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R.I.P. Vaclav Havel
More: Czech leader Vaclav Havel dies
Playwright who wove theatre into politics to peacefully bring down communism in Czechoslovakia was 75.
More: Leaders praise Havel as 'great European'
Tributes pour in from heads of state, ministers and cultural figures for leader who helped forge a free Europe.
More: Wikipedia: Václav Havel (for those who aren't familiar with him)

Kim Jong Il Dead: North Korea Leader Dies At 69 -- On the flip side, people for whom I wish I believed in hell...
More: N Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies

Video: Drone Watches Last U.S. Convoy Leave Iraq

I was talking to Chad about web accessibility as something organizations should pay attention to (in the context of an IVAW meeting he's at), and sent him the following links. Figured they might also be helpful or eye-opening for others.
Colorblind Web Page Filter
Introduction to Web Accessibility
this has a good section on how increasing accessibility also benefits people with low bandwidth or legacy systems (ie people who may not have financial resources for more), a list of automated testing tools, and a cool checklist

New book addresses sex education, relationships for people with autism spectrum disorders: IU News Room: Indiana University

Greek woes drive up suicide rate to highest in Europe

Scott Walker Kills Women's Cancer Screening Program For Political Gain

A Man in Tunisia, a Movement on Wall Street, and the Soldier Who Ignited the Fuse

Sex Sells Family Planning and Safer Sex: Why Aren't We Using It?

Google’s response to Siri is codenamed Majel, could be released by end of year -- But will she be anti-choice like Siri? (honestly, I'm most excited about the name, though)

6 Real Acts of Self Defense Too Awesome for an Action Movie

If schadenfreude made a noise, then you’d be hearing it pretty loudly from me right now: Kevin Trudeau — a convicted credit card fraud, and a man who made tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars by telling people he could cure their cancer using, get this, coral calcium — has lost his appeal to the federal court, and must pay $37.6 million dollars in fines.

Illegal Cross-Border Adoption Traps Two Mothers

Abortioneers on rape: This week, my co-workers and I advocated for a young girl – 13 years old – who was pregnant and had been raped by her father. Last week, I was helping an elderly woman schedule an appointment for her 12 year old granddaughter who had been raped by a cousin. A couple weeks before that, I was trying to help a woman that lived 300 miles away to get to our clinic for an abortion after being raped by a guy 1,000 miles away. All of these girls had to travel to our site. All of them needed help coming up with the money to pay for it. Each of them was in their second trimester. One of them had been denied Plan B at a Catholic hospital after her rape, so she thought she didn’t need it and believed she wouldn’t become pregnant. Under lots of stress, she didn’t think twice about not having her period for awhile. The 12 year old had only just started her menses, so she didn’t even know/understand/think to tell anyone she wasn’t bleeding.
How anyone – ANYONE – could deny these young women an abortion is absolutely beyond me.

Things I Get To ID at Work, Part 10 - Pea Crab

Occupy Wall Street hand signals, an illustrated guide by Ape Lad

Fort Magic: rod-and-connector system for building elaborate fabric forts

Desmond Tutu to Trinity Church: let Occupy stay! -- Whenever I think I can't adore him any more... Actually, there's a great billboard on my drive to work with a beautiful picture of him. It makes me smile every time I pass it. And despite other ads on that same billboard having been tagged with great frequency, his has been up for months without a hint of graffiti.

Microscopic Views of Alcoholic Drinks

WTF is happening with SOPA now?

Witchhunters, gerrymanders, hate-groups and hacks

And now, the cast of Community as Batman villains

Are there more people with autism, or more people diagnosed with autism? (I think it's pretty commonly accepted, except among the anti-vax crowd, that the issue is actually about increasing and broadening diagnosis)

Everyday Swedes take over management of nation's Twitter account

Best look yet of Comet Lovejoy’s slingshot around the Sun

Graphic video of Egyptian army brutality

Army: Manning Kept a Copy of His Chatroom Confession

Polyamory and sexual subculture in the East Bay

An Open Letter to Homophobic Christian Parents This Christmas: Op-Ed by Rev Marilyn Bowens

I'm the Red Kettle Menace?

Federal Judge Agrees to Review Age Restrictions on Morning-After Pill

Occupy Cleveland: Digest – Sunday, Dec. 18 – Wake up and Dream

The smallest frogs on Earth would have no trouble buddying up on top of a dime

Roundup: The many ways “If I Was a Poor Black Kid” got it seriously wrong

12 Luminous Shadow Artworks

At the Libraries: Forgotten Bookmarks (assorted library and book-related links) -- James, it includes a review of a new bookstore in Nashville, fyi.

Dietribes: Peppermint

Why Is The Middle Finger Offensive? -- I remember coming home from kindergarten in confusion and asking Mom about that, because a boy got in trouble at school on the playground for doing it, and I'd only see it in the context of the 'Here is Thumb-man' song from pre-school. She very matter-of-factly explained the representation of the penis, etc. It's one of those "funny in retrospect" moments, and typical of Mom's refusal to dance around things.

The 99%: What’s Funny About Being Poor? Roseanne and Working-Class Humor
Also totally underappreciated and in the same vein: Grace Under Fire
Relatedly, though, I found this article, which is sad to see. I hope she pulls together again; she's a brilliant and hysterically funny woman: Former 'Grace Under Fire' Star Brett Butler Reveals: I'm Homeless (Video) (if you've seen My Name is Earl, she played Joy's mother in that)

You Are Most Welcome to Enter This Church. Please Excuse the "Fishy Smell" --- awwwww!

Mom & Pop Culture: Gender is NOT a Genre

Feminist Fantasy

Bilaterally Gynandromorphic Chickens, and Why I’m Not “Scientifically” Male

When Is Suicide Not Suicide? When You’re Pregnant

Daily Advent Science from rjw76 -- Good basic genetics lessons

Choose Books: A Gift Guide for People Who Care About Stories

Op-ed: Investigating Porn

Piusa Sand Caves

Lowe's in Facebook Hell as Racist Comments Pile Up

Looking back at Terry Gilliam's Brazil

Conservatives Warn of OWS Propaganda in Schools

GOP Moves to Require Pee Tests and GEDs for Unemployed

A congressional bill to ban sex-selective abortions and those based on
race--the so-called PRENDA bill--poses as a defender of gender equity
and racial justice. Sujatha Jesudason says its real effect would be to
undermine both.

A major study of recent international data on school mathematics performance casts doubt on some common assumptions about gender and math achievement — in particular, the idea that girls and women have less ability due to a difference in biology.

Over the years, I’ve perfected a way to free myself from the stress of having to whip up a special dish for the obligatory office potluck. I’ve carefully developed a reputation for insect cookery. I casually make sure everyone in the office knows this.

U.S. Stillbirths Still Prevalent, Often Unexplained

Two Whole Cakes - How to Stop Dieting and Learn to Love Your Body

UPDATE: More Pics of Vienna's Baby Anteater

7 Creepy Abandoned Zoos

Don't Forget To Write: Voyager One Becomes First Man-Made Object To Leave The Solar System

Video: Homeless family occupies foreclosed home in Brooklyn

The argument from buttsex -- Oh, the perennial favorite of the frothing street preacher! (or at least it was the perennial favorite of the frothing street preacher who showed up on our campus)

Government tested AIDS drugs on foster kids
Children not provided with basic legal protection, review finds

Being a woman on twitter

How do you reconcile body acceptance with an androgynous gender identity?

Open Letter to Pixar

UK Study: kids who are put into foster care tend to get heavier
in No Shit, Sherlock
This study isn't new, but it certainly gives good evidence that putting fat children into foster care isn't going to make them thinner.

A Brief History of Marbles (Including All That Marble Slang)

Watch ‘A Muppet Family Christmas’ in its Entirety!

BBC Challenging Studio Ghibli with its own Borrowers Adaptation

Double rainbows are caused by fat water particles called "burgeroids"

Remember when Orson Welles shilled a fantasy board game? -- I loved Dark Tower! I still have the main unit, and have half-assedly googled about getting it repaired.

Chase solar storms without even leaving your house

Watch light particles crawl through a Coke bottle at a trillion frames per second

4,000 pages of Isaac Newton’s personal notebooks are now available to view online

Cuteness overload: a baby octopus in the palm of your hand

Starving orangutans may explain why humans evolved to become obese

10 Documentaries Tailor-Made for Nerds

Emails Suggest Ohio’s New Republican-Friendly Maps Save the GOP ‘Millions’

What Perry gets wrong about religion in America
By Bishop Gene Robinson

Octopus Walks on Land

Would you believe that "the largest, most definitive analysis of the mental health risks associated with abortion, synthesizing the results of 22 studies published between 1995 and 2009 involving 877,181 women, of whom 163,831 had abortions" has determined that "abortion harms women's mental health"? It concludes that "10% of all mental health problems and 34.9% of all suicides in women of reproductive age" are caused by abortion.
...
As it turns out, it isn't. The author of the paper, Priscilla Coleman, is an anti-abortion advocate, and 11 of the 22 studies sampled for the meta-analysis are by…Priscilla Coleman.

Animal camouflage: can you spot these masters of disguise playing hide-and-seek?

Terminology Matters: Let’s Not Call It “Prostate Cancer”

Vowels Control Your Brain

Ritalin and Other Cognitive-Enhancing Drugs Probably Won’t Make You Smarter

How Doctors Die
It’s Not Like the Rest of Us, But It Should Be (on death with dignity)

Like a Virgin, but Not Quite: Olive Oil's Dirty Secret

A tragic case of medical misconduct (primarily about g-shot and other vaginal elective/cosmetic surgeries, but the doctor is also up on charges for a botched abortion)

Another voter referendum: Ohio secretary of state certifies signatures to put elections law on next year's ballot

The Late Movies: Colonel Sherman T. Potter -- Belated RIP for Harry Morgan; I grew up on M*A*S*H and adored him.

The Perfect Body Is a Lie
[Bodybuilder] Coleman, stepping off the stage after a competition, is dependent on supplemental oxygen. “The strain of intense dieting, dehydration and muscle-flexing,” says Zed Nelson (who took the picture) “places high levels of strain on the heart and lungs, rendering many contestants dizzy, light-headed and weak.”
So, the image we see on the stage, of a man who has refined his body and built up his strength in a way we can envy and wish to achieve (or come close to), is a lie.
Lisa Wade at Sociological Images paired this image of Coleman with a photograph of Victoria’s Secret Angel, Adriana Lima, who discussed her pre-shoot regimen in a recent interview.

Scientists still puzzled by a fractal discovered 500 years ago

Deconstruction: Won't Someone Think Of The Children!? and the Seductive Allure of Mom-Shaming

Scientists Find the Oldest Known Sleeping Mats, Laced With Insect-Repelling Leaves

A Collection of Otherworldly Images that Trick the Eye

Map Charts Path of MythBusters’ Wayward Cannonball

Condom company provides buy one, donate one service. Brings new meaning to "a feel-good moment"

Community debuts the Inspector Spacetime Holiday Special (and spoofs Invasion of the Bodysnatchers!)

Mudhif

Riker flirts with a woman, whom he later has to shoot, Wes experiences the jock-vs.-geek paradigm, Crusher frowns a lot, and Picard has to lead negotiations between 80s metalhead frat boys and Miss Balbricker from the Porky's movies. The TNG Rewatch does "The Vengeance Factor."

James Sloyan makes his first Trek appearance, Andreas Katsulas makes his second, Data does Henry V, and the Federation and Romulans teeter on the brink of war. The TNG Rewatch provides a tense episode with more than its share of surprises with "The Defector."

It's not just boys and men who are aggressive, say Caryl Rivers and
Rosalind C. Barnett in "The Truth About Girls and Boys." But in this
excerpt from their new book, they note that women are far more often
seriously hurt or killed.

Cool Custom TARDIS DVD Bookcase

NPR and Their Fat Hatred Can Kiss My Hairy Ass

Raging at the Bull: Occupy Wall Street Posters From Occuprint

Ugly Girl redux.

BECAUSE celebrates it's 20th anniversary in April 2012, and we are calling
all interested presenters! We are looking for programming items on all
aspects of bisexuality, and allied and related topics, including, but not
limited to (and in no particular order), transgender issues, spirituality,
religion, politics, activism, gender, polyamory, sexual freedom, sex
positivism, community building, kink, youth, elders, relationships, family,
work, legalities, housing, size, culture, ability, access, education,
labels, bis in the lgbt community, coming out for youth, at work and as an
adult, and almost anything related to bisexuality! We will need beginning
AND advanced programs!

What really big government looks like in Ohio

Number of active duty soldiers' homes foreclosed by various banks

Buddy Roemer and voting rights

The art of Occupy

Behold: The "Most Complete Map Ever Made" of Westeros and Essos

Ghostbusters as a Dr. Seuss Book

I See Fat People: They're Everywhere!

5 Fish Clearly Designed by a Madman

A new study found that as women get older, ease of orgasm increases.

Glossary: Decoding the Police Jargon Overheard at Occupy

What is the best way to locate the galaxy’s habitable planets?

Shrimp-like species can create ultra-sticky silk that’s as strong as steel

One fifth of all mammals are bats. Here’s why.

NBC is reporting that the research found whether or not the vitamins actually had any health benefits didn't matter; people who thought they were swallowing magic beans were infused with a sense of indomitable toughness. "Vitamin" takers were less likely to engage in healthy behaviors like exercise and healthy eating; the pills were making up for their bad decisions!

Ursula K. Le Guin writes a fable of Occupy Wall Street

Epigenetics Explained [Animation] -- the discovery of epigenetics is absolutely the biggest paradigm-shifter since I took genetics classes. Amazing stuff, really.
Related: Worms Can Pass a Trait Down for 100 Generations…Without Using DNA

Molecules to Medicine: Pharma Trumps HIPAA?

Can the Most Interesting Man in the World Help Save This Critically Endangered Wombat?

Washington, D.C. as It Might Have Been

On the Trail of the Orchid Child
One genetic variant leads to the best and worst outcomes in kids

How to Argue with a Fat Loather
(or: how to survive the holidays, family, and work as a fat activist)

Face Reality With Age-Morphed Photos

Interactive chart: understanding the chokepoints for censorship

The Human Mic: Not Just for Occupy

ACLU Will Sue if OH Anti-Abortion Bills Passed

6 'Based on a True Story' Movies with Unpleasant Epilogues

Rats Free Trapped Friends, Hint at Universal Empathy

Crows remember colours for a year: Japanese study

Meet the Lampyridae!

‘Doctor Who’s’ Russell T. Davies Puts Career On Hold -- many good thoughts to them both.

7 Neat Tools For Your Favorite Geeks

Stone implements linked Africans and Arabians a surprisingly long time ago