Comments

  2. says

    beatrice
    Uhm, no.
    You have to show up there every once in a while and you have to prove you’re looking for a job. I don’t know the actual numbers but you get our expenses covered for a certain number.
    So, no, that’s not true. There’s a grain of truth to it, but inly so far.
    I’m off now but I can tell more tonight if you want to.

  3. Beatrice says

    Thanks, Giliell.
    No need for you to bother further with this. I was already pretty sure our services were lying, but I wanted to check just in case someone told the truth, for once.

  4. opposablethumbs says

    http://www.allout.org/en/actions/ukraine_gag

    Petition from the AllOut campaign, just in case anyone hasn’t seen this:

    Published: October 2

    In Ukraine, several homophobic members of Parliament are trying to make it illegal for anyone to say or do anything deemed “too gay.” They just advanced a ‘gay gag rule’ that is fueling the anti-gay crackdown in Ukraine – and portrays gay and lesbian people in Ukraine as criminals.

    The next vote can come up as early as next week. This law won’t go into effect if the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn, refuses to sign it – and he’s having doubts. A few weeks ago he raised concerns about the bill because of a massive international outcry.

    Now, Lytvyn, as the Chairman of the Parliament, has the power to stop it for good before the bill goes to a final vote. Sign now and tell Lytvyn to keep thousands of Ukrainians from being forced into the shadows.

  5. says

    Good morning, Horde!
    A couple of rants, if I could:
    On Resident Evil 6: I’m enjoying the hell out of it– in fact, I was super tempted to take a sick day today, so I could just spend the day in front of the teevee. I haven’t gotten very far yet, but that’s because I tried all three scenarios before choosing which one I was going to play first. Anyway, I haven’t run into the problems I was warned about (wonky camera and terrible dialog), but we’ll see how long that lasts.

    On my Asshole Sister: My dad was helping her paint and fix the ceiling in one of the bedrooms of her house. Apparently, she brought up the fact that DarkFetus is breech and I’m scheduled for a c-section at the end of the month. Dad responded by saying that when Mom had a breech pregnancy, she was uncomfortable and in pain all of the time (much moreso than her other pregnancies), and he felt bad for me ‘cos it isn’t easy. Asshole Sister told him that there’s nothing uncomfortable about a breech presentation and that I should really stop whining* when I don’t have any problems. *eyeroll*

    *Nevermind that I haven’t been, but let’s not let facts get in the way of misplaced anger.

  6. Beatrice says

    Someone should really point out to your asshole sister that she just called your mom a whinging liar.

  7. says

    Beatrice,
    You know, I wonder if Dad did do that– I know that he’s pissed at her now. I also know that he pointed out that this is Asshole Sister’s first pregnancy, so she has no frame of reference, whereas Mom does.

    It’s like she’s trying to piss off as many family members as possible before she has her baby. It’s weird.

    (Bonus fun: I received an invite to he baby shower at the end of the month. I have no freaking idea what I’m going to do– it’s three days before my c-section and holy shit, do I ever not want to go.)

  8. McC2lhu saw what you did there. says

    deborahbell @471:

    You owe me a new keyboard, sinuses, and a glass of root beer.

  10. Beatrice says

    Audley,

    Her baby shower or of someone who possibly didn’t know when you had your c-section scheduled?

    I’m not really sure what etiquette says for this kind of thing, but I would guess scheduling a baby shower three days before her sister’s c-section date is a bit… impolite. One could even call it assholish.

  11. dianne says

    troponin level of 0.04, whatever that means

    Troponin is made by the heart and more or less only the heart so when heart muscle is damaged, the amount of it in the blood rises. It can go up from any form of damage to the heart, i.e. if you were in a car crash and had compression to the chest it would increase, but the usual reason is a heart attack. It’s especially useful because it goes up quickly after a heart attack so shows what’s going on soon enough to do something useful to limit the damage. 0.01 is the usual upper limit of normal*, so 0.04 is high but not ludicrously high. Major heart attacks usually lead to troponins of 0.1 or higher. An actual cardiologist might have more details and/or up to date info.

    *Lab dependent. Do not rely on exact values given here.

  12. says

    Beatrice:
    Asshole sister’s baby shower.

    If she had, say, reserved a room in a restaurant, I wouldn’t think anything of the timing. I scheduled the ‘section late last week and lord knows around here you need to make any sort of restaurant/banquet hall reservations 2 to 3 months in advance. But, no, it’s in her house and she’s throwing herself the shower the weekend before my surgery. (Did I mention that I live upstairs?) So, yeah, it’s pretty apparent to me that she really doesn’t care if I show up or not.

    *sigh*

  13. Pteryxx says

    Yeeps Tigger-the-wing! *carefully offers hugs to your cardiac organ*

    —

    Beatrice: I don’t recall whether you’re in the US, but I have a friend who gave up on food stamp benefits here because the requirements (to prove you’re looking for work and not a lazy freeloading undeserving piece of scum) are so onerous.

  15. Beatrice says

    Ptreyxx,
    I’m European.
    I don’t even really get anything useful from the unemployment services, except that a proof that I’m registered allows me to buy my public transport ticket a bit cheaper. Service itself does nothing for me.

    I have an adviser who is supposed to help me find a job.

    She hasn’t called me a single time yet.

  16. says

    Damn, Tigger. Best, take care of yourself, y’know…

    Much lighter note (at kid’s dentist thing waiting… copying out of notes, so on, on phone, may be slightly scattered…)

    Re ‘share’: I probably can’t safely ship these. Sour cream, y’know. Probably not the safest thing, even with all the sugar, which, sure, may preserve it…

    But: here’s the recipe. I guess also mebbe for the wiki:

    3 cups yellow sugar
    1 cup sour cream
    1/2 cup butter
    1 tsp vanilla

    You’ll also need around 3 cups dipping chocolate. See notes below.

    Mix sugar and cream and heat in a medium pot on stove top to 240 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla, let stand until butter is melted. Pour out onto cold slab. The butter will separate from the syrup when you pour it out. When lukewarm, work with a paddle, working butter back into syrup, and spoon into a bowl.

    Cool in refrigerator until you can form into balls. Form into 3/4 inch balls, and cool again briefly, until cool enough for dipping.

    Dip in dipping chocolate. Cool until solid. Store cool. Warming a bit before serving should bring out the flavour more.

    Notes:

    I just use a carefully cleaned marble counter top for my ‘cold slab’. Probably, in a pinch, you could also use a large cookie sheet.

    The syrup spits like crazy when it gets hot. I stir it fairly regularly to avoid burning; don’t strictly know if that’s necessary yet. But if you do: an oven mitt for your stirring hand is mandatory. The stuff is like candied napalm near the end of the deal, and does take a while to get across that last ten degrees, since it’s boiling, by then. I have some lovely burns from spitting sugar mix from the first time I tried it, until I grabbed a mitt.

    Also, you’ll need a candy thermometer, to have proper precision around 240 degrees.

    I used tempered chocolate for the dipping chocolate. This is a bit of a job, too, and you’ll need a chocolate thermometer (different than a candy thermometer–it’s sensitive lower, especially around 80 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit) and a double boiler to get it right. There’s lots of videos, tutorials on the web, for how you do this, if you haven’t, and want to try it, though. Apparently an easier approach now is to use something called compound chocolate, if available, which you just melt and use, but most people also don’t find it as tasty.

  17. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Oh damn Audley. Asshole Sister is such an asshole. Sorry you have to deal with that.
    —
    Funny me complaining about my Roomie’s lack of cleaning, now that Little One is sick he’s been pure awesome and sweet as fuck.

  20. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Thanks everyone, I will make sure to pass it all on to Little One. She’s doing much better since she’s got some sleep, medicine and juice in her, that’s for sure.

  22. says

    Todd “legitimate rape” Akin (Republican member of the House Science Committee, has more to say on the subject of abortion:

    Akin begins by equating abortion with slavery and terrorism, before arguing that medical professionals who terminate pregnancies are dirty criminals. “You find that along with the culture of death go all kinds of other law-breaking: not following good sanitary procedure, giving abortions to women who are not actually pregnant, cheating on taxes, all these kinds of things,” Akin said.

    Video and additional analysis here:
    http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/03/14199524-akin-flunked-biology-101

  23. Portia says

    Jeez, Audley, what an asshole she is. But it does have to be nice to totally off the hook, right? (I usually loathe baby showers, so that could just be me).

  24. Beatrice says

    Ok, everything else he said is bullshit too, but this one:

    giving abortions to women who are not actually pregnant

    leaves me completely baffled. How can a woman who isn’t pregnant abort? What does the doctor take out?

  25. says

    So, a privileged white guy complains about being given less time to speak than his female opponent during a debate. What are the facts? The privileged white guy was actually granted about 10% more time to speak than his opponent.

    If you listen to the way Sen. Scott Brown tells it, he wasn’t given a fair shot in last night’s debate against Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren. His most memorable line came toward the end when he said to the Harvard Law professor,”Excuse me, I’m not a student in your classroom, let me respond.” And after the debate, he suggested to NECN that Warren got more time to speak: “She went on for like five minutes and I wanted to at least be able to go point-for-point.”

    But actually it was Warren who had significantly less time than Brown to make her case last night, as moderator David Gregory, of NBC’s “Meet the Press” often let Brown speak at length and occasionally cut Warren off. Salon’s tally of the debate found that Warren spoke for about 18 minutes and 15 seconds, while Brown had about 23 minutes and 40 seconds. … Gregory said at the beginning of the debate that there would be no time limits, but the extra five-plus minutes Brown was allowed to speak are significant, representing a little more than 10 percent of the total 42 minutes combined that the candidates had to speak….

    Link.

  26. dianne says

    giving abortions to women who are not actually pregnant

    Maybe some sort of garbled reference to “menstrual extraction”?

  28. says

    This article, “A poor prognostication record, by Steve Benen is interesting.

    One of the many ways to choose one’s candidates, or Party affiliation, is to look at the record for predicting the outcomes of various policies once they are implemented. Even when one concedes that there are gray areas when judging outcomes, it is clear that Republican policymakers fail when it comes to foreseeing the results of policies. One would think that their frontal lobes never matured, hence their skill or even interest in judging the consequences of their actions is lacking.

    To be involved in politics is to look ahead and consider what’s going to happen. Will a bill pass? Will a candidate win? Will a policy work?

    With this in mind, looking back over the last several years, Republicans have come up short in the prognostication category. On economics, for example, It was GOP policymakers who were certain that Clinton’s policies would be disastrous, Bush’s agenda would work wonders, and Obama’s Recovery Act would make the Great Recession worse. Their uninterrupted track record of failed predictions is rather startling. …

    The article goes on to document failures of prognostication on social issues as well.

  29. says

    Portia:

    But it does have to be nice to totally off the hook, right?

    If I wasn’t a petty person, sure. I’m going to make an appearance, drop off a gift, and look FABULOUSLY pregnant while doing so*. That way she can’t whine about how awful I am to her, but I’m also not putting myself in a potentially hurtful situation for any length of time.

    Lynna:
    Maybe Tood Akin thinks doctors can perform abortions on men? That might explain why he’s so freaked out about it.

    *Provided, of course, that the DF doesn’t decide to show up early.

  30. opposablethumbs says

    Get-well snuggles to Little One, JAL – hope she’s feeling better.

    Tod Akin is bizarre as well as vile.

    I have no experience of baby showers (either attending or hosting), Audley, but it certainly sounds like you have by far the best plan there!

  31. Portia says

    I don’t think that’s petty, Audley. I have totally done things just to head off grief later. And popping in and out sounds like a great solution.

    {rant ahead, skip at your discretion}

    SO works so much that he has almost no leisure time, which causes obvious problems for me. He has a free evening tonight, so I asked if we could watch the debate together. (He is into politics too, and pretty liberal). He says no, because he wants to go to a bar and make friends with people to build a client base. In other words, when he has time for R&R (read: time to hang out with me) he finds a way to make it about work. I want to pull my hair out.

    {rant over, carry on}

  32. Portia says

    Tigger – Yikes! I hope you get better soon and am glad you have support around you.

    JAL – somehow I missed that Little One is sick, but I’m glad the medicine and juice are making her feel better :)

  33. says

    Portia:
    The petty part is that I intend to look more FABULOUS! than my asshole sister, just to show her up.

    I’m actually very comfortable with how I look right now– I look like I’m in my 9th month of pregnancy (believe me), but my hair and skin are better than they’ve ever been and I’ve found some pretty dresses that accentuate my pregnant shape*. I’m feeling very confident and I think it shows.

    *In other words, my boobs and belly look OMG amazing.

  34. Portia says

    You go gurrrrl :D

    Sounds to me like it’s more “living well is the best revenge” than pettiness. :)

  35. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    There’s officially an argument on one of my reviews because of I called out the religion pushing slut shaming Mother Teresa praising Christian Twilight book.

    It’s so funny. My review is now at the top because all the comments. Smart move!

    Yes, say I have an agenda, an arbitrary point of view and am straw manning the book. UGH. Reviews are subjective, you know?

    Bleh. Whatever. It was a shitty read for me and I’m not changing my review.

  36. Beatrice says

    JAL,

    OK, now I want to read that review. If you’re not uncomfortable with us knowing your nym there, can you link the review?

  37. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    I’m okay with you guys knowing but I don’t want to have my accounts publicly linked so email me and I’ll give you the info.

    It’s jals(dot)snark(dot)tentacles(at)gmail.com

  38. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Oh crap! I forgot you can’t see the comments if you aren’t a member of the site, but you’ll be able to read my review.

    Now if they talked about what a shitty writer I am or something, I could see that but seriously “vulgar language”? LOL

  40. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    LOL XD I still screw up that email from time to time. I’m not sure why.

    I’d love to get your thoughts on the review when you’re done. It’s rather lengthy because I hated the book so so much.

  41. Beatrice says

    JAL,

    Thanks! I love reading reviews of shitty books.
    I’m slavishly following Jennifer Armintrout’s reviews of 50 Shades of Grey and sequels. (here)

  42. chigau (違わない) says

    Audley
    If DF was right-side-up, I would suggest you go to AS’s baby shower and go into labor.
    (I know. But it would be funny.)

  45. says

    Good evening

    beatrice
    Yeah, I mean, it’s not like spying and harassing unemployed people and welfare recipients wasn’t popular here, but seriously, they would have to hire like 10 times the personel they have now to make everybody show up once a week.

    Audley
    Sounds like asshole sister is mightily afraid. You know, breech has to be just a variation of normal, no problem, totally workable without a c-section, pain-free etc.
    But yeah, show her that it’s totally awesome :)

  46. Beatrice says

    JAL,

    Cool review. You write clearly. And you were very polite in your critique, a “fuck” or two in such a long piece of text is hardly worth dragging the fainting couch closer.
    I found it funny that you mentioned heavy handed foreshadowing, and other reviews were talking about suspense and curve balls.
    The author is so deep in church and blessings and church that it’s really not difficult to believe she wrote a whole book with a religious agenda.

    I’m now sad that it wasn’t a review of something I’ve read. Discussing books with you would be brilliant, I think.

  47. says

    Giliell:
    Ooooh, I hadn’t thought of that. Asshole Sister knows that her fetus isn’t breech*, but that could change at any time (DF was the right way ’round until the 8th month or so). She probably wln’t want to admit that, you know, it kind of sucks.

    *She has an ultrasound twice a month. No, I don’t get it, either– as far as anyone is aware, she and the fetus are both healthy.

  48. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Aw thanks!

    I know I totally don’t understand how no one else saw it coming.

    I actually wrote out a list of thing that made me realize what was going to happen but it was too long to put in the review! Seriously, it wouldn’t all fit due to word limits.

    I really should have read the author’s background before but it was a giveaway and the book blurb looked fine enough. Man, finding out that it was Christian came quick but it was irritating. Once I realized that is was Christian is when I was like “OHHHH this is what’s going to happen I bet”. Yep, and I was right.

    And a commenter criticized me for having an agenda in my review when the author had an agenda for pushing Christianity in the book. That commenter also told me I didn’t know anything about Christianity. LOL

    Yeah, right. They got so defensive it was funny.

  49. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    I got so excited to talk about it I forgot to add there that I’d totally love to discuss books with you too. Loving that link for the reviews on 50 Shades of Grey.

  50. Beatrice says

    Giliell,

    Yeah, it sounds ridiculous. I would have completely dismissed the whole thing, but it was the person in charge of employment services that gave that statement (or at least papers attributed it to her).

    I guess it will just be another case of people in power speaking without thinking.
    Although, with all the delightful changes to employment services this last year… I’m sure something useless and inconvenient will come out of this.

  51. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Oohhhh, Jennifer has had issues with Goodreads too. Ah ha! It’s not just me.

  52. Beatrice says

    JAL,

    The writer is already on the sequel to Shades of Grey, so it will probably take some digging if you ever try to read all from the beginning. It seems that she forgets to put the same tag on every post.

    I started when she was finishing up the first book and spent two nights reading, drinking lots of tea, and trying not to chortle too loudly.

  53. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Oh that makes sense. At least the first 25 recaps are on one handy dandy page for me. I just saw the words “Goodreads good squad” and was like whaaaa? Apparently, there are lots of problems with backlash of giving bad reviews there.

  55. says

    Audley

    She has an ultrasound twice a month. No, I don’t get it, either– as far as anyone is aware, she and the fetus are both healthy.

    Well, i would have slept with the ultrasound on my belly. I paid for ultrasound every visit with #1, the doc did it anyway with the little one and then I already had more appointments than anybody could take with her anyway because of the kidney-shortage.
    So, don’t judge her for that.

  57. says

    Giliell:
    It’s part of a pattern of worrying behavior– she’s obsessing about everything that could possibly go wrong. At first, it ultrasounds to check for was spina bifida, then she was convinced there was an arrhythmia in the placenta, then a hole in her fetus’ diaphragm, and the latest has been a problem with the blood flow to the brain*. She has also shelled out thousands of dollars for testing for genetic disorders that have no risk factors from either side of the family.

    Like I said, as far as I know, there has been zero indication that there’s anything wrong with her or her fetus and at this point her behavior is getting weird.

    *These are all standard problems to check for, but they are easily ruled out during the fifth month “anatomy” ultrasound. She has had multiple checking for the same disorders.

  59. says

    Giliell:
    We all handle our pregnancies differently and I understand (especially depending on your history) being afraid. But to use your own fear as an excuse to be an asshole to everyone around you is pretty disgusting.

    I mean, I get it. She’s jealous of me. I’ve had a relatively easy time of it and she hasn’t. All indications are that DarkFetus and I are doin’ just fine and that’s gotta sting if you’re sitting around worried that your baby is going to be born with an underdeveloped brain or whatever. But, she’s started alienating everyone else in the family too, for no goddamn reason whatsoever.

  61. says

    The Koch brothers are buying the Arkansas state legislature:

    The Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity is spending roughly $1 million in Arkansas this year, which seems rather strange given that the state isn’t competitive at the presidential level, has no gubernatorial or U.S. Senate races on the ballot, and no major U.S. House contests.

    So why bother? Because Arkansas is the only state left in the South with a Democratically-controlled legislature — and the Kochs apparently consider that unacceptable.

    Republicans need to flip just a handful of those spots to turn the chambers red for the first time since the end of the Civil War….

    There’s a fair amount of irony to the AFP’s attacks. For one thing, Democratic state lawmakers are being targeted for moving forward with a health care exchange as mandated by federal law, with the attack ads making this look like “cooperation” with “Obamacare.” But if the state legislature didn’t act, Washington would create Arkansas’ exchange for them. These Democrats are discouraging, not inviting, more federal control.

    For another, Arkansas is one of the few Southern states that has a surplus and a record of job creation over the last few years — suggesting the Koch brothers’ offensive has nothing to do with conservative principles and everything to do with partisanship. (Remember, Americans for Prosperity is ostensibly a “non-partisan” outfit.)

    Regardless, when an outside group invests seven figures in state legislative races in Arkansas — a state with very affordable advertising rates — it makes a significant difference, and the Koch brothers’ goal of buying the legislature for Republicans may very well work….

    Link.

  62. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Omg. Omg. Omg.

    I’m getting the Elder Scrolls Collection pack!

    Best. Day. Ever.

    Also, part of the best day ever, the kitty has arrived! Though I did find out that the family is planning on returning in 4-6 months to Arizona and get their pets back. So it’s really a kitty sitting job. Which mean since the owner doesn’t want his cat fixed, we can’t get it fixed. They did say they would pay for cat food and litter during that time. However, if they don’t return the cat becomes ours.

    The kitty is currently hiding out and shedding like crazy due to the upheaval. He’s gorgeous. Dark brown and light brown stripped cat with big, beautiful green eyes. He was plenty friendly and chill until he came inside and realized he wasn’t going to be leaving with his owner.

  65. says

    Speaking of buying politicians and political offices:

    Right-wing Super-PACS overwhelm liberals, according to new data released today. And that means Romney can hold on to his cash and spend big in the final weeks.

    From The Daily Beast.

  66. says

    JAL
    Yay!
    So, I hope you can enjoy a prolonged kitty-sitting.

    Audley
    Yeah, I admit I’m a bit jealous of you, because I had a total of 6 weeks of happy pregnancy and then it was over. And I freaked out all the time with #1 (and my wonderful mother telling me I was probably harming the fetus by worrying too much). I could have relaxed more with the little one until that stubborn mule decided to have only one kidney so I actually had a reason to freak out, but as you say, that’s no excuse for being an asshole to everybody else and especially other pregnant women who are luckier than you are.

  67. says

    Anti-vaxers are paying a price in Utah, as are other innocent bystanders. Utah now has the worst epidemic of whooping cough in 60 years, with 851 cases of pertussis.

    Link.

    “It should have been eradicated by now,” Pruitt said, “but there’s still a group of people out there that don’t immunize so it keeps it brewing at a low level.”

    From the comments:

    … It used to be immunizations were mandatory for entering school – which they should be – then they started giving an “out” to the religious and then others with no sense of what they think they know about vaccines started denying their children these necessary innoculations. What has happened is that one eradicated or nearly eradicated diseases are back among the populace…

    … you have whackos like Gayle Ruzicka and the Harpy Forum spreading lies and misinformation that vaccines are a socialist plot to turn TH’CHHIILLL’drehn into gayfeminaziabortionblackpanthers or something equally stupid…

  68. says

    Well…

    My wife found out that her current interim job ends in the middle of November. So, after that? Still sort of up in the air. We’re fingers crossed for Albuquerque, I guess?

  69. says

    Giliell
    Thanks!

    Beatrice (497)
    I was under the impression that at least most places in the US had such restrictions on unemployment. I’ve heard of people applying to jobs with unreasonable schedule limitations or giving bad interviews when they are on unemployment and don’t want to really get a job (this was years ago, before the recession, when a person might want to do something else for a while and sit on unemployment for a month or two). They would do this in order to fill the requirement of applying for jobs without actually being in danger of getting one.

    I recently was looking for a job, and there were tons that I applied for; although my skills and experience had me applying for a lot of low level jobs that don’t pay well and are still extremely picky due to the availability of labor right now.

    McC2lhu
    Er..on the way! :)

    Portia
    The best baby shower I ever went to was some friends of my ex-boyfriend (while we were dating). The shower was attended by both sexes more or less equally and was basically a big barbecue outside in their back yard. They had games that were fun for everyone, including at one point something that involved my BF doing a bit of a break dance routine, which was shocking to me, because he doesn’t often show the ‘hood he grew up in.

    Joe
    Here’s hoping! I hope you guys get something wonderful just where you want to live!

  70. says

    Hugs to Audley. Chin up, and all. Some friends of mine did have a similar baby shower to deborahbell’s story – a perfectly harmless party with presents. I imagine Asshole Sister’s will be nothing like that.

    Re the current talking point: I imagine it’s possible to do a D&C on a non-pregnant woman. And if she had a false positive pregnancy test, it might even be labelled “abortion”. But really, I don’t think the moron has a clue what he’s talking about, so why are we trying to make sense of it for him? It’s random abuse.

    Tigger, I’m sorry you couldn’t make it to the party to meet Ariaflame. It was a nice time with drinks & chat, and my amazing Frida Kahlo frock was duly appreciated. All went well, except we had some excitement at the end when a guest passed out. We called the ambos, and they decided he was just drunk. He was fine next day, but will see his doc – perhaps drug interactions. Perils of boozing while getting old, eh?

  71. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    SEATTLE MADONNA FANS! I have one ticket left to her show tonight at Key Arena I need to get rid off. Floor, about 10 rows back from catwalk. Went last night and had front row. . .amazing. If you want it email me at spokesgay at gmail. I’ll be at Key Arena a little before eight to sell three others.

  73. Tigger_the_Wing says

    Alethea, sounds like a great party, except for the one poor chap. I hope he’s OK. “Perils of boozing while getting old, eh?” errr… in my case, that would be ‘perils of boozing’ full stop. I have always been incapable of staying conscious with alcohol. I once passed out on the fumes from a broken bottle of wine! (Very embarrassing – I was working at a supermarket checkout at the time!)

    Thanks, Horde, for all the good thoughts. I love you lot!

    Update – I’ve been getting more angina since yesterday evening. The GP has managed to fit me in for this afternoon at 14:40; four hours from now) so please keep your tentacles crossed for me!

  75. Ichthyic says

    Anti-vaxers are paying a price in Utah, as are other innocent bystanders. Utah now has the worst epidemic of whooping cough in 60 years, with 851 cases of pertussis.

    same thing happening here in NZ.

    directly traceable to a single family who refused to vaccinate their kids before taking them to Thailand.

  76. says

    Good luck, Tigger!

    What I mean by “the perils of boozing while getting old” is that your metabolism changes, and you are more likely to be on medications. So you can be taken by surprise at a level that used to be just fine – but is no longer so. It’s the change that’s the danger.

  80. strange gods before me ॐ says

    “If you’re 54 or 55 you might want to listen.”

    I think he’s doing fine. I do wish he had said more in his intro, but I don’t think that’s a dealbreaker.

  81. StevoR says

    Some folks here may be interested in pharngyulating this poll :

    http://ninemsn.com.au

    ***

    Would Mitt Romney make a good US president?

    Yes = 2,230
    No = 10,522

    ***

    Although it probably hardly needs the help!

    PS. Ninemsn polls are changed daily so be quick.

  82. cicely says

    But really, I don’t think the moron has a clue what he’s talking about, so why are we trying to make sense of it for him? It’s random abuse.

    Except that it isn’t random abuse, but carefully-targeted abuse, to appeal to a particular share of the voting public that is all too common here in Missouri: the smugly ignorant (“we don’t need no book lernin’, just Jeezus!”) demographic. Not only do them abortionists abortionify evil and ignorant pregnant wimmen, they take advantage of non-pregnant ones, too—for money, and ’cause that’s extra evil, that you cain’t even rationalize as “necessary”.
    –
    All tentacles crossed for Tigger_the_Wing. Best of luck and Science-Based Medicine!
    –

  83. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    Threadrupt and flat out at work.

    Just faxed the release for the first payment to the builders! We could have actual, real, not at all imaginary construction by the end of next week! [wonders if he has enough booze and/or chocolate to get through the stress of having a house built]

    Also my fundy brother is now on Facebook. His 16 year old daughter finally convinced him to allow her to join. The next day he posted this:

    So here I am on FB. Those who know me know I swore I would never be here. But things change. My daughter finally convinced me to allow her to have a FB account. Sooooo in order to monitor her page I signed up. Lets get one thing straight right off the bat. I will not be a FB junky. I will use it to follow my daughter and certain family that live overseas. I may from time to time post things or pictures that interest me but it will probably be rare. If you send a friend request I may respond or not.

    I WILL NOT TOLERATE profanity, racisim, pornnography etc. in any post PERIOD! so please think before you post.

    I’m tempted to ask him why he didn’t do such a thing for his son when he signed up for Facebook a couple of years ago, but I already know the answer to that.

    For the sake of my niece I’m going to try and put off the inevitable as long as I can. It will do her good to interact with an ethical atheist like me, but I’m pretty sure this is going to end badly.

  84. ednaz says

    dianne@ #359
    I bow to The Master.

    Beatrice@ #41
    I’m slavishly following Jennifer Armintrout’s reviews of 50 Shades of Grey and sequels.

    Thank You for the link. I laughed so hard my Hoodlum asked ‘What’s going on over there?’
    Bwaahahaha! (saved it in my favorites)

    Audley, If I may ask, what exactly was the crime you committed against your A Sister?
    Was it being born?

    Joe, Fingers are crossed.

    Tigger_the_Wing, Sending very gentle hugs and crossing tentacles.

  87. Portia says

    deborahbell, that sounds like a baby shower I could get on board with. If I ever have one, it will be like that.

    I haven’t thrown anything at the tv just yet. I’m pretty proud of myself.

  88. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    I applaud Romney not blurting out whatever the expression on his face says he’s wanting to scream at the President right now.

  91. Rev. BigDumbChimp says

    It’s like a giant constipated grin of forced compliance and wilting willpower.

  96. Portia says

    Oh, no, Lehrer was abysmal. But if they had more money they could hire better people :)

  98. machintelligence says

    Was anyone else watching on YouTube? It appears that their feed blew up about 10 seconds into Romney’s closing speech. WTF

  100. Ichthyic says

    Jim Lehrer is furthering the cause of the GOP cutting PBS funding.

    there’s still fed funding for PBS at all?

    given that they’ve been cutting it with every administration since Reagan, I figured there was nothing left.

    maybe it’s always a percent cut, so you never can actually say funding is “0”?

  101. Esteleth, Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo says

    I don’t know who won this debate, but I know who lost: Lehrer. Damn, that was painful.

  105. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    All of the tentacles are crossed for Tigger.

  108. Ichthyic says

    show of hands for those that think that Romney’s comment about liking Big Bird will inevitably lead to a parody using the old Sir Mix a Lot song?

  112. strange gods before me ॐ says

    When a Muppet walks in with an itty bitty marginal tax rate
    And a Laffer curve to obfuscate

  116. thunk, Blob Alert! says

    Bah.

    Note that I still can’t vote for anybody, not that it’d make a difference in my state.

    At least I won’t be represented by a tea-fuckwit anymore.

  122. Beatrice says

    Oh god, discussing abortion with a devil’s advocate (who claims not to be one, but keeps insisting there are moral issues with abortion) at Feministe. Why do I do this to myself!?

    cooofffffeeeeeeee
    *wanders off, zombie-like, to the kitchen*

  123. says

    Good morning
    Tentacles crossed for Tigger and bossnurse

    So, today I have a meeting with the last department at college so after that I’ll know what I’m up against and can make a timetable and I’m already scared shitless…

  124. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    Chigau, the insider scuttlebutt suggests that the closure had as much to do with internal motivations and personal politics as it did with any kind of patronage issues. Pure hearsay of course, so take it for what it’s worth, but I do have direct knowledge that the Greenwoods corp was always rife with conflicts between the siblings in charge so it’s not too far fetched.

  125. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    Gilielle, my first big “Oh Shit!” moment as an undergrad* came when I got my course list. I glanced down it and saw that I was signed up for choir.

    “But I don’t sing.” I said with rising panic.

    “That’s okay.” says the secretary, “You have to have an ensemble credit and you don’t play an orchestral instrument so you have to be in the choir. Don’t worry, it’s graded on attendance.”

    My relief was pretty sweet until looked at the schedule. Choir was Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8;30AM.

    “Oh shit!”

  127. chigau (悲しい) says

    FossilFishy
    don’t care
    my fuckfuckfuck is purely selfish
    Greenwoods is closing and another Chapters is coming right up.
    Audreys is soooo far away.
    —
    On the other paw, maybe the siblings will just have a cage-match and the survivors will re-open on Tuesday.

  128. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    Fair enough chigau. At the consumer level it really doesn’t matter why. But also keep in mind that this leaves a big gap in the market. If they really didn’t close because of falling sales or the like then there’s every chance that Audrey’s could open a southside location, or someone else could step into that niche.

    Heh, cage match, my money would be on Gail.

  129. chigau (悲しい) says

    FossilFishy
    I don’t have your insider info but Laurie has always kinda scared me. ;)

  130. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    I have a bias. Dealt with Gail from time to time, Laurie, not so much. Mind you, either way I have friends who would pay serious coin to watch them in a real life Thunderdome. :)

    There’s something about owning a small business that either attracts scary people or possibly creates them. I put off being in that position for years after I had the skills to do it for that very reason. Mind you, it could be confirmation bias on my part that I believe that. I wonder if anyone has done a study?

  131. chigau (悲しい) says

    I think succeeding in (for example) an independent bookstore in the face of (for example) Chapters, would take a HULK SMASH kinda personality.
    and lots of back-up (people helping).

  132. chigau (悲しい) says

    and as I go to my rest:
    SuperStore has some Xmas stuff on shelves,
    the current temperature is 0°C (32°F),
    my kitchen tap is still dripping and
    my kitteh is FAT.
    おやすみなさい

  136. strange gods before me ॐ says

    for ->in

    Both are cromulent.

    I don’t know the answer to your question, though.

  138. carlie says

    I’d like to see one debate moderated by someone who actually knows how to do it. There are national debate competitions, so there have to be moderators who are good at it somewhere.

  139. says

    There and back again.
    Driving was no fun, I tell you. Heavy autumn rain with heavy autumn winds and in addition, when Mr. changed the tires yesterday he mixed up left and right so now I’m especially ill-equipped for a wet Autobahn.
    But I got my credits. Funny enough, now everybody is keen on giving me credits for the stuff I did in Ireland when they were very reluctant to give me any credit back then when I came back from Ireland.

    beatrice
    AFAIK she’s still dealing with lots of personal crap and has moved house but is planning to write again soon. I’ve seen her around on FtB.

    FossilFishy
    Choir? That’s nice.
    My “oh shit” problem is based on anxiety and mental health issues. It’s actually the thing I tried explain to my husband: I have real problems going there. It makes me physically sick. And that’s after a whole year of therapy.
    In his normal fucntioning world you are lazy for a day, get a bad conscience and do it the next day. In my world I don’t get something done one day, get a bad conscience so bad that the only way to deal with it is to ban the whole thought*, not get it done in another three weeks and then break down at the thought of doing it.
    The fact that everybody there is perfectly nice doesn’t change things any more than knowing how harmful smoking is makes you a non-smoker.
    I can do it now but it’s hard. It costs me. Right now I’m exhausted as if I’d walked the 30 miles instead of driving, while for the innocent observer all that happened was me waiting for twenty minutes and the wonderful lady checking my old records, looking for equivalents and printing out a sheet for the central register.

    *Before I started therapy I had carefully hidden everything that said college. I changed radio-stations when the mentioned the college or even a traffic jam on the road that goes past the college.

  140. says

    Ednaz:

    Audley, If I may ask, what exactly was the crime you committed against your A Sister? Was it being born?

    That’s actually kind of funny– she’s four years older than I am and our birthdays are 2 days apart (mine’s Oct 14 and hers is the 16). To this day she still complains about the horror of having our Dad bring cupcakes into her pre-school class for her birthday when Mom was still in the hospital with me. I ruined her birthday.

    But, seriously, I really don’t know exactly what has brought on this current bout of assholishness (I mean, she’s always been a bit of an asshole, but this is more extreme than I’ve ever seen). If I had to guess, I’d say that she feels that it’s totes unfair that 1) I became pregnant before she did and 2) I’m having a much easier time mentally handling the stress of being pregnant. So, she tries to make herself feel better (and remember, she’s really frightened that something’s going to go wrong) by making me feel worse. She also probably doesn’t understand why I’m not stressing over every little thing and why instead of obsessing over what ifs, I just call my docs when a question comes up.

  141. trinioler says

    Poor Jim Lehrer.

    In any reasonable world, the newspapers and news channels and journalists would all be talking about how much Romney lied in this debate.

  142. says

    That’s actually kind of funny– she’s four years older than I am and our birthdays are 2 days apart (mine’s Oct 14 and hers is the 16). To this day she still complains about the horror of having our Dad bring cupcakes into her pre-school class for her birthday when Mom was still in the hospital with me. I ruined her birthday.

    You know that’s why I hate G.W. Bush: It’s not so much that he killed innocent Iraqis in Desert Storm, he had to do it on my birthday!
    Really, I can understand how a 4 yo is totally upset about this. A 30something woman should have grown out of it.
    I mean, my sister should hate me for having been constantly in her room when her boyfriend was there… Somehow she managed not only to get older but to grow up, too.

  143. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    Oh Giliell, I’m so sorry. I went for the flip and the trivial when you were talking about serious matters. The stupid thing is I stared to write a post about just how difficult my life was at that time and then pulled myself up short and went for the lame humour. I’ve been trying to be of a misery monkey here so all I’ll say is that i have at least a little uncerstanding of what you’re talking about. And then I’ll just leave these hugs and chocolates and booze and the complete set of Bach’s Lute Suites in all their serene and calming glory over here on the end table should you have any use for them.

  144. FossilFishy (Νεοπτόλεμος's spellchecker) says

    Please add this lost and lonely word ‘less’ to the above. Cheers.

  145. says

    TL;DR: More whining about my Asshole Sister.
    As an addendum:
    At the beginning of my pregnancy, Asshole Sister was giving me “advice” that was all sorts of misinformation– sleeping on your back will cause miscarriage/stillbirth, if you have swollen ankles you should immediately be put on bed rest, “showing” early means that you’re gaining too much weight too fast, etc. I have no doubts that she thought the information she had was factual and she would use it to criticize me for being too fat/swollen/not caring enough for my “baby”. It didn’t matter how often I explained to her that my docs were happy with my progress* and they always have taken the time to talk to me and answer all of my questions, they were wrong and I was wrong.

    But the closer I get to the delivery (I’m in my 9th month, she’s just started her 3rd trimester), the weirder things are getting. She’s either outright lying to me (and my family) or she’s deluding herself. I mean, why else would she say that it’s not uncomfortable to have a breech presentation (when she has no experience with it), or why would she lie to me about having watched a c-section (she has no idea what a modern ‘section entails), or why would she tell me that a freaking chiropactor would have prevented all of my problems (she’s not seeing a chiropractor)? It’s getting fucking bizarre.

    *Seriously, how often do you go to a doctor’s appointment and they tell you to keep doing what you’re doing? It feels good, believe me.

  148. says

    Trinioler:
    Yeah.

    Sorry about the tl;dr whining. I just don’t have anyone else to talk to about this (my parents are worried about Asshole Sister’s mental health, so they think I should “be gentle with her”. I also don’t want to drown my husband in it and I don’t want to drag my other sisters into the conflict). I’m avoiding her the best I can, but every time I see her, she has to get in at least one little dig and it’s super frustrating.

  149. trinioler says

    Hey, thats what everyone uses this space for. We all need someone to listen; here there’s always someone who will listen. :)

  151. Portia says

    New “employer” update: I cracked wise yesterday about wearing a name tag so he’ll remember my name (which he’s been doing pretty well since he had to put it on a contract). He called me a smartass and laughed it off. Success!

    On the downside, he said a bunch of transphobic, homophobic, and vaguely racist stuff yesterday. But he calls himself a Democrat, so maybe there’s hope for him?

    Audley, I have a cousin like that. I can’t complain about her to anyone but my mom. She gets in a jab whenever she feels threatened. Which is often, because she’s super insecure. It’s grating and hard to figure out how to deal with.

  154. Portia says

    Yep, can’t control other people’s behavior, and all that. I’ve found that if I try not to push her buttons (by, ya know, being happy/satisfied with my life) then she is less likely to lash out. But that’s obviously an unreliable method. I’ve also started apologizing when I’m totally not at fault, just to make her less guarded against me. I once said something about having an inferiority complex, and she was totally amazed. Like she thinks I’m invincible and when I show I’m not, it makes her less threatened. I dunno. It’s unfixable in the long run, obviously. Can’t change em, can only survive their manipulative tactics.

  155. trinioler says

    Audley:

    I did nothing but say wow. *abashed* Not sure what you’re saying thanks for xd.

  156. says

    Re: abortions performed on women who are not pregnant, apparently it’s a thing:

    The accusation may seem bizarre, but we think we know what Akin is alluding to: There probably have been some abortion doctors who tell patients that they are pregnant just so they can make some money off of a phony abortion. A little Googling finds this 1989 Chicago Tribune story about Arnold Bickham, for example:

    The license revocation was the second time Bickham had lost his license for wrongdoing. In 1979, the state suspended his license for 18 months after charging that he performed abortions on women who were not pregnant and sometimes not fully under anesthesia.

    So, there. It has happened. Just like your other doctors may prescribe you medications you don’t necessarily need or offer expensive procedures you could do without. Hell, just like your mechanic might tell you might need a new “Johnson rod” when that doesn’t even exist.

  157. says

    Portia:
    It totally frustrates Asshole Sister to see me happy and confident because everything is a competition* and that means she’s losing. So, showing some insecurity doesn’t help me out, either, because that means that she’s winning and she will take the oppurtunity to either 1) criticize whatever I’m doing** or 2) try to rub her “success” in my face.

    She’s an asshole. And whatever the older sister equivalent to a “mansplainer” is.

    *Pregnancy, work, life in general, you name it.

    **Yep, I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t. If I’m confident, I’m doin it rong. If I’m unsure of myself, I’m also doin it rong.

  159. Portia says

    Oh that’s awful. Like she’s looking for a weak spot to exploit. Can’t win for losing with that kind of asshole. All you can do is let off the steam here, it seems like. On the upside, since she’s showing her colors to the rest of the family, you come off smelling like a rose : ) Except they’re giving her a pass, it sounds like. Man, you’re right, there’s no winning. : P

  160. blf says

    Apparently the possibly-sentient tunneling cider has taken up residence under Sri Lanka to watch the Cricket World Twenty20 championships.
    This proves it is sentient.

    And stupid… The English men’s team is quite capable of losing on their own without influenced by mysterious fumes. They have a coach for Losing in Previously Unknown Manners, whom they obviously pay a great of attention to.

    The English women‘s team, of course, is showing their usual competence and have just reached the finals…

     ────────────────────────────

    Just discovered that William Webb Ellis, the probably legendary “inventor” of Rugby, is buried here in South France.

     ────────────────────────────

    (Now back to explaining to people that before claiming Programme X works on System Y, you should test that X can even be installed on Y …)

  161. says

    Portia:
    I’m not upset (anymore) that they’re giving her a “pass”– there are legitimate reasons to worry about her mental health that have nothing to do with her assholishness.

    And, to her credit, Mom has started collecting information about different mental health resources, so when she and Dad do sit down and talk to Asshole Sister about her worrying behaviors, it won’t seem like they’re criticizing her, but it will be clear that they’re trying to help. Hopefully.

  162. Portia says

    Well that definitely sounds like progress. Both for you managing to not let the “pass” get to you, and for parents taking constructive steps. That’s good. In the meantime, don’t be sorry for venting : )

  164. Portia says

    My mom just left yesterday with my two nieces. My 7 year old niece accidentally left behind two bottles of “homeopathic tablets” that her mother had sent along. Gag. One of them claims to treat “bedwetting, bedwetting with nightmares, and involuntary urination day or night.”

    …

    Sigh.

  165. Portia says

    No problem, Audley :) Hugs back. I only just now made my way over to your blog to admire Patricia’s handiwork. Very very cute! And looks deliciously soft.

  166. Beatrice says

    One of them claims to treat “bedwetting, bedwetting with nightmares, and involuntary urination day or night.”

    Homeopathy bit aside, that kind of incompetently written description should be a clear indicator that something’s off with the medication.

  167. says

    Portia:
    Homeopathy for bed wetters? Don’t most kids simply grow out of it?

    Sheesh.

    A few months back, my SiL gave me some homeopathic cream that was specifically for “nerve pain” (I’ve been having problems with my sciatic nerve). *eyeroll*

    Patricia’s gifts to DarkFetus are in a long line of awesome gifts from teh Horde (not all of which made it to my blog– I’ll have to post the blanket and booties that Maureen Brian made). So many talented people!

    But, really, the eggplant hat freaking kills me. :D

  168. Therrin says

    Audley,

    My brother being four years older helped us get along better, we were often at different stages and never really conflicted over attention/toys/privileges, unlike my two (older) half-brothers who were 2 years apart. Maybe she’s upset she didn’t get to go first.

  169. blf says

    treat “bedwetting, bedwetting with nightmares, and involuntary urination day or night.”

    Double-headed battle-axe. Sharp double-headed battle-axe.

    (Another adult-training advice from the Mildly Deranged Penguin Clinics, dedicated to making as much money as fast as possibleundoing the damage done by peas.)

  170. blf says

    Since homeopathetic stuff is just water, do you really want to give some to a bed-wetter to control the bed-wetting?

  171. Portia says

    Audley, yeah…I don’t know. I mean I guess I’d get tired of washing the sheets every other day too, but if the homeopathy was going to work, it would have worked a while ago.

    Did you laugh when she gave you the cream?

    The Combative Cousin is very into homeopathy as well. She got really upset with me when I asked her to explain the mechanism by which it supposedly works. She’s a nursing student, it shouldn’t totally out of her grasp…

    Therrin, my four-years-older sister and I fought like wolverines growing up. But I always thought I should be older and do everything she got to do.

  172. says

    Therrin:
    My Little Sister and I are 7 years apart in age and we’ve always been really close, for much the same reasons as you and your brother got along. There was just nothing to have conflict about, you know? (Also, I’m incredibly proud of the young woman that she has become– I did not have my shit together in my early 20s, but Little Sister is living the life she wants and she’s happy. It’s freaking awesome.)

    Asshole Sister has always created conflict among us, though. She and Eldest Sister are only 2 years apart in age and they’ve never gotten along. She’s always been critical of me and she’s always treated Little Sister like LS is stupid. This is a pattern of behavior that’s always been there, but it seems to be exacerbated by the stress of pregnancy.

  173. says

    Audley and Portia:

    I’m so sorry you’re dealing with that shit. It’s exhausting. In my case it was only a relatively short blip in my relationship with my sister, but it was devastating at the time. She was repeating some very nasty and destructive boundary-busting attitudes and behaviors of our (long-divorced) parents. At the time, I had been in therapy for a while and was learning, if haltingly in fits and starts, to draw and enforce healthy boundaries for myself. As a direct result of this process, I began keeping my mom at more of an emotional distance (e.g. only communicating by e-mail, keeping answers about my personal life vague, and keeping professional successes to myself), and I had ceased all communications with my father entirely (after explaining that “this behavior is unacceptable and hurtful, please stop doing it” more times than I can even count).

    My sister pronounced I was being selfish — and you know what? maybe I was, for once — by not letting our parents shit all over me. It got ugly: I was going to end up lonely and alone throughout life if I didn’t accept my family’s abuse. (“I’m actually okay with that. It’s better than being stuck interacting with assholes.”) How dare you criticize her? That woman would do anything for you! (“Well, except be kind or even minimally respectful — and we can obviously forget about supportive.”) You’re the asshole here, you don’t realize it but you’ve been over-therapized. (“Wut?”) I feel sorry for you! (“Don’t. I’m good.”) But in a year or two my sister had come full circle and started on the same journey I did. A dozen years on, she is one of my best friends, and now expresses tremendous admiration for me, seeing my actions as not the easy and selfish thing to do, but painful, difficult and brave. She has adopted some of my tactics and coping strategies with our mom, and is thisclose to finally telling our dad to fuck. right. off.

    I still have to point out unacceptable crap with my mom from time to time and say clearly and directly “please stop doing that, it’s upsetting me.” Lifelong habits die hard, and she herself was raised in an abusive home, so there’s that. If she persists, I extricate myself immediately. (I try to remember to do so with a smile, though I don’t always succeed.) But little by little, by being consistent she’s gotten much better over the years, to the point where we can for the most part genuinely enjoy each other’s company.

    It was an astonishing revelation to me that it is 100% up to me how I will be treated: get with the program, or GTFO. How your family members would respond to your defining and defending your own boundaries with respect to their shitty behavior depends on a lot of things of course, like how self-aware and introspective they are (my sister: very. my mom: a little bit. my dad: not.)

    TL;DR: Maybe you can indeed change them. It won’t be easy, it won’t be quick, and it will have to start and end with you.

    Just my $.02.

    Huge hugs, if you want them.

  175. says

    Portia:
    There are big kid diapers out there, specifically for bed wetters. Maybe someone should tell your sister.

    I didn’t laugh when SiL gave me the cream ‘cos I didn’t know what it was at first. The packaging is very deceptive– it looks like legit pain relief cream– and I couldn’t tell what it was until I read the back of the tube and saw in tiny, tiny print: “This homeopathic medicine is safe and effective and follows FDA Guidelines in Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States”. (Hey, hey, turns out I still had that shit in my purse! If anyone’s wondering, the brand name is Topricin.) It’s almost like they were trying to hide the fact that there’s no active ingredients. Imagine that.

  176. says

    FossilFishy
    Don’t worry.
    I don’t expect everybody to keep track with my life.

    Audley

    And, to her credit, Mom has started collecting information about different mental health resources, so when she and Dad do sit down and talk to Asshole Sister about her worrying behaviors, it won’t seem like they’re criticizing her, but it will be clear that they’re trying to help. Hopefully.

    Good luck with that, but I would prepare them for a very hostile reaction. The stigma of mental health issues makes many people lash out a lot, especially if they really need help.

    +++

    treat “bedwetting, bedwetting with nightmares, and involuntary urination day or night.”

    What is it made of? Dilluted soiled sheets?
    We have something against that, too: they’Re called diapers.

    Since homeopathetic stuff is just water, do you really want to give some to a bed-wetter to control the bed-wetting?

    Makes total homeopathic sense: Like cures like

    +++
    Well, sister and I are very close and she rocks. She’s ve

  177. says

    Again because of accidentially hitting “submit”:

    Well, sister and I are very close and she rocks. She’s very supportive. But she steals my money if she can. Because her husband is a loser artist.

    +++

    BTW neo-hippies are strange people. There’s a girl in #1’s ballet class. So far the only thing they seem to consistently shun is adequate footwear.

  178. Richard Austin says

    Can I just comment on the apparent silliness in trying to treat kids who are wetting the bed by giving them more water?

  179. Richard Austin says

    … and, BLF beat me too it. That’s what I get for not refreshing fast enough.

    /me blames the peas

  180. says

    Iris:
    Wow. I really admire you and your sister for being able to do what’s right for you– that’s incredibly difficult.

    I’ve come to terms with the fact that Asshole Sister will probably always be an asshole* to me. I realize this means that I’m going to have to maintain a lot of distance between us and, while that hurts, it’s something I’m going to have to do for my own peace of mind and to keep my family relationships healthy. It sucks because we did have a pretty decent (if not superficial (we were drinking buddies)) relationship before the pregnancies and I’m sad to see that end.

    *There’s no way in hell I’m not going to be criticized for my parenting or the fact that I’m not planning to go back to work or whatever comes to her mind after DarkFetus is born.

  182. blf says

    Never had sangria…

    Ah good, that gives me a change of getting some before the mildly deranged penguin drinks it all up…

     ────────────────────────────

    Tried some retsina for the first time ever the other night. Interesting stuff, I can see why some people compare it to drinking turpentine.

     ────────────────────────────

    We’re all lucky rats don’t have opposable thumbs.

    The forty-foot high killer model doesn’t need opposable thumbs. Unless you like being stepped on, that is…

     ────────────────────────────

    I still haven’t tried bison.

    It’s quite good. Very lean and tasty. Just make sure the bison is dead before you bite it — the mildly deranged penguin found that out the hard way… (Think the scene in Sleeper with the mildly deranged penguin playing the part of the nose, and the bison playing the part of the steamroller.)

     ────────────────────────────

    Only things that aren’t part of the same dish aren’t supposed to touch on the plate. Like peas cooked separate from the carrot (shouldn’t touch!).

    Peas should touch nothing — not even the plate. Only thing to touch peas is the concrete-lined hazardous waste drum as they are rocketed into the Sun.

     ────────────────────────────

    How do you eat yorkshire pudding without gravy?

    Ramrod.

  183. blf says

    Quote-mining Nutmeg, “It is snowing fuck.”

    Copulating snow? Pornographic weather? NSFW precipitation?

    I suppose that’s one way to get people to pay more attention to climate change…

  184. says

    Audley:

    Thanks for the kudos — it was (and still is sometimes) very difficult. I guess it boils down to, exactly as you said, maintaining a safe distance for yourself, because your own peace of mind can and must come first. Anyone who disagrees with that priority and claims to love you… doesn’t. I’m very glad you have a safe place here to vent.

    There’s no way in hell I’m not going to be criticized for my parenting or the fact that I’m not planning to go back to work or whatever comes to her mind after DarkFetus is born.

    Of course not. As you pointed out upthread it doesn’t even matter what you do, you will be criticized. FWIW I found this to be an effective retort to hurtful and/or wildly inappropriate criticism: “Gosh, it sure is a good thing I don’t value your opinion about this in the slightest. Otherwise, what you just said would be, you know, hurtful.” (Add winks, smiles or eyerolls, to taste.)

    Also: what are these “healthy family relationships” you speak of? I can haz sum nao plz? ;)

  185. Ogvorbis: broken and cynical says

    you might need a new “Johnson rod” when that doesn’t even exist.

    Er, Johnson rods do exist. They vary the valve timing on a steam locomotive — adjusting valve lap and cutoff even to the point of making the single-stroke engine go into reverse. They don’t exist on automobiles — unless it is steam powered. So if your mechanic tells you your Stanley Steamer needs a new Johnson rod, or Johnson bar, he or she may be right.

    Sorry. Steamnerding.

    =

    blf:

    Cricket? Is that even a sport?

    =

    Peas should touch nothing — not even the plate. Only thing to touch peas is the concrete-lined hazardous waste drum as they are rocketed into the Sun.

    I’ll have you know, I made an excellent beef stew, with assorted fingerling potatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, roasted red pepper and peas. Absolutely delicious. Thpppppt!

  187. Portia says

    It *does* make homeopathic sense to treat bedwetting with lots of water! But these are tablets. I don’t know how it translates into tablet form, but if it made sense, it wouldn’t be homeopathy.

    …

    …It just occurred to me to wonder if there’s urine in the tablets. Like tiny tiny particles of it. Grossss.

    What’s funny is Older Niece had stopped wetting the bed when she was five, then her little sister was born and it started again. *shrug*

    Iris, I’m really glad you and your sister have both made those strides with your parents. Good thing she has you for support as she makes the tough transition into healthy boundary setting.

    I feel like I have recently made good strides figuring out how to deal with the Cousin. Now and then the old sense of rivalry or oneupsmanship flares up and I make a snide jab but usually I can get past it and try to remember that you can’t expect people to live up to your standards all the time. Creating space has been really helpful too, as you say. I have gotten better at guarding myself.

    The thing I really can’t get over, among all the other things that I probably can, is her callousness last year. She didn’t vaccinate her daughter, which I never said a word to her about. My problem was when her then 4 year old daughter got pertussis. Cousin knew or should have known it was pertussis. My SiL and brother also didn’t vaccinate their daughters, but at least they homeschool…anyway, Cousin exposed those girls to pertussis. The Little Niece was a year and a half old. At that age, it can be deadly, from what I’ve read. I really struggle to get past her selfish need to go on the family vacation that put that baby’s life in danger (I know, I know, her parents did too by not vaccinating, but this is WAY more direct than that). And Cousin still fawns over the Little Niece as though she *didn’t* do such a horrible thing. It really gets under my skin.

    Phew. Been holding that in for a while.

    Giliell Meant to say sorry you’re having a rough time lately. *hugs* and glad you’re close to your sister but wtf stealing? : [

    Ogvorbis Share, please? That sounds awesome.

  188. says

    Audley

    Mom knows that talking to Asshole Sister about her worries probably isn’t going to work, but I think that she feels like she has to do something to try to help.

    It’s hard to accept that when it’s your mum, I guess it’s even harder when it’s your child.
    But maybe if the day comes it will make it easier for her to know that her family is supportive and not kicking her for having mental health issues.
    And you’Re going to be criticised for your parenting choices 24/7. People who don’t know you or your child the least will feel totally competent in telling you what to do.
    What I love the most are the micro-agressions like my mum does them. If the kids want something and I say “No, because of…” and they go to their grandma she’ll not say yes, but she’ll say “no, because your mum said so”. So, I’m the bad one. It undermines my authority and competence while seeming totally supportive.

  190. blf says

    I made an excellent beef stew, with assorted [good things] and peas. Absolutely delicious. Thpppppt!

    Why ruin what does otherwise sound delicious? You got a thing against your stewpot or something…? Probably it’s because yer mother snorts Post-it notes, and yer father is leaky toothpaste tube.

  191. says

    Copulating snow? Pornographic weather? NSFW precipitation?

    I read that as ‘It’s snowing. (Therefore, I am instructing everyone now to) Fuck.’

    Firstly: I don’t understand how it follows. Secondly…

    Listen, if it’s all the same with the cruise director, if it’s snowing, for the first damned time since that awful, premature end to the miserable season that was last year, I’m way more interested in going boarding. Everyone else: feel free to fuck.

  192. Ogvorbis: broken and cynical says

    Portia:

    Beef Stew

    Cut up 1 to 1.5 pounds of chuck into bite-sized pieces. Toss the meat in

    1/2 cup flour
    1 Tablespoon smokes salt
    1 Tablespoon white pepper

    shake of the excess, and brown the beef over high heat in some canola oil. Let the beef drain of excess oil and toss it in the crockpot.

    Add

    1 18-ounce can of whole Roma tomatoes (unseasoned), each tomato roughly quartered
    1 pound of assorted fingerling potatoes, cut in 1/2 or 1/3 depending on size
    2 onions, roughly chopped
    1 red pepper, charred over a burner and sweated in a plastic bag and then skinned and roughly chopped
    10 cloves garlic, peeled, heated in a dry skillet until just starting to char, and roughly chopped
    2 bay leaves
    1 Tablespoon dried thyme
    1/2 Tablespoon smoked salt
    1 small can of chicken broth
    enough red wine so that the contents of the crockpot are covered by 1/2 inch or so.

    Cook over medium or low crockpot heat until the potatoes are cooked through but still al dente.

    Add 1/2 cup frozen peas and adjust seasonings.

    Serve with some crusty bread and a good pale ale.

  193. Ogvorbis: broken and cynical says

    Probably it’s because yer mother snorts Post-it notes, and yer father is leaky toothpaste tube.

    Worse than that. My mother was an art therapist and my father is an ex-marine geologist park ranger.

  194. Sarahface, who is trying to break the lurking habit says

    Hello all! I have finally gone to uni (actually, I’ve been here for several days at this point…)
    Had fun and games trying to get internet here, but that’s all sorted now.
    Fresher’s Week is so much fun, although I haven’t been out much (then again, I dislike clubbing, so. I might go out at some point, though, so that I can say that I’ve been to the worst nightclub in Europe. [There’s somewhere that I’m unlikely to stay for more than about an hour or so.])
    Made friends, been adopted by the corridor above, have a 5 minute walk to the dining hall up a (really) steep hill while everyone else in my college has two minutes, if that, downhill, mostly indoors. Still, I get a nice room next term :)
    Signed up on the mailing lists for so many clubs and societies at the uni fair, I have no chance of going to all of them. And there’s still the college fair to go. I’ll have to figure out which ones are the ones I *really* want to do…

    –
    I have yet to read the thread, so *hugs*, good wishes, and conga rats to all as want or need them.
    And now, I think I might collapse and have a nap. Or maybe go for dinner. Or… I don’t know.

  195. says

    I would have sworn I can posted the happy not-getting-evicted news here.

    That’s how you know things have gotten tough… when not getting evicted is the high point of your week.

  197. cicely says

    Okay, so does anyone here have any experience with Kickstarter?

    The reason I ask: I’m looking for ways to fund a project, tentatively titled cicely can haz wheelz? (where “wheelz” could be anything from a used, but heavy-dutier wheelchair than the one I’ve got, to the Hoverchair 10000 with built-in forcefields and dual-mounted lasers of my wildest fantasies; but I digress), that don’t involve out-right Begging For Bucks. I’ve got a sorta self-interlacy octopus that may (but may not; I lack judgement where my stuff is concerned) be tee-shirtable. One of my SCA friends who has (very disappointing) experience of selling tee shirts on the Web suggested I try Kickstarter, instead. The impression I got was that Kickstarter was not so much to get strangers to chip in on ones vehicles/furniture/battle platforms, as to fund artistic endeavors, so I’m not sure this would even be an appropriate use of the medium. And the process sounds…intimidating, though it’s also true that I am easily intimidated, and it may be more do-able than my panic reaction thinks. Facts? Opinions? Airborne tomatoes?
    –
    Audley: *hugs* and *chocolate*. Sounds as if AS is doing all kinds of panicky projecting.
    –
    My two years younger sister and I get along pretty well, actually, and especially considering the differences in our outlooks on life—probably something to do with our defensive alliance against our mother. Eight years younger sister and I, on the other hand, are not speaking.
    –

    I would have sworn I can posted the happy not-getting-evicted news here.

    Huzzah!

    That’s how you know things have gotten tough… when not getting evicted is the high point of your week.

    Anyone who’s tried it is unlikely to knock it.
    –

  198. says

    Audley… I’m trying to play RE6? I’m just not loving it yet. Which campaign are you playing?

    Oh and we managed to make a car payment, so maybe the Mustang won’t get repossessed with less than $1000 owed on it. We’re still behind, but we’ll have it paid off by the end of the month.

    Good luck with Asshole Sister. At least you still have a relationship. I haven’t spoken to Asshole Brother in must be 4-5 years now. Early 2008, I guess? Money was tight for Xmas that year, and I didn’t manage to send his kid a present so he called and started scolding me… I hung up on him, and have never spoken to him again.

  199. says

    cicely,

    I don’t know how Kickstarter works, but if you can just get people to donate generally I’m starting up an Official SpokesGuitar project! Also, how much to wheelchairs actually cost? Do I even want to know?

  200. says

    Joe:
    I tried all three campaigns before I settled on playing Leon’s– it feels more like the earlier games, you know*? (Although I do like that Chris has evolved from being a total sad sack in RE5 to an angry drunk.) I’m pretty happy with the changes to the control scheme, especially the usefulness of the melee combat and finally being able to back up with a gun drawn. I’m not so thrilled with the inventory** at the moment, but I’ll adjust to it, I’m sure.

    I’m also not past the first chapter yet ‘cos I didn’t get a chamce to play last night. We went out to by behbeh things, then as soon as we got home, Mr Darkheart parked in front of Borderlands 2. *shakes fist!*

    We’ll see if I maintain any sort of relationship with Asshole Sister. At this point, I’m not sure if it’s worth it.

    Cicely:
    Thanks!

    Rose tea?

    *And Jake’s was difficult as all fucking shit.

    **I’m super duper picky about game inventories, like to the point where a poorly designed inventory can completely ruin a game for me.

  201. says

    Audley,

    The inventory system kind of sucks. I don’t like the weapons/items scrolling or the Y-button inventory access, or that as far as I know you have to quit the game to spend skill points. But at least you can back up while shooting. :)

  202. cicely says

    Joe,
    Pricing depends on what you’re lookin’ at, and I was planning to keep it all very fluid. A used wheelychair from ReStore, like the one that is starting to shimmy in a worrying kinda way and that I own right now, cost me something like $75…but the problem with that is, it doesn’t come with a Tonnage Rating, and I suspect that Current Wheelchair is not now, nor ever has been, up to my weight; hence, its impending break-down. Its predecessor was also used, cost me $150-ish (plus gas to drive to Branson and fetch it), and died at last year’s Skepticon; I (again) suspect weight as the chief problem, exacerbated by the terrain (and I am so hoping they get a different site, this year!). New-off-the-Web heavy-duty chairs look to start at about $345, and from there, the sky’s the limit. Mobility scooters are, of course, much pricier; and I suspect that no amount of tee shirt sales would finance the necessary R&D for the Hoverchair 100000.
    –

  205. says

    Yeah, cicely… youse is on your own for the $2500 off-road mobility scooter.

    You clearly need a 9000 XDT Custom… it says “custom” and has an “X” AND a big number in the name. Clearly that makes it the best on the market, right?

  206. opposablethumbs says

    Conga Rats!!!! To Audley for coping womanfully with Asshole Sister. To Sarahface for surviving freshers’ week (yay!). And to Improbable Joe for coping with the hideous imminent threat of eviction and NOT getting evicted. {{{Hugs}} to cicely and hope that Hordely advice on wheel financing is forthcoming.

    I had an interesting discussion recently with my extra-dearly beloved sibling (well, one of them. I have more than one. But with this one in particular I’ve been close all my life) about euthanasia and assisted suicide. And not-at-all coincidentally found out the same day that their new SO is a committed xtian. Now my sib is – I think – unlikely to actually break the habit of a lifetime and start adopting religious beliefs, but they’re certainly starting to talk like they’re going to be Seriously Advocating Great Respect for People’s Deeply-Held Religious Convictions any day now … I haz a depress :(

  207. cicely says

    You clearly need a 9000 XDT Custom… it says “custom” and has an “X” AND a big number in the name. Clearly that makes it the best on the market, right?

    Though it unaccountably has no lasers….

    With a name like that, it oughta have lasers.
    –

  208. says

    Shit, we can mount lasers on ANYTHING. The question is, do you want a nice chair with a chintzy pointer-style laser, or a cheap chair with a 1000mW laser that can blind people and burn shit.

    The choice… is yours! *mad laughter*

  210. cicely says

    But Joe…I want the nice chair and the heavy-combat laser!

    And perhaps a few missiles.

    Affordably.

    “Dare to want it all!!!”
    –

  211. Ogvorbis: broken and cynical says

    Anyone see new Red Dwarf?

    Shouldn’t that be: Vertically Challenged Communist?

    I want the nice chair and the heavy-combat laser!

    And perhaps a few missiles.

    Affordably.

    If wheelchairs were weapons for the military, they’d be able to do anything.

    Of course, they would start at around $1.9 million per, but still!

  212. says

    Portia:

    Thanks for the kind words. Jeezus that anti-vax shit makes me RAGESOB. I don’t know whether or how I’d be able to navigate that particular minefield.

    cicely:

    With a name like that, it oughta have lasers.

    It oughta have sharks with freakin’ laser beams strapped to their heads!

    [/Austin Powers]

  213. says

    Jeez Cicely, you want it all and you want other people to pay for it too… I can respect that! You might want to call Tony Stark for the mini-missiles though.

  215. cicely says

    Well, yeah, Joe. But I’m willing to offer them tee shirts in exchange.

    Tee shirts!
    –

  216. McC2lhu saw what you did there. says

    Richard Austin @179:

    Everyone knows by now it’s always Peas Watson’s fault.

  217. trinioler says

    cicely: check out IndieGoGo. My understanding is IndieGoGo can be used for charitable fundraisers like yours, but Kickstarter can’t be.

  219. carlie says

    So, does it ever stop feeling like a direct kick in the gut when teachers remind you your child isn’t like all the other children? Because I kind of don’t think it does.

    I’m gonna just curl up in the corner for awhile. Completely unrelated.

  221. opposablethumbs says

    Fuck, carlie. No, I guess it doesn’t. We’ve been so, so lucky in that Spawn#2 has gradually over the years come up with workarounds that mostly work enough so that everyone can almost ignore his problems lately … but they haven’t gone away. So, would it be OK if I just send you on over this extra large package of hugs?

  222. carlie says

    Audley – I’m sorry your sister is acting so rotten. But it sounds like a lifelong trait, not something she could even change now if she felt like it. When you see everyone as an adversary or competition for your own attention, you treat everybody like crap.

    I have no idea how sibling relationships work – I have three brothers, but I’ve never really been around any of them for any length of time as an adult who pays attention to relationships. My older younger brother is 7 years younger, so he was mostly just something like a gnat toddling around my self-centered TEEN ANGST. And the other two were born after I left the house, so.

  224. says

    My bias tape isn’t biased enough /crafter complaint

    carlie

    So, does it ever stop feeling like a direct kick in the gut when teachers remind you your child isn’t like all the other children? Because I kind of don’t think it does.

    No, probably not.
    (((hugs)))

    Joe
    Congratulations. Hope the job and the car and everything works out

    cicely
    I’d totally get a t-shirt from you. Only you don’t want a laser, you want tentacles!

  225. Beatrice says

    I wanted to complain here about losing friends, but then I got a message from a friend/acquaintance saying that she gave birth to a boy yesterday, by c-section.

    Coincidence or god’s sign that I shouldn’t whinge (yes, everything is about me [just kidding])?

    In any case, YAY! *confetti*

  226. says

    Carlie:
    Thanks. Yeah, she always has been an asshole and I don’t expect that to change, it’s just that she’s hit a high point in her blatent assholitude, you know?

    Boo to Boy’s teachers! What the hell, they’ve never dealt with a diverse population of kids before?

  227. opposablethumbs says

    Eugene Delgaudio has been naughty again, it seems.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19804286

    Apparently he nicked a photo posted on the internet by a gay couple celebrating their engagement and used it without permission (obviously) for an anti-gay marriage campaign. And the couple are suing.

  228. birgerjohansson says

    I have finally found the proper anthem for the People’s Republic of Pharyngulia!
    Everyone has heard the first few notes, but few have listened to the whole three minutes.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tx5N67I8Do

    Sadly this instrumental version lacks text, but we can make some up. I was thinking that “trample”, “crush” or “enslave” might feature prominently. For chorus I am suggesting “and melt their continents to slag!”.
    — — — — — — — —
    “Anyone see new Red Dwarf?”

    There is a new version of Red Dwarf? (drools)

    “I want the nice chair and the heavy-combat laser!”
    I want the one with the tungsten missiles.

  230. cicely says

    I’d totally get a t-shirt from you. Only you don’t want a laser, you want tentacles!

    *big hug*
    Tentacles with lasers!

    Octolasers!!!

    What I may do is, here in a few days when I’ve sorta cleaned up my drawing, put up a linky to it, and see if it even looks viable to a…less biased (against)…audience.

    (“No judgement”, remember?)
    –

  232. birgerjohansson says

    Improbable Joe,
    Isn’t there an Eighties song by The B52’s about hot dogs and Albuquerque? May you and your wife be successful hot dogs.

  233. Beatrice says

    hushfile

    hm

    Sounds more like something a mafia boss would have than a killfile. I mean, he doesn’t want to be too obvious.

  234. says

    birgerjohansson, That’s the weirdest thing anyone has said to me all the live long day.

    Aren’t you the zombie book person? Just checking, because I have giant stack of zombie books.

  236. cicely says

    Some merriment for today:
    Just got an email from my boss saying

    Kindly inform [customer] where he can shove it.

    That about made my week.

    :D
    –

  237. birgerjohansson says

    Yes!
    BTW have you read the “Newsflesh” trilogy by Mira Grant?
    And J. L. Bourne will publish his third novel in November.
    —- — — —
    As I have mentioned, Templesmith’s “Wormwood” trilogy of graphic novels is much recommended.
    The protagonist is a very cool demon who uses animated dead bodies as vehicles, so I suppose they are zombies, of sorts.
    And in the third novel we finally learn the truth about Elvis.
    — — — —
    The next “culture” SF novel by Iain Banks will be published in a couple of days. So will the next new SF novel by Neal Asher.
    Benedict Jacka -praised by none other than Jim Butcher- has published his third novel a few weeks ago, and it lived up to expectations.

  238. carlie says

    Oh no, it’s not that they’re being assholes. He’s an Aspie, and has been having some frustration problems in class. Nothing that can’t be easily handled, but I don’t see a lot of other kids his age these days, so it’s easy to forget that yeah, his behavior is noticeably different than the norm.

  239. carlie says

    It’s just sometimes I get to not think about it, and then sometimes it comes crashing down when I don’t expect it. I know that’s easier than dealing with issues all the time, it just kind of blindsides me sometimes and I’m not braced for it.

  240. says

    birgerjohansson,

    CALM DOWN!!! :)

    I’ve read the Mira Grant books, I’ve got Day By Day Armageddon queued up behind a stack of Jonathan Maberry books.

    I need to get caught up with Jim Butcher… I’m several Dresden books behind at this point. And I’m sure someone will be along shortly to insult me for not having gotten around to any of the Iain Banks stuff.

  241. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Hey everyone!

    Congrats and hugs to everyone as needed.

    The kitty, Tiger is doing great. He’s out and roaming and eating and everything. He’s playing all up in our clothes in the closet. He’s the sweetest thing, loves to get petted, brushed and give snuggles. He’s been great with the Little One especially since mom’s cat Salem trained her already. :D

    We got Little One’s report cared today! She’s going exceedingly well in everything. She just writes her Z, J, and q backwards. She also always skips 13 and 14 when counting. When she counts to 100 she has trouble with the transitions, like 39 to 40, she’ll say four 10 for example. However, they are working on just getting 1-10 so even her problems are farther ahead than the class. She’s also so well behaved in school so she’s consistently getting high colors and rewards for that.

    Playing Skyrim again is so fucking awesome. I just have to adjust to not being able to see as far in the distance like on the ps3.

    Oh and also, there’s another woman leaving the complex. We are getting several things from her, like a dvd player, a big TV and a twin bed with a frame. We also have a crock pot! I just need to so shopping so we can get that thing cooking. Our house is starting to look all house like and stuff. I have books on bookshelves! :D

    Everything is going so well, I feel this strange sensation. Oh that’s smiling and feeling happy. It’s been so long.

    :D

  244. Richard Austin says

    … Just popping in to say I fully support the BattleTech Wheelchair concept. Screw the douches who won’t put up ramps: we’ve got JUMP JETS.

  245. says

    JAL:
    Your Little One is so awesome! *high fives* for both of you.

    In other news:
    The Darkheart Duckie Quilt has arrived.

    Holy.
    Fucking.
    Shit.

    I can’t even put into words how incredibly beautiful it is. Go look at Caine’s blog and multiply the awesomeness of that picture by a thousand.

    (If anyone else is getting pillows, head’s up: they smell fantastic.)

    Now a small grumble: my stupid mail carrier won’t leave small packages in my mail box (for instance, the shirts and rattle that Giliell sent to me would have fit with no problem), but a big ol’ box? Suuuuuure, buddy. Leave it unsecured on the stoop in the rain. That’s obviously totes okay.

    *AUDLEY SMASH!*

  246. Richard Austin says

    First Female Marines Take Combat Leadership Test

    Women in the U.S. military have been flying warplanes for years, and recently began serving in artillery and tank units. But they’re still barred from direct ground combat.

    Now, for the first time in the course’s 35-year history, the Marine Corps is putting the first women through its grueling Infantry Officer Course: 86 days crawling through obstacle courses, lugging heavy machine guns, navigating the woods at night.

    Col. Todd Desgrosseilliers, the top trainer at Marine Base Quantico in Virginia, says there’s a good reason the course is so tough that 1 in 5 Marines fail.

    “These officers, these lieutenants are going to go out there and lead platoons of enlisted Marines on the battlefield,” he says.

    The official reason for the prohibition against women in combat roles stems from “job-related physical requirements” that would exclude the vast majority of women.

    That last sentence… unless the “physical requirement” is having a penis, the sentence either needs to be qualified or substantiated.

    Anyway, progress.

  247. dysomniak, darwinian socialist says

    Delurking to say that

    When she counts to 100 she has trouble with the transitions, like 39 to 40, she’ll say four 10 for example.

    actually sounds quite promising! It means she understands how the decimal system works, which is something I’ve had trouble explaining to adult computer nerds when trying to teach them binary, octal, and hex. Congratulations on the brainyspawn!

  248. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Now a small grumble: my stupid mail carrier won’t leave small packages in my mail box (for instance, the shirts and rattle that Giliell sent to me would have fit with no problem), but a big ol’ box? Suuuuuure, buddy. Leave it unsecured on the stoop in the rain. That’s obviously totes okay.
    *AUDLEY SMASH!*

    Omg I hate that! I live in an apartment complex and the mail-person left a book that could have easily fit in my mailbox next to my door. In an apartment complex. I was so pissed. I get paranoid that people are going to steal stuff if I leave and randomly get a package. I mean the mailbox thingy has BIG empty boxes that need keys specifically for packages that can’t fit in the box and the book could have definitely fit in that as well. Grrr.

    YAY for the awesome quilt and great smelling pillows!
    –
    –
    Thanks everyone! I mean get happy about things and moments, it’s just a overhanging depression in the back of my mind all the time. And looking around my apartment was so depressing, pathetic and sad. But today? Today I’m just deliriously happy and enjoying it. I fell all hopeful and shit for the first time in a long time. The only thing that could make it better is if I got hired again.

    *crosses fingers*

  250. Azkyroth, Former Growing Toaster Oven says

    That last sentence… unless the “physical requirement” is having a penis, the sentence either needs to be qualified or substantiated.

    I suspect it has more to do with muscular strength (things like carrying capacity), where there IS a legitimate disparity between women and men for comparable levels of physical fitness…so even if gender prejudice were removed, if you have to, say, carry a simulated wounded soldier at some point in the course, more men than women would be expected to pass. That has fuck-all to do with banning them a priori though, and I suspect the importance of that aspect has been played up to rationalize it.

  251. says

    I suspect it has more to do with muscular strength (things like carrying capacity), where there IS a legitimate disparity between women and men for comparable levels of physical fitness…so even if gender prejudice were removed, if you have to, say, carry a simulated wounded soldier at some point in the course, more men than women would be expected to pass.

    It’s actually a classic MRA catch 22:
    If physical requirements are lowered for women it shows that they’re getting jobs handed to them over more-qualified guys.
    If they aren’t it shows that society just wants men to die and safe precious women.

  253. says

    Hold on… let me step in here a minute on the women Marines going through infantry school. Neck-deep in Marine Corps mud is something I know a little bit about. *grins*

    The truth is, women had(have?) it easier in the Marine Corps on a whole lot of levels, starting with lower physical fitness standards. But, there’s a whole lot of overlap between the men and women, and most Marines male and female are above average in physical fitness anyways. It is true that women in general can’t match the physical achievement of men, but why does the “in general” have any bearing on specific people? I consistently scored between 280-290 out of 300 total points on the Marine Physical Fitness Test, even after I broke my ankle in a couple of places… and there were women who could easily outrun me. Easily. There were women who could lift more, walk a heavy pack for longer, kick my ass hand-to-hand, out-shoot me, whatever. And I’d sure as hell would have preferred to have one of them watching my back than one of the people who skated by with the minimum the way so very many people did.

  254. UnknownEric says

    One of my wife’s students wrote in a paper about a “microgasm of society.”

    Gives a new meaning to “un petite mort,” no?

  256. thunk, Blob Alert! says

    Birgerjohannson:

    Wasn’t there already one?

    well given we have that and no flag :p…

    Also, hello. Been absent lately.

  260. says

    JAL:
    If my mail carrier left small packages out like that, I’d prolly flip my shit. As it is, they leave the “sorry we missed you!” notes in my mailbox, instead of the packages that will fit in the mailbox and then I have to go to the post office to pick them up. Big shit apparently gets left out front, in the elements, easy pickins for whoever walks by.

  261. Tethys says

    Just had a visit from two Mormon boys on their mission.
    I had a lot of fun planting all sorts of seeds of doubt into their sheltered little minds.

    I do hope it blooms.

  262. Nepenthe says

    Why oh why do I bother arguing with fatheists, “nice” atheists, and “spiritual but not religious” people? It’s like slamming one’s finger in the car door, but you can’t buy yourself ice cream afterward.

    Probably the same reason I can’t eat just one potato chip.

    *sigh*

    @Tethys 261

    That sounds fun. Reminds me that my JW “friends” haven’t called lately. It would be a bit odd to call them, wouldn’t it?

  263. says

    I just had a terrible moment… I decided to play guitar, because why the fuck not? And it sounded like something was broken inside my amp, my 21 year old amp that cost me $300 because I can’t afford anything better and sure can’t afford to repair or replace this one.

    It turns out I’m an idiot. My shitty last guitar that I didn’t have to sell or pawn for grocery money because it isn’t worth anything, it runs on 9V batteries. Batteries go bad and make the whole thing sound shitty. I have a couple of extra 9V batteries laying around that I bought when they were on sale. I replaced a battery, everything is fixed. Yay!

  264. says

    Sounds like plenty of good news.

    Joe, can you buy back your strat, maybe? If bossnurse’s shiny new income permits.

    I have crap family. Hardly any relatives who I’m on more than vague acquaintance terms, and my mother and sister are so lost in their own folie a deux that there’s no communicating with them. My Mum can talk at me for hours without asking me anything about myself, or hearing anything that I (interrupt to) say, and then treat it as my fault that she doesn’t know much about me. My sister is snippy and backbiting when she (rarely) talks to me. I live in the wrong place. I have the wrong pets. Both sustain a veneer of family caring, which I’m pretty sure is for their self-images’ sakes.

  265. says

    Alethea, part of what pisses me off is that he’s asking $800 for it. I only paid $850 for it new, and sold it to him for $500. And shiny new income needs to get my Les Paul back from the pawn shop by the 14th. I don’t have the money for both.

  266. cicely says

    JAL, congrats for Little One, and sympathetic delirious rejoicing for your increased home-ness.
    :)
    –
    Duckie quilt continues to be made of Awesome.
    –
    Wheelychair costumes for the WIN.
    –

    I’m… wow, depressed. Sold my Strat last month, the dude who bought it from me has it listed back on Craigslist. So pissed off.

    :( :( :(

    See, now, if I had the Hoverchair 10000, I’d go after his ass. With lasers.
    –

  271. says

    … and I’m calling Animal Control tomorrow on my brand new neighbors. They tied their dog up outside Tuesday, and it more or less stays tied up all day every day without food or water, and against city ordinance. It doesn’t help that the moment I step outside my back door, all I can smell is their dog’s shit, or that their dog barks for 30-40 minutes at a time all day long.

    I’ve tried to talk to them, and all I get is attitude. So I’m calling the city. Great.

  272. Ichthyic says

    I’ve tried to talk to them, and all I get is attitude. So I’m calling the city. Great.

    I had the same thing happen to me when I lived in Santa Cruz.

    next door neighbor agreed to take care of ex’s dog for 2 weeks.

    a year later….

    large German Shepard barking constantly every day, obviously scared and uncomfortable.

    I tried talking with him, but it was obvious he felt guilted by his ex into keeping the dog, and would do nothing about the situation.

    I called the SPCA, and they did come out to talk to him about it, and he did end up forcing the ex to take back the dog.

    so, think positive thoughts; most cities are pretty understanding and helpful about this kind of thing, though it might take a week or two for them to act on your complaint.

  273. cicely says

    Cicely, maybe lasers AND tentacles? And can you take out my neighbors, on principle?

    Yes, indeed! Octolasers! Ask for ’em by name!
    –

    I’m imagining you as Rygal from Farscape now

    I miss Farscape….
    *sigh*
    –

  274. ImaginesABeach says

    threadrupt and not going to catch up before bed.

    cicely – before you invest in a mobility device, make sure you talk to someone at a reputable DME supply place, not one that advertises on national television. Even if you intend to look for one on craig’s list or ebay, talk to someone who knows about them and NOT someone at a company that advertises on national television. If you e-mail me at camandpete AT the yahoo place, I will check with the midwest DME trade association and get you a company to talk to. Missouri and Minnesota suppliers are in the same association and the association likes to be nice to me. Mobility devices can be as costly as cars (although you certainly don’t need the $50,000 kind) and there are things you should know.

  275. ImaginesABeach says

    Also, cicely, there was a (now discontinued) scooter with, I believe 4 wheel drive, called the “Wrangler” that would be perfect for mounting the Octolasers.

  279. says

    Also, Horde:

    I have two local papers and four letters to send off.

    One of the letters is a general criticism of my MP for supporting Motion 312 (fetal personhood) and a note that sex education in my city is, as far as I know (and I graduated in 2009) woefully inadequate.

    One is a poem in response to this piece of dreck.

    One is a rebuttal of this pro-life bullshit.

    And the last one is a letter asking why I don’t see rainbow stickers in the front windows of stores here like I see in Vancouver to show support for the LGBT community.

    Would it be bad for me to send these all at once?

  281. Hekuni Cat, MQG says

    Esteleth, Portia, Socio-gen – *hugs*

    Ichthyic, congratulations!

    Audley and Tigger_the_Wing – *hugs*

    Ogvorbis, you’re a very good neighbor.

    Caine, thank you so very much for my Halloween sleep pillow. It is beautiful. Thank you, too, for the small portrait of Artemis (artist trading card?). That was totally unexpected and very welcome indeed. ♥ ♥ ♥

    cicely, I miss Farscape too, and I would gladly by a tee shirt from you or anything else that would help with acquiring a new wheelchair for you. I concur that the new model must have lasers if at all possible. They would be useful in such a variety of circumstances.

  282. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Speaking of packages, I got Caine’s package today! The pillows smell awesome and the trading card of Chas is gorgeous. Did you make that card yourself? It’s beautiful.

    Little One promptly put a pillow on each side of her face and inhaled deeply. She is now sleeping with both of them. It’s just too cute to be mad at currently. Plus anything that gets her to sleep while sick is awesome in my book.

    Also, you know that nice lady who’s moving and giving us her old stuff? She gave us an old, as in from the ’90s old, computer, which Little One gets to use for games! The monitor is so huge it leaves practically no room on the table for the keyboard and mouse. It’s so funny.

    Today just kept getting better and better. :D

    Guess where they left the package? In the package box. The package box is big enough to fit two of those boxes in there but it’s not good enough for my book? Pffffffft. Makes no sense whatsoever and there’s four different boxes to use for packages too.

  283. Josh, Official SpokesGay says

    Hello, Horde—I’m Lounge-rupt and have little chance of recovering after being away on vacation.

    Did I see that Tigger the Wing is having heart problems and angina again? Honorary gran, please check in!

    I spent a fabulous day with Ophelia Benson in Seattle—she’s even more rockin’ than I was expecting (and I already thought she rocked).

    Spent several days with my Best Gay Friends Forever hanging out, eating, catching up. We converged on Seattle to stay at BFF Number One’s house and see Madonna. We’d already bought good floor seats, but at the last minute we decided to spring for tix to the show the day before. Gurl. We got front row seats for four of us. For less than we paid for the worse seats. Yes, I was within three feet of the queen (really; we could have touched her. She looked right at BFF Number 3 and smiled with those electric blue eyes). I’m ready to die a happy fag. Amazing show. And we were able to sell our next-night tickets and recoup at least half our investment. I’m not a business-woman: I’m a business, woman!

    Hugs to all who want or need them.:)

  284. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Oh Joe, I’m so sorry to hear about your guitar. I can’t believe that dude is doing that. That really sucks.

  285. chigau (悲しい) says

    Josh
    I am somewhat jealous. (I can’t handle that kind of music ‘experience’. But it sounds like it was fun.)
    (What do you think of [hush] vs [kill]?)

  287. chigau (悲しい) says

    Josh
    The latest auto-update of the Greasemonkey FtBkillfile has changed
    [kill] [hide comment]
    to
    [hush] [hide comment]
    on my browser.
    Cute, neh?

  288. ednaz says

    Audley – I am so sorry for what your A Sister is putting you through. Sending hugs your way.
    I am glad you are protecting yourself from her.

    My Middle Sister and I are not pregnant, but everything else you wrote describes her perfectly. Fear and insecurity. She cannot stand to see me happy. Even though she and her husband are better off financially, My Hoodlum and I are happier.

    My Middle Sister and Brother have been cruel for as long as I can remember. My Eldest Sister is not. Go figure.
    Long story short – I understand. You can vent to me anytime.

  290. ednaz says

    Portia – Big hugs for when you have to deal with your Cousin.

    Irisvanderpluym – It takes a lot of courage to protect yourself from your family. I am glad you stand up for yourself. Sending you big hugs.

  291. ednaz says

    Irisvanderpluym@ #156 – Thanks for the story and the links. We were wondering about that.

  292. says

    HI there
    Josh
    Glad you had a good vacation and lots of fun.

    So, went to the second hand to buy trousers for #1 who’s grown like a weed over summer. 4 trousers, 2 skirts, 1 cap and since they had sold our old baby-bed and tub in the meantime, I got a whomping 50ct back :)

    And I had a nice example of hypocrisy in action. While I was there a woman came in with clothes from her children. Because they were good stuff, and maybe somebody would be glad to get such good stuff second hand and yadda-yadda, you know, the charitable middle-class stance of “I’m not trying to make some money here, it’s for the poor people who can’t afford to buy good stuff new”.
    Until she heard that their sizes range up to her daughter’S current size. Suddenly it was cool to buy second hand.

  293. says

    I’m just crying.
    It’s so frustrating. I’m really trying to get my shit back together, get back to college, get that fucking degree and yes, there are two more lectures/seminars I have to do scheduled in the evening. 18:30 to 20:00.
    I wrote the guy an e-mail to ask whether it will be at a different time next year because what the fuck am I supposed to do? Bring the kids to class, serve them dinner there and read them a good-night story there?

  294. says

    -sigh- discussing incentivizing voting with tax credits/a straight government check and someone comes in and starts going on about how that will cost A BILLION DOLLARS!!!! and besides it just won’t work anyway because they think it won’t.

    So, I point out that 1) a billion dollars is insignificant in terms of the federal budget, less than one percent and 2) they don’t have any evidence to back up their claim as to why the incentive wouldn’t work.

    Their response was first to come up with some completely ridiculous proposal to build longboard track. Then they kept throwing around BILLION! and then BILLIONS! of dollars!, then for some reason said that lots of people around the world live on less than a dollar a day because that’s somehow supposed to “put things into perspective”. So, I reiterated what they needed to cover, aaaand…

    Let me know when you can respond to a point I’ve made with a sincere point. Otherwise, do you really require that I answer any of that for you? I’m too tired for games….

    HOW THE FUCK DO YOU RESPOND TO THAT? “You won’t respond to my derails, therefore YOU’RE being dishonest!” … that’s like…the ultimate silencing tactic. I don’t understand how to respond to that other than “what the fuck? That’s pure projection, you haven’t established anything and you have the audacity to accuse me of insincerity? Fuck off.”

  295. Beatrice says

    Giliell,

    So much for family friendly university. I’m sorry you are encountering so many obstacles.
    *hugs*

  296. JAL: Snark, Sarcasm & Bitterness says

    Oh, Giliell, that’s terrible! That’s so fucked up that they would do that. They apparently didn’t think about the people with families, or that work at night or anything. That university doesn’t sound at all family friendly at all.

    I’m so sorry. =(

  298. ImaginesABeach says

    Giliell, my guess is that they scheduled it at that time for working adults, not parents. And if they thought about parents at all, they assume the child will be taken care of by the non-school parent. I’m not saying it’s classism exactly, but it does ignore the fact that lots of people work evenings or nights.

  299. says

    Thanks everybody
    *snuggels chocolate, eats kitten*
    Ooops o.O
    Just for the fun of it I clicked on the “family-friendly University” icon. Oh, they do know that the problem exists. They link you to:
    -the university daycare that’s even 2 hours shorter than the one I have plus 15% more expensive
    -a short-term child-care service which is on the medical campus which is in another city. And I doubt that they’re open till 8:30…

    On the plus side the guy who does the Sociolinguistics lecture has replied promptly that I don’t have to do the tutorial which collides with another lecture. It is “very much advised” that I go there but not obligatory. Let’s see if I can get somebody who goes there to help me out with notes.

  300. says

    Imagines a beach
    Well, I guess that leaves single parents out, too. And I have a big idea what parental “status” most regular student mothers have. I mean, for all that counts on matters of childcare, I’m a single mum, too.

  301. blf says

    Newspapers in UK and US give climate sceptics most column inches:

    Study into coverage of climate change also shows right-leaning papers less likely to challenge sceptical voices

    Climate sceptics feature more prominently in newspapers in the US and UK than other countries, and their views are more likely to go unchallenged in right-leaning papers, an academic study has shown.
    …
    The authors examined in particular the political leanings of each newspaper and concluded that there was “little evidence” that this influenced coverage of climate sceptics in Brazil, India and China. However, in the US and UK, and to some extent France, the political leaning of the newspaper did affect coverage of climate sceptics.
    …
    There were some surprises in the data, though, said the authors, James Painter of the University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) and Teresa Ashe of Birkbeck College. For example, they found that there were slightly more articles of all types — opinion pieces and news stories — containing sceptical voices in the left-leaning newspapers from the countries studied, than in the centrist or right-leaning newspapers. But, in the left-leaning papers, the views of climate sceptics were far more frequently countered within an article by an opposing view.
    …
    The authors refrained from trying to theorise about why climate sceptic voices featured more frequently in the newspapers published in Anglo-Saxon countries, but did observe that “the presence of organised sceptical groups or individual climate sceptics in [the US and UK], and their virtual absence in the other four countries, could have been just as important driver of media outcomes as editorial decisions [of newspapers]. They are adept at getting their voices heard in the media when the opportunities arise.”

    Painter, the lead author, said: “These results are significant because they do seem to support those who argue that climate scepticism is much stronger in ‘Anglo-Saxon’ countries, such as the US, UK, Canada and Australia, as measured by its presence in the media. The data would also suggest a lot of the uncontested climate scepticism is found not so much in the news reports but in the opinion pages of right-leaning newspapers in the US and the UK.”
    …

    Painter added that the study left some intriguing unanswered questions: “…[I]deally, a wider range of countries needs to be studied, including the study of countries such as Australia, Canada, Norway and eastern Europe, where climate scepticism is known to be prevalent. There is anecdotal evidence, too, that climate scepticism is now on the rise in the Brazilian media.”
    …
    Separately, insurance company Axa published a survey on Thursday which showed that a higher proportion of respondents in the UK, US and Japan said they doubted climate science than in the other 10 countries polled, which included Turkey, Indonesia, Germany, and Mexico.

    … “Even in countries where people are least convinced of the scientific reality of this phenomenon (Japan, UK, the US), [climate] sceptics are in the minority (respectively 42%, 37% and 35%),” said Axa. Agreement was highest in Indonesia (95%), Hong Kong (89%) and Turkey (86%).

  302. Beatrice says

    Fuck religion:
    Paralyzed bank manager terminally ill with brain cancer fights for her right to die

    She is paralyzed from the neck down, tethered to breathing and feeding tubes — but Manhattan bank manager Grace Sung Eun Lee still managed to mouth four words Wednesday.

    “I want to die.”

    Doctors are trying to honor Lee’s wish, but her devout parents believe that removing the tubes is suicide — a sin that would condemn the 28-year-old to hell.

    They’ve gone to court to keep the terminally ill brain-cancer patient on life support, turning a heartbreaking family tragedy into a right-to-die legal battle.

  303. McC2lhu saw what you did there. says

    Josh @283:

    /me re-kerns the font on your résumé to left-justify the HKFG and adds in FRBW (Front Row Business, Woman) to your numerous titles.

  305. Portia says

    Hekuni Cat and ednaz

    Thanks for the hugs : )

    Giliell

    That’s totally preposterous. Sorry you have to jump through such hoops.

    Beatrice

    Fuck religion, indeed. That’s just heartbreaking. Ridiculous that a conscious adult can have her perfectly legal wishes stymied by her parents and their superstition. Sick that they’d rather see her suffer so much.

  306. carlie says

    It’s not even a right to die case, really – it’s a competency/autonomy case. The lawyer needs to hit long and hard on the implications of taking someone who has been found medically competent to make their own decisions and removing that right from them.

  307. Pteryxx says

    random: 68,000 Texans no longer have to prove they’re not dead before they can vote.

    The state of Texas has settled a suit brought on behalf of 68,000 “potentially deceased” Texas voters who shared a birthdate and a partial Social Security match with a person appearing on a federal death register. These people will now be able to vote, unless Texas can prove their dead. Another 12,000 voters will still have to prove that they’re not dead before casting a ballot. More from Lowering the Bar:

    from: http://boingboing.net/2012/10/05/68000-texans-no-longer-have-t.html

    referencing: http://www.loweringthebar.net/2012/10/texas-settles-with-previously-dead-voters.html

    —

    Well timed along with this:

    http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/10/05/florida-downsizes-its-voter-purge/

    From 180,000 to 38 who may have voted illegally, out of more than 8 million voters. You do the math.

  308. says

    Hekuni Cat:

    Caine, thank you so very much for my Halloween sleep pillow. It is beautiful. Thank you, too, for the small portrait of Artemis (artist trading card?). That was totally unexpected and very welcome indeed. ♥ ♥ ♥

    You’re welcome and yes,that’s an atc. It can be removed from the card frame.

    JAL:

    The pillows smell awesome and the trading card of Chas is gorgeous. Did you make that card yourself? It’s beautiful.

    Glad you like them. Yes, I did both of the atcs, the one in the card and the one of Chas. One of these days, I’ll get back to painting again.

    I’ll just drop a pile of hugses for everyone, I’m taking more meds so I can ignore my badly broken toe and get some sleep. G’morning all.

  309. says

    Crossed tentacles and what-not, my wife is at her interview in New Mexico!

    If she gets this job, it could be the start of something hugely good for us, for the first time in a long time.

  310. blf says

    I’ll just drop a pile of hugses for everyone, I’m taking more meds…

    Dropping things whilst zonked out on drugs suggests you’ll break more toes.

  311. Portia says

    It’s not even a right to die case, really – it’s a competency/autonomy case. The lawyer needs to hit long and hard on the implications of taking someone who has been found medically competent to make their own decisions and removing that right from them.

    Good point.

    Caine

    Hope you feel better : (

    Joe

    Sending all the luck bossnurse’s way!

    —

    *scoops up my portion of the various piles of hugs that are laying around the [Lounge] and scurries off to do something productive*

  312. says

    Don’t these Right-to-LifeSuffering people always hinge their B.S. on “until natural death”? The poor woman is being kept alive artificially — how could it be “suicide” to allow her to die naturally?

    Wait, what the fuck am I thinking? That these people are in any way rational or consistent? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?

    *seeks more coffee*

    @ednaz: thanks for the hugs, and words of support.

  314. blf says

    Yoda worm brings Star Wars to the deep sea:

    Yoda purpurata is one of three new species of deep-sea acorn worms discovered 1.5 miles beneath the Atlantic.

    Scientists coined the genus name because the large lips on either side of the creature’s head reminded them of the Jedi master’s floppy ears. The creature is a dark reddish-purple — hence the other part of the worm’s name, which is Latin for purple.
    …
    Professor Monty Priede, from the University of Aberdeen, said: “Our colleague in California, Nick Holland, the world authority on enteropneusts, chose the name Yoda for the new genus characterised by its large, ear-like lips. There is much interest in acorn worms from the point of view of understanding the early evolution of the vertebrates. Whilst they are not strictly a missing link in our own evolution, they give an insight into what the lifestyle of our remote ancestors might have been like.”

    The pint-sized Star Wars character joins a long list of other famous people and characters who have had a new species named after them, including … a trio of slime-mold beetles named after George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

    That last bit is terribly insulting to slime, mold, slime-mold, and beetles. and indeed all life, fossilized life, and rocks. And undeservingly flattering to the thugs.

     ───────────────────────────────────

    Speaking of beetlesbeatles… The Beatles in charts and infographics.

  315. trinioler says

    Janine, when you say Hush, I think of the classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode… sorry.

  316. Janine: Hallucinating Liar says

    Have fun with this pile of witless pablum.

    This is a religious country. Part of claiming your citizenship is claiming a belief in God, even if you are not Christian.. We’ve got the Creator in our Declaration of Independence. We’ve got “In God We Trust” on our coins. We’ve got “one nation under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance. And we say prayers in the Senate and the House of Representatives to God.

    Where is Susan Jacoby when you need her.

  318. Janine: Hallucinating Liar says

    That was just my way of making a silly joke about the change in the killfile, trinioler. Also, any excuse to link to a cover by Killdozer.

  319. says

    If anyone had any doubt about the the prejudiced nature of Supreme Court Justice Scalia, you can now lay that doubt to rest.

    The old, robed dude says outlawing “homosexual sodomy” is a no-brainer.

    … At a book reading and lecture at Washington, D.C.’s American Enterprise Institute this week, the 76-year-old Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and self-described “textualist” entertained the crowd by rattling off a litany of his top judicial no-brainers.

    “The death penalty? Give me a break. It’s easy. Abortion? Absolutely easy. Nobody ever thought the Constitution prevented restrictions on abortion,” he said. “Homosexual sodomy? Come on. For 200 years, it was criminal in every state.” And then he went to bed that night and slept like a baby….

  320. carlie says

    Speaking of beetlesbeatles… The Beatles in charts and infographics.

    I love you for that reference. That’s awesome.

  321. Janine: Hallucinating Liar says

    Old news about that calcified jackass, Lynna. Remember, years ago, he said this.

    Indeed, it seems to me that the more Christian a country is, the less likely it is to regard the death penalty as immoral. Abolition has taken its firmest hold in post-Christian Europe and has least support in the church-going United States. I attribute that to the fact that for the believing Christian, death is no big deal.

    Yes, I do think that Scalia is a wannabe theocrat.

  322. says

    Janie @321, I like the “calcified jackass” description for Scalia. I’ll steal that and use it, with your permission.

    Speaking of jackasses, remember the coal mine owner who ordered his employees to attend a Romney rally, and to stand behind Romney to provide photo/video ops? Well, that guy, Robert Murray, turns out to be far worse than we knew.

    This is one of those Republicans who hates unions, but who forces his employees to attend Republican functions, without pay, and who keeps track of which employees donate to the Republicans of his choice.

    Internal Murray documents show just how upset Murray becomes when employees fail to join the giving. In missives, he cajoles employees to attend fund-raisers and scolds them when they or their subordinates do not. … at least one note came with a list of names of employees who had not yet given. “What is so difficult about asking a well-paid, salaried employee to give us three hours of his/her time every two months?” Murray writes in a March 2012 letter. “We have been insulted by every salaried employee who does not support our efforts.”

    … At the time of hiring, supervisors tell employees that they are expected to contribute to the company PAC by automatic payroll deduction … Employees are given a form to sign, explaining that the giving is voluntary. “In the interview … I was told that I would be expected to make political contributions — that [Murray] just expected that,” says the first source….

    Maddow Link.

    The New Republic link. More detail in this article.

  323. birgerjohansson says

    Improbable Joe,
    I finally found the musical link between Albuquerque and hot dogs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T6e3GJCjow
    It was Prefab Sprout, not The B52’s.
    While you might not become “the king of rock’n roll”, at least I hope you will be as comfortable as the couple near the pool, as you finally get some financial security. And eat a hot dog while you’re at it.

    I have not yet worked out the symbolism of the bipedal frog waiter. Capek wrote a novel about amphibians with issues, maybe you had better be careful with them.
    — — — — —
    In some countries you can be dead and remain chief of state. Maybe the Texas voter restrictions was intended to prevent a North Korean takeover?

  324. Janine: Hallucinating Liar says

    Feel free to use it, Lynna. I am just pleased that some one liked it.

  326. Hekuni Cat, MQG says

    Caine – Ouch! I sympathize and empathize regarding your broken toe. I broke my right big toe a few years back. I hope you heal quickly. *hugs* and *chocolate*

  327. says

    birgerjohansson, I guess I’ll at least need a shinier suit and big sunglasses! :) Albuquerque isn’t even in that song to rhyme with anything, is it?

    I’m already looking at houses. We’re going to suck it up and get used to driving longer distances to work/school, because we don’t ever want to have to live in the ghetto again. I’d rather drive further and live in a gated community.

  330. Pteryxx says

    Co-creator of Daily Show launches “Lady Parts Justice”:

    OH Yeah, and Planned Parenthood isn’t turning Girl Scouts into Commulezzies

    And Double OH YEAH-

    No state should ever have the right to shove a probe in a woman’s vagina against her will because the government has elected shitwits who think women are such irrational idiots that the government knows best about what is right for them, their bodies and their futures.

    So why am I scribbling all these ridonculous implausible scenarios?

    Because these are either actual laws, proposed laws, or reasons used by politicians who have been elected to public office.

    No, I am not fucking with you right now.

    Guess small government means ONLY legislating small spaces. Namely vaginas.

    Rest of rant and video link via BB:

    http://boingboing.net/2012/10/05/lizz-winstead-co-creator-of-d.html

  331. dysomniak, darwinian socialist says

    OH Yeah, and Planned Parenthood isn’t turning Girl Scouts into Commulezzies
    Sigh, another missed opportunity. I still love Lizz Winstead though.

  332. cicely says

    ImaginesABeach: I’ll be in touch. :)

    and

    there was a (now discontinued) scooter with, I believe 4 wheel drive, called the “Wrangler” that would be perfect for mounting the Octolasers.

    *sigh*
    I’m late to the party, as usual!
    –
    Josh!
    *pouncehug*
    –
    *hugs* for Giliell, and *tea*.
    –
    Sleep well, Caine.
    Dream of mischievous ratties.
    :)
    –
    Joe, my tentacles are cramping from all the crossing they’re doing on your behalf.
    :)
    –

    Janine, when you say Hush, I think of the classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode… sorry.

    Me, too. One of their best.
    –

  333. Amphiox says

    re Janine @321;

    Hey, if state execution for capital crime was good enough for your god, surely that blessing should be available to all.

  334. says

    Good evening
    Thank you everybody for the support
    Do you want a piece of autumn-fritata in return (potatoes, pumpkin and mushrooms)? I always greatly underestimate the amount of food vegetables turn out to be…

    +++
    Something nice: Two weeks ago I started reading #1 a real book for the first time. So far they would usually get a short kiddie-book for a good night story, taking turns of choosing it. For a while their “window” overlapped, but I think that now it’s time for #1 to move on. We’re reading “The Wizard of the Emerald City”, which is a adaptation from the Wizard of Oz by a Soviet author. Book is one of mine and much loved (I’ve read the original. This one’s better)

  335. Beatrice says

    Anyone here avoids carbohydrates? What do you eat for breakfast?

    A friend will come over in the morning and I have no idea what I can offer that won’t be a problem.

    (Yes, I should have informed myself earlier, but I’ve been angry with her so I was sulking.)

    ((and really, one breakfast with bread won’t kill her. She’s avoiding carbs because of acne, nothing else))

  336. Patricia, OM says

    Beatrice – How about scrambled eggs? Or if you’re really pissed at her sour kraut should get the point across. *smiles innocently*

  337. Beatrice says

    Mmm, scrambled eggs, maybe with peppers.
    Good idea, Patricia. Thanks!

    Personally, I can’t imagine eating scrambled eggs without bread. Another weird eating habit, I guess.

  339. says

    Well, good news and deferred news.

    Good news is, my wife was offered the job!

    Deferred news is, we have no idea what the pay or relocation package are yet. The recruiter and HR will negotiate that next week.

  340. Janine: Hallucinating Liar says

    When fake historians meet!

    Scott Lively’s Redemption Gate Mission Society is hosting a Thanksgiving fundraiser [PDF] featuring none other than fellow pseudo-historian David Barton! Perhaps Barton is helping Lively’s ministry after he came to Barton’s defense when his latest book The Jefferson Lies was pulled off the shelves by its Christian publisher over its many factual inaccuracies, thanks in no small part due to the heavy criticism it received from evangelical scholars such as Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter, whose book Getting Jefferson Right thoroughly exposed Barton’s errors and distortions.

    My black an empty heart is almost warmed up by the joy of this news.

  341. Patricia, OM says

    Huzzah for you Joe!

    Beatrice – If I wanted to jazz up the eggs, adding some of those jarred pimentos and shredded cheddar or feta really makes eggs say Bazinga!

  342. says

    From the article about mouse!eggs:

    That idea cheapens all life, in a way – not just embryonic or fetal life, but babies and the rest of us when we start treating life as a manufacturing proposition.

    Yeah, but having 19 little soldiers for Christ, that’s not cheapening anything or treating life as a manufacturing proposition. *eyeroll*

  345. Janine: Hallucinating Liar says

    Yeah, but having 19 little soldiers for Christ, that’s not cheapening anything or treating life as a manufacturing proposition.

    Kristinc, those quivering parents are allowing god to play god. That is alright.

  346. Patricia, OM says

    This afternoon I’m getting my pre-convention haircut, then Naughty Marvin and I are going to choose our outfits. The newsletter said all 850 tickets were sold out. I’m starting to get excited already!

  347. dianne says

    Do you want a piece of autumn-fritata in return (potatoes, pumpkin and mushrooms)?

    I haven’t been around and therefore haven’t been any help and therefore don’t deserve it in the least but…Yes, I want some! Yum! If you have some left over after the actual deserving people get theirs, please send it via the tubes…

  348. Beatrice says

    Joe,

    Congrats to your wife!
    I hope the pay and everything else will be something that will get you into a nice neighborhood.

  349. says

    Beatrice,

    I’ve already been combing some online house rental sites, and the rents are pretty reasonable compared to here. I’m in a 100 year old house in the ghetto paying $1200 a month here, I’ve seen ads for new housesin gated communities for under $1100.

  350. says

    I should probably mention the important part of this at some point: the building my wife will be working at is a GOOD BUILDING! You know, the opposite of the broken buildings she’s been working at, and there’s a much smaller chance of BossNurse being assaulted by a homeless schizophrenic person.

  351. says

    This a follow up to my post @319 in which Supreme Court Justice Scalia is quoted as saying that it would be easy for the court to outlaw “homosexual sodomy.”

    “As president, Mitt will nominate judges in the mold of Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito.” — from Mitt Romney’s official website.

  353. says

    Here are some excerpts from the latest edition of Chronicling Mitt’s Mendacity. Within Steve Benen’s list, here, there are more links to information that establishes that the lies are lies.

    1. In reference to the unemployment rate, Romney said, “The reason it’s come down this year is primarily due to the fact that more and more people have just stopped looking for work.”

    That’s not true.

    2. On Fox News last night, Romney said in reference to the president, “[W]hat I find so offensive about his tax plan is by raising taxes on small business, as he does, he will kill jobs.”

    In reality, Obama has repeatedly cut taxes on small businesses — by some counts, 18 times — and if given a second term, his tax plan would have no effect on 97% of small businesses.

    …

    6. Romney said, “I’m not going to reduce the share of taxes paid by high-income people. High-income people are doing just fine in this economy.”

    That’s not true. The wealthy would receive a massive, disproportionate tax break under the Romney plan.
    …

    8. Romney said, “I’m not going to cut education funding. I don’t have any plan to cut education funding and grants that go to people going to college.”

    That’s a lie.

    9. Romney argued, “Energy is critical, and the president pointed out correctly that production of oil and gas in the U.S. is up. But not due to his policies. In spite of his policies. Mr. President, all of the increase in natural gas and oil has happened on private land, not on government land.”

    Wrong.
    …

    15. Romney said on tax rates, “Mr. President, you’re absolutely right, which is that with regards to 97 percent of the businesses are not taxed at the 35 percent tax rate, they’re taxed at a lower rate. But those businesses that are in the last 3 percent of businesses happen to employ half — half — of all of the people who work in small business.”

    That’s a new one. It’s also not true.
    ….

  354. opposablethumbs says

    Great news, Joe – congrats to BossNurse!

    I’m a bit behind on my reading, but I think some major study-related hugs should be heading Giliell’s way.

    Hugs and kittens QS to everyone else, as and when appropriate.

  355. Ogvorbis: broken and cynical says

    The poor woman is being kept alive artificially — how could it be “suicide” to allow her to die naturally?

    Come on, you already know the answer. With these people, everything is just like sex. Once you stick the tube in . . . .

  357. dianne says

    68,000 Texans no longer have to prove they’re not dead before they can vote.

    How do you prove you’re not dead? Is animation enough or do you also have to demonstrate a complete lack of interest in sucking the blood or eating the brains of the person asking the question? Is eating the brains of someone who would question whether someone who walked up to them and said, “Hi. I’m X, date of birth XXX, SS# XXX” is dead or not redundant?

  358. Azkyroth, Former Growing Toaster Oven says

    Do you want a piece of autumn-fritata in return (potatoes, pumpkin and mushrooms)? I always greatly underestimate the amount of food vegetables turn out to be…

    I’ll settle for the recipe. :D