Iyow - in your own words

Try to subvert the will of the voters again… and again…

The South Dakota legislature, dissatisfied that the voters struck down their attempt at banning abortion, has introduced a new bill:

Bill Number: SD H 1293
Summary: Prohibits abortion throughout all stages of pregnancy except in cases of life endangerment, rape, or incest. Also contains an inadequate health exception. Amended in February 2007 to add a section that automatically refers the bill, if enacted by the legislature and governor, to the 2008 general election ballot.
Sponsor: DeVries ®
Introduced: 01/31/2007
Last Action: Introduced

This bill adds a clause for rape and incest, likely hoping that change would make it pass this time, and added a clause that would automatically send the bill to the ballot.

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New York Magazine has an intriguing and somewhat exhaustive article on grownups who maybe aren’t grownups at all.

The author makes some interesting points about how so many thirty and forty-somethings have not followed the path of their parents and grandparents into adulthood, and have perhaps gone to great lengths to avoid those traditional manifestations of parenting and growing up (although I would say that plenty of people still do).

At the same time, I was a bit put off by the author’s focus on clothes and lifestyle choices. Is adulthood really defined by working 9 to 5 and wearing a suit? Are you really putting off adulthood if you wear distressed jeans and pumas instead of Brooks Brothers and pursue a flexible schedule?

Most of the “grups” (her word for grownups who haven’t grown up) she interviewed seem to be paying the rent/mortgage, raising children, and managing a budget.

Are their (okay, our) music and fashion choices really an indicator of immaturity or is it just funkier window dressing? Is pursuing more unusual career choices in life past age 30 a sign of immaturity or a sign of greater opportunity in modern culture (especially for women)?

What does it mean to be an adult?

It’s interesting that our reaction to a successfully thwarted terrorist attack generates almost the same reactions as a successful attack.

Instead of looking at what we (well, the UK) did right, and what we too need to do in the future to ensure continued success, instead of feeling a little safer knowing that these guys are on the job, protecting us, many seem instead to be shocked (shocked!) that a terrorist attack was being planned at all. Is this really a shock?

Graphic via blogger parodies from WiredBlogs.

Did some people really think that our current policies and actions meant less terrorism, instead of more?

I think we should be focusing on supporting our law enforcement agencies, giving them some actual funding instead of picking wars with other countries or cutting domestic budgets – which is where the real safety enforcement happens.
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You read the above title, and thought, “That’s ridiculous, there is no such thing as a flying tomato.” But you are wrong.

I hate driving.

I really, really hate driving.

I get bored, I get cranky, I get impatient and angry. I will decide, then and there, that the entire world sucks because it has failed to understand or love me.

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As some of you may know, the FDA has approved Guardasil, Merk’s groundbreaking and lifesaving HPV vaccine. HPV was believed to be one of the few things that could not be prevented by condom use, so it was one of the few remaining Scary Things About Having The Sex. While sex and the inherent risks of intercourse should be taken seriously, sex is relatively safe these days.

Thus, certain religious groups are going out of their way to make sure that pre-teen girls are not automatically vaccinated. The rationale is that if you provide protection against HPV, then you remove one of the repercussions of having sex. The rationale goes, then, that removing this danger will cause a 100-fold increase in freqent and regular Preteen Animalistic Fracking.

That’s the thing about abstinence-only theory, it’s generally based on fear – the idea that if you have sex when you shouldn’t, then bad things will happen to you.

This is personally what I was taught growing up in the Christian church: If you have sex, then bad things will happen to you. And while it didn’t stop me from having sex, it did instill a low-lying panic, that every time I had sex I was going to die a horrible painful death, despite my very responsible behavior (thanks to a thorough sex education despite my church’s best efforts otherwise).

So I started thinking about all the other things in our culture that remove the repercussions of our actions, and that maybe we need more good old-fashioned fear instead of all these little safety nets we have no business relying on. I think we should re-examine all of the following, and consider returning to the good old days when actions had real and dangerous repercussions….

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Recently I was indulging in one of my secret vices – InStyle Magazine – when I came across an add for this little gem of a product for women. It’s the Venus Vibrance razor for women. That’s right kids, it’s a safety razor with a thick pink handle with a little button on the end. When you push the button on the end, it vibrates!

Batteries are included, believe it or not.

The literature tells us that shaving with the vibrating action exfoliates the skin. It doesn’t speak to other possible uses for the vibrating action or unusually thick handle. I am imagining the conversation deep in the heart of the Gillette Product Marketing department:...

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You can substitute cous cous for the Quinoa if you are in more of a pasta kinda mood, or Barley if you are feeling extraordinarily health-conscious.

Please note that these measurements are guidelines only – you may want to adjust the ratios to suit your own taste.

2 cups cooked Quinoa or Cous Cous
3 ounces Feta Cheese, crumbled
About 15 Kalamata Olives, pitted
2 medium sized Tomatoes (heirlooms work great) or a bunch of Cherry Tomatoes, halved
Bunch of Asparagus (optional)

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Well, yes, if you are Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

I can’t help but wonder how the hell Colbert got this gig in the first place? Did they learn nothing from seeing Jon Stewart on Crossfire? Did they miss that? Did the organizers simply never bother to watch Colbert’s show, or did they just think that he would be different when faced with the President in person?

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Starting with the good news…

Lately it feels like heroes are in short supply, and we all need a few people to admire, right? It’s like a physical manifestation of optimism, something to hang onto while you hunker down and try to weather the scary stuff.

Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is a throw-yourself-to-the-ground-in-prostration kind of hero. This woman is going to be on a coin or a stamp one day, and not some randomly-sized dollar coin no one uses either (sorry, Susan).

In response to South Dakota’s draconian and misogynistic abortion legislation banning abortions, she has announced plans to open an abortion clinic on Sioux land.

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My favorite Thai resturant makes a pumpkin curry that is orgasmic, but they refuse to deliver and are across town. After playing around a bit, I found this in one of Nigella Lawson’s cookbooks and modified it a little.

You might notice that very few measurements are provided in this recipe. This supports my philosophy that measuring things is too much trouble. The added benefit is that one doesn’t have to wash the measuring cup. Less dishes = more quality eating time.

Pumpkin Curry

• One can of Coconut Milk
• One can of Pumpkin (optional)
• One tablespoon of Green Curry paste – I like the Thai Spices brand (I’ve experimented with making my own, using lemongrass, lime leaves, curry powder, garlic, chili, all to taste – but I like this better)
• About two cups fresh Pumpkin, cut into chunks. I often substitute cut-up butternut squash, which is easier to get and also easier to prepare.
• Tofu, cut into chunks, or Shrimp, or both.

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