the shows went extremely well, in spite of (or, perhaps because of) the chaos and disorganisation involved. we got all of the music cues down for Babes, which is a shame since we probably will not be performing it again. the moisture festival benefit lasted until midnight and had an unexpected, although enjoyable (from my point of view, anyway) “strategic costume failure” on the part of one of the arialistas that resulted in her doing about three-quarters of her act topless. i’m sure mike hale (the owner of the hale’s palladium, where the whole thing was going on, and a notorious “christian” who has said that if the moisture festival features a burlesque night like last year, that we can find another venue for our shows) was mortified, but the audience loved it, and i heard the arialistas talking backstage, afterwards, and from what i understand, it wasn’t even too bad from the performer’s point of view as well. more tonight, and tomorrow night, and, possibly next week, then the winter feast, which we still don’t know whether we’re actually playing or not, but i’ve got it on the schedule anyway.

there’s been some drama here… not about anything on topic for the community (), but because of the fact that i used a swastika as my avatar… 8/ i had some help from the community, and there was further discussion here, but the upshot is that the closet-nazi, swastika-hater – a contradiction in terms if i ever heard of one – still hasn’t emailed me to say why nazis are so despicable that they’re interpretation of the swastika should be paramount, and thus it shouldn’t be used any longer, but the “christian” cross, which is just as despicable is okay for everyday use.

blah! 8/

along the same lines, Reclaim The Swastika is a site which doesn’t have much information, but that which it does have should definitely be paid attention to.
Overcoming Apartheid Education
The Infinite Cat Project
POSSUM FUR NIPPLE WARMERS on ebay – everybody needs at least one pair!

from spreznib, what if we played didjeridus for them?

Israelis to be allowed euthanasia by machine
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
(Filed: 08/12/2005)

Machines will perform euthanasia on terminally ill patients in Israel under legislation devised not to offend Jewish law, which forbids people taking human life.

A special timer will be fitted to a patient’s respirator which will sound an alarm 12 hours before turning it off.

Normally, carers would override the alarm and keep the respirator turned on but, if various stringent conditions are met, including the giving of consent by the patient or legal guardian, the alarm would not be overridden.

Similar timing devices, known as Sabbath clocks, are used in the homes of orthodox Jews so that light switches and electrical devices can be turned on during the Sabbath without offending religious strictures.

Parliamentarians reached a solution after discussions with a 58-member panel of medical, religious and philosophical experts.

“The point was that it is wrong, under Jewish law, for a person’s life to be taken by a person but, for a machine, it is acceptable,” a parliamentary spokesman said.

“A man would not be able to shorten human life but a machine can.”

The bill, which was approved at the third and final reading in the Knesset by 22 votes to three with one abstention, will become law next year.

Danny Naveh, the health minister, described the passing of the law as a historic moment, saying: “This is one of the most important laws passed by the Knesset. It represents major moral value for the terminally ill and their families.”

It is expected that elderly Israelis will begin to leave “living wills” in which they stipulate whether they would allow the new euthanasia procedure to apply to them if they were to end up in hospital, dependent on a respirator and suffering from a terminal disease.

---