Well, O.K., then

And thanks, Sis. Cynical, for the link.

Death to diets

Here’s a handy lil’ clip-n-save to remind you of the futility of counting calories.

And thanks, Digg, for the link.

Domestic violence and abortion

Amanda Marcotte, at RH Reality Check, explores the relationship between abortion and domestic violence. She writes:

Once pregnant, women in abusive relationships are quite likely to be more motivated than average to terminate a pregnancy.  Domestic abuse often escalates during pregnancy, probably because abusers feel an even stronger need to control their victims.  They may also feel like they can get away with more abuse, because the child makes it that much harder for a woman to escape.  In fact, homicide, usually at the hands of a male partner, is one of hte leading causes of death for pregnant women. I’m not at all surprised that many women sense this danger, and this influences the decision to terminate.

Go ahead, Sis. Naomi.

As says Sis. Gina, who sent this, she hit another one out of the park, this time on letting the taxpayers carry the water for banks’ failures.

But of course!

The birth rate among Caucasians (white people, to you) has dropped, and who’s to blame for that?

In order:

Feminists

Abortion

and homosexuality, according to some think-tankers who should probably get out more.

What? No Muslims?

Dear Think-Tankers:

Step away from your population graphs. Open the door. Walk outside. Inhale deeply. You’ll feel a lot better.

Love,

A pro-choice feminist with Muslim and homosexual friends

And thanks, Sis. Sharon, for the link.

A long history of boycotting BP

Dunno if any of you are doing so, but Stephen Kinzer at TomDispatch (linked here at Truthout), has been doing so for years. He writes:

My decision not to give this company my business came after I learned about its role in another kind of “spill” entirely — the destruction of Iran’s democracy more than half a century ago.

The recession at 30 months

Researchers at Pew Research Center looked at the Great Recession and the effect it’s having, and found:

About a third (32%) of adults in the labor force have been unemployed at some point during the recession, and 55% of adults in the labor force say that during the recession they have suffered a spell of unemployment, a cut in pay, a reduction in hours or an involuntary spell in a part-time job.  

• Fifty-four percent say the U.S. economy is still in a recession; 41% say it is beginning to come out of the recession; and just 3% say the recession is over.
• More than six-in-ten Americans (62%) say they have cut back on their spending since the recession began in December 2007. Asked to predict their spending patterns once the economy improves, nearly one-in-three (31%) say they plan to spend less than they did before the recession began, while just 12% say they plan to spend more. A majority say they expect to spend about what they did before the recession.
• About half the public (48%) say they are in worse financial shape now than before the recession began; one-in-five (21%) say they are in better shape. Grouped by income, those with annual  household incomes below $50,000 are the most likely to say they are in worse shape.
• Of those who say their family finances have lost ground during the recession, 63% say it will take at least three years to recover.   
• A third (32%) of adults now say they are not confident that they will have enough income and assets to finance their retirement, up from 25% who said that in February 2009. Among adults ages 62 and older who are still working, a third say they have already delayed retirement because of the recession.
• About half of all homeowners (48%) say the value of their home has declined during the recession. Of those who say this, nearly half (47%) believe it will take three to five years for the value to return to pre-recession levels, and nearly four-in-ten (39%) expect it will take six years or longer.
• More than a quarter (26%) of Americans say that when their children become the age they are now, their children will have a worse standard of living than they now have.   
• Throughout most of the first decade of the 2000s, Republicans were significantly more upbeat than Democrats about the state of the economy. That pattern is now reversed.

You can read the report here.

Make. It. Stop.

And yet here I am, watching it.

On that abominable DADT policy:

At her confirmation hearings yesterday, Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan explained to Sen. Jeff Sessions (shown here as a cartoon drawn by Sen. Al Franken) what a lousy idea is the military’s don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy.

Didn’t love her gun-stance, though. You?

A sort of sociopathic narcissism.

Here’s an unflattering picture of my opponent…

And thanks, Bro. Mike, for the link.