Hey, lookit — I got to talk Dodgers with Sars for an hour and she put it up on her site! (Yes, I knew she was going to. And happily, I look less of an idiot than I feared.) Enjoy the read.
Basically, I believe in peace, and bashing two bricks together.
Hey, lookit — I got to talk Dodgers with Sars for an hour and she put it up on her site! (Yes, I knew she was going to. And happily, I look less of an idiot than I feared.) Enjoy the read.
The bill contains provisions to prohibit tax deductions for abortion insurance coverage and abortion services; to provide for a sales tax on abortion; to establish a personhood stance for when life begins; to limit late-term abortions; to prohibit state employees from performing abortions during the workday; and to mandate that doctors tell women that abortion cause breast cancer along with other state-approved health issues.
The bill also allows doctors to withhold medical information from a woman if it might lead her to have an abortion. It prevents medical professionals from facing a medical malpractice suit in the event that withholding the information adversely affects the health of the mother or child. A wrongful death suit could be filed in the event of the mother’s death. (via Huff Post)
What the ACTUAL fuck?
Think about this for a second: the state of Kansas — a legislature that is not made up of medical professionals — just passed a law — a law! — forcing medical professionals to lie to their patients, even if that lie will lead to serious injury or death.
Doctors help people. Doctors go to school for years to learn how to best care for their patients. Doctors swear an oath to do just that… and these politicians have decided to pass a law forcing doctors to do exactly the opposite.
This is criminal. Every single one of those lawmakers should be immediately removed from office, and when the first woman or child dies because of this law, they should all be tried for murder.
What. The. Fuck. Is. Wrong. With. These. People.
Calling all Tumblr-wise Tropers! The article is mostly based on the first two series, because I haven’t seen the third one (I’m American, cut me some slack) and because so strong is my distaste for Seann Walsh that I can’t make myself watch any more of the fourth series than I already have. Please do add!
That was exhausting. Reminds me of when I was more active on Wikipedia and spent a lot of time expanding articles. I need a nap.
Numerous candidates have developed a pattern of embracing various antiscience positions from the denial of climate change to the assertion that stem cell research is “killing children,” in order to create controversy and reinvigorate sagging poll numbers. This is presumably based on the candidates’ belief that evangelical voters are antiscience.
This sort of brinksmanship with reason is not only dangerous for science - it is dangerous for democracy itself. The United States was founded on the principle that each individual could rationally ascertain the truth of things for him or herself, and therefore a government of, by and for the people would be more just and more effective than a government by the authoritarian edicts of a King or Pope. That means a government whose decisions are based on the best available evidence.
(Source: azspot, via jtotheizzoe)
This is not about freedom of religion. If it were, we would, for example, allow Christian Scientists to refuse to pay for coverage of life-saving blood transfusions for employees. Religious freedom means I get to chose whether or not to be religious and if so, how. It does not mean that I get to impose my religion on others. Paying for insurance is part of the way we compensate employees, even when they use their insurance in ways we don’t agree with and are in contravention of our own personal beliefs. I think that it is stupid, dangerous and immoral to chain smoke, especially around children whose lungs it irreparably harms. But, I still have to pay for an employee to have access to lung scans, nicotine patches and oxygen tanks. I do not get to say that my religious beliefs, which include keeping bodies as healthy as possible, make it possible for me to withhold payment of this employee’s insurance. Guaranteed coverage of contraception and reproductive health care has overwhelming benefits for society, including reducing unwanted pregnancies and abortions. By inserting your religious beliefs so egregiously into government legislation and my life, you are imposing your religious beliefs on me. You don’t like mandated insurance coverage for basic reproductive health humans with two X chromosomes? I don’t like being bred by state compulsion like Mr. England’s farm animals. I have a MORAL OBJECTION to being treated like an animal and not a human. You do not have to use contraception, you do not have to use birth control. But, that does not mean you have any right to tell me that I cannot if I chose. That is my right.
Am I downloading it right now and installing it on its own shiny new partition on my giant hard drive? Yes. Yes, I am.
Inordinately excited.
is driving me insane. In.sane.
This battle got exactly one paragraph. One uninteresting paragraph with no details. I realize this is a battle that took place four hundred years ago, but you could stretch it a little, at least give it some drama. It’s naval warfare, which is a little hard to make boring. And yet, here we are.
Crowley is not good at storytelling. I have gathered that much from reading this book. He should have written a textbook instead. It would be a good textbook. It is not, however, particularly enjoyable in this format.
The book needed better editing, too, because these pargaraphs that last a whole page are just not on. It makes the story, such as it is, harder to follow.
Speaking of which: Cortés. Cortés. Cortés. Diacriticals are not mere decoration. If you are writing about the conquistador of Mexico, which you are, it’s “Cortés.” “Cortes” is completely different. It isn’t even pronounced the same way. “Cortés.” Thank you.
The book is interesting, it’s not bad or anything, I’ll finish it, but hire a decent editor and make it slightly dramatic (in tone, not in veracity). It is, after all, ostensibly a book for actual reading, and I realize it’s non-fiction, but it can still tell a good story.
I know they do this periodically, but that doesn’t make me less annoyed.
The First Amendment? What’s that?
“I think we know by now that this Congress likes God. Can we move on?” said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
I am depressed that there has to be a thing called Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Rather than focusing on high unemployment, Republicans were pushing a “measure that has no force of law, only reaffirms existing law, and further injects the hand of government into the private religious lives of the American people,” the Democrats wrote.
Hey, guys, the thing passed 396-9. I don’t think there are 396 Republicans in the House. Although sometimes it feels that way. Anyway: stop pointing fingers, you’re all assholes.
“As our nation faces challenging times, it is appropriate for members of Congress and our nation - like our predecessors - to firmly declare our trust in God, believing that it will sustain us for generations to come,” he said.
Fuck. That. Noise.
History and facts are not relevant to Congress, but let me offer you one anyway. Declaring law based on present prevalence or majority never ends well. First of all, in this case, it’s nearly a violation of the Constitution (it’s not a strict violation but it’s not respecting the right to freedom of religion, either) and is obnoxious and disrespectful and awful. Second, back in the 19th century, Southern legislators championed the consolidation of power in the central government. Know why? Because they were the ones in power, and assumed they always would be. That’s as good a reason as any for doing anything, right?
Expatriatism looks more and more awesome every minute.
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150264753659897
That is a giant-ass list of books that I am getting rid of. FOR FREE! Tell a friend!
