I Am Grateful

to have shared the same planet as Peter Sellers, albeit not long enough.

Talking Points Memo

Has been my basic news source for four years because I'm a political junkie. Here's an hour's worth of Josh Marshall, its founder and publisher and a man I have greatly admired (and sometimes done minor battle with via email, he answers personally) for his journalism.
Unfortunately, the interview is Brian Lamb of C-SPAN, who is a good interviewer only because he injects so little of himself into the work. On the other hand, he's a snooze and seems like kind of a dolt. Does he ever smile? I wouldn't call it a smile, some descriptive phrase containing the word rictus comes to mind.

Flow Charts

MeFi's got a bunch of good ones today. This one from San Francisco Weekly made me laugh out loud until it hurt, always a good sign.

Honorary Contrarienne Plus Bonus

Temple Grandin and all the rest of Errol Morris's little filmed interviews as well at this link.

Catholic Bishops, Republicans And My Womb

So, yeah, the car dealer shouldn't have to offer insurance that covers contraception either.
From the bishops' chief lobbyist:

That means removing the provision from the health care law altogether, he said, not simply changing it for Catholic employers and their insurers. He cited the problem that would create for "good Catholic business people who can't in good conscience cooperate with this."

"If I quit this job and opened a Taco Bell, I'd be covered by the mandate," Picarello said.

Just As I Suspected All Along

Who am I?
We don't often perceive how we've changed, or think about it much when we do. And it's hard to remember what we used to be like, how we thought, what we thought. And even what we do remember, we know from experience, is inaccurate from an objective point of view. In fact, it's inaccurate from the moment it's recorded. God! Living is chaos. Consciousness is precarious. Best forget about it.
But wait.

There is indeed a self, says Damasio, “but it is a process, not a thing, and the process is present at all times when we are presumed to be conscious.”

Just the other day, I found someone who argued that consciousness wasn't much good for anything from an evolutionary standpoint and that there's no reason to believe that something like human intelligence is evolutionary progress rather than just a dead-end side road. (Although I must say his reasoning that dung beetles or whatever would have consciousness if it was such a good thing didn't really resonate. Maybe the dung beetle is just waiting to see how it turns out for us.)
Anyway, now this:

the reason why conscious minds prevailed in evolution was the fact that consciousness optimized life regulation.” 

Condemned To Everlasting Redemption

I don't know why this popped into my head, my love for Micheal Keaton in this role. Maybe the next post on consciousness will explain it.

I Didn't Know That Dept.

The California Attorney General is a beautiful black (African American, Indian/Asian American) woman. Kamala Harris. Whodda thunk I'd see all this change in my lifetime?
(Yes, I would not have noted if it was a really, really hot guy like, say Gavin Newsome, even if he had been not white. Beautiful men are allowed to be successful at something other than entertainment, beautiful women, not so much.)

Komen ad infinitum

What's wrong with letting the market rule the health care industry? Why, nothing, how could you even question such a thing?

"Let's be honest about all this: people think of breast cancer as a charity, but it's really a major business."

Catholics And Contraception

I've seen a lot of seemingly heartfelt, rationally argued comments lately about the current controversy over whether Church-owned institutions should offer insurance that pays for employee contraception.
The bishops argue these people (I'm thinking about the CNAs, janitors, cafeteria workers) can just pay out of pocket (up to $50 a month) for pregnancy protection.
The commenters argue it's an offense against their faith, although it's shaky whether a Catholic car dealer would have the same challenge to his faith, and his situation is not at issue. He has to provide such insurance.
But just in case there's any doubt about what Catholic women think, this little piece of data might shed some light.

Sixty-eight percent of Catholic
women use highly effective methods: sterilization
(32%, including 24% using female sterilization,) the
pill or another hormonal method (31%) and the IUD
(5%). 

Yeah, that's right, 68 percent.

Here's To You, Justice Kennedy

It's got a certain ring to it.
Analysis of California gay-marriage ruling says it was deliberately narrow.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Handel resigns from Komen and California's anti-gay marriage law is ruled unconstitutional.
Two big wins in one day for our side. Who'da thunk it?

Breast Cancer Speaks

It's The Economy, Roundeyes. Hee-hee.

And China is the new al Qaida (sp? I'll look it up tomorrow, Mom.)

RIP Susan G. Komen

Huffpo has a good story up today, pursuing while MM (mainstream media) walked away.
Sufficient evidence, rather than speculation, that the radically right-wing new VP was behind it all.

My take?

The trouble with this story is that Komen still lied, denying Handel's influence. Hell yes she should resign, and they should have asked her to and the announcement should have come with the reversal. Fall on your sword, Karen, you're the one who unsheathed it.
In my opinion, Komen doesn't come off any better in crisis management mode than it did while in baldfaced denial of fact. How many donor dollars went for the revised script, I wonder.
So the "sophisticated" Planned Parenthood just did what even old back woods I would have done, shouted it to the rooftops, sending out an action call not only to the usual suspects, but every intelligent person on the planet. Social Media 101 is like basic newspaper reporting, call everybody you can think of. If that's sophisticated, I guess I should start drinking cucumber martinis. No, maybe not. I know, balsamic donuts!
(With basil, "savory" donuts. I think I just thought of the next new thing. Move over cupcakes, your time is so-o-o 2010.)

Vegetarian Nightmare

Shit, the science always gets ya in the end, doesn't it?
I haven't read this in depth, only skimmed, but my takeaway (the U.S. isn't Australia) is look for grass fed beef.

Thank You, Internet

If it weren't for you, I would never have known about this old woman, whose name I cannot pronounce or spell, or her wonderful poetry.

Help Wanted: Writer

Mean and deadly accurate, takes no prisoners, respects no creed, razor wit.
Where do I apply? Oh, wait, the job is taken?

Housing Prices: Seattle

Seattle had the third steepest housing price decline in the last year, 6.3 percent. Not even close to poor ol' Atlanta though. Or Las Vegas.

The S***h Files

Now that I know I'm not going to be doing this on Pinterest (images only, what!), and because I can.