Insufficient Evidence to Prove a Negative

by matttbastard

Via Polly Jones, the ultimate judicial Catch-22–drunk teen rape “sex” not a crime: Justice Peter McIntyre claims victim was too drunk to prove she didn’t consent:

Having sex with a drunken 14-year-old he had plied with alcohol was not a criminal offence by former Calgary man, a judge ruled yesterday.

Justice Peter McIntyre said there was insufficient evidence the girl didn’t consent to having sex with Trevor Byron Niebergall.

But McIntyre did find Niebergall guilty of sexual assault for placing his genitals on the girl’s face after she passed out — an act the offender captured on his cellphone camera and showed to co-workers.

McIntyre said the fact the teenage complainant didn’t remember her sexual encounter with Niebergall at a December 2005 New Year’s Eve party did not mean she hadn’t consented.

He noted one witness said she appeared to have the capacity to consent when she and Niebergall went to a washroom in his brother’s apartment, where they had sex. And the Queen’s Bench judge said the girl willingly consumed large amounts of alcohol supplied by Niebergall even after he made lewd sexual comments.

[…]

“The accused’s lewd comments towards her did not compel her to leave,” the judge said. “The complainant was not forced to consume alcohol — she drank … beer willingly and then switched to alcohol. It is not at all clear why she drank so heavily.”

[…]

McIntyre said because the girl drank so heavily and had little recollection of events at the party, he could not accept her claim she didn’t agree to have sex.

“Her evidence was not reliable after she started drinking,” he said

I have much more to say about this at Shakesville.

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Immune Deficient Sunday

by matttbastard

Once again my body has unconditionally surrendered to illness. “Not an option”? My defeatist antibodies would argue otherwise.

In lieu of substantive posting today on the part of yours truly (substance? Ha! I’ve got your substance–and a pony–right here…), I recommend you head on over to cripchick’s place and read up on the NYU Child Study Center’s scary ransom note ad campaign, which utilizes a most unsavory metaphor in a misguided attempt to draw attention towards people living with disabilities and psychiatric disorders.

Also, be sure to check out Feminist Peace Network’s ongoing (and, as always, superlative) coverage of the KBR gang rape whitewash (corporate fucktardery at its finest); Lindsay Beyerstein looks into the connection between John Kiriakou and The Kite Runner; finally, the indomitable Melissa McEwan continues her ceaseless teaspoon-dipping with an absolutely heartbreaking-yet-unfortunately-necessary post on the cold, hard reality of rape (newsflash: it fucking happens to people).

Oh, and if, after reading all that, you’re still bored, the 2007 Canadian Blog Awards are accepting nominations; go forth, my Canuckle-headed brethren and pimp your homies. Additionally, The Lefties are being tabulated and somehow this ‘umble little blog managed to garner a last-minute nomination. Ta (and squishy hugs) to whomever gave us the nod.

Alright, that’s all I can muster–heading back to bed forthwith. Hope y’all are enjoying the weekend more than I am.

Go.
*moans*

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Sunday Blogwhoring: Armistice Anxiety

by matttbastard

Desperately need a personal assistant to keep up with my rapidly expanding agenda. Rest assured I’d never be so intemperate an employer as the late Linda Stein, former manager of the Ramones, who was recently bludgeoned to death by her PA (Natavia don’t play that Naomi Campbell diva bullshit, y0!) Obviously, this is all wishful speculation on my part; before hiring anyone to manage my affairs I’d first need to secure an income stable enough to support myself financially, let alone an employee.

Love don’t pay the bills, y0–unless you own the publishing rights to Arthur Lee’s back catalogue.

(Seven and seven is Melissa McEwan.)

April Reign: An Open Letter to Dalton McGuinty

Birth Pangs: Conscience

The Silence of Our Friends: Drowning Maestro and Virgins, Whores, and the Sliding Scale of Our Humanity

Leftist Looney Lunchbox: How “protecting our women” hurts women

Women of Color Blog: Some Questions

mnemosyne: just fuckin’ stop it, ok

Rachel’s Tavern: I’ve Read More Sexist Comments From Black Men This Week Than I Have Read In the Past Year

Slant Truth: Michael Baisden Attacks Color of Change

Tristan’s Corner of the Web: Let’s get down to business

Andrew Padula @ All About Race: The Topsoil: Dog the Bounty Hunter

Jon Swift: Quit Doggin’ Dog the Bounty Hunter (FTW!)

skdadl @ POGGE: Welcome to our inexpensive and easily accessible soapbox

Too Sense: Norman Mailer Dies

Liberal Catnip: Sunday Food for Thought: Remembrance Day

willy be frantic @ A Creative Revolution: The 11th hour of the 11th day ….

Shakesville: The next time…

Questioning Transphobia: ENDA Discussion

nexy’s cocoon: more equal

TransAdvocate: What Next?

Obsidian Wings: ENDA Redux (With Free Gift!) and Oh, And One More Thing…

unrepentant old hippie: “It’s sickening.”

Far and Wide: Have Your Say (h/t 900ft Jesus)

Politics ‘n’ Poetry: Gender Equality : Canada slips from 14th to 18th place

Creekside: British Columbia : Nigeria North?

fetch me my axe: something tells me i shoulda stood in bed

Impolitical: For the independent party’s Schreiber review

Racialicious: Jezebel: Asian women are hot, smart, thin and tell you your skin is bad

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Wednesday Blogwhoring: Reappropriating ‘rEVOLution’

by matttbastard

Keep those letters coming! Love you all; always, muchly.

(Shakes is rEVOL personified)

Women of Color Blog: tee hee, i said beener and farted at the same time!

Too Sense: DHS Puts Julie Myers “On Leave” Over Blackface Costume and
Black Leaders Repeat Call For March On Justice Department, Civil Rights Division Spins Its Record

unrepentant old hippie: Witless in Washington (Part 3,782)

Pop + Politics: Pushing off: a love affair with Homeland Security

elle, phd: Waiting…

atlasien @ Rachel’s Tavern: White Guilt, White Resentment

Chowrangi: Nation-wide Torture Goes On and International Looter

All Things Pakistan: Emergency in Pakistan: What Can You Do?

Zen Pundit: Pakistan’s Real Crisis

The Newshoggers: Give The Dictator’s Money Back, Hillary

at-largely: Pakistan and U.S.: Pots and Kettles and Constitutions

Vox ex Machina: Maybe it’s time for an ‘Inappropriate Use of Tasers’ roundup

Red Jenny: Lib Lit: Progressive Partisan Fiction

April Reign: “Well, you’re not going to solve the problem if you even refuse to say what it is.” (“November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month in Ontario a great reminder to send what you can to those working on women’s behalf or to write letters, or to volunteer at a help phone or shelter. Or maybe just to listen to a neighbour who may be in danger.”)

Politics ‘n’ Poetry: SK Universities Attack Workers’ Rights

Seattle Slim @Racialicious: Vogue India Shows Appreciation For Indian Beauty With Caucasian Model Highlighted…

The Heathlander: The Guardian beats the drums

Shakesville: Breaking News: Fox Viewers are Stoopid (Head. Desk.)

Canuck Attitude: Fiscal Vertigo

Poliblogger: A Question for Discussion: The Significance of the Robertson Endorsement of Rudy

Automatic Preference: Identity Politics and Identity Politics 2 (Guest Post from Kai)

Creekside: Win the Nobel and lose your funding

Rolling Back The Tide Of Extremism, One Post At A Time: China Roars, America Reels, the Loonie Soars

PoliTits: All About Qualifying Language

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday Blogwhoring: Gotta Have Friends

by matttbastard

To all the folks @ Bread & Roses (Debra, Godammitkitty, fern, skdadl, berlynn, deBeauxOs etc etc etc); to JJ, Prole and pale; to boomgate, Isabel, and sassywho (best cobloggers EVAR) : thank you. For everything.

Love, muchly.

(big ups da one Shakespeare’s Sistah!)

Alas, a blog: Feminism is not your expectation. (thanks for the acknowledgment, Mandolin)

Kiko’s House: Why Is Gay Hating James Dobson Still Licensed As a Therapist in Colorado? (MUST read – who sez bloggers can’t do quality journalism?)

The Heathlander: Unworthy victims (h/t The Cylinder)

elle, phd: Really, This Is Not Wholly a Post to Gain Your Sympathy

Dawg’s Blawg: US activist “not welcome in Canada”

nexy’s cocoon: statistics

TransAdvocate: Methodist Judicial Council To Rule On The Sin of Transgenderism

Trans Group Blog: Call for Transsexual Narratives (h/t nexyjo)

misscripchick: here’s your cookie

Feline Formal Shorts: NPR on Nooses (Oh, hell no they didn’t go there? Yup, they did.)

The Unapologetic Mexican: Racism in a time of Need (h/t Tom)

Slap Upside The Head: The Editorialist’s Wacky Perspective

pogge: A solution in search of a problem

A Creative Revolution: Eat all your ethanol, there’s children starving in Africa!

Shakesville: Women are not prey. Oh, and by the way, they’re not toilets, either.

Staged Awareness: (untitled)

Objectify This: Showdown: Chauvinist Humor vs. Racist Rhetoric

Politics’n’Poetry: Navajos seek funds to clear uranium contamination

April Reign: Fighting Back or Prince hates Babies

Girl, Dislocated: Foreign dislocation

Too Sense: Jockey Syndrome And The Dream Act

Le Revue Gauche: Contracting Out Harpers War, Hidden Costs of Harper’s War and Fight or Else

Impolitical: Afghanistan out of control

The Galloping Beaver: As the Bush administration scrambles for a legacy…

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Thursday Blogwhoring: 3.6 Hrs != Enough

by matttbastard

Remind me to stop sacrificing sleep for obsessive late night blogging/research. Candle = burnt. Both ends; no wick nor wax remains.

Love, etc.

(Blah blah blah Melissa McEwan = teh r0x0r)

Feministe: What Color Are the Holes in Your Parachute? (La Lubu is a national treasure [h/t myca – so much for teh link embargo])

The Angry Black Woman: The Grass is Always Greener

The Silence of Our Friends: Bitter Laughter (h/t Donna Darko)

Creekside: Harper chooses gay superhero to be new symbol of Canada

Impolitical: Must…repeat…North…Star…:)

Shakesville: Shocking: Hate Peddlers Also Lying Douchebags

A Creative Revolution: Reality has a well known liberal bias……

Bene Diction Blogs On: Elections Canada – opps. 1 million voters not eligible (h/t April Reign)

AverageBro: The Gubb’ment Doesn’t Care About Your Nana’s Right To Vote

unrepentant old hippie: Code Pink activists detained

Women of Color Blog: “Hopelessly Deadlocked”

Cubically Challenged: Women, Belonging, Ownership

Slant Truth: The Blackface Files Return (oh for fucks sake)

Anti-Choice is Anti-Awesome: Meet Beard-o

AngryBlackBitch: Bad Boy vodka?

Dymaxion World: Trying to lose

Birth Pangs: Girls and Women, Girls and Women, Girls and Women

April Reign: Anger, Resentment & Politics (PREACH!)

ex-lion tamer: why i like science fiction

Girl, Dislocated: As uneventful as it gets, part 1 and part 2

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Tuesday Blogwhoring

by matttbastard

Love is all you need. Well, that and cheese – unless you’re lactose intolerant, in which case you can simply make do with love. Although one could argue that at times love can be just as painful to digest.

(As always, teh bastard bows down to Shakes.)

The Apostate: How to Suppress Women’s Writing

Creekside: SPP : Is it pining for the fjords?

Shakesville: Rape is for Nice Girls (holy fucking fuck)

Plucky Punk: Maybe in ten years I’ll be able to make lots of money for translating secret Russian documents.

Creek Running North: Matthew Nisbet says entire environmental movement should just shut up

Red Tory: Harper’s Super Secret Media Centre

pogge: I blame bad toilet training

The Vanity Press: Human Shield

AngryBlackBitch: By request, It was Sunday so it was Meet the Press…

culturekitchen: The US version of a racist’s comeuppance

Hatewatch: Neo-Confederate Movie Director Takes on New Cause

Rachel’s Tavern: The Modeling World is Unapologetically Racist

Too Sense: Too Sense Sunday: At Columbia, No Hard Questions (absolutely amazing post)

Fetch Me My Axe: Uh, yes, some of us here on Earth have been saying this for YEARS; nice you’re finally catching up, MAYBE?

The Heretik: Washington Wonderland

Property of a Lady: To Prevent Abortions, Prevent Unwanted Pregnancy

PoliTits: Joke Time Because Laughter May Be the Only Medicine We Can Afford Soon (FTW)

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Sunday Blogwhoring: Slowly Catching Up Edition

by matttbastard

Close out the weekend properly with this fresh batch of primo posts (as always, props to the Bard’s female sibling):

Too Sense: White Cops Refer To Mostly Black Unit As “The Slave Ship” (h/t Racialicious)

All About Race: Judge Mauffray’s odious revenge: jailing Mychal Bell and Jailing Mychal Bell: Governor Kathleen Blanco assures business as usual

Blackamazon: By hook by crook (h/t Tom @ Automatic Preference)

Impolitical: Harper exploiting Canadians’ privacy rights to his electoral advantage?

The Galloping Beaver: Why listen to experts when you can get politicians to promote the big lie

Le Revue Gauche: Mr. Dithers Accidental War

Pharyngula: FFRF recap: heroes of the revolution, Hitchens screws the pooch, and the unbearable stodginess of atheists (h/t Andrew Sullivan)

Slant Truth: Hip Hop Blogging (many thanks for the props, Kevin!)

Pam’s House Blend: WND fundies fleecing faithful with ‘personal Christmas-defense kit’

Slap Upside The Head: Calgary Mayor Doesn’t “Condone” Gays

TransAdvocate: ENDA The Status Quo and Hero Worship

William K. Wolfrum: How about we stop drugging deportees and drug citizens instead?

Thinking Girl: individual responsibility in a culture of domination

Dawg’s Blawg: Al Gore’s crimes

A Creative Revolution: Well well…look who’s behind the UK Gore attack.

Birth Pangs: Save Lives! Support Ron Paul for Prez! (geez, Fern almost has me reconsidering my decided lack of enthusiasm for Paul — almost) and Fetus Coalition Party: Disinterest in the Ranks

Shakesville: Explainer: What’s an MRA? (h/t Thinking Girl – as advised, be sure to check out the 400+ comments — but take caution whilst sipping a beverage, else you inhale up the shnoz/do a Danny Kaye spit-take/choke with laughter)

Kai Chang: The White Liberal Conundrum (h/t Donna & Kevin)

Intrapolitics: An open letter to white progressives about Jena (h/t Donna)

Canuck Attitude: The Queen Of Denial Doesn’t Live In Egypt

Idealistic Pragmatist: Yankees = Liberals

Recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers

Checking In

by matttbastard

Have enjoyed a grand weekend in the Big Smoke with one of my esteemed cobloggers, the loverly and talented Isabel. Went to a ‘grindhouse’-themed burlesque show Friday night; The Art House Cabaret @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Saturday. Have experienced more deliciously debased cultural events in one weekend than I have in years.

Will attempt to write a proper recap sometime on Monday (but don’t quote me on that – am notorious for not following through in the past on similar promises).

Am totally out of the loop with regards to what’s going on in the world, so my apologies for not posting anything of real substance. The Thin Black Duke has a good round up of less meringue-like offerings to keep y’all satiated until I get back into the proper swing of things. Also check out Todd’s post @ Shakesville on totally gay pulp fiction (which perfectly ties into Saturday night’s activities, of which I shall hopefully–hopefully–expand upon tomorrow) and Kyle once again poking the miniature elephant at the mother ship (hey, my hands are hardly clean in this regard).

Update: Ok, this is substantial: Marti Abernathey has the latest on ENDA and HRC (which as of late has become more and more comfortable accepting its apparent role as the rainbow branch of the Democratic National Committee’s communication department).

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