NOT THE PEAS!

At first, DarkBaby seemed to be confused by the peas.
Then she learned their true evilness.

Monster rattle!

Babies and Prop 8

Sorry, all. It has been busy busy busy here-- between preparing for the upcoming holidays and soothing a teething baby, I haven't had a ton of time to update as often as I'd like.

First off: THE DARKLING ROLLED OVER TODAY!

You see that toy that's smooshed under her? She rolled over so that she could grab it. She couldn't figure out how to get it out from underneath of her though, poor baby.

Anyway, starting today, SCOTUS is hearing arguments regarding Prop 8. What has amazed me the most about this are all of the people who have filed briefs or spoken out in support of marriage equality-- everyone from kids whose families are impacted, to the American Academy of Pediatrics, to freaking football players. If I weren't so bummed about how absolutely godawful the current makeup of the Supreme Court is, I'd say that the overturn of Prop 8 is in the bag.

But, you know, the argument that "only straight couples can make children"†, might be Constitutionally persuasive. *eyeroll*

†Certain restrictions apply.

She thinks she's people

That's my Maggie, sitting like a person.

Edited to add more Maggie ridonkulousness.

And that's my Maggie, wondering why the hell she didn't get an enchilada.

Jesus Christ. Just give ND to Canada

I expect you all have heard the news out of North Dakota, yes? In case you haven't, I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with petal fersonhood.

That's right, ladies and germs! Both houses of the ND lege have voted to give embryos from the moment of conception full rights under the Constitution. So, yeah. No abortion, many types of birth control would be illegal, no IVF treatments, and doctors would be held criminally responsible for causing harm to an embryo or fetus. I expect this means that if a pregnant woman in ND is diagnosed with cancer, her oncologists would legally have to refuse to treat her until after she gave birth (or miscarried).

Now for the maybe-kinda-sorta-keepyerfingerscrossed good news: In order to be added to the state constitution, the bill goes before the voters in November. This is kind of good because no other fetal personhood ballot initiative has survived, but on the other hand we are talking about the dumbasses that voted for the hacks that wrote (and passed) the bill in the first place. Hey, North Dakotans! Why do you keep voting for such vile human beings?

Also, wow, way to guarantee that the state gets sued, Republicans. Let me guess... you probably don't have money to fix roads or fund public schools, but you sure as shit have the funds to defend a clearly unconstitutional law in court. Seriously fucked priorities.

(HuffPo)

10 years on

Last Friday I was downtown running errands. On the street corner in front of city hall, I saw four middle aged people holding signs and bundled up as if it was below freezing (it was in the high 30s. Balmy!). I couldn't read their signs from where I was parked, but the first thing that came to mind was that they were pro-life protesters. But no, the Planned Parenthood is like four blocks from where they were standing.

Oh my god. Antiwar protesters! I drove past them and, yup, one lady had a "Librarians for peace" sign.

Ten years ago-- actually more than that now, since they were out there during the lead up-- a small group of people started protesting the Iraq war. Every Friday afternoon, a half dozen people would make their voices heard on an empty street corner in a dying city.

That takes some strength. One has to wonder how many times they were spat upon or sworn at or called traitors. Ten years ago, it was all RAH RAH! USA USA USA! LET'S KICK SOME BROWN PEOPLE ASS! and to quietly object was brave.

Was? Still is. Every time I've brought up withdrawing our tropps completely, I've been shouted down. It's impossible! It will create a vacuum! We need to finish what we started!

You're telling me that the best military in the world can't figure this out?
You're telling me that that no one expected that the death of Saddam Hussein would create instability?
You're telling me that the people who instigated this war actually had and endgame in mind?

Honestly, I don't know if the war protestors have been out there every Friday for the past ten years or if they've been reinvigorated by the anniversary. I'm going to check out that street corner this Friday-- maybe if they're out there, I'll join them.

And now... Steubenville

There's no way to gracefully segue from babies to the horribleness of the news lately, so I'm not even going to try.
I wish I could say that I had some deep insight about Steubenville, but right now all I've got is rage. Rage for Jane Doe, rage towards the boys who raped her, rage at the media who are still pushing the myth that drunkenness=consent. Rage that people are harassing her over Twitter. Rage that there's so much more sympathy for the boys who attacked her than the victim herself. She's just a drunken slut, why does she matter?

It has occurred to me that if those kids robbed a liquor store instead of raping their classmate, there would be none of this "but they had so much potential!" bullshit going on. They'd be convicted with no second thoughts and no one on cable news talking about how sad their situation is.

And they say there's no rape culture. *spits!*