How shall we punish women who commit murder by having abortions?

Those who vehemently oppose abortion steadfastly claim that abortion is "murder." They want to make it illegal for any woman to have an abortion. Therefore, it seems fair to ask anti-abortionists a simple hypothetical question. Assume that we changed the law and that all abortions were illegal. Under that scenario, how would you punish women who committed "murder" by having abortions?" What do you get when you combine a camcorder, a simple question and a group of fervent anti-abortionists? You get a fascinating set of answers. Where are all of the unflinching statements that the women who have abortions have thus committed murder and that they should all be punished as murderers? There were no such answers. Why all the hedging and squirming? Is it possible that abortion is not really the equivalent of murder? Even in the hearts and minds of those who claim to know for certain that it is "murder"? Assuming that abortion were made illegal, why are so many anti-abortionists so willing to allow a bunch of female murderers walk free without without being penalized under the law? Especially when those who committed the "murder" killed "babies," allegedly with deliberation and premeditation? This January 2008 video was produced by At Center Network, "a project of the Northbrook Peace Committee, Inc., a group that works for justice and nonviolent resolution of conflicts."

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To avoid conspiracy kook-ery, Obama retakes oath.

After Tuesday's Inaugural oopsie- now obviously Justice Roberts' fault- Obama decided to retake the oath of office. I love the term that Greg Craig used when explaining the redo.  "Abundance of caution".  Read: to keep the conspiracy wingnuts from trying to oust the President on the basis of minutiae. Read:…

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Read more about the article Douglas Adams’ guide to Australia
Douglas Adams' Hilarious Take on Australia: A Survival Guide

Douglas Adams’ guide to Australia

As (to the best of my knowledge - please correct me if I'm wrong) I'm the only Aussie here, I thought I'd give you a quick primer on the land of my birth. But not by my own hand. I'd just bugger it up. Douglas Adams, writer of the five-part and inaccurately-named Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Trilogy, seemed to equally adore and fear this wide brown land and penned the following survival guide to Australia, pre-dating Lonely Planet by many years and being a lot more accurate with the information he provided. Except for the bit about snakes: Australia is crawling with the bastards. Of the top dozen deadly snake species on this planet, we have more or less all of them. But I can forgive Douglas a small error. After all, it's impolite to call attention to the grievous errors of a deceased person. Unless they're named Hitler. [Photo: Douglas Adams signing books (2000). (from Wikimedia Commons)] Anyway, without further ado, I present: ------------- DOUGLAS ADAMS' GUIDE TO AUSTRALIA Australia is a very confusing place, taking up a large amount of the Bottom half of the planet. It is recognisable from orbit because of many unusual features, including what at first looks like an enormous bite taken out of its southern edge; a wall of sheer cliffs which plunge deep into the girting sea. Geologists assure us that this is simply an accident of geomorphology and plate tectonics, but they still call it the "Great Australian Bight" proving that not only are they covering up a more frightening theory, but they can't spell either. The first of the confusing things about Australia is the status of the place. Where other land masses and sovereign lands are classified as either continent, island, or country, Australia is considered all three. Typically, it is unique in this . . .

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George, meet Barry. Now sod off.

Don't let the Whitehouse door hit you in the arse on the way out. On the other hand, I hope someone jams your pinky finger in it. And smacks you in the nuts with an army boot. But, seriously, now that he's gone, I guess we can't rag on Dubya anymore. Sure, he's given the world enough material (both unintentionally comedic, in a painful, Ricky-Gervais/Steve Carell-in-The-Office kind of way as well as just plain tragic) to last the next 8 years, but have pity - he's unemployed now. He's likely to stay that way too - given his oratory skills it's doubtful he'll be able to make a living on the lucrative public-speaking circuit like his silver-tongued predecessor Bubba Clinton. But hey, there's always Pop to turn to. Hell, who do you think got him his last job? And the one before that? Oh well, he's got plenty of time to work on his golf game - and no pesky-ass reporters asking him about boring shit like wars or deficits or hurricanes or drowned cities.

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