Humanity: Good News, Bad News

[Sajainta]

Good news::  link.

This could, of course, also be seen as bad news--considering the heinous background behind the article, but ultimately I'm blown away by Sina Vann's courage and compassion.  People like her give me some small faith in humanity.

[Uboa]

Good news::  link.

This could, of course, also be seen as bad news--considering the heinous background behind the article, but ultimately I'm blown away by Sina Vann's courage and compassion.  People like her give me some small faith in humanity.

This is definitely good news/bad news.  I'm, again, relieved that people like Sina Vann can recover from such a horrific experience, and then turn around and confront that experience day in and day out in order to bring relief to others who desperately need it.  At the same time, the scale of the real evil at work here is so far beyond bad news.  I hate to bring personal lament into this, but I'm almost ashamed of myself for not being feeling more pressed to do something about heinous and wide-spread injustice on this level before.  Granted, I was aware of it, but I'd not confronted the issue more deeply because I'd feared it would only be futile on my part.  In light of that self-disappointment I've adopted the aim of, however possible, trying to spread awareness of the pain caused by sex slavery, and the valiant struggles of those who combat it.

Edit:  Also, I think I'm probably going to be digesting most of the contents of the "Free the Slaves" website at work tonight!  Thank you for the link!

[Romana]

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/10/15/little-boy-asks-barack-obama-why-do-people-hate-you/?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2009%2F10%2F15%2Flittle-boy-asks-barack-obama-why-do-people-hate-you%2F

"But that's all right," Obama said, adding, "I'm a pretty tough guy. Are you a tough guy? You look pretty tough. So you've just got to keep going on going, even when folks are criticizing you, when you know you're doing it for other people."

[FaustWolf]

Yeah, I saw that earlier today on Yahoo!. Obama handled it extremely well. The whole thing was so racially sensitive, and Obama transcended that.

[Sajainta]

Bad news.

So...he doesn't think he treats black people differently, yet he refuses to marry them to a white person, or anyone else who isn't black?  Ah, yes.  That doesn't sound like he's treating black people differently at all...

[Thought]

Well to be fair, from the article, he isn't treating black people differently from white people. A black man can't marry a white woman, but presumably a white man can't marry a black woman either. It's equal, just equally racist.

[Sajainta]

Well to be fair, from the article, he isn't treating black people differently from white people. A black man can't marry a white woman, but presumably a white man can't marry a black woman either. It's equal, just equally racist.

I just love how he says he isn't racist.

[Lord J Esq]

Well to be fair, from the article, he isn't treating black people differently from white people. A black man can't marry a white woman, but presumably a white man can't marry a black woman either. It's equal, just equally racist.

Incorrect. The intermixing is what he objects to. It's a 100 percent safe bet that the objection comes from his conception of the respective merit of the two "races." It'd be like building a gymnasium for whites and one for blacks. Even if the facilities were identical, the motivation would be racist, and, in this context, it would definitely not be anti-white racism.

Your sex flipping is probably a misreading. I've followed that story over the weekend, and I never saw any indication that he would have been willing to perform interracial marriages in the other direction.

[Mr Bekkler]

I just can't believe this has gone on for 34 years without anyone else calling BS on the guy.

[IAmSerge]

i agree with everything said on this last page!

[Lord J Esq]

Well, how about that? Harry Reid seems to have delivered a fairly robust public option in the Senate's healthcare reform legislation. This story has been developing all day, and may develop further, but at this point it's looking better than it has all year. They're also looking at moving key provisions of the legislation from 2013 up to 2010. Marvelous.

If this turns out to be true, and succeeds in the coming floor votes of the full Senate, a moderate-to-strong public option is all but guaranteed in the final bill that will reach President Obama. If that happens, I'll owe congratulations aplenty not only to a number of Democratic senators who have presented themselves more as enemies than allies, but also to the incredible work of the progressive establishment in swaying the Senate away from the will of the insurance lobbyists and the villains on the right.

In other words, today may prove to be some of the best news of the whole year. Stay tuned!

[Truthordeal]

I felt the need to post some unabashed good news today. I'm not sure how to summarize this one, but if you're a fan of football, the spirit of redemption, or just a good, well-spirited story, then this is for you:

http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2009/10/28/twenty-years-ago-one-hit-changed-two-lives-forever/

[Lord J Esq]

Excellent news! Left-handed genius perfects "Happiness Hat":

http://gizmodo.com/5391968/the-happiness-hat-will-spike-your-skull

My only regret is that I didn't think of it first!

[Uboa]

Excellent news! Left-handed genius perfects "Happiness Hat":

http://gizmodo.com/5391968/the-happiness-hat-will-spike-your-skull

My only regret is that I didn't think of it first!

This does have "J" written all over it.  It is crafty and evoking of visionary fancy with a delicious sprinkle of dystopian anxiety.

[Thought]

2012 is a box office success on its opening weekend

I will be in mourning for the rest of the month. Humanity's dignity just died.