Which states are making or have made HPV vaccination mandatory in schools?

At least Joe is still looking at 15 years. It couldn't have happened to a scummier guy.

I quite liked "The Post-Post-Feminist's Eteraz" piece on the lives of Muslim women.

This has nothing to do with the post, but I had to tell y'all this. A commenter at Pam's House Blend mentioned a search engine I'd never heard of: msdewey.com, which employs an actress who comments on your search subject before showing the results. I amused myself searching for a little while. When I searched for "feminism", her (first) response was to hold up a mallet and say "It's a girl's best friend." Imagine my surprise when I searched for "rape" and she said....the exact same thing!!!!

I searched for "feminism" again and received the following comments from "Ms. Dewey": 1)Get a hobby, like say, something interesting. 2)You can ask me about anything and you ask that!?!? 3) You're kidding, right? 4)Ladies and gentlemen, The World's Loneliest Man!

I searched "rape" again and got the following comments:
1)You don't say (picks up cell phone) The police will be there any minute 2)all of the other comments used on the "feminism" search.

As repugnant as I find Operation Rescue, I think it's dangerous to call them a terorrist group. As far as tactics go, they are not that different from, say, Earth First! I have done a lot of nonviolent direct action and someone always calls us terrorists.

And yes, I know the argument that they foster an environment in which violence against abortion providers/clinics is more acceptable. But many conservatives make the same argument about groups like Greenpeace in relation to the Earth Liberation Front and I don't buy that either.

At least Earth First!, Greenpeace and ELF groups haven't killed anyone. As far as I know. ;P

Ann, thanks for the linkage! I still can't believe how amazing Thursday was.

Regarding the pharmaceutical "babes":

I've worked as a medical assistant and a receptionist in two medical offices and yes, pharmaceutical reps tend to be skinny "clean-cut" "attractive" women in their 20s. I never really understood why that was the case. Funny story though, a gynecologist that I worked for actually got the rep for an un-named birth control pill brand to stop taking the pill that she was advocating and instead start an herbal PMS treatment [she obviously wasn't taking the pill for birth control reasons, but for period/PMS related reasons]. It was awesome.

P.S. note the use of quotation marks in my previous comment, especially around the word 'attractive'

My dad is a doctor and it's CRAZY how much free shit drug reps give you. Our whole family has gotten free concert/theater/movie tickets, invitations to exclusive parties, gobs of free food (sometimes of very high quality), and more pens, pads or paper, clocks, stress toys, and other pharma-branded novelty items than I can count. Some friends I know whose parents are doctors have gotten free trips and vacations.

The god-like status doctors get is nutty. We simultaneously elevate them above mere mortals, and subject them to some of the most ridiculous business-oriented concerns possible.

As for the dismissal of charges against Joe Scumbag Francis, I can only hang my head in shame at my profession. I'd be inclined to say something trite and sarcastic like "too bad he isn't black*, then they'd grasp at nonexistent straws to get a conviction" except I'm too busy fighting off the urge to vomit.

*To be clear, my meaning here is that the criminal justice system is anything but just toward black defendants. And yet scumbag assholes like this get the royal treatment. "Fucked up" doesn't begin to describe it.

As repugnant as I find Operation Rescue, I think it's dangerous to call them a terorrist group. As far as tactics go, they are not that different from, say, Earth First! I have done a lot of nonviolent direct action, and someone always calls us terrorists.

Kline's pet prosecutor, Don "the Dingo" McKinney, appears to be a member of Operation Rescue (my linked story has photos of him participating in OR actions at the clinic of Dr. George Tiller, the same doctor he's been appointed to prosecute). However, as repugnant as I find them to be, I did not characterize OR as terrorists.

The terrorist group in question is the Army of God, as McKinney claims years of close friendship with the late Paul deParrie, whose long history of affiliation with the AOG is a matter of public record. In fact, deParrie called AOG poster girl Shelley Shannon a "hero" for shooting Dr. Tiller in 1993. And in McKinney's memorial to deParrie on the OR website, he writes that they hardly ever disagreed on anything.

In Phill Kline's book, all that seems to make McKinney the perfect attorney to push for prosecution of Dr. Tiller.

And BTW Ann, thanks for the link. Even though McKinney's tenure promises to be short-lived, that he could be appointed at all -- and set loose to act for the state of Kansas without any legal contract for his services -- sets one nasty precedent.

Moiv, thank you for the clarification. I would definitely agree with you there.