Everything You Should Know About Oil

http://www.grinningplanet.com/2005/06-14/peak-oil-article.htm

(Sorry blogger link didn't work!)

I love it when someone write a well-researched article better than I can ever hope to!

This should add much perspective to the immigrations versus environment discussion.

Knowing what this article predicts should make us all reconsider plans for the future.

Hey DeeK

Happy Happy Birthday! Does this mean you are officially a dirty old man?

Define Terrorism

Go read Mr. B's post at BitchPhD on the annual terror report. Then tell me that this isn't 1984.

A Little Bit o' Schadenfreude

Via Shakespeare's Sister (via someone else and someone else- this is a bit like playing telephone in kindergarten)

Rush Limbagh has been arrested on drug charges. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Just to remind y'all what the asswipe has said about drug use in the past- here's some quotes (bolds are so obviously mine):

We're going to let you destroy your life. We're going to make it easy and then
all of us who accept the responsibilities of life and don't destroy our lives on drugs, we'll pay for whatever messes you get into."-- Rush Limbaugh show, Dec.
9, 1993

"I'm appalled at people who simply want to look at all this abhorrent behavior and say people are going to do drugs anyway let's legalize it. It's a dumb idea.
It's a rotten idea and those who are for it are purely 100 percent selfish."--
Rush Limbaugh show, Dec 9, 1993

"If (Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders) wants to legalize drugs, send the people
who want to do drugs to London and Zurich, and let's be rid of them. -- Rush Limbaugh show, Dec 9, 1993

"There's nothing good about drug use. We know it. It destroys individuals. It
destroys families. Drug use destroys societies. Drug use, some might say, is
destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs,
using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so
if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and
they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up.

"What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too."-- Rush Limbaugh show, Oct. 5, 1995

I say we play caption this picture:

If those dittoheads knew I've been spending all their money on hillbilly heroin they might run out and buy Al Franken's Book!

testing

I think I just added haloscan for comments. We'll see how it works.

Hey Deek

Or anyone who has the ability to write CSS and the obsession to do so.

Is there a way we could start categorizing posts so it is easier to find in the archives?

We could have sections like:
Fursday funnies
Healthcare
Iraq
Iran
Reproductive Rights
News
Etc.

I will bestow the power of the EDIT to anyone who can do it. Ohhhhh, ahhhhhhhh, editing powers. Now you too will be able to fix font problems and insert your own links into posts.

Red Queen's Hot Brains List

Ok kids- I'm working on Superjumbo 2: Arguments against universal healthcare (and why they are a load of crap)

In the mean time here are some hot brains to drool over:

What's there not to love about Greg Palast? He's old school investigative reporter with a background in economics. He broke the news about purging the black voters in Florida during the 2000 election. He makes me remember that journalists can actually still be investigators instead of overpaid press-release readers.

George Monbiot is just hot and brilliant. I loved Manifesto for a New World Order.

Joe Conason: writes for Salon. He's straight forward and with none of the milquetoast qualities that dems are known for (I wish I could say wrongly known for, but they seem to have forgotten how to bite)

As for third wave feminism, I love Jill from Feministe. She's as girly girl as I am (with a love of Bumble and Bumble) but still kicks misogyny in the ass on a regular basis.

I first discovered Samantha Power while watching her talk about Sudan on the Charlie Rose show. She was talking about how all the agencies were saying they were having trouble getting access to the country to prove that there was a genocide going on. While all these people were hemming and hawing- she simply walked over the border from Chad and took some of the first photographs documenting the tragedy to get published in the western press.

It ain't all sunshine on Fursday

From Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans proposed a $100 rebate check for millions of taxpayers Thursday to counter high gasoline costs, but linked the assistance to drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge, assuring the measure would face stiff opposition from most Democrats.

ADVERTISEMENT

Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee called the proposal "a bold package that will give consumers some relief" from gasoline prices that have passed $3 a gallon in many parts of the country.

"We are going to ease the burden," added Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., at a GOP news conference unveiling the measures. Frist said he hoped for a Senate vote next Tuesday.

Click link on title for full story- Safari sucks ass for posting

Why can't I stop posting?

Mephistopheles says blogging is like porn. Once you start you just can't stop.

On that note- for those of you who have never seen D Ali G Show- I give you Borat from Khazakstan take on American politics.

Why do they always have to be gross?

It's official- abstinence only messages are idiotic in any language. Even en espanol. A dios mio.

The Great Decider Strikes Again!

Such easy pickins, son! Is this the 'Read my Lips' of 43?

Fun Facts About Dick Cheney

Ok, ok, ok, one more for the kids and then I really must go pretend like I am actually working. See, even the Red Queen has to whore herself out for a paycheck. Damn- why can't I get a stipend like the British Royalty.

So Fun Random Facts About Dick Cheney:


I am still trying to figure out how he masterbates with dead babbies and live puppies. Click on the link to see even more fun.

It's Not The Blow!

The Ministry of Unknown Science makes me giggle with Von Cobuli!

Fursday Day- Now With Nostalgia

For those of you who are about my age- you may remember the velveeta cheesy-ness that was AC Slater from Saved By the Bell.
Team Tiger Awesome has recaptured the "hey mama"s with it's series- 28 days slater. The plot goes something like this- the evil Brandon Tartikoff has implanted a microchip in Mario Lopez brain so that he thinks he is AC Slater every February.

I was so digging the Boys to Men dance along. Makes me think of sweaty high school dances (just the booze and illegal drugs are missing.)

Fursday Fun With Playlists

Alright kids- shuffle your playlist and answer the following questions:

1. How does the world see you? The Clash- Remote Control (I would prefer The Clash- complete Control, but even the RQ has to delegate sometimes)
2. Will I have a happy life? Death Cab- Champagne in a paper cup (Juries still out on this- nice title but sad song)
3. What do my friends really think of me? Squirrell Nut Zippers- Memphis Exorcism (Does this have anything to do with Mephistopheles I wonder?)
4. Do people secretly lust after me? Franz- You could have it so much better (They never lust secretly, maybe it would be better if they did)
5. How can I make myself happy? Ted Leo -The one who got us out (Hell ya- I always wanted to lead my own revolution)
6. What should I do with my life? The Clash- Lose This Skin(Huhmmmmm)
7. What is some good advice for me? Franz- Eleanor put your boots on (The RQ needs to travel- but we all knew that)
8. How will I be remembered? Squirrell Nut Zippers- Hot Christmas (This is what I get for just adding the entire SNZ folder- the Christmas album shows up)
9. What is my signature dancing song? The Clash- Broadway (This is not a dancing song- what gives?)
10. What do I think my current theme song is? The Smiths- Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me (I swear I'm not that morose- REALLY)
11. What does everyone else think my current theme song is? Squirrell Nut Zippers- Hanging Up My Stockings (More with the Christmas- ahhhhh)
12. What song will play at my funeral? Elliot Smith -Stupidity Tries (Thanks Guys- love the reminder that life is futile- nihilism rocks)
13. What type of men/women do you like?Squirrell Nut Zippers- Lovers Lane (That's Right- all the ones I can make out with)
14. What is my day going to be like? The New Pornographers- Fake Headlines (How is that different from any other day?)
15. What will tomorrow bring? The Clash- Cheat (That works for me- cheat cheat if you can't win!)

Remember to Duck & Cover

Original Photo:


Freedom of Speech Enhanced:

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, speaks to laborers on International Laborers Day in Tehran, Iran on Wednesday April, 26, 2006. Khamenei said Wednesday that if the United States attacked Iran, U.S. interests around the world would receive uranium enriched lumps of coal this Christmas, state-run Tehran television reported.

We started the Fursday Fun early!

So here's a little lesson in Free Market Economics from Tom The Dancing Bug

Do they have a 12 step program?

Hello, my name is the Red Queen and I am addicted to Sitemeter.

It started innocently enough. I just wanted to see if anyone else was checking out our blog. But it has escalated into an obsession. I check it all the time. I check it in the morning, at night, at work.

I think I need help.

Dune- Desert Planet Again

I seem to be posting for the post inhibited today. This was pulled out of comments. Hopefully phuxtiq will go accept the damn invite so he can post these himself in the future.

phuxtiq said...
Sean Young was so hot in that... If she’s thirsty I’m sure my mono-testicular ball sweat would make a tasty beverage.

"A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then, that is is the year 10191. The known universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam the Fourth, my father. In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The Spacing Guild and its navigators, who the spice has mutated over 4000 years, use the orange spice gas, which gives them the ability to fold space. That is, travel to any part of the universe without moving. Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe. A desolate, dry planet with vast deserts. Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Fremen, who have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. The planet is Arrakis, also known as Dune.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm….. Was Frank trying to tell us something???

"A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then, that it is the year 2006. The known universe is ruled by the President of the United States of America. In this time, the most precious substance on the planet is Oil. Oil extends life. Oil expands consciousness. Oil is vital to travel. OPEC and its navigators, who the Oil has mutated over hundreds of years, use the black crude, which gives them the ability to fold cash. That is, travel to any part of the planet and flaunt their clout. Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you. The Oil exists only in one region on the entire planet. A desolate, dry place with vast deserts. Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Iraqis, who have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. What they got was George Bush… Sorry guys better luck next time.”

Lovejoy's take on Macho vs. Girly

The extraordinary Lovejoy has been reticent about posting and instead emailed me this to "do with as I will". So I am posting it instead. Maybe seeing people respond will get her to write more since her writing is fantastic

What does feminine mean to you?

Girly Girl.
Feminine.
Frilly.
Pump Squad.
Femme.
Womanly.
All of the above

feminine- changeable, child-bearing, delicate, effeminate, effete, fair, feminine, fertile, gentle, girlish, girly, graceful, ladylike, maidenly, matronly, modest, muliebral, oviparous, petticoat, pistil-bearing, pistillate, pure, refined, reproductive, sensitive, she-stuff, shy, soft, tender, twisty, virgin, vixenish, weak, womanish, womanlike.
-Dictionary.com

I fell in love with shoes at a young age. Unfortunately, I had extremely narrow feet. My mother and I used to spend all day at Nordstrom or Buster Brown trying on shoe after shoe. I would lust after the red ones or the shiny black ones with ties. I wanted to be one of those cherubic girls with my solid legs stuffed into white lace tights and pearly white shoes. This same cherub wore a short woolly soft dress and her glossy red raincoat matched her luminescent bubble umbrella. She was cute and rosey-cheeked. The moral of this story is that I left the store with plain brown or navy blue lace-up shoes that went up to my ankle where they showcased my legs that were the size of toothpicks. I was 8 years old and was so light the wind could pluck me up off the street. I guess substantial shoes were my only defense. Every shopping trip was an exercise in disillusionment.

As I grew up I shed the feminine, I gave it up as something unattainable and an expression of those girls who lacked intellect and savvy. I walked around with my inner-boy alive and well. Inner Boy protected my heart and preserved such childish proclivities as playing out in the streets with kids on dirt bikes and playing dress up with my younger cousin when I was in high school. But it didn’t protect me from broken hearts or secret yearnings for my girlfriend’s hand on my waiting breasts, or my confusion as to why sloppy kisses from boys didn’t turn me on and why oh why I kept falling in love with them anyway.

I was a trooper in the face of a jumble of information that I was trying to understand. I went to school everyday aspiring to be a hybrid of Annie Lennox, David Bowie, and David Byrne. I cut off all my hair like Annie Lennox. I looked and looked for a light grey suit just like the one David Byrne wore in Stop Making Sense. I tried to affect the delicious androgyny of Bowie. Did I forget that I was a girl? I look back and see that at times I did forget. I would have the sudden realization in public : I am not a boy, but I feel like one sometimes; a rakish, dashing, bawdy, yet sophisticated young man with a maudlin soul. I bought a fedora hat and several ties to complete my look. I got a rush from a newfound sense of power.
But I was fickle, at times showing up at school in a 50’s prom dress and Converse tennis shoes. My father would point out girls on the street in tight jeans with heels, asking me why couldn’t I be like them??? “Now that’s a good outfit”. I didn’t see myself in them. I saw something that I could never be. I saw a different sense of empowerment that could be used for good or for evil and the force was not with me on this one. The truth as I understand it today is that I was a little frightened of my sexuality. It was an unknown in a sea of unknowns. I was making out with boys all the time, but I didn’t feel anything. I kept searching for one who would change that. When I did find that one boy, another me emerged as a teenage girl who wore her heart on her sleeve. Inner Boy receded into other parts of my personality. He lurked around in my sense of humor and forthrightness. But the suit, hat, and tie got stuffed into the inner sanctum of my closet, both literally and figuratively. Those clothes did not attract most boys. Alas, that rogue boy went the way of Peter Pan; to a place where grown-ups can’t conceive, where all Lost Boys go, to Neverland. Let me sincerely apologize for the sappy lit reference.
I grew up. But I can’t figure out what happened. I can’t quite figure out how I became so girly. I got married. I had children. In that time I have acquired dozens and dozens of shoes and purses. I wore perfume and horrors upon horrors- makeup! Of course I was well-supported and appreciated in these endeavors. Additionally, having children somehow brought out the glam in me. I never went out the door in the ubiquitous Mommy Look, a la white t-shirt and sweats. I loathed tennis shoes. I loved my nursing breasts at their most buoyant. I felt quite womanly and sexy, thank you very much. I even switched over to thong underwear after years of resistance and by golly I never want to see an errant panty line ever again!
I divorced and discovered sex with women and men. High heels. Lingerie. More perfume. And Breasts. I decided to get my very own pair made expressly for me. I will not defend myself to the union of women who are against my decision, who say plastic surgery is evil, because girls, I am having the best sex I ever had in all my life. I feel fabulous. It changed my life in an amazing way. I did it for me, a gal with a breast fetish. I don’t care what anyone thinks. And I’m still a feminist. Yesterday I bought a pink wallet.
How far can I be from that wonderful masculine self? How far? A little closer than you think.
All boy-ness was erased, but not forgotten. You see, the boy in me shows up every time I hold a beautiful woman. Every time I kiss a woman or put my arms around her waist. Every time I make her come. I feel wickedly confident. So in one form or another that daring boy stays with me in spirit. However, I am here to tell you that I am still pistil-bearing, pistillate, pure as any ethical slut, refined, reproductive, sensitive to touch, she-stuff, secretly shy, soft, tender to my core, twisty like the wind, not much of a virgin, definitely vixenish, never weak, mostly womanish, and uncommonly womanlike with an awesome set of tools.

Oh Holy Ladyquakes!

I think I have finally figured out why it is that those scary right wingers don't want women having sex for anything but baby-making. They think orgasms are a myth! No really they do- at least girl orgasms anyway.

If you click the text link scroll way down to the middle for the post

The Left continues to tout the existence of the elusive female orgasm, despite all biological evidence to the contrary. As I have often said, if The Lord intended for us to have such things, He would have given us penises. But regardless of what the facts and common sense say, liberals continue to pursue their great white whale -- and I don't mean Michael Moore (Ha! That joke never gets old!). I've often wondered what motivates them to pursue this specious black-is-white reasoning. For the longest time, I assumed that it was merely another entitlement program created to pander to one of their key constituencies. Today I have my answer: Pure, unalloyed hatred of America. Evidently ladyquakes are the carrots moonbats are using to lead the women of Our Christian Nation over a moral cliff.

One of our more Enlightened states has enacted legislation keeping Satan's prosthetic digits out of our ladyparts, and I am delighted to read that Our President is taking steps to secure Our Nation's Virtue. Praise Him!

So the forced-pregnancy wingnuts are 1) women who have never had an orgasm and 2) men who can't find a clit or a g-spot to save their own life. I say get them all to Babeland stat for a hitachi magic wand!

I also think there are a couple of you boys here who can vouch for my having had an actual ladyquake (or 12). I wonder if by Satan's prosthetic digits she knows about Mephistopheles' non-prosthetic skills. If she did then she wouldn't think ladyquakes (just the word makes me giggle) are such a myth.

Peace Takes Courage

A certain someone has argued with me in the past that liberals are always screaming insults and conservatives are the ones who behave themselves rationally in arguements.

I have never heard of or heard a liberal threaten to rape, beat or murder someone, let alone a 15 year old girl, for having a different opinion. (I have suggested that blue states should dump the red states- but that doesn't involve killing anyone).

Then I read this: Animation Producer Gets Ugly Slurs

Ava Lowery is a fifteen-year-old who lives in Alabama. She calls herself a peace
activist, and for the past year, she’s been producing her own short animations
on her website, peacetakescourage.com. All in all, she’s made about seventy of
them, she says, and most of them oppose Bush and his Iraq War.

So of course the wignuts come after her with comments like this. (Remember- she is a 15 year old girl and the bolds are mine)

“It’s people like you who need to fucking die and get raped while your
corpse rots in the sun,” said one e-mail Lowery shared with me.
“Fuck you, I would jack off on your parents if I could. If
you don’t like the team, get out of the park. That means take ur small dick
and get the fuck off of my homeland you faggot chocolate gulper.”

“You are a TRAITOR to your country and should be executed for
treason,” another one said. “All you do is bitch about the US. If
you hate it so much, why don’t you GET THE FUCK OUT.”

I watched the WWJD video and got seriously teary-eyed. There is nothing treasonous about it. These same people who are threatening to rape a 15 year old girl seem to have missed the idea that democracy means getting to have a different opinion from the one propagated by your government. So for the certain someone who keeps claiming that conservatives are the rational, practical ones- maybe you should read more and spout less. There is nothing rational or practical about rape and violence.

Macho Vs. Girly

There's an interesting discussion going on over at Echidne of the Snakes about defining masculinity and femininity. She suggests idea that femininity is the default setting and masculinity is something that needs to be aspired to, which is why people are always going on about the emasculation of men in society.

I have been called (in just the last year) uber-girly, super feminine and conversely I have been told I am a gay man in a straight girl's body or that I fuck like a man. I don't really know what to make of these remarks. I consider myself a girly-girl- and by that it means that I like pretty dresses and have a bathroom full of yummy smelling products. I have never thought that being girly automatically implied weakness. To the contrary, actually. Being a girl automatically means that you either develop a certain toughness and ability to protect yourself or you become a perpetual victim. I don't see anything weak or un-womanly about that. And I don't see how perpetual victimhood makes girls more girly. I don't think that by being capable I am sacrificing any of my girly-cred. But because I don't act weak- I am told that I am more masculine. Huh? I have also been told by boys who were put off by my toughness that I just needed to "see what a real man is like". Double huh? Like the insertion of a super-macho cock is going to suddenly make me unable to kill my own spiders or walk to the store by myself at night?

So peeps, boys and girls, what's your take on the whole macho/girly argument? Have you been accused of acting the wrong gender?

Dune- Desert Planet?

Without revealing my closet geek status as a total Frank Hebert fan- I can't help but think we are all bound for still-suits and recycled pee drinking in the near future after reading this interview at Salon.

Did you know it takes 650 gallons of water to make a pound of cheddar cheese? Or that enough water evaporates from Lake Nasser every year to hydrate the entire UK?

So enviro-geeks, what's your take?

Rebuild the Viaduct?

So the powers that B currently argue about replacing the highway equivalent to the Kingdome: the Alask Way Viaduct. The state says: we'll give you money, but only if you promise to replace it with a road of the same or greater capacity. But is this wise? Should we encourage more traffic or less? Should we construct another $millions/mile stretch of road that promotes air and water pollution (through ever-increasing toxic storm water runoff)? One that would further block views of the water?

Shouldn't we have enough knowledge and courage to determine that building more roads does not solve the problem of demand? Is rebuilding the viaduct, even one that is a tunnel, just more of the same? Or will we suffer without one?

Your thoughts?

Diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy

From Zbigniew Brzezinski

Why we whould not attack Iran:

But there are four compelling reasons against a preventive air attack on
Iranian nuclear facilities:

1. In the absence of an imminent threat (with the Iranians at least several
years away from having a nuclear arsenal), the attack would be a unilateral
act of war.If undertaken without formal Congressional declaration, it would
be unconstitutional and merit the impeachment of the President. Similarly,
if undertaken without the sanction of the UN Security Council either alone
by the United States or in complicity with Israel, it would stamp the
perpetrator(s) as an international outlaw(s).

2. Likely Iranian reactions would significantly compound ongoing U.S.
difficulties in Iraq and in Afghanistan, perhaps precipitate new violence by
Hezbollah in Lebanon, and in all probability cause the United States to
becomebogged down in regional violence for a decade or more to come. Iran
is a country of some 70 million people and a conflict with it would make the
misadventure in Iraq look trivial.

3. Oil prices would climb steeply, especially if the Iranians cut their
production and seek to disrupt the flow of oil from the nearby Saudi oil
fields. The world economy would be severely impacted, with America blamed
for it. Note that oil prices have already shot above $70 per barrel, in part
because of fears of a U.S./Iran clash.

4. America would become an even more likely target of terrorism, with much
of the world concluding that America's support for Israel is itself a major
cause of the rise in terrorism. America would become more isolated and thus
more vulnerable while prospects for an eventual regional accommodation
between Israel and its neighbors would be ever more remote.

And what we should do instead:

The United States should become a direct participant in the negotiations,
joining the three European negotiating states, as well as perhaps Russia and
China (both veto-casting UN Security Council members), in direct negotiations
with Iran, on the model of the concurrent multilateral talks with North Korea;As
in the case of North Korea, the United States should also simultaneously engage
in bilateral talks with Iran regarding mutually contentious security and
financial issues;

The United States should be a signatory party to any quid-pro-quo
arrangements in the event of a satisfactory resolution of the Iranian nuclear
program and of regional security issues.At some point in the future, the above
could perhaps lead to a regional agreement for a nuclear weapons-free zone in
the Middle East, especially after the conclusion of an Israeli-Palestinian peace
agreement, endorsed also by all the Arab states of the region. At this stage,
however, it would be premature to inject that complicated issue into the
negotiating process with Iran.

The choice is either to be stampeded into a reckless adventure profoundly
damaging to long-term U.S. national interests or to become serious about giving
negotiations with Iran a genuine chance to be productive. The mullahs were on
the skids several years ago but were given a new burst of life by the
intensifying confrontation with the United States.

The U.S. strategic goal, pursued by real negotiations and not by posturing,
should be to separate Iranian nationalism from religious fundamentalism.
Treating Iran with respect and within a historical perspective would help to
advance that objective.

Don't it make the red states blue

There is hope after all! Those 51% of red-staters that we have been mocking for the last few years may have finally seen the error of their ways.

Maybe if we promised to forgive them for being idiots and stopped teasing them for being dumber than a sack o'hair the trend will keep up until midterm elections. Or maybe it's the mocking that is doing the trick.

Damn You Wimbledon!

In the last year I have taken up the oh-so bourgie sport of tennis. Not just taken up- but become addicted to the thwack of my racquet on a little green ball (no snickering allowed from the peanut gallery about my love of smacking around balls-really.)

Mephistopheles (the brave boy that he is) and I are taking lessons together from a little French guy who likes to address my breasts. Last Saturday most of the class ditched, so there were only 4 of us and the devil was the only boy. Tennis is great because it is one of the few sports where women can compete with men (remember Billy Jean King anyone?) and it is the women who are the current superstars- though I salivate over James Blake.

Then I read this:

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) Wimbledon remains the only Grand Slam tournament that pays the men's champion more than the women's winner.
The All England Club announced Tuesday that the men's winner this year will receive $1.170 million and the women's champion $1.117 million, a difference of $53,000. It's a four percent increase in British currency. The French Open announced earlier this month that it would pay the men's and women's champions the same amount for the first time, although the overall prize fund is bigger for the men. The two other Grand Slam tournaments,the Australian and U.S. Opens, have paid equal prize money for years.

So why is it that Wimbledon is one of the last tennis events to pay men and women so unevenly? To read their convoluted reasoning and a damn fine analysis go check out Zuzu's post at Feministe.

One more for the things to do list

Via The Stranger Suggests

Intelligent Design vs. Evolution
(DEBATE) You live in the Seattle metropolitan area, and so do the wily creationists at the Discovery Institute. If you'd like to show the world that the city of Seattle doesn't stand for intellectual bankruptcy, you should start by familiarizing yourself with ID's lunatic (but sophisticated) ideas. Stephen Meyer of the Discovery Institute's anti-science branch debates Peter Ward, a UW professor of geological science. Bring signs! (Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255. 7:30 pm, $5.)

I Heart the Illinois State Senate

Totally swiped from Shakespeare's Sister. If this works I'm sending homemade cookies to everyone of the state senators that votes for it.


"The Illinois General Assembly is about to rock the nation. Members of state legislatures are normally not considered as having the ability to decide issues with a massive impact to the nation as a whole. Representative Karen A. Yarbrough of Illinois' 7th District is about to shatter that perception forever. Representative Yarbrough stumbled on a little known and never utilized rule of the US House of Representatives, Section 603 of Jefferson's Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature. From there, Illinois House Joint Resolution 125 (hereafter to be referred to as HJR0125) was born."

"Detailing five specific charges against President Bush including one that is specified to be a felony, the complete text of HJR0125 is copied below at the end of this article. One of the interesting points is that one of the items, the one specified as a felony, that the NSA was directed by the President to spy on American citizens without warrant, is not in dispute. That fact should prove an interesting dilemma for a Republican controlled US House that clearly is not only loathe to initiate impeachment proceedings, but does not even want to thoroughly investigate any of the five items brought up by the Illinois Assembly as high crimes and/or misdemeanors. Should HJR0125 be passed by the Illinois General Assembly, the US House will be forced by House Rules to take up the issue of impeachment as a privileged bill, meaning it will take precedence over other House business."

Shakespeare rocks

Yesterday, Mephistopheles, The Kid, and I went and saw the Cornish School's comedic production of Hamlet at Volunteer Park. For the outrageous price of Nothing (besides the picnic goodies we picked up on the way) we spent the afternoon lounging in the sunlit grass laughing our asses off at family betrayal and excessive violence.

It was fabulous. Hamlet is an angry teenager and the uncle is one of the hottest little despots ever. Oh and the Shakespeare tradition of cross-dressing is definitely alive and well. Since they are putting on 2 more shows next weekend (Saturday and Sunday at 3:30 pm) I thought I would recommend it to you all.

Welcome Mr. Crude & HotLoveJoy!

Mr Crude is an old friend of mine with a background in some science-y thing involving oceans (Forgive me for not being more specific- he can detail as much as he likes)

Also Welcome HotLoveJoy who has been shadowing posts so far. Hopefully this little public call out will prompt her to post as well. (Come on Chicky- we need more girls posting. Wonder and I can't counteract the patriarchy all on our own)

Kisses Darlings!

Suicide by Nail Gun

As someone who’s flirted with the idea of “stop the world, I want to get off…” I have to say that this particular methodology of exiting stage left just gives me willies. Not only did he shoot himself in the head with a nail gun (Ouch that smarts!) 12 fucking times (involving one reload), but he wandered around for about 24 hours before going to a hospital complaining of a head ache (No? You’re kidding?). My understanding is that 12 nails is a new record. (I don’t think that this X-ray is actually the guy from Oregon… it was just the most interesting one I found on Google image)

Immigration Solutions I Stole

Though I know that what's listed below is a pipedream, but I copied the best parts (Washington Post) for your review. Seems I am not the only one with these ideas:

Two years ago, the European Union admitted 10 new members. Like Mexico, all of these nations were poor, some of them fairly backward and most recently ravaged by war and communist dictatorship.

To deal with the situation, the leaders of the European Union wisely created policies for fostering regional economic and political integration that make efforts such as the North American Free Trade Agreement "look timid and halfhearted by comparison," according to Bernd Westphal, consul general of Germany.

Europe realized it had to prevent a "giant sucking sound" of businesses and jobs relocating from the 15 wealthier nations to the 10 poorer ones. It also had to foster prosperity and the spread of a middle class in these emerging economies and prevent an influx of poor workers to the richer nations.

So for starters it gave the new states massive subsidies -- billions of dollars' worth -- to help construct schools, roads, telecommunications and housing, thus making these nations more attractive for business investment. The idea was to raise up the emerging economies rather than let the advanced economies be dragged down. It was expensive, but the result has been a larger economic union in which a rising tide floats all boats.

In return the 10 poorer nations had to agree to raise their standards on the environment, labor law, health and safety -- and more. The incentive of admission to the European club was used as a carrot to pull the poorer nations toward acceptance of human rights and political democracy. There won't be any border maquiladoras in the European Union.

Worker migration still is regulated. Immigrants will be carefully integrated so as to cause the least amount of disruption to the developed economies, with the goal of having open borders within a decade or two.

This bold yet carefully planned E.U. approach suggests the direction that policy between the United States and Mexico should take. Increasingly the demands of the global economy will push North American regional integration out of the realm of a shadow economy and flawed free trade agreement. But what might such an American-Mexican union look like?

It would start with massive subsidies from the United States to Mexico, a Tex-Mex Marshall Plan, with the goal of decreasing disparities on the Mexican side of the border and fostering a climate riper for investment. This would create more jobs in Mexico and foster a middle class, homeownership and better schools, roads and health care. Fewer Mexicans would then want to emigrate north. Instead, they'd stay home, becoming consumers of U.S. products.

It don't have to be Fursday to be funny