Rose petals on the way into the OR suite

[jesse_the_k]

s.e.smith's blog, this ain't livin' hits it out of the park on an important topic which makes me so furious I can't hardly describe it:

begin quote The decision to abstain from discussing the thorny bioethics issues behind the Ashley X case is a reminder, yet again, that the wishes of nondisabled parents of disabled children should always be deferred to over the voices of actual people with disabilities, including people who share disabilities with those children. People wringing their hands over whether such procedures are okay and whether children will resent them when they grow up could turn to adult people with similar disabilities and ask them. quote ends

The "Seattle Growth Attenuation and Ethics working group" issued a report last month wrestling wrestle with the ethical issues raised in the Ashley X "treatment" case from five years ago — where parents created a "pillow angel" by removing their daughter's reproductive organs and breast buds.—

A number of folks have complimented me on my icons. Almost all are thanks to that genius jackshoegazer: for anyone needing something surreal, funny, or heartbreaking, slide your pointer of choice over to his icon comm: The Iconomicon!
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One of my #1 comfort fic faves in Stargate Atlantis is estefee's Fair Trade series. She won my heart by this epic where "John owns a coffee roastery, and Rodney is Customer Zero who will tell him where to stick his beans." (Also Ronon is an orthopedic surgeon, and Teyla is a kickass physiotherapist.)

Now she's just posted some more challenging stories where John isn't falling into anyone's bed without an effort. She pushed my angst buttons expertly yesterday Black Widow and I'm recc'ing Bionic Heart unread because estefee is that good.
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For the past two days I've been sipping bouillon to make more room in my abdomen for expert hands tomorrow. And let me just say, Better then Bouillon really is an outstanding soup base. Of course they offer a wealth of choices — organic, regular, vegan, meat — and they're all really good. If I was restricted to one I'd be very sad, but I'd go with the mushroom.
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Idly channel-surfing I came across our state's MLK Jr Day celebration. It's a rare opportunity for advocates to address the bigwigs — in our case, Michelle Alexander who gave a wonderful speech about how U.S. prisons are the "new Jim Crow," denying more people more rights than even the days of legalized segregation. Here's a March 2010 bit from Bill Moyers on PBS.org, which has a transcript as well as video. Some of the salient facts:

• The United States imprisons a larger percentage of its black population than South Africa did at the height of apartheid.

• In Washington DC, three out of four young black men (and nearly all those in the poorest neighborhoods) can expect to serve time in prison.

• In some states, African-Americans make up to 90 percent of drug prisoners and are up to 57 times more likely to be incarcerated for drug crimes than whites.
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Hoping to be back, minus a few pounds, later this week.

Comments

[wrdnrd]

I am so glad to hear the surgery went well. Hooray for expert hands!

Dropping in belatedly to thank you for the bouillon recommendation. I was deeply curious about the "certified vegan chicken" and beef bouillon on their website, and tonight i was happy to find Better Than Bouillon during our monthly run to the yuppie co-op. Judging by the finger test, it really does taste frighteningly like real chicken. HOW DO THEY DO THAT?? Unfortunately, our jar seemed to have half-opened before i bought it, which i naturally only realized when i got it home, so no sampling will occur until i've gone back to the store to swap it out for something less pre-opened. Also got the mushroom on your rec and, mmmmmmmm, the finger test there was DIVINE. Can't wait!

[jesse_the_k]

For once it's truth in advertising. It would have been fun to be the cat under the table at the meeting when Superior Touch* decided to name it "Better than Bouillon"!

Do let me know how your cooking with it turns out!


* No self esteem issues here.

[wrdnrd]

I made some couscous with the mushroom bouillon. PERFECT. Nice flavor, not too salty. Next i want to experiment with the vegan chicken bouillon, see if we can make a good gravy out of it.

[jesse_the_k]

There's part of me that's suspicious: how can something taste just right without that 16-tons-of-salt flavor that every other bouillon imposes? Thank heavens for small favors and be done with it.