(in response to 2007 Bust article, now offline, about the childfree movement demanding child-free “safe spaces” for childfree people who don’t like the company of children.)

________________________________

Dear Emily Twombley,



I’m writing in response to your article, “Newborn Free.”



I am a single mom working mom of a child with ADHD and Asperger’s syndrome, a mild autistic spectrum disorder. Emily, while I have always totally respected and even applauded people’s decisions to honor their natural child aversions as well as the environmental concerns of overbreeding, I can ASSURE you: the United States is NOT the child-indulgent place you are painting it to be. It is hard enough to find child-friendly ADULT spaces where children, especially children with special needs or behavioral disorders, are welcomed. Moms are discriminated against for babywearing and nursing in public. Women are discriminated against at work if they mention the idea of future breeding and often don’t get paid (or any) maternity leave. It is nearly impossible to find child-friendly sinks and public toilets, city developers don’t consider parks and sidewalks as a priority anymore in may cities, and the medical and pharmaceutical industries have degraded and profitized the natural processes of childbirth and infant feeding. Not to mention that it’s a pain to find child-friendly places to eat and hang out. Emily, America has almost no places that are appealing both to small children and thinking parents. Our culture exploits parenthood in a financial sense, happily seducing the wallets of beleaguered parents with gadgets, theme parks and cartoon character merchandise—but we do not actually nurture or support parents’ or childrens’ real needs at ALL. Questioning parents who reject this consumerism often feel like social rejects as well, since 

there is a lot of social pressure to conform to this “family-oriented” consumerism. In fact, I think many people actually choose to be child-free because they dread all the insulting consumerism and segregation from thinking society that comes with the package.

Babies and children, whether you like it or not, are part of the human species, just as old and handicapped people are. If you don’t like the way old people act, do you think they should be relegated to nursing homes? If you can’t stand the idea of someone with a mental handicap approaching you and wanting to chat, do you believe they should be locked up in residences with “their own kind?” Even smokers in my state (VA) have the right to pollute my lungs without my consent. I agree that changing a diaper on a restaurant table is disgusting and unsanitary, but parents SHOULD have the right to discreetly feed, care for and be present with their children in public places to a reasonable extent.



Trust me. Most parents KNOW their kids are being annoying, and are embarassed about it. But kids have been acting up to some extent since the dawn of time. It is very hard to completely control their behavior, no matter how conscientious you are as a parent. And while parenting is not the only choice, parents DO have the right to enjoy life as adults. I would not bring my child to a bar, and wonder at any parent that would—but parents do not deserve to be banished to the fringes of playgrounds and Chuck E Cheeses just because they chose to raise another of their species, just as your parents once did for you. 

I do this all on my own and it is HARD. I am not complaining, but I just wish people would be more compassionate. I am not just a mother, I am an adult with adult needs, and I have a child whose unique issues make it difficult for me to have a normal social life. I am very tired of missing parties and evenings out, never finding a changing table or potty on time, being distracted from my writing and creative work, and and being glared at and kicked out of stores by grumpy people just because my daughter is being an autistic spectrum kid on a bad day. Maybe it’s too much to ask for, but a little compassion would sometimes be nice. It is hard enough for me to deal with the exhausting daily routines and expenses of childrearing, without having to be paranoid that people around me are resenting my child.

Emily, 

I respect your choice a lot more than you might realize. Respect mine, and realize that what you are asking—the designation of child-free zones in public places—is nothing short of prejudice. You would not ask for man-free zones, woman-free zones, gay-free zones, elderly-free zones, handicapped-free zones. Children are a fact of life, whether or not you choose to have one of your own. Deal with the crying sometimes and thank God you don’t have to go home to it.

Someday you’ll be old, Emily… and you might need people to change your diaper too.

Sincerely, Sarah Noack

Still feeling overwhelmed by holiday shopping stress? This Sunday try out the BUST Holiday Craftacular from 10am to 7:30pm. Sponsored by BUST Magazine, The Metropolitan Pavillion will feature more than 200 DIY vendors selling handmade jewelry, housewares, and accessories. On top of the craft extravaganza, music, food, and free gifts are provided for shoppers. Just pay your $2 at the door, and you get access to items you can’t find anywhere else. The Metropolitan Pavillion is at 125 W. 18th Street at 6th Avenue.

-Caitlin

Kei Igawa left Japan and signed a five-year, 20 million dollar contract with the New York Yankees on December 27, 2006. He’s pitched 16 games in two years with the team since. To his credit, he didn’t balk anyone in 2008. Then again, he pitched a total of four innings.

A few years ago I woke in the night with an idea about a little snail going on an adventure. I quickly sketched it down, and incorporated it into Motion 101 class, which led to this.

Lately, I’d been thinking about creating a 3-dimensional slug, but just of its bust. Sort of a “happy face” to hang on the wall. Or a hunter’s prize, which is rather silly – not just because how could you stuff a slug for a wall bust, but rather why would you be proud of being able to snag a slug? Well, silly things give me joy, so here’s to some clay, slime and love.

Posing on the wall

“Spludge” – what I call wonderful slug neck fat. Looks better in person.

Slime test

Painting clay. Forgot to take pics of sculpting process…

He turned away, originally uploaded by Chalkhills.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Week 44, photo a week, Brighton and Hove Camera Club

Just got back from a spell of Christmas shopping. I know, a bit early for a bloke, but I thought I would miss the rush and I knew what I wanted, so I thought it would only take an hour or so. Fat chance – it was hell out there! Then driving home I wondered to myself, is this a sign of economic recovery? Could be. Could be.

But…

…and it’s a big “but” which is followed by the now all-too familiar name of the one-eyed Scottish incompetent, Gordon Brown. David Blackburn has proved that while he is many things, all bad, he’s also something more, incredibly: he’s politically naive. This king of bust, who presided over (as unelected Prime Minister) and largely was to blame for (as useless Chancellor who borrowed into a property bubble that his deregulation of the banks directly caused) the biggest peacetime crash since 1929 and the worst recession in post-war history, is now jeopardising the recovery as well with his stupidity and tribalism before it’s even had a chance to start. Read it and weep:

The Times’ Ian King writes that Dubai’s predicament presents an opportunity for the City to attract new business. There is no reason why, with attractive incentives, London shouldn’t capitalise on Sheik Mohammed’s momentary lapse of reason. However, the appointment of Michel Barnier, an evangelical protectionist who makes Joseph Chamberlain look like the father of Free Trade, as EU regulating supremo is a disaster for Britain.

The appointment raises further questions about Gordon Brown’s acceptance of Baroness Ashton as the EU’s foreign minister. Michael Fallon is no doubt:

“Brown has been completely outwitted. We now have none of the three key economic jobs in Brussels. This has all happened at an incredibly dangerous moment when there are firm proposals which will govern regulations on banking, insurance, private equity and hedge funds.”

Despite its insistence to the contrary, Downing Street has failed to protect financial regulation from falling into foreign hands. The outmanoeuvred Prime Minister has left the City at the mercy of a politician who believes there is “too much free market liberalism”. No wonder the French are so keen on Gordon Brown. Recovery has been jeopardised by political naivety.

What we did to deserve this imbecile is anyone’s guess. Oh, that’s right, about nine and a half million idiots voted him in in 2005. Hang on…

Ah well, at least we’ll get to vote the moron out some time next spring. I just hope that by then it’s not too late.

Earlier in the year I started painting El Greco’s Boer Commando as sculpted by Carl Reid. However, I was not happy with the attempt so I decided to strip it and restart it. This time I have got a much more rugged look to the face. Here are some pics of the initial work.

I have been working on the face trying to define some of the features. Adding some deep shadows with Mars Brown. Some colour to his cheeks with Venetian Red. I have also tried to give a tired look around the eyes with a mix of Paynes Grey and Mars Brown. Not sure how is has come out. Thoughts? I have also started laying in details such as the eyes.

Dieses Schmuckstück von Keiondou ist inspiriert von Willy Wonka aus Charlie und die Schokoladenfabrik – lang bin ich drumherum geschlichen, nun kann ich meine erste männliche Büste mein Eigen nennen… ein Traum für mich als Tim Burton, Johnny Depp und Keiondou Fan

New York police arrested Anthony Brioridy for drug dealing this week and he now faces 22 counts of it. According to police, he had lots of narcotics for sale. You could buy cocaine, Percocet, Xanax, oxycodone, ecstasy and ketamine, and of course, Liquid Marijuana. That’s right, liquid marijuana!

His alleged specialty, however, was a brownish-green “homemade remedy” that supposedly launched users on an hallucinogenic eight-hour high — at a price of $120 for a 15-to-20-ounce shot.

Undercover cops trailed Brioridy for a number of months as he allegedly peddled drugs from his car, before invited them to his home on 76th Street in Bensonhurst.

There, he allegedly brewed the distilled resins of pot fermented with 180-proof grain alcohol.

The concoction was supposed to be mixed with juice or soda.

Even the cops were surprised by this.

“It has not been seen around here before,” Capt. Gerard Dowling of Manhattan South narcotics stated.

Today I’ve added 2 new links on the Designer Resources page.

TECHknitter has a couple of really wonderful blog entries on the theory behind short-row shaping and then goes on to explain 5 different methods, including Japanese short rows.  A great resource!

Edited: November 24, 2009

Today I also added a link to the Knitty article on using short row shaping for bust shaping and creating shirt-tail (curved) hems.

“Two students enrolled at Penn State Wilkes-Barre were arrested on Friday on charges they were selling marijuana and steroids from their apartments adjacent to the campus.

Lehman Township police Chief Harold Kocher said police seized approximately 70 vials of steroids worth about $4,000; a large amount of marijuana; drug paraphernalia, including pipes, bongs and a gas mask with a hose that connects to bongs, and money.”

Full story from the TimesLeader.com

“Two students enrolled at Penn State Wilkes-Barre were arrested on Friday on charges they were selling marijuana and steroids from their apartments adjacent to the campus.

Lehman Township police Chief Harold Kocher said police seized approximately 70 vials of steroids worth about $4,000; a large amount of marijuana; drug paraphernalia, including pipes, bongs and a gas mask with a hose that connects to bongs, and money.”

Full story from the TimesLeader.com

Elvis and Mary Elizabeth, Vegas, 1996.

I was living in San Francisco, writing for zines like Bust and Might and bOING bOING, as well as grabbing occasional bylines in Wired and SFWeekly.

Had spent a year exploring the “nexus of sex and technology” as an editor at Future Sex with the likes of Lily Burana and Susie Bright and had recently started at a brand new web pub called Salon.

Going to parties at Good Vibrations and avoiding Lilith Fair.

Still processing it all. — Mary Elizabeth Williams

So, I’m pretty upset about these new guidelines put out by the United States Preventive Services Task Force for women and breast exams.  Apparently it “discourages early mammograms and self-exams.”

From the Bust article:

Women age 50 to 74 should have mammograms less frequently, such as every two years instead of every year. They also suggest that it’s not important for doctors to teach women to examine their breasts on a regular basis since it – yes – found “too little evidence” that self-exams were effective.The task force are trivializing early screenings because, they say, they often lead to “unnecessary” and “costly” treatments.

Full article here.

New guidelines can be read here.

Now, let me go and get my green card paperwork finished so I can run to your broke ass country that hates women!

In a sleepy suburban street, police and undercover agents prepare to raid the HQ of a lucrative drugs ring. But this is not a squalid bedsit or dingy warehouse. It is a detached bungalow on a leafy lane in an affluent area.

Two months of investigation have led the cops and officers from the Medicines And Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to the address in Bristol, which they believe is the base for a website illegally selling Viagra.

When they produce their search warrant, the suspect, an average-looking bloke with greying hair, dressed in a green T-shirt, jeans and flip-flops, reluctantly lets them in. Shortly afterwards, he comes out of the house with his head down, a blank, defeated look on his face.

He opens the garage for the officers. Among the usual items – bikes, crates of books and old suitcases – are stacked large boxes of Jiffy bags and tablets. This is his dispatch room. After a two-hour search, 14 items of evidence are seized – the hard drives of a number of computers and thousands of pounds worth of pills, most of them stored in shoe boxes. Some of the stash is pictured above right.

The evidence is placed into forensic plastic bags and piled on his drive in full view of his neighbours. A couple of well-heeled locals stop on their way past and ask the police if there has been some kind of accident. They are simply told the activity is part of an ongoing enquiry.

Most of the tablets seized were manufactured in India. Reams of Viagra alternatives are produced legally in the country but are not licensed to be sold in the UK. Kamagra is the most popular Viagra substitute – so much so that officers are now even encountering counterfeit Kamagra as much as the “genuine” stuff.

Among the stash seized in Bristol were Kamagra tablets and jelly together with a number of other Indian Viagra copies including Erectalis, Silagra, Eriacta and the hair-loss remedy Finpecia.

Danny Lee-Frost, head of operations at the MHRA, said the raid was “as good as we could have hoped for,” and added that the drugs will now be sent for testing. The medicines are likely to be fake, but the officers will only have this confirmed after extensive lab tests.

The evidence will be taken away for analysis and the suspect will be asked to attend an interview. Having already received a community service order and 12-month suspended sentence in January for fraud, the father of three, in his mid-50s, will probably be sent to prison.

Story from The Sun newspaper.

In a sleepy suburban street, police and undercover agents prepare to raid the HQ of a lucrative drugs ring. But this is not a squalid bedsit or dingy warehouse. It is a detached bungalow on a leafy lane in an affluent area.

Two months of investigation have led the cops and officers from the Medicines And Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to the address in Bristol, which they believe is the base for a website illegally selling Viagra.

When they produce their search warrant, the suspect, an average-looking bloke with greying hair, dressed in a green T-shirt, jeans and flip-flops, reluctantly lets them in. Shortly afterwards, he comes out of the house with his head down, a blank, defeated look on his face.

He opens the garage for the officers. Among the usual items – bikes, crates of books and old suitcases – are stacked large boxes of Jiffy bags and tablets. This is his dispatch room. After a two-hour search, 14 items of evidence are seized – the hard drives of a number of computers and thousands of pounds worth of pills, most of them stored in shoe boxes. Some of the stash is pictured above right.

The evidence is placed into forensic plastic bags and piled on his drive in full view of his neighbours. A couple of well-heeled locals stop on their way past and ask the police if there has been some kind of accident. They are simply told the activity is part of an ongoing enquiry.

Most of the tablets seized were manufactured in India. Reams of Viagra alternatives are produced legally in the country but are not licensed to be sold in the UK. Kamagra is the most popular Viagra substitute – so much so that officers are now even encountering counterfeit Kamagra as much as the “genuine” stuff.

Among the stash seized in Bristol were Kamagra tablets and jelly together with a number of other Indian Viagra copies including Erectalis, Silagra, Eriacta and the hair-loss remedy Finpecia.

Danny Lee-Frost, head of operations at the MHRA, said the raid was “as good as we could have hoped for,” and added that the drugs will now be sent for testing. The medicines are likely to be fake, but the officers will only have this confirmed after extensive lab tests.

The evidence will be taken away for analysis and the suspect will be asked to attend an interview. Having already received a community service order and 12-month suspended sentence in January for fraud, the father of three, in his mid-50s, will probably be sent to prison.

Story from The Sun newspaper.

A Chesterfield couple involved in a drug manufacturing ring which netted hundreds of thousands of pounds have had their profits confiscated.

Neil Ogden, aged 40, and his wife Toni, 36, of Chesterfield Road, Brimington, have been ordered to pay back £109,962 of the cash they are believed to have earned illicitly. They were part of a group which manufactured and sold illegal medicines, including unlicensed slimming and body-building supplements, one of which included the illegal Class C drug testosterone.

Neil Ogden ran gyms in Chesterfield and Matlock at the time and sold the drugs in his gyms and to shops and salons in “Derbyshire and beyond” and on the internet. He was jailed for two years in May and has now been forced to hand over some of the profits of his crime – £61,192.

His wife, Toni, who received an eight month suspended prison sentence and a 200 hour unpaid work order, helped with the financial administration and marketing of the products for their company, Slim Magic. She was ordered to pay back £48,770.

Their drugs were also sold through close friend Ian Ratcliffe, 43, of Alstonfield Drive, Allestree, who owned a nutritional products company. He was jailed for 21 months and has been told to pay back £2,434.

Five others involved in the operation were ordered to pay back a total of £7,667 at earlier hearings. In total, the eight involved in the drugs ring are said to have benefited from their crimes to the sum of £292,364 and were ordered to pay back £120,063.

Half of the cash is to go to the Government and the rest will be divided between the police, court services and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Story from the Star.co.uk

A Chesterfield couple involved in a drug manufacturing ring which netted hundreds of thousands of pounds have had their profits confiscated.

Neil Ogden, aged 40, and his wife Toni, 36, of Chesterfield Road, Brimington, have been ordered to pay back £109,962 of the cash they are believed to have earned illicitly. They were part of a group which manufactured and sold illegal medicines, including unlicensed slimming and body-building supplements, one of which included the illegal Class C drug testosterone.

Neil Ogden ran gyms in Chesterfield and Matlock at the time and sold the drugs in his gyms and to shops and salons in “Derbyshire and beyond” and on the internet. He was jailed for two years in May and has now been forced to hand over some of the profits of his crime – £61,192.

His wife, Toni, who received an eight month suspended prison sentence and a 200 hour unpaid work order, helped with the financial administration and marketing of the products for their company, Slim Magic. She was ordered to pay back £48,770.

Their drugs were also sold through close friend Ian Ratcliffe, 43, of Alstonfield Drive, Allestree, who owned a nutritional products company. He was jailed for 21 months and has been told to pay back £2,434.

Five others involved in the operation were ordered to pay back a total of £7,667 at earlier hearings. In total, the eight involved in the drugs ring are said to have benefited from their crimes to the sum of £292,364 and were ordered to pay back £120,063.

Half of the cash is to go to the Government and the rest will be divided between the police, court services and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Story from the Star.co.uk

… well, if you live in London, anyway.

Cup of Sea will be selling our wares at two shows during December:

Saturday 05 December – Tea & Make {a great British Christmas fete}
12noon-6pm. Free entry. Free workshops.
The Honor Oak, 1 St German’s Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 1RH

Saturday 12 December – Bust London Craftacular
12noon-7pm. £2 entry. LOADS of awesome designers.
York Hall, 5-15 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PJ

Look forward to seeing lots of new faces there! I hope to be launching some new etched metal jewellery at Tea and Make, so come on down to be one of the first to get your mitts on some exclusive new designs. Woo!

As confirmation emerges that the Eurozone is now officially recovering, Guido has created a useful visual comparison between the current states of the world’s economies for our convenience.
His conclusions are inescapable, for us and for Gordon “Best Placed” Brown.

As well as being the lamest economy in the G7 we share recessionary woes with economic powerhouses like Romania. Gordon Brown’s epitaph will be that he didn’t abolish boom and bust, that he didn’t save the world and he “lead the way” only in his imagination. The British economy has paid the price for his delusions.

Exactly.

Anyone but Brown.

There is a quote from H. L. Mencken that reads, “Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.” Since first reading it, I’ve been struck by those words and have remembered them. Every normal man must sometimes want to throw caution to the wind and be a pirate, it says, to slit throats with abandon and claim the spoils regardless of consequence. It is tempting. But I also read a deeper meaning in it. A rallying cry, a warning, a call-to-arms. There comes a time, these words say, when every man will have to take action, make a stand, and risk everything to fight for what they value or else lose it to another’s plundering.

I’ve never read that line in its original context. Those sentiments may not be remotely near what the author intended when writing it. But a learned man once told me that what we see on our own is more important than what we are told to see. You can be taught to see more, to see better, he said, but never fully trust what you are told. So Mr. Mencken will have to pardon my conclusions; they are mine alone.

Hoist the black flag, he said. Slit throats. To war, then, and to the victor goes the spoils. It strikes me that much of American society is already busy at pirating, or was until the Big Bust of 2008. Wanting a large payoff from a smaller, somewhat riskier investment seemed to be the prevailing modus operandi. Flip houses. Flip cars. Flip companies. Trust Bernie with your money. Cheat (but slyly) on your taxes. In fact, cheat at anything if you think you won’t get caught. Score as much credit as possible. Buy things you can’t afford with someone else’s money. Lie and steal from your government, your employer, your family, your fellow man. Anything for the almighty dollar.

If you were in construction, you threw together as many buildings as possible and waited for fat profits to roll in, and who cares about the structural integrity of those houses and business spaces. So what if the floor joists won’t last five years, and the basement leaks if so much as a dog takes a whizz two doors down, and the wallboard emits poisonous gas? Sorry, buddy, you were dumb enough to sail into my harbor and your throat just got slit. Thanks for the booty. Besides, that’s what homeowner’s insurance is for.

If you were in insurance you issued thousands of policies that were useless and refused to pay claims, slitting more throats and raking in treasure chests of booty. Your house burnt? Oh, so sorry, we won’t pay for anything damaged by smoke or water or heat or any wall left standing. Tell you what, we’ll give you this month’s mortgage payment plus an extra $50. We’re feeling very generous today. A hurricane you say? Your house flooded? Oh how awful. But no, sorry, we don’t pay off on damages from storm surge. Nope, it’s not a flood, it’s a wave, and we don’t cover that. Sorry. Don’t forget, your next payment is due in two weeks. Bye bye now.

And of course there were still the usual rackets of car sales, internet companies, Wall Street, and, well, anything run by the government. Anything to make another dollar, and the less honest the better. Hey, that’s the new American Dream: getting something for nothing. From the world’s largest corporation to grade schoolers, everyone’s playing pirate.

But someone somewhere is losing. Someone is watching their house or car or savings or future circle the drain when that newest chest is drug on board the winning ship and its golden contents are revealed. With a pirate on every side wondering how they can get their hands on it next.

So what does this have to do with Mencken’s quote? I think the deeper meaning behind it says you have to be your own pirate, be prepared to fight for anything you want, and if you really want it you can’t let others stand in your way. If keeping your job means someone else goes unemployed, so be it. If keeping your house means another family goes homeless, that’s something you’ll just have to face. It is, in a way, Darwin’s evolution in action. No one ever wrote a treatise on the survival of the nicest.

The sad fact of life on this planet is that not everyone will have what they want, and many will not have what they need. And to have anything at all, you will have to fight for it. We do not live in a global utopian society, and if you do not take it you will likely die waiting for it to be given to you.

That goes for liberty as much as for anything else. If you do not fight for your freedoms, you can hardly expect anyone to grace you with them out of the goodness of their heart. Governments, for instance, were not constructed out of goodness but out of fear and desire … even our own illustrious “city on a hill.” It’s nice to stand safely on the sidelines and speak of pacifism and conscientious objections, but in reality they don’t work. At some point, the theory breaks down. Even one man sitting alone in the middle of a garden will have to fight if he wants to eat, fight weeds and animals and drought and frost. Idealism has yet to feed a hungry belly.

I think Mencken’s words reveal that life is simply one fight after another, and if you want to do more than simply survive, you’ll have to do so at someone else’s expense. Is your life more important than someone else’s? Is someone else’s life more important than yours? How can anyone possibly know? So hoist your flag, brandish your sword and pistol, and let the blood run.

Police found Vaughn while responding to a call of gunshots at his residence July 18, according to reports. Cleveland said Vaughn had $1,800 cash and 34 hydrocodone pills in his possession.

Police searched the residence and found a “great deal” of steroids and the means for making them, including lab equipment stolen from the state police central forensic laboratory, Vaughn worked there as a janitor, Cleveland said.

Story from the State-Journal.com