the organization from funding any type of advocacy programs.

If worded intelligently (I dare advance), legitimized prositution could not only help reduce violence against sex workers, but it could take a chunk out of sex slavery and child prostitution. Ending unecessary battles against two consenting adults entering mutual accord for sexual services can provide better focus to come to the aid of those who are forced and coerced into doing it. I think that’s something we can all get behind.

There’s so much moral ground slipperyness here, you can smell the grease. But one has to wonder what is more moral: maintaining an ethical stance against someone who demands money for sexual services, or punching a prostitute in the face until she is unconscious (or worse).

(Related: Sex workers to mount court challenge of Ottawa over ‘dangerous’ laws)

USA Today is running a “where are they now?” kind of story on someone I actually wondered “where is he now?”

The Far Side’s Gary Larson, still in the top five of greatest comic strips ever made, has been keeping himself busy in his retirement days playing jazz guitar and giving oodles of time and cash to wildlife conservation. You also get to know how much money a superstar cartoonist gets to make annually off his old material. What more can you ask for?

It’s that time of year in the United States, and not to put a gloom on anyone’s parade, here is a video recording of William Burroughs giving his own Thanksgiving prayer back in 1986.

If I’m sharing this with you all, it’s not as a knock on the US. If anything, by listening to what Burroughs is challenging, it’s a testament to how little things have changed in 20 years.

Yeah, I used to do the exact same thing to my Chaucer prof in university. He never picked up on it, either.

(Flickr page, via Wonkette)

It should have been a long time ago. Didn’t Bush say he wanted to keep him until the end of his presidential term?

Discuss.

(Via Americablog)

As a book on sale at Amazon.com, the Holy Bible is subjected to the same user reviews as any other item sold on the online superstore.

User W. Abbot says:

“The first section (Old Testament) follows the creation of existence, introduction of human, animals, plants etc, and the punishment of humans by the lead protagonist (God). The God character seems to have been oddly portrayed; especially considering the vast amount of praise people seem to give him. He comes across as a egotistical psychopath, who’s obsessed with maintaining his own glory at the expense of the humans he ‘created’. Whilst this theme is interesting to start with (the destruction of the 7 tribes part particularly fun), it soon becomes dull. The second section follows a different theme, with its centre storyline follow a character named Jesus Christ. He seems to change much of the original message to something more moral, i.e. less genocide. However, just as he is getting interesting, the character is killed off, only to be ‘resurrected’ later.”

An anonymous reader adds:

“Some people called Christians who rather like this story say that God wrote it about his Son Jesus. But that is difficult to believe as there are clearly four versions of the story, all a bit different, written by four men called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. At times the story gets a bit repetitious, and one suspects that Matthew, Mark and Luke copied their stories from one earlier unnamed source. The version by John is a bit more mystical and fanciful and departs from the narrative of the other three authors a little too much for my liking.”

Christopher Wilkinson chimes in with:

“To be fair its a book of different stories which were elaborated over time. Bit like you mate Dave who got drunk last week on 5 pints but on Monday told his mates he drank so much he had to sign into the Betty Ford clinic. If you really want to have a load of stories in one place rent Sin City or Pulp Fiction”

And finally, user superestbean sums it up:

“This non stop rollicking look at humanity will ensure not a dry seat in the house. There are fires, floods, wars, tortures and mysteries. Something for everyone.”

Wonder if Oprah recommended it yet…

(Viagrowabrain)

An Amish family from North Dakota is seeking refugee status in Canada after settling down in a small town in Québec.

Last May, Matthew Hunt, accompanied by his wife and five children, took the bus all the way up to Saint-Raphaël de Bellechasse, a town on the south shore of Québec City. They have since solicited the help of star Québec lawyer Guy Bertrand to represent them in obtaining refugee status in the country. Because of the nature of such a request, the details which have brought the Hunts to flee their country have not been made public. According to the residents of Saint-Raphaël, the tense political climate in the United States statutes as the main reason for their emigration. Allegedly, their first country of choice was Germany, but the trek to Europe was abandoned for unknown reasons.

The reasons why the family chose Saint-Raphaël are unknown as well.

In the meantime, the rural Québec City suburb has accepted the newcomers rather well into their community. The house they reside in was an abandoned ancestral home which the town’s mayor, Clément Lacroix (no relation!), sold to them for a modest amount of money. There are also reports of the Hunts exchanging bread, danishes, and home-churned butter to the already established residents who stop by to offer food, firewood, or car rides into the village.

Mr. Bertrand believes that they are the first Amish family in Canadian history to seek asylum within Canada’s borders.

The Hunts are now currently in Ottawa preparing their case.

Source: Journal de Québec, september 27 2006