...is related to the privilege of being a Western white woman. I'm not implying that there's no greater privilege than being a Western white woman. That would be silly. I am suggesting that these maimed women's lives are beyond the understanding of just about everyone who sits on a cushy chair and posts at Salon. When Ms. Clark-Flory imagines dragging herself out of bed because she has one full leg and one stump and hobbling to work that way because she can't afford a prosthetic leg, well, even then, she won't understand.

These women weren't conveniently maimed so that some thinker somewhere could apply her constructs to the stumps in lieu of prosthetic legs.

Have some humility!

"Well, if it were not for Flory - i'd have no idea about these one-legged beauties...

and some are quite beautiful."

It's easy to pander when an ocean, class, and likely race separate you and these women. I believe that you think you're being a decent chap/gal in writing what you wrote, but you're missing the point. Before I had the LUXURY of time to post on the Internet, I worked with maimed people in marginalized communities. Those decades inform my position, which is that, Anonymous, you're USING these women to evidence what a fine chap/gal you are. Thus, the evidence is that you're not a fine chap/gal, whatever your aspirations.

fetboy.

"The project's narrative essentially goes: Do-gooders come to a country ravaged by civil war to empower poverty-stricken land mine victims while trumpeting the "Everybody has the right to be beautiful" motto. They choose contestants who are largely unemployed and have far-fetched dreams of becoming a nurse, interior designer or simply someone's boss. They are outfitted for a photo shoot in American Apparel -- a clothing line well outside of their reach and, of course, known for its sexualized depictions of women. They're photographed in Angola's tourist destinations (poolside, in a ritzy hotel lobby or along a hotel's striking stretch of beach) -- a world they will certainly never inhabit, not even as employees. And the do-gooders set out to address the greatest crisis in the life of, for instance, a maimed 19-year-old unemployed pregnant woman -- that she doesn't feel beautiful?"

I now side with Ms. Clark-Flory, whose original analysis is ethno-repectful, personally respectful, and thoughtful.

These two similar responses, however, are facile, reductive, and dismissive:

"You, though, are boring and predictible..."

"Every time third world tragedy comes up in the West, there is always someone there to point out the lack of authenticity of anybody in the West caring or helping or trying to understand. This time you are It I suppose."

At least I'm It with a capital I and at least the person accusing me of being predictable spells unpredictibly.

Now, the "christians" who vote Republican are pro-torture.

If there's Hell and Satan, it'll all come full circle as Satan tortures the pro-torture "christians."

That's the beauty of lovin' "Thou shalt kill." guns and hatin' gays. You don't have to worry about the end of America. You just have to worry about clipping full citizenship for gays and reloading, to take yet another shot at them.

Romney replied, in part: "I want to make sure that what happened to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed happens to other people who are terrorists ... He went to Guantánamo and he met G.I.s and CIA interrogators. And that's just exactly how it ought to be."

So, Romney's afraid to die? If he believes in the Christ and since he's framing this conflict as Christian fundies versus Muslim fundies, he should pray for another attack so he can go cuddle with Jesus. He acts as if he's afraid to die, as if, he doesn't believe in Jesus or that planet where Mormons go in their special underwear. Romney is as much a huckster as the founder of the church of mormon, except Romney wants to be a huckster with nukes.

But at least he hates the gays, so good ol' boys, vote for him!

I think we should build it high and wide.

From Washington to Maine.

Because as the Earth grows hotter and hotter, we don't want American sunburnedbacks slipping across the border into Canada and collapsing those ecosystems too.

Build the wall!

Build it high!

Oh, Canada!

I volunteered at our local family shelter last night, which is quite nice. A couple blocks away is a mega-fundy-evangelical church. Since I hear so much pro-war, pro thou-shalt-kill boom stick, pro-torture noise from the "pro-life" folks, I asked the supervisor what churches fund and man the shelter.

They are:

the Catholic churches

the Unitarians

the Quakers

the liberal Lutherans

United Church of Christ

...and not one God-damn (This adjective might be literal.) fundy church. The mega-fundy-evangelical folks 2 blocks away don't dispatch one person to pack a lunch for kids or cook for families without food.

When "pro-life" people stop voting for torturing, invading presidents and start voting for healthcare for kids, they'll earn their descriptor. Until then, they're closer to the Romans who tortured the Christ than the Christ.

As regards "Becky" and the other "real" girls, THOU SHALT NOT LIE!

Republicans have assured me that waterboarding is not torture and that it's effective at extracting the truth. *

* And it doesn't cost hundreds of billions like the "shock and awe" that is the smoldering centerpiece of Republican foreign policy.

I taught recalcitrant kids for decades.

My students were the students that said "NO!" when adults needed them to say, "Okay."

I still teach recalcitrant kids most days and I have to get them to do things that they truly don't want to do.

I never spank.

I never spanked.

I don't even raise my voice.

The truth is out there.

There are techniques that work with recalcitrant kids. Of course, we build more weapons rather than working with parents and teachers who don't know what to do.