One More on Bathrooms...

Just thought this anecdote might be pertinent given the whole trans-bathroom discussion.

Part One and Part Two.

Oh Jebus

Look, I'm against the death penalty, even in the case of horrible tinpot dictators like Saddam Hussein.

I'm really not going to weep over his grave or anything. Honestly, part of me is glad he's dead.

But did they have to kill him on Eid? It's like, how could they have maximized offense to those who would have been offended? I know, kill him on a holiday that traditionally executions are suspended on!

Tch.

Major Blogroll Overhaul

If you're suddenly noticing you're no longer on my blogroll, please read here.

Please let me know if situations have changed and I need to update my information.

Also, feel free to suggest any blogs I should be reading.

Happy Holidays

merry xmas
Originally uploaded by plucky punk.

Celebrate your whatever with good cheer.

I'll be out of town for the next few days visiting in-laws.

Expect blogroll updating when I return.

It's not a miracle, it's many years of Veterinary School

While idly browsing Yahoo News I came across this fluffy article about Barbaro the racehorse that suffered the shocking injury in the middle of the race. The horse is doing much better, which is lovely, to be sure.

But what caught my eye was this comment by Barbaro's surgeon.

Dean Richardson of the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center also is positive about the colt's recovery. The chief surgeon just doesn't see it as anything more than good medicine.

"It's not a miracle. It's anything but that," he said, sitting next to a Christmas tree topped with a stuffed Barbaro.

"Some of the Barbaro fans aren't going to like that, perhaps. I'm a scientist, I'm a doctor. I'm not a faith healer or a religious person. I believe in the application in science and I think nothing that's happened to him is particularly miraculous."

To which I say amen.

Ironically, of course.

Meme!

I wasn't technically tagged for this meme, but I'm doing it anyway.

So, the thing to do is list 5 little-known things about yourself, one of which is a total lie. See if you can guess which is the fake one.

1. I’m related to former corrupt, mob-tied mayor of Philadelphia Frank Rizzo.

2. I’m also related to Generoso Campos Marquetti, who was the first Black elected official in Cuba, and also was involved in the Cuban Race War of 1912

3. My vision is so bad I’m legally blind.

4. As an atheist, I hate Christmas.

5. Despite having brown-eyed parents, my daughter has blue eyes, which is totally weird. Genetics!

I need to enjoy blogs again.

And while I read that this type of comment is tolerated at the place of one of the matriarchs of the feminist blogosphere, I just can't.

In short, trans are nutjobs. The bathroom is about the last place I want to be alone with a male nutjob. These unfortunate, but seriously disturbed individuals belong on the 5th floor in a straight jacket. Not in a women’s bathroom.

And that's not even the worst of it. Antiprincess links to the thread here if you really feel like you're up to being exposed to some serious ignorant vitriol.

And yes, I realize that these were comments left on a post, not content written by the owner of this particular blog herself. However, that's the same excuse what's-his-name from Little Green Footballs uses. It's a bullshit excuse.

I've decided I can't live in a blogtopia (y!sctp!) where the feminist version of Little Green Footballs exists with little to no objection.

So, after a few days I will be removing from my blogroll anyone who links to I Blame the Patriarchy in their blogroll.

I don't think this will do anything other than make me feel better about my daily reading material.

Which is good enough for me.

Note to Dawn Eden:

Not all single women are characters from Sex in the City.

Seriously, what a piece of work this woman is.

YouTubing

Because the idea of the baiji going extinct really depresses me, here's something completely fun and meaningless and lighthearted.



Enjoy.

Dear Humans,

You suck.

For 20 million years, the white-fin dolphin, or baiji, swam China's longest river, the Yangtze. But a few years of breakneck development, overfishing and a massive increase in shipping have reduced sightings of this shy, graceful creature to zero.

A recent expedition failed to spot a single Lipotes vexillifer, and now conservationists fear the almost-blind, long-beaked animal is gone for good, the first big aquatic mammal to become extinct due to human activity.

You can read about the baiji in Douglas Adam's excellent book Last Chance to See.

Take a look, as this is all anyone will ever get to see of a baiji again.

Oh no....

Please do not let my husband click on this link. Nothing will be safe!

Via Majikthise.

Hee.

Smiling!
Originally uploaded by plucky punk.

This is just some random baby blogging.

You know, just showing off the superiority of my genome.

Look! She smiles! She doesn't always have that snarky, annoyed-at-the-dang-camera look on her face!

And look! She has teeth! They're really teeny and white, and she loves it when I brush them, the little weirdo.

Now, feel lucky you're not my boobs.

Additional Housekeeping

Welcome Cap'n Dyke, the Lesbian Pirate Queen.

Because, well, hubba hubba. Seriously.

Cripes.

California and Florida step out of the dark ages.

SAN FRANCISCO - Faced with grim testimony of poorly trained executioners operating in cramped, dimly lit quarters, a federal judge declared California's execution procedure unconstitutional.

The state's "implementation of lethal injection is broken, but it can be fixed," U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel ruled Friday in San Jose, extending a moratorium on executions in the nation's most populous state.

The decision is the latest in a nationwide challenge to lethal injection — the preferred execution method in 37 states — and came as Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush suspended all executions there after a bungled execution this week. Missouri's injection method, which is similar to California's, was declared unconstitutional last month by a federal judge.

And this description of a "botched execution,"

Medical examiner Dr. William Hamilton said Diaz's execution took 34 minutes — twice as long as usual — and required a rare second dose of lethal chemicals because the needles were inserted clear through his veins and into the flesh in his arms. The chemicals are supposed to go into the veins.

...Missing a vein when administering the injections would cause "both psychological and physical discomfort — probably pretty severe," said Dr. J. Kent Garman, an emeritus professor of anesthesia at the Stanford School of Medicine in California.

An inmate would remain conscious for a longer period of time and would likely be aware of increased difficulty breathing and pain caused by angina, the interruption of blood flow to the heart, Garman said.

Gah. Pretty freaking creepy, if you ask me.

Let's hope this suspension is permanent.

(I'm unabashedly anti-death penalty, in case you didn't notice.)

Housekeeping

Jack Goff is now at http://iamjacksnonblog.blogspot.com/.

And someone has been removed from my blogroll as I am finally annoyed enough not to read even their pretty good posts.

See if you can guess who it was!

Those FUCKERS!

Ugh! So I figured I'd upgrade to the new Blogger, no harm done.

Now I can't figure out how to get rid of their stupid "Blogger Navbar" hideous thing.

BAH!

**UPDATE** Although, I have to say, the posting is now very very fast. Kudos on that, at least.

Phew

Finals over. Finally! Woot woot!

Something to keep you all entertained...

...While I freak out about my finals.

Brian introduced me to Jonathan Coulton awhile ago, but PZ resparked my interest.

Check these out:



Code Monkey, with interpretive dance!



All we want to do is eat your World of Warcraft!



And the man himself with a lovely, sensitive version of...well, just click on it.

More of his songs here. Someone give him lots of money.

And someone pray to the gods of Environmental Science Finals. Now there's a god I'll believe in!

Hee.

Hee.
Originally uploaded by plucky punk.

The reason I've not gotten any work done is because this is sitting in my lap all day.

Squee.

Well, that and the fact that the professors are really piling it on as the semester winds down. Seriously, what kind of a jerk has a major test the week before the final? I mean, Come On (Rob Courddry voice...).

Just let me finish out the semester, then I'll be a good blogger again. There's been a few posts in the past few days, ones about both atheism and feminism, that I've wanted to respond to.

But I have to finish my biology take-home test thing first. That, and play with the baby more.