The Missouri House voted Wednesday to ban state funding of contraceptives for low-income women and to prohibit state-funded programs from referring those women to other programs.

[link]

Why are the people running my state being so stupid?

Teppy, it's been an aeon since I saw the episode, but shouldn't

We salute you, our half-inflated dark lord!

actually be

We salute you, our semi-inflated dark lord!

The only reason I know it's correct is because I tagged it as I was watching the episode.

Just one of the quirks of my brain, I guess... as I still think my version is better.

Coffee question: How do the standard prep methods stack up? Which is best and which is worst?

I like French Press the best. My brother loves the cold filtering (I don't know if that counts as standard prep). My mom swears that if you percolate a bit of cheap-ass coffee for a long long time, it somehow comes out really good - a friend of hers who was in the Peace Corps in Peru or Columbia (I probably shouldn't get those confused, but I do) always made it that way.

Note that I am far from a coffee snob - I will happily drink scorched coffee that has been sitting on a warmer in a gas station for hours and hours. And yet, I have somehow ended up with 3 french presses and no other means of brewing coffee, so I clearly have a preference. I forget what point I was trying to make with that. Besides "Coffee good".

I dump the grounds into the compost (no garbage disposal, alas), and since I don't mind extra water in my compost I can rinse out the grounds rather than scooping, which is, truly, a PITA.

Oh, and Dunkin' Donuts is def. DH's favorite chain coffee. He lurves it. I had a friend who swore that McDonald's coffee was particularly good, but that was before they went and improved it.

Wow, I have a lot to say about coffee.

I'd say boutique both ways, if I were to say it, which I'm not likely to, at least partially because of the paralysis of not knowing which pronunciation is more correct. Um, assuming that the "BOW" in BOW-tique is like BOW Diddley or BOW Peep and not like take a BOW.

I don't think I believe in the collapsible measuring cups. There must be something wrong with them.

We'll find out because I already went and ordered them.

I think I usually hear bow up here in Seattleland.

I'm still madly in love with our Barista Aroma. Coffee brewed directly into a thermal carafe is almost as good as coffee brewed directly into my veins, and without the nasty IV and scorch marks.

I'm not sure the last sentence there makes any sense.

That's probably because I've only had the one cup of coffee.

Oh, and I love the french press (and ours is about as old as I am, with a triple filter that's just fantastic), but Paul keeps breaking the glass, so they're all out of order at the moment.

This (or something similar) might have been posted before, but....

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I am:

• 75% General American English
• 15% Upper Midwestern
• 10% Yankee
• 0% Dixie
• 0% Midwestern

I no longer say 'pop' (I say 'soda' now.) I used to as a child but stopped... I forget when. Maybe when I left Wisconsin....

eta: Answering the way I spoke while growing up, I get:

• 65% General American English
• 20% Upper Midwestern
• 10% Yankee
• 5% Midwestern
• 0% Dixie

So I've lost some of my regional speaking.... thingie... -ness....

There must be something wrong with them.

They are a really ugly color?

Pop is not a Milwaukee-ism at all. Though bubbler is.