Saturday, February 15, 2003
B3 d- t- k s u-- f++ i o++ x-- e l- c+
Friday, February 14, 2003
Okay, so how did this slip past my gaydar? I blame it on the fact that my main news source, MPR, is having their pledge week (or month, or millennium or whatever) so I've been avoiding it. Since I don't contribute they make me feel guilty and I have enough of that in my life, thank you very much.
Anyway, I heard word courtesy of PikaPikaChick, a fellow MN blogger, today of something called "HF 341", a bill introduced to the Minnesota House of Representatives. In a nutshell, this is the deal: (quotes taken from Outfront Minnesota's webpage on this alert)
"A bill (HF 341) was introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives to repeal the state human rights amendment which protects GLBT Minnesotans from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and other areas. In addition, it would remove sexual orientation as a protected class in the hate crimes laws. If approved, Minnesota would become the first state ever to extend, and then rescind, protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Our current Governor, Tim Pawlenty while majority leader of the House has said, “My vote in 1993 in favor of the gay rights amendment is one I would take back.” Politics in Minnesota, Nov. 29, 2001"
Man, is that guy a dick or what?
The deal is this - there's going to be a little rally at the Minnesota State Capitol Building on March 6th. Go to the Outfront webpage to get all of the details; I'm too mad right now to think clearly and I don't want to post misinformation - best to go to the source.
PikaPikaChick has some buttons you can use on your page here. (Pika - I'm only linking to the image for a few minutes - I need to hit the other computer to upload it to my own server).
And don't say, "Well, that's Minnesota, that won't happen in my state." When you go to the Outfront website you can see how your politicans voted on GLBT issues. If this passes here what's stopping it from coming to a House of Representatives near you? Think about these points, people:
* HF 341 would, for the first time in Minnesota or in any other state, repeal long-standing protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, encouraging people to fire, evict, or even refuse to serve GLBT Minnesotans.
* HF 341 would, for the first time anywhere in the country repeal previously enacted hate crimes provisions, and would send the message that victimizing GLBT people is acceptable.
* HF 341 would, for the first time in any civilized country, reverse a condemnation of Nazi persecution and implicitly endorse Nazi extermination of gay people across Europe in the twentieth century.
* HF 341 comes at a time when the average Minnesotan is far more concerned about how the State will balance its budget than about rescinding civil rights for anyone.
That ain't sensationalism, folks.
So I'll see you there? Mark your calendar, March 6th. Bring your kids, your folks, come in from out-of-state if you need to cuz this is a pretty big deal and you've been given plenty of notice. As Minnesota goes, so goes the country? I sure as hell hope not.
But it might.
HF 341 Threatens Human Rights in MN
Put this on your web page
Mad as hell-ly,
Natalie
Anyway, I heard word courtesy of PikaPikaChick, a fellow MN blogger, today of something called "HF 341", a bill introduced to the Minnesota House of Representatives. In a nutshell, this is the deal: (quotes taken from Outfront Minnesota's webpage on this alert)
"A bill (HF 341) was introduced in the Minnesota House of Representatives to repeal the state human rights amendment which protects GLBT Minnesotans from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and other areas. In addition, it would remove sexual orientation as a protected class in the hate crimes laws. If approved, Minnesota would become the first state ever to extend, and then rescind, protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Our current Governor, Tim Pawlenty while majority leader of the House has said, “My vote in 1993 in favor of the gay rights amendment is one I would take back.” Politics in Minnesota, Nov. 29, 2001"
Man, is that guy a dick or what?
The deal is this - there's going to be a little rally at the Minnesota State Capitol Building on March 6th. Go to the Outfront webpage to get all of the details; I'm too mad right now to think clearly and I don't want to post misinformation - best to go to the source.
PikaPikaChick has some buttons you can use on your page here. (Pika - I'm only linking to the image for a few minutes - I need to hit the other computer to upload it to my own server).
And don't say, "Well, that's Minnesota, that won't happen in my state." When you go to the Outfront website you can see how your politicans voted on GLBT issues. If this passes here what's stopping it from coming to a House of Representatives near you? Think about these points, people:
* HF 341 would, for the first time in Minnesota or in any other state, repeal long-standing protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, encouraging people to fire, evict, or even refuse to serve GLBT Minnesotans.
* HF 341 would, for the first time anywhere in the country repeal previously enacted hate crimes provisions, and would send the message that victimizing GLBT people is acceptable.
* HF 341 would, for the first time in any civilized country, reverse a condemnation of Nazi persecution and implicitly endorse Nazi extermination of gay people across Europe in the twentieth century.
* HF 341 comes at a time when the average Minnesotan is far more concerned about how the State will balance its budget than about rescinding civil rights for anyone.
That ain't sensationalism, folks.
So I'll see you there? Mark your calendar, March 6th. Bring your kids, your folks, come in from out-of-state if you need to cuz this is a pretty big deal and you've been given plenty of notice. As Minnesota goes, so goes the country? I sure as hell hope not.
But it might.
HF 341 Threatens Human Rights in MN
Put this on your web page
Mad as hell-ly,
Natalie
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
So the other day MJ posted about how her mere mention of a certain Super Bowl ad was bringing her in a ton of hits from people wanting to watch it so she's set up a direct link to the ad from her page. I thought, hey, that was pretty helpful, she's done her good deed for the day. Then I thought, wait a minute, I can rip off her idea.
See, I get a few hits each day for people looking for, oddly enough, pickle juice. Weird, huh? Especially considering that one of the major factors behind me naming my site "pickle juice" is because I thought that no one would stumble upon it by accident - come on, who goes to Google looking for pages about pickle juice?
On average? About thirty people a day. Which leads me to believe that there's some weird pickle counter-culture that I'm not (nor do I want to be) a part of.
But hey, I should do a good deed for the day as well - just racking up those Karma points, which I plan to cash in for a giant stuffed puppy dog - so I've whipped together a handy dandy little faq of the most popular search requests about pickle juice that lead people into the abyss known and my spewed psyche (aka - this blog).
What is pickle juice?
My god, are you stupid. Do you need assistance breathing? Do you notice when you wake up in the morning? What kind of stupid question is that? If you're coming here for the answer to that question I don't know that this faq is going to be much help to you, but I'll try. Cuz lord knows you need the help.
Pickle juice is vinegar, primarily. There are other flavors and preservatives added, but yep. Pretty much, it's vinegar. Duh.
What are the health benefits of drinking pickle juice?
Well, if you drink a cup of the stuff you've filled your daily sodium allowance in one sitting - that's pretty beneficial, isn't it? No, really, there is a health benefit to drinking pickle juice, in that it makes you want to drink more water, which you probably need. Most people go through life dehydrated, which can cause a lot of problems, like hangovers (yes, that's caused by dehydration) and premature labor. And many of us think we're hungry when in fact we're thirsty, but the thirst triggers have been ignored for so long that we don't recognize them.
But do you really need to drink pickle juice just so you'll be physically thirsty enough to drink the recommended amount of water per day? Just drink more water, duh, and leave the juice in the jar.
But what about those athletes who drink pickle juice when they practice and say it's a performance enhancer?
Remember that one SNL sketch where the guys were in a Gatorade commercial, except instead of Gatorade they were drinking raw cookie dough? Man, I thought Wil Farrell was going to puke at the end - his eyes were watering and he had that dough sliding down the sides of his face. Just watching that set off my gag reflex - wasn't that nasty?
That's about the same thing as drinking pickle juice as a "performance enhancer". If an athlete (which you most certainly aren't) drinks a shot of pickle juice (you know how big a "shot" is, don't you? Thought you might.) it contains around 100 mg of sodium more than drinking a Gatorade. So one little shot of fluid versus a tummy full of sloshing liquid is probably beneficial to some people. Have you ever jogged next to someone whose stomach was full of water or whatever, and even three feet away you can hear it splashing? Isn't that disgusting? And then the person has to pee every five minutes...so put it that way - is there a benefit to not having your guts filled with liquid? Sure. Does pickle juice help retain water so you don't dehydrate as quickly? Sure. Is pickle juice the new steroids for this millennium? I hope so - I could make a fortune, especially since there's little that an Olympic judge can do to you to detect pickle juice in the blood. Until you die from a massive coronary. Which leads nicely into...
What are some of the dangers of drinking pickle juice?
Just that pesky little sodium problem, pretty much. One liter (that's around a quart to you and me) of the stuff contains 10,000 milligrams of sodium. And guess how much sodium we're supposed to have each day? No, you're way off, guess again. You're getting closer, one more guess. What did you say? That's not even a number, stupid, that's a color. At any rate, you're wrong - it's 2,500 mg per day. That's it! Hell, you can consume that much sodium just by looking at pickle juice, let alone drinking it. You probably have high blood pressure anyway, so stay away from it. While you're at it you should probably stop using salt altogether and start using Mrs. Dash.
Okay, so I'm not supposed to drink it - so what do I do with it? It's too good to waste it.
Now, I never said you couldn't drink it - just drink responsibly. That said, there are thousands of uses for pickle juice. My personal favorite is this - once you eat all the pickles (and sometimes that's torture to actually eat the pickles...a lot of the time I end up throwing the pickles away because they've been sitting in less than an inch of brine and are all withered and gross) you cut celery into pieces that fit the jar. This is great even if you only have a little bit of juice left because the veins in the celery will draw the juice up through the stalk. Et viola, pickled celery. It's an interesting flavor. Use them as a garnish in Bloody Marys or fill them with cream cheese or chop them up and put them in a green salad or tuna salad. I'm pretty much tapped out on uses for celery here.
Use the juice in any recipe that calls for vinegar, like a marinade or a vinagrette. The stuff's green, liquid gold as far as I'm concerned, and it's highly undervalued to the point where if you make use of it people will find you utterly remarkable. I speak from experience here - people find me utterly remarkable. And you want to be like me, don't ya? Thought so.
So...erm...you don't happen to have any pictures of...let's say...alternate uses for the pickle itself, do you?
Sigh, I was hoping that you weren't going to show up around here anymore. No, I don't have any pictures like that, nor do I have any pictures of men, women, dogs, grandmas or postal workers eating pickles. Or myself, for that matter. You know how I eat pickles, usually? First, I take some sliced beef, slather on some cream cheese, roll the pickle up and chop the hell out of it until it's cut into bite-sized pieces, then I skewer it with a toothpick and chomp with all my might. There, how's that for a sexy visual, huh?
Sometimes a pickle is just a pickle-ly,
Natalie
See, I get a few hits each day for people looking for, oddly enough, pickle juice. Weird, huh? Especially considering that one of the major factors behind me naming my site "pickle juice" is because I thought that no one would stumble upon it by accident - come on, who goes to Google looking for pages about pickle juice?
On average? About thirty people a day. Which leads me to believe that there's some weird pickle counter-culture that I'm not (nor do I want to be) a part of.
But hey, I should do a good deed for the day as well - just racking up those Karma points, which I plan to cash in for a giant stuffed puppy dog - so I've whipped together a handy dandy little faq of the most popular search requests about pickle juice that lead people into the abyss known and my spewed psyche (aka - this blog).
What is pickle juice?
My god, are you stupid. Do you need assistance breathing? Do you notice when you wake up in the morning? What kind of stupid question is that? If you're coming here for the answer to that question I don't know that this faq is going to be much help to you, but I'll try. Cuz lord knows you need the help.
Pickle juice is vinegar, primarily. There are other flavors and preservatives added, but yep. Pretty much, it's vinegar. Duh.
What are the health benefits of drinking pickle juice?
Well, if you drink a cup of the stuff you've filled your daily sodium allowance in one sitting - that's pretty beneficial, isn't it? No, really, there is a health benefit to drinking pickle juice, in that it makes you want to drink more water, which you probably need. Most people go through life dehydrated, which can cause a lot of problems, like hangovers (yes, that's caused by dehydration) and premature labor. And many of us think we're hungry when in fact we're thirsty, but the thirst triggers have been ignored for so long that we don't recognize them.
But do you really need to drink pickle juice just so you'll be physically thirsty enough to drink the recommended amount of water per day? Just drink more water, duh, and leave the juice in the jar.
But what about those athletes who drink pickle juice when they practice and say it's a performance enhancer?
Remember that one SNL sketch where the guys were in a Gatorade commercial, except instead of Gatorade they were drinking raw cookie dough? Man, I thought Wil Farrell was going to puke at the end - his eyes were watering and he had that dough sliding down the sides of his face. Just watching that set off my gag reflex - wasn't that nasty?
That's about the same thing as drinking pickle juice as a "performance enhancer". If an athlete (which you most certainly aren't) drinks a shot of pickle juice (you know how big a "shot" is, don't you? Thought you might.) it contains around 100 mg of sodium more than drinking a Gatorade. So one little shot of fluid versus a tummy full of sloshing liquid is probably beneficial to some people. Have you ever jogged next to someone whose stomach was full of water or whatever, and even three feet away you can hear it splashing? Isn't that disgusting? And then the person has to pee every five minutes...so put it that way - is there a benefit to not having your guts filled with liquid? Sure. Does pickle juice help retain water so you don't dehydrate as quickly? Sure. Is pickle juice the new steroids for this millennium? I hope so - I could make a fortune, especially since there's little that an Olympic judge can do to you to detect pickle juice in the blood. Until you die from a massive coronary. Which leads nicely into...
What are some of the dangers of drinking pickle juice?
Just that pesky little sodium problem, pretty much. One liter (that's around a quart to you and me) of the stuff contains 10,000 milligrams of sodium. And guess how much sodium we're supposed to have each day? No, you're way off, guess again. You're getting closer, one more guess. What did you say? That's not even a number, stupid, that's a color. At any rate, you're wrong - it's 2,500 mg per day. That's it! Hell, you can consume that much sodium just by looking at pickle juice, let alone drinking it. You probably have high blood pressure anyway, so stay away from it. While you're at it you should probably stop using salt altogether and start using Mrs. Dash.
Okay, so I'm not supposed to drink it - so what do I do with it? It's too good to waste it.
Now, I never said you couldn't drink it - just drink responsibly. That said, there are thousands of uses for pickle juice. My personal favorite is this - once you eat all the pickles (and sometimes that's torture to actually eat the pickles...a lot of the time I end up throwing the pickles away because they've been sitting in less than an inch of brine and are all withered and gross) you cut celery into pieces that fit the jar. This is great even if you only have a little bit of juice left because the veins in the celery will draw the juice up through the stalk. Et viola, pickled celery. It's an interesting flavor. Use them as a garnish in Bloody Marys or fill them with cream cheese or chop them up and put them in a green salad or tuna salad. I'm pretty much tapped out on uses for celery here.
Use the juice in any recipe that calls for vinegar, like a marinade or a vinagrette. The stuff's green, liquid gold as far as I'm concerned, and it's highly undervalued to the point where if you make use of it people will find you utterly remarkable. I speak from experience here - people find me utterly remarkable. And you want to be like me, don't ya? Thought so.
So...erm...you don't happen to have any pictures of...let's say...alternate uses for the pickle itself, do you?
Sigh, I was hoping that you weren't going to show up around here anymore. No, I don't have any pictures like that, nor do I have any pictures of men, women, dogs, grandmas or postal workers eating pickles. Or myself, for that matter. You know how I eat pickles, usually? First, I take some sliced beef, slather on some cream cheese, roll the pickle up and chop the hell out of it until it's cut into bite-sized pieces, then I skewer it with a toothpick and chomp with all my might. There, how's that for a sexy visual, huh?
Sometimes a pickle is just a pickle-ly,
Natalie
