The Wonkette live-blogs again

I love it when the Wonkette live-blogs Bush functions. Today it's the Bush "coronation." My favorite lines include:

"11:51AM: Cheney to Bush: "Thank you Mr. President, now let's go back to blowing shit up."
11:52AM: Who let that coat past security? Did Chewbacca die?
11:58AM: Four more years, minus about a minute. Just keep the bourbon coming."

She's also great with the drinking games.

Who knew?

You know, I've watched SpongeBob several times (my niece is a fan) and I have to say that my gaydar has never gone off.

Sharpening my brain as I type

It turns out that a daily drink helps keep the brain sharp.

The sacrifices we must make for mental health.

Cell phones on planes

So, there's this article about how most travelers want to keep the ban on cell phones in airplanes. An actual quote from the article:

"Many frequent fliers view their time in the sky as their only downtime on a hectic business trip. The absence of cell phones increases the odds that they'll be able to nap, read or think."

Now, here's my question. Who thinks of the time they spend on a plane as relaxing?? Let's see, I want to get away, refresh myself-- I know! I'll go on a plane trip. I'll just get a round trip ticket, go right there and back. Never leave the airport. I can't think of anything more relaxing.

Who are these people?

Granted, cell phone conversations on planes might get annoying. But I think they rank below: crying babies, the kid behind me who keeps kicking my seat, the person in front of me who insists on reclining her chair DURING TAKEOFF, oh, and the person sitting next to me who has brought nothing to do, no book, no magazine, nothing, because they plan to chat with their seatmate (i.e. me) through the WHOLE FLIGHT. Yeah, cell phone chatter wouldn't really stand out in terms of annoyance. In fact, I'd really prefer if that person next to me had brought a cell phone to chat on instead of spending the flight looking over my shoulder to read my book and comment on it.

make your own inauguration speech

Mr. Sun (no relation) has created a make-your-own inauguration speech. It's good fun, give it a try.

Bad news

The Louisiana Supreme Court unanimously reinstated the anti-gay amendment to their state constitution. A lower court justice had ruled that it violated the rule that an amendment must deal with only one issue (the amendment bans gay marriages and civil unions), but the Supreme Court of Louisiana ruled that it's all about protecting marriage.

'Cuz you know, the state only gives out a limited number of marriage licenses each year and it would be a shame if gay couples snatched them all up, leaving none for the heterosexuals. *sarcasm* (if you hadn't noticed)

My natural abilities are better than yours

What year is this? 1950? It was reported yesterday that the president of Harvard University said that women lack "natural abilities" at some fields, particularly math and science.

Now, to be fair, I think it's too soon to tell and it is possible that on average women don't do as well in these fields. However, at this point women are still struggling against discrimination and societal expectations, which remain pervasive enough to account for the lack of women in these fields. The number of women in math and physics has been steadily increasing and until it levels out I don't think it's possible to say which gender is "naturally" better. Furthermore, the fact that there are many women in math and science, who do extremely well in their fields, proves that whatever the "average ability" of each gender, many women do possess these natural abilities. Claiming that "women" in general lack these abilities is just ridiculous and can be easily disproven. In 100 years or so we can come back to the question of the average abilities of each gender, but for now it's just too soon to know.

But, if it will help any, I'd be happy to challenge the Harvard President to a contest of differential equations. And I think I'd win-- even if I am just a girl.

Is Iran next?

Via SimianBrain, an article from the New Yorker magazine reports on plans by the administration to invade Iran:

One former high-level intelligence official told The New Yorker, "This is a war against terrorism, and Iraq is just one campaign. The Bush administration is looking at this as a huge war zone. Next, we're going to have the Iranian campaign."

Hersh reported that Bush has already "signed a series of top-secret findings and executive orders authorizing secret commando groups and other Special Forces units to conduct covert operations against suspected terrorist targets in as many as 10 nations in the Middle East and South Asia."

Defining these as military rather than intelligence operations, Hersh reported, will enable the Bush administration to evade legal restrictions imposed on the CIA's covert activities overseas.

CNN later reported that the Pentagon is criticizing this article as being full of inaccuracies, but the latest new reports that "Bush won't rule out action against Iran"

No Marriages here

The latest from the Episcopal Church. In response to the Episcopal Church's refusal to allow same-sex marriages (they didn't come to a conclusion on same-sex blessings), St. Thomas's in New York has stopped performing marriages for all couples, gay or straight.

The Rev. Michael F. Ray (shown) said he'll ask couples "to postpone their marriage and stand in solidarity with same-sex couples so they understand what it's like not to have that privilege."

Where are our priorities?

AP has reported that 20 Arabic and 6 Farsi translators have been discharged from the Army under the don't ask, don't tell policy. This at a time when we have a shortage of Arabic translators:

Experts have identified the shortage of Arabic linguists as contributing to the government's failure to thwart the Sept. 11 attacks. The independent Sept. 11 commission made similar conclusions.

"The military is placing homophobia well ahead of national security," said Steve Ralls, spokesman for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.