okay, ten days ago i said that my tattoo would stop itching soon. i'd really like it if it could get to that part, oh, now.

josie is a communist. she wants to distribute goods from areas of their greatest concentration to areas of their least concentration. from those who have to those who need at it's finest.

i'd feel better about this if the goods she was distributing weren't my underwear.

(at least she doesn't gnaw holes in them; pirate is still undisputed champion of that area.)

Salon.com News | Marching for their lives:

South Dakota isn't the only state that has attempted to ban abortion outright. A bill in the Georgia Legislature would 'provide that any person seeking to have an abortion ... shall first file a petition in the Superior Court.' The bill also stipulates that the woman must have a jury trial, and that the court shall balance the rights of the fetus against the rights of the person seeking to have an abortion, and finally that 'no abortion shall take place unless ordered by the court.'

if you're concerned about abortion rights or the increasing lack thereof in the united states, go read. you'll have to watch an ad first, but the article is worth it.

john's pithy quips and retorts:

What you aren't allowed to see on TV news because it might upset the American people.

Respectful of Otters:

'A social worker told me,' she said to me indignantly, 'that I'd be better off if I quit my job and went on welfare. I'm not doing that!'

I'm sure the Walton family is very proud of her work ethic. After all, you can't buy those kinds of values - not that they seem to be willing to try. So dig a little deeper into your pocket, would you, federal taxpayer? I'd like to get her on the waiting list for subsidized housing.

rivka is a friend of mine who is a "psychologist working in HIV research and treatment in the inner city", she says. i really admire what she does.

Guardian | 'Getting aid past US snipers is impossible':

Nobody could give us a figure for injuries but there was an enormous stream of people going to this clinic, this makeshift facility. It comes in bursts. There is a lull in fighting and then more people start coming into the clinic. We saw two kids arriving with their grandmother, they had all been wounded by gunfire, they said by American snipers, while they were trying to leave their house to flee to Baghdad.

An elderly woman with a wound to the head was still carrying the white flag she had been holding when she was shot. They were all saying it was American snipers shooting - and we know that the US is using armed marines on rooftops to hold the parts of city they are controlling.

The times I have been shot at - once in an ambulance and once on foot trying to deliver medical supplies - it was US snipers in both cases. It is so unacceptable to stop medical aid getting through. They could have just asked to search us.

sick to my stomach.

President Bush Calls for Renewing the USA PATRIOT Act:

And there's only one path to safety and that's the path of action. Congress must act with the Patriot Act. We must continue to stay on the offense when it comes to chasing these killers down and bringing them to justice -- and we will. We've got to be strong and resolute and determined. We will never show weakness in the face of these people who have no soul, who have no conscience, who care less about the life of a man or a woman or a child. We've got to do everything we can here at home. And there's no doubt in my mind that, with the Almighty's blessings and hard work, that we will succeed in our mission.

okay, i was paying a lot of attention in sunday school class and in church when i was a kid, and i missed the part where some people don't have souls. someone want to fill me in on this?

now i have a weather pixie. she speaks french. j'ai oublier trop de francais. i do however remember enough of it so that i'm certain that trop is the wrong word in that sentence, but heck if i can remember a better one.

things to know about betsy: i can handle either stupid or condescending with at least an approximation of good grace.

both together, however, make me want to start tearing at the person in question with my teeth.

Public's burden is down, so why the outrage?:

What is it about April 15 that brings out the worst in Americans?

I'm not talking about taxpayers who snap their pencils in frustration over IRS instruction booklets.

I'm talking about people who resent the notion that society chooses to do some things collectively -- educating its children, defending its borders, protecting public health -- and then we have to pay for it.

i am, in case you didn't know, one of those people who'd be happy to pay more taxes. overjoyed, in fact.

firecat: the tyranny of "healthy":

Even though this is supposedly a scientific information age, people still feel on some level that being not healthy means you did something wrong and you're being punished for it.

Health is in fact mostly a matter of luck (chance, genes, environment). One can have some influence on one's health conditions through behavior and environment, but one cannot absolutely control them and one cannot pick which health problems one is going to have to deal with. But people desperately want to believe that their health is entirely in their control, and part of sustaining that myth is to look down on people who are farther away from the health norm than they are, and believe 'they did it to themselves.' The other part is to look at their own health status, largely influenced by chance, and believe 'I made this, I am this healthy entirely because of my own choices.'

stef can write this stuff up so that it makes sense, whereas i am mostly reduced to pointing and waving my arms.

from frederick douglass, via cosma shalizi, via pnh, an amazing argument for the good over the ideal.

Three-Toed Sloth: Great Americans:

Today is the 139th anniversary of the assassination of President Lincoln. Here is an excerpt from Frederick Douglass's "Oration in Memory of Abraham Lincoln", delivered on the occasion of the unveiling of the freedmen's monument to Lincoln, April 14, 1876:

go there to read the text of it. it's old fashioned writing (it's from 1876!) but very moving.

my new tattoo.

i am very very very happy with it. except for the bit where it currently itches. but that will end soon, and it will still be gorgeous.

You are a GRAMMAR GOD!


If your mission in life is not already to
preserve the English tongue, it should be.
Congratulations and thank you!


How grammatically sound are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

what i have to say about this is: who says things like these examples? sheesh.

Marine Corps Times - News - More News:

An Islamic civil liberties group has called for a Pentagon investigation into an apparent gag photograph of a Marine in Iraq taken during the last year.

In the photo, a smiling Lance Cpl. Ted J. Boudreaux Jr. is standing next to two Iraqi boys. All three have their thumbs up as one of the boys holds a cardboard sign that reads "Lcpl Boudreaux killed my Dad, th[en] he knocked up my sister!"

there's been a lot of debate about whether or not this was photoshopped, whether he was a real marine, etcetera.

well, he was a real marine. and it wasn't photoshopped. and the marines are now checking to see if he did in fact kill those kids' dad or knock up their sister.

it's good to know that the marines are checking on this, to see "what, if any, charges to bring against him".

i hope they bring charges against whoever took the picture, as well, and whoever put it up on the internet in the first place.

Articles: Installing Linux on a Dead Badger: User's Notes, by Lucy A. Snyder

Step 1: Find a suitable badger. Specimens from zoos are ideal, but suitable badgers can be found as roadkill along highways in many parts of North America, the British Isles, continental Europe, Asia, and parts of Africa.

Other animals of family Mustelidae can be used in place of a badger, but an adapter may be required. See Appendix II for details.

listening to the thorns on the radio. i think i own this album, but nathan may have hidden it from me. hmm.

we had company at our house on thursday night, and now the dogs are sniffing the spare bed which apparently smells like her and wondering where the nice lady who petted them all the time is. i am not certain how to explain "gone home to chicago" to dogs.

the f-word - 'Feminists are Sexist':

The thing is, I'm getting really, really tired of having to justify feminism by explaining how it also benefits men. And that, believe it or not, is the point of this article. What I'm angry about is not the genuine male enquirers who honestly wonder why "nobody complains about the stereotyping of men" (and they do exist, I replied to several of them), it's the anti-feminist men who attack us for daring to get involved in a movement which aims to improve the lives of women.

What this is really about is men accusing feminists of sexism and hypocrisy unless they can prove that they spend exactly half of their time, energy, and resources on campaigning on behalf of men. What this is really about is that if feminism only improves the lives of women, it has no value or importance. What this is really about is that feminism only has value if it works on behalf of men and improves the lives of men. What this is really about is anti-feminist men being threatened by women working for women. What they're really saying is that to talk about women, to focus on women, to point out that something affects women badly; all of this is of no importance or value. It's classic, really -- because men are not always the focus of attention of feminism, these anti-feminists can't stand it.

What this is about is that some men can't stand not being the centre of attention.

sing it, sister.

patriarchy hurts men too. if you're a man, and you're upset because you don't think feminists pay enough attention to that fact, tell me what you're doing about it before we talk about what i'm not doing about it.

marketing lesson number one:

marketing is harder than you think. and you're probably bad at it.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Methane on Mars could signal life:

Methane has been found in the Martian atmosphere which scientists say could be a sign that life exists today on Mars.
It was detected by telescopes on Earth and has recently been confirmed by instruments onboard the European Space Agency's orbiting Mars Express craft.
Methane lives for a short time in the Martian atmosphere so it must be being constantly replenished.
There are two possible sources: either active volcanoes, none of which have been found yet on Mars, or microbes.

methanogens! woo!

dear subconscious: while it is fascinating that my dreams accurately reflect how much time i spend on the computer, and i understand you're just trying to help, please quit it with the wish fulfillment dreaming. the whole part where i wake up and have not, in fact, been sent that particular email is very trying.

thanks.

me.

i was talking to james about the passion, and he mentioned that he hadn't seen it. i said:

me neither. if i'm going to watch a 45 minute torture scene, i'd like it if it were consensual, everyone had fun, and everyone lived through it. these are apparently high standards.

feel free to recommend movies to me on this basis. ;)

have a good passover, people. for those wanting more information about judaism and just what being jewish entails, i point you at the fine wikipedia article.

meh.

meh, i say.

CIC Canada | Skilled Worker Self-Assessment

This Self-Assessment tool will help you decide if you should apply to immigrate to Canada as a Skilled Worker. The questions here are like the questions on the application form. Your score on this test will show you how your skills and experience could be graded on your application.

i do not at all understand the educational system in canada, but it sure looks like they'd want me.

bizarre questiony meme going around livejournal at the moment, of which i shall snag only one.

8. What was the name of the first person you ever kissed?

elvis.

thank you, drive through.

(no, that wasn't the name his parents gave him. the name his parents gave him was worse.)