Women doctors

My family doctor's practice is all female. It's weird, because I actually just noticed this. They have no male doctors, no male nurses, not even any male office staff. I don't know if they planned it, but it lends to a very comfortable environment.
I have learned over the years that there is a fundamental difference in women and men doctors. Male doctors will always assume that they know exactly what is wrong with you, regardless of what you say. Women doctors believe that you know what's wrong with you, they just need to get you to tell them what it is. They tend to work more one on one and have more patence. Take my lovely family doctor and the year from hell that led up to my diagnosis with Fibro. I was willing to give up, every test came back negative, I broke down into tears in her office, and she kept with me, and we did eventually find out what was wrong. I am forever grateful for her for that.
I have heard a number of stories like that from other people, that woman doctor has a better bedside manner, is more likely to listen, and more likely to not just dismiss something you say. I don't know if it's the nurturing instinct or what, but I know that people were insane for not letting women be doctors before. I think we do just fine, thank you.

Filibuster proof?

The Minnesota Supreme Court has offically declared Frankin the Senate race winner. Which means that if everyone votes on party lines the Dems are now filibuster proof. Right? I think. The whole idea of filibuster proof is kind of weird to me, mainly because I don't really understand it.
Anyway, I suppose this means that the healthcare bill could pass the Senate now. So that is a ray of sunshine.

The expanding dead pool

So Billy Mays joined the ranks of the dead this weekend. That actually suprised me. Though my second, not quite nice, thought was, "Gee, what the hell is Discovery going to do with Pitchmen?"
I'm probably going to hell.

The dead zone

I had the pleasure of telling my brother out in Tahoe that Michael Jackson died. And Farrah Faucett. Though she was before our time, he was more broken up about Farrah. Honestly so was I, she fought long and hard against her cancer, and I was rooting for her.
When I told him about Jacko he laughed, and then told his buddy who also laughed. How sad is that? To drop so far that people laugh when you die?
But he was almost a joke at the end. Everything good that he was had been overshadowed by the running freakshow his life had become. God only knows what we will end up learning.
Rest in peace y'all.

Rapture Ready

Sometimes I go onto the Rapture Ready boards to see what rumors and interesting new "facts" are going around the Fundie world. For instance, today I learned...

-Quantum physics is a new age lie

- Soon people in the US will be forced to have abortions because of new laws banning more than two children per couple (this is my personal favorite)

- Obama has evil eyes

- Yeah, pagans are the weird ones guys

- Some of these people have really amazingly patient friends

Of course these is the usual terrible, delusional, and depressing crap that tends to show up there. Rapture Ready isn't for the faint of heart.

News of the World

A few new items of interest this week...

- So South Carolina gov. Mark Sanford was in Argentina that whole time. There are so many questions about this that I can't wait to get answered, why did he leave without telling anyone? Why did his office lie? The Democratic party has slammed him for an irresponsible decision, which... well yeah.

- Here is an article about the death of Neda Agha Soltani, the young Iranian woman whose death has garnered international attention. The article talks about how white Americans need to see people die to understand the tragedy occurring outside their sheltered little lives. It's off putting, and like many people arguing about the fetishing of other people's deaths this person seems to fall into the same trap. Not seeing that part of the reason why the US government isn't getting involved is because we know that will make things 1000 times worse. Not because us white folk don't give a shit. Please, give us some credit here.

- The Obama health care reform bill is being outlined and sold to the public. Dear god public accept it. Tell your Senators and Congressmen to vote for it. We need it, no matter what the obscenely rich tell us. I'd rather trust a government official than a HMO employee paid to deny me.

All hot and bothered

A long time ago I stopped reading Ann Coulter because she caused my blood pressure to rise so much I was afraid I'd have a stroke. I'm coming to the same place when it comes to the abortion debate, all because of comments like this one on PBS's web site. PBS!

""The term "rightwing", as used to define a specific type of extremism...."You guys are great. We are extremists because we don't like to see babies dismembered.No one condones Tiller's murder. He was a horror of a man, but surely deserved a chance like the rest of us. I don't, though, think that he deserved extra protection any more than pedophiles, who are soon to be a special protected group under this regime. Back in Clinton's day, tax payers gave Tiller the same type of protection as the president himself, thanks to Janet Reno. Is this really who we are? Do we REALLY stand by abortion to this degree in this country? Tiller called these children he killed "babies." He knew this was infanticide. There is no confusion here. He didn't deserve special protection any more than anyone else. He chose his career just like high rise window cleaners chose theirs. It is a bad occupation which made him a target to another nutjob who was willing to kill."

Yes, that's right, this person actually says dismember's babies, and manages to drag the truely insane idea that pedophiles will be protected in some way by the "regime". This is the person tat is out there protesting abortions by showing pictures of dead babies. This person who says that Dr. Tiller was a horror of a man because he saved babies and mothers untold pain and suffering.
This is the face of anti-abortion people. Not pro-life because these people don't give a shit about life, they just don't want abortions to happen.
This is why my blood pressure skyrockets.

Ooo, did you see it last night?!?

Jon and Kate are getting a divorce!
God, it's like watching a train wreck.
No, not the divorce, who cares about that? The media coverage of it. Christ.

News of the World

So there is so much going on in the news that little things are getting lost. Such as...

- Today is Juneteenth, or Freedom Day. And it celebrates the end of slavery in the US. I had no idea until someone wrote it on the whiteboard here at work.

- On Monday Jon and Kate will make a "major announcement" on their show. This is news to me in the fact that they are local (they live a county over), and they are really bugging the crap out of me. I used to watch their show, the octuplets are the same age as the kiddo so I liked seeing another family going through what I was going through, times 8. Now I can't sit through a show. I read someone who said that they watch the show to make sure the kids come out alive in the end, and I think that sums it up.

- Glenn Beck is doing some kind of comedy thing. There is a fantastic review of it here.

- I have found a new blog, and I am in love. The Unrepentant Old Hippie. It's snarky goodness. And it is joining the blog roll.

I know I'm forgetting stuff, though, this has been a strange week.

Dear PETA

OK, here's the thing. It was a fucking fly. The president killed a fucking fly. Not a kitten, or a condor, or a bloody dodo. A fly.
Are you not aware of how many flies there are in the world? Of the disease that they spread. How how damn annoying they are?
Are you not aware that people think you are a joke for sending the president a "humane bug catcher"?
Are you just fucking with us these days?
I mean, I am a soft touch. I can't watch SPCA commercials without wanting to adopt all the animals. I save all manner of critters when I can. Flies? Not so much. I let the cats hunt them ruthlessly, and if my huntresses can't get it, I will. Same with ants. Generally if it spreads disease? It isn't staying in my house. Or alive.
Get over yourselves.
Love,
Me.

How about that

The top search that brings people here?
David Carradine's daughter

followed closely by
Did Odin have daughters

I love that David Carradine beat out Odin in searches for daughters.

Shut up Evita

I'm mystified that people are still upset over the Letterman thing. Can they move on? Jesus Evita, just your damn supporters up. You know, all 15 of them.
And now they want Letterman fired. Over a few tasteless jokes. But they are OK with the Gorilla/Michelle Obama joke.
Asshats.

Religion and Child Abuse

So, way back in 2006 a guy named Richard Dawkins equated religion to child abuse. The point of his article is that teaching a child about the finer points of a religion (the punishment points) equates mental abuse.
Yeah.
Two things here, I never even heard of Richard Dawkins until recently, and I didn't know he was some big atheist guy until even more recently. So when I first read it a while ago my thought was that he was kind of an ass and probably didn't have kids (my apologies about the ass part, honestly). The kids thing probably doesn't make much sense, but if you have kids you know that sometimes you say things and cringe because part of you wonders if you have just scared the kid for life.
See, from what I gather, he is arguing that the teaching of punishment of hell, if sincerely believed by a child, is equal to any other mental abuse of the child, and that even more subtle religious teachings are abusive. Now, that is a mighty fine line he is walking. I see what he is saying, but again, fine line. Because what he is saying is the religious version of what is creating all those spoiled animals you see running around.
Can religion be used as a form of mental abuse? Yes, of course. Anything can, especially to a child. You could probably use chipmunks as a form of abuse. Is all religion abusive? No. And I mean that all across the board, the same way he did. He says all religions are abusive, I say that they aren't. In the wrong hands yes, they can be. So can athiesm. Sorry Mr. Dawkins.
Dawkins reminds me of the people in the pagan movement I hate the most. The people who scream about how narrowminded and awful other religions are while being the exact same way. It's a bad habit to get into. And it leads to blanket statements like the one above.
I know that children believe all manner of things. My kiddo currently believes that the moon had an entire family of moons and that a giant space tornado came and scared them all away (don't ask me, I don't know). Obviously with some children religion will be dealt with differently than with others. The kiddo won't learn about religion of any kind for another few years, until she can process things. Some kids can handle it earlier, or almost crave it, and in that case, why not teach them? As long as it doesn't disturb them, it also probably won't hurt them. Dawkins is insinuating that religion of any kind is slavery, and again, that's an interesting thing to say. Some people need religion, some people want religion, and some people use it to reach enlightenment. Would you take that from us? I'm not saying there is a right religion, and I'm not saying everyone should be religious, but I am saying that the same way I get disturbed by people who tell me I need to worship Sky-Daddy, I am also disturbed by people who tell me I'm a slave to my belief. Sorry to disappoint, but Sky-Daddy isn't my speed, and I'm not a slave to my religion. My religion helps me process things, but it certainly doesn't hold my back from things. And if one day I grow out of it? So be it. But right now? I'm cool with it.
Frankly, I wish that everyone would stay out of my religion. It's personal. I get why everyone is fighting, I really do, because I fight that too, equality for all, etc. But Dawkins went somewhere personal on this one. I want to see what else he has written, so I can see if that ass thing is right or not, but I'm not looking forward to it if he's always this antagonistic.

PA Library funding in danger

For everyone in beautiful PA, the state budget is being unveiled and they are once again slashing library budgets. However this year the cuts they propose are so deep that they will elminiate all children's programs, they will cut outreach programs to schools, they will cut hours and staff and shut down branches. Your local library? There is a good chance it will close. Considering that membership in libraries has more than doubled since the economic downturn, and that enrollment in children's programs has shot up since children are no longer going to day care, it is safe to say that the state is going to be closing an inportant resourse.
Go to the PA library page, and write your represenative and Gov. Rendell and express your feelings about this measure. Or we may lose over 1/2 of the libraries in this state. It may not mean much in rural areas, but in the cities they will be closing one of the few safe places for kids to go.

Iran... Iran so far away...

Yeah, I know, but it keeps running through my head.
So, apparently now Iran has decided it should count the votes in their election? Good job guys! That was only the most blatantly fixed election ever. Maybe you could try to unfix it a bit, huh?\
Next time make it a bit more realistic.

Rediscovering

This weekend I rediscovered a few things...

I rediscovered that Splenda makes me ill. Serves me right for buying something for me without looking at the label.

I rediscovered that I cannot drink any water or tea that is apple flavored because it tastes vaguely off (my brother has the same problem, so at least I'm not alone in this one)

I rediscovered Christopher Eccleston, and why I have such a love affair with him as an actor.

I rediscovered in the same movie why Cate Blanchet bothers me some much as an actress (she hits the same note over and over. She's wonderfully expressive, but is always coming back to home base.)

I rediscovered that taking a kid strawberry picking is an adventure.

I rediscovered Japanese horror movies, and why they are made of win.

Hey Evita

Ms Palin, have you had a bit of a nip/tuck? Because I saw you this morning and honey, no one's eyebrows are that high up naturally.
Also, let the freaking Letterman thing go. Were his jokes in bad taste? Yes, of course. Was he talking about Willow? No. Don't be daft. No one thought he was but you. Everyone knew he meant Bristol. Now he'll pay for saying some tasteless things, but he's a comedian and they are paid to do that kind of thing. No one is keeping it in the news but you Miss Freaky Eyebrows.
Oh, and freaking good luck with that pipeline. I mean it, you're going to need it. I've read about the logistics of the thing, and it sounds like a nightmare.

Who is speaking for the Republican Party?

According to a new Gallop poll, 52% of Americans don't know.

52%? Are you kidding? Half of the country has no idea who is speaking for the GOP. They don't know if it's Newt, or Steele, or Evita, or freaking bigfoot.
Guys, pull it together. It's kind of weird to watch the GOP fall apart like this. As much as I bitch about them, we do need them.

One Million Words

CNN is talking to my inner language geek today.
They have reported that according to the Global Language Monitor site English hit it's millionth word today.
Which is pretty much an insane thing to say.

English is a melting pot language. It takes words from other languages and make them it's own. It makes up entirely new words, and drops old ones. There is a reason why English is still spoken, it evolves with our cultures. Realistically we probably hit one million words a long time ago. After all, how many words were part of English and just not used any more? And is this guy taking into consideration the fact that English has been around for centuries? Are you counting it from it's beginning? Or just modern English? And what are you saying modern English is? I know of some linguists who say modern English started being spoken in the 1800's.
You really can't count the number of words in a language like that, and he's only counting words on the Internet, which makes even less sense.
But it is cool that CNN had something up about linguistics. It's not news, but it is neat.

Evita Palin (stolen from Crooks and Liars, of course)

I have to say, I have been enjoying this whole little high school drama between Palin and the GOP Fundraising Dinner. And Palin stealing Newt's speech (seriously, word for word. The sheer balls of that act! Wow!)
Apparently the self-styled Evita is getting on the nerves of the GOP as much as she gets on the nerves of the rest of us. As it is becoming more and more apparent to the GOP leadership that Palin is serious about a run for the presidency in 2012, they are becoming more and more uncomfortable with the idea of this woman being the voice of their party. When Newt is the lesser of two evils, you know that other choice was pretty freaking bad.
The Hill has an interesting piece on just how much the GOP seems to be regretting bringing Palin into the spotlight. While part of the GOP base wants her to run it looks like they have written her off. She just doesn't have the money and her PAC has stalled.
I can't decide if I would like to see her run or not. Obviously, I would have a LOT more to talk about if she did. The woman is a trainwreck. And Obama would win handily if they ran her. He'd have to kill and eat a puppy on camera to lose. On the other hand, she does pander to the lowest scum in the GOP, and if we get them going again god only know what they will do next.

That human touch

No, not that human touch, the other one.

I like a certain brand of flavored water that shall remain nameless*. I have been having a really hard time finding my favorite flavor, and was getting worried it had been discontinued (as Coke keeps doing to my Vanilla Coke. Bastards). So I wrote to the company, bitching that I couldn't find it, was it still around.
Today I got a reply, for an honest-to-god human, and it was chock full of ideas or where to get my favorite water, and if necessary, who to contact to get cases shipped to me since sometimes availablity was spotty.
Needless to say I am tickled. The company went out of their way to provide me with options to get their product. They get to keep a customer and I get to get my favorite flavor of water. And they managed to make me feel imprtant enough to contact in person, not by form letter. Companies can not underestimate how much that helps, especially in an economy like this one where flavored water isn't a necessity, I can drop it at any time if money becomes tight enough. I know that this company cares about some chick out in rural PA, and that makes me want to stick with the company.
It's the little things that win customer loyalty.

*While the brand is nameless, the company is glaceau. I'm sure you can figure it out from there.

Monday randomness

Instead of Friday Randomness, sorry about that folks...

This weekend I got to watch two movies, "Mirrors" and "The Devil's Rejects". I'm a late comer to both, and both were pretty good in their own ways. I liked "The Devil's Rejects" better, I have a soft spot for Rob Zombie's movies.

My brother made it out to CA safe and sound. On the way he saw snow over the high plains. I can't even imagine, snow in June. It's weird when we get snow in April. But snow this late would be too much.

I kept hearing about the Swine Flu over the weekend. Apparently PA had their first death of it over the weekend. I thought it was over. How strange. I either haven't been paying attention or they stopped talking about it. The news has such a fleeting attention span.

I'm very excited about my newest book buys, a biography of Anne Boleyn and one of Henry the VIII. Yay! I loved being able to buy used books online, And while I was there I pre-ordered Lost's Season 5. Also Yay!!

Oh, aren't you cute when you're confused

So it seems that Michael Goldfarb (not a made up name) over at the Weekly Standard is confused...

Obama has said before that he speaks "barely passable Spanish" and "a smattering of Swahili," as well as some Bahasa from his youth in Indonesia. But Obama has at other times denied speaking a foreign language, saying in July of last year, "I don't speak a foreign language. It's embarrassing!" And even today, Michelle Obama is delivering the commencement address at Washington Math, Science, Technology Public Charter School, where Mark Knoller reports that she implored graduates to learn a language, and that both she and the president "regret they never learned another language."
It seems there is some legitimate confusion on just what languages Obama speaks, and as far as Arabic, the only real hint has came from Nick Kristof, who heard Obama recite the Muslim call to prayer in Arabic and with a "first-rate accent" back in 2007. With even the White House now smearing Obama as a Muslim, one wonders if the president hasn't been concealing some greater fluency with the language of the Koran."

Mr. Goldfarb (seriously, how great is that name? Farb. Hee!) seems to not understand that there is a difference between "a smattering" or "barely passable" and fluent in.
I know a smattering of a number of other languages, and am barely passable in Spanish, but I am in no way fluent in anything. So if you asked me I would say I don't speak another language. Because I don't I occassionally mangle them, but I don't speak them.
I do love that this guy has his panties in a bunch over the fact that President Obama knows a couple words in Arabic. He is so paranoid that he is seeing a conspiracy where there is none. Hell, less than none.
Jesus these people need to adjust their meds or something.

David Carradine

David Carradine was found dead today.
Quite frankly I had always placed him in the same catagory as Christopher Lee, a man who would never die because death would not come near him. Let's face it, Lee would kick Death's ass. I'm not sure about Carradine, I guess he got stuck there because he was freaking everywhere. Seriously, he was really everywhere for a while, wasn't he?
Anyway, god speed David.

Randomness!

Yay! Time for Randomness!

I watched Discovery's Men vs. Wild last night, which was Bear taking Will Farrell out into the wilds of Sweden. I love both those guys, and enjoyed the show quite a bit. I really loved that Bear couldn't tell when Will was joking, he took everything seriously, which was awesome! And totally something I would do! Heh.

My brother left this morning on his Great Walk (it gained proper noun status about a week ago). He'll be hiking the Pacific Coast Trail. What's funny is that California is so broke that they are closing parks, such as those along the trail. My brother is thrilled, because that means he doesn't need back woods passes to hike the trail (so the rangers know you are in the park).

The new Twilight movie hasn't even been released yet and I am tired of hearing about it. I'm thrilled that people are reading, I really really am, but couldn't they read something...better? Teenage girls? Allow me to introduce you to Artemis Fowl (also applies to teenage boys). Or Percy Jackson, both of which are series that feature extremely strong and compassionate female main characters who same the day. Wonderful role models. Or the Series of Unfortunate Events, which is chock full of strong women. Seriously, the women in Twilight are sociopathic. Christ, don't emulate them.

That is all for randomness.

At the Tiller Service

Thank you to Jesus' General.
Gosh, these people are awesome!

More thoughts on Dr. Tiller

I heard yesterday a very interesting thing regarding abortion doctor murders.
I didn't really notice that during the Bush years there were no killings. I mean, I knew that it had been a while, but I didn't put two and two together. Apparently the reason for the sudden drop off is that Pro-life advocates had been assured that Bush was going to over-turn Roe vs. Wade at any second.
You'd think after the first 4 years they might have realized that he wouldn't, but whatever. They felt that he would, and since they had this promise they refrained from the violence against doctors and clinics that had marked the Clinton years.
Now, less that 6 months after Obama took office there is a murder. Of course there is. Obama won't overturn Roe vs. Wade, and unlike Bush, he won't lie and say he will.
Of course this is only one of the factors that lead to this doctor's murder. There are others, such as the hate spewed from the mouths of right-wing pundits.
But it is something to think about.

Dr. Tiller

When I heard that Dr. Tiller, one of the few late-term abortionist left in the country, had been murdered, my first (extremely nasty) thought was, "There will be some good reading from the Wingnuts tomorrow."
And sadly I was right.
Like everyone else, I'm not a fan of late term abortions. But if you're having one that means something has gone very very wrong with your pregnancy.
I had hoped that we were past this point, where these nut cases think they can go ahead and kill doctors. Apparently we have regressed.