The whole fight over contraception has exposed a lot of ugly bullshit, which is actually great. Because sunlight is a great disinfectant, and too long have the same resentments and misogynist undertones been circling without full exposure. It's hard to take a lot of the time, especially when legislatures controlled by a) men and b) Republicans get ( Read more... )

If you don't want to deal with all aspects of your job, quit.

I get it. You were enjoying your little fiefdom in the clerk's office not having to deal with TEH GAYZ, and New York State up and changed the laws on you. Sucks. But them's the breaks in civil service life. So, either get out of civil service life or adapt. While this isn't as bad as, say ( Read more... )

Tolls to go up for travel across the Hudson.

I am all for making driving a little more expensive to convert drivers into mass-transiters, but given the sorry state of mass transit--and the fact that mass transit would become more expensive, too--this is a shit plan. I don't know what to think about this but that milking commuters has never been ( Read more... )

( Trigger Warning. )

(This primer brought to you courtesy of this article at The New York Times. h/t moonlightalice)

Lesson 1: If you find yourself making the brutal murder of someone into a story about how you, the not-at-all-persecuted, let-alone-dead person are finding it really hard to be called mean names, congratulations, you're on the side of evil.

Example: “Naturally, I don’t ( Read more... )

I'm collecting a lot of links for posts.

1) Proof positive that outlawing a thing doesn't make it go away. (ETA: TRIGGER WARNING) For fuck's sake, abortion isn't illegal now, and this is what's happening because it's become so goddamned shameful and fucking difficult to obtain for anyone who isn't rich. You tell me what's more offensive to your God ( Read more... )

Without explicitly stating from whence my aggravation of these issues comes, I'd like to simply, accurately educate the world. Those of you on my f-list pretty much know this already, but humor me. It won't take long. I just have two common misconceptions that I would like to correct. Right. Now.

1) Do you think women are people, with all the ( Read more... )

Christopher Hitchens is a prick. Even when I agree with him, I find myself hating just about everything about the way he makes his arguments. This article, for example, makes the case that the idea that international unity and fellowship is engendered by sporting events is complete horseshit. I'm as cynical as the next person who dislikes sports, ( Read more... )

It's now homicide if you get an illegal abortion in Utah (a state where pretty much any abortion is illegal). Oh, wait, except this law also applies to miscarriages. So all your potential fetuses had better be veeeeeery well looked after, women. Because even if you wanted that baby more than life itself, even if you're screaming and crying and ( Read more... )

A wonderful conversation about this maddening, obfuscating article about DADT

moonlightalice: oh god the NYT ran a pro-DADT op-ed
me: they waaaaa?
(goes to read linked article)me: I love how he's like "But we kicked out fatties and no one complained!" Well, yes, because you're allowed to fire people who can't do the job. Point is that gay people CAN. That ( Read more... )