(no subject)

For some odd reason Pye has decided to random attack moving images on the tv. It was particularly amusing on Saturday when he repeatedly did so while I was watching "Swades". The best part was me murmuring, "Get Sharuk Khan, Pye, get him!" and he would. The cat's got good taste in men, that's for sure.

Saturday also marks my first completed solo choreography, hooray! It was choreography by committee, but I actually prefer working that way, with people throwing ideas at me and trying to figure out what will work and what won't. It helped to have a very clear idea of my objectives and the overall feeling I wanted to get across. I got at least one "OMG, how did you do that?!" and from Aelf a "That is the scariest regroup I have ever seen." Both pleased me greatly. So I've got at least two interesting innovations in the routine and all the moves I really like with none of the ones that make me crazy. Now to learn the damn thing, which is really the hardest part...at least when one has no room to practice in.

Next year I really must make it a priority to find a bigger place.

Got the majority of my holiday shopping done this weekend, now I need to focus on gift wraps and bags, but I think that can probably wait until after Thanksgiving. Not long after Thanksgiving, though, 'cause I don't want to deal with the crowds either. I have become a very picky shopper it would seem.

(no subject)

I'm sure this comes as no great surprise to...well...everyone:

"Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., President Bush's Supreme Court nominee, wrote that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion" in a 1985 document obtained by The Washington Times.

"I personally believe very strongly" in this legal position, Mr. Alito wrote on his application to become deputy assistant to Attorney General Edwin I. Meese III.

The document, which is likely to inflame liberals who oppose Judge Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court, is among many that the White House will release today from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library."
via Pandagon

I must say it's a good deal more honest and straightforward a statement from a potential SC nominee than I'm accustomed to, it's almost refreshing really.

That may not have surprised you, but this should at least inspire a sad shake of the head:

SERE, for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape. Based on studies of North Korean and Vietnamese efforts to break American prisoners, SERE was intended to train American soldiers to resist the abuse they might face in enemy custody.

[...]

The Pentagon appears to have flipped SERE's teachings on their head, mining the program not for resistance techniques but for interrogation methods. At a June 2004 briefing, the chief of the United States Southern Command, Gen. James T. Hill, said a team from Guantánamo went "up to our SERE school and developed a list of techniques" for "high-profile, high-value" detainees. General Hill had sent this list - which included prolonged isolation and sleep deprivation, stress positions, physical assault and the exploitation of detainees' phobias - to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who approved most of the tactics in December 2002.

[...]

the Pentagon cannot point to any intelligence gains resulting from the techniques that have so tarnished America's image. That's because the techniques designed by communist interrogators were created to control a prisoner's will rather than to extract useful intelligence.
via Hullabaloo

So I think this removes the final argument against using the term "gulag" to reference our secret torture prison system. It's nice to know that our government not only has decided to use the same techniques developed by vicious totalitarian governments that we once vilified for doing the same, but we don't even understand how to use them properly. The incompetence of this administration is truly dazzling at times.

As Digby points out:
Can you believe it? It's not just that torture doesn't work generally, which it doesn't. And it's not just that torture is morally repugnant and stains all who are involved with it. It does. The most amazingly thing about this (Commie) torture regime is that it's specifically designed to extract false confessions for propaganda purposes. Dear gawd, can they really be so incompetent that they didn't understand the difference between creating propaganda and gaining intelligence?

Sadly yes, I can believe that quite easily. Though some would argue that propaganda has been the goal all along and that actually stopping the "terrorist threat" is hardly even on the list of things to do. But I'll leave those conclusions for my readers to draw on their own.

(no subject)

Target decides its fundie pharmacists are more important than your health:

As you may recall, Target is letting its pharmacists refuse to fill your order for emergency contracptive pills (Plan B, as it's called) simply because they find your prescription immoral. Target is now saying that they'll fill your prescription in a "timely manner" at another pharmacy, or at their pharmacy at a later time (presumably when their holier-than-thou employee is on break).

I don't know about you, but when I go to the pharmacist, I don't want him sending me to another Target 40 miles away simply because he has religious issues with my prescription. It's none of his business what prescription I'm getting filled, and short of there being a glaring mistake in my prescription a la "It's a Wonderful Life" - i.e., instead of allergy pills someone gave me cyanide - it's none of his damn business passing religious judgment on my prescriptions, my illnesses, my prefered form of treatment, or me.

I already have a priest, and he doesn't work at Target, thank you.
[...]
Interestingly, Target responds in the email below, just issued today. It seems that Target will ONLY honor its employees constitutionally-protected (so THEY claim) religious beliefs IF that religious belief deals with Plan B. So Target is now saying that it will NOT permit its employees to exercise their supposed religious rights under the 1964 Act if the medication or product in question is anything OTHER than Plan B.

Why not?

How can Target say that the employees have an absolute right under the 1964 Act to discriminate in what they sell because of their religion, but then they don't have that same right if the product the employee objects to selling is anything other than Plan B? That makes no sense. Target can't pick and choose which civil rights it wants to grant its uber-Christian employees. Either those employees are or aren't covered under the Civil Rights Act. And if they are covered by it, I have a hard time understanding how Target is going to defend not permitting its Christian Science employees from banning aspirin or its fundamentalist Christian employees from refusing to serve gays. Are those religious beliefs somehow less meritorious than objectsions to what the fundies perceive as abortion (even though Plan B isn't abortion, the fundies claim it is)?

Is Target now in the business of deciding, Solomon-like, which religious beliefs are valid and which are not? Sure sounds like they just did.

Here's Target's most recently email:

From: Target.Response Target.Response@target.com
Date: Nov 14, 2005 11:14 AM
Subject: Filling Prescriptions

Dear Target Guest

In our ongoing effort to provide great service to our guests, Target consistently ensures that prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive Plan B are filled. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also requires us to accommodate our team members' sincerely held religious beliefs.

In the rare event that a pharmacist's beliefs conflict with filling a guest's prescription for the emergency contraceptive Plan B, our policy requires our pharmacists to take responsibility for ensuring that the guest's prescription is filled in a timely and respectful manner, either by another Target pharmacist or a different pharmacy.

The emergency contraceptive Plan B is the only medication for which this policy applies. Under no circumstances can the pharmacist prevent the prescription from being filled, make discourteous or judgmental remarks, or discuss his or her religious beliefs with the guest.

Target abides by all state and local laws and, in the event that other laws conflict with our policy, we follow the law.

We're surprised and disappointed by Planned Parenthood's negative campaign. We've been talking with Planned Parenthood to clarify our policy and reinforce our commitment to ensuring that our guests' prescriptions for the emergency contraceptive Plan B are filled. Our policy is similar to that of many other retailers and follows the recommendations of the American Pharmacists Association. That's why it's unclear why Target is being singled out.

We're committed to meeting the needs of our female guests and will continue to deliver upon that commitment.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Hanson
Target Executive Offices


Well I've always liked their cheap litter and sodas, but I think I'll be taking my business elsewhere from now on.

Edit: my email to Target-

I'm very sad to have to write this email telling you that while I have been a loyal Target customer for years, you have now lost my weekly business. Any company that chooses to endanger any woman's health by allowing its employees to selectively choose not to fill one very specific medical prescription, is not a company I feel comfortable giving my money to any longer. You speak of the rights of the employees who work for you, but neglect those of your customers. You've chosen your pharmacists' religious beliefs over the health of those who rely on your services, and in some cases may have few or no alternatives from which to receive a prescription which must be taken quickly to be effective.

If your desire truly was to allow your pharmacists the freedom to express their religious convictions you would not restrict this rule only to Plan B contraceptives. I think this makes your company's real motivations disturbingly clear. I for one plan to do everything I can to make certain that as many people who care about the health and welfare of women avoid your stores now and in the future.

If you'd like to send them something similar please swing by their site and hit the Contact Us button.