From a Molly Ivins column about Texas passing a consent law. These are excerpts from minors or their advocates seeking a judicial bypass for the notification law we already have on the books.

Social worker for a 13-year-old: "She ran away from her foster home and was gone for eight weeks. Now she's in an emergency shelter and is pregnant. Her mother is deceased. Her father raped her when she was 8 years old and is still in prison for it. I knew her when she had to testify against him. I don't know if I can convince her to go back to court, but she definitely wants an abortion."

Boyfriend of a 15-year-old: "She can't report anything to the police about what her stepfather does to the family. He works for the department. And this is a very small town. The family seems to live in fear of him."

"My older sister got pregnant when she was 17. My mother pushed her against the wall, slapped her across the face and then grabbed her by the hair, pulled her through the living room, out the front door and threw her off the porch. We don't know where she is now." – pregnant 16-year-old.

"My little sister was raped. Our parents are somewhere in Mexico, but I don't know if I can find them." – older sister.

Grandmother of a 15-year-old: "She just told us that she was raped. We had no idea that she was pregnant. Her mother is dead, and her father is being transferred to (another prison). Is there any way we can get this done?"

Seventeen-year-old: "I called my older sister to see if she knew where my mother was. She hasn't heard from her in over six months. I've never known my father. So I went to the courthouse to file my application (for judicial bypass), and the judge came out of his office and told me that he would give me a hearing but that he didn't believe in abortion and that he would never give me the OK to have one. And he knows me. He knows my family. He already knows I'm raising a 5-month-old."

"My mother's boyfriend used to hit her and sometimes I would try to stop him, but then he'd start hitting me. I left home to live with my boyfriend when I found out I was pregnant the first time. My mother wouldn't let me have an abortion, so I knew a baby would be safer living away from her and her boyfriend. But my boyfriend started hitting me as soon as I moved in. So I got my own place, a car and two jobs. I'm pregnant again, but I can't tell my mom because she would stop me from getting an abortion." – 17-year-old high school graduate, mother of a 2-year-old daughter, father deceased.

I spare you the incest cases, except to note that it is much more common than any of us would like to believe and not limited to any economic class.

Those are some of the girls being harmed by notification laws. I had more to say, but instead, I'll just not in Kat and Allyson's direction.

Buffistae Gay Marriage Tour '05! I'm down with it.

Our society is so sick.

Unfortunately, Cindy, there is too much "sex is bad" and the results are supposed to be hidden away. Shame and sex have become intertwined and inescabable for some people.

Is it so surprising, with that kind of history, that people don't rejoice in the results. Look at how bastard children used to be treated. When any society seeks to shame it's membership into NOT having sex, the result is to keep it secret and to hide any resulting consequences--at any cost.

Some societies cherish all children, regardless of their legitimacy. I wish that were the case here. I think any society that purports to be pro-life should provide the support and free education for any mother who finds herself pregnant. But I don't see that happening--especially not under a republican administration.

We are supposed to get pro-life message and but then we see another cut in social services. The conservatives think they can lie and shame kids into not having sex. Those same people who want every fertilized egg to be born sure as hell don't want to foot the bill for more welfare and medicaid. That's what rubs me raw.

It's too complicated, sad and horrifying and as long as our leaders deny that biology is stronger than morality, it's going to be that way.

This made me smile. Balloon hats

Something else about John Roberts:

In this photo [link] doesn't he look like a robot? And maybe some of his circuits got crossed? Or else he just bumped the "on" switch on his pocket Orgasmatron? (eta: or his Mr. Squirmy Butt Plug?)

Yesterday I heard Movie Store Guy say to a female patron, "You smell like Pez, but in a good way. Pez is my favorite smell." She seemed to be torn between being horrified and flattered.

She seemed to be torn between being horrified and flattered.

I think it would depend on what Movie Store Guy looked like.

Globe Theater attempts to reconstruct sound of original Shakespearean dialect: [link]

Click on the audio link. It's very cool.

That Balloon Hat site is stunning. I'm saving some of it for later.

The Gov. Gen. is not the Queen. IJS.

The Governor-General is, in fact, the Queen's representative in Canada in our political system and performs the constitutional function of the monarch. And she (the GG) sometimes needs sick days too.