Ladies! Have I got a tablet for you!

Ladies! Is your Galaxy Tab just too masculine? Is your plain ol' iPad not fierce enough for you? Does your Surface leave your fuzzy pink lady brains in a tizzy?

Well, have I got a tablet for you!

The ePad Femme was designed for the on-the-go, cosmo swilling, shoe shopping stereotype! You see, it comes preloaded with a ton of useful apps for today's modern woman: recipes! Shopping! Yoga! Clothing! Don't worry your pretty little head about downloading anything else, Eurostar (the makers of ePad Femme) have already figured you all out!

Hell, I might even get rid of my clunky old laptop and my smartphone in favor of an ePad Femme. They are both so drab and black. Ew! Not like the ePad* Femme which is (reported to be) a pleasant shade of pink. And I just don't know how I've managed to handle using two different operating systems (Android Jellybean and Windows 8), since I'm obviously not smart enough to figure out either one. I sure am glad that someone has come along to remind me that I'm not supposed to be able to use common gadgets; I obviously need the dumbed down version because I am of the weaker sex.

Eurostar can SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! now.

*I can't say that enough. ePad, ePad, ePad, ePad, ePad, ePad, ePad, ePad, ePad, ePad! It sounds like a brand of robot maxi-pads.

(Ars Technica)

Caviar!

Earlier today I clicked a link. Then another. And another. And down the rabbit hole I fell, until I found this article from last December: Human Caviar, Eating Human Embryos as a New Delicacy?.

LOLWUT

No surprise, it's from the anti-choice nutbars from LifeNews. Anyway, to cut a long story short:

Human caviar. A disgusting, repulsive and horrifying thought for pretty much everyone. Why? Because the human embryo is a human organism, just as we are, albeit very early in development.

Therefore, stem cell research for those dirty, filthy scientists.

Seriously. Ignoring the fact that Iron Chef has never done a human embryo episode, no one is going to argue that a human embryo isn't human. I'm no scientist but I'm pretty sure that an important part of stem cell research is human stem cells. An embryo isn't a person you dumb fucks.

Is it bad that I want eggs for dinner now?

"Inspirational" quotes

One of the reasons why I hate facebook is because crap like this always ends up in my newsfeed:

Really? We're taking life coach advice from the likes of Henry Ford now? I have little patience for industrialists, let alone Nazi sympathizers, no matter how many pithy quotes that look good superimposed over an out-of-focus sunset they puked up over the course of their life.

Also... this very well may have originally a Mark Twain quote. A quick Googling brings up both Ford and Twain as the author. Twain I can respect, even if this is something that belongs on a Hallmark birthday card. Ford, not so much.

It could be worse. A few months ago, a friend posted "Nothing is so healing as the human touch", quoted from Bobby Fischer. Yes, that Bobby Fischer-- chess grandmaster and Holocaust denier. She took it down after a couple of us pointed out that Fischer was an terrible person.

The moral of this story: Do your research, people. I don't want to see motivational quotes from known bigots every morning.

In which I complain about the state of health insurance in the US

I got a funny letter in the mail the other day. You see, the company that handles the prescription coverage part of my health insurance is "urging" me to fill my "maintenance medications" though their home delivery pharmacy. By "urging" I mean "they will charge an additional 10% of the prescription's copay if I don't start ordering from their pharmacy by April".

How the fuck is this legal? Jesus Christ, we have better consumer protections for car insurance than health insurance. It's quite the racket, isn't it? Order directly from us or we will charge you more out-of-pocket every time you need to refill your prescriptions that keep you healthy! The mafia should be proud.

This is just one more reason to support single payer health insurance. Sure, its just a minor inconvenience for me-- I just have to call to make sure that they're not going to do something that is actually illegal, like charge a copay for my birth control-- but it could be a major issue for someone else.

It's clear that private companies cannot be trusted not to fuck over consumers in any way that they can.

I'm back, baby!

Woah, it's been an intense couple of months, but I'm back!

First, some cleanup. Yes, I got rid of the baby posts-- they were just an easy way to share pictures without resorting to facebook, nothing serious. They're not gone gone, just hidden for the time being. If you all are really good to me, maybe I'll include some Darkling pictures in future posts.

Anyway, apparently a creationist found my blog and was SO CONCERNED that he* simply had to send me an email. Now, I haven't gone through my old posts, but I'm pretty sure most of them have been about politics, feminist issues, and crap like that, not science or religion specifically.

Without further ado, here's the brain vomit that was belched into my inbox several hours ago:

Too Bad
[redacted]<[redacted]@yahoo.com> 2:36 PM (3 hours ago)
to me
Read this news.

I'm going to regret this, aren't I?
(That is the first and last sentence that doesn't require any correction.)

Wht (What) Dawinism (evolution) cant (can't) explain [is] the cambrian (Cambrian) age.

Yep. I shouldn't have read past the first statement. 
What can't evolution explain? You might as well say that evolution can't explain 1985.

Let alone trilobytes (trilobites) are so  sophisticated They (they)  alone  can crush Evolution (evolution)  and the trilobytes (trilobites') eyes are so complicated that only a creatot (creator) could have made them..

  Have you seen a trilobite?

Trilobite! Courtesy of Wikipedia

It doesn't exactly scream MOST COMPLEX ORGANIZM EVAR!! does it? I mean, trilobites are little dudes with an exoskeleton.

After some quick research, it seems as though trilobites had compound eyes, which isn't surprising considering that arthropods have compound eyes. There's no mention in anything I've read so far that a trilobite's eyes were too complex to have appeared in the Cambrian Period.

I do not understand  the insistence that eyes disprove evolution: eyes come in all different types from simple light detecting cells to complex organs that can detect different wavelengths of light, movement, depth, etc. Unless creationists are insisting that every species has an eye that is wholly unique, I don't see how eyes disprove evolution instead of supporting it.

Check it out(,) read up on [missing word(s)](.) i (I)  was like you(:) in the dark  because they [who are "they"?] do not talk about the cambrain (Cambrian) in text books (textbooks) and  if they do  its (it's) real (really) short(.)  ok (OK/Okay)(,) just thought i (I) would drop you this line(.)  c ya(,) protohunter

 I love run on sentences!

"They" don't include Cambrian period in textbooks? It has been a hell of a long time since I've been a student, so I can't really speak to what "they" have or have not included in school science curricula. It was stupid easy to find a Wikipedia article on the Cambrian Period though, so if there is some sort of conspiracy to keep us in the dark about the truth of the Cambrian, "they" are doin it rong.

To follow this train of thought (such that it is): our little Nimrod only accepts Jesus Christ as his lord and savior† because somebody fed him some goofy disinformation about compound eyes. He also believes that if someone like me sees one tiny example of (what he believes is) an unexplained phenomenon, we will instantly crumble and choose his religion above the thousands of others out there because Goddidit.

Here's the thing: I am perfectly okay with "I don't know". In fact, there would be very little scientific advancement if people didn't say "I don't know, but let me find out" and instead assumed that all unknowns were caused by a "creatot". Let's say that there was some mystery about trilobite eyes; that wouldn't prove the existence of a god, but it would demonstrate that we don't have all the pieces to the puzzle yet. 

Here's a couple of protips, just in case protohunter is reading:

1. It's all well and good to use a pseudonym (I obviously do), but it's kind of pointless if you're sending out emails with your real name attached.
2.  How exactly do you expect to convince anyone of your point of view with all the spelling/grammatical carnage? It may not be fair to prejudge someone's intelligence based on how well they communicate, but it happens all the time. I'd rather judge you based on your silly ideas, but to be fair, your refusal to use a spell check is pretty fucking annoying.

In case it's not glaringly obvious, I'd like you all to know that I am not a scientist. If anyone would like to impart any additional information (or make corrections if I've gone wrong), it would be greatly appreciated!

*Throughout the rest of this post, I refer to the writer as "he". This email was sent from an account with a masculine name attached (which I have redacted).
 †There's no doubt in my mind that protohunter is a Christian. He may not have used "Jesus" or "God", but trust me on this. They all sound the same.

Bic... for her?

For fuck's sake. It's bad enough that disposable razors are divided between "his" and "hers", but now Bic offers Bic for Her ballpoint pens! I shit you not:

This has got to be the absolute stupidest wad of gendered product I've seen in a good long while. My number one consideration when buying a writing utensil is whether or not it actually writes, not if it matches a fucking gender stereotype.

When are you going to come out with Bic for Him, Bicsters? I imagine you could really gussy it up by making it out of used tires or some other "manly" shit.

And now for something completely different: The Rules are back!

Oh barf. You all remember The Rules, right*? Shitty dating advice from a couple of women who, to put it mildly, think men should be pursuers and women should passively wait to be courted. Well, Ellen Fein and Sherie Schnieder are back with more "advice" for this new fangled wireless digital age! (Not Your Mother’s Rules, how fucking precious.) Aren't you excited? (Warning: this piece is extremely hetero-normative. I have no idea if these "rules" apply to gay men &/or lesbians or if Fein and Schnieder even care about same-sex couples.)

From an interview with JDate (yeah, I know):

Avi: Have The Rules changed at all since the 90′s when the book first appeared?
E&S: No and yes. No, because women — despite equal pay for equal work — cannot chase a guy like they can chase a career without possibly getting hurt and dumped. Men have a type/look and love a challenge, so it is a waste of time and doesn’t work whether you are in 1950, 1990, or 2012.
Yes, new technology (such as texting, Facebook®, Skype™ and Twitter) has made it harder to be mysterious, so we had to rewrite the first book for the new generation. It’s called Not Your Mother’s Rules and it will be out in February of 2013.

Equal what for what now?  Did the pay gap disappear while I was sleeping or something?

So much for being yourself. Or having self esteem. Or knowing what you want. The trick is to be "mysterious". Keep him guessing, ladies! All men totes love not knowing what the hell is going on with you.

Trust his instincts, not yours. Your fluffy pink lady brainz can't handle the agony of picking a date that's right for you, you had better just let the menfolk make up your mind for you. 

Check, um, mate?

Since it seems like Checkmate, Pro-Choicers!* is everywhere today, what the hell, I'll weigh in too.

First, let's start with the About ME! section, shall we?

This blog is run by me!

Well, no shit. We're off to a smashing start.

My name is Rebecca and I started this blog to point out the stupid things that anti-lifers (or pro-deathers) have to say about abortion!

Wait for it...

Abortion is murder, plain and simple.

There we go. Logic!

The goal of this blog is to make anti-lifers see how stupid they are being and stop supporting murder! If you have a hypocrisy or flaw in logic that you see pro-abortion people using, submit it!

The abuse of exclamation points is giving me a headache. Either that or the color scheme is. You just have to be aggressively girlie, don't you, Rebecca?

But you rock on with your immature self, Rebecca. I can't wait to hear these pro-life arguments that are so staggeringly good that I do a complete about face.

(Please keep all submissions, comments, and reblogs kind and Christ-like. Even though many girls who have abortions may be sluts, this blog is not about calling them sluts. It is about stopping the new holocaust!)

The "new" holocaust, huh?  Honestly, Christians, I know that you wish that the Holocaust happened to you, but you really need to stop appropriating another group's suffering to feed your own self righteousness. At the absolute best it's tacky. At the worst... well, it's not a surprise that you're a bunch of fucking anti-Semites.

And now onto the meat!