Hi peeps!

So, um, that guy in Afghanistan, wasn't the issue not that he was Christian, but that he converted to Christianity from Islam?

I think the main thing the whole stupid issue illustrates is the problems with using Sharia law (sorry, misspelled) as the law of the land.

wasn't the issue not that he was Christian, but that he converted to Christianity from Islam?

Yes.

So, um, that guy in Afghanistan, wasn't the issue not that he was Christian, but that he converted to Christianity from Islam?

That's what I thought the issue was as well, but it still baffles me. I don't know much about Sharia law though. Er, anything, actually. Is the fact that it is the law of the land supposed to make the concept of killing someone who converts his religion more palatable? I don't want to sound culturally chauvanistic or ignorant, but it just seems wronger than a wrong thing to me.

They really hate apostasy: [link]

Is the fact that it is the law of the land supposed to make the concept of killing someone who converts his religion more palatable?

I'm not trying to make it palatable, I just think that the reason even moderates are saying he should be executed is because the law of the land happens to be quite clear on what is done is such circumstances. Personally, I'm good with his seeking asylum in Italy.

From Salon's Broadsheet:

First, U.S. scientists appear to be closer than ever to creating a pill that could prevent HIV infection. So far, the pill -- which combines the drugs tenofovir and emtricitabine -- seems to have worked on monkeys; human testing around the world should begin soon.

Also, it turns out that mifepristone (RU-486) can do more than help induce medical abortion. Doctors in Scotland have developed a pill containing trace amounts of mifepristone that appears to work as a contraceptive -- and appears to help prevent heart disease, endometriosis and breast cancer. (Yes, it also does windows.) Unlike the standard "the Pill" pill, this drug contains no estrogen or progesterone, which are both associated with breast cancer. But that doesn't just mean it's safer than the old pill; doctors suggest that the new pill -- which works by preventing ovulation -- could actually make a woman's chances of developing cancer lower than if she'd taken no pill at all. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.,the new pill also effects the uterine lining, which could mean that women taking it will stop menstruating. This, my gut says, is one of those freaky things you have to be careful about wishing for. But, as one of the new pill's lead researchers, professor Richard Anderson of the University of Edinburgh, pointed out: "Having regular periods is very much a modern thing. If you go back 100 years or so before the advent of contraception, or widespread use of contraception, women didn't really have very many periods because they went from one pregnancy to breastfeeding and then very rapidly onto the next pregnancy." (OK, but still.)

Anderson also suggests -- speaking of wishful thinking -- that perhaps the antiabortion folks will not get all up in the new pill's grill, considering that it contains only a teeny amount of mifepristone. But he also acknowledges that opposition to abortion "is a major problem with this class of drugs and it's been a handicap to their commercial development."

The wingnuts will hate this pill for the same reasons that they will hate the HIV pill -- and for the same reasons they already hate the HPV vaccine: because these drugs prevent pretty much everything but sex. If they don't want to put a drug that "encourages" (sic) free-wheeling sex in the hands of our youth, you can bet they don't want the gays getting ahold of one, either. (And yes, you can bet that they assume that only the gays get HIV.) You can also bet that they're not interested in a contraceptive that they can't oppose on the grounds that it may raise the risk of breast cancer.

When is coworker's vacation? After you're gone?

He's out starting today, but I don't know how long he'll be gone.

Do they do this to your coworker while you're on vacation? Or are you just lucky?

Well, my coworker has to do stuff whenever I'm out, or people will scream the house down, but then, I also don't take an entire week of vacation at one time.

I'm more bothered by the fact that they're just telling me this now. Coworker already left for vacation, and I don't really know how to do his job. Also, paralyzed by not caring very much. Also also, I have way too much work to do already.

I think you should run with the first also. And maybe apologize for the fact that you've got plans after work all week, and if only you'd known, yadda yadda Eat It.

will not get all up in the new pill's grill

This gives me an image of a birth control case with spinners.

I think you should run with the first also. And maybe apologize for the fact that you've got plans after work all week, and if only you'd known, yadda yadda Eat It.

Ditto, shirft. How long 'til you give your notice, again?

I'm not trying to make it palatable, I just think that the reason even moderates are saying he should be executed is because the law of the land happens to be quite clear on what is done is such circumstances. Personally, I'm good with his seeking asylum in Italy.

Yeah, me too.

Didn't he convert 16 or 18 years ago?