News and unmentioned news

There was a line on the news this morning that said OBL was protesting the mistreatment of the Palestinian people by killing other people.

Interestingly, that makes me really convinced that I don't know enough about the underpinnings of the situation to have an opinion. Because I agree that the way Palestinians are treated by Israel is loathsome and I know the USA has long been on the side of Israel for reasons that are completely opaque to me since they seem, you know, totally bitchy toward everyone until one wonders if the persecution they claim wasn't presciently deserved. Like I said, obviously I'm not well informed to the nuances.*

I do hope that if OBL is actually dead, really truly dead, that means we can bring our troops out of Afghanistan. And since we technically don't have "troops" in Iraq, we could bring all those people home too. (The Iraqis don't want them there and I know I'm sick of the tremendous wallet-bleeding cost of having Americans overseas unnecessarily.)

I did enjoy one aspect of this, which the news did not mention, the announcement came 8 years to the day after the Mission Accomplished banner speech fiasco. (That was on May 1, 2003.) The timing was a giant "Fuck you!" to W and I sort of wish they could have mentioned that in public.

*Speaking of faulty nuances... I would like an apology from everyone who has ever thought, "Of course [insert Arab man here] is evil. He's got a beard. And anyone who has watched Scooby Doo knows the bearded man is always the villain." I don't feel that my off-the-cuff un-nuanced understanding of a complex foreign policy situation is all that pathetic in comparison to some of the drivel I've heard.

It's not the soap.

I get so tired of ignorant people who mis-educate themselves via hearsay and the internets.

A LJ friend doesn't like to use Dial soap because "antibiotic resistant bacteria are the result of people using too much antibacterial soap".. This is someone who is taking antibiotics for something that can't be helped by them and she's worried about regular bar soap? The fuck.

IT IS NOT the SOAP! It's the rampant prescription of antibiotics for nonsensical reasons.

If you're having surgery, sure. If you have a puncture injury, sure. If you have a bacterial infection, sure. If your bacterial infection isn't treatable with antibiotics because it's a resistant strain, STOP ASKING FOR ANTIBIOTICS.

When you ask for antibiotics but do not have a bacterial infection or the serious risk of one, then YOU are the cause of antibiotic resistant bacteria. If your doctor offers them, ask if it's actually going to help and if it's being offered as a placebo to shut you up, do not take them.

Holding Out For A Heroine

Every once in a while I wonder why I have Netflix because it usually takes me a week to finish a disc and I never have time to watch the streaming stuff (for not having a job, I'm usually busy during the day and Simon is usually asleep in front of the TV).

But yesterday we were out of cable-originated content and looked at what was in the instant queue on our Roku. Simon and I watched half of the MacGyver pilot... I had forgotten how much I loved that show. I still love it even now that it's 30 years old.

(Knight Rider is still awesome too. I mean, laughable now, with 30 year old tech, but still awesome.)

Simon couldn't stand it and wanted to stop after the halfway point.

Today I got out my craft stuff (so my apartment is getting toward reassembled) and watched 2.5 episodes of Mythbusters. Those early ones where it's just Jamie and Adam and they do 3 myths but straight through and without annoying commercial lead-ins--- they're astonishingly good. Admittedly the science and the techniques and the equipment are a LOT better in the most recent shows, but the format from the beginning is vastly superior. I'm wondering why they added the younger trio--- I'm suspecting it's the same kind of thing as why YA books are YA because they have under-age protagonists, not because of anything else about the book per se.

Watching these things (and an ancient episode of Knight Rider that was recorded off a local access channel, go figure.) I'm really floored by the difference between that and the Body of Proof main character. I'd love to see how that would have played out if the ME in that wasn't a mother.

Yesterday I left a comment for someone who was looking for books that showed female characters being superheros. I don't have any kids, but I do read a lot of kids books because I used to be at the library all the time and I like things with large print where we're guaranteed a happy ending. I also like my fantasy non- x-genre which doesn't exist in the adult market because the publishers aren't big fantasy or science fiction fans, so they assume no one else is, so they only buy books to print that are delving into other niche markets. But that doesn't usually work for either niche market and the books don't sell and the publishers think they were justified in trying for a larger audience since even that didn't work.

I recommended The Lost Conspiracy by Francis Hardinge as being really amazing book. I suggested the obvious Tamora Pierce--- and that they should be pre-read for age appropriateness. (I think they have too much sex in them even though it's non-mentioned... just because we see that the girls in previous series are now married and bechilded in later series.)

But the comment was that the little girl wanted to be a boy so she could be Spiderman.

I wanted to be Spiderman when I was 5. But I wasn't gender-aware enough to think that was something out of reach because I was a girl. It was out of reach because spiders are horrendous monsters and I didn't know enough chemistry or sewing to make my own webshooting costume. I also wanted to be the Japanese boy who could call the giant robots to rescue him from bullies--- Goldar Silvar and Gam. And when I was 5, the only reason this wasn't happening for me is I didn't know any robots...

So I didn't think I needed to be a boy to do great things. I just needed the opportunity.

If we have little girls now who think they have to be boys to do anything special, then we need to get shows like Body Of Proof (where the extremely talented woman is continually undermined mentally and societally by her "failure" as a mother) off the air before they cement that idea.