Linketies

Oh, good grief. Finally feeling somewhat better mentally, and now the fibro's going off. Fine for the last few days of winter blizzard, but today's been a very achy, tired sort of day. Lots of hand problems, especially. Naptime yet, please? Did get about half my doctors' visits scheduled, though. Endoscopy in the end of January. I hope I get souvenir photos. Actually, I'm really not kidding -- I find it deeply amusing to get to see inside bits of me, and still regret that my full spinal x-ray from college with the navel ring in the middle isn't something I have. Thankfully, many medical personnel are exactly the sort of biogeeks who understand my fascination and are willing to give a girl a hand. When I was teaching a CME session on transvaginal ultrasound the tech even took some extra-nice pics of my ovaries and uterus for me, which lived in the fridge until we moved. (Unsurprisingly, this is some of my favorite art)

Richard Holbrooke's last words were "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan."

Stem cell transplant has cured HIV infection in 'Berlin patient', say doctors -- Note that this is not a directly applicable treatment for others (too dangerous among other issues, see comment section), but it is a major step in a hopeful direction.

Iran summons U.K. envoy over 'inhumane' policing of student protest -- As someone else points out in the comments, when Iran is schooling you on your violations of your own citizens' rights, you're DOING IT WRONG.

Any donations made to RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) throughout the month of December will be matched dollar-for-dollar by another supporter.

UN secretary-general says culture must not override gay rights

New study debunks link between abortion and mental health problems

NY City to Bill Motorists Who Crash and Need Aid

'The One Drop Rule' Persists

Facebook World Map

Tories cutting essential services! What's new? - Forensic Science to close

Navy Recruits Swinging ’70s Vampire to Warn Against Syphilis

7 feminist reasons to watch the British teen drama “Skins” before American TV ruins it -- I only saw the first two seasons, but I was really impressed.

Secret box truck festival comes to SF

Sorry. There is no cheese in space.

Simple Science
This is an ongoing photographic exploration of the beauty inherent in simple scientific concepts and experiments.

Feministing takes Naomi Wolf to task for second statement about Assange

Wikileaks spending rises to $500K in past 5 months, questions over donations promised to Manning

Dear Ryan Murphy: I have words about Glee [and the new fat character]

Cannibal tadpoles croak when attacking kin

Stewart calls GOP 'World Trade cowards'

Glenn Beck Hypothetically Calls For Fareed Zakaria's Death (AUDIO)

A Duke Riley installation at MOCA Cleveland looks back at the Kingsbury Run Torso Murders

Blacks being ticketed in high numbers for not paying RTA fares in Cleveland (questions about profiling)
I pretty much expect this is a result of profiling. I ride these lines regularly, and being white and middle-class looking seems to mean that I get given a pass on almost everything almost always.

Citing hard times all over, Republicans block $250 bonus for senior citizens

Nigeria mulls $250 mln deal to drop Cheney charges

The Birth of a Botfly - Not for the Squeamish -- Botflies are one of my only major critter-related squicks. I had to deal with an infestation in a pet turtle once, and, um, nightmare material.

Texas Airport Security Insults India After Wrongfully Demanding to Search UN Envoy's Turban

Atheist Ads on Buses Rattle Fort Worth

Sweden challenges UK decision to give bail to Julian Assange, WikiLeaks chief to stay in jail

Villagers have told how a postcard sent to a First World War soldier being treated in hospital nearly a century ago was found by workmen fixing a village hall floor.

A team of Spanish researchers has discovered fossils of Ordovician conodonts dating to between 446 and 444 million years ago for the first time in the western Mediterranean. The discovery of these very primitive marine vertebrates has helped scientists to reconstruct the palaeogeography of the Cordillera Bética mountain range.

Arresting Youth In Sex Trafficking Raises Debate

Stephenson (unintentionally) on Steampunk

How the police and then the BBC tried to humiliate Jody McIntyre

Holiday in Chernobyl: Ukraine to lift restrictions on disaster site

Musk Oxen Live to Tell a Survivors’ Tale -- It's by Natalie Angier, and as usual she tells a fascinating tale. (I've been a fangirl since Woman: an Intimate Geography)

Climate Change comic that actually explains the whole shebang in detail. Handy. (frankly, it's closer to a comic book than a comic strip in length)

FIFA president says gays should refrain from homosexuality during Qatar World Cup

Strip club owner posts “No Negroes Allowed” sign

Rock Fame: Won, Lost and Re-enacted (on Dee Synder)

10 Best Christmas Songs for Atheists

Anachronistic photoshopping

Vulva art

EU withholds development aide to Côte d'Ivoire after disputed elected

Religious right leader admits to using bad research to demonize gay community, sees nothing wrong with it

Warhol Foundation Threatens to End Financing of Smithsonian Exhibitions

Women are off the U.S. diplomatic map. A look at 200 WikiLeaks cables finds no mention of our rights or struggles, says Corinna Barnard, and a recent check of the State Department's Council on Women and Girls site found a top story about romping reindeer.

My liberation as a man is tied to your liberation as a woman -- Powerful.

'Magnetic sponge' could be a new form of cell and drug delivery

Tripping on Science: The Psychedelic Community Contests Terms

Secret College Monk Orgy Draws Mild Rebuke

Harvard Says Homophobic Pee Vandal Was Just a Clumsy Librarian -- This is my baffled face. I got nothing.

Feministing links

There is a prisoner strike of historic proportions going on right now in Georgia. Since Thursday, thousands of prisoners have been refusing to leave their cells in protest of poor living and working conditions in GA prisons. (I posted the other day, but it's still going on and deserves attention)

Converting plastic back into oil

Comic strip versions of stories from Wikileaked cables

IBM has evidently designed a computer system optimized for winning Jeopardy! and have arranged for it to duel John Henry or a reasonable facimile on TV:

Art museum bans pencils and sketchpads

On Netherlands politics: Basically, the party for freedom wont be happy until tax revenue goes down, unemployment goes up, tourism ends and people are smoking drugs on the streets outside boarded up shops.

The U.S. Air Force has blocked employees from visiting media websites carrying leaked WikiLeaks documents, including The New York Times and the Guardian, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Voyager 1 Has Outdistanced the Solar Wind
Related: The wind is no longer at Voyager’s back
This gives me goosebumps. Really, I can feel them all up and down my legs right now, not even exaggerating.

Egypt may very well have just experienced the most fraudulent parliamentary elections in its recent history.

Council of Europe accuses Kosovo's prime minister of organlegging

He was a bully. He still is, whether he realises it or not. The Comedy of Hate going back to Sam Kinison, Jerry Sadowitz, Dennis Leary and of course Hicks was fuelled by frustration at a stupid world, screaming out the anger and turning it into hilarity. It was the old ‘if you don’t laugh, you cry’ maxim. Boyle is the comedy of complacency, of finding the weak and knocking them to the ground, inviting the audience to stand in that corridor and laugh at their flailing bodies. It’s not tearing down sacred cows. It’s kicking people who are already on the floor. It’s easy. Not offensive, just futile. -- I don't even particularly know the comedian this is discussing, but the overall concept is so spot-on; it's exactly what so many folks who are trying to be "edgy" don't get about humor.
Related: Katie Price has vowed to take on Channel 4 for their stance on the controversial "jokes" made by Scots comedian Frankie Boyle.
The comic made several bad taste jokes aimed at Katie's disabled son Harvey during his Tramadol Nights show for the broadcaster.

The US Government's pursuit of WikiLeaks could be its undoing

What's in a (species) name? -- Very silly and entertaining.

Misleading Eco-labels on Seafood Muddy the Waters on Sustainable Fishing

American Sign Language Gains Popularity

Childlessness has increased across most educational groups and all racial and ethnic levels.

Top Secret Rosies: The Female Computers of World War II

Are the Cyber Battles with the Enemies of WikiLeaks the New Civil Disobedience?
Are distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks a legitimate and effective form of protest?

Study makes it clear that clear that education and regulatory restrictions are more effective than prohibition and criminalization, but the drug czar draws the wrong conclusions.

Hope and justice live when people, even in tiny numbers, stand up and fight for them.

How the Pentagon Turns Working-Class Men into the Deadliest Killers on the Planet
An excerpt from antiwar activist Swanson's new book, War Is a Lie.

Would you like a phone call?

So, I've been doing the whole life reorganization thing. Like I mentioned in the depression post, I'm not really thrilled about how much less I'm traveling, and by how much I'm losing touch with folks who don't live in my house. For some reason it's really easy for me to get out of the habit of calling people, and every few years I try to remedy that by getting back in the habit of setting aside some regular time to call folks and chat. So, I'm trying that again, although not making any ironclad promises about my followthrough. If you'd like a phone call at some point, I'm screening comments on this post (applies on LJ only -- don't leave phone numbers in Facebook comments, follow the link and leave them over here). Leave your number (and name, if odds are good I think of you more by your username than given name), and generally ok times to call. I rarely talk for more than 10 or 15 minutes, but it'd be nice to get back in better touch with folks. Unfortunately, this is continental US only, due to my cell plan.

It doesn't matter if we haven't talked in a decade, or if we've never spoken in person. If you feel like getting a call at some point, it's all good. Contrariwise, even if you're one of my best friends, it's fine if you don't like the phone and don't want to play, and I won't take that at all personally.

How awesome is this amazing, fabulous woman?

How awesome, I ask you?

Budding lesbian playwright Kate Bishop hit a nerve with her debut with lesbian Baltimore residents.
A Peppermint Patty Christmas
The Strand Theater offers a peak inside one dysfunctional family's holiday circus

Also, gorgeous and smoochable. This also must be mentioned.

So very proud of you, K!