Toga - The Baby Penguin

I found this commentary, author unkown in the Daily Telegraph and wanted to repost here for you to read. I feel it expresses my sentiments perfectly. - Veronica
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Commentary
(Filed: 24/12/2005)

Curiously moved by the sad fate of a jackass penguin



By the time you read this, Toga the penguin - kidnapped on Saturday from a zoo on the Isle of Wight - will almost certainly be dead. Hope will have grown grey hairs. Hope will have mourning on.

Trenched with tears, carved with cares, hope will be 12 hours gone. And a small, fish-whiffing abductee only shin-high to a wellington boot will be casting a long, sad shadow over the nation's Christmas celebrations.

As civilians die in Iraq, the homeless curl in freezing doorways and the lonely face their traditional festival of depression and suicide - as the grave, indeed, of the late Alistair Cooke is desecrated by bodysnatchers - why, you might reasonably ask, should we so immoderately mourn a dumb animal?

Why should we have set up a special penguin hotline, offered a £10,000 reward for his safe return, put up missing posters and made tearful TV appeals to his abductors?

Aren't we being disgustingly sentimental? On one level, of course, yes we are. Could that £10,000 not be better spent on rough sleepers; or that sympathy be better spent on human beings who have been abducted and allowed to die? Hard to argue otherwise.

But to take stern and angry offence at the sentimentalisation of Toga is also to miss the point, to see things too much in black and white - like a penguin. It isn't an either/or choice. You can feel for human beings and feel for penguins: an indulgence, perhaps, but one that's little different than allowing yourself to shed a tear for an imaginary character in a film.

We allow Toga to become a symbol. He is what we have made of him imaginatively: a Christmas story - a little drama with a sad ending. By anthropomorphising him, we respond to his story as we respond to art. George Eliot wrote: "If art does not enlarge men's sympathies, it does nothing morally."

Who could say in what complicated ways Toga's fate might serve to enlarge our sympathies? It being Christmas, after all, we are on the lookout for a paradigm of innocence: be it the Little Baby Jesus or Little Penguin Toga.

The film March of the Penguins is thought to have spurred Toga's kidnappers to their adventure; and what a cruel and idiotic adventure that was. They scaled two 6ft walls and an 8ft fence to p-p-p-pick up their penguin: a prize that could no more be sold on than a two-ton Henry Moore; that could, in fact, do no more than pine to death as their hostage.

Little percentage for them in risking capture by returning him. And, unlike a Henry Moore, he has no value as scrap.

Yet these are unusually easy creatures on which to project ourselves. (Reports more often describe Toga as "kidnapped" than "stolen".) They are at once inherently comical, waddling about in their odd little suits, yet they also appear inquisitive, bright, affectionate.

Nothing in Central Park Zoo, not even the clinically depressed polar bears, was quite so entrancing to me when I lived in New York as the penguin enclosure. You could watch them zipping into the water, twisting around at great speed and then rocketing out like little torpedoes to return to a rock, where they'd shake, flap, and look immensely pleased with themselves.

One of the most cheering news stories I ever wrote was set in that penguin enclosure: the story of Wendell and Cass, a pair of gay penguins who had coupled up in the zoo and bagged - naturally - a spacious penthouse nesting site.

These are fastidious creatures, and gregarious ones. They look after their children, like us, and gay or straight, penguins form strong and nurturing bonds. Toga's parents, Kyala and Oscar, have been ceaselessly circling the nest, wondering where he is.

Deprived of the pre-chewed fishy vittles that only they can provide, his strength will have failed, and his bodyweight dwindled. Experts tell us that, at the last - deprived of the nourishment of penguin company - his spirit, too, will have broken: "He would shiver, and hunch, and be dejected."

The jackass penguin, of which Toga is, or was, an example, does not greet its public with a cheerful "quack", as you might imagine. It says "hee-haw", like a donkey. For some reason, the faint absurdity of this makes his death the more poignant. Toga has likely hee-hawed his last. Solemn little creature.

It will be a bleak Christmas for Toga's parents, for Toga's keepers, for Toga's admirers worldwide. The congregation of New York's Pentecostal Uprise Church, which has been praying for Toga's safe return, will bow its head, perhaps, in silent remembrance.

In Canada, they will mourn. In Russia, they will light a candle. And yet in the deep permanent winter of the Antarctic, Toga's emperor penguin cousins, unmourning, will continue to circle the wagons and, in their endless white Christmas, will still gather and tend the children. Silly things, penguins. But we can still make them a symbol of hope; or, at least, of perseverance.





© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.

RU-486 or RU-4Jesus

This country is heading into a Christian version of a Muslim state and frankly this scares me. The born-again conservative Christians have a lot in common with extremist Muslims, both think their way is the only way and they want to destroy women's rights using their Holy Scripture to do so.

I have always thought that anyone who completed medical school would be intelligent and informed but Dr. W. David Hager, an evangelical christian, a professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Kentucky who may become the chairman of the FDA's panel on women's health policies proves one can be educated and an idiot as his resume is more geared towards Theology than Gynecology.

An FDA senior associate with Bush family ties has rejected several other qualified physicians recommended by staffers and is pushing hard for Dr Hager to fill that position.

Let me give you a little insight into why Dr. Hager is a dangerous choice for those of us who want to preserve women's rights.

Dr. Hager recommends treating headaches and PMS symptoms through reading the Scriptures and prayer.

Last year he played an important role in Christian Medical Association's petition calling for the FDA to reverse its decision on the abortion pill known as RU-486 by claiming it at risk. I fail to understand how the abortion pill could be more risky than say 9 months of pregnancy and giving birth. There was a time where 1 in 4 women died in childbirth due to hemorrhage or infection.

If chosen as the Chairman, he will be leading the study of hormone replacement therapy for menopausal women. Many conservatives with a hidden agenda of getting rid of birth control pills want to start by discrediting the use of hormone replacement therapy women.

Some of the theological statements written by Dr Hager in reference to women's health are downright disturbing. He is like Oral Roberts with a medical degree. Here are a few examples;

"Jesus stood up for women at a time when women were second-class citizens," Dr. Hager says. "I often say, if you are liberated,
a woman's libber, you can thank Jesus for that."

In a book he wrote called "Stress and the Woman's Body," which puts "an emphasis on the restorative power of Jesus Christ in one's life" and recommends Scripture readings to treat headaches (Matthew 13:44-46); eating disorders (Corinthians II, 10:2-5) and premenstrual syndrome (Romans 5:1-11, "Tribulation worketh patience.")

More disturbing is his advice to keep from having an extra-marital affair. He writes... "Picture Jesus coming into the room. He walks over to you and folds
you gently into his arms. He tousles your hair and kisses you gently on the cheek. . . . Let this love begin to heal you from the
inside out."

I am not a Christian but the above comments sound like a perverted heresy!
I am suppose to have sexual fantasies about Jesus to avoid cheating on my husband...huh? That is GROSS!

Dr. Hager has stated that using the Birth Control pill is unethical.
He tries not to prescribe birth control pills for single women and advises them to abstain from sex.

He says he does not do abortions, will not prescribe RU-486 and will not insert IUD's. "I am pro-life," he says. "I believe sex
outside of marriage is a sin. But I am not against medication. The fact that I'm a person of faith does not deter me from also being a person of science."

Dr Hager has written that its dangerous to separate one's christian values from other areas of secular life. This means he will try to push his conservative Christian agenda on the women of this country if awarded the powerful position of Chairman of the FDA's panel on Women's Health Policy.

Dr. Hager's use of his religious beliefs to guide his medical decisions make him a dangerous choice for this powerful Chairman position. Its time for the rest of us to take back our country from the Immoral Minority who will have women living as those living in Muslim countries if given the chance.

To appoint someone who derives medical decisions on religion rather than science who is in a position to influence the regulation of medical drugs is not only a fine example of failure to separate church and state but it also denies women health care based on scientific fact and the medical knowledge which we deserve.


The National Women's Health Network urges you to email President Bush at president@whitehouse.gov or call the White House at 202-456-1111 to say that you oppose the appointment of Dr. Hager to the FDA Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee and ask the president to select a committee chair with a track record of making medical decisions based on science instead of religion.



Veronica Franco

Rehab: The Ultimate Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card

Pat O'Brien has a few drinks too many, makes some stupid calls to the cellphone of a woman who was with him and his girlfriend in their hotel room and suddenly he is on Dr. Phil, post-rehab, saying "It wasn't me. It was the drugs. I'm sick."

What I found myself wondering was why the hell Pat O'Brien felt the need to ask us for our forgiveness so he could have his job back? He didn't hurt anybody. Why was his job at risk in the first place? He may have been acting like a pathetic fool who couldn't get laid (the worst part of the story, he didn't even get laid ) but since when is that a crime? Since when does he need our forgiveness for acting piggish in private after getting drunk? Even Jay Leno felt the need to convey shock and disdain for Pat O'Brien's behavior. Oh like Jay Leno hasn't ever partied a little too hard and said something he was embarassed about the next day. Who among us has not?

The networks were so afraid of possible criticism of their star reporter that they made a preemptive strike by first shoving his ass in rehab, iced on top with a post-rehab interview by our National Confessor, Dr Phil McGraw. These two were whoring out the situation to help each other's ratings. Dr. Phil's ratings went up with the Special which was nothing but an hour-long commercial for the fact that Pat O'Brien would be returning to The Insider the following day and "Oh will his staff forgive him?" (organ music) I thought for a moment I was watching a soap opera because the whole scenario was just too unreal.

At least with the Paula Abdul scandal SOMEONE got laid! (You Go Paula!) Also there was the element of a judged show possibly being fixed by a judge who gave one favored contestant the guidance to bring him to the finals...a REAL old-fashioned scandal based on the Hollywood Casting Couch in which the new twist is, the sexual predator is a woman. (again, You Go Paula!)

I cannot even use the term "scandal" to describe the Pat O'Brien situation, more like a tragedy because the poor fool just couldn't get laid. Next time Pat, call a professional and get yourself laid properly without the unwanted publicity.

You know the worst part of this whole rehab thing? Its that we cannot make fun of their stupid asses anymore because after all it wasn't them now was it? It was the drugs and we are suppose to feel sorry for them. What ever happened to just laughing at someone for being dumb and then moving on? Why does everyone have to now have a "problem" which is fixed by a 30 day stay in a treatment center?

Masturbating Nellie

Did you hear the joke First Lady Laura Bush made regarding her husband at the White House Correspondants Dinner last week?

The punch line was about President Bush, and how when he was new to living on the ranch, he tried to milk a male horse.

Dr. Jocelyn Elders embarassed a nation of moralists and lost her job as US Surgeon General for saying that she thought all children should have free access to condoms and that boys should masturbate in them to get used to using them correctly.

Yet Laura Bush can make a joke about the President like that and no one blinks an eye. I guess the moral majority is perfectly comfortable with the idea of their President masturbating a horse.

Bush Blames Girls for Sex Abuse

Three women in the army have now been blamed for the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Brig. General Janis Karpinski has been demoted to Colonel and her career in the military is over.

Also being held accountable is the low-ranking PFC. Lynndie England and Spc. Sabrina Harman on one count of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, four counts of maltreating detainees and one count of dereliction of duty.


You mean to tell me, that three girls are solely at fault for the atrocities that took place at Abu Ghraib?

One thing I know its usually the people with the penis who are at fault for the most violent crimes against humanity. Yet the Pentagon is content on blaming a female general and a simpleton named Lynndie England and SPC Sabrina Harman for the wrong-doing. I don't buy this for one minute. Where were the men? Were they intimidated by three girls running the show at Abu Ghraib? Don't get me wrong, Karpinski,England and Harman are definately responsible for their actions but what about the higher ups, you know the ones with the penises who stood in rank between Karpinski, Harman and England?

If you have ever rescued an abused dog, you would have noticed how they are always afraid of men, and not women. I just don't believe that three girls are responsible for abusing and sexually molesting male prisoners. This is a major "Boys Club" cover-up to protect the men and "get the women who don't really belong in an army" out of there.

Ultimately, I look a lot higher up to blame than the former Brig. General Janis Karpinski for the disgusting treatment of the prisoners.

Let us not forget that a Justice Department Memo of 2002 defined torture in such a way as to make the horrendous actions of our soldiers at Abu Ghraib within the acceptable bounds.

President Bush also blocked a law that would have prevented the CIA from being able to use torture.

This is the biggest scandal in the United States today.

But who can think about that when we are so distracted with the really big news like Brad and Angelina's African beach romp.

Ancient Whore Wisdom from the Great Whore-Mother-Goddess

I was sent forth from the power,

and I have come to those who reflect upon me,

and I have been found among those who seek after me.

Look upon me, you who reflect upon me, and you hearers, hear me.

You who are waiting for me, take me to yourselves.

And do not banish me from your sight.

And do not make your voice hate me, nor your hearing.

Do not be ignorant of me anywhere or at any time.

Be on your guard!

Do not be ignorant of me.

For I am the first and the last,

I am the honored one and the scorned one,

I am the whore and the holy one,

I am the wife and the virgin

I am the mother and the daughter . . .

I am she whose wedding is great, and I have not taken a husband. . . .

Why do you who hate me, do you love me and hate those who love me?

You who deny me, confess me, and you who confess me, deny me.

You who tell the truth about me, lie about me, and you who have lied about me, tell the truth about me.

You who know me, be ignorant of me, and those who have not known me, let them know me.

For I am knowledge and ignorance,

I am shame and boldness,

I am shameless; I am ashamed.

I am strength and I am fear.

I am war and peace.

Give heed to me.

I am the one who is disgraced and the great one. . . .

Come forward to me, you who know me.

Come forward to childhood. . . .

I am the one who has been hated everywhere and who has been loved everywhere.

I am the one whom they call Life, and you have called Death.

I am the one they call Law, and you have called Lawlessness.

I am the one whom you have pursued, and I am the one whom you have seized.

I am the one you have scattered, and you have gathered me together.

I am the one before whom you have been ashamed, and you have been shameless to me. . . .

I am the one whom you have reflected upon, and you have scorned me.

I am unlearned, and they learn from me.

I am the one whom you have despised, and you reflect upon me.

I am the one you have hidden from, and you appear to me.

But whenever you hide yourselves, I myself will appear.

And whenever you appear, I myself will hide from you. . . .

Why do you curse me and honor me?

You have wounded and you have had mercy.

Do not separate me from the first ones whom you have known.

And do not cast anyone out nor turn anyone away. . . .

I am the knowledge of my inquiry, and the finding of those who seek after me . . .

of the angels who have been sent at my word,

and of deities in their seasons by my counsel,

and of spirits of every man who exists with me,

and of women who dwell within me. . . .

I am the union and the dissolution. . . .

I am the judgment and the acquittal.

I am sinless, and the root of sin derives from me.

I am lust in outward appearance, and interior self-control exists within me. . . .

Hear me in gentleness, and learn of me in roughness. . . .

I am the one who is called Truth and Iniquity. . . .

Hear me, you hearers, and learn of my words, you who know me. . . .

For I am the one who alone exists, and I have no one who will judge me.

Many are the pleasant forms which exist in . . . fleeting pleasures,

which men embrace until they become sober and go up to their resting-place.

And they will find me there,

and they will live,

and they will not die again.


(Excerpted from the anonymous Gnostic text entitled, The Thunder: Perfect Mind, composed circa 2,000 years ago.)

When the President Talks to God

lyrics by Bright Eyes



When the president talks to God
Are the conversations brief or long?
Does he ask to rape our women’s' rights
And send poor farm kids off to die?
Does God suggest an oil hike
When the president talks to God?



When the president talks to God
Are the consonants all hard or soft?
Is he resolute all down the line?
Is every issue black or white?
Does what God say ever change his mind
When the president talks to God?



When the president talks to God
Does he fake that drawl or merely nod?
Agree which convicts should be killed?
Where prisons should be built and filled?
Which voter fraud must be concealed
When the president talks to God?



When the president talks to God
I wonder which one plays the better cop
We should find some jobs. the ghetto's broke
No, they're lazy, George, I say we don't
Just give 'em more liquor stores and dirty coke
That's what God recommends



When the president talks to God
Do they drink near beer and go play golf
While they pick which countries to invade
Which Muslim souls still can be saved?
I guess god just calls a spade a spade
When the president talks to God



When the president talks to God
Does he ever think that maybe he's not?
That that voice is just inside his head
When he kneels next to the presidential bed
Does he ever smell his own bullshit
When the president talks to God?

I doubt it

I doubt it

Cortigiana Oneste (Honest Courtesan)

The terms "Courtesan" and "High-Class" have been diluted, used by those who do not truly understand their meaning nor possess their attributable qualities.

Spending a lot of money for a well-designed site does not give one class nor deem them a Courtesan. Wearing expensive clothes, or having high-quality photos which may enhance one's presentation still does not give one class. One's level of education or academic achievements does not give one class. Income certainly does not determine if one has class or is a Courtesan, neither does having a multiple hour minimum. Pretentiousness certainly does not give one class, just the illusion of it to the untrained eye.

Class is Defined by How One Treats Others.

A Courtesan is one who exhibits class and understands more importantly a sense of "fair play" in regards to other girls in the business. Graciousness is also a quality that must be possessed in order to belong to the echelon of Courtesan. The ability to make good judgments in regards to one's own actions is paramount in being considered a Courtesan.

Engaging in back-stabbing behavior, in an attempt to malign and damage the reputation or cause harm to another escort is not acceptable and separates one out of the Courtesan league of adult service providers.

I strongly urge adult service providers to consider this in discerning with whom they wish to associate. I strongly urge clientele to consider this before booking a date as the escort's scruples or lack there of may affect him down the road in regards to the continued maintenance of his confidential information.

In summation, I urge you to understand that you can not assume that a particular escort inhabits the qualities of a Cortigiana Oneste (class, discretion, graciousness, sense of fair play) simply by viewing a well-designed website. Its determined by her behavior both on and off the internet in terms of how she treats others and if she indeed possesses integrity.

-----Veronica Franco

Abuse and the Review System

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