Suggested Reading

In the midst of my trying-to-sort-out-what-job-to-accept-pseudo-woes, I've found far less time to post here than I usually have. Oddly, I have read almost as much as normal, which I suppose says something about my priorities. Or perhaps which provides a better escape: writing, real writing, the stuff this site promised to be about and has been if falteringly, rather than providing a portal into a world-not-mine, requires me to dive down some inner oubliette of sorts. I'm in a dark introspective enough place in my waking life; in my weblog-dreamscape I need find no more darkness presently. My employment dilemma, at least, will be settled by the end of this week (for my own sanity's sake, I won't take any longer, though I have a couple of weeks before I must respond to my offers), then we will return you to your regularly scheduled programs.

In the meantime, per my above observation about readings, I recommend these three things:

First, Praktike, guest blogging at WaMo, discusses the conservative Iranian Parliament's recent attempt liberalization of its abortion laws. This is noteworthy for two reasons: first, even before this most recent reform, Iran permitted abortion where a mother's life was in danger, which at least a marginal fraction of American wingnuts wouldn't permit if they had their way; second, the reform would provide that "a pregnancy can be terminated in the first four months if the foetus is mentally or physically handicapped." This almost certainly is a more liberal position than the most of the evangelically-oriented Republican plurality, and more than would be allowed if the GOP had the opportunity to act on its pro-life rhetoric. The implications are obvious: Iran, so often sold to us as yet another fundamentalist, repressive regime (Axis of Evil, anyone?), would grant its women greater liberties on this crucial issue than our GOP would. Mostly, as Armand notes (and a hat tip to him), it suggests that the reductive version of things sold us by the media and our officials is a bunch of crap, especially when it comes to the middle east.

On a lighter note, check out Brian's riveting account of yesterday's long Alley Cat, a cycling enthusiast race / scavenger hunt ranging all over the city, and this time around involving fixed-gear-defying hills at every juncture. Brian, and the other fixed-riders, did very well, but you'll have to read the post to get the details and outcome.

More generally, Majikthise continues to impress with the depth and breadth of her weblog, and I'm still not done loving ERISA Haiku, which today includes this gem:

The IRS speaks
Inscrutable, ponderous
Soul sucking jargon

Masterisa Showitome strikes again.