I keep being reminded this is Tuesday, not Monday
So I wound up going to bed around 6am yesterday morning and sleeping till past noon. (Actually, till around 10:30, then rolled over and went back to sleep for a bit.) Got up and showered and had lunch and then spent the afternoon and early evening in front of the TV watching DVDs and knitting stocking ribbing. Mom got home and wanted to watch Dancing with the Stars, so I moved to my bedroom and watched another disk. Still two rows of ribbing left to go -- spent the weekend running about a day behind where I wanted to be on the sock, largely because of the amount of Saturday that was eaten by lawn-mowing and the procrastination preceding same (and the amount of knitting I didn't do Friday night in the time I didn't spend mowing and/or hitting the gym). So, I've got two rows of ribbing and twelve of plain stockinette to go before I even get to the thirty-six-row motif chart -- which I can expect to take me every night this week, and if I'm lucky and diligent I'll have the motif chart done by Saturday and be able to start working my way down the leg with the travelling cables. (Still, that's an entire stocking I got done in two weeks. I'm not displeased by that.)
Ran across a fair number of Yahoo! links this morning:
Adopted or abducted? -- "From Australia to Spain, Ireland to America, and as recent as 1987, young mothers say they were 'coerced', 'manipulated', and 'duped' into handing over their babies for adoption. These women say sometimes their parents forged consent documents, but more often they say these forced adoptions were coordinated by the people their families trusted most...priests, nuns, social workers, nurses or doctors."
Giant, nine-pound Gambian rats invading Florida Keys -- "When it comes to giant rat infestations, New York gets all the attention. But a breed of giant, Gambian rats have been rapidly reproducing in the Florida Keys despite a decade-long effort to wipe them out. KeysNet reports the invasive, African native species first began showing up between 1999-2001 after a local exotic animal breeder released eight of the rats into the wild."
High court throws out human gene patents -- "The Supreme Court on Monday threw out a lower court ruling allowing human genes to be patented, a topic of enormous interest to cancer researchers, patients and drug makers. The court overturned patents belonging to Myriad Genetics Inc. of Salt Lake City on two genes linked to increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad's BRACAnalysis test looks for mutations on the breast cancer predisposition gene, or BRCA. Those mutations are associated with much greater risks of breast and ovarian cancer. The American Civil Liberties Union has been arguing that genes couldn't be patented, a position taken by a district court judge but overturned on appeal. The justices' decision sends the case back down for a continuation of the battle between the scientists who believe that genes carrying the secrets of life should not be exploited for commercial gain and companies that argue that a patent is a reward for years of expensive research that moves science forward."
Dick Cheney's transplant reopens debate about age -- "Doctors say it is unlikely that former Vice President Dick Cheney got special treatment when he was given a new heart at age 71 that thousands of younger people also were in line to receive. Still, his case reopens debate about whether rules should be changed to favor youth over age in giving out scarce organs. As it stands now, time on the waiting list, medical need and where you live determine the odds of scoring a new heart - not how many years you'll live to make use of it. 'The ethical issues are not that he had a transplant, but who didn't?' Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at Scripps Health in La Jolla, Calif., wrote on Twitter."
Looking at the LJ friends list, where
thefourthvine posted The Reluctant Introvert Goes to a Hockey Game! -- "I think hockey on TV would be greatly improved if you had Sugar Announcer ('They're really trying hard! Harder than they did last time! Awwww, isn't that CUTE?') and Bastard Announcer ('If these assholes don't stop blocking their own shooting lanes, I'm going to go down there myself and start punching them in the junk.') instead of the burbling idiots they generally have talk over everything interesting happening in the game. (Opinions, I have them. Best Beloved is laughing at me right now.)"
Links from Tumblr / Twitter / Facebook:
Tony Perkins: Violence Against Women Act A “Slush Fund” Unfair To Men -- "18 years ago, the Violence Against Women Act was called 'the greatest breakthrough in civil rights for women in nearly two decades.' Now, Perkins claims it is unfair to men, 'a cheap political trick,' and a 'fundraising ploy.' 'Instead of asking senators to reauthorize the original legislation, which cruised through Congress with bipartisan support, Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) intentionally loaded the bill with provisions the GOP cannot support-like loopholes for immigration, millions more in spending, special homosexual protections, and more big government bureaucracy,' Perkins writes. 'Their goal was to make the legislation so objectionable that Republicans would be forced to oppose it and fuel the lie that the GOP is anti-woman.' Actually, the goal is to strengthen the law and recognize that in essence it applies to more than those who it originally covered. The update rectifies these wrongs. The problem Perkins and the Right have, is they just don’t like gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual American, the undocumented, and, quite frankly, the poor - or those in need. In fact, Perkins calls the extension of protections to these groups 'gratuitous add-ons.'"
Fooling facial recognition surveillance cameras with cunning and crocheting -- "Canadian yarn-lover and privacy-lover Howie Woo has developed an ingenious system for thwarting surveillance cameras that use face recognition technology. His solution involves crochet and LOLs."
Pro-Planned Parenthood Texas State Senator Wendy Davis’s Office Firebombed
Richard Hanna, GOP Congressman, Tells Women To Give Their Money To Democrats -- "As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats. 'I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault,' he told the crowd of mostly women. 'I’ll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side - my side - has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can’t succeed without your help.'"
What Rick Santorum Wants to Do to Women's Health -- "Would someone please tell Santorum that the most realistic and humane way to reduce abortions is to fund and support family planning programs? History has repeatedly shown that women continue to get abortions even when they are illegal, and even when they have to risk their lives to do so. Closing our eyes to this reality will not make it go away. Making abortion illegal does not succeed in eliminating abortion, but pushes the practice underground, making what can be one of the safest of all surgical procedures highly dangerous, and only marginally reducing the number that occur. One of the most extreme examples of what can happen when someone like Santorum comes into power took place in Romania, when abortion was made into a criminal offense under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and contraception was made unavailable. For 14 years in Romania (ending in December of 1989), no woman under 45 with fewer than five children could obtain a legal abortion under any circumstances. The effort to prohibit abortion was so massive that it involved a special arm of the secret police force, called the “Pregnancy Police,” who administered monthly checkups to female workers and monitored pregnant women. Nevertheless, the country exceeded virtually all other European nations on rates of abortion and abortion-related maternal mortality. At the same time in Western Europe, legalization of abortion coupled with public education efforts on family planning and availability of contraception was dramatically reducing the number of abortions. On the Swedish island of Gotland, for example, abortions were cut by 50 percent in three years by providing improved family planning services. That is a greater reduction in abortions than has ever been achieved anywhere through illegalization. In the Netherlands today, abortions are not only legal, but are paid for by the state. This nation, where contraceptives are widely available and comprehensive sex education is an accepted part of the school curriculum, enjoys one of the lowest rates of abortion in the world."
Kansas Rep. Pete "Rape is Like A Spare Tire" DeGraaf Stands Up for Deadbeat Dads, Against Women -- "Representative Pete 'Spare Tire' DeGraaf (R) was at it again in the Kansas House today. You might remember Pete as the Kansas Representative who equated a pregnancy resulting from rape to the inconvenience of a flat tire. Today, DeGraaf chose to step up to the microphone in the Kansas House of Representatives to speak against an amendment that would have provided the women of Kansas with outstanding back child support."
Will New Hampshire Prosecute Doctors Who Refuse to Lie to Their Patients About Abortion and Breast Cancer? -- "The New Hampshire legislature badly wants to tell women that abortion will cause breast cancer, despite the fact this is not true. In fact, they wanted it so badly they were willing to make it a felony if doctors don’t lie to patients seeking an abortion. But now they are starting to second guess themselves. Maybe it shouldn’t be a felony, just something doctors could lose their license over."
Public Outcry and Pressure May Kill Idaho Forced Ultrasound Bill -- "Despite ultrasound theater and overwhelming senate support, a mandatory ultrasound bill that would have forced women seeking abortion to pay out-of-pocket for an additional and unnecessary medical expense, while also trying to trick them into visiting crisis pregnancy centers, may not even make it to the House floor for a vote. The bill became a political hand-grenade after bill sponsor Sen. Chuck Winder admitted that his sole reason for introducing it was to stop women from having abortions by whatever means necessary.Criticism of Winder began to escalate as he used his closing remarks during the senate vote to claim women with 'rape issues' might lie to get abortions. Facing national outrage, Winder then explained that he was merely trying to advocate for a 'rape test' to ensure a woman who claimed she was rape was sure she was raped, and wasn’t 'accidentally terminating' a pregnancy resulting from consensual sex instead. The bill debate then turned into a literal circus as one anti-choice advocate began using the capitol to do 'ultrasound demos,' providing 'baby testimony' and purporting to show just how 'un-intrusive' the abdominal version of the procedure is."
Santorum: Americans Must Challenge Science - With Biblical Dogma -- "Rick Santorum says that Americans should - but don’t - feel comfortable challenging science, and instead rely on biblical dogma and teachings. Santorum takes two of the most scientifically-settled concepts known to man: evolution and climate change, and says that just because ninety-something percent of the world agrees that both concepts are true and correct, there’s no reason to accept them as fact because here in America, we have our bibles and our faith."
Is Christianism Breeding Atheists? -- "Why would it not? The way in which the next generation has been exposed to Christianity this past decade has been toxic to the faith. Christianism isn’t just corrosive of our political order; it is deeply destructive to Christianity itself. Go to any college campus and ask the uncommitted their views of Christianity. What I hear is intolerance, anger, anti-gay prejudice, sexual obsession, and hatred of Islam. How many people Rick Santorum has scared off Christianity for life is beyond reckoning. And the bile directed at gay people has been deeply damaging in getting across to people what Jesus’ message really was: which is, in many cases, almost the opposite of that of his current most prominent representatives in the media."
The Invisible Dystopia -- "Looking at recent trends in young people’s lit, I’ve sometimes joked that the term 'dystopia' actually means a story where 'The Man' screws with someone’s love life. But in fact, dystopian literature has a long tradition of screwing with people’s love lives-it’s an ideal invasion that emphasizes the power of the state.
When I was recently asked why more gays and lesbians weren’t seen in dystopian novels, my off-the-cuff response was that our present day is plenty dystopic enough. Some future-tastic police state isn’t going to be more horrifying than what GLBTQ teens experience now in modern America. We’re a veritable checklist of dystopian tropes:
TSA Freaks Out, Gets Longtime Critic Bruce Schneier Kicked Off Of Oversight Hearing -- "If you read this site, you probably already know who Bruce Schneier is. We've certainly mentioned the longtime security expert plenty of times. He's been one of the leading vocal critics of 'security theater' from the TSA, and therefore a perfectly reasonable counterpoint to the TSA in a hearing by the House Oversight Committee looking into TSA reform. I don't think anyone has thought quite as much about how the TSA could do things better than Bruce Schneier. But, as you can see from the website of the hearing, Schneier was removed from today's hearing."
5 Ways Modern Men Are Trained to Hate Women -- "If you're not the type to keep up with ugly, soul-killing political controversies, let me catch you up: A while back, hugely popular political commentator Rush Limbaugh lost a bunch of advertisers because he publicly called a college girl a slut and a prostitute after she suggested that health insurance plans should cover birth control. But he's paid to say outrageous things. If you really want to feel all dead inside, you need to listen to what the regular folk were saying. For instance, on crazy political message board FreeRepublic.com, posters referred to the girl in the above-referenced story (Sandra Fluke) as a 'Nasty, disease-ridden plodding uterus, an utter skank crack-ho filthy whore, a prostitute slutbag juice-receptacle' and a 'Sperm-burpin' gutter slut,' and said she '... is so encrusted and used, that I had to throw out my flat-panel TV because her appearance on my TV infected it with AIDS, gonorrhea and syphilis.'"
Sidelinked from the above: The 6 Biggest Badasses Who Lived As The Opposite Sex -- "Throughout history, men and women have disguised themselves as the opposite sex, some of them really really well, in a way that confuses and possibly arouses us. But among them are the truly amazing stories where their masquerade wasn't discovered with the dramatic removal of a hat with some slow motion hair tossing, but after some surprise genitals turn up in a post-mortem examination. They lived their whole lives, often convincing even their spouses that they were a different gender. How? Sometimes they were very clever, sometimes they were very hardcore and sometimes the people around them were very stupid."
Also found at Cracked.com: The 5 Biggest Badass Popes -- "Back then, the Papacy was reserved for the hardasses, guys you wouldn't mess with--the gangsters, the demon-summoners, the corpse-digger-uppers. Here are the ones we consider the biggest badasses. And, no, we didn't make any of this up." I am enjoying this article more than I really should.
And, okay. Winding up and heading out...
Crossposted from Dreamwidth with
comments made.
Ran across a fair number of Yahoo! links this morning:
Adopted or abducted? -- "From Australia to Spain, Ireland to America, and as recent as 1987, young mothers say they were 'coerced', 'manipulated', and 'duped' into handing over their babies for adoption. These women say sometimes their parents forged consent documents, but more often they say these forced adoptions were coordinated by the people their families trusted most...priests, nuns, social workers, nurses or doctors."
Giant, nine-pound Gambian rats invading Florida Keys -- "When it comes to giant rat infestations, New York gets all the attention. But a breed of giant, Gambian rats have been rapidly reproducing in the Florida Keys despite a decade-long effort to wipe them out. KeysNet reports the invasive, African native species first began showing up between 1999-2001 after a local exotic animal breeder released eight of the rats into the wild."
High court throws out human gene patents -- "The Supreme Court on Monday threw out a lower court ruling allowing human genes to be patented, a topic of enormous interest to cancer researchers, patients and drug makers. The court overturned patents belonging to Myriad Genetics Inc. of Salt Lake City on two genes linked to increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Myriad's BRACAnalysis test looks for mutations on the breast cancer predisposition gene, or BRCA. Those mutations are associated with much greater risks of breast and ovarian cancer. The American Civil Liberties Union has been arguing that genes couldn't be patented, a position taken by a district court judge but overturned on appeal. The justices' decision sends the case back down for a continuation of the battle between the scientists who believe that genes carrying the secrets of life should not be exploited for commercial gain and companies that argue that a patent is a reward for years of expensive research that moves science forward."
Dick Cheney's transplant reopens debate about age -- "Doctors say it is unlikely that former Vice President Dick Cheney got special treatment when he was given a new heart at age 71 that thousands of younger people also were in line to receive. Still, his case reopens debate about whether rules should be changed to favor youth over age in giving out scarce organs. As it stands now, time on the waiting list, medical need and where you live determine the odds of scoring a new heart - not how many years you'll live to make use of it. 'The ethical issues are not that he had a transplant, but who didn't?' Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at Scripps Health in La Jolla, Calif., wrote on Twitter."
Looking at the LJ friends list, where
thefourthvine posted The Reluctant Introvert Goes to a Hockey Game! -- "I think hockey on TV would be greatly improved if you had Sugar Announcer ('They're really trying hard! Harder than they did last time! Awwww, isn't that CUTE?') and Bastard Announcer ('If these assholes don't stop blocking their own shooting lanes, I'm going to go down there myself and start punching them in the junk.') instead of the burbling idiots they generally have talk over everything interesting happening in the game. (Opinions, I have them. Best Beloved is laughing at me right now.)"
Links from Tumblr / Twitter / Facebook:
Tony Perkins: Violence Against Women Act A “Slush Fund” Unfair To Men -- "18 years ago, the Violence Against Women Act was called 'the greatest breakthrough in civil rights for women in nearly two decades.' Now, Perkins claims it is unfair to men, 'a cheap political trick,' and a 'fundraising ploy.' 'Instead of asking senators to reauthorize the original legislation, which cruised through Congress with bipartisan support, Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) intentionally loaded the bill with provisions the GOP cannot support-like loopholes for immigration, millions more in spending, special homosexual protections, and more big government bureaucracy,' Perkins writes. 'Their goal was to make the legislation so objectionable that Republicans would be forced to oppose it and fuel the lie that the GOP is anti-woman.' Actually, the goal is to strengthen the law and recognize that in essence it applies to more than those who it originally covered. The update rectifies these wrongs. The problem Perkins and the Right have, is they just don’t like gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual American, the undocumented, and, quite frankly, the poor - or those in need. In fact, Perkins calls the extension of protections to these groups 'gratuitous add-ons.'"
Fooling facial recognition surveillance cameras with cunning and crocheting -- "Canadian yarn-lover and privacy-lover Howie Woo has developed an ingenious system for thwarting surveillance cameras that use face recognition technology. His solution involves crochet and LOLs."
Pro-Planned Parenthood Texas State Senator Wendy Davis’s Office Firebombed
Richard Hanna, GOP Congressman, Tells Women To Give Their Money To Democrats -- "As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats. 'I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault,' he told the crowd of mostly women. 'I’ll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side - my side - has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can’t succeed without your help.'"
What Rick Santorum Wants to Do to Women's Health -- "Would someone please tell Santorum that the most realistic and humane way to reduce abortions is to fund and support family planning programs? History has repeatedly shown that women continue to get abortions even when they are illegal, and even when they have to risk their lives to do so. Closing our eyes to this reality will not make it go away. Making abortion illegal does not succeed in eliminating abortion, but pushes the practice underground, making what can be one of the safest of all surgical procedures highly dangerous, and only marginally reducing the number that occur. One of the most extreme examples of what can happen when someone like Santorum comes into power took place in Romania, when abortion was made into a criminal offense under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and contraception was made unavailable. For 14 years in Romania (ending in December of 1989), no woman under 45 with fewer than five children could obtain a legal abortion under any circumstances. The effort to prohibit abortion was so massive that it involved a special arm of the secret police force, called the “Pregnancy Police,” who administered monthly checkups to female workers and monitored pregnant women. Nevertheless, the country exceeded virtually all other European nations on rates of abortion and abortion-related maternal mortality. At the same time in Western Europe, legalization of abortion coupled with public education efforts on family planning and availability of contraception was dramatically reducing the number of abortions. On the Swedish island of Gotland, for example, abortions were cut by 50 percent in three years by providing improved family planning services. That is a greater reduction in abortions than has ever been achieved anywhere through illegalization. In the Netherlands today, abortions are not only legal, but are paid for by the state. This nation, where contraceptives are widely available and comprehensive sex education is an accepted part of the school curriculum, enjoys one of the lowest rates of abortion in the world."
Kansas Rep. Pete "Rape is Like A Spare Tire" DeGraaf Stands Up for Deadbeat Dads, Against Women -- "Representative Pete 'Spare Tire' DeGraaf (R) was at it again in the Kansas House today. You might remember Pete as the Kansas Representative who equated a pregnancy resulting from rape to the inconvenience of a flat tire. Today, DeGraaf chose to step up to the microphone in the Kansas House of Representatives to speak against an amendment that would have provided the women of Kansas with outstanding back child support."
Will New Hampshire Prosecute Doctors Who Refuse to Lie to Their Patients About Abortion and Breast Cancer? -- "The New Hampshire legislature badly wants to tell women that abortion will cause breast cancer, despite the fact this is not true. In fact, they wanted it so badly they were willing to make it a felony if doctors don’t lie to patients seeking an abortion. But now they are starting to second guess themselves. Maybe it shouldn’t be a felony, just something doctors could lose their license over."
Public Outcry and Pressure May Kill Idaho Forced Ultrasound Bill -- "Despite ultrasound theater and overwhelming senate support, a mandatory ultrasound bill that would have forced women seeking abortion to pay out-of-pocket for an additional and unnecessary medical expense, while also trying to trick them into visiting crisis pregnancy centers, may not even make it to the House floor for a vote. The bill became a political hand-grenade after bill sponsor Sen. Chuck Winder admitted that his sole reason for introducing it was to stop women from having abortions by whatever means necessary.Criticism of Winder began to escalate as he used his closing remarks during the senate vote to claim women with 'rape issues' might lie to get abortions. Facing national outrage, Winder then explained that he was merely trying to advocate for a 'rape test' to ensure a woman who claimed she was rape was sure she was raped, and wasn’t 'accidentally terminating' a pregnancy resulting from consensual sex instead. The bill debate then turned into a literal circus as one anti-choice advocate began using the capitol to do 'ultrasound demos,' providing 'baby testimony' and purporting to show just how 'un-intrusive' the abdominal version of the procedure is."
Santorum: Americans Must Challenge Science - With Biblical Dogma -- "Rick Santorum says that Americans should - but don’t - feel comfortable challenging science, and instead rely on biblical dogma and teachings. Santorum takes two of the most scientifically-settled concepts known to man: evolution and climate change, and says that just because ninety-something percent of the world agrees that both concepts are true and correct, there’s no reason to accept them as fact because here in America, we have our bibles and our faith."
Is Christianism Breeding Atheists? -- "Why would it not? The way in which the next generation has been exposed to Christianity this past decade has been toxic to the faith. Christianism isn’t just corrosive of our political order; it is deeply destructive to Christianity itself. Go to any college campus and ask the uncommitted their views of Christianity. What I hear is intolerance, anger, anti-gay prejudice, sexual obsession, and hatred of Islam. How many people Rick Santorum has scared off Christianity for life is beyond reckoning. And the bile directed at gay people has been deeply damaging in getting across to people what Jesus’ message really was: which is, in many cases, almost the opposite of that of his current most prominent representatives in the media."
The Invisible Dystopia -- "Looking at recent trends in young people’s lit, I’ve sometimes joked that the term 'dystopia' actually means a story where 'The Man' screws with someone’s love life. But in fact, dystopian literature has a long tradition of screwing with people’s love lives-it’s an ideal invasion that emphasizes the power of the state.
When I was recently asked why more gays and lesbians weren’t seen in dystopian novels, my off-the-cuff response was that our present day is plenty dystopic enough. Some future-tastic police state isn’t going to be more horrifying than what GLBTQ teens experience now in modern America. We’re a veritable checklist of dystopian tropes:
- Politicians outlawing/demonizing you? Check.
- Fellow citizens denying you the rights 'normal' people enjoy? Check.
- 'Therapy' to fix your deviance? Check.
- Religion spewing hatred about you? Inciting followers to fear/revile/reform you? Check.
- People who will abuse-or even kill you-if they discover your true nature? Check.
TSA Freaks Out, Gets Longtime Critic Bruce Schneier Kicked Off Of Oversight Hearing -- "If you read this site, you probably already know who Bruce Schneier is. We've certainly mentioned the longtime security expert plenty of times. He's been one of the leading vocal critics of 'security theater' from the TSA, and therefore a perfectly reasonable counterpoint to the TSA in a hearing by the House Oversight Committee looking into TSA reform. I don't think anyone has thought quite as much about how the TSA could do things better than Bruce Schneier. But, as you can see from the website of the hearing, Schneier was removed from today's hearing."
5 Ways Modern Men Are Trained to Hate Women -- "If you're not the type to keep up with ugly, soul-killing political controversies, let me catch you up: A while back, hugely popular political commentator Rush Limbaugh lost a bunch of advertisers because he publicly called a college girl a slut and a prostitute after she suggested that health insurance plans should cover birth control. But he's paid to say outrageous things. If you really want to feel all dead inside, you need to listen to what the regular folk were saying. For instance, on crazy political message board FreeRepublic.com, posters referred to the girl in the above-referenced story (Sandra Fluke) as a 'Nasty, disease-ridden plodding uterus, an utter skank crack-ho filthy whore, a prostitute slutbag juice-receptacle' and a 'Sperm-burpin' gutter slut,' and said she '... is so encrusted and used, that I had to throw out my flat-panel TV because her appearance on my TV infected it with AIDS, gonorrhea and syphilis.'"
Sidelinked from the above: The 6 Biggest Badasses Who Lived As The Opposite Sex -- "Throughout history, men and women have disguised themselves as the opposite sex, some of them really really well, in a way that confuses and possibly arouses us. But among them are the truly amazing stories where their masquerade wasn't discovered with the dramatic removal of a hat with some slow motion hair tossing, but after some surprise genitals turn up in a post-mortem examination. They lived their whole lives, often convincing even their spouses that they were a different gender. How? Sometimes they were very clever, sometimes they were very hardcore and sometimes the people around them were very stupid."
Also found at Cracked.com: The 5 Biggest Badass Popes -- "Back then, the Papacy was reserved for the hardasses, guys you wouldn't mess with--the gangsters, the demon-summoners, the corpse-digger-uppers. Here are the ones we consider the biggest badasses. And, no, we didn't make any of this up." I am enjoying this article more than I really should.
And, okay. Winding up and heading out...
Crossposted from Dreamwidth with
comments made.