And in Pre-Birther News…

It’s an obvious reference, and I strongly doubt we were the first, but I’ve got our own use of Afterbirthers traced to August 2009.

There will also be a bill in Louisiana to make anyone who has an abortion or miscarriage after a certain point in the pregnancy take responsibility for the remains, e.g. have them buried or cremated.

Somehow I doubt that singing nuns will help. How do we spell shame?

PS. Not cool shoes. They are hobble shoes. Like the hobble skirt. Or the South Beach Diet. How men control women. In case they leak the fertile blood and turn us weak. Or gay.

Anyone got a better splain?

PS. If it involves assless chaps or motel wrestling I am going to need pictures.

@Benedick HRH KFC: Those are men’s shoes, not women’s shoes. Thus the disgusting misogyny of the ad.

ADD: And how many times does TommCatt have to ‘splain to us that all chaps are assless?

Where’s that boy Prom?

“In case you’re on the market for a used aircraft carrier, the Brits have officially posted an advertisement offering up the HMS Ark Royal, former flagship of the Royal Navy and time is running out to buy.”

http://defensetech.org/2011/04/28/submit-your-bids-for-hms-ark-royal/

@Benedick HRH KFC:

Get ready for live theater at the world’s most notorious detention facility. No, not for live readings of the Gitmo Files. The Army wants to stage readings from Sophocles’ classic plays Ajax and Philoctetes for the beleaguered troops at Guantanamo Bay.

Called “Theater of War,” the program takes the martial themes of the plays and treats them like “ritual reintegration for combat veterans by combat veterans.” Panel discussions with veterans typically follow the readings, “to increase awareness of post-deployment psychological health issues, disseminate information regarding available resources, and foster greater family and troop resilience.”

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/04/army-wants-to-stage-plays-at-guantanamo-bay/

@SanFranLefty: Men’s shoes? Unless they come with a woman gazing adoringly at them, no thanks. Even then, one would have to dress like Mick Jagger circa 1967 for them to make sense.

I gave up on the chaps thing ages ago.

“Third-World Country” is actually a political reference from the early cold war that came to be associated with poverty, etc. There was the “First World”- the United States and United States allies, the “Second World”- The Soviet Union and China and their allies, and then the non-allied countries formed the “third world”- which tended to be comprised of states under some form of imperialist rule (“Indochina”/Vietnam, for example), independent coalition-governed totalitiarian states (think Argentina or Bolivia), or economic imperialist rule (like the Phillipines under Magsaysay or Marcos, who were kept in power mostly by American business interests leveraging American foreign policy in the region). I don’t think the term was meant disparagingly at first, but has come to have racist undertones because, let’s face it, most of the people in those regions aren’t white.

Then there is the United Kingdom, which is more of a fourth-world state, you know, where they mispronounce the word cookie to the point where it sounds like the word for that little Sandy Duncan cracker thingie, refuse to drive the correct way, and where the principal export is murder mysteries featuring little old lady detectives.

@Benedick HRH KFC: S-a-r-a-h P-a-l-i-n.

You’re welcome.

@Tommmcatt Be Fat, And That Be That and Tommmcatt Be Fat, And That Be That: You’re on a roll tonight, dear.

@Nabisco: Mick would have totally worn those shoes. Ike Turner, I could see him wearing them, too.

@SanFranLefty: I try. I wish I had more time to hang out lately.

I’d like to see a similar bill that forbids removing colon polyps – after all, one of them could grow up to be the next Republican candidate for President! ;)

@Tommmcatt Be Fat, And That Be That: At my alma mater, they had a center for minority kids called the “Third World Center” and a pre-orientation freshman orientation called the “Third World Transition Program.” This was for all minority kids, not just kids from third world countries. They told us it was called “Third World” because “minority” has negative connotations.

Yeah. Roll that one around in your heads for a while.

And then let me know if it makes any sense to you because it’s been 20 years and I still think it’s stupid.

@Tommmcatt Be Fat, And That Be That: The Rat never rests.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: What? For real? Um. Wow. Just wow.
For real?
/speechless for a second

@SanFranLefty: Yep. I just googled it and they’re still calling it that.

Oy.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Is it some sort of post-modern, we’re going to embrace the term of oppression and own it (a la “queer”) sort of thing, or is it misguided attempt to sound hip? I’m still blown away by that.

Update: In a move no doubt pandering to the right wing of his party in case he decides to enter the 2012 GOP Presidential race, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels announced he will sign the bill that will strip all federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood. This from the guy who last year pissed off the evangelicals by saying the party should focus on economic issues instead of divisive cultural wars.

@SanFranLefty: Despite his elected position, I still see him as an Only In DC type — there’s no groundswell of support around him, except among Villagers.

@nojo: He’s toast with Vagina-Americans. Per the website of the Indiana Planned Parenthood affiliate, 22,000 women in the state received birth control and pap smears through Medicaid last year.

And paging our Indiana Stinquers – click that linque to get info on rallies across the state.

@SanFranLefty:

Speaking of conservative dickweeds, I give you Rep. Rehberg (R-MT) BAAAWWWWING about how he simply can’t make ends meet on the profits from $6 million+ worth of ranch. What’s supremely annoying about him is that he mentions a real problem (farmers who have land but no cash) but somehow fails to mention his $175k in Congressional salary. *Real* ranchers who are *really* over a barrel like that are probably fuming…

@al2o3cr: Don’t forget his gold-plated government health insurance policy, too. Most farmers have to buy insurance on the open market and/or have a second job that might provide insurance.