Linkspam

Aaaand this right here is why Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer are on my shit list. (No, gneil isn't on it for being Palmer's fiance; he's on it for telling FWD to go see her show before deciding, even though half of the people I know who're objecting are doing so b/c of her response and not the E/E project itself.

Breeding Trouble: "Across the United States, according to Humane Society officials, puppy mills - the term that animal welfare groups and others use to describe large and unsavory commercial dog breeding operations - are on the rise. The influence of the internet is a major factor, as is the development of pet store chains. Sites like Craigslist and nextdaypets.com, as well as web marketing by individual breeders, means that puppies increasingly are being shipped all over the country - and that unwary buyers usually have no idea of the conditions in which their new pets were bred and raised."
York, my late mother's helper dog, came from a breeder. Kyan, our dog, was a rescue. Most of the dogs T and I transport on weekends are rescued from situations like the one described above, or from backyard breeders with no regard for the animals' welfare. Always, always, ALWAYS use petfinder.com. Please.

Food isn't poison: "Fucking around with restricting your food intake, despite being treated by many people as a casual pastime, is not a totally benign endeavour. It’s treating food like medicine, and medicine generally comes with side-effects."

Home burials offer an intimate alternative: If we have the land by the time I die, I think this is what I want. Part of Mom's death was the disconnect of the funeral home, despite the kindness of the staff, and my feeling no control of or participation in the proceedings. See also:
The American Way of Grief.

Breast cancer is a disease, not a marketing opportunity: As poor T could verify, I tend to bitch loudly when I see pink ribboned spatulas. It's gendered, misleading and generally squicky.

Bienvenidos a la Boca del Inferno!: An interesting analysis of Latin characters in Buffy's Sunnydale, CA.

Now listen here: "Ignore the tide of articles filled with conflicting device which all revolves around the idea that you aren’t quite thin enough and that you should just try a little harder to be “beautiful.” Make it clear to other people that you are not going to tolerate shaming and diet talk at gatherings you attend." This is aimed at holiday dieting advice, but I find it helpful in general.

Choice on BSG: hederahelix, this made me think of you bigtime.

Sex education, or What Boys Will Want from You: "Nobody told me I had a clitoris. Nobody told me I was capable of having orgasms. For five years I was given “sex education”. It mostly consisted of periods and condoms. It didn’t talk about consent. It didn’t talk about the actual mechanics of sex, about arousal and lubrication and oscillation. It didn’t tell me a single thing about relationships and it didn’t tell me I had a clitoris." THIS. My parents hooked me up with Our Bodies, Ourselves, but I never heard in any official capacity about female sexuality. Everything I learned about that, I learned on the INTERNET. Yeah, because that could never go horribly wrong.