Not Cool, Not Funny Stuff on the Internet

[princessofcairo]

I'm obsessed with The Cohens. Here's the only thing I've read (aside from the article which appeared in Saturday's El Pais) that expresses how creepy the whole story is:

Israeli Court Allows Woman to be inseminated with Soldier’s Sperm…
Here’s an interesting look into the state of “morality” in this world…
I found an interesting article on FOXNews.com;
Israeli Court Allows Woman to be inseminated with Dead Soldier’s Sperm Without his Written Consent
The headline itself is of questionable morality. Without his consent? How was the sperm obtained?
Well….it gets worse, much worse. The man whose sperm was used has been dead since 2002, when he was killed by a sniper in Gaza. Yes, you read correctly…he’s dead. Well, that explains why they didn’t have his written consent.
Private Keivin Cohen – age 20 when he died – will father a child 6 years after his death. His sperm was obtained AFTER his death. His parents, who left Iran when Keivin was 5 years old, petitioned a family court in Ramat Gan, a town near Tel Aviv “to fulfill his desire to start a family,” even though Private Cohen never himself make the request for such a judicial step.
Not only will he father a child after his death, he never knew the woman who will ultimately become the mother of his child. She was selected by a family charity and the Cohen family. His mother, Rachael, is finally able to live her dream of becoming a grandmother.
The Cohen family has fought for four years to have this occur. Cohen’s mother said that she is acting as her own son would have wished:
Every time I go to his grave and touch his cold tombstone, I tell myself how wonderful it would be to hold a warm child in my arms instead, For Keivin, it was his soul’s desire to have children.
A statement like this makes me wonder if Keivin’s mother is acting upon her own grief, and not the wishes of her son. This is probably one of the creepiest things that I have ever heard. I question the morality of such actions.
What do you tell the child when he/she asks about their father? How do you tell a 3- or 4-year-old that his/her father died 6 years before he was even conceived? What do you tell the child about how this came about? A child’s natural curiosity makes them ask questions terribly difficult to answer, I would not want to be the parent who has to explain this one.
Mrs. Cohen says that she was guided in her decision by her dead son:
An hour after being told that he had been killed, I took his picture and started talking to him. I asked him, ‘Where are all the children you wanted?’ Then looked at the picture and heard him saying ‘Mum, it’s not too late. There is something you can take from me.’ Then it came to me – your sperm, that’s what you want me to take from you.’ Right there, I asked the officers who came to visit to make sure his sperm be kept.
I wonder who obtained the sperm and how it was done? I wouldn’t want THAT job.
I have some SERIOUS problems with this: If my child had died, I’m not sure that my first thought would be about obtaining sperm so that I could have his children brought into the world. It’s disgusting! I guess I wonder what she would have done if it had been her daughter instead of her son.
My next question is this: How do you pick the person to inseminate? By lottery? Did she have to take some kind of test? Did she have to look a certain way? What guidelines did they use to choose her? How do you make this kind of choice? It’s just awful. Did they have a “Miss Have the Baby Pageant?”
The family was assisted in its campaign by New Family, an Israeli NGO that described the ruling as “dramatic development” for those who wish to make a ‘biological will.’ The problem here is that all the parents have is their word. There is no written document or any other proof that their son would have wanted this to take place. This case reminds me of the Terry Schiavo case. No one knows what his wishes would have been. Maybe he would have wanted children only if he could raise them.
A year later, the family approached a medical sperm bank seeking permission to use it for insemination. When the request was turned down, New Family began a legal action that concluded successfully for the family this week. Is this New Family the Israeli ACLU?
There was a problem for a while in that the Attorney-General said that the only person who could ask permission for this was a spouse. Private Cohen wasn’t married and he had not prepared a biological will, but the family had testimony, including video recordings, in which he expressed his desire to have children. Yeah, but like this???
Irit Rosenblum of New Family said:
The parents felt it was their mission to fulfill his wish. They had to go through psychological tests and then the next hurdle was to find a mother. It took a year and a half but we found one. There is a legally drafted contract between the mother and Keivin’s parents guaranteeing that their only responsibility is to be the grandparents of the child when he or she is born.
OK, but what if she has the child, or even becomes pregnant and decides to go to another country and they never see the child again? As the mother of the child, she has a right to do so if she wishes.
Why did Cohen’s parents have to have psychological testing? What does testing them accomplish?
I wonder if the Cohen family was thinking of their son or themselves? Do they REALLY wish to fulfill the wishes of their son, or do they want their son “back”?
My guess is that this is a selfish act. I know I wouldn’t want this done to me. I want to be able to raise my children myself. I wouldn’t want to be inseminated by a dead man, either. Makes me wonder: what happened to decency and morality?

Surprisingly, taken from an extreme right wing website.

[RGMike]

I realize I never get tired of pointing out what an idiot Mick Lasalle is but good lord -- check out this quote from his blog today, writing about the latest Rock'n'Roll HOF inductees:

"Yesterday, the Ronettes got in. If they had a hit besides "Be My Baby," I haven't heard it. Does getting into the Hall of Fame mean that you were kind of OK? If you had one hit that earned a modest place in western civilization, is that enough?"

Heaven help us -- this man gets PAID for being a moron. He thinks the Ronettes only had one hit?  He doesn't understand how a body-of-work connected to Phil Spector gets you into the RnRHOF? Whaaa???

[Gazoo]

I realize I never get tired of pointing out what an idiot Mick Lasalle is but good lord -- check out this quote from his blog today, writing about the latest Rock'n'Roll HOF inductees:

"Yesterday, the Ronettes got in. If they had a hit besides "Be My Baby," I haven't heard it. Does getting into the Hall of Fame mean that you were kind of OK? If you had one hit that earned a modest place in western civilization, is that enough?"

Heaven help us -- this man gets PAID for being a moron. He thinks the Ronettes only had one hit?  He doesn't understand how a body-of-work connected to Phil Spector gets you into the RnRHOF? Whaaa???

I stopped reading at "I haven't heard it."

[RGMike]

I realize I never get tired of pointing out what an idiot Mick Lasalle is but good lord -- check out this quote from his blog today, writing about the latest Rock'n'Roll HOF inductees:

"Yesterday, the Ronettes got in. If they had a hit besides "Be My Baby," I haven't heard it. Does getting into the Hall of Fame mean that you were kind of OK? If you had one hit that earned a modest place in western civilization, is that enough?"

Heaven help us -- this man gets PAID for being a moron. He thinks the Ronettes only had one hit?  He doesn't understand how a body-of-work connected to Phil Spector gets you into the RnRHOF? Whaaa???

I stopped reading at "I haven't heard it."

Thanks to Urth for backing me up in the comments section on the Mickster's blog!

[RGMike]

TANC -- I've been listening to the Spector box set the past 2 days. Today, disc 3, which includes the Ronettes doing an early Harry Nilsson comp, "Paradise", the same one later covered by the post-Diana Supremes.  I want to strap LaSalle into a chair and make him listen to every Ronettes track in this set. Twice.

[urth]

I realize I never get tired of pointing out what an idiot Mick Lasalle is but good lord -- check out this quote from his blog today, writing about the latest Rock'n'Roll HOF inductees:

"Yesterday, the Ronettes got in. If they had a hit besides "Be My Baby," I haven't heard it. Does getting into the Hall of Fame mean that you were kind of OK? If you had one hit that earned a modest place in western civilization, is that enough?"

Heaven help us -- this man gets PAID for being a moron. He thinks the Ronettes only had one hit?  He doesn't understand how a body-of-work connected to Phil Spector gets you into the RnRHOF? Whaaa???

I stopped reading at "I haven't heard it."

Thanks to Urth for backing me up in the comments section on the Mickster's blog!

My pleasure--the man is an idiot (as you so rightly pointed out) who doesn't deserve a job writing for a major newspaper. Oh, that's right--we're not talking about a major newspaper, we're talking about the Chronicle. In any case, he is the Peter Principle incarnate.

[RGMike]

well, you might find this cool or funny, but I just find it sad: Keith Richards admits he mixed some of his father's ashes with coke and snorted him, er, it.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/03/entertainment/e115910D72.DTL&type=entertainment

[Lightnin' Rod]

well, you might find this cool or funny, but I just find it sad: Keith Richards admits he mixed some of his father's ashes with coke and snorted him, er, it.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/03/entertainment/e115910D72.DTL&type=entertainment

When we were kids, sitting around smoking dope, my friends and I speculated that if one of died, the others should get some ashes, roll it up in a J, and ...

Of course, we were young, under the influence of A Stranger in a Strange Land, and HIGH!!!

[RGMike]

well, you might find this cool or funny, but I just find it sad: Keith Richards admits he mixed some of his father's ashes with coke and snorted him, er, it.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/03/entertainment/e115910D72.DTL&type=entertainment

When we were kids, sitting around smoking dope, my friends and I speculated that if one of died, the others should get some ashes, roll it up in a J, and ...

Of course, we were young, under the influence of A Stranger in a Strange Land, and HIGH!!!

Now Keef sez "Ah wuz only joking":

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/04/entertainment/e071114D84.DTL&type=entertainment

[princessofcairo]

wikipedia warwick.

[RGMike]

Oh joy -- Gloria Gaynor wants to bring homos to Jeezus:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-4931.html

Guess she regrets recording "I Am What I Am"...

[Gazoo]

Oh joy -- Gloria Gaynor wants to bring homos to Jeezus:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-4931.html

Guess she regrets recording "I Am What I Am"...

I really fail to see the homophobia, direct or implied, in Gaynor's statements.  I'm generally anti-proselytization, so I wasn't digging what she had to say, but neither did she judge anyone's sexuality or suggest that it can change.  The word homophobia loses a lot of its traction when it's applied haphazardly as a commenter did below the story.

[RGMike]

Oh joy -- Gloria Gaynor wants to bring homos to Jeezus:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-4931.html

Guess she regrets recording "I Am What I Am"...

I really fail to see the homophobia, direct or implied, in Gaynor's statements.  I'm generally anti-proselytization, so I wasn't digging what she had to say, but neither did she judge anyone's sexuality or suggest that it can change.  The word homophobia loses a lot of its traction when it's applied haphazardly as a commenter did below the story.

God knows I agree that we toss the "H" word around too easily, but Gloria seems to be tip-toe-ing around whatever it is she wants to say. She repeatedly refuses to answer the questions about whether gays are sinners, but on the other hand, she doesn't say "you can be gay and still love Jesus", which would've been a pretty simple statement.  Sounds like she's trying to appeal to the Fundies without inciting a homo boycott.

[Gazoo]

Oh joy -- Gloria Gaynor wants to bring homos to Jeezus:

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-4931.html

Guess she regrets recording "I Am What I Am"...

I really fail to see the homophobia, direct or implied, in Gaynor's statements.  I'm generally anti-proselytization, so I wasn't digging what she had to say, but neither did she judge anyone's sexuality or suggest that it can change.  The word homophobia loses a lot of its traction when it's applied haphazardly as a commenter did below the story.

God knows I agree that we toss the "H" word around too easily, but Gloria seems to be tip-toe-ing around whatever it is she wants to say. She repeatedly refuses to answer the questions about whether gays are sinners, but on the other hand, she doesn't say "you can be gay and still love Jesus", which would've been a pretty simple statement.  Sounds like she's trying to appeal to the Fundies without inciting a homo boycott.

I personally give people the right to tiptoe around statements when they don't want to make blanket statements.  It's poor play on her part to talk halfway when she isn't ready to make such a statement.  But I won't fill in the blanks for her to say what I think she's itching to say.

[Gazoo]

she doesn't say "you can be gay and still love Jesus", which would've been a pretty simple statement.  

PS: You're absolutely right that she failed to confirm this and that it would have been the most simple thing to say that would have appeased us all.  She failed there.  But I'm not ready to extrapolate that to other sins.