Aussie doctors condemn labioplasty, related procedures

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has issued a statement criticizing the safety, impracticality, non-necessity, and expense of an array of procedures performed with the intent to “rejuvenate” the vagina, or enhance sexual sensation thereof. From Fox News, of all places:
Most [women] have had labioplasty operations, to change the external [...]

Egyptian veil ad: “‘Protect’ yourself”

I could not independently verify the origin and translation of the above PSA, but it apparently reads:
“You can’t stop them, but you can protect yourself.”
Rhetoric supportive of the enforcement of hajib seems to take the form of self-fulfilling prophecy: The veil is meant to symbolize an ideal of modesty the wearer may or may not [...]

Choice in Argentina

From Al Jazeera in English, a chilling report on illegal abortions in Argentina:

About 500,000 illegal abortions are performed every year in clandestine places like this, and around 400 girls die from botched terminations.
I would be curious as to how this figure was gathered, given the reluctance of abortion providers and seekers [...]

If you hurry…

I probably won’t have the time for it myself, but Hulu.com is hosting Joss Whedon’s semi-homemade three-act musical Dr. Horrible’s Singalong Blog, for free. Today only!

Saudi man marries 10-year-old, promises to “wait” five years to consumate

From Arab News:
HAIL: In the latest twist to a high-profile marriage in this central Saudi city, a 64-year-old man has announced that he would wait five years to consummate his marriage with his 10-year-old bride.
According to local newspapers yesterday, the man — who has already paid a SR100,000 dowry to the father of the girl [...]

Anti-gay sentiment motivated TN shooter

Sunday, a Tennessee man opened fire on a Knocksville church’s children’s production of “Annie,” killing two and critically wounding four more. From The Times Online:
Jim D. Adkisson, an out of work lorry driver, described his violent plans in a four-page letter, saying he intentionally targeted the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville because “he hated [...]

Is the new Checkmarq even less convenient than the old?

As of 1 PM today, Marquette student portal Checkmarq is back online after a week’s hiatus, updated with an entirely new layout I have not even begun to understand.
I don’t know where the email is. But Giving to Marquette is right at the top of the homepage. I don’t know what I was expecting.

16th Iraqi female suicide bomber since last year kills 57

Via Slate via the New York Times:
Wearing billowy, black head-to-toe garments, the female bombers have been able to conceal powerful explosives and slip into crowded areas too heavily guarded for a male suicide bomber to ease through undetected. While men often undergo physical searches, Islamic rules do not allow male security officers to pat down [...]

Widely criticized “invasion of privacy” reproduced without end by international media

Maarivan, an Israeli Hebrew-language newspaper, has published a prayer left by Sen. Barak Obama at Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, after it was allegedly removed by a Yeshiva student:
Lord — Protect my family and me. Forgive me my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make [...]

Gays in Iraq at special risk

Same-sex intimacy was only outlawed by the Baathist regime in 2001, but penalties are still on the books–as are exemptions for perpetrators of violence against gays in “honor killings“: 
Article 111 of the Iraqi Penal Code exempts from prosecution and punishment men who kill other men or female relatives in defence of their family’s honour.
“He who [...]