Enjoy the update, for the end is coming.


Other than the update, you might want to check out Ryan and Corrie's page for info on the new series of BME postcards and trading cards… They're running a contest — want to be on the cards?

Finally, sorry for being so late in promo'ing this, but Jon's IAM.Crush2 is up and running and a zillion times better than the old one.

Another nice big update (2,830 images) for you today. Not quite as crazy as last time (3,239), but still a big one. Thank you to nickythegreek for being our cover model (one of my favourite covers all year I think) — that's his first play piercing session. Also thanks to Blair for about a hundred ear scalpelling and “correction” photos that should be very interesting to artists especially.

Also, congrats to Perk900 for crossing the 1,000 image line for this year, and a belated congrats (it actually happened last update) to Nobcatz for crossing the 2,000 image line (!) this year.


Now I wanted to mention some scary stuff:

The US (via Perle) has admitted that the war on Iraq is illegal (more), saying “I think in this case international law stood in the way of doing the right thing.” If that's not enough of a “wow” moment, let me add to the mix what General Tommy Franks just said. According to Franks, if there's another attack on the US, the US will dissolve its government and Constitution in favour of a fully military government. (more)

Holy crap America. Was 9/11 really just a military coup?

I wish I was making this crap up.

I'd say it's about time to stockpiling your ammunition.

The US has deployed 20,000 troops along the Syrian border (more), a move that threatens to erupt the entire Middle East into armageddon should it continue to escalate. Bush has called up even more troops (mostly National Guard and reserves) to go to Iraq to die (more, more). Unfortunately they've also admitted that they can't afford to pay everyone and troops that are injured may not get medical care (more).

As you know, UK targets were bombed in Turkey, injuring almost 500 people and killing about thirty (more), with continuing attacks expected. Even more US targets (including corporate targets) have been hit in Iraq (more), and the analysts continue to point out that the loose al Qaeda-type franchises (more) are figuring out how to very effectively combat Western aggression (more).

The more time that passes the more allies the US is losing in the world (more, more) — and stunts like hiding key intelligence from even allies like the British (thereby killing UK troops) really isn't helping (more). Other stunts like regularly blowing up civilian homes in Iraq (more) guarantees a steady stream of guerrilla volunteers, and what's that I see… oh — Saudi Arabia is getting itself some nukes to be safe from US attacks (more).

Back on US soil, Congress just approved yet another massive expansion of police powers, throwing away the rights of US citizens (more). New York City continues to block access to 9/11 records (more) making folks wonder just what's being hidden… and over and over, the people ask whatever happened to the Constitution (more)?

Stupid lawyers…

So I'm getting threatened with yet another frivilous lawsuit (and once again, it really has nothing to do with me). Here's the start of a letter I (well, “Ms.” me anyway) got via courier:

Basically their complaint is that in some fantasy story on Eunuch.org someone talks about sticking a Bardex™ catheter up their ass, therby risking “misuse” and “potential injury” when other people try and stick catheters in their butt as well (so they say). Aparently their catheters are safe for urethras, but not for rectums. Or something like that… They asked me to “revise the story to refer to an enema nozzle or other non-infringing phrase”.

First, it's not my site and not my problem.

Second, if someone wants to shove a Bardex up their ass, it's cool by me. If Bardex wants to be sure everyone knows it's a registered trademark of C. R. Bard, Inc., I figure it's fair to let folks know, but I'm not in the business of censoring sites that I provide hosting for… Anyway, here was my response:

Subject: Bardex trademark use

I received a letter (FedEx) from you today regarding online use of the BARDEX trademark in erotic stories.

I should point out that you are writing to the wrong person. While I do provide hosting services for many sites, I am not the webmaster or owner of the site in question (eunuch.org) nor am I aware of the identity of the author of the story you're concerned about (other than the name and email that you've forwarded to me of course) that involves customers of your client's enjoying your client's products in a way perhaps more pleasurable than your client had intended.

My advice would be that when you want to get in touch with the owner of a website that you use the contact information on that website. Contacting registrants usually just puts you in touch with an ISP who has no control over matters such as this.

Other than that, if you'd like to send me a suitable press release on the erotic uses of your client's products I'd be happy to post it on my own web site.

Shannon

The letter was actually couried by UPS. I hope they pick up on that because I thought it was funny in terms of tradename usage. And yeah, I know… Baiting lawyers is a real bad idea, but it's oh so fun.

Woo woo

Working on an update all day. I think it'll probably be another big one…

Solar flares

I don't know if anyone is under a clear sky or not, but if you are, check out the Northern Lights… They're pretty bright tonight. My camera isn't the greatest at night, but here's a photo. The triangular shape is the barn roof, to put it into context:

Back…

Rushed back early to take care of a sick girl so I shorted some of my plans for today, but I did get to go to the opening which is the primary reason I went. Also had some very productive meetings regarding a new type of piercing tool we hope to be manufacturing and releasing in 2004.

Anyway, I enjoyed the show (and bumped into silentlight and friends) and I think the interview went well — we had a surprise interjection with an African-Canadian woman that was very worried that the photos were exploitative and racist because of the way they were decontextualized. I can't say I agreed with her on the whole, but she raised valid points and I did a follow-up interview with her that'll be included in the piece. It was recorded (audio) but I don't think the quality is quite good enough for broadcast (too much background noise).

Not that I should be surprised, but I of course came home to computer problems… So now to get those sorted out and then get to work on an image update and some articles.