This...is CNN

In a fit of madness, I decided to watch a little CNN recently. Clearly the big story was the John Bolton recess appointment, which has plenty of people up in arms, so I won't rehash it here. The one part that jumped out at me, though, was Bush's reasoning for the recess appointment. Here's a quote: "This post is too important to leave vacant any longer." Yeah, because it would really suck if we had to launch another illegal unilateral military operation and we didn't have a representative in the U.N. to tell them to kiss our red, white, and blue ass. Thank God we filled that post. :) In other Bolton-related "news," though, I just wanted to point out Fanatical Apathy's Bolton Diaries, really for no other reason that in involves Bolton crapping on a desk. As you all know, I'm basically all for crapping on desks.

There was something else on CNN that raised a flag for me...it was just one of those weird media things. Recently Gov. Pataki vetoed a bill in New York State that would have allowed the "morning after" pill to be made available over-the-counter. Leaving aside (for the moment) the bitchslap to reproductive rights, when CNN was reporting the story, they described opposition to Pataki's veto as "abortion supporters." Now, granted, I believe this is probably not factually inaccurate. People who are in favor of reproductive rights could probably be called "abortion supporters," and none would probably object too strenuously to the label. But one of the big misconceptions about the morning after pill, especially one that fuels moral opposition from the religious right, is that it is an abortion pill. It is very clearly not. There is an abortion pill, but this isn't it. This is, for all intents and purposes, a birth control pill. This may not comfort that portion of the religious right who are as opposed to birth control as they are to abortion, but I would hope it would at least put things in the proper perspective for those who, for example, are morally opposed to abortion but who use condoms. CNN's phrasing, though, implied a link between the morning after pill and abortion, and it struck me as...well, at the least I'd call it irresponsible, but if I attribute it to malice instead of incompetence, could it be deliberately misleading? As near as I can figure, there's no real reason for that unless either (a) CNN wants to increase opposition to the morning after pill or (b) CNN wants to increase controversy over the topic by spreading subtle misinformation. I feel confident surmising that CNN doesn't really have a stake in the morning after pill's availablility. And God forbid a news network would spread misinformation just to make a story more controversial than it should be. I mean, geez, when would that ever happen. :P Must be incompetence.

In any case, here's your PSA: The morning after pill is not an abortion pill.

So, yeah, life is so uneventful that I'm blogging about watching CNN. ;)

I was taking a spin through Petridish lately, as happens from time to time. I was thinking of changing my default pic, though I really enjoy the one I have now. In searching, though, I realize that there aren't a whole hell of a lot of pictures of me smiling where I'm not drunk, hanging off someone, or both. I briefly considered this "gang sign" pic, but I dunno...it lacks a certain something. The big up for it is that it's recent, as opposed to many of the other pics.

Oh, and I found another one of those pictorial retrospective things that shows just how long and how consistent this crew can be. Look at this. Then look at this. Same people, eons later. Makes my head spin. :)

Nothing else much going on around here except that I appear to be succumbing to horrible allergies or something. I've spent the last few days with the sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, etc. that tell me that I'm really fucking allergic to something around here. Sucks! I haven't had allergic reactions like this since I was a kid, which leads me to suspect that I may be allergic to my mother. I was putting up with it for a little while, but yesterday I launched into an amazing sneezing fit which ended with such a monstrous seizure of a sneeze that I somehow ended up hurting my eyeball, so that was unfun. I think I'll start medicating. I thought it would get better when I left the house, but even at the casino I was still having problems, so I bought a little single-serving of Benadryl at the hotel gift shop. Stopped my allergy symptoms, all right, but damn it's hard to pay attention to poker through a mecidine haze. :) Anyway, that's about it...sneezing, poker, and trying to resist the urge to buy Flying Spaghetti Monster gear.

I know we've taken Superdickery for a spin now and then, but jonnynexus pointed out a couple really funny ones. This one surely made me chuckle...but when I saw this one, I laughed until I was choking on the tatters of my own thrashed esophogial tissue. Good times!

And with that, I will take my leave, but not before imparting a random funny D&D-related quote from John Wick: "Thieves who call themselves 'rogues' are like trekkies who call themselves trekkers." Peace out, everybody!