I am going to take a mini break from celebrating the demise of Jake and Taylor to say, shut the fuck up, Sean Penn. You "got taken" for half of your marital earnings in your divorce? What a martyr. I'm hereby un-RSVPing for your pity party.
@metermaid: Perhaps my rage is blinding me to your sarcasm, but in the off chance that you don't know, please read section one of the 14th amendment. Alternatively, read comments below.
@The Outlaw Josie: yes, fundamental concepts like equal protection. Please don't buy this blowhard's ludicrous interpretation of the 14th amendment.
Isn't Kate Gosselin from the Christian right expanse of central Pennsylvania? There are bears there too honey! And guns, cold and camping in the mountains. Way to make Sarah Palin look down to earth.
All of these episodes of depression could be cured, it seems, with a major pay raise.
@Penny: say what you will about British chocolate (clearly superior on the whole) but when a coworker went on holiday to America and came back with Reese's peanut butter cups, everyone in the office went insane and they were gone in an hour. Take that Cadbury's!
@Penny: really, you like American kit kat better? I can never decide.
I do have a fondness for kisses, but I can't deny they taste faintly of sawdust.
I do have a fondness for kisses, but I can't deny they taste faintly of sawdust.
Omg, so embarassing. But I can't say I'd be any more smooth if I got to sit next to Prince.
@theKP: Right, but if he is being charged with rape only so that they can extradite him and then charge him with a lesser crime, that would also be very questionably legal/appropriate/okay. In any case maybe I have created a shitstorm that I didn't intend to, but it seems clear that asking for his extradition for the alleged offenses is highly unusual, if not unlawful, and I think it makes an unfortunate object lesson in the importance of prosecuting sex offenses.
@the_valkyrie: Sorry to get overly technical but in my understanding in order to extradite from the UK to Sweden a dual criminality requirement must be met which means the crime has to be recognized in both states, which is established by falling under one of 32 listed offences in the framework of the European Arrest Warrant, of which only Rape is listed, not these lesser sexual offences. Maybe I am confused about some aspect of this process and perhaps you know more about the Swedish law leading to these charges in which case it seems that journalist's repetition of "payable by a 700 euro fine" is not accurate. In any case as other people who have responded have noted, maybe this writer is explicitly trying to discuss aspects of sexual offenses laws without engaging directly with the case at hand, though with the obvious political influence in the handling of this case it seems very difficult to me to do so.
@lodown: I'm just talking about the fact that there is actually a list of crimes which are extraditable within Europe, and sex by surprise is not on it. Rape is. My understanding is that he is being charged with sex by surprise (or something like it), not rape. If I am wrong, then it is less a legal question and more a political one. This is exactly what I mean about it being unfortunate that these are the charges being relied on in this case. Our desire to see rape taken seriously keeps us from seeing the extremely shaky legal basis for this extradition.
I don't understand how a minor crime punishable by a small fine can give rise to an Interpol/European arrest warrant, legally. I don't think that feminists should get roped in to making this case about rape, because that is not what it is about. It is very unfortunate for anti rape activists, myself included, that these are the charges being used to extradite Julian Assange.
@TheUnicornQueen: Sadly, I do live in England. I can usually maneuver my day around news agents to avoid it, but sometimes the headlines enter my vision regardless. I just wish they charged for the Evening Standard so I didn't read it.
Every time I have the misfortune of coming across a DF article I wonder where on earth they find people willing to subject themselves to willful exploitation, mischaracterization and insult for what can't be THAT much money.
@timetorambleon: Strangely, Iran has taken that exact line.
@Jessica Coen: It's not that it was controversial, it was that it was sophomoric, poorly written, poorly reasoned, uninteresting, played out, and brought nothing to the table except the same tired disgust I have had to endure dealing with douchebags like Ed since I was 14. If you really find that college ass on study abroad in Paris point of view to be challenging, it is difficult to understand your editorial process, to be as polite as possible.
Anything but working for a living, eh Heidi?
Wouldn't it be nicer to say Fantasia had an abortion than "aborted her married lover's baby?" Who are you, my Aunt Sherry?
Helloooooo Prince Carl. I was going to say I'd love to live in Sweden with it's healthy social benefits, but with his money, I'll live anywhere he wants me to.
I have recently started following Liz Wurtzel on Twitter, and I am not impressed. I guess things are different than when I was 13 and reading Prozac Nation.
