The Government, The Internet, and A Little Revolution...

This came via the Treespotter via the Hammer of Truth.

Has technology changed the face of revolution?

God is Love -- Jesus Supports the Use of Condoms

I fully expect to offend people with the picture that leads off this post. I do not apologize for the message of this piece. Thanks to the Freethinker for illuminating this controversy for me here and here.

Sexually transmitted diseases of all types are slowly but surely decimating our collective future. The idea that abstinence is the answer has proven to be clearly not the case. The need here is to ensure that people are fully educated and therefore able to make informed decisions on their own. If abstinence happens to be that choice, then all well and good. However, if the choice is a different one, then at least those individuals will have at their disposal the knowledge that may just save their lives.

The art work is by Ben Heine, a Belgian, and was in direct response to the statements of the Pope and his fellow clergy members who seem to believe that it says somewhere in the Bible that condom use is strictly prohibited and that the use of condoms actually makes the HIV / AIDS tragedy in places like Africa even worse. The art work was posted on a site called DeviantArt. Unfortunately, DeviantArt in their infinite wisdom deemed the work too offensive or controversial or something because they removed it, and then ultimately banned Heine from the site.

I fully support the right of websites to determine their own content. However, a quick look around the DeviantArt site turns up quite a lot of art that would best be described as pornographic and perhaps even offensive to some, not to me though. So, why single out this piece of art for censorship? Come to think of it, I am not offended by Jesus wearing a condom or the idea that the Christian God is a God of Love and would be cool with a pro-condom message. This is not because it encourages promiscuity but to the contrary because it saves souls from agonizing and pointless deaths.

The right to freely express one's ideas is a core tenet of my philosophy on life. I have not and do not advocate that there are no limits to free speech, in fact quite to the contrary. However, sometimes free speech sometimes offends, and causing offense does not necessarily mean that it has crossed that uncrossable line in the sand where it is no longer protected. My personal opinion is that I can accept some people will be offended by the image, but I do not believe the image crosses the line.

Is it in bad taste? To each their own.

Circumcision and STDs

A recent study is one of good and bad news with respect to circumcision. A study conducted in Africa by the US National Institutes of Health evidenced that the rates of HIV / AIDS infection in circumcised men fell by 50% compared to their non-circumcised colleagues. However, another study shows that circumcision does not seem to protect men from other more common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). These are part of a number of studies that have examined this issue.

A study out of South Africa showed even more promising figures where circumcision was shown to reduce HIV infection by 60%. For African countries that are in the midst of a HIV / AIDS pandemic these are encouraging figures.

Nevertheless, a New Zealand study has shown that circumcision does not protect men from other common STDs like herpes, chlamydia, and genital warts.

The results and discussions of the studies can be found in the International Journal of Epidemiology (online) and the Journal of Pediatrics, 152: 383-387, 2008.

Zimbabwe

The Dictator

The Opposition Leader

The Economy

I am not a person that has an in-depth knowledge of Africa or the African Continent and perhaps I am batting out of my league with this post. However, that is not the point as I am not intending to provide any analysis of the situation per se but rather pose a question or two.


The economy in Zimbabwe is spiralling out of control with inflation running at more than 1000% and this is forcing the government to print money (above picture) and this then puts even more pressure on the economy. It is sad that the Zimbabweans have gone from being the bread basket of Africa to being its biggest basket case.


The current leader is proud of being compared to Hitler and has gone on the record as saying he would like to be Hitler ten-fold. He is running an election campaign that is relying on violence to get the desired outcome. This has surprisingly brought out a little spine in the British government, the former colonial masters, who have publicly named the individuals that they believe are orchestrating the campaign violence.


The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has pulled out of the run-off poll. This means a default win for Mugabe. Yet, Tsvangirai has a point in that the risks to people to come out and vote are high, particularly when one considers that Mugabe appears intent on keeping power by any means necessary. Reports of intensifying violence are increasing.


It seems abundantly clear to me that Mugabe is a tyrant and a dictator determined to do whatever it takes to cling to power. This includes not only running the Zimbabwean economy into the ground but also arbitrarily arrest, torture, and kill his own people if necessary in order to cling to power. The only difference that I see between Mugabe and Saddam Hussein is that there is no false claims about Mugabe having weapons of mass destruction and Zimbabwe has no oil.


So, here is my question:


Why is it that the US felt the need to go into Iraq to remove a nasty dictator and then call on the rest of the world to come into a coalition and support them, but they do not seem to feel there is any need to do the same thing with an increasingly violent dictator in Zimbabwe?


Call me a cynic but is it because there is no oil?

Jumping Elephants

Another interesting fact that you are never likely to use unless they issue an updated version of trivial pursuit!

Did you know that elephants are the only mammals that cannot jump?

Well, if you did not know that, now you do. Credit for the photo is in the bottom corner of the photo.

Have a nice day!

Louis Vuitton and Darfur

It would seem that Louis Vuitton has its knickers in a knot, or perhaps a better analogy would be its handbags turned inside out, with a t-shirt that is destined to do big business in Internet sales. Nadia Plesner, a Danish activist with an interest in the ongoing conflict and unfolding tragedy that is Darfur, has produced a t-shirt that has the image of a starving little black boy holding a Louis Vuitton bag and interestingly cradling a little dog that very much resembles the mutt that Paris Hilton has.

The Louis Vuitton bag is obviously a trademarked design and legally cannot be used without permission of the owners of the trademark. Well, this is the claim of Louis Vuitton anyway. I wonder if Paris Hilton has thought about trademarking her dog in some way. I wonder if it is even possible? Because when I first looked at the image I recognized the dog and thought how Paris Hilton is that. I guess I am not a fashionista because although I saw the bag I did not immediately recognize it as a Louis Vuitton. besides I don't have the money to be buying Louis Vuitton bags, except for some much cheaper imitation version, anyway.

Louis Vuitton has won an injunction in a Parisian Court to stop Plesner from selling the t-shirts, but in true activist style Plesner has refused to comply with the order. This has compelled Louis Vuitton to up the ante and take further legal action to force compliance. Apparently, there is a meeting scheduled for 30 May between Plesner and the Louis Vuitton executives to thrash out a compromise.

One would think that this is a no brainer for Louis Vuitton, you simply would not want your product to be associated with the violence and suffering in Darfur in this way. If Louis Vuitton was to compromise and allow the image then it would seem that this is another case where dollars trumps common sense. Simply, the picture says to me that Western Nations and big businesses are complicit in the violence and suffering in Darfur and Sudan, and are making money off of the suffering of our fellow human beings. does Louis Vuitton really want to make its money this way.

Interestingly, Plesner says that she already has 4000 orders for the t-shirt and posters with the image. T-shirts are selling at USD 53 and posters at USD 20 so it is a nice little revenue raiser with the profits going to the Divest for Darfur campaign.

Clearly something needs to be done in Darfur and Sudan with more than 200,000 people already killed and more than 2.5 million made homeless. As human beings we cannot sit idly by as our brothers and sisters are suffering in such terrible circumstances. So, in that sense a USD 50 t-shirt or a USD 20 poster seems like a pretty good contribution. If I was the lawyer that was representing Louis Vuitton then my advice would be to make a donation to the Divest for Darfur campaign and buy the rights to the design from Plesner. This might be a public relations winner rather than a nightmare.

I am awaiting Plesner's next project which supposedly involves a take -off of the Little Miss series and involves Little Miss becoming Little Miss Child Prostitute. Plesner is an activist on a mission!

Site Traffic Too - Russia, Middle East, China, and Africa

I have only recently started tracking my site traffic (and my blog is not very popular at all) mainly to see where readers are coming from. As I have posted regularly before, I write this blog to humour myself as much as anything else. Although, to be honest it would be nice to know that someone found reading these little musing interesting.

Nah, in that vein, and similar to the rationale of posting provocative words to stimulate the masses and attract traffic, I am going to post some regional specific entries in a blatant attempt to attract visitors from the four locations noted in the title.

Once again, I will let you know how that goes in terms of numbers of visitors....

Good weekend to all!

Bono & The Scots

Self-righteousness does not necessarily work during concerts in Scotland even when you are Bono and from one of the biggest bands of the last 20 or so years, U2...

Thought the Scots and the Irish worked together in defeating the English in Braveheart! I guess it was just a movie after all!