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A wrong made right. Female genital mutilation has been discussed on Metafilter before, sometimes with awful derails. Well here's the good news, Folks. A French surgeon has found a way to reverse this disfiguring crime against women. And he doesn't charge for it because "he considers his patients to be victims of one of the biggest crimes against humanity".
comment posted at 8:15 PM on Feb-15-05
comment posted at 5:38 AM on Feb-16-05
comment posted at 4:43 PM on Feb-16-05

"80 percent or so of them (professors) are Democrats, liberals or socialists or card-carrying Communists." So says Ohio Senator Larry A. Mumper, who has introduced an "academic bill of rights for higher education," which would prohibit professors from "persistently discussing controversial issues in class or from using their classes to push political, ideological, religious or anti-religious views." The text of the bill is adapted from an organization founded by Marxist-turned-conservative activist David Horowitz. Similar bills have been introduced in other states. Is this a genuine attempt to foster "intellectual diversity", or a "trojan horse" to force universities to adopt a quota system for conservative professors?
comment posted at 3:22 PM on Feb-15-05

The Westminster Kennel Club is offering streaming video of this year's competitions, broken down by breed. Let the Best in Show jokes commence.
comment posted at 1:51 PM on Feb-15-05
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comment posted at 8:02 PM on Feb-15-05

Send a White Feather to Jonah --When WW1 broke out young Englishwomen would hand white feathers to men on the street who were not in uniform to shame them into enlisting. Let's send white feathers to a prominent chicken hawk who is willing to vilify anyone who opposes the war in Iraq but seems to have many reasons for staying safe here.
Also of interest, Juan Cole tearing Goldberg a gigantic new one, and the type of people Goldberg apparently thinks should go: a dad with 11 kids
comment posted at 8:26 PM on Feb-13-05

CNN Executive Eason Jordan has resigned. He says he is leaving the news network before his comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos "unfairly tarnish" CNN. Sources allege he said at a panel on "Will Democracy Survive the Media?" that American servicemen are intentionally targeting and killing journalists in Iraq. Congressman Barney Frank, who was also on the panel at Davos, was one of the first to criticizes Jordan. Oddly Jordan, who claims his comments are being misunderstood, has resigned before a transcript or video of the event has even surfaced.

While there has been very little coverage of this in the "traditional media," motivated people mobilized quickly across the Internet(s). All of this very similar to the recent controversies with Dan Rather, and "Jeff Gannon."

Both Left & Right, has there been a power-shift in the media to the general citizens of this country? What does this say about the accountability of the media in the future?
comment posted at 10:33 AM on Feb-12-05
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comment posted at 2:17 PM on Feb-12-05

incredibly weird military recruitment drive/sermon/men's night out thing in a Baptist Church ... Every word of this might be true, but it was also part of a “The lord will protect you in the military” themed sermon. I have never had both respect and disgust for a single individual with such volume in my life. When I asked him for a picture with him holding the same bible he is in the sermon picture I think my attitude came off as “fan boy”. ... (might be slow-loading--tons of pics)
comment posted at 10:09 PM on Feb-11-05

"After all, women are fragile and delicate creatures; that is why men should lead the way to distant planets and carry women there in their strong hands," said Russian Academy of Sciences' Anatoly Grigoryev to students of the Moscow International University, by way of explaining why there will be NO WOMEN on the first flight to Mars. Ok, that sounds right. But they might at least need some swishy gay guy to wash socks and do dishes for the fellas, nyet? (Meanwhile, looks like Comrade Anatoly here is bucking for a job at Harvard.) (RIA link via NASA Watch).
comment posted at 4:45 PM on Feb-10-05
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comment posted at 5:43 AM on Feb-11-05

Wedding Bells in NYC?? -- with a beautifully-written ruling, NY Supreme Ct. Justice Doris Ling-Cohan states that denying marriage to gay and lesbian New Yorkers is unconstitutional: ... There has been a steady evolution of the institution of marriage throughout history which belies the concept of a static traditional definition. Marriage, as it is understood today, is both a partnership of two loving equals who choose to commit themselves to each other and a State institution designed to promote stability for the couple and their children. The relationships of plaintiffs fit within this definition of marriage. Similar to opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples are entitled to the same fundamental right to follow their hearts and publicly commit to a lifetime partnership with the person of their choosing. The recognition that this fundamental right applies equally to same-sex couples cannot legitimately be said to harm anyone. ...
More here
comment posted at 4:28 PM on Feb-4-05
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comment posted at 5:51 PM on Feb-4-05
comment posted at 5:53 PM on Feb-4-05

Iraqi militants claimed...to have taken an American soldier hostage and threatened to behead him... The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried militants' statements, included a photo of what that statement said was an American soldier, wearing desert fatigues and seated on a concrete floor with his hands tied behind his back. The figure in the photo appeared stiff and expressionless... Looks like a bunch of newspapers got duped.
comment posted at 5:02 PM on Feb-1-05
comment posted at 5:11 PM on Feb-1-05

What I Heard about Iraq --from 1992 until today. head-spinning.
comment posted at 3:22 PM on Feb-1-05

And then there were 3 --(salon, watch ad or use bugmenot) One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Meet Michael McManus. Who's next in PayolaGate? And in the Senate, they're going to be introducing a 'Stop Government Propaganda Act.' Even Jonah Goldberg (on the right) is actually calling for a real investigation .
comment posted at 9:42 PM on Jan-27-05

The end of the endless September. "America Online on Tuesday confirmed that it will stop supporting access to newsgroups." Thus ends what many labeled the greatest plague upon the Internet, the (triple posting) barbarian horde that descended upon Usenet when AOL added Usenet access for its members.

This is when Usenet returns to utility, readability and civility. Right?
comment posted at 6:15 PM on Jan-25-05

Learn to Pray
comment posted at 4:10 PM on Jan-25-05

shooting in tal afar, iraq
what will become of these poor children?
comment posted at 5:29 PM on Jan-19-05

To set the record straight: While the country was busy with CBS and Rather's mistake, the story of Bush going AWOL was lost.
comment posted at 1:12 PM on Jan-17-05
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comment posted at 4:44 PM on Jan-17-05
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comment posted at 5:14 PM on Jan-17-05

It's official: US gives up search for Iraq WMD.
comment posted at 1:32 PM on Jan-12-05
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comment posted at 11:15 PM on Jan-12-05

This Highway Adopted By The Ku Klux Klan The US Supreme Court has declined an appeal by the state of Missouri seeking to reverse an 8th Circuit opinion which allows the Ku Klux Klan to adopt a highway. Under the controlling ruling of the 8th Circuit, "desire to exclude controversial organizations in order to prevent 'road rage' or public backlash on the highways against the adopters' unpopular beliefs is simply not a legitimate governmental interest that would support the enactment of speech-abridging regulations."
comment posted at 5:47 PM on Jan-10-05
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