Bastards!

• A reward is being offered for the return of a Jackass penguin chick stolen from a zoo. Poor thing is probably going to die.

Livermore

• Deacon turns home into Christmas beacon Have you seen it yet? It really is magnificent.
• Livermore piercing shop kept out of downtown I’m going to write a letter. This would be just the thing to get me off my butt and get those piercings that I’ve always wanted.
• Livermore 18-year-old suspected in sexual assaults. He admits to a rape that was never reported. That rape occured before the 3 reported assaults. Please, be brave, step forward, and report it if you are a victim of a violent crime. Your bravery can help to prevent and prosecute further assaults.

Crochet

• USA : Wool hand knitting yarn trade remain stable in 2005 It seems we are using better yarn in 2005 than we did in 2004.
• Inmates’ ‘Warm Up America’ work praised More crocheters doing good.
• Diana: A Celebration and Andrea Zittel: Critical Space. Only one picture, tho.

Sewing

• Pacific briefs: Sewing machines given to Filipina women so they can make a better life for themselves and their children.
• So much more than a quilting class

Eating Disorder

• Sexual Abuse, eating disorder link complex Note: I was not sexually abused.
• Scientists find a ‘sweet tooth’ in the brain; rat responses may shed light on how we link food with pleasure It isn’t pleasure, so much as coping. Obviously, I don’t have healthy coping habits, but why? Why is my response directed at food and not alcohol, a bad coping habit, or some healthy coping habit? When I’m deep in despair that I’ll never get better, things like this give me hope.

Science

• 20000 year old footprints
• New scanner to unveil more mysteries of the body When I was in graduate school, my thesis work focused on non-invasive methods for looking inside the human body. This will be such a boon to very ill people who aren’t very strong and don’t need additional discomfort added to their already considerable pain.
• New use for tobacco could save lives. An antrax vaccine is possible, and maybe others.
• Toxic Spill From China Reaches Russia Town
• Astronomers detect echoes
  from ancient supernovae Pretty picture, too.
• The price of equality? or perhaps it is still an effect of sexism; that is, the things that kill men have been addressed at a much higher rate than those that kill women.

Social

• Love is no longer color-coded on TV. It’s about time that inter-racial couples are featured on TV.

Politics & Religion

• Netherlands considers burqa ban. I am utterly and completely opposed to this. I don’t think that women should be forced to wear burqas, I don’t think women should be forced to not wear burqas, I don’t think women should be forced to wear or not wear underwear or any other item of clothing that does or does not have religious significance. A law that singles out women is sexist, and a law that singles out an expression of religion is prejudicial, altho I suppose they could write the law so that neither is explicitly mentionned. I do understand that safety concerns. And there are times when it is necessary to know the identity of the person under the shroud, but hey! if she or he wants to write a check, she or he is going to have to remove the shroud. If she or he is going to rob a bank, a burqa isn’t the most effective mask; it makes tripping as your run away too easy, and that wouldn’t be effective.
• Bill O’Reilly expanded his list of enemies. You can still sign up to be on Bill’s blacklist.
• Judge Jones also excoriated members of the Dover, Pa., school board, who he said lied to cover up their religious motives, made a decision of “breathtaking inanity” and “dragged” their community into “this legal maelstrom with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources.” “Judge Jones, a Republican appointed by President Bush, concluded that intelligent design was not science”. Read more here.
  
• Wimps!
• Colombia sells coca-leaf soda Interesting. Did you know that Coca-Cola imports tons of coca?
• And I was going to point fingers at LANL, but it’s Sandia. You can read more .
  
• The Jews for Jesus organization has filed suit against Google because of this blog with a total of 3 posts, the latest from last May, and 2 comments. Whistle Blower doesn’t have a counter on her site, but I bet the number of hits she gets expands exponentially due to the publicity of the lawsuit. Way to go, Jews for Jesus!
• Iranians mark longest night ‘Yalda’ which is remarkably similar to Xmas.
• What if Mary wasn’t a virgin? An interesting essay.