civilisationReview

download epub version A new comic series has hit the stands in the U.S. and the U.K. Spider-girl, starring Anya Corazon, a Latina - good, superheroes don’t have to be ‘white’ to be able to jump over the moon anymore. But I have to wonder after people who think that everyone ought to be represented whilst not wondering if this is nothing but an assimilation strategy, or amounts to the same thing. As i’ve stated before, ‘bitch’ is simply ‘man’ spelt with a b-i-t-c-h. They are simply doing the ‘man thing’ with girl things, if you get my drift. Looks like men defined what a ‘super-hero’ was supposed to be given their aggressive, egoistic, and self-absorbed tendencies - further reinforced by the socio-economic status quo - and then women were thereafter slotted into this spandex-mould. So we have equally heroic women, equally villainous women, all adopting strategies not unequal to those adopted by men since Spartacus, ‘Troy’, and given their ‘assets’ and men’s weaknesses, a touch of...

download epub version “Apple’s next-generation version of the iPad, presumably due in early 2011, should ship with improvements that make up for the first generation’s shortcomings.” says ZDnet. Words. When what might be regarded as abnormal is rendered normal, words that might incriminate, are replaced with words that excuse. That’s what came to mind when Apple’s ‘Ipad’s’ ‘shortcomings’ were spoken about in ZDnet’s article, ‘The next generation iPad and what Apple needs to deliver.’ In other words, they are ‘shortcomings’, not oversights induced by the desire to make the most out of a global population of markets and consumers as opposed to cogitating and self-aware human beings. Software improvements and features are one thing, but when it comes to what might be expected of a product given its intended use, and given the existence of technology to satisfy such expectations, to not include them it to simply create a future market via the ‘commodity’ of present ‘shortcomings’. Yes,...

download epub version A battle is being declared on London's strip clubs, with many council leaders insisting that no more should be allowed to open. Feminist journalist Laurie Penny believes that more fundamental issues need to be addressed in the sex industry and banning lap-dancing clubs will not resolve these. “We're not going bring down the patriarchy just by preventing new lap-dancing clubs," she said.” bbc In the not too distant past, women who ‘chose’ to work in strip clubs did so because of the coincidence of both gender and and their occupation of a lower socioeconomic class. They had less opportunities than men, but with equal or more responsibilities. In general, though women in a patriarchal society were relatively disempowered - whatever socioeconomic class they occupied -when it came to the lower classes, and women of such classes not being able to avail themselves of lace, teacups and cucumber sandwiches, as might quite a few women portrayed in Jane Aus...

Thousands of convicted UK prisoners are to get the right to vote after the European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) ruled that the present ban was unlawful. Should all prisoners be allowed to vote? The BBC understands the government has exhausted all legal avenues fighting the decision and has reluctantly accepted there is no way of upholding the 140-year-old ban. Prisoners awaiting trial, fine defaulters and those jailed for contempt of court are already permitted to vote but more than 70,000 convicted prisoners currently in UK jails are prevented. Have you ever been banned from voting? Is voting a human right? Should all prisoners regardless of crime be allowed to vote? Should there ever be restrictions on voting rights? - BBC ed