April, 2012 archive
Gas Masquerades 0
Mike Papantonio takes on the myth that the President–any President–can significantly influence the price of gas at the pump:
State Rape, Now Playing in Pennsylvania 2
Republicans continue to fantasize about vicariously sticking things up women:
This legislation, deceptively titled the “Women’s Right to Know Act” and drafted under the pretext of providing informed consent, was cosponsored by seven male Republican state representatives who serve Chester County.
HB 1077 mandates a medically unnecessary procedure, including the use of an invasive transvaginal probe. In addition, it mandates a 24-hour waiting period between the ultrasound and the procedure. In addition to being burdensome, the legislation’s punitive intent is evident in the criminal penalties it imposes for failure to properly follow all the steps in this complicated legislation.
It’s the pervy party.
Stray Thought, That Horse Is Dead, for Pete’s Sake, Dept. 0
If I hear or see one more reference to that boat that sank a century ago, I shall scream.
Think Spring 0
H/T to my brother for the pic.
A Modest Proposal 0
This should work out nicely.
From Bloomberg:
A segment of the population with a well-established reputation for trustworthi–oh, never mind.
Meta: Header Pic 3
When I redesigned this site early last year, I changed the header picture, not because I wanted to, but because I couldn’t find the original and the copy on the server did not fit the space allocated to it by my new theme.
Later, I found out how to change the size of the header image in the theme’s functions.php file, but by then I had lost the original image.
Thanks to my brother, who recently visited the farm, I now have restored a reasonable facsimile of the orginal picture.
My Daddy loved his dogwood trees–you can see them in bloom throughout the yard.
Embryonic Journey 0
I do not know where justice lies in this case, or even if justice has anything to do with it.
I do know that no good can come from this.
The Superior Court decision upheld a lower court, but ran counter to the small body of national case law on embryo custody. In six other states where high courts have grappled with disputes over frozen embryos, they concluded that parenthood should not be forced on an unwilling person.
He’s Still Counting 0
Headline:
Aside:
I know. There are many legit reasons to file for an extension and he’s already paid the (relative) pittance he expects to owe, but, really truly, one just can’t resist wisecrack bait like this.
No Childhood Left Behind 0
At Psychology Today, J. Richard Gentry considers the pros and cons of inflicting standardized tests on little kids:
No time for that now. The line has been drawn in the sand. Today in America, at least in a growing number of states, April in third grade is about fear of flunking a test. Today, third graders are test prepping, and they’ve been doing so since the first weeks of school. The teacher’s and principal’s job is on that same line that was drawn in the sand. Parents have been coached about getting kids test-ready at home. The nation is watching.
Fail the test and you get held back, disgrace yourself, and shame your parents. You may even cost your teacher and principal their job.
Click to read the rest.
I have come to believe that the ratio of overpriced tests (and administrators) to underpaid teachers is skewed in the wrong direction.
Tests do not teach; the claims that they can measure anything are based more on faith (and testing companies’ bottom lines) than research (*.pdf).
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness at the playground:
(snip)
Two men were playing basketball nearby and started arguing when one grabbed a gun and opened fire, police said, hitting the child in the thigh but missing the apparent target.
Pink Alert 0
A couple of years ago, I was handing out literature for a city council candidate at a local trade show. One of the booths belonged to an organization dedicated to breast cancer research.
I chatted for a bit with the woman staffing it; I recall remarking that “when we are were young, you couldn’t even say ‘breast’ in polite conversation” unless you were talking about fried chicken, to which she agreed, we both being of an age. Heck, back in the olden days, when I was a young ‘un, “bosom” was borderline permissible and “ba-ZOOMS” was the height of risque humor, unless you were discussing a sewing pattern, yet the measurements of the new Miss America were published in the newspaper every year. I won’t mention the Sears catalog . . . .
I thought that silliness to be waning.
Then, again . . .
The (Easton) Express-Times says the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel in Philadelphia heard opening statements Tuesday in the case, in which two Easton Area Middle School students say their freedom of speech rights were violated when they were suspended for wearing the bracelets in October 2010.
The district is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that the district cannot ban the rubber jewelry because it is not lewd, vulgar or distracting to the school day.
(snip)
“Everybody understands this is about breast cancer,” argued ACLU attorney Mary Catherine Roper. “There is nothing sexual about breast cancer.”
But district solicitor John Freund called the bracelets “cause-based marketing energized by sexual double-entendres.” A ruling in favor of them, he argued, could open the floodgates to similar marketing campaigns for testicular cancer and prostate cancer containing a vulgar reference to the male anatomy.
Although I do tend to share the disdain for “cause-based marketing,” in which marketing outshines the cause, as for the rest, well, pretending something ain’t there don’t make it go away, but it does display your creepy hang-ups to the rest of the world.
