hm. is there anyone left on the planet who doesn't have a gmail account who wants one? because i have invites.

pirate and josie went out and got their hair and nails done on sunday. pirate now smells less like snack food, and josie is the softest thing on four legs.

have i mentioned, say, this week, how much i love my dogs?

last night i went to bed, and pirate was snugged up against my stomach and josie against my back. aw. this did not last for long, as i am not capable of falling asleep like that, but it was good while it lasted.

content? pfui!

Just for fun, bold the ones you've eaten. Italicize what you'd like to try at some point.

Fresh fish
Lobster
Steak
Thai food
Chinese food
Ice cream
Pizza
Crab
Curry
Prawns
Moreton Bay Bugs
Clam chowder
Barbecues
Pancakes
Pasta
Mussels
Cheesecake
Lamb
Cream tea
Alligator
Oysters
Kangaroo
Chocolate
Sandwiches
Greek food
Burgers
Mexican food
Squid
American diner breakfast
Salmon
Venison
Guinea pig
Shark
Sushi
Paella
Barramundi
Reindeer
Kebab
Scallops
Australian meat pie
Mango
Durian fruit
Octopus
Ribs
Roast beef
Tapas (i know, i know, mz k.)
Jerk chicken/pork
Haggis
Caviar
Cornish pasty

huh. go, me!

i know where to get tapas around here, and i keep meaning to go. but i have no idea where to get an australian meat pie.

also, i *think* i've had a cornish pasty. i have had pasties, and my guess is that they were cornish. cme, do you have an opinion on that, since you are my supplier? :)

click here for the code

oddly, this didn't come out before the election. imagine that. to quote pleomastic, *spit*.

pleonastic: a few bad apples?

to quote the image that zie has pasted in there:

This instruction begs the question of what constitutes "abuse". We assume this does not include lawful interrogation techniques authorized by Executive Order. We are aware that prior to a revision in policy last week, an Executive Order signed by President Bush authorized the following interrogation techniques, among others sleep "management", use of MWDs (military working dogs), "stress positions" such as half squats, "environmental manipulation" such as the use of loud music, sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc. We assume the OGC instruction does not include the reporting of these authorized interrogation techniques and that the use of these techniques does not constitute "abuse".

bolding mine.

this poet is a little angrier than i am, but it's good/useful reading anyhow.

privilege by D.A. Clarke

the full title of the poem is:

privilege
a poem for men who don't understand what we mean when we say they have it

as a note, i don't wish i could type better just in case. i type fairly fast and fairly accurately, and i know that. i also am good at answering phones, good at filing, and good at working the front desk of whereever.

how many male system administrators do you suppose have ever thought about whether or not they'd be able to get a clerical job if they needed to?

i'd like my free porn and candy, please. but i'd settle for universal health care and the right to marry the next person that i decide i'd like to spend my life with, whatever their wiggly bits look like.


Canada Goes To Hell / Legal pot? Legal gay marriage? Universal health care? What's next, free porn and candy?:

All of which makes you wonder: how many more countries will it take? How many more nations will have to, for example, prove that gun licensing works, or that gay-marriage legislation is a moral imperative, or that health care for all is mandatory for a nation's well being, before America finally looks at itself and says, whoa, damn, we are so silly and small and wrong? Is there any number large enough? After the announcement that gay Chinese and gay Russians may legally marry and grow lovely gardens of marijuana as they all get free dental care, will America remain terrified of nipples and queers?

near-fatal cuteness. i want several. except, you know, the dogs would eat them right up.

Ananova - Nine dwarf chameleons born in UK

Nine dwarf chameleons born in UK

Nine dwarf chameleons have been born at Bournemouth's Oceanarium, making it the first one in the country to successfully breed the species.

oh. the. cuteness.

whether you're for or against this war, you should go look at Fallujah in Pictures.

it's pictures from the war, and what the war is doing both to iraqis and americans.

the person who runs the site says:

Q: Why do you do this?
A: To show other Americans what is being done in our name.If our cause is just we should not fear witnessing its cost.

it is the very least we can do to witness what we are responsible for.

oh, this is a really good article. read all the way through to the end, to the list of questions for white people.

Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | No offence, but why are all white men so aggressive?:

Sometimes it takes so long to figure out what's wrong with a question that you never quite get to the answer. At the forum on being British and Muslim organised by the Guardian last week, participants argued that some of the questions and issues being raised would never be put to white Christians, for example. These included: 'do you have a duty to vote and/or participate in British political life?'; 'do you have a responsibility to inform on political or religious groups who use violence to achieve political ends?'; and 'do you want integration into British society or parallel lives? Why?'

The reluctance to confront these particular questions didn't stifle debate, but it raises broader issue of how and when to withdraw from problematic dialogues.
Sometimes, though not in this forum, questions can be so pregnant with assumptions that they are, arguably, better left unanswered. Not because they do not relate to important issues, but because they are so loaded with prejudice and crippled by ignorance, thoughtless in tone and reckless in content, that the manner in which they are put renders them incapable of addressing important issues. To engage with them would be to legitimise their bias.

The reluctance to confront these particular questions didn't stifle debate, but it raises broader issue of how and when to withdraw from problematic dialogues.

Sometimes, though not in this forum, questions can be so pregnant with assumptions that they are, arguably, better left unanswered. Not because they do not relate to important issues, but because they are so loaded with prejudice and crippled by ignorance, thoughtless in tone and reckless in content, that the manner in which they are put renders them incapable of addressing important issues. To engage with them would be to legitimise their bias.

if you saw or heard about the story on the bbc about hiv+ children in foster care used to test aids drugs without the consent of their parents, and are concerned, please go read what rivka, at Respectful of Otters has to go say about it.

rivka works with hiv+ people on a daily basis, and does research involving human subjects herself, and is quite knowledgeable in both of those areas. i trust her to know what she's talking about.

World AIDS Day - 1 December 2004: ""


use condoms, get tested.

if you have any questions about safer sex, how/where to get tested, or anything of the sort, i either know the answer or i can find the answer for you. go ahead and email me, if you want.