There are those same sorts of feelings over practically any pain-relieving drug. "Strong" people are supposed to be able to "tough it out." There are also some things specific to birth, with the history of how medicine during birth has been presented and promoted, but I don't think I know enough about that to really sum it up too well.

It's available, millions of birthing mothers have used them, why feel bad about it?

Because it's not risk-free? Because when you have it, you may have felt pressured into it? Because if you wind up in the intervention cascade afterwards, you feel like you could have done something to have stopped it? Because women are humans too, and humans feel guilty about all sorts of things they couldn't actually have as much control over as they think they should have?

I never felt like a cadaver on a slab while giving birth or being examined. I don't doubt that some women experience this but my doctor was on call during a holiday weekend and had delivered a record number of babies. I was laboring with Owen for over 24 hours, including the Sunday my doc was getting ready to go off duty. I'm sure he was tired and ready to get away with his own family but he didn't push me into a c-section in order to get it over with.

I also dislike women who feel they've been pushed around by their own OBs after the fact dis the entire Obstetric profession. Taffy admitted she didn't "love" her doctor. And she recounts how he dismissed her questions. I agree that more women should be empowered enough to change doctors during pregnancy or demand the treatment they deserve.

I switched OBs at the beginning of my first pregnancy because of assholish attitudes by one of the practice's doctors whom I vowed would never touch me again.

ION (from PZ's blog) Comic-con reacts to Fred Phelps

Westboro Baptist Church decided that they were going to picket Comic-Con, and Justin Kirchart sent me pictures. He also sent me a photo of the WBC picket — it's a sad and pathetic 4 people standing and holding the usual "YOU HATE GOD" and "GOD HATES FAGS" signs, and it wasn't very interesting, so I didn't bother to upload it.

Here, though, are the forces of Comic-con madness across the street. They're much more entertaining. Click to zoom in!

My fave is the guy in the Bender costume holding a sign saying "Kill All Humans".

eta: io9 has more photos: [link]

I have an entirely different sort of question.

For (older) immigrant children, how young do they generally have to have immigrated to have no discernible accent? If they're in a place without a large population speaking their first language?

I know some people who immigrated around age 10 and had very little of the accent of their first language, and others who immigrated around age 6 and had a very strong accent.

My fave is the guy in the Bender costume holding a sign saying "Kill All Humans".

And "All Glory to the Hypno-Toad!"

I'm a little disappointed there weren't any Klingons, though.

Timelies all!

Gotta pack for Confluence tonight. Not that that's terribly hard. (It's just a matter of deciding which t-shirts to bring, and which earrings to go with them. Toss in some jeans, socks and underwear, and voila!)

Much variance. I know a woman of Indian ethnic background (sorry don't know which subgroup) who lived in Africa until she was six, London from 6-13, and U.S. from 13 forward. She spoke Swahili as a girl, but did not retain a word by the time I met her in her 20s. She has never lost a slight British accent, not strong, but noticeable.

eta: io9 has more photos: [link]

Oh, my. God loves gay Robins. That's AWESOME.