Fighting fire with fire

Some hatemongers came to University of Arizona, and the Secular Students Alliance shared the word with them.

And thank you, Sis. CTLW, for the link.

Hallooooo! Can you hear me? Is this thing on?

The internet worked and then it didn’t and then it did and then it didn’t, and now it appears it does, but I don’t know for how long .

We shall have yet another visitation from the Cable People tomorrow,  I believe.

Being without the Internet is a little like being at the bottom of a pool, but today, without the World Wide Interweb, I:

Ate two lobsters. Yes. Two. And then had a cookie the size of my head.

Moved crap.

Vacuumed, dusted and mopped like there was someone important coming over (that was at the rental that has been our home since Sept. 1, and I guess, given that the landlord moves in Tuesday, that someone important is coming over).

Drove to Mystic, CT, to meet friends.

Laughed at some really good jokes.

Drank half a big-girl drink, then thought better of it.

Had a marvelous time.

I hope you can say the same. We sleep in our new house for the first time tonight and I, for one, shall sleep like a baby.

Every one! Trot over to Sis. Sensible’s blog

And read Part 2 of “Tell Me, Doctor.”

Do you think men will ever be required to undergo a prostate exam before they get Viagra?

No, I don’t think so, either, but the New York Times has an interesting/sad story today about how some states require women who seek a (legal) abortion must first undergo an ultrasound.

Kevin Sack at the Times writes:

Over the last decade, ultrasound has quietly become a new front in the grinding state-by-state battle over abortion. With backing from anti-abortion groups, which argue that sonograms can help persuade women to preserve pregnancies, 20 states have enacted laws that encourage or require the use of ultrasound.

Alabama is one of three states, along with Louisiana and Mississippi, that require abortion providers to conduct an ultrasound and offer women a chance to peer inside the womb.

Late last month, Oklahoma went a step further. Overriding a veto by Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, the Republican-controlled Legislature enacted a law mandating that women be presented with an ultrasound image and with a detailed oral description of the embryo or fetus.

A state judge quickly stayed the requirement pending a July hearing in a suit filed by two abortion providers. But the measure has prompted outrage among abortion rights advocates and raised questions about the impact of ultrasound laws.

And thanks, Sis. Sharon, for the link.

BP official explains the snafu

O.K. I kid. I’ve posted this before, but Sis. Gina reminded me that it should be posted again.

The Catholic League wants to light up the Empire State Building

The conservative group wants to light the iconic New York building in blue and white on Aug. 26th to honor Mother Teresa on what would have been her 100th birthday.

But the people at the Empire State Building say no. And, as you might imagine, the blogosphere is having some interesting conversations about this.

Mother Teresa died in 1997. And thanks, iBlog, for the link.

Did Scott Roeder act alone?

Amanda Robb, at Ms. magazine (linked at AlterNet), says no, the murderer of abortion doctor George Tiller was not a lone wolf. Robb writes:

In international terrorism cases, in organized crime cases, even in drugtrafficking cases, conspiracy charges can be filed when two or more people enter into an agreement to commit an unlawful act. In fact, of the 159 people convicted of international terrorism by
the U.S. since 9/11, more than 70 percent were sentenced for conspiracy (or for “harboring” terrorists). Once a person becomes a member of the conspiracy, she or he is held legally responsible for the acts of other members done in furtherance of the conspiracy, even if she or he is not present or aware that the acts are being committed.

The government does not have to prove that conspirators have entered into any formal agreement. Because they are trying to hide what they are doing, criminal conspirators rarely do such things as draw up contracts. Nor does the government have to show
that the members of the conspiracy state between themselves what their object or purpose or methods are. Because they are clandestine, criminal conspirators rarely discuss their plans in a straightforward way. The government only has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the members of a conspiracy, in some implied way, came to mutually understand they would attempt to accomplish a common and unlawful plan.

Given the broad latitude in proving conspiracy, you’d think the same legal theory could have been used in prosecuting slayings of abortion doctors. Yet to date, only the individual murderers of abortion providers have been charged and prosecuted. No charges have been brought against any individuals for conspiracy to commit those murders.

Woman falls asleep on plane; sues

A 36-year-old woman who fell asleep on a plane and was kept onboard for four hours is suing United Airlines.

The woman fell asleep on a late-night flight from D.C. to Philly and she stayed asleep while the plane cleared, and then a cleaning crew eventually awakened her — but she was kept on the plane while authorities made sure she wasn’t a terrorist.

And thanks, Bro. Jay, for the link.

What’s the matter with Oklahoma?

The Oklahoma legislature has pushed through yet another piece of anti-abortion legislation. State signs are supposedly being repainted to read: Welcome to Oklahoma. Now Turn Your Clock Back 50 Years.

O.K. I made that part up, but in a week or so, I shall be out in Southwest Missouri — Center of the Universe, to you — and I believe I shall drive over the state line and spit on Oklahoma ground. Not that that will have any effect on throwback legislation, but it might make me feel better about the world.

And here’s Mark Morford’s take on it. And thanks, Sis. Cynical, for the link.

The person next to you is talking loudly into a cell

Do you:

Say something?

Secretly jam the signal?

Grit your teeth and bear it?