moominmuppet

May be getting sucked back into a bunch of project work at work soon, but today there's time for linketies!

RHRealityCheck: Kansas Board of Health Revokes License Of Doctor For Not Forcing 10 Year Olds To Give Birth

OurBodiesOurselves: Doctor Speaks Out Against Abortion Laws That Require Lying to Patients

Alternet: Supreme Court Throws Out Most of Draconian Arizona Immigration Law, Keeps "Papers, Please" Part For Now

Alternet: Supreme Court Rulings: Montana Loses Citizens United Challenge, Life Terms For Juveniles Overturned

LATimes: South African photographer believes theft was hate crime
Burglars stole hard drives that contained the archive of five years of the artist's extraordinary work celebrating lesbians in many African countries.

PetitionSite: Keep Caves Closed to Save Our Bats
( Read more... )

First and foremost -- if you're a Wisconsinite, don't forget to vote tomorrow!!
Alternet: Wisconsin's Recall Drama Down to Nail-Biting Finish

MotherJones: Timeline: Female Hysteria and the Sex Toys Used to Treat It
Vibrators, douches, and pelvic massage: Curing crazy ladies for centuries—one "hysterical paroxysm" at a time.

Alternet: Right-Wing Terrorism: Arson, Bombs, and Break-Ins at Women's Clinics Seek to Instill Fear

Alternet/Colorlines: How to Keep Your Sanity While You're Saving the World
Everyday, advocates across the US do vital work to help transform people, communities and society. How do they make sure they take care of their own mental health? -- Good piece. I hate that one of the most common pieces of advice I hear (generally un-asked-for) about being stressed about the state of the world is "stop paying so much attention to it". That's simply not an option for me, and it feels incredibly dismissive of my life priorities to hear it from folks.

Alternet/RHRealityCheck: How Live Action's Anti-Choice Propagandists Doctored Footage to Smear Planned Parenthood
( Read more... )

Behind like woah.

When I'm this behind I work in little manageable chunks, so you'll see a bunch of stuff from a single source and then another bunch. I have 2148 emails in my Linketies folder right now, and I'll probably search linketies posted by friends, then "cleveland" "abortion" and "fat", and then work from there.

TheFatChickSings: Julianne Wotasik, The Fat Chick and NAAFA on the News!

Alternet: Communication as a Human Right: Creating a New Media Infrastructure for Detroit

Alternet: Against Me!'s Laura Jane Grace: How "Rolling Stone" Got Her Story (Almost) Right
Amidst the punk icon's celebrity gender transition, a trans woman entertains the hope that change is coming

Alternet: You May Not Agree With Conservative Pundit S.E. Cupp, But Hustler Photoshopping an Explicit Image of Her Is Not OK

Alternet: The Media's Sleazy Treatment of Trans Women
( Read more... )

Happy Mother's Day to the mom-types out there!

So behind.
Week of Migraine seems to finally be over. Yay!
Just discovered I don't actually have extra Dr. Pepper in my desk drawer like I thought. Boo!
Getting sushi for dinner. Yay!
Favoritest neighbor dog moving away June 15th. Boo!

Also, our most central patient care system is being upgraded on May 20th. We have 40,000 or so users. Don't expect to see much of me online for a while after that happens; it's going to be ridiculously hectic here.

So, let's see. Yesterday morning was escorting at the Center. Lots of extra Mother's Day-themed yelling from the protesters, but nothing all that out of the ordinary. And I finally got to run my bag of toys, books, and puzzles down to Preterm! That ended up being quite fortuitous; there were a Dad and two kids waiting down there right then, and the kids' eyes lit up at the bag! I got home pretty early, but ended up spending most of the rest of the day in low-energy recuperation mode watching the weekend political talk shows and working on my puzzles (Chris Hayes and Melissa Harris Perry make me happy, and had excellent conversations about motherhood and feminism on both today).

Thursday and Friday were mostly eaten by migraine, but I did get to see Kidlet and Chad briefly on Friday night, since I was home. It was his last day of preschool for the year, so I wanted to do something a little special for it.

From some facebook updates (mostly with pics) from this weekend:
Chalk drawings from last night with Kidlet. Embarrassingly, those are mostly my drawings. We did spend time talking about how all insects have six legs and all spiders have eight (non-FB folks, tell me if you can view the pics when I link them this way? James, I'm looking at you...)

And Microcosmos was a big hit! Really highly recommend that one for purchase btw; it's great at any age and on multiple repeat viewings. Be prepared to Google bug info questions, though, since it's not an educational program per se, and is very lightly narrated. A few scary moments but mostly just awesome and gorgeous!

Oh, and the giant animal book I posted pics of yesterday was a huge hit, too! He kept asking me to show him different animals and was getting good at identifying different insects himself. It was only a casual thrift store find, but wrapping and hiding it added to the fun and emphasized excitement about his educational achievements.

Home from patient escorting at the clinic. Good morning, nice weather. Quiet, so I spent a lot of time shopping Audible from my phone. Lots of awesome stuff that I'll post about as I work through them. Pseudo kids book Go The Fuck to Sleep? Read by Samuel Motherfuckin Jackson!

Audible for Kids: Synchronized Images -- Well, hey! I was wondering about this, and it seemed baffling that images didn't come along with some of the books I bought. Apparently they did, there's just a special super-sekrit way to access them that I didn't know. That makes the cheap prices on the kids' picture books even more awesome. Lots of reviews coming soon; I sort of splurged on .69 cent kids books!

My partner chad's son graduates from preschool today. I scored this the other week at the thrift store and have been waiting for a special occasion! Inside pages [also posted in FB] since they're pretty cool.
Kidlet's favorite page

Pics of Villa Villekula:
Grafton and Caleb have been doing a lot of work recently, so I took some pics. Grafton built a whole new islandish sort of thing in the kitchen to block out the animals and create more counterspace. Caleb bought us a new dishwasher!
The 'pit' door in the corner of the living room where we're going to paint a TARDIS door. The door comes up about halfway through the floor so it seems appropriate (it was indoor motorcycle parking for the old owner)
The breadmaking area and our network center (behind chalkboard-paint doors)
The new kitchen arrangement for extra counterspace and dog blockage.
Counter folds up against bookcase. Gate will slide behind it.
From the living room. Damn, I loathe that flooring.
Grafton's work with the window markers in the living room. (they're fun, but we wish they were actually a bit more opaque)

Garden/Yard pics:
Looking off the back porch toward the back house and back yard.
Strawberry bed along the back porch of the front house.
More sweet peas along the front porch of the back house.
Front yard ten days ago
Front yard today.

Critters (fyi, lots of our critters aren't shown in these few pics):
Particularly adorable pic of Ringo and Tarma curled up together
A decent shot of spike's awesome little tail-spike.
Grafton's tiniest maine coon ever, Cat. She rarely allows pics.
Tarmatarmatarmaface
Cat puzzle with cat. Just finished it! That's Ringo trying to climb me.

Random:
From when we visited the natural history museum. Considering inclusion in my tattoo.
Earlier this week: Waiting out another migraine. I like the island of misfit pieces on the upper left. This is progress since this morning (and my awesome puzzleboard that allows puzzles and pets and hippies to coexist.)
How my Portapuzzle works
Same year as the Kroger family photo. Peeps annual photo, 92, spring of my freshman year. Still 17, on the far right with the wooden snake around my neck. -- Some of the folks I'll be reunionating with in a few weeks! Can't wait!
Others of 'em
And some more of 'em. The chicken outfit was part of a very serious Otisian rite, donchaknow. It's how we got listed as one of the most dangerous cults in America by some right-wing outfit (quite a high point in our history)

Hey, look, my sweeties! (pic is from years ago)

*sigh* The past two days have sucked mightily. Migraine started Monday, and Tues/Wed were nasty despite meds. Today's a lot better; still feeling a touch wonky, but nothing dramatic. Got a lot done on a really tough puzzle over the past few days, though (progress pics over at my FB). Really looking forward to getting home and finishing it tonight. And started rewatching Game of Thrones last night, catching up on the new season, so my head's full of that. Today I can't get Facebook to load properly, so if I haven't responded to someone over there, that's why. On to linketies.

Discover: What does it mean to say that something causes 16% of cancers?

ThinkProgress: MONTANA COURT STRIKES DOWN BAN ON BIRTH CONTROL FUNDING FOR LOW-INCOME TEENS

ABC: A delegation of female Canadian soldiers is in Australia to advise the Defence Force on moves to allow Australian women to serve on the frontline.
Australian women will be eligible to serve in combat by the end of next year, but Canadian female soldiers have been able to do so since 1989.

Feministing: For the past 12 years, Ai-jen Poo has been fighting for the workers “that make all other work possible.” Co-director of Caring Across Generations and director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), she was recently named by TIME Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2012. And we’ve been fans of hers here at Feministing for awhile now.

Alternet: The Unbelievable Brutality Unleashed on Kids in For-Profit Prisons
( Read more... )

EEOC covering gender identity discrimination is a big effing deal -- Totally agree! This is wonderful news!

Feministing: Undercover anti-choicers use sex-selective abortion in attempt to discredit Planned Parenthood

Salon: The myth of the “morning-after abortion pill”
There's a reason why people mistake emergency contraception and abortion: The right intentionally confuses the two

ONTD_Political: The ‘biblical view’ that’s younger than the Happy Meal

Alternet: 'Festive, Righteous Anger': Occupy Makes May-Day Comeback With Massive Demonstrations -- Aside from our local violent anarchist assholes (who've been rightly arrested and charged), things seem to have gone quite well!
OccupyCleveland: Digest – May 5, 6 & 7 – Sorrow (includes statement on the would-be bombers)

MotherJones: The GOP's New Sneak Attack on Abortion Rights
Buried in a Republican bill to give states more say over health care funds is a provision that would restrict how they spend their own money on abortions.
( Read more... )

Still doing a lot of catch up here (yes, a bulk delete would be more efficient and wouldn't end the world. Good luck convincing my obstinately obsessive brainmeats on that matter).

ONTD_Political/ABCNews: Planned Parenthood ended nonsurgical abortions at its Wisconsin clinics Friday because of a new state law that subjects doctors who perform abortions but don't follow certain procedures to criminal penalties.
The law, signed by Gov. Scott Walker two weeks ago after the Republican-controlled state Legislature passed it earlier this year, took effect Friday.
It mandates that women having nonsurgical abortions visit the same doctor three times and that doctors ensure the woman is having the procedure voluntarily and without coercion. Failure to follow those requirements could result in felony charges against the doctor.
The law does not affect emergency contraception, known as the morning-after pill.
Planned Parenthood president and chief executive officer Teri Huyck said because of confusion over the new law, nonsurgical abortions are being suspended. Planned Parenthood will continue to provide surgical abortions at its clinics in Madison, Milwaukee and the Appleton area, its leaders said.



PlainDealer: Funny, frank 'In the Next Room, or the vibrator play' performed brilliantly at Cleveland Play House -- I've been hearing really good things about this, and my carpool coworker is going to see it this weekend. I'd really like to make it sometime before they close, if I can.

ONTD_Political: Concluding that racial bias played a significant factor in the sentencing of a man to death here 18 years ago, a judge on Friday ordered that the convict’s sentence be reduced to life in prison without parole, the first such decision under North Carolina’s controversial Racial Justice Act.

Jezebel: The Ten Scariest Places to Have Ladyparts in America
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland's also a one of America's rape capitals. And with legislators concentrating on regulating pregnancy rather than protecting women, it doesn't look like that rate will decrease anytime soon.
Legislators in the worst state in America to drive across are currently debating a "heartbeat bill," which will ban all abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected at about 8 weeks. The law's bullshit and will likely be blocked from ever being enforced by a judge with some damn sense, but, like most crazy abortion laws, it's the thought that counts. And the fact that men in power in Ohio would call a fetus to testify in favor of a law taking power away from women is a pretty terrifying thought indeed.
( Read more... )

Well, I have my schedule for this weekend; second shift Saturday and first shift Sunday. Otherwise not much going on; my mood's been a bit wonky this week, but that's mostly due to some financial stress; life is otherwise quite good.

Still doing a lot of project work, but trying to fit some linketies in here and there. At least I'm back to being less overwhelmed by my inbox. Sorta.

Also I have a very tasty spinach salad right now. *nomnomnom*

DailyBeast: Ohio Republicans Move to Cut Funds to Planned Parenthood, Riling Democrats

Slate: Do Welfare Moms Work As Hard As Ann Romney?
A group of politicians led by Rep. Pete Stark of California are taking Mitt Romney at his word—that “all moms are working moms”—and plan to introduce an act that would allow mothers receiving welfare support to count their childrearing duties as the required “work activity” until the child turns 4. -- Not going to pass, sadly, but I love that they're pushing it anyway. It should damned well be law.

RHRealityCheck: Now It's Clear: “Pro-Life” Means “Pro-Imprisonment”
These organizations and experts, including the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the American Nurses Association, have concluded that using the criminal law to address issues of drug use during pregnancy undermines, rather than protects, “unborn children.” One reason is that threats of arrest have been shown to deter pregnant women from drug treatment and prenatal and other healthcare that can help ensure maternal, fetal, and child health. Furthermore, if these prosecutions continue, pregnant women who are addicted to drugs and who cannot overcome that addiction in the short term of pregnancy will be pressured into having unwanted abortions to avoid criminal penalties. That is what happened in the Greywind case, in which a pregnant woman had an abortion in order to get the state of North Dakota to drop “fetal endangerment” charges against her.
So why would a group that claims to value life urge Alabama’s highest court to uphold an interpretation of the chemical endangerment law that coerces women into having abortions and punish the ones who don’t?
...
Since 2005, National Advocates for Pregnant Women has documented hundreds of cases in Alabama and elsewhere in which women have been arrested for allegedly endangering their pregnancies including: Christine Taylor in Iowa who was charged with attempted fetal homicide after she fell down a flight of stairs while pregnant, Jennie McCormick in Idaho who was charged with having an illegal abortion, and Bei Bei Shuai in Indiana who has been charged with murder for suffering a pregnancy loss after a suicide attempt.
Related: RHRealityCheck: Sensationalizing Drug Use in Pregnant Women: How the Media Perpetuates Racist and Ineffective Policies
Related: RHRealityCheck: Murder by Nursing?

BitchMagazine: Last week the trailblazing scholar and MSNBC television host featured a segment on being transgender in America. The segment included a routable discussion with Mara Keisling of the National Center for Transgender Equality, transgender political candidate Mel Wymore, Allison Kilkenny of the Nation, and transgender writer, performer and self-described "queer and pleasant danger" Kate Bornstein.
Harris-Perry is used to breaking new ground. In her true fashion, this segment blasts through typical media narratives of trans inequality by covering topics that most media commentators won't touch. Harris-Perry and her guests discuss gender-netural pronouns, transgender people in the prison-industrial complex, coalition-building across queer communities, and how marriage equality is not the most critical issue for the LGBT community. -- And people wonder why I'm obsessively following this show... (it ROCKS!)

CNN: Rape victims say military labels them 'crazy' -- And as long as I'm being pissed about this, I really don't like the implication that "crazy" people can't be trusted to report rape, either.

NYTimes: No One Called Me a Slut
TWO weeks ago, a bomb went off outside a Wisconsin abortion center. In recent years, several states have passed or tried to pass laws requiring women seeking legal, constitutionally protected procedures to first undergo medical examinations. A young woman has been called a slut after testifying in favor of insurance coverage for contraceptive care. These are but a few of the stories about attacks on a woman’s right to choose.
It wasn’t always like this.
This is a story of how it used to be:
( Read more... )

Good grief, where to start? It'll probably take me a few days to even begin to catch up.

I think I'll start mostly with local Cleveland and Ohio news, and some random silly/quicky stuff.

ScienceMag: CLEVELAND, OHIO—So-called non-Newtonian fluids are the stars of high school science demonstrations. In one example, an ooey-gooey batter made from corn starch and water oozes like a liquid when moved slowly. But punch it, or run across a giant puddle of it, and it becomes stiff like a solid. Pour it on top of a speaker cone, and the vibrations cause the fluid to stiffen and form strange tendril-like shapes. Now, a group of college students has figured out a new use for the strange stuff: filler for potholes. -- Go Case! This is some technology we NEED around here!

TruthOut: The Seeds of a Quiet Economic Revolution: A Review of Gar Alperovitz's "America Beyond Capitalism"
One small example is in the economically troubled city of Cleveland, Ohio, where the Evergreen project was born. This network of worker-owned cooperatives simultaneously offers employment, ownership and service to the community while living the principles of workplace democracy, equality and sustainability. Their green laundry service, solar installation company and industrial scale greenhouse contribute to the development of a green economy, while their customers - the universities and hospitals - help to assure a long-term symbiotic relationship.
More recently, Mondragon has struck a deal with the United Steelworkers and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center. Together, they will build yet another variation, a "union-cooperative," merging the tenets of worker-owned cooperatives, such as democratized workplaces, with collective bargaining.

Facebook: Friday, April 27, 2012 7:00pm
Ride down and check out how our region has influenced cycling. Bicycles from pre-1900 through current day builders such as Dan Polito, Rustbelt Welding, Carmen Gambino and many more! Don't miss this awesome bike extravaganza! Local bike photography and artists, Live MUSIC..., BOOZE and Chef Sawyers fantastic array of GRUB! Live music from Heelsplitter, The Dreadful Yawns and Scoliosis Jones. DO NOT MISS THIS PARTY! Take a ride through our glorious city on Cleveland Critical Mass and finish the ride ere, with Ohio's greatest bikes and Ohio's greatest bike riders! What better way to kick off bike month!

ClevelandLeader: West Side Market Centennial Celebrations Set for Summer and Fall

PlainDealer: PNC SmartHome, a museum exhibit turned residence, sells to Maryland couple for $331,000 (slideshow)
( Read more... )