Nilly, your annual Yom Kippur post means so much to me. Thank you.

And Nilly, Sheryl, Allyson, Hil, amych -- nothing you've said or done has offended me.

In the US, for instance, religious groups are gearing up to oppose vaccination, despite a survey showing 80 per cent of parents favour vaccinating their daughters. "Abstinence is the best way to prevent HPV," says Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council, a leading Christian lobby group that has made much of the fact that, because it can spread by skin contact, condoms are not as effective against HPV as they are against other viruses such as HIV.

"Giving the HPV vaccine to young women could be potentially harmful, because they may see it as a licence to engage in premarital sex," Maher claims, though it is arguable how many young women have even heard of the virus.

That's so completely ignorant. Or perhaps that goes without saying.

I have a friend from high school who I always had the HIV testing argument with. He intended to not have sex until he got married (it had nothing to do with religious beliefs, actually, and, AFAIK, he achieved said goal), and therefore *he* wouldn't need to be tested for HIV. I said, well, what if you marry someone who *has* had sex before? Or are you only going to consider virgins as your future wife?

He said no, that was unrealistic (you think?), but that his future wife wouldn't need to be tested for HIV, because he would *never* marry someone who had put herself in a situation where she could have been exposed to HIV.

I think I didn't talk to him for at least a month after that, if not longer. And we agreed to never discuss it again, because it was clear that his mind was made up on this matter. IGNORANT.

(I remember when everyone was home for Xmas a few years ago -- so, keep in mind, we were in our 30s -- and I was bantering with my best friend, saying "How long has it been since you've had sex?" She said about a year, and I said "Ha! Six months for me! I win!"

And this same guy looked at me, and asked, disapproval dripping from his voice, "Why does that make you *win*?" )

At least he applies the same jackass standard to men as to women, so I feel equally oppressed. Woot.

Sheryl, Allyson, Hil, and amych, none of you have offended me this year.

What Perkins said, with a side of Wolfram.

Oh, and -t.

I think that covers everyone.

What Plei said.

(Hi Plei!)

Hi, Perkins!

I dropped my laptop yesterday! At least I didn't drop the baby.

I have minor cosmetic damage in one corner, but the Fredlet still runs.

Poor Fredlet. I've dropped my laptop before, but so far there hasn't been any real damage.

My laptop is occasionally dragged off the coffee table where it lives, and I'm totally impressed with the resilience of my technology -- even when the jump drive got bent up, I just pushed it back together and it still works fine. Phew!

There was a photo at The Titanic Exhibit of the plans being presented to the financiers, and rows of businessmen sit at desks with their laptops open on the tables in front of them.

blink

Dude, it's 1911, those CAN'T be laptops. Oh, they're briefcases. Huh.

There's some general amnesia about American history between 1900-1925, esp. the years right around the end of WWI (1918-1922).

Seattle had its share of the action too, with the labor demonstrations in 1919.

There's some general amnesia about American history between 1900-1925, esp. the years right around the end of WWI (1918-1922).

I blame the bathtub gin.

Ahrg. Need to do 2 loads of laundry. Only one machine working. Currently in use. Can't tell when it is not in use from 3 floors up. Lots of tromping up and down the stairs with dirty laundry and stuff. And my knee is being stupid, so this is a tricky endeavor.

Nilly's yearly posts always reminds me of a friend's tradition of sending out silly cards with appreciative wordsto her friends inside for her birthday every year. It is a gesture that always makes me smile, and every year, I think I ought to do that for my birthday. And every year, I forget or get lazy.