(no subject)

[gwydion]

* Florida is the first closed Primary of the election. Y'all know how corrupt the elections have been in Florida the last decade and a half with random large scale disenfranchising of eligible African Americans, corrupt practices, etc.. It's a complex electorate, being in the south with a huge amount of retirees, but also having a large Cuban population, a large Jewish population, etc.. You get a lot of conflicting currents leading to chaotic results.

* Rick "man on dog" Santorum, lacking John McCain's courage in the face of racist/islamaphobic/birther conspiracy theories spouting along with a series of other lies by a Floridian at one of his events today, didn't in anyway try to correct her, but just sort of went along with her instead. To be clear, McCain's off the cuff response in the last presidential election was not ideal, but it took courage and was an attempt to do the right thing. Hell, even Gingrich, far from a paragon of anything, made an (also problematic) attempt at a corrective in similar circumstances a while pack. I'm just saying that if you are ethically not measuring up to a bar as low as Mr. Gingrich's, there is something seriously wrong with you.

* Gabriel Giffords is resigning.

* Maryland is considering mariage equality legislation. Good luck to them for passage

* Republican Illinois Senator Kirk just had emergency brain surgery.

* As it turns out, Newt Gingrich is lying when he claims that President Obama put more people on food stamps than any previous President. No, that would be George W. Bush.

* I am in the mood for experimental baked goods, but will have to wait on it until I can replenish stores.

* Today was exhausting, with lots of walking as buses were not convenient to where I needed to go. We will need to do it again later in the week as Squirrel and I need to sign documents for a notary at my bank. Basically, my inheritance is in two parts. Part is the normal estate, which is winding through probate. The other part is half my Mother's retirement fund, which is governed by a complex collection of state and Federal laws. This is mostly being turned into an inherited stretch IRA for me, so it's mostly not money I can touch, but it's less tax, and will have less impact on my Disability, Housing assistance, etc.. Apparently, I have to take some out every year, but we don't know how much as the IRS decides that bit. The reason Squirrel is involved, is I need someone designated to make decisions about the IRA when I inevitably become incapacitated from the same thing that killed my mother.

I also need to pick a charity as I will soon technically have an estate. Odds are, I will outlive my two remaining family members. So... Lambda Legal? GLSEN? Something trans specific? Feel free to field suggestions in the comments.

* Mache doesn't jump, being elderly and arthritic. As a result, when she wants up on the pettin throne, she comes over and signals while making sad faces until I scoop her up. She was signalling the need for a lift, when the Butt came over and snagged the spot. Oh the sorrow! It's a no conflict zone, and she can't just kick him off. I lifted her up anyway and managed to convince them to share, always complicated as the throne is long and thin and they are large. Mache was clearly not best pleased, but a nap and pettins helped sooth the heartache. Hector chose to mest on the small table next to the throne, so the three of them had a nice nap in a line. so cute! Unfortunately, when the Butt woke up, he took to prodding Mache, which she objected too. repeatedly. I sided with her on the grounds everyone has a right to say no to unwanted touch and, I'd object to someone repeatedly prodding me while I slept. This is why we can't have nice things.

* I tried reading Parable of the Sower, but despite my fondness for Octavia Butler, I haven't the patience for theology. I admire what she was trying to do, but it was exhausting to read.

* Bravery: http://lettersfromtitan.tumblr.com/post/16328301720/roe-v-wade

* "Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943:" http://extras.denverpost.com/archive

There are so many cool pictures in here, but I think my favorite is 66, with the African American Rosie the riveter reflected in the side of an airplane: http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp

* Were the Sumerians drinking beer or not: http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-fermented-cereal-beverage-sumerians-beer.html

* Lead as artificial sweetener. *facepalm* http://io9.com/5877587/the-first-artificial-sweetener-poisoned-lots-of-romans/

The piece repeats the false idea that Romans carried drinking water in lead pipes. As it turns out, the lead pipes were for sewage and the ceramic pipes were for clean water. Unless people are claiming ancient Romans chose to drink from waste pipes instead of aqueduct fed wells, that claim is nonsense. Seriously, this was debunked ages ago. The lead theory switched to cosmetics and food supplements, but as far as I know, these claims haven't been quantified until now.

* For the Johnnies on this list, a thing on Iliad translations. I'm a Latimore fan, myself, though I need to look at new translations since I quit the classics game. It looks like Mitchell wold not be to my taste, that's for sure: http://chronicle.com/article/Siege-of-the-Iliad/130381/

* A cool dig in Prague: http://www.radio.cz/en/section/science-journal/science-journal-2012-01-21

* Victorian cohabitation: http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-historian-uncovers-real-life-dickensian-tale.html

* Prostitution Guidebooks: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/books/review/guidebooks-to-babylon.html?_r=1

* This doesn't surprise me at all: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9027394/France-plans-Napoleonland.html"

I love the possibly unintended humor here: "Other curious potential attractions include a ski run through a battlefield "surrounded by the frozen bodies of soldiers and horses" and a recreation of Louis XVI being guillotined during the revolution – the precursor to Napoleon’s rise to power.

"It's going to be fun for the family,” he Mr Jégo told the Times. "

* Lizards on the verge of evolving: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1308772/Evolution-action-Scientists-discover-lizards-verge-leap-egg-laying-live-births.html?fb_ref=LikeButtonBottom&fb_source=home_oneline


* The Clutch:

* Now, for something cheerful to take one's mind off the election: Craig Ferguson doing Plastic Betrand's "Ce Plan Pour Moi" as a cold open back in August.: http://youtu.be/Loh1zZy3TMY

Comments

[captain-havoc.livejournal.com]

Are you pretty committed to it being an LGBTQIetc charity?

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

Preferably, but not necessarily.

[captain-havoc.livejournal.com]

What about a public library system? I think you can even specify where the money goes (i.e. for the purchase of LGBTQIetc-themed YA novels, for instance, or whatever...)

[gwyd.livejournal.com]

I'll think about it.