The Del Rubio Triplets: "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Medley)"
Milly Del Rubio, the last surviving Del Rubio Triplet (and great niece of First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson!), passed away last week from respiratory failure. RIP Milly.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Milly Del Rubio RIP
The Del Rubio Triplets: "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead (Medley)"
Milly Del Rubio, the last surviving Del Rubio Triplet (and great niece of First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson!), passed away last week from respiratory failure. RIP Milly.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Amy Winhouse RIP
Amy Winehouse: "Tears Dry On Their Own"
During her career Amy Winhouse won five Grammys, a Brit Award, two NME awards, three Ivor Novello Awards, among others. Her 2006 album Back to Black sold over 10 million copies. Winehouse was found dead at her home today. She was 27.
Friday, July 08, 2011
Bacon Is Freedom
Libertarians love bacon. (Remember this?)
I'm not sure why, but maybe because bacon is not really good for you. They like stuff that's not really good for anyone, right? Hey, don't get me wrong. I like bacon, too. But I'm not going to eat a pound of it just to prove some ridiculous point about how free I am.
Which is exactly the type of thing that happens at PorcFest (short for Porcupine Freedom Festival), a gathering of like-minded individuals who don't think the government should do anything. Like inspecting meat.
In this Utopian dream of free-markets, a person can sell someone uninspected bacon, fried up by the pound, and if it turns out the meat is a little wonky, the community will "regulate him."
"If he poisons me, I won't buy his food. And he'll be done."
Which I guess, is all well and good. You know, if you don't mind taking a risk being poisoned by your breakfast meats. Though, in the real world, if someone like J.R. Simplot poisons someone, even a thousand someones, no amount of community outcry is really going to affect them.
Which is, of course, why we need regulation, why we need the goverment (yes, I am assuming here, for the sake of argument, that they would and could actually regulate, inspect, enforce; I understand the realties) to inspect meat, to enforce environmetal standards, protect its citizens from the free-market that places profit above safety.
But in the world of the Libertarian, it's up to everyone to protect themselves. And maybe that works in a secluded campground where a couple hundred people swap silver for bacon one weekend a year, but in the real world, the place I live, not so much.
I'm not sure why, but maybe because bacon is not really good for you. They like stuff that's not really good for anyone, right? Hey, don't get me wrong. I like bacon, too. But I'm not going to eat a pound of it just to prove some ridiculous point about how free I am.
Which is exactly the type of thing that happens at PorcFest (short for Porcupine Freedom Festival), a gathering of like-minded individuals who don't think the government should do anything. Like inspecting meat.
In this Utopian dream of free-markets, a person can sell someone uninspected bacon, fried up by the pound, and if it turns out the meat is a little wonky, the community will "regulate him."
"If he poisons me, I won't buy his food. And he'll be done."
Which I guess, is all well and good. You know, if you don't mind taking a risk being poisoned by your breakfast meats. Though, in the real world, if someone like J.R. Simplot poisons someone, even a thousand someones, no amount of community outcry is really going to affect them.
Which is, of course, why we need regulation, why we need the goverment (yes, I am assuming here, for the sake of argument, that they would and could actually regulate, inspect, enforce; I understand the realties) to inspect meat, to enforce environmetal standards, protect its citizens from the free-market that places profit above safety.
But in the world of the Libertarian, it's up to everyone to protect themselves. And maybe that works in a secluded campground where a couple hundred people swap silver for bacon one weekend a year, but in the real world, the place I live, not so much.
Thursday, July 07, 2011
My Planned Parenthood
Posted as Part of the My Planned Parenthood Blog Carnival
I went to Planned Parenthood today. I went alone.
I am a man. I am gay. I am sexually active. I went to Planned Parenthood for an HIV test.
There is a myth, one promoted by the anti-choicers that Planned Parenthood is some kind of abortion factory, killing babies with tax-payer funds, but, apart from the facts that abortions don't kill babies and the Hyde Amendment already prevents the use of tax-payer funds for abortions, Planned Parenthood offers so much more than abortion services. And Planned Parenthood doesn't only serve women. Services are available to men, too.
I was able to walk in, ask for a HIV test, and within minutes the staff was drawing my blood. Fifteen minutes later, I had the results.
The horrendous cuts to their funding, the anti-choicers' (very successful) attempts to shut down Planned Parenthood affects more than just women. It does more than just stop Planned Parenthood from performing abortions. It also affects gay men like me who need access to STI screening. It affects entire communities.
I went to Planned Parenthood today. I went alone.
I am a man. I am gay. I am sexually active. I went to Planned Parenthood for an HIV test.
There is a myth, one promoted by the anti-choicers that Planned Parenthood is some kind of abortion factory, killing babies with tax-payer funds, but, apart from the facts that abortions don't kill babies and the Hyde Amendment already prevents the use of tax-payer funds for abortions, Planned Parenthood offers so much more than abortion services. And Planned Parenthood doesn't only serve women. Services are available to men, too.
I was able to walk in, ask for a HIV test, and within minutes the staff was drawing my blood. Fifteen minutes later, I had the results.
The horrendous cuts to their funding, the anti-choicers' (very successful) attempts to shut down Planned Parenthood affects more than just women. It does more than just stop Planned Parenthood from performing abortions. It also affects gay men like me who need access to STI screening. It affects entire communities.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Monday, July 04, 2011
Friday, July 01, 2011
Quote of the Day
"I thought he was a dick yesterday." — Mark Halperin, politcal analyst at MSNBC and contributor to Time, speaking about President Obama yesterday during an appearance on Morning Joe. Halperin has since been placed on indefinite leave by MSNBC.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)