Done and Dusted

Well, I’m glad that’s settled:

After centuries of ruminating on one of life's great mysteries, science has finally made a bold declaration. No longer will we wonder "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

Professor John Brookfield, specialist in evolutionary genetics from England's University of Nottingham, insists that the egg predates the chicken.

But if that's true, who laid the egg?

Brookfield notes that genetic material doesn't change over the course of an organism's lifetime. Any change or mutation that took place to create the first chicken must have taken place within the confines of an egg.

"Therefore the first living thing which we could say unequivocally was a member of the species would be this first egg. The egg came first."

File this under Things You Won’t Learn at the Creation Museum.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Actual Headline

Lower Income May Mean Higher Stress. I find this difficult to believe. I’ve always found the choice between paying bills and buying groceries to be delightfully freeing. Nothing leaves a person footloose and fancy free like destitution! It’s like that sitcom that gets pitched in The Fisher King—homelessness is wacky! You’re not homeless; you’re Home Free!

I feel like I should write a serious post about this, mentioning why this feeds into the necessity of a living wage, and how it can be tied into everything from healthcare to illegal immigration, and how the Bush administration has categorically failed to address the needs of the poor, instead moving increasing amounts of wealth further and further up into the clutches of those who are the least in need. But would I really be able to say anything new, anything we haven't discussed here a thousand times? No.

Fuck Bush for a whole new reason: He's made me dull and repetitive.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

in which science rocks

Ever wanted a cloak of invisibility? One could be coming soon! Check it out:

The keys are special manmade materials, unlike any in nature or the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. These materials are intended to steer light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation around an object, rendering it as invisible as something tucked into a hole in space.

“Is it science fiction? Well, it’s theory and that already is not science fiction. It’s theoretically possible to do all these Harry Potter things, but what’s standing in the way is our engineering capabilities,” said John Pendry, a physicist at the Imperial College London.

[...]

“This is very interesting science and a very interesting idea and it is supported on a great mathematical and physical basis,” said Nader Engheta, a professor of electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Engheta has done his own work on invisibility using novel materials called metamaterials.

From what I gather, metamaterials can cause light to bend “the wrong way” or negatively.

A cloak made of those materials, with a structure designed down to the submicroscopic scale, would neither reflect light nor cast a shadow.

Instead, like a river streaming around a smooth boulder, light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation would strike the cloak and simply flow around it, continuing on as if it never bumped up against an obstacle. That would give an onlooker the apparent ability to peer right through the cloak, with everything tucked inside concealed from view.

How cool is that?! Such a cloak is not yet available but “early versions that could mask microwaves and other forms of electromagnetic radiation could be as close as 18 months away” with the promise that “we will have a cloak after not too long”.

I suppose this gives fundies yet another reason to be scared of science. Science doesn’t just “hate god”, it creates the devil’s magic!




(Beware the vanishing crosspost)

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Haditha Update

The NYT reports that Pentagon officials confirm that a military investigation is “expected to find,” as Rep. Murtha suggested last week, that two dozen Iraqi civilians were killed in cold blood by US marines last November. The deaths, which were originally ascribed to a makeshift bomb, and then to crossfire between marines and insurgents, actually look to be the result of “a sustained sweep by a small group of marines that lasted three to five hours and included shootings of five men standing near a taxi at a checkpoint, and killings inside at least two homes that included women and children.”

A separate inquiry is looking into the cover-up, and yet another inquiry this week has found “sufficient information” to recommend the commission of the formal criminal probe into the killing of another Iraqi civilian near Hamandiyah.

I’ve spent awhile reading some of the responses to this story by conservative bloggers, and every one I read (which should not be conflated with every one, period) has taken the position that this happens in all wars, move along, blah blah. You know, I don’t think they’re wrong—but while they use this ghastly fact to continue to defend the Iraq war, I have always used it to approach all war very carefully indeed. It’s jarring to see the ultimate betrayal of troops meant to be liberators invoked as a misguided justification of the alleged liberation.

More from TBogg, The Heretik, Tom Tomorrow.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Gunfire reported at the Capitol

UPDATE: The Capitol complex was reopened, and now is locked down again. Blogenfreude just told me that it’s being reported there was no tape in the cameras in the garage. (Oy.) Raw Story says that gunpowder has been found in the Rayburn office building, according to a Democractic aide, and that Fox News reports “women who ran out of the building told Capitol police they had seen a gunman in the ‘locker room’ and the ‘gymnasium.’”

Anyone hearing anything more about this?

---------------------

CNN:

Capitol Police said Friday they were investigating reports of sounds of gunfire in the garage of the Rayburn Office Building, where members of the House have their offices.

The entire Capitol complex has been locked down, CNN's Dana Bash reported.

No victims. No active shooter. Investigation continues. May be nothing. Just passing it along.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Lapdogs

Arf. Mannion and I are reading the same book, Eric Boehlert's Lapdogs. It’s a book about the utter failing of the press, and their obedience, during the Bush administration—a topic of much interest for many readers of this blog. I’ve already been struck by the same thing that Mannion points out in his post today:

I have yet to come across anything that I didn't already know from five years of reading blogs, but on every page I have something that I had forgotten, always something that even if I had accidentally jogged back into memory on my own I would not have been able to recall in the detail that Boehlert provides or with anything near the amount of supporting facts he provides.

He also calls the book a godsend (“Oh, all right, it's a publistsend, but I'm still awful grateful to have it.”), and I totally agree. It’s a mountain of evidence, and Boehlert is a patient and resolute sherpa.

By way of introduction, I recommend this piece at Salon, to which I linked a couple of weeks ago. If you like the article, you’ll love the book. Well, love is maybe a bit peculiar. There isn’t much to love about the content, but you will certainly admire the information amassed by Boehlert and his ability to pull it all together in some kind of cohesive narrative. I read a lot of political stuff, but don’t feel particularly compelled to recommend much of it. I’m recommending this one.

(Like Mannion, I received a copy from the publisher—for which I am ever so grateful; otherwise, I never would have been able to buy it at the moment. I wanted to let you know by way of full disclosure, although I suspect you all know me well enough by now to guess, free or not, I wouldn’t recommend it if it I didn’t mean it.)

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Hayden Confirmed

The former head of the NSA who oversaw and defended the domestic wiretapping program has been confirmed by the Senate to head of the CIA. He was approved by a vote of 78-15.

Wev. Looks like our democracy is still right on schedule for decimation.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

"Name That Cult Movie"- The Answering

You cannot escape the Mullet.

Looks like it was a particularly tough one this week; and I thought many of them were giveaways. Anyway, I hope I didn't frustrate and/or piss off too many of you! Here are the answers (with quotes included)

1. "Don't worry. A naked girl is not going to get out of this complex."
Lifeforce. Space vampires! This was Tobe Hooper's first movie after Poltergeist, unfortunately, it wasn't quite as popular. Which is a shame, when you consider this movie has everything: space vampires! Zombies! 'Splosions! And nekkid ladies, for those of you that like that sort of thing in your space vampire movies. I got all nostalgic after using this quote yesterday and put it in my Netflix queueueue. This will be the best Memorial Day weekend ever! Did I mention space vampires?


2. "The chicken's beautiful, it's dead... are you gonna fuck it?"
Liquid Sky. Aliens come to earth looking for heroin, but find they get a bigger charge out of the chemicals produced by the human brain during orgasm. This is one of those cult movies that most of my friends seem to love, but I just find incredibly dull and pointless. But that's just me. View at your own risk.

3. "I'm about to go like Jesse on your ass! I'm gonna find me some other black ghosts and then organize a march. The African American Apparition Coalition. The A-double AC! And I'm gonna tell you something, Frank. There ain't nothin' worse than a bunch of pissed off brothers that's already dead."
The Frighteners. Apparently, I'm obsessed with pointing out every movie Peter Jackson made before he got all Hobbity. This was pretty much dismissed when it was released, but if you've never seen it, I highly recommend renting it. (Or buying it; a new special edition just came out.) It's a fantastic, fun movie... Michael J. Fox is great in it, and Jeffrey Combs' twitchy, "Mulder-esque" character is worth the price of admission.

4. "I hear all sorts of bullshit everyday, pal. You want some advice? Take your fancy clothes and your black silk underwear and go back to Disneyland."
Double Impact. See, Jean-Claude Van Damme stars, and he's.. heh... he's playing two roles, *snicker* and see, one's a nice guy kung-fu expert and dancing instructor, heh heh, and the other one's a criminal, and they're twins separated at birth when their parents are killed by crime bosses... bwah hahahaha! God, I love this movie. "Bad" Jean-Claude is obsessed with the fact that his "faggoty" brother wears black silk underwear. Hearing him say that phrase is one of the high points of the movie. Snicker.

5. "I got good news and bad news girls. The good news is your dates are here."
"What's the bad news?"
"They're dead."
Night of the Creeps. Classic 80's Zombie Horror. Where's the damn DVD release? Look, it features zombie frat boys with exploding heads filled with extraterrestrial slug monsters. If that doesn't deserve DVD, I don't know what does. (Toast is going to kill me for that one.)

6. "Robert, I have good news and bad."
"Custom dictates that you render the bad news first."
"We have a little problem with Miss Hastings. It appears she has uncovered our alliance."
"No problem at all. And the good news?"
"Your wife died."
Darkman. Sure, Liam Neeson is Mister Respected Actor these days, but don't forget, he was in this, and Krull. (Somehow, I think he's got a good sense of humor about doing these movies.) Also featuring Frances McDormand! If you haven't seen this one, definitely rent it. They haven't given Sam Raimi those big Spiderman movies for nothing, you know.

7. "Queers are just better! I'd be so proud if you was a fag, and had a nice beautician boyfriend... I'd never have to worry!"
"There ain't nothin' to worry about."
"I'm worried you'll work in an office! Have children! Celebrate wedding anniversaries! The world of a heterosexual is a sick and boring life!"
Female Trouble. Fran is right, this incredible quote was used as an intro to a song by the band "Sloppy Seconds." I had this as my answering machine message for a while.

8. "Look at 'em jump! Just like rabbits!"
*Gunshot*
"It... ain't... supposed to be... this way..." *dies*
The Violent Years. Written by, but not directed by, Ed Wood. Bad, vandalist girls that wreak havoc in a small town while wearing proper, prim skirts and sensible shoes. There's a completely weird scene of implied rape, where the girls drag some baffled guy off into the woods to have their nasty way with him. In 1956! No one did 'em like Ed Wood. You know they're really bad girls, because they have names like Geraldine and Phyllis.

9. "There are many different kinds of love, Boris. There's love between a man and a woman; between a mother and son..."
"Two women. Let's not forget my favorite."
Love and Death. Take your Manhattan, take your Sleeper... great movies, but this has always been my favorite Woody Allen movie. The silent "bottle knockout" scene is one of the funniest moments of slapstick in movie history.

10. "I caught a big fat bug right in my spider web and now the spider gets to give the bug a big sting... Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting!"
Spider Baby. A family suffers from a rare illness that causes them to regress mentally as they age. They're kept in a huge, crumbling house by their "caretaker," (Lon Chaney, Jr.) and slowly go nuts. A classic. There's a great review and images (and an MP3 of the title song!) here. Don't say I never gave you anything.

So, how did you like having the quotes included with the answers? Was this one too difficult?

Black. Silk. Underwear.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Too Short for Prison: Update

The case I posted about yesterday, in which a 5’1” child molester was given probation instead of jail time because the judge felt he was too short for prison, has caught the attention of victims’ rights advocates and the National Organization of Short Statured Adults. Additionally, the Nebraska State Attorney General will appeal the decision, “calling the sentence far too lenient.”

NOOSA Secretary Joe Mangano said, “I'm assuming a short inmate would have a much more difficult time than a large inmate. It's good to see somebody looking out for someone who is a short person.” Again, a solution to this is separation from the general population, not reducing a 10-year prison sentence for repeatedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl to probation.

Marla Sohl, of the Nebraska Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Coalition, makes the point that the decision appears to confer more concern upon the convicted molester than his victim. “I'm concerned about the message this sends to victims and perpetrators.” Absolutely. There are other ways of making sure justice is served on behalf of the victim without unnecessarily endangering the perpetrator, nor providing other potential sexual predators with a (quite literal) get-out-of-jail free card.

And, in fairness, this doesn’t send a particularly good message to other convicted child molesters who drew a different genetic straw making them “tall enough” for prison. One of the endemic problems with our justice system in its current state is the unequal application of sentences; if you’re rich, you’re likely to serve less time than if you’re poor; if you’re white, you’re likely to serve less time than if you’re black. Etc. This systemic inequity isn’t helped by creating another class of disparity—you’ll serve less time if you’re short than if you’re tall. Bad decision all around, for a whole host of reasons.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

“Now we know what it takes to make Congress mad enough to stand up for constitutional rights.”

I largely agree with this editorial in USAToday, although it doesn’t directly address the second part of the issue (as we discussed in this thread), which is the concern that the FBI raid of Jefferson’s office was the first of its kind amidst a slew of criminal investigations. None of the Republicans being investigated have been subjected to the same. The line “there's no evidence that the Jefferson raid was an abuse of power” is therefore not totally true; the appearance of partisanship in how these inquiries are being conducted certainly suggests a possible abuse of power, even if the search itself was intrinsically not.

Nonetheless, there are some good points here about the seeming hypocrisy of the Congress, who didn’t nearly seem as excised about the Bush administration’s tactics until it directly affected them.

When the government snoops on your phone calls and records without warrants, lawmakers barely kick up a fuss. But when the target is a fellow congressman — one under investigation for taking a bribe, no less — they're ready to rumble.

…A more appropriate response from congressional leaders would have been remorse over their failure to do anything meaningful to make members act ethically. Hastert, for instance, replaced a House ethics committee chairman last year after he attempted to enforce some rules. Congressional offices, obviously, should not be sanctuaries for crime, but the outcry from Capitol Hill brought quick action. On Thursday, President Bush ordered the documents seized in Jefferson's office to be "sealed" from the investigators' view for 45 days, while the Justice Department and Congress settle their differences.

What a pity that Congress' leaders haven't used their clout to protect the public's rights as eagerly as they defend their own.

Indeed. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), who’s as happy as anyone to trample the rights of Americans and is such a partisan prick that he’s denied meeting space to Dems and shut off their microphones in hearings when he didn’t like what they had to say, has dubbed next week’s scheduled hearings about the Jefferson office raid "Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?" Please. Where were the histrionics when people were asking the same thing about his strong support of the Real ID bill, or the Patriot Act, or the NSA spy program? Oh, that’s right. Sensenbrenner was busily casting the opposition as delusional and preventing them from speaking.

The GOP getting outraged about this is laughable. This is the same group of miscreants who are currently seeking (yet again) to codify discrimination against the LGBT community into the Constitution. Are they really just so self-involved that they can’t see the double-standard (that’s certainly part of it), or are they casting their concern as a separation of powers issue (something that hasn’t bothered them before as they’ve happily championed the Bush administration’s notion of the unitary executive) to mask a more cynical motivation of self-protection?

Hastert is suggesting that the reports he is under investigation are based on leaks designed to intimidate him, after he raised questions about the search on Jefferson’s office, as opposed to assumption that he is sounding the alarm because he might need the same protection in the not-too-distant future. I don’t know what the truth is. Tony Snow has denied that the Justice Department leaked the information as a threat, in which I put absolutely no faith whatsoever; it would be entirely typical and expected of this administration to selectively leak information to intimidate someone (see: Plame, Valerie). But to buy into that theory is to assume that Hastert is operating in good faith on behalf of a fellow Congressman, who just happens to be a Democrat, which seems too fantastical to be believed. Since when does the GOP show altruism to the Dems? I find it unlikely Hastert is motivated by some newfound sense of brotherhood. He’s either acting out of self-interest, knowing he’s next on the probing block, or because he knows there are other Republicans who will go down as Abramoff and Cunningham sing. Probably both.

In any case, whether the Congress is simply being egregiously hypocritical, or mendacious (or both), it’s certainly telling that an encroachment on the separation of powers and on civil rights is suddenly a cause for concern, now that it’s affecting them.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Hindsight is 20/20

But how near-sighted is George Bush that he couldn’t see the possible repercussions ahead of him in the first place?

The president was ready, however, when he was asked a variation of a question he's failed to answer before: What mistakes do you most regret about Iraq? "Saying, 'Bring it on,'" Bush said. "Kind of tough talk, sent the wrong signal to people. I learned some lessons about expressing myself in a more sophisticated manner. 'Wanted dead or alive,' that kind of talk. I think in certain parts of the world, it was misinterpreted. So I learned from that." Continuing, Bush said the "biggest mistake" from "our country's involvement in Iraq" was Abu Ghraib. "We've been paying for that for a long time," Bush said.

Hat tip to Stark, who appropriately describes the quote as having him “balls to the wall speechless.”

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Spaulding the Gay Blade

My bloggrrl Pam Spaulding of Pam’s House Blend is profiled in the Washington Blade this week.

“Politics today in terms of gay and lesbian rights affects me directly, affects me profoundly,” Spaulding says. “There are people who are working to make my life hell. They see me as an enemy when I’m just a neighbor, a tax-paying citizen minding my own business, when I just call it like I see it.”

It’s a nice piece on one of my favorite bloggers, not to mention a good friend. I knew Pam before we were bloggers ourselves (though Pam had an existing personal blog)—we were both regular commenters at AMERICAblog, which is where I also first met Ms. Julien, Holly, The Dark Wraith, and Oddjob. We started The Blend and Shakes within a couple months of each other, and so navigated the political blogosphere on a bit of a crash course together. Pam was a tireless and patient resource, helping me with programming stuff, which I had never done before—and she was always encouraging, always willing to read a post draft about which I wasn’t certain or be on the opposite end of an exasperated venting session.

I can’t even tell you how many emails we’ve exchanged (“Have you seen this shit?!”) or conversations we’ve had about various issues (“OMG—where are all the female bloggers again?!”), how many times she’s made me howl with laughter. To this day, I have never been as excited to be blogrolled by anyone as when I saw Shakespeare’s Sister on Pam’s blogroll.

It seems like there can be a lot of jealousy and competition in the blogosphere, which makes my friendship with Pam all the more important to me. As each of our respective spaces have grown from being teensy little blogs to slightly less teensy blogs, and found ourselves with increasing opportunities or recognition, there has never been anything but excitement on the other’s behalf. When we’ve gotten “big links,” we’ve linked to each other, to try to share the windfall of traffic. Whenever we’d had the chance to mention the other, we have. She inspires me to do the best work I can by supporting me wholly—and I try to do the same in return.

Thanks, Pam—for being a great friend, and for making the blogosphere that much better because you’re a part of it.

(Pam’s away today; if you’re not familiar with The Blend and are checking it out for the first time, here are some of my favorite posts.)

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Bush orders FBI docs sealed

I don’t understand this mess at all. Bush has ordered that documents seized in an FBI raid of Rep. William Jefferson’s offices as part of a bribery investigation be sealed for 45 days to give Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi “some time to step back and try to negotiate with the Department of Justice.”

Jefferson was caught on tape taking $100k in dirty money, $90k of which was found in his freezer. Two people have pleaded guilty to bribing him. So what’s the big hubbub about searching his office? What needs to be negotiated?

The issue seems to be that the search, according to historians, is “the first such search of a congressman's Capitol quarters in the more than two centuries since the first Congress convened.” (Which is, frankly, shocking to me, but okay; I’ll take their word for it. They’d know.) So, because of this unprecedented search, Republicans and Democrats both are complaining that the search indicates “that the executive branch was overstepping its authority.”

Now, look, I’m as likely as just about anyone to accuse the Bush administration of overstepping its authority, but it looks to me more like Congress is going apeshit because suddenly they’re losing what seems an undeserved protection. Any average citizen who was suspected of accepting a bribe would be subjected to an office and home search. It doesn’t strike me as scandalous that the people elected to represent average citizens should be treated the same.

Am I missing something? Help me out here, Shakers.

(And, as an aside, I find this particularly ironic on the day of the Enron verdict.)

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Caption This Photo

President Bush walks into the National Security Agency's Threat Operations Center at Fort Meade, Maryland, January 25, 2006. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

I have a dream…

…that the nutwits running crap shows in Branson, MO wouldn’t co-opt an image of America’s greatest civil rights leader for use in a tacky advertisement.

Passed on by Camera Obscura, who found it at Granny Geek’s place. Granny says, “OF COURSE Granny called Intellectual Properties Management at the King Center in Atlanta. OF COURSE they asked for this photo.” Heh.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Hinchey Makes a Move

Remember this?

Meanwhile, the Justice Department has abruptly ended an inquiry into the warrantless eavesdropping program because the NSA refused to grant its lawyers the necessary security clearance.

The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, or OPR, sent a fax to Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., on Wednesday saying they were closing their inquiry because without clearance their lawyers cannot examine Justice lawyers’ role in the program.

Well, Rep. Hinchey was having none of it—and he’s introduced a measure which would compel the Bush administration to reveal who blocked the Justice Department’s inquiry.

"The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility is designed to ensure that the highest ethical standards are met by those who enforce our laws. For administration officials to deny OPR officials security clearances needed to do their job and conduct the proper oversight is absurd and is contradictory to what the American people expect and deserve from their government," Hinchey said. "The Bush administration cannot get away with designing a secret, illegal spy program and then shutting down an investigation into its creation and implementation. Since the Attorney General and others have refused to be forthcoming in a genuine way on their own, this resolution of inquiry will force them to pull back the curtain of secrecy and reveal who stopped the OPR investigation and why."

Right on, Hinchey. Go get ’em.

(Hat tip C&L.)

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Thursday's Name That Cult Movie Game!

Put on your thinking caps, and make sure it isn't a Brain Slug. If you recognize a quote, name the movie title in comments. Remember, every time you cheat using the IMDB, Tom Cruise makes another "Mission Impossible" flick.

1. "Don't worry. A naked girl is not going to get out of this complex."

2. "The chicken's beautiful, it's dead... are you gonna fuck it?"

3. "I'm about to go like Jesse on your ass! I'm gonna find me some other black ghosts and then organize a march. The African American Apparition Coalition. The A-double AC! And I'm gonna tell you something, Frank. There ain't nothin' worse than a bunch of pissed off brothers that's already dead."

4. "I hear all sorts of bullshit everyday, pal. You want some advice? Take your fancy clothes and your black silk underwear and go back to Disneyland."

5. "I got good news and bad news girls. The good news is your dates are here."
"What's the bad news?"
"They're dead."

6. "Robert, I have good news and bad."
"Custom dictates that you render the bad news first."
"We have a little problem with Miss Hastings. It appears she has uncovered our alliance."
"No problem at all. And the good news?"
"Your wife died."

7. "Queers are just better! I'd be so proud if you was a fag, and had a nice beautician boyfriend... I'd never have to worry!"
"There ain't nothin' to worry about."
"I'm worried you'll work in an office! Have children! Celebrate wedding anniversaries! The world of a heterosexual is a sick and boring life!"

8. "Look at 'em jump! Just like rabbits!"
*Gunshot*
"It... ain't... supposed to be... this way..." *dies*

9. "There are many different kinds of love, Boris. There's love between a man and a woman; between a mother and son..."
"Two women. Let's not forget my favorite."

10. "I caught a big fat bug right in my spider web and now the spider gets to give the bug a big sting... Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting!"

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Meddling Mum

LOL:

Social workers called out by a worried mum to speak to her daughter about her loose morals were shocked to find out their ages.

They had to tell the 92-year-old German mother that her 68-year-old daughter's love life was none of their business.

Adelheid Schmidt called the youth department of social services in Hildesheim, Lower Saxony, to complain about her daughter Tina's "uncontrollable, immoral and loose behaviour with men".

Mrs Schmidt made the call after she found out that Tina had a boyfriend.

But the social workers told her they could not help her as her "child" was 50 years past the age limit where social services can get involved.

Why do I get the feeling that old Adelheid’s definition of “uncontrollable, immoral, and loose behavior” is slightly different than mine?

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Rhythm Method: Embryo Killer?

Recently, anti-choice advocate and Christian minister Randy Alcorn mounted a now-familiar argument against the use of the pill as a contraceptive method by suggesting that it amounts to chemical abortion in some cases. “Even an infinitesimally low portion—say, one hundredth of 1%—of 780 million pill cycles per year globally could represent tens of thousands of unborn children lost to this form of chemical abortion.”

In response, Luc Bovens, of the London School of Economics, has written a piece for the British Journal of Medical Ethics positing that the rhythm method causes more embryonic death than contraceptives, as it relies on having sex “on the fringes of the fertile period,” which makes couples “more likely to conceive embryos that are incapable of surviving.”

As many as 50% of conceptions may not survive long enough even to disrupt menstruation, Bovens says. It is reasonable to assume then, he adds, that embryos created from sperm that has been sitting for days within the female's reproductive tract before ovulation may be disadvantaged.

The situation is similar, he suggests, for eggs that have been waiting around for sperm to arrive. These are the only two likely scenarios where fertilisation might occur using the rhythm method, he points out.

These embryos may then face a less-than-ideal uterine lining, he points out, since the uterus is not as receptive outside of the most fertile period.

Bovens calculates that, if the rhythm method is 90% effective, and if conceptions outside the fertile period are about twice as likely to fail as to survive, then “millions of rhythm method cycles per year globally depend for their success on massive embryonic death.”

Bovens’ piece is extremely interesting. You can read the whole thing here (it’s only two pages). My guess is that Alcorn wouldn’t disagree with him; in my experience, Protestants are less likely to advocate the rhythm method than Catholics. Nonetheless, it certainly makes for a clever retort to some oft-heard assertions from the anti-choice crowd, so I thought I’d pass it along. Thoughts?

Open Wide...

Shut Up!

Child molester given probation because he’s “too short” for prison

What kind of harebrained bullshit is this?

A judge said a 5-foot-1 man convicted of sexually assaulting a child was too small to survive in prison, and gave him 10 years of probation instead.

His crimes deserved a long sentence, District Judge Kristine Cecava said, but she worried that Richard W. Thompson, 50, would be especially imperiled by prison dangers.

"You are a sex offender, and you did it to a child," she said.

But, she said, "That doesn't make you a hunter. You do not fit in that category."

Thompson will be electronically monitored the first four months of his probation, and he was told to never be alone with someone under age 18 or date or live with a woman whose children were under 18. Cecava also ordered Thompson to get rid of his pornography.

He faces 30 days of jail each year of his probation unless he follows its conditions closely.

"I want control of you until I know you have integrated change into your life," the judge told Thompson. "I truly hope that my bet on you being OK out in society is not misplaced."

Well, Judge, if your entire rationale that a convicted child molester will be “okay out in society” is based on the fact that he’s not “a hunter” since he’s short, I feel pretty safe in saying that your “bet” is indeed misplaced.

And since when does someone’s likelihood of being “especially imperiled” get them a get-out-of-jail-free card? That’s what we have protective custody for. Frankly, I think the best judge of whether Thompson was fit to serve in prison is Thompson—and as soon as he broke the law, he consented to being sent there.

The thing about this that’s really getting on my last good nerve is that this guy wasn’t convicted of robbing a bank or jacking a car or murder. He was convicted of sexually assaulting a child. What concern did he show for that child’s safety? He abused someone weaker than he was—and now he’s getting out of the prison time he so richly deserves because the same thing might happen to him, by a design of his own making. Unbelievable.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!