Blondes, right?

And some brunettes.

Turns out, Sagan was wrong.

Have a great Monday, people!

Fun graphic. Note the calibration of the time scale at bottom. Your birthday is on the right.

And "no-refusal" checkpoints spread.

Spanks for the links, Cridmo. Have a great day!

o.O

And your opinion on that fact Patrick?

Seventh Air Force commander declares a weekend-long ban on drinking. Airmen dry out, while local merchants complain of lost revenue.

By the way, if you didn't know, Seventh Air Force (7AF) is the command structure for Air Force units assigned to Korea. The equivalent structure in Japan is 5AF.

Armand Jean du Plessis offers advice on the Middle East...

http://www.timesofisrael.com/high-court-rules-against-coerced-circumcision/
Fairly particular circumstances, but if even the Israeli High Court rules against a 'coerced circumcision' then you know the tide is really turning against this practice.

And isn't THIS just swell:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/islamic-state-declares-caliphate-seizes-osama-bin-ladens-dream-n144221

I want EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU who said "oh it'll never happen" to smack yourselves upside the head, please.

Thank you.

Asshats. NOW WILL YOU LISTEN??

Ppen and all you other pug-o-philes, if you're also into Game of Thrones, this is adorable!

Fairly particular circumstances, but if even the Israeli High Court rules against a 'coerced circumcision' then you know the tide is really turning against this practice.

Not really, upon closer inspection the court is not ruling against forcing a baby to get a circumcision, but ruling against forcing the mother to allow it.

If the mother were for it, it would have never gone to court

Also, the court itself ruled that a CIVIL court could force the mother, just that a religious court cant. Should the father choose to sue her civilly to force the issue the high court explination hints they would support such a ruling from the civil authority

"pug-o-phile" ← me, totes.

> Asshats. NOW WILL YOU LISTEN??

Well, what exactly is the surprise? These places were primitive, autocratic Hellholes under crime families, now they're primitive, autocratic Hellholes under Islam. Who said "It'll never happen" about those countries?

Has everybody noticed that the Arab spring isn't very springy?

> Not really, upon closer inspection the court is not ruling against forcing a baby to get a circumcision

You can't entirely view this through an 'American' lens - you have to look at the context - what's happening is that the Israeli High court is overriding a Rabbinic court on a matter conventionally prescribed by Orthodox Judaism, with an effectively more secular view of the issue - since Israel is not really a secular state, this is a bit more significant than it seems. In terms of the suggestion that the tide 'may be turning', that is also in light of other evidence to that effect: Circumcision rates in the USA have also declined over the past 15 years or so, and other Western-industrialized 'peer' countries have also been increasingly banning the practice (e.g. Germany) recently. The USA is also the only modern industrialized country left (apart from Israel) where routine non-medical infant circumcision is considered acceptable - medical boards in every other civilized country have spoken against it - on this issue, America stands only with some backward African countries, I'm afraid.

How long it will take us to stop this barbaric stone age practice is an open question - it's difficult to predict. However, recent figures show that circumcision rates in the US have declined to around ~54% to ~58%. Most people generally just 'follow the crowd' rather than think - so I think there is a real chance that if that number dips below 50%, the decline could start to snowball somewhat and pick up pace - once a majority consider something socially unacceptable, it's like a tipping point.

But it's impossible to predict, because in the US the issue may be artificially influenced by political decision-making (e.g. healthcare bill and HMO policies, and questions like whether Medicaid will fund circumcisions - when parents have to foot the bill themselves, circumcision rates drop as suddenly, when you have to pay for for it yourself, it becomes more obvious that it's a silly choice). Also, if a group like the AMA come to their senses and issue a policy stance against non-medical cosmetic circumcision, then it's game over for the practice. But there's a lot of money for some doctors in chopping off pieces of infant genitalia.

Unfortunately the politicization also has the potential to drive circumcision rates up artificially. I must admit I don't know what effect the ACA has on this, haven't looked into that at all.

Lol @ this rather disturbing question:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110812160622AA1Ly9J
"Will Obamacare cover non-therapeutic infant circumcision? And if not, isn't that an attack on Christianity?"

Crid, maybe you'll watch this video, it's not disgusting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSWbTv3hng

"The Real Reason You're Circumcised" - CollegeHumor

Why is it so important to you for me, in particular, to worry about dick?

(When I say "dick," I mean penis. Johnson, pecker, incredible heat-seeking moisture missile.)

I gots no complaint, neither with biology nor policy.

You kids run along and have fun, now.

(Quietly so no notices)

http://dailycaller.com/2014/06/30/noaa-quietly-reinstates-july-1936-as-the-hottest-month-on-record/

(Hope you know who did not notice)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/30/bet-misspell-lionel-richie_n_5543324.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

Why is it so important to you for me, in particular, to worry about dick?

I know right? Why should anyone care about needlessly torturing and killing babies

While we are on the subject crid, why is it so important to you that everyone pay attention to the things you wanna talk about?

Why is it so important to you for me, in particular, to worry about dick?

I know right? Why should anyone care about needlessly torturing and killing babies

While we are on the subject crid, why is it so important to you that everyone pay attention to the things you wanna talk about?