oh shit

This is one of those days I'm prompted to make sure my passport is up to date.

Bush nominates Alito to Supreme Court

Meirs "God tells me to hate baby-killers" isn't nearly as frightening as the "Satan tells me to regulate every hormonal activity of a woman's reproductive system with my court decisions" of Alito. "

mark e. smith interview

Mark E. Smith, on BBC television.

In the words of Harriet Miers, OMG OMG OMG!

the four elements

By request, here is a jpeg of a crazy print (woodcut, perhaps?), I'm guessing 16th or 17th century, of the four elements. The illustration is careful to point out that every element has nipples and a navel.

target responds

In response to my form email submitted via Planned Parenthood yesterday in protestation of Target allowing a pharmacist to refuse to fill a prescription for emergency contraception, Target has sent me its own form email:

Dear Target Guest,

Target places a high priority on our role as a community pharmacy and our obligation to meet the needs of the patients we serve. We expect all our team members, including our pharmacists, to provide respectful service to our guests, particularly when it comes to their health care needs.

Like many other retailers, Target has a policy that ensures a guest’s prescription for emergency contraception is filled, whether at Target or at a different pharmacy, in a timely and respectful manner. This policy meets the health care needs of our guests while respecting the diversity of our team members.

Your thoughts help us learn more about what our guests expect, so I’ll be sure to share your feedback with our pharmacy executives.

Thanks for taking the time to share your questions, thoughts and comments. I hope we’ll see you again soon at Target.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Hanson
Target Executive Offices

Ok, so, it sure sounds like they're saying "No, you've got us all wrong, we'll fill anyone's prescription for EC!" But what they actually say is their policy "ensures a guest’s prescription for emergency contraception is filled, whether at Target or at a different pharmacy." i.e., if our moralizing christian pharmacists decide to preach from the medicine dispenser, you can feel free to go to the Walgreens across the street. Damn you public relations professional and your sneaky speech!

right...

To all of you who claim that Harriet Miers wouldn't vote to overturn Roe v. Wade:

"If Congress passes a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution that would prohibit abortion except when it was necessary to prevent the death of the mother, would you actively support its ratification by the Texas Legislature," asked an April 1989 questionnaire sent out by the Texans United for Life group.

Miers checked "yes" to that question, and all of the group's questions, including whether she would oppose the use of public moneys for abortions and whether she would use her influence to keep "pro-abortion" people off city health boards and commissions.


Awesome.

In other depressing anti-reproductive rights news, Target pharmacists can, and do, refuse to fill prescriptions for the morning-after pill (thanks to dickumbrage for informing me about this from Planned Parenthood, though oddly I can't find anything about it on their website). "What, you were raped last night? My god would damn me for eternity for filling your prescription for this effective post-intercourse contraceptive that has been widely approved of by the medical community. But we do have some stylish and amazingly inexpensive baby clothes just past aisle 4..."

I am officially off Target. This is going to be very difficult.

way better than bear vs. shark

Snake eats alligator, then explodes.

There are so many lessons to be learned from this, I think it should be made into a children's book. Or a political cartoon.

i'm that parent who can't stop talking about how freaking cute her kid is

I'm also that kind of person that refers to their pet as their "kid" and to herself as the pet's "parent."

To prove my point, and because in this world of vast suckage I have nothing clever to contribute to the wailing and gnashing of teeth, here are some more photos of my little kitty, Bonnie.

On a bed:


On a rug:


On a bed again:


At a window:

national paranoia-inducing radio

I'm back on the NPR wagon, harkening back to the days when the only thing that kept me from dunking my head into the acid stop bath in my darkroom job was 8 straight hours of public radio. I work at a job I actually kind of like now, but for some reason the last week has seen a shift in hours spent listening to music to hours spent listening to NPR.

The result is that my sense of how much life in the US of Ass sucks has been suddenly made much more keen. I am fucking terrified. Future Supreme Court Robot Meir is going get Roe v. Wade overturned, whiny right-wing college kids are getting Congress to pass a law that will allow Harriet Meir robot clones to pubicly flog any university faculty member that dares to crack a Cheney joke, and the Catholic Church is doing its part to undo years of psychology proving homosexuality and pedophilia aren't connected.

And, as a couple of friends reminded me over drinks last night, avain flu is going to kill us all.

At least I can die with the knowledge that my fuel-efficient car ran circles around the big ass chunks of cash SUV-owners have had to pay to get from their suburban McMansion to work at semi-urban sprawl office park. Plus, my car is baby blue. When was the last time you saw a baby blue Expedition?