Linketies and critters

We've been petsitting the past couple days for Tulip and Hamlet, although it's mostly fallen to Becca, since they're not so used to cats, and are still likely to get into trouble in the front house. Ringo seems to have the makings of a dog-training cat, though. I'm pleased; Morph was great at it, and Ringo reminds me of him in a number of ways. He's friendly and confident and curious, and will voluntarily stay around new dogs, instead of vanishing upstairs like most of the cats. He'll hiss and bat and bound away when necessary, but he's chill enough to introduce to dogs who don't have much cat experience, and he's not skittish in a way that particularly encourages chasing. Since our place is a first introduction to cats for a number of dogs who visit, I really like having a cat or two I can count on to make that simpler, and to help teach new dogs the rules (this basically requires a cat who will allow calm dogs pretty close contact without freaking out, but stand its ground and smack a dog on the nose for misbehaving, rather than running away and triggering a game of chase that encourages the bad behavior). Tulip's still somewhat baffled by the whole cat concept and prone to barking at them, but she's doing better, and has had several very calm and well-behaved mutual sniffings under observation. Ringo's getting lots of praise and love for his patience.

On the other hand, watching Tulip barking her heart out at our deaf old lady cat was amusing. I don't think Mushroom even noticed. Leroy's been rather grumpy and territorial this visit, but Tarma and Tulip seem to have a lot of fun playing and wrestling together. They're about the same size and athleticism level, and that's gone very well. Hamlet's been fine with the cats (they're mostly bigger than him anyway), but is impossible to settle down as long as Tulip's pacing and exploring; he's pretty constantly attached to her side (actually, he's most often right under her; he's a pug, and fits right under her belly when she's standing). He's young, and still perfecting his potty-training, but otherwise relatively easy to handle.

Civility and Solidarity in Japan

Ohio: A tale of two counties: how one boomed, and one went bust

Ohio's new budget: Pain spread around, and down

Middle East unrest: Silence broken in Syria

Hillary Clinton Visits Egypt, Snubbed by Youth Activist Coalition

XKCD has a fascinating and very useful Radiation Dose Chart today

Tennessee Lawmakers Debate Permitting Women to Breastfeed Babes Over Age One (!) -- What the holy hell is this new bullshit? (Clarification: at very least, it does only apply to public breastfeeding, but it's still a pile o' crap)

The rise of the bike in the late 1800s changed women's approach to both private and public life, Sue Macy says in this adaptation of an excerpt from her new book "Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom."

Celebrity Polar Bear Knut Dies Suddenly -- Sad news.

Campaigning politicos to Sarkozy: Please don't endorse us!

One Art, Please. I Have 99 cents. -- Separate from this issue (in which I basically agree with Cat): You know what I'd like, in my perfect world? A simple way to send the author a buck whenever I buy a used book. I loved used books, and I hate that none of the profit from them goes to the actual author. A little scanner at the used book store that lets me scan my purchases and pay an additional direct amount to their online account would be nifty.

Messier 106

A black women's magazine explains poly relationships

Icicles are neat -- I've been boggling over these; I figure it has to have something to do with a higher water level at some point, but I still can't make it work in my head.

Republican-Controlled Committee Legislates That Climate Change Does Not Exist

Utah Rep. Mike Lee: Federal Child Labor Laws Are "Unconstitutional"

Anti-Gay Teacher who Bullied Student to Publicly Apologize

RDTN.org: crowdsourcing and mapping radiation levels

NZ: 'Gay-hate' killer released, high risk of re-offending

Racially-Inclusive Signage

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Role In ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Revealed

How Losing My Erection Made My Sex Life Better

Ice Crystal Formation Near Anchorage, Alaska

Spirals On Earth and in the Heavens

Parthenon Moon

Pop-Up Books: They’re Not Just for Kids

Slow evolvers win in the end

One in four Americans believes "most or all" of what's said on Fox News, despite Fox's fabrication of everything from death panels to Climategate.

How Psychedelics Can Be a Path to Transformation -- Haven't finished reading this one yet.

Weedmart: Meet the Entrepreneurs with Plans for Marijuana Superstores and Pot-Focused Reality TV

The Shameless Right-Wing Lies That Ousted an NPR CEO
More: Moyers: We Can't Let an Amateur Right-Wing Smear Campaign Destroy NPR

NASA employees make a human spaceship in the Kennedy Center parking lot

The colorful story of diffraction grating

What happens in our brain when we see banknotes being ripped up?

The secret to making long-term memories

Old female elephants are lion-fighting geniuses

Balloons over Antarctica aim to solve space radiation mystery

Assassins vs Men of Note: the old pseudoscience of phrenology

That reputable scientist, Ann Coulter, recently wrote a genuinely irresponsible and dishonest column on radiation hormesis. She claims we shouldn't worry about the damaged Japanese reactors because they'll make the locals healthier!

Friday Cephalopod: Fierce face

Badass of the Week: Hideaki Akaiwa

Painting a Target on Fat Kids

The first lady would be horrified by the idea that her Let’s Move campaign, which is dedicated to creating an America without any fat kids, is a particularly invidious form of bullying. But that’s exactly what it is, says Paul Campos.
Related: Yeah, but fat is bad.

U.S. Life Expectancy Increases (as usual)

A Radical Idea: Maybe its, like, okay that some children are fat.

Since the anti-obesity campaign is allegedly motivated by scientific findings, it would seem reasonable and prudent to make doubly sure that those claims are factual and trustworthy. Yet, we continue to find that the case against obesity is significantly flawed. Not only are the claims of an obesity epidemic often wildly exaggerated, but the science linking weight to unfavourable mortality outcomes is also frequently nonexistent or distorted.

In Japan, a glimmer of progress, a miracle rescue and rising food fears

Seriously? These Are the 100 Greatest Female Characters?

Breast Cancer Patients Fare Significantly Better With Combination Treatments, Study Finds

Lack of Scientific Study on Pregnancy Issues Leads to Many Health-Related Myths

Cancer Survivor Rates Up by 20%, CDC Report Says

GLAAD Partners with WWE to Tackle Homophobic Bullying

Burping black hole creates gigantic gamma ray bubbles

The story of Leo Szilárd, nuclear scientist and science fiction writer

More Than Half of States Look To Ban Abortion Coverage in Insurance Exchanges

Joint Tax Committee Says Bill Prohibiting Federal Funding for Abortion Could Affect Employers' Tax Breaks for Health Coverage

Two Republican Senators Announce Opposition to Title X, Planned Parenthood Defunding

Majority of Americans Support Keeping Abortion Legal

2007 Abortion Surveillance Data Published – Surprise! It’s Pretty Much What Everybody Expected!

Refuting Powers: Many Obstacles To Contraceptive Access

South Dakota Pregnancy Centers Don't Want To Be Forced To Counsel Women Who Want Abortions

Abortion, Scientific Denialism and Religious Fundamentalism -- Oh, good maude, this. I am still perpetually gobsmacked that I live in a country where the government can require medical personnel to lie to their patients.

Unborn in the USA: Inside the War on Abortion

A Woman is a Living, Growing Human Being

I wanted to share this amazing brochure that the Abortion Care Network developed, designed to address the negative messages about abortion in our society.

Conservative Activists Split on Dangerous Abortion Bill

You might have seen recent media about the possibility of using emergency contraception, not only as a ‘morning after’ pill, but also a ‘morning of’ pill. A recent literature review was published online in Obstetrics and Gynecology on Monday, concluding that there is definite potential, down the road, for something researchers like to call a ‘pericoital oral contraceptive.’

Anti-Choice Forces Adopt In-Your-Face Tactics and the Danger to Women is Real

Trans People Are Not Queer, Part 3: “Queer Is The Opposite Of Straight” -- I linked to part of this way back when, and have been meaning to link to this further exploration of the topic. I'm not posting out of strict agreement, but because I think it's a worthwhile conversation to have.

WI Supreme Court: GOP Justice Calls Fellow Judge a 'Bitch,' Vows to 'Destroy' Her

Signal Boost: Lost Dog in Lake County, Ohio (Northern Ohio)

Posting for a friend:

Lost Dog, Lake County, Ohio: Bartok Lost Dog, Lake County, Ohio: Bartok

My beloved family pet jumped my yard fence on January 23rd in Willoughby OH and I haven't been able to find him since.
We were out in the yard playing in the snow, when I went inside to get my camera and I tripped and fell, hitting my head. When I got up off the floor and went outside to call Bartok in, he was gone, I followed his tracks to the end of the fence where I could see he had jumped over.


I immediately searched my neighborhood for hours with friends and family members and could not find him that same day. I've been searching every day since.


I have reason to believe that my dog Bartok was taken in by a kind, local neighbor on that bitter cold Sunday, January 23rd, and yet no one has turned him in. ( He was spotted in my neighborhood on a walk with a man a couple of Fridays ago but the man ran away when he was sighted ).

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