Reviews Category
We don’t just report off-beat news, breaking news and digest the best and worst of the news media analysis and commentary. We give an original take on what happened and why. We add lols, satire, news photos and original content.
Pregnant women delighted to learn that she was not raped: Todd Akin’s is here to help
HAPPY days for Semera, a Bosnian woman who thanks to Missouri Republican Todd Akin’s reproduction masterclass can look her child in the face and says that he was not the result of a violent rape. It was not a legitimate rape. It was, as George Galloway might term it, just “bad etiquette“. It might have been a joke that got bit out of hand.
Akin taught us that unless a woman is the the victim of a “legitimate rape” she cannot get pregnant. Akin says that in real rape the female body shuts down.
Says Semera:
“When the soldiers came and pushed hin to the room of my mother’s house, I was scared. When they stripped my clothes off and began to pinch and slap me, I was hurt . And when they held me down while they took it in turns to pentrate me I wanted to die. But after hearing Congressman Akin’s words, I have come to relsie that I was not raped at all. My body had agreed to it all. The pain was intense. My body did not shut down. My Fallopian tubes remians open, wilfully. My uterus ‘grill’ did not deploy. So it cannot have been rape. I must have wanted it. My son, Haim, is not the result of a rape after all. Thanks, Mr Akin’s for restoring my pride.”
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Posted: 22nd, August 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (5)
Circumcision might be a laughing matter for Dr Wang
CIRCUMCISION is a hot topic of debate just now. In Indonesia, it’s a mass participation event. One slip and you can lose your penis. In Mexico, it’s a name. It can save the planet. Nazis hate it – as ever they did. Foreskin Man will save you and your keep your todger intact. Some people use garden shears. Russell Crowe says Jews, Muslims and other popels who circumcise their sons are “barbaric and stupid“.
On the BBC, the debate is heating up. It’s serious stuff. So. Here’s a doctor to help you make sense of it in an adult way:
“You are doing a procedure on someone who cannot make a decision for himself – it’s a difficult choice for both parents and physicians,” says Dr Marvin Wang, co-director of the Newborn Nurseries at Massachusetts General Hospital, who has conducted hundreds of circumcisions.”
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Posted: 21st, August 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)
The greatest ever opening line to a local news story
LOCAL news: the greatest opening line to a story ever?
Firefighters have warned of the dangers of driving into a petrol forecourt when your car is on fire.
Daily Express front pages of 2012 brings cures for cancer, dementia, blindness, arthritis and death
THE Daily Express has been focusing on Alzheimer’s and dementia. On fat. On aspirin. On heart -attacks. The Daily Express sees a spot of scientific research, cherry picks the best bits and then presents it as front-page news. This year we’ve already seen miracles:
Dementia
August 20: “Lose weight to beat dementia”
August 14: “Chocolate can halt dementia”
July 18: “Pill to beat Alzheimer’s”
June 26: “Dementia caused by stressful lifestyle”
16 April: “New test for Alzheimer’s”
4 April: “Statins halt Alzheimer’s”
10 February: “Drug to cure Alzheimer’s”
24 January: “Puzzles beat Alzheimer’s”
6 January: “Healthy heart is key to fighting dementia”
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Posted: 21st, August 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
Being fat causes dementia say experts – maybe
“LOSE WEIGHT TO BEAT DEMENTIA.” davises the Daily Express’s front page.
A 10-year study into the lifestyles of thousands of middle-aged workers has shown the fatter people are, the faster they lose their mental ability…
The study was on civil servants in Whitehall.
Last night obesity expert Dr Ian Campbell said the research “shows clearly” that being overweight brings an increased risk of dementia. “And that’s particularly concerning because it is clearly avoidable,” he said…
“This research shows clearly that if you are overweight you are at increased risk of dementia. And that is particularly concerning because it is clearly avoidable.
The same healthy, active lifestyle that reduces your risk of heart disease will also reduce your risk of dementia.”
Giles Sheldrick then sees fit to add this:
The study, which used British civil servants working in Whitehall, shatters the myth that people can be so-called “metabolically healthy obese” and suffer no side effects such as cognitive problems.
Does it? No. It;s just an excuse to have a pop at the fat.
Such are the facts. Although what the Express does not tell you is what those full facts. The Independent reports:
Professor Archana Singh-Manoux, the research director at the French medical institute INSERM, who co-wrote the report, said our understanding of dementia was changing, but that more research was needed before the specific causal factors could be identified.
“The whole idea that dementia happens later in life is changing,” she said. “Our research is based on looking at early cognitive decline. We’ve been looking at whether there is cognitive decline earlier than the onset of dementia and what the risk factors could be. The study is ongoing and hopefully we will continue to be funded to see who develops dementia and who does not.”
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Posted: 21st, August 2012 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)
Walt Disney presents: The Story of Menstruation
WALT Disney presents The Story of Menstruation. “And once you stop feeling sorry for yourself…” Now. Spot the mouse:
Quadruple amputee Philippe Croizon swims from Alaska to Russia
PHILIPPE Croizon, 44, has just swum between Alaska and Russia. M. Croizon has no limbs. (Read more about his story here.) All four limbs were amputated in 1994.
The 44-year-old made the trip from Alaska’s Little Diomede Island to the Russian maritime border near Big Diomede Island, a distance of some 2.5 miles in freezing seas with big swells and a view obscured by fog. The swim took him around hour and 15 minutes. Back in May, he swam from Australasia to Asia, making the 12 miles journey from Papua New Guinea to Indonesia in seven-and-a-half hours. In June, he swam from Egypt to Jordan. M. Croizon swims between continents.
Quadruple amputee Philippe Croizon leaves Dalia Beach in northern Morocco after swimming across 9 miles (14 kilometers) of the Straits of Gibraltar, Thursday, July 12, 2012, in around five hours.‰ The quadruple amputee, who lost his arms and legs in an electrical accident, has already swum the English Channel as well as between Indonesia and Papua-New Guinea and between Asia and Africa. (AP Photo/El Yaakoubi Aziz)
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Julian Assange: English law would prosecute a sleep rapist
JULIAN Assange stood on the balcony at Ecuador’s embassy in Knightsbridge, London, and told that United States what they “must do” for WikiLeaks. It’s a great website. But it’s not Julian Assange. What he did not address was what he should do. Officers in Sweden would like Assange to respond to the rape allegation against him. The law in England, where he was living under the terms of his now jumped bail, are clear. It’s not just inSweden where his alleged crimes would be of interest.
Felicity Gerry writes:
A successful prosecution for “sleep rape” requires the jury to be sure that the woman was in fact asleep not that she was conscious but simply does not clearly recollect what happened. It is on such issues that a defence barrister is entitled to cross question. The complainant will have to tell the jury what happened after she went to bed and deal with how obvious it would have been to the defendant that she was asleep.
The site Justice 4 Julia attests:
From the information provided in the original complaint and the EAW this would not constitute an offence under English law.
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Posted: 20th, August 2012 | In: Reviews | Comments (2)
The view from Julian Assange’s window – photos inside the Ecuadorean Embassy
WHAT did Julian Assange see from the balcony at the Ecuadorean Embassy, London? Here you go. One od thing: the balconies and windows in the are almost devoid of human life. Was Knightsbridge out?
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Users don’t all want to legalise marijuana in Seattle – they must be mad
MARIJUANA is not legal. Still. Face of the Day features Matt Galanti, 17, of Bothell, Washington, smoking marijuana from a glass bong at the opening day of the pro-marijuana rally Seattle Hempfest. To his side are Zach Casselman, 18, of Bothell, and Clay Graeber, 20. The three-day event comes as citizens in Washington state prepare to vote on an initiative that would legalize and tax the sale of up to an ounce of cannabis at state-licensed stores.
Mayor Mike McGinn, a keen supporter of Initiative 502 to legalise marijuana, says:
“Here’s what we know: Prohibition has not worked,” told supporters who lazed in the grass a cloud of cannabis haze. It’s fueled criminal violence. Right now in this city, people are murdering each other over pot…. It’s time to stop. It’s time to tax it, regulate it, legalize it.”
So. Will every stoner and medical marijuana user vote for Initiative 502? There will be rules:
The proposed law limits possession of smokable marijuana to one ounce. It has a blood-THC standard for driving a car, and no such standard exists now. It has heavy taxes. It doesn’t allow private growing of marijuana plants except by medical patients.
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Car Talk In A Woman’s Language – 1956 brochure
CAR Talk was the 1956 pamphlet in “A WOMAN’S LANGUAGE”. It was “the inside story of your car and it’s engine – written by women expressly for women”:
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Everything you wanted to know about Julian Assange in one front page
WHO is Julian Assange and why is he famous? The Independent explains it all one neat front page:
Circus magazine asks ‘Will they survice the 70s?’
IT’S February 1970, and Circus magazine has a question:
Face of the Day – the world’s foremost vuvuzela enthusiast
FACE of the Day – the world’s foremost vuvuzela enthusiast – A devotee his face smeared with color and sacrificial blood, dances, during the two-day long Deodhani festival at Kamakhya temple in Gauhati, India. The festival is held to worship the serpent Goddess where goats and pigeons are offered as sacrifice. It is believed that by taking part in this festival, one gets superficial power from goddess Kamakhya. Exciting stuff. You can hear the buzzzzzzzzz….morning, noon and night!
Dorset police force yobs to buy pump and reinflate car tyres they’d vandalised
DIRECT policing in action down in Weymouth, Dorset, where three yobbos in their mid-20s who let down car tyres were taken by police to Asda, encouraged to buy a pump and use it to reinflate them.
A Dorset Police spokesman says the men were “under the influence of alcohol”.
“Officers advised the offenders that they needed to re-inflate the tyres and they escorted them to the supermarket to buy a foot pump. They returned to the scene and police remained to ensure the tyres were re-inflated. Unfortunately the pump broke so the men were made to leave notes on the remaining vehicles advising the owners to check their tyre pressures. Details of the three men were recorded. Police vehicle examiners returned in the morning to help re-inflate the tyres of the remaining vehicles. Two of the offenders returned to assist them.”
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Pussy Riot explain why they used the Church
WHY did Pussy Riot use the Church to stage their ‘punk prayer’ protest? Pussy Riot member Yekaterina Samutsevich is now serving a two-year sentence for exposing Vladimir Putin.
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Winnie Johnson: mother of Moors murder victim Keith Bennett dies
WINNIE Johnson died this morning. Winnie Johnson is the mother of Moors murder victim Keith Bennett. It was cancer.
On the website websitesearchingforkeith.com, run by her son Alan Bennett, we read:
“Winnie Johnson, the mother of Keith Bennett, died this morning at 12.35am, aged 78. She was a much-loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and is survived by one younger brother. Winnie fought tirelessly for decades to find Keith and give him a Christian burial. Although this was not possible during her lifetime we, her family, intend to continue this fight now for her and for Keith. We hope that the authorities and the public will support us in this. We would like to express our deep gratitude to all the medical staff who cared for Winnie during her illness, and also the public for their good wishes and support over the years. We hope that everyone will understand, however, that we would like to grieve for her in private, both at this time and during her funeral.”
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Posted: 18th, August 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comments (2)
Talking transit bus says ‘Sorry’ for hitting man
MOVE over Thomas The Tank Engine. There’s a new talking public transport vehicle in town. To Vancouver, where a city transit bus has hit a man. Transit Bus Timmy is sorry. He doesn’t know his own strength:
Married teacher Brittni Colleps had sex with five students (photos)
TEACHER Brittni Colleps, a 28-year-old mother-of-three, had sex with five 18-year-old-and-older students at her home in Arlington, Texas. Colleps taught English at Kennedale High School. She invited the youths to her home – her husband and children were away – and had sex with the men. She has been found guilty of five counts of having an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher.
The sex came to light when one student, known as Jordan, recorded an encounter on a mobile phone.
Another student, John, says Colleps committed no crime.
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Pussy Riot: the global protest in photos
THREE members of Pussy Riot, the Russian grrl band, are in prison. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alyokhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, have been sentenced to two years choky for staging a “punk prayer” against Vladimir Putin in Moscow Christ the Saviour Cathedral (see it here).
Judge Marina Syrova ruled:
“The girls’ actions were sacrilegious, blasphemous and broke the Church’s rules.”
Worldwide protest results. People have been pulling on the band’s trademark colourful balaclavas. Pussy Riot are famous.
Note: The UK Foreign Office minister, Alistair Burt, said: “I am deeply concerned by the sentencing of three members of the band Pussy Riot, which can only be considered a disproportionate response to an expression of political belief.” That would be the UK ,whdre, as Brendan O’Neill notes, you can be sentenced to two months prison for writing a tweet or talking about a riot on Facebook.
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Posted: 17th, August 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
Pussy Riot: Dublin protest gives Putin a laugh (pictures)
NEVER fear, Pussy Riot, Dublin is right behind you! “PIECE’. And “FREE GIRLS.”
FECK!
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Posted: 17th, August 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment
An uplifting story in a Catholic newspaper Alive
HERE’S a really uplifting and cheery story for kids in the Catholic newspaper, Alive. “Hiya Kids….”
Moscow bans gay pride parades for 100 years – 2112 will be great
MOSCOW is protesting a tad too much methinks. The city’s court has upheld a ban on gay pride marches – a ban that will last 100 years (or until Russia’s eternal President Putin is kissed by a handsome prince).
Nikolai Alekseev, a gay activist, had challenged a century ban on gay parades in Moscow. Moscow City Court upheld the ban. Says Alexeyev:
“Now we will soon appeal against the Russian authorities to ban Moscow Pride for a hundred years ahead of the European Court of Human Rights. Thus we achieve the recognition of wrongful bans not only past but future Gay Pride in Moscow. “
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Moors Murders: Winnie Johnson’s letters to Myrah Hindley and Magaret Thatcher’s reply
IN 1986, Winnie Johnson wrote to Myra Hindley, the murderer who along with Ian Brady kidnapped, tortured and murdered her 12-year-old son Keith Bennett. Mrs Johnson wanted Hindley to tell her where her son’s body was. Keith Bennett disappeared in 1964. In 1988, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wrote to Winnie Johnson. The letters are now here for you to read in full. Myra Hindley is dead. Ian Brady is alive, playing mind games with a desperately ill Mrs Johnson:
The pictures are huge – click to enlarge:
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Sod the Olympians and knight Andrew Logan
SOME time ago I wondered (very) aloud why venerable actor Christopher Lee had not yet been knighted, when just about anyone garlanded with a sporty medal is honoured by the age of 30. It took awhile for comprehension to sink in, but one day I awoke to the news that Sir Christopher had arrived.
I now turn my attention to Andrew Logan. Not merely founder of Alternative Miss World, he is a celebrated sculptor, jewellery-maker, performance artist, painter and portraitist – a fine example is his Elizabeth Taylor, currently on sale on eBay for a modest £22,250 – ‘postage’ is an extra £500. Buy here.
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Posted: 17th, August 2012 | In: Reviews | Comments (2)