It was with much dismay that I learned a while ago that Alberta had delisted sex reassignment surgery to save 700,000 in a multi billion dollar budget. It seems that when finances become an issue the government has no problem declaring the needs of the trans community to be optional.
Manitoba has decided to follow Alberta's lead and reject funding for SRS surgery. Unlike Albert, Manitoba is not looking at a deficit budget in fact the government predicts a $48 million surplus this time next year. If the surgeries were to be covered the "NDP estimate that 15 to 20 trans people a year would take advantage of the policy, at a cost to taxpayers of $15,000 to $60,000 per case."
The reason that SRS is not funded is because they have categorized it as cosmetic.
Reiner: Listen to me Frankie boy: I'm bidin' my time, 'cause that's the kind of guy...I'm!
Part 1 is here. I embedded part 2 instead of part 1 because Coca is so hilarious, and she's not in part 1. I love how she has to turn away from the audience at 5:34 and 6:39 because she's cracking up so hard due to the buckets of water thrown at her and "Montgomery Bugle". This stuff is really square, but it's the best of its kind. And let's face it, From Here to Eternity richly deserved this send-up.
What do you find very difficult that others seem to do with ease?
I consider myself an excellent cook, but for the life of me, I can't fry a friggin' egg. I like them over easy, but I always wind up breaking the yolk, burning the bottom, or ruining it in some other way. All of my fried eggs wind up the same way: scrambled.
I thought I'd share a short clip taken of my band performing at an open jam session. Yes, I know the lighting is not so great, but when is lighting in a bar great? I'm just happy I was able to pull this off with a truly minimalist drum kit.
As for the band, I (drummer) joined up with the other two guys about a year and a half ago. They have a ton of original material to work with, and the chemistry is quite good. The style tends to cross a few different influences, jazz fusion being one of them as you can see. For the time being, we're a trio, but I can see that changing at some point.
Ok people, you know I like you all when I'm giving out my cheesecake recipe. I loves me some cheesecake (more of a dense kind, not fluffy) and this recipe is delish. It's super easy and doesn't require hours with the oven open. You can put a pan of water in (and if you have bricks in your oven, you should) with it but it's not absolutely necessary.
Cheesecake
2 cups graham cracker crumbs 1/2 cup butter, melted 2 T sugar
4 pkg (8 oz) softened cream cheese 1 1/3 cups sugar 2 T cornstarch 1 T real vanilla 3 eggs 1 cup sour cream
Mix crumbs, butter, and sugar in bowl. Press into bottom on 9" springform pan. Freeze until filling is ready. Preheat oven to 325.
Beat cream cheese on speed 4 until fluffy. Scrape bowl several times throughout. Add sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in sour cream.
Pour filling into crust and bake for 1.5 hours (may be less...start checking after 1 hr, 15 mins), until nice and golden on top and very slightly jiggly in the very center. Let sit on rack to cool to room temp before removing sides.
Graham crackers are not absolutely necessary either. Over the holidays, I finely crushed ginger snaps and made them into a crust for cheesecake. I've also used finely crushed Nilla Wafers (and omitted the sugar).
If you'd like to participate in Shaker Gourmet, email me at: shakergourmet (at) gmail.com
I do believe it's an unannounced race between marketing companies to see who can be the biggest asshole.
Transcript below...
Woman: (with odd, glassy stare and smiling) Am I going through menopause? You bet I am. (forcefully clips off flower from bush)
(Woman walks through garden with same smiling, staring expression)
Same Woman Voiceover: But you'd never know it thanks to the new tropical fruit smoothie at Jack in the Box. (Woman releases butterfly, still smiling) With the hot flashes blindsiding me, I need to cool off fast. (woman kneels by flower beds and raises up a gardening hand trowel in an unblinking glassy stare & smiling fashion--and looks right at camera)
(Woman now standing next to 'Jack')
Woman speaking to camera:(takes drink off tray) That's why I love this delicious combination of mango, banana, and frozen yogurt. It keeps me cool, refreshed, and best of all it keeps me from going all, you know...
From the book Natural Harvest by Fotie Photenhauer:
Tuna Sashimi with Dipping Sauce
Sashimi is raw fish served only with a dipping sauce. It is a good example of the subtlety in the Japanese kitchen. The delicate fish and the spicy sauce make a great appetizer. Fresh tuna and fresh semen are a splendid food combination.
Fresh tuna ¼ cup soy sauce ½ cup peanut oil 2 tablespoons sesame oil 1 tablespoon grated garlic 1 tablespoon grated ginger 1 tablespoon semen
Slice the tuna very thin and set aside. Whisk together remaining ingredients. Serve the tuna with the dipping sauce. Garnish with some simple greens and pickled ginger. For more semen flavor, omit the garlic and ginger.
Oh, did I fail to mention the book's complete title? It's Natural Harvest: A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes.
Other recipes include the Almost White Russian, which seems fairly faithful to the traditional recipe, aside from the requisite dose of spunk, Man Made Oysters that calls for "Chilled fresh semen, the more the better," and Creamy Cum Crepes, with a doubtlessly delightful cottage cheese and jizz filling.
Plus there are handy chef's notes throughout, like this one on storing your perishables: "Keep a small container in the freezer and simply add (ejaculate) into the container every morning..." And this one, on proper mise en place: "Plan your semen dinner in advance by collecting semen in the morning and then just before it is called for in the recipe."
Of course, this tip, to me, sounds a decidedly dangerous undertaking: "Heat up a lightly oiled frying pan/skillet. Remove from heat and ejaculate directly into the pan..." You know, the only thing less appealing to me than eating a spunk omelette is the idea of putting my cock near a sizzling pan of oil.
But if you are the type who's curious about new cuisine, pick up your copy of Natural Harvesthere.
Scouting sure has changed since I met with my fellow Cub Scouts in the basement of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
The Explorers program, a coeducational affiliate of the Boy Scouts of America that began 60 years ago, is training thousands of young people in skills used to confront terrorism, illegal immigration and escalating border violence — an intense ratcheting up of one of the group’s longtime missions to prepare youths for more traditional jobs as police officers and firefighters.
“This is about being a true-blooded American guy and girl,” said A. J. Lowenthal, a sheriff’s deputy here in Imperial County, whose life clock, he says, is set around the Explorers events he helps run. “It fits right in with the honor and bravery of the Boy Scouts.”
The training, which leaders say is not intended to be applied outside the simulated Explorer setting, can involve chasing down illegal border crossers as well as more dangerous situations that include facing down terrorists and taking out “active shooters,” like those who bring gunfire and death to college campuses. In a simulation here of a raid on a marijuana field, several Explorers were instructed on how to quiet an obstreperous lookout.
“Put him on his face and put a knee in his back,” a Border Patrol agent explained. “I guarantee that he’ll shut up.”
I know there's always been a sort of paramilitary meme to scouting, but I think this a little overboard. And I realize there's a difference between the Explorers and the Boy Scouts; for one thing, Explorers is co-ed, and there is a long history of the group working with law enforcement versus the more community-service minded track that comes with Scouting. But I still can't shake the idea that giving teenagers -- no matter how well-intentioned -- classes that involve assault weapons doesn't really square with the image of camping in the woods or helping a little old lady across the street.
The Life of Birds (1998), hosted by David Attenborough. The lyre bird begins imitating cameras, car alarms, and chainsaws around 2:02. This clip was voted Favorite Attenborough Moment by The Daily Mail in honor of Attenborough's 80th birthday in 2006.
When I was a kid, we had a blue parakeet named Lucia who did a stunning imitation of the dishwasher.
I also adored Life On Earth (1979) and read the companion book until it was a rag. A rag with a gorgeous red-eyed green tree frog on the cover.
The book comes out in Spring 2010 — the year she is up for re-election.
"There's been so much written about and spoken about in the mainstream media and in the anonymous blogosphere world, that this will be a wonderful, refreshing chance for me to get to tell my story, that a lot of people have asked about, unfiltered," the Alaska governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate said during a brief telephone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press.
"Wonderful" and "refreshing"? Is it going to be a book or a toothpaste?
One chapter will be entitled "How to Wrap a Bear for Mailing."*
What's the first magazine you subscribed to? or, What's your current favorite magazine?
I am addicted to magazines. Combined with my reluctance to throw things away, it becomes a real annoyance when moving time rolls around. Seriously, moving boxes of magazines makes me feel like a complete idiot. But I can't get rid of them! Aiiee!
Anyway, when I was a kid, I had a subscription to Ranger Rick, which was the best. Thing. Evar! Just receiving mail when I was a kid was exciting enough, the fact that it was a magazine full of animals made it even better.
Right now my "buy every month" magazines are Doctor Who Magazine and Imbibe. I loves my Doctor Who and I loves my booze & coffee.
EDIT: I should have added that this can, of course, include your favorite 'Zines. My favorite right now is Steampunk Magazine. (They allow you to download a pdf of the mag for free, but I encourage you to purchase if you're interested!)
Esquire Magazine begins this story, titled "Where Have All the Loose Women Gone?" with what could have been an interesting question: Are smart, successful women having less sex than they used to?
But this is a men's magazine, so naturally the answer is: a) yes, the selfish bitches; and b) based on not one shred of evidence or conversation with an actual woman.
Let's have a gander, shall we?
Brilliant, funny, and powerful women are retreating from sex as never before, and if you don't believe it, take the curious case of Liz Lemon.
Liz Lemon, for those without a TV/access to the Internet/a connection to the outside world, is a comedy writer played by Tina Fey on the NBC series 30 Rock. She doesn't have a lot of sex: CURIOUS! Except for the fact that she's a FICTIONAL FUCKING CHARACTER, and thus has about as much to do with real professional comedy writers as Carrie Bradshaw has to do with real newspaper columnists.
And speaking of Carrie, our shoe-obsessed friend from Sex and the City is Esquire's next example--as an exemplar of the way women used to be (and, presumably, should be again): Sexually rapacious, obsessed with men.
The Sex and the City fantasia of fin de siècle Manhattan broke women's desires into separable components — status, career, money — but sooner or later every conversation between the four principals came back to who's doing what with whom, how well, and how often.
Yes, why can't we go back to that halcyon fantasia, when men were men and women's only purpose was to have as much sex with them as possible?
Lest you think I'm making much ado about a critique of TV characters, note that the writer then uses those examples to make claims like the following:
[T]he post-post-feminist maelstrom that is Danica Patrick and the Real Housewives of Wherever and Secretary Clinton versus Beauty Queen Palin means that women can wield real power, but it comes at the cost of confusion — professional, social, and sexual. ... Which is a disaster for men. Until now, feminism has been the best thing that ever happened to us, because it means we get to sleep with people rather than ciphers.
Ah, yes, the confusing idea that women are people.
My point isn't that the women on Sex in the City are as problematic as an Everywoman ideal as is Fey's sexless Liz Lemon; it's that basing one's idea of what women are like sexually on television (well, TV and the lyrics to one Lily Allen show) instead of talking to actual women makes about as much sense as basic your idea of what men are like on Pepsi Max commercials and Eminem lyrics. Which is to say, none at all.
Roger Simon reports this morning that the Republican National Committee will “approve a resolution rebranding Democrats as the ‘Democrat Socialist Party‘” when they meet next week for a “special session.” When asked if the resolution would force embattled RNC chairman Michael Steele to use the label personally, an RNC member replied, “Who cares?” Steele wrote a memo last month in opposition to the resolution that he believed the label would “accomplish little than to give the media and our opponents the opportunity to mischaracterize Republicans.” Read the resolution here.
My sources inform me that they're calling it "Resolution Neener-Neener."
Click on the photo at that page and you go here, for a larger version with this caption:
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHS The Obama daughters (above) - Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10 - attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory Schools. This school year 36 of the city's school children have been killed.
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