Is deftly hosted by Natalie Bennett.

Various points of interest, including a list of feminist bloggers missing from the ‘blokeosphere’ lists of leading bloggers exemplified by the Total Politics surveys. Hey, women bloggers, there’s nothing stopping your blogs being put forward into these surveys and asking readers to vote for them. As eg Jennie Rigg did, climbing nicely up the charts this year.

Another frequently disgusted woman takes unerring aim at the idea that women and the way they dress or behave somehow makes anything bad that happens to them at the hands of men their fault:

Matthew Wright was very close to the crux of the issue when he made the point that blaming women for verbal sexual abuse makes as much sense as ‘covering them all up with burkas’, but sadly failed to go further and explain why. Burka or mini-skirt, hijab or high heels, the very fact we focus constantly on what WOMEN are wearing, shows that we still see women as being the ‘gatekeepers’ of sexual activity, and men as the aggressors.

No one would ever seriously make the argument that a man wearing tight jeans is ‘asking for’ a woman or a gay man to grab his backside, because what men wear, where men go, how men act, is never up for analysis.

This, of course, is right at the heart of the Burqa ban debate and the way Islam currently operates in many societies, as I myself have pointed out. Lawks, am I a feminist?

Part of the problem with some Islamic (and other?) communities in the UK is ‘cousin mariage’ and consequent ‘inbreeding’. Genetic testing to help test the higher risks (if any) of illness/disease?

Finally, Brian Barder is still banging on against Tony Blair, this time over the 1999 Kosovo bombing. Well, Brian’s a classic Oldish Labour-type thinker. Did he vote for Labour when TB won all those elections, or at least want Labour to win? I didn’t.

Don’t forget nominations (britblog AT gmail DOT com) for Matt Wardman next week.