Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

Free Birth

Do-It-Yourself Delivery – washingtonpost.com
In Shanley’s view, many of the problems during birth are caused by the over-medicalization of a natural process.

Yes, that’s definitely true. But there’s a middle way between an over-medicalized hospital birth and giving birth at home alone or with the “assistance” of an untrained relative or spouse. The obvious answer is home birth with a trained midwife. There are lots of them out there and there are many excellent midwives who are not part of the “medical establishment”. They’re often called “direct entry” midwives. They usually train for several years under the supervision of an experienced midwife. They know how to do exams, they recognize different kinds of problems the mother or baby may encounter and they can often perform “non medical” interventions to solve these problems.

It’s irresponsible and, frankly, stupid for a woman to intentionally give birth without the assistance of at least an experienced midwife.

More disturbing yet, many of these “free birth” people also oppose routine immunizations for their children. I guess they’ve never seen what tetanus or diphtheria can do to a person.

So, these wack-jobs are intentionally endangering their children’s lives from the moment of birth onward — all for the sake of some nutty theories about how “evil” the mainstream medical establishment is? Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater!

Talk

For Clinton and Obama, A Debate Point Won’t Die – washingtonpost.com
“Nobody expects that you would suddenly just sit down with them for coffee without having done the appropriate groundwork,” [Obama] said. “But the question was: Would you meet them without preconditions? And part of the Bush doctrine has been to say no.”

The question was whether a US President should meet with leaders of hostile nations. Clinton says “no”. Obama says “yes”. Clinton then goes on to accuse Obama of being naive.

I’m handing this round to Obama.

Hillary Clinton’s “get tough” foreign policy really does represent an outdated view of how the United States needs to relate to the rest of the world. Part of the reason we’re in the mess we’re in today is because the United States hasn’t been willing to just talk to countries like Iran and North Korea.

It will undoubtedly take years for us to establish any kind of meaningful dialog with the leaders of these countries, but we’ve got to start somewhere — and the best place to start is to just sit down with them and talk. Talk without preconditions. Without expectations. Just talk. And talk and talk and talk. Until, eventually, we find something we have in common. A starting point!

It’s the only way.

On this point alone, I’d vote for Obama. It’s that critical to the future of our country — and of our world.

Marooned In A Blizzard Of Lies

Gonzales’s Truthfulness Long Disputed – washingtonpost.com
Gonzales told senators earlier this year that allegations that he had been untruthful “have been personally very painful to me.”

Oh, so sad.

Frankly, I believe this to be just another lie on the part of Alberto Gonzales. Why? Because a man who would be the co-architect of the USA’s policy of torturing prisoners is a man without a conscience. A man who would lie over and over and over about the Bush administration’s violation of citizens’ rights, as Alberto Gonzales very clearly has done, is a man without integrity. And where there’s no integrity and no conscience, there can’t be real “personal pain” over being called a liar.

Do you think Alberto Gonzales stays up nights agonizing over whether torture is right or wrong? Is he losing sleep over the lies he’s told? Ha! For a person like Gonzales, lying is all in a day’s work. He probably doesn’t even think about it any more. It’s just a part of the job.

I wonder whether Gonzales was born without a conscience — or if prolonged exposure to George W. Bush just made him that way?

At Last — Something to Celebrate

Iraq Wins Its First-Ever Asian Cup Soccer Championship – washingtonpost.com
It took a beautiful arching corner kick and a textbook-perfect header on Sunday to bring unadulterated joy to millions of people across this war-ravaged country.

Man… if ever a country needed something to feel good about…

If We Can’t Disintegrate Them, At Least We Can Fine Them

Va. Courts Predict A Deluge Of Cases – washingtonpost.com
… [A] large number of those facing the new fees are egregious or repeat offenders. According to a review of the roughly 4,400 tickets issued by Fairfax County Police since July 1, at least 300 are serious enough to be eligible for the new fines. Of those, about 75 involve driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. More than 100 involve driving without a license. Dozens of those charged have records with multiple past driving offenses.

Well, exactly.

These aren’t nice people who maybe go 55 or 60 on Fairfax County Parkway when the posted speed limit is actually 50 mph.

The people who will be nailed with these higher fines are assholes who drive drunk or who go 20 mph or more over the speed limit.

These are the same jerks who will try to convince you that it’s the people who are actually driving the speed limit who are creating the dangerous situation — because speeders then drive even more recklessly to try and get around the people who are driving more slowly.

Wrong. WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! This is the same sort of idiotic thinking that produces statements like “You deserved to be robbed because you didn’t lock the door to your house.” That kind of attitude is born out of a self-centered disregard for the rights and safety of others.

What’s probably scariest of all about many of the people who are upset about the new fines is that they have no idea that they drive like complete assholes. They don’t think there’s anything wrong with how they drive! They’re completely oblivious! Maybe they’re too busy talking on their cell phones to notice that they’re tailgating at 65 or 70 mph. Maybe they’re just too goddamned fucking stupid to realize how unbelievably dangerous that is.

Actually, I think the world would be a much happier place if these assholes would just vanish from the face of the earth. But, seeing as how that’s unlikely to happen, the least we can do is fine the living shit out of them until they get it through their thick skulls that driving like a prick is a bad idea.

Nature At The Movies

March of the Cuddly-Wuddly Documentaries – washingtonpost.com
Call it the “fuzzumentary,” this new documentary sub-genre in which creatures of the wild — think the birds of “Winged Migration,” or the emperors of “March of the Penguins” — are turned into almost-human characters on the big screen. Wildlife footage is combined with an off-screen narrator to concoct a G-rated story of loyalty, survival, family togetherness and other themes designed to draw human empathy.

Forget the fact that some of these critters, particularly the polar bears and walruses in “Arctic Tale,” opening Friday, might rip us apart if given half a chance. C’mon, they’re so adorable! And when will the stuffed toy versions hit the shelves?

Hey, if it takes some anthropomorphizing to get people to try a little harder to save their habitats and maybe quit chasing them down and killing them for the hell of it, I’m completely in favor of it.

Ideally, people would care about wild animals without them having to be “disneyfied”, but whatever it takes… Of course, that does raise the question: Do films like these actually make people more likely to support habitat protection?

When You’re Watching C-SPAN, No One Can Hear You Scream

Alberto Gonzales cringes before the Senate. – By Emily Bazelon – Slate Magazine
These are alien creatures who resemble and act like human beings during the daytime. At night, they gather in humid, overheated chambers beneath the National Archives building—sort of like the egg chamber in Aliens—to sap the lifeblood of the Constitution with highly specialized sucking mouthparts. It’s a terrible fear I have to find myself locked in the Smithsonian at night, with my handheld Alien detector going “beep, beep, beep” as Alberto Gonzales makes his way towards me through the ventilation duct.

This wonderful bit of writing is actually from Slate’s “Comments” section for Emily Bazelon’s article. The commenter identifies him or herself as “Fingerpuppet” and it will be well worth your time to read his/her entire comment.

When Lying Liars Lie

Gonzales Denies Pressuring Ashcroft – washingtonpost.com
Most members of Gonzales’s senior staff have resigned or are on the way out. Several outside candidates turned down chances to be considered for the job of his deputy, and more than a half-dozen other top positions remain filled by temporary appointees. Some of the department’s key legislative priorities — including intelligence law revisions and anti-crime proposals — also have bogged down because of the fight with Democrats over the prosecutor firings.

Well, it’s really a misrepresentation of the situation to call it a “fight with Democrats”. More and more Republicans are realizing how badly Gonzales has screwed things up and they, too, are calling for his resignation. What better proof could we need, really, for how frighteningly out of touch with reality George W. Bush is than that Alberto Gonzales remains in the office of Attorney General? Not only is the man an unapologetic LIAR, he has repeatedly made it very clear that he has no respect for our Constitution, for the safety of our country, or for our position in the international community. He makes all of us look bad. He’s an embarrassment. And he’s a danger to us all because he represents a kind of “above the law” attitude that’s anathema to the very idea of liberty and democracy.

I honestly think he’s evil. And that’s not a word I use lightly.

Alberto Gonzales is a Loathsome Worm

Gonzales Denies Pressuring Ashcroft – washingtonpost.com
Specter said there was “evidence of low morale” at the Justice Department and blasted what he described as Gonzales’s lack of “personal credibility.”

You know, over the years for some reason I’d developed this idea that Arlen Specter was a bad guy. I was apparently wrong. I’ll admit it. At least in terms of the whole Alberto Gonzales thing, Specter has turned out to be a very good guy indeed.

All I can say is, it’s a good thing I’m not a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee because I don’t know that I’d be able to stop myself from diving over the table and choking the living shit out of Alberto Gonzales. I’ve got a happy little fantasy. In it, I’ve my hands around Gonzales’s neck and I’m smacking his head against the table over and over while screaming, “Answer the fucking question! Answer the fucking question!”

[Kidding, kidding... I'm supposing an extra asterisk has just been put next to my name on somebody's list. Sigh.]

Hate Fest!

Gonzales to Tell Senators He Will Not Quit

I’m watching Alberto Gonzales testify before the Senate today.

Now, don’t misunderstand me here. I hate Alberto Gonzales as much as the next pinko liberal terrorist-appeaser. And I’m thoroughly enjoying the many snarky comments from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee as they grill him about this and that. BUT, I do wish they’d focus in a bit more on stuff they might actually use to get Gonzales out of office.

This has an appearance of being a free-for-all. Don’t these people talk to one another? Don’t they coordinate, for Pete’s sake?

At this rate, I’m waiting for one of the senators to start criticizing Gonzales’s taste in suits. Or his hair. Or that loathsome slight Texas accent he shares with with his repellent worm of a boss. Or that simpering little smirk that I’d love to slap right off his face.