heh heh heh

Tom Toles.

My pastel site

In case you're wondering what else I've been up to, my Painting with Pastels site is now live and accepting visitors. Several pages are in their infancy, but go ahead and browse around.

(Please don't blame me for the bust-a-zit banner ad. I can't do a thing about it.)

Steaming, reeking piles of hypocrisy

Here's the Denver Post:

Imagine two rape victims taken to the same hospital emergency room. Imagine them put in adjoining examination rooms.

Let's say they have identical injuries.

Presume everything about them is the same except for where they are in their menstrual cycles.

Do they deserve access to the same medical treatment?

At most Catholic hospitals in Colorado, they can't get it.

The protocol of six Catholic hospitals run by Centura calls for rape victims to undergo an ovulation test.

If they have not ovulated, said Centura corporate spokeswoman Dana Berry, doctors tell the victims about emergency contraception and write prescriptions for it if the patient asks.

If, however, the urine test suggests that a rape victim has ovulated, Berry continued, doctors at Centura's Catholic hospitals are not to mention emergency contraception. That means the victim can end up pregnant by her rapist.

If it strikes you as weird that two rape victims could receive such different medical treatment in the same ER, get on the phone to your state representative and senator.

You see the argument they're making? Only a tiny fraction of rape victims will not be told about emergency contraception! The fact that this tiny fraction is the fraction most likely to NEED emergency contraception? Well, it would be a sin...

So there you have it - contraception is officially okay if and only if you don't need it. Why don't these people ever get struck by lightning? Why doesn't the pure stench of their hypocrisy drive them into another line of work?

Things I found looking for other things

Check out this pastellist's blog! It's in French but who cares??

Also, check out the Wind Harp. More Wind Harps here.

Congratulating the winner

Pierre LeBoeuf congratulates Heinrich Rindfleisch in this pulitzer-quality photo of the Bison Court Tennis Open.

Story here.

Aaaand who's little boy are YOU?

Heh. Rawstory filed a FOIA request for gate logs at the White House and document Gannon's ... um... comings and goings... Read here.

So the only question remaining is... who was he 'visiting' when he was logged in and there was no press briefing? Karl Rove has always pinged my 'dar, so I'm betting on him.

Popes and cats

Knight-Rider posts this article, wherein a number of people try to humanize the image of the new pope.

I found this clip (quoting his brother's housekeeper) peculiar:

"When we were on vacation, a cat, a little kitten, would come by, and he'd be giddy, almost giggling with joy," she said." Cats love him; they always go to him straight away. And he loves them back."

He doesn't have a cat, however. Heindl doesn't think he can have one living in the Vatican.

"He was always content to play with the street cats," she said. "I don't know much about Rome, but I know there's no shortage of cats there."

Can't have a cat living at the Vatican? That can't be right. What, they're too short-staffed to police a litter box? Can't have a cat scratching the tapestries?

I don't think I'm going out on any extremist limb here when I say: If the Pope (ANY Pope) wants a cat, get the man a cat!

Heck, get him two. Two are more fun than one and they keep each other company and are therefore less 'needy'.

I have JOINED the Jihad!

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Sister Boot Knife of Looking at All Sides of the Question.

Get yours.

Thanks to Paul for posting the recruiting URL in comments.

Man, the NSS* files are stuffed today!

*No shit, sherlock

First, The University of Maine learns "Daredevil Behavior Holds No Sway with the Ladies".

Then Esquire discovers "Esquire poll gives Bush low marks for sex appeal"

NEWS FLASH! WATER WET!

Can I get a few million to study this?

Beware the Unitarian Jihad!

Jon Carroll from the San Fran Chron received this alarming communique:

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States. We are Unitarian Jihad. There is only God, unless there is more than one God. The vote of our God subcommittee is 10-8 in favor of one God, with two abstentions. Brother Flaming Sword of Moderation noted the possibility of there being no God at all, and his objection was noted with love by the secretary.

Greetings to the Imprisoned Citizens of the United States! Too long has your attention been waylaid by the bright baubles of extremist thought. Too long have fundamentalist yahoos of all religions (except Buddhism -- 14-5 vote, no abstentions, fundamentalism subcommittee) made your head hurt. Too long have you been buffeted by angry people who think that God talks to them. You have a right to your moderation! You have the power to be calm! We will use the IED of truth to explode the SUV of dogmatic expression!

...

We are Unitarian Jihad. We are everywhere. We have not been born again, nor have we sworn a blood oath. We do not think that God cares what we read, what we eat or whom we sleep with. Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity notes for the record that he does not have a moral code but is nevertheless a good person, and Unexalted Leader Garrote of Forgiveness stipulates that Brother Neutron Bomb of Serenity is a good person, and this is to be reflected in the minutes.

Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues.

We are Unitarian Jihad. We will appear in public places and require people to shake hands with each other. (Sister Hand Grenade of Love suggested that we institute a terror regime of mandatory hugging, but her motion was not formally introduced because of lack of a quorum.) We will require all lobbyists, spokesmen and campaign managers to dress like trout in public. Televangelists will be forced to take jobs as Xerox repair specialists. Demagogues of all stripes will be required to read Proust out loud in prisons.

More terrifying threats here.

Chewing what I bit off

Well, after I started the metaphysics site, I volunteered to also create a pastel site. And have two (paying!) writing gigs, as well as a site I'm finishing up for a client. Some days I get home and realize I never got around to reading the news online. I understand the Bugman's days are numbered? Couldn't happen to a nicer thug. And Charles finally married Camilla? He should have done that in the first place, but nooooo...

Here's a painting as a reward for you being here; sorry if you wanted politics, but this is what I got (click for bigger pic):