Goodbye Caine. And Fuck Cancer.

One of our best bloggers and commenters, Caine, has left this life.

This caught me completely and totally by surprise, because I, for some reason, thought she was winning her battle with cancer.

Anyone remember her rats? She’s the one who made me realize just how adorable rats and mice can actually be.

She was a tough commenter and blogger. She was tough in the backchannel, as well. But it was never in a way that wasn’t deserved. And she was so sweet, and so kind, and so friendly to those who deserved it…

I know you can’t read this, Caine, but I’m going to miss you. I’m going to miss your wit, your rats, your friendliness, your words… rest in power, Caine.

And my condolences to Rick and everyone affected by her passing.

I wish I had something with which to raise a toast to her.

And fuck cancer.

Banning Plastic Straws is Ableist

Since I just wrote a series on ableism, I guess that makes me an expert now, even though I’m not disabled… right?

Obviously not. That’d be absurd. The experts are all the people who’s articles I linked to and quoted from. And I wish to do that again, because there’s a new movement going around that has some very ableist consequences that a lot of people just straight up aren’t considering or don’t seem to care about. That movement is the one to ban plastic straws.

First let’s start off with the fact that I’m an environmentalist. I’m not perfect… I’m still an omnivore, and I drive a 2008 Scion rather than a hybrid or fully electric car (because I can’t afford either of the latter ones, even though I want one)… but I try to reduce my carbon footprint where I can by driving less, following the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle), and so on. So you’d think I’d be the first one to support a ban on plastic straws.

There is a serious issue, here, however. Plastic straws (and, indeed, a lot of plastic stuff) are extremely useful to the disabled community. Plastic straws are more flexible and more sanitary (from a use perspective) than any of the reusable options. They are also sturdier than paper straws, which are not all that waterproof and can dissolve and thus break in liquid. People with mobility issues, or muscle control issues, need those plastic straws.

Now let’s talk about why…

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