Feb. 23 - I have to go to work shortly, but it's (hopefully) the last night working this stupidest of stupid schedules so will try to be cheerful, etc.

Just for the record, I hate it when some poor, bewildered man (like, oh I don't know, a respected academic at a leading university) has to apologize for speculating or musing on forbidden topics. It reminds me too much of the "confessions" Soviet and Chinese officials used to make shortly before they were sent into exile or were executed.

So although it's definitely not PC, I find the following side-achingly funny and, in its own twisted way, think it deserves an honourable mention during Estogen Week.

Schwarzenegger Accused of Being Anti-Women and issues a pro-forma apology. My favourite excerpt:

"But I realize that some women are angry with me, and for that I apologize. But let's be honest. When I apologize to women I don't mean a word of it and neither does any man in America.

a) roll your eyes,
b) write down a really good phrase for future use,
c) curse him for being a Wimp and Traitor to Manhood,
d) forgive him, or
e) pump your fist and chalk up another victory for Women's Rights.

Feb. 24: I was unforgiveably sloppy in not making it clear that the linked post was satire and not a true news item. I apologize for the lapse.

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Feb. 23 - Welcome to readers sent by Ilyka.

Continuing to celebrate Estrogen Week up here:

Glenda takes a strip off the proponents of national day care with - what else? some common sense:

Are the old white guys in suits asking us to embrace institutionalized day care because it's better for our kids?

Looks to me like they want us to believe that the woman who lives down the street, (the woman I know and trust ) who looks after my kids is providing inferior care. That my kids are not going to be healthy, well adjusted and intellectually ready for school if my mother or my sister agrees to look after them while I work.

Ken Dryden can blow early learning out his ass. There is a reason rich folks hire nannies and live-in house keepers. They know and can afford what is best for their kids. The rest of us do the best that we can. And that doesn't always include institutionalized day care.

If Wal-Mart was simply trying to bust unions, they would have closed in October, instead of spending months trying to negotiate. In all that time, however, the union didn't budge an inch, making it patently obvious that the union's negotiaters weren't looking for a workable settlement; instead, they were trying to make a political point.

Kate has only just returned to Saskatchewan after attending a dog show yet I found her post on the show strangely appropriate (I've taken the quoted section very much out of context):

Yeah, I'm a bad loser. A really, really bad loser. I don't make scenes or get in people's faces, but I bitch and complain with the best of them. I don't apologize for it, either. An aversion to losing is a fundamental ingredient to competitive success.

"Show me a good loser, and I'll show you a loser".

The Essay explains the intricacies of being a Ninja Wife. Please note she lives in Edmonton, which explains why she has so much confidence in her ability not only to find a doctor but to find one who can remove an alarm clock from (I hope) a forehead.

Lastly and back-to-the-original-pointedly, The Truth About York takes up the cause of a one conservative female who just might have the mettle to withstand a grilling before a Senate Commiteee and even (gasp!) the Sept. 11 Commission.

(Although this is not how I had planned to spend my night off, this celebration provided an additional upside: there is a Law of Unintended Gratification!)

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Feb. 22 - I'll celebrate Estrogen Week in my own back yard!

Welcome to readers sent by Ilyka.

Kateland looks at the disapproval of Canadians over American attempts to encourage the growth of democracies and notes the Canadian fondness for China and Cuba:

Geez, what do you expect from a country where an elected member of the ruling political party can stand up and say, "The government will not tolerate statements that create dissonance in our society" and the official Opposition and/or the Canadian public did not howled her down in outrage. She should have been run out of Parliament on a rail and not returned with a majority.

Marzi has decided she's changed her mind about Michael Moore (in a wickedly wonderful way) and notes his silence after the Iraq elections.

Angua lists reason 4532-76Q why the U.N. is more useless than a bag of doorknobs (scroll down):

I am not actually that picky -- some graffiti on a London synagogue is fine by me if that means that someone somewhere will do something other than tsk about Sudan.

Broad at bat made me laugh while reminding me how grateful I am that I don't have daughters. Her writings are fun and warm, and she proves that you don't need to be a political blogger to demonstrate courage.

More tomorrow.

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Feb. 22 - Readers will pardon anything resembling the vapours and assign it to those delicate sensibilities to which we female bloggers are said to be prone. You see, the writer in the linked article seems to lean toward the notion that the political blogosphere is just too danged uncivilized for us frail, weak females.

He never seems to wonder why women should be poli-bloggers, though. He seems to take it as a given, yet if he understood anything about real - as opposed to popular - feminism, he would recognize that he broke Rule #1 : don't tell us what to do, think, or aspire to.

I first read about this when I read Ilyka's response following a link from Ith (I'll return to Ith for the last word.) Do yourselves a favour and read Ilyka's response - it's funny, well-targeted and well-written.

Meryl turns up the heat with basic fact-checking making it two women that can kick the stuffing (and stuffiness) out of paternalistic men.

21:22: Make that four: Andrea and Michelle. I'm sure there are more, but my poor head is beginning to ache with all this unseemly unpleasantness so I'm going to pour a stiff drink make some tea to soothe my jangled nerves.

Ilkya declares it's Estrogen Week. Just keep scrolling (wonderful banner by another favourite female blogger) and enjoy the posts and comments.

Now, having dispatched the self-indulgent fussing over how few of us there are back to those men who have fixated on it as an "issue," there is another issue that actually does concern us which Ith targets in a chilling post on the lost Voices of Muslim women who do not get a choice in what to do, think, or aspire to and, too often, are not even permitted life.

All the liberal men who want to "advance our cause," "open the doors of opportunity" and "smash the glass ceiling" are, to be blunt, f***ing cowards. They are picking acceptable, soft targets instead of the single hardest one: the way Islamists and fundamentalists (who are deemed above criticism by the culturally sensitive types) treat women.

You want to be on my side and advance my cause? Help my sisters, dammit. I can help myself!

Then connect the dots and realize, finally, that only bringing democracy to the Mid-east will begin to loosen the chains that shackle Muslim women.

Feb. 23 - My, my, the source article was changed by stealth without noting "update" or any of the other conventions bloggers use.

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Feb. 22 - Two posts over at Daimnation are well worth reading and considering in tandem. The first presents a series of accusations that are so laughable that they and the accusers are easy to dismiss, and the second demonstrates how hysteria coupled with "experts" can ruin lives and reputations.

The accusations being leveled about suspected sub-text and hidden messages in Shrek 2 require stretching the imagination so far that the actual story line is forgotten, but it's precisely the story that children will pick up on and remember. If there was a hidden message within Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie, my kids failed to pick up on it. But then, I failed to pick up on any sub-text in The Odd Couple (maybe because there wasn't any!)

Children, blessedly, are not as paranoid as adults. I guess paranoia is one of those things that have to be taught.

But how wise are we to shrug off such accusations, however absurd they may be?

The next post, an excellent book review of No Crueler Tyrannies by Dorothy Rabinowitz demonstrates the horror and character assassination that occurs when hysteria (and dubious experts) take command over common sense. Although the book focuses on the hysteria about satanic rituals and sexual abuse in day care centers, the lesson is broader:

Witchhunts tend to backfire in the long run, as people start to assume the witches never existed in the first place. McCarthy’s anti-Communist buffoonery in the 1950s forever discredited anti-Communism (which explains all these execrable Che Guevara T-shirts), and “ritual abuse” hysteria has done almost incalculable damage to the fight against child abuse. It was only in the Fells Acres era that real stories of long-buried abuse were coming to light – notably at the infamous Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland – and it would be an unforgivable sin if we start ignoring these hideous crimes again. But when so many police officers, child-welfare officials, prosecutors and “experts” have shown their willingness to lie and railroad innocent people, what are we supposed to believe?

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Feb. 18 - From Rocket Jones, this is the kind of story that separates the fans of the sport from fans of a team: Our Hockey is still going on.

People who love hockey are playing and/or watching other people who love hockey play. Toronto rinks never close ...

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Feb. 18 - Sorry about the light posting. It was a day riddled with dumb stuff the dumbest of which was a VHS cassette which partially ejected and then stopped betwixt in and out. It seemed nothing would dislodge it and when I manually pushed it back in it wouldn't engage and the door wouldn't close.

I naturally consulted the user book (which reminds me, I have to fish it out from behind the couch where it landed) and was on the verge of turning the unit upside down and administering a series of smacks on it's, um, backside (think "catsup bottle") but remembered I had some hard plastic pie servers that were slender enough to get in on the top and bottom of the cassette and I finally coaxed it out. Victory!

The moral of this tale is: Never begudge the space given to all the stuff in that kitchen drawer (you know the drawer I mean - the one that has time-saving gadgets, twist ties, and sundry items you never use and can't even identify.)

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Feb. 17 - Greyhawk of Mudville Gazette is home.

Well done, sir. And thank you.

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Feb. 14 - That's right, it's Valentine's Day! Chocolates aren't mandatory, of course. There's lingerie, flowers, wine, jewelry (with or without diamonds,) a nice dinner out (without the kids, definitely) or whatever special thing you can think of that is a little different.

Hey, at least a card and flowers, okay? Even if she or he said it wasn't necessary.

Make that especially if he or she said it wasn't necessary! We're all adults, and know that people often say "it isn't necessary" but they only say that because they don't want to be disappointed ... yet deep down inside is that scared thrill of anticipation just in case you thought enough of them and just had to find some way to mark this special day!

By the way, you get major bonus points for the "I just couldn't help myself" approach. It is extremely sexy.

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Feb. 14 - After a lot of work, some find people bring you the New Blog Carnival Showcase Extravaganza No. 1 hosted this week by Simon World. There are some pretty good entries up which are well worth your time and believe me when I say that it took longer for the bloggers to compose them than it takes us to read them!

A lot of terrific blogs first got exposure on the (sadly) defunct New Blog Showcase run by Truth Laid Bare, and this Carnival will hopefully give new bloggers the exposure and encouragement they need.

By the way, if you have or know of a new blog (less than 3 months old) and want to submit an entry for the Feb. 21 Carnival, go here (Lucas of Celebrity Cola is hosting it) and follow the instructions.

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Feb. 7 - Sorry, between work, sleep and helping one of my kids with his homework (!) I wasn't able to do any posting today. Two more weeks of this nutty schedule ...

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Feb. 5 - I don't handle the night shift on Fridays very well. I seem to come home Saturday morning and sleep most of the day, get up for dinner, then go back to sleep for a few more hours.

I'll just keep telling myself that this goofy schedule is only for one or two more weeks ... and really! a person can do anything through sheer force of will and determination. Right.

Good night!

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Feb. 4 - He proposed! She accepted!

Click on "read more" for a wonderful, loving picture. more...

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Feb. 3 - Simon is announcing the premier of the New blog carnival to be held February 14.

Word of this phenomenon dubbed the blogosophere is spreading. Between Memogate and Toygate and (perhaps soon Jordangate, Gunrunner Kerrygate and [Sarah] Boxergate,) there is growing awareness that the former gatekeepers of information are failing to ensure accuracy when they promote unsubstantiated charges and failing to go after the truth when it doesn't serve their political ends.

Granted, I am more into political blogging, but the old TLB Showcase also brought attention to many writers, poets and word artists who flourish on the internet and they too are part of this growing community.

So if you know of a new blog (or if you are a new blog) go here to make a submission and be watching for it on February 14.

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Feb. 3 - This should complete the update of the blogroll and side banners for now.

Rachel Lucas is at Blue-Eyed Infidel.

Andrea Harris is at Victory Soap.

I am overdue at adding Thoughtcrimes.ca.

The presidential campaign buttons have been replaced by America Supports You, a new initiative dedicated to ways civilians and civilian agencies can suport the men and women of the U.S. armed forces. If you haven't yet heard of this you can read more here.

12:30: It's ain't over until ... nevermind. Also added Hugh Hewitt and moved Colby Cosh up to News and Commentary.

Andrew Coyne has gone MIA. He was reportedly last seen in a battle to the death with Evil Software but he and a few others who seem to be missing may yet emerge victorious. (Or, to put it more prosaically, blogging demands a substantial committment of time and energy and sometimes other aspects of our lives need attending.)

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Feb. 1 - Changes to the blogroll:

The Meatrearchy finally left blogspot and can be found here.

Mudville Gazette highly recommends Cigars in the Sand and I Should Have Stayed Home.... Thanks, Greyhawk.

Sobering Thoughts should have been on already ...

Allah Is In the Poorhouse!

I realize a lot of urls in the blogroll are inactive (I ususally try to keep up with actual changes to web addresses) so this is to be an ongoing project.

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