Ganked from popehat.com (ie, nothing below this line was authored by me!)

Everyone who's been through high school literature likes to talk about Emmanuel Goldstein when it's a member of their own cultural tribe that's being persecuted, but it's a lot harder to note that the person being vilified by the combined mechanism of the state, the media, and popular opinion might be innocent when it's a member of the other tribe.

When the telescreen tells us that a gang of black youths went "wilding", people on the left see innocent kids caught up in a witch hunt, but people on the right believe Big Brother.

When the telescreen tells us that a white Hispanic with a gun assaulted and battered his wife and father-in-law, people on the right see an innocent man caught up in a witch hunt, but people on the left believe Big Brother.

It's hard, I know. I'm firmly in one cultural camp, and I've got a knee-jerk reaction to these things. We all do.

My suggestion: we, as a society, would be better off if we all toned down our immediate rush to judgement, and maybe even routinely tried to construct alternate hypothesises to explain what the telescreen tells us.

If you are in the cultural right, the next time Drudge tells you about a flash mob of 100 black youths raiding a convenience store, consider that it might be perfectly true. …or it could be an exaggeration, and it was two kids, both white, who did it.

If you are in the cultural left, the next time Kos tells you about a white guy who called a black kid a racist name before punching him it might be perfectly true. …or it could be an exaggeration, and it was a fight over a parking space where both parties are to blame.

And so on.

You'll fail. I know this because I fail. But worse than repeated failure is believing the narrative from your own cultural camp with out question.

Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis has introduced a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to subject a dog, cat or other companion animal to piercings, tattoos and unnecessary appearance-altering surgeries.

Yeah, this isn't the state in which I live, and doesn't affect me directly. However, I would like to point out that at no place in this article is there mention of exemption for tattoos done by a veterinarian. Many people are not aware of this, but I tattoo animals at least weekly. Nothing as elaborate as the dog pictured for this article, but I put tattoos in ears and on abdomens to 1: identify individual animals (this is usually livestock, but rabbits are often ID-tattooed, as are horses. This is becoming less common with increasing use of microchip ID, but is still widely done.)
2: ear tattoos make it clear that feral cats have been neutered
3: abdominal tattoos mark female cats (feral or outdoor pet/barn) as spayed

I'm gonna be mighty pissy if I start getting charged with misdemeanors for every feral cat I tattoo. That tattoo may prevent unnecessary anesthetic and/or surgical procedures in the future. Do you have ANY idea how frustrating it is to re-open a cat that's already been spayed? I call bullshit on statements like this: "There's no reason to pierce or tattoo a dog or cat. It should be illegal."

I can't say as I've ever pierced a dog or cat...but I put ear piercings in cattle regularly, and goats and sheep on occasion. These are usually ID tags, marking them as tested for or vaccinated against certain diseases, but there are also several medication-impregnated ear tags in common use for range animals that can't be caught and medicated daily.

Bills like this piss me off-this is NOT a real problem. Focus on shit like ear cropping and tail docking if you are worried about wide-spread unnecessary cosmetic procedures, not tattoos that are 1: uncommonly done by lay persons and 2: may have valid medical reasons. This politician really wants to help animals? She should focus on supporting neuter and vaccinations programs, and requirements for animal identification to decrease the number of unclaimed strays. Instead, she's floating this ridiculous bill, and using it to smear her opponent as an animal hater. Fucking politics.

This is so many layers of bullshit that I can't even be bothered to form a coherent list. If you want coherency, go read Blag Hag's thoughts on the matter. I'm too busy swearing at the computer screen.

Saw a bumpersticker the other day. "Does my American FLAG offend you? Call 1-800-leave-US!"

No. The flag doesn't offend me. However, your choice to use a symbol of freedom as a weapon against anybody who disagrees with you is highly offensive. Too bad the subtle difference between those two things is apparently lost on your stupid hypocritical redneck ass. Incidentally, Chinese, Russian, and even the old USSR flags also fail to offend me. They're fucking FLAGS for crap's sake. They are inanimate objects that take no offensive action. But I suppose you wouldn't understand that either, would you?

I read with thanks your promotion of donations to Planned Parenthood of Indiana in this week's "Savage Love." A friend and I have been promoting a similar idea, only we added an extra twist. At the Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) donation page, you can donate in honor of someone and have a notification sent to their snail mail address. Our idea was to suggest that people do the following:

1) Go to PPIN's donation page and fill out the donation form.

2) Answer "This gift is in honor of:" with "Mitch Daniels."

3) Answer "Please send acknowledgment of my gift to:" with "Governor Mitch Daniels, 200 W. Washington St., Rm. 206, Indianapolis, IN 46204"

4) Finish filling out the form so your donation is recorded.

Would you mind suggesting this to your readers? We've gotten a few dozen people to donate in honor of ol' Mitch, but it would be nice to have lots more.

J.C.Y.

For those of you who already got this in your email, sorry for the duplication.

Hey everybody. I don't mass-mail very often, and even less about political stuff, but this is something I actually give a rip about. I don't know how many of you have used Planned Parenthood in the past, but they were my primary source of medical care for years during college. (And that's a lot of years!) This bill is absolute trash, and I'm disgusted that the House passed it.
I sign "open letters" and petitions about as often as I email you all political stuff, but for whatever good it'll do, I signed this one.
The people behind this farce claim it's supposed to be targeted at abortions, but that's crap. So whatever your feelings on abortion, please take a minute to ponder your feelings on cervical cancer, breast cancer, base-line health care, read the following and consider clicking the link at the end to sign the letter:

By law, federal funds haven’t paid for abortions since the 1970s, so the House hasn’t voted to cut abortion funding. They’re cutting funding for the entire Title X program — funding for contraception, cancer screening, STI tests, sex education, mammograms, HIV testing and diagnosis, and pregnancy screening and counseling. Title X is the only federal program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and preventive health services, particularly low-income families. Last year, 5 million people benefited from the services funded by Title X.

Planned Parenthood is the target of this legislation, and American women the primary victims. This isn’t about abortion — it’s about cutting access to health care for women. One in five American women has used Planned Parenthood’s services. The vast majority of care — more than 90% — offered at Planned Parenthood health centers is preventative. Every year, Planned Parenthood carries out nearly one million screenings for cervical cancer — screenings which save lives. Every year, Planned Parenthood doctors and nurses give more than 830,000 breast exams — exams which save lives. Every year, nearly 2.5 million patients receive contraception from Planned Parenthood — a service which prevents enormous numbers of unintended pregnancies and, by extension, an enormous number of abortions. Every year, Planned Parenthood administers nearly 4 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV — tests and treatments which save lives, extend lives, preserve fertility, and maintain reproductive health.

https://secure.ppaction.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=pp_ppol_ws_I_Stand_with_PP&s_src=istandwithPP_home

This whole situation is bullshit.

Idaho Board of Pharmacy received a complaint alleging that on Nov. 6 a Walgreens pharmacist refused to fill a prescription ordered by one of Planned Parenthood's Boise-based nurse practitioners. The prescription was for a Planned Parenthood patient for Methergine, a medicine used to prevent or control bleeding of the uterus following childbirth or an abortion.

An inquiry to Walgreens' Corporate office seeking comment was not immediately addressed.

Planned Parenthood officials said the complaint states that the pharmacist inquired if the patient needed the drug for post-abortion care. The nurse refused to answer the question based on confidentiality of health information.

According to Planned Parenthood, the pharmacist then stated that if the nurse practitioner did not disclose that information, she would not fill the prescription. The nurse alleged that the pharmacist hung up when asked for a referral to another pharmacy that would fill the prescription.

Because the whole "separation of Church and State" thing is, in reality, tenuous at best, there is a (stupid!) legal loophole that allows pharmacists to decide they have moral objections to dispensing a medication, but they are required to refer the caller to a pharmacy that will dispense. Specifically, this is typically used by pharmacists who have decided that birth control is evil. In this case, however, this pharmacist (allegedly) decided that their moral judgment was more important than the risk of this patient bleeding to death, AND they refused to give a referral to a different pharmacy.

So, since I'm opinionated and this is my blog, you all get a big dose of my opinion tonight.

1: You're a pharmacist. Your fucking job is to dispense pharmaceuticals as prescribed by doctors and/or practitioners, not to pass judgment on whether the person deserves said medications. If you cannot or will not, for whatever reason, actually DO THIS JOB, then fucking get a different damned job. I really don't give a shit if that means you BUY the whole damned pharmacy and then decline to stock certain medications, but do NOT for FUCK'S SAKE have the medication in stock and then refuse to dispense it just because you have some "holier than thou" bullshit attitude. Read the damned bible again, paying particular attention to the calls for humility and refraining from judgment, you hypocritical fuckhead. (Yes, I'm assuming Christianity here, because odds are really high that only a Christian will pull this stunt.)

2: You can have whatever religious, ethical, and moral beliefs you want, I don't give a rat's ass. You want to picket the Planned Parenthood on weekends, whatever. I think you're wrong, but you're entitled to be wrong. Just don't bring it to work and inflict it on unsuspecting people there.

3: Your moral judgment DOES FUCKING NOT outweigh the risk of a patient DYING. You wanna whine about how teenagers shouldn't take birth control because they shouldn't be having sex anyway, whatever. This was someone with a potentially life-threatening, immediate condition. If they die, you have ZERO chance of ever converting them to your mighty moral standing, so what do you win by being a fucknut? Nada, except, in my mind anyway, a manslaughter charge on your soul when you check out. Go on, explain how that makes you more deserving of entry to Heaven than the poor woman you refused to help. Better make it good though, I hear God's a tough judge and doesn't care much for lying and dissembling.

4: So all the above is just my opinion on why pharmacists pulling these stunts are fucking fuckheads, but refusing the referral to another pharmacy is not only an asshole beyond fuckhead move, it's ILLEGAL. Since I'm not a proponent of putting non-violent offenders in jail, and it's a dubious claim for violence here, I hope that either there was really a phone-failure/disconnect and this pharmacist isn't actually this much of an asshole, or that they get fined like bloody hell. Or fired. I'd accept fired.

Ok. I think I'm done ranting. and no, I'm not going back and proofreading that, so if there are errors, repetitions, or inconsistencies, sorry. You're all big kids, you'll find a way to cope, I'm sure. :D

Says Ace at johnshore.com:

As for a mama grizzly bear, one might be good at protecting her own cubs, but I wouldn't trust her to look after mine, or even not eat them if it suited her interests, for that matter, if I had cubs. And that's all I'm going to say about bears.

Reading the voter's pamphlet is always thrilling. Thought I'd share this one with ya'll...

In case you don't know, candidate statements are submitted by the candidate to the Secretary of State.

Here is the statement from one Barbara Mowrey:

Elected Experience:
I am a Former Council Member 2 terms, city of Chewelah, WA. I worked as a City census-taker, 2 years.

Other Professional Experience:
I was Active in the signing of the Becca Bill, now in our law books to protect our children. I passed the Civil Service Exam; I am a Licensed Foster Parent, training only, I attended Crisis-Line Training through Rural Resources to aid in domestic violence situations. I worked as a Licensed Cosmetologist 22 years.

Education:
No information submitted

Community Service:
No information submitted

Statement:
My name is Barbara Mowrey; I am running in 7th LD Democratic Party for Senate. I believe in Democracy, Equality; "All men are created equal; Liberty and Justice for all, Equal Opportunity, not isolated only for the "fortunate." I ask you, "Why are "We the People" the last to know?" I will share one interpreted constitutional flaw that I read as written by the United States Court of Appeals: Ninth Circuit, June 12, 199557 F .3d 78963 USLW 2793, which basically states: "Grandparents' i.e., biological's have no constitutionally protected liberty interest in adoption of their children's offspring..."a genetic link does not give standing alone. "Grandparents have no rights superior to that of a stranger." People, once a child is in state care for "any reason" not permitted to go home, the biological child is no longer a legal member of your family...Socialism you ask? What other laws streamed by us without our knowledge? We the People" have a right to know! Petitions need be voted on before signed into law with full "laymen" explanation of the proposed laws. Where did Our " USA Constitutional Rights" go? Visit my website at: www.friendsofbarbaramowreyforsenate.com. You are valuable!

That's copy/pasted directly, all the grammatical fun is straight from the candidate. It's like she got distracted and started frothing manically when asked to write a submission! Must be a fluke, right? She was nervous, or busy, or whatever, and someone else wrote it for her... so I wandered over to her campaign webpage. The formatting is outstanding. I haven't got the patience to reproduce it here; seriously, every other word in the opening paragraph is italicized or underlined or both. She uses quotation marks when italicizing would be appropriate, and italics everywhere else. Reading further reveals that she has apparently no concept of where commas belong. The whole first page is one long rant about her opponent and the court standing of foster children.

Also, the one bill she keeps flaunting as her huge success is just a truancy reporting requirement.

What fun :)