!

Okay, I know I'm flooding my friends list, but, but, but...

I just learned something I NEVER knew. And should have, damn it. The word "Waterboarding," what is it? Well, I first heard it connected with the term "Chinese Water Torture" and there's where I went wrong. Because as a kid, my brother used to sneak up on me and drip water on my head, and yell "Chinese Water Torture!" and run for it. And a few other of my childhood peers used the phrase similarly. I got from this the idea that that's what it was, in it's entirety. And that the "torture" part was being restrained, miserable, cold, and unable to rest because your sleep is constantly interrupted by the water. I thought it was mostly psychological effects combined with chil and sleep deprivation.

And as such, I thought it constituted torture and was not a valid method of interrogation.

Some of you reading this already know how innocent that notion was. Waterboarding is not, as I had thought, merely being miserable and wet. It is actually one of the more horrific tortures I can think of. *shudders* Silver linked to an article about it that mentioned some details that didn't jive at all with the "dripping water on you" notion, so I went and looked it up. Have a look yourself. It's basically drowning somebody. Actual water actually in their lungs, with possability of screwing up and killing them outright. You drown. It feels like dying. And then you find you're not dead after all, but you know they can do that again to you any time. Ugh. Just thinking about it is making me twitch.

And, of course, anybody who knows anything about how human minds function knows that torture doesn't work for getting accurate intelligence anyhow. (I've heard somebody with actual experience in prisoner interrogation say they got more, and more accurate information by letting prisoners bum a cigarette than by any form of intimidation or torture.) It's only being used because the people using it are bullies, led by bullies, in a nation headed by a bully.

*sigh*

I think I'm moving to New Zealand.

(P.S. All my posts today seem to have had appropriate music. Including this one, if you're familiar with it. Spooky.)

Loonakits!

I have a batch of freshly sewn loonakits up for sale. Click on any of them to see a larger picture. They're all $20, except for the teal one, which has glass eyes and thus is $25. This new batch has a fun new feature. They squeak! Each one has a small but rather noisy squeaker in it. Priority shipping to anywhere in the USA is $4.60. If you're outside the USA, or would like to go for a slower, cheaper method, just drop me a comment or e-mail and I'll give you a shipping quote. spark.costumes@gmail.com

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I laughed

http://www.hartfordadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=3873

A reporter goes to a furry con in disguise, expecting to find something strange, wild, and steamy.

Finds a furry con, which is more or less geeks, art, scritches, and adults bouncing around being silly like children, really.

And it particularly amused me because this is the second article I've seen where the writer was like "Where are the fursuit orgies? I was expecting fursuit orgies!" Except in the last one they sort of put in every remotely steamy bit they could find, and the entire thing came over sort of "we know you're hiding those fursuit orgies somewhere, freaks!" whereas this one is more... charmed by the furry culture.

Oh, and it features my friend Coyoty, whose fursuit I made! *waves at Coyoty.* And a spiffy picture of a killer suit by ArtSlave, who does awesome suits.