Wasn't a push for some sort of national childcare thingie a part of the liberal agenda of the late '70s?

Right up there with maternity leave. Which my employer does not offer.

Oh, ugh, Jess. It sucks, doesn't it? And the hunting down/interviewing/talking with references process is somewhere on the fun scale between taxes and preventive dentistry.

Hec has already moved on to emotionally bracing himself against the trauma of transitioning Matilda from the warm, loving environment she's been in since she was 4 months old to something completely new and strange, but I can't even think about that. I'm too busy stressing about the whole finding-a-place-to-begin-with thing.

I think there was a push for the metric system too. Thank god we fought back against the tyranny of easily convertible units of measurement.

I think there was a push for the metric system too. Thank god we fought back against the tyranny of easily convertible units of measurement.

Yeah. It'd be funny if Democrats were pushing for the metric system now - I'd love to see the right-wing campaign against that.

"The metric system - invented by Hitler and Stalin!"

"The metric system - part of a liberal plot to make construction of concentration camps easier!"

"Obama and his jack-booted thugs will come into your house and take your yardsticks!"

Some judge has to give a speech and his message just said he would like "everything."

@@ times a thousand.

Right up there with maternity leave. Which my employer does not offer.

mine either. And it pisses me off that faculty just get to "take the semester off" with no penalty.

Wasn't a push for some sort of national childcare thingie a part of the liberal agenda of the late '70s?

Head Start and Universal Pre-K, yep. In theory, they still exist (at least UPK does), but they're so underfunded that they're almost impossible to take advantage of. (And even if you do get in, most UPK programs are only half-day, so basically useless for working parents.)

Oh, ugh, Jess. It sucks, doesn't it? And the hunting down/interviewing/talking with references process is somewhere on the fun scale between taxes and preventive dentistry.

The silver lining for us is that he LOVES his new place and we already know we won't find anything cheaper in our neighborhood. (Even with the rate increase coming up in September, it's still $100-200 cheaper than where he was before, and $200-400/month cheaper than the other preschools we considered.) So we're still hemmoraging money, but at least we're out of the searching phase.

Right up there with maternity leave. Which my employer does not offer.

mine either.

Is that legal??

*boggles*

Gronk. Getting ready for the sojourn to Vermont. We leave tonight, drive 3-4 hours, get hotel. Tomorrow, drive probably 6-7 hours, get hotel (preferably with hot tub). Sunday, finish up, driving 4-5 hours.

I need to pack and run to CVS; we're leaving around 6 p.m., so I have plenty of time. Problem is, I think I'm fighting off a cold. Awesome.

VEGAS, BABY!!

MM, you're so money.

but I still think self-identity is primary.

I don't think that'll play in the 100 meter dash. Did RuPaul's Drag Race ever actually have the drag queens racing?

Cincy (of all places!) has a Drag Race every year -- it's down the block (or 2 blocks) where several gay bars are downtown. I am in awe of anyone who can sprint in heels.

One of the interesting biological anomalies they referenced was getting a superabundance of testosterone from the adrenal gland.

Sort of like a built in steroids advantage. But it's naturally occurring, so how is it different from somebody with quick twitch muscles or supernal eye-hand coordination or other inherent physical advantages?

What I find interesting is that the reason they're testing the runner is that she's too good for a relatively unknown, young competitor. They suspect that she's biologically male because she's *too good.*

Part of me wants to be offended, but the other part recognizes that, when it comes to certain physical endeavors (sprinting being one of them), women are not on a par, physically, with men. There's a reason women and men don't compete against each other in many sports. The fastest woman alive still can't beat Usain Bolt.

While I'm all about respecting the gender self-identity a person uses, and find it reprehensible to categorize someone simply by their genitals (for instance, requiring a PHOTO OF A WOMAN'S GENITALS in order for her to continue to be employed, and I wish I were making that up), when it comes down to actual performance-based parameters, like sports, I actually side with the biological/chromosomal argument.

There was a Spanish runner a couple years ago who ended up banned from competing in women's races because of androgen insensitivity syndrome. 'Technically' she was an XY, physically she was female (missing a uterus), and had been young enough that her 'delayed' menarche had been attributed to lean body mass and training regimen. What a horrible way to find out something like that about yourself!

Didn't that also happen with -- I disremember -- Russian or German women? They had no idea that their chromosomes/hormones read as "male," because they had been raised as women and no one ever told them -- possibly no one knew -- that they had that chromosomal/hormonal anomaly.

Is that legal??

unfortunately, yes.

Cincy (of all places!) has a Drag Race every year -- it's down the block (or 2 blocks) where several gay bars are downtown. I am in awe of anyone who can sprint in heels.

we have one of those, too. It's usually held the week of Halloween. Most of the participants just use it as an excuse to show off or do outrageous costumes, but some of those bitches are cutthroat about getting to the finish line.