The opposite side of the country calls


Oh hey, I forgot to mention I’m leaving. taking airplanes, busy, so things will be quiet for a few days. I’m off to Women in Secularism 3.

Now’s the time for you to talk about anything you’ve been wanting to get off your chest; nothing is off topic. And your time starts

NOW

Comments

  1. Silentbob says

    I heard a very cool song today by an ex-Catholic singer songwriter who fell in love with science. Love the lyrics, especially the “no going back” part:



    (3:25)

    If you liked that one, here’s a bonus science-themed one from the same guy:



    (4:12)

  2. brucecoppola says

    Let’s all go to Ophelia’s and party house sit while she’s gone. Just leave the key under the mat.

  3. Al Dente says

    We should do fish puns. But let’s not do them just for the halibut. Our puns should have a porpoise. So don’t throw out any crappy old clam that comes down the pike. Let your puns have mussel and sole!

  4. Dee says

    I’ve been wanting to ask for a while now about a term you and the feminist circle in general use a lot “clutching at pearls/pearl clutching”. It enjoys a wider use of course, but that’s where my husband picked it up from. I hadn’t actually heard it before, and he was surprised by my negative reaction to it. He agreed not to use it around me, but pointed out that you and the others he’d seen use it usually inspect your language very carefully. To me the phrase seems unpleasantly gendered, but I seem to be the minority in thinking that. My thoughts are that women are the ones who wear those necklaces, and the image it conjures is of a lady in fine clothes having hysterics over something silly. I was just hoping to get other opinions on why the term is found acceptable in spaces such as this.

  5. says

    Dee – why do you say I use it? I don’t think I do. I don’t like it either.

    Then again I can’t swear I’ve never used it. I may have, rarely, as a quick way of expressing the idea…But I agree with you, and I’m pretty sure it’s not used often here.

  6. Dee says

    O_o Apologies. He cited you, and suggested I ask you about it. Well if you forgive the association, at least this means I have support.

  7. says

    Quite all right. Feel free to tell him I agree with you!

    I did a search and it is pretty rare – most uses of pearl or pearls are about pearls of wisdom or the appalling Michael Pearl. The first reference to pearl-clutching is months back.

  8. Blanche Quizno says

    I’ve got one: http://www.christianpost.com/news/missouri-lawmakers-pass-3-day-waiting-period-on-abortion-unknown-if-gov-will-sign-into-law-119856/

    You know what this means. A THREE DAY WAITING PERIOD means that, when a woman arrives at an abortion clinic to sign up for an abortion (or whatever the term is for starting the process of terminating a pregnancy), she will have to wait – not a few hours, not 24 hours, but THREE FULL DAYS – before she can get the abortion she needs.

    Now that so many abortion clinics have been shut down, most women have to travel to get to the clinics in the first place. The waiting period means that these women also have to pay for hotel rooms – or the cost of traveling back and forth. This puts abortion services completely out of reach for poor women.

    In Mississippi, last I heard, there was only a single clinic providing abortion services left in the entire state, and it was in the northeast corner. Don’t quote me on that – I’m going off memory, but this is adequate for illustration. Imagine – a poor woman who lives in southwestern Mississippi discovers she’s pregnant. She’s already living hand to mouth. Somehow, she’s got to scrap together enough money to travel all the way across the state just to get to that sole remaining abortion clinic. Now add to her burden onerous waiting periods – THIS is why so many late-term abortions happen, people! It takes that long for the woman to get the money together just to get there!

    Appalling.

  9. Decker says

    @10. Yes, the case of that women is unbelievable. She’s 8 months pregnant and will be killed for ‘apostasy’ right after she gives birth. It’s impossible to wrap one’s head around such despicable barbarism

  10. Omar Puhleez says

    Decker @#12:

    Yes. Those Islamic bastards live in a different universe. Fortunately, the case is in the mainstream media here in the West. In my experience, the less coverage and attention they get,the better they like it. May give them pause.

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