The Uninspired Manifesto

Another year has passed, and Thanksgiving is here once more. This time last year I was celebrating the holiday with family on a warm day in Austin, and this year, I'm treading snow covered ground to celebrate with family in Spokane.

Wherever you are, though, enjoy today. Plenty of food and football to go around. As for me, I'm going to stuff my face, get drunk, and break the plastic on my DVD copy of a Colbert Christmas.

Happy Holidays.

I really should log on more often, but between my various daily activities, as well as my propensity to spend hours surfing YouTube, It's hard to find time to search out news stories. Still, I came across one that warranted a look from those that might be interested.

From The International Herald Tribune:

A last-minute Bush administration plan to grant sweeping new protections to health care providers who oppose abortion and other procedures on religious or moral grounds has provoked a torrent of objections, including a strenuous protest from the government agency that enforces job-discrimination laws.

The proposed rule would prohibit recipients of federal money from discriminating against doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to perform or to assist in the performance of abortions or sterilization procedures because of their "religious beliefs or moral convictions."

...

To avoid the usual rush of last-minute rules, the White House said in May that new regulations should be proposed by June 1 and issued by Nov. 1. The "provider conscience" rule missed both deadlines.

Under the White House directive, the deadlines can be waived "in extraordinary circumstances." Administration officials were unable to say immediately why an exception might be justified in this case.

I don't know if this ruling will pass or not, and in the case that it does, how long it would hold up under the next administration. Everyone knew that the closer we got to the end of the Bush era, the harder he would push to sneak through rulings that otherwise wouldn't make it past a vote in the House. This one in particular could force clinics to hire employees that may refuse to do their job.

I be back with another update in the near future.

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. I could lie and say that it was for a good reason, but the truth is, I just decided to take a short break. And then I forgot I had a blog. A lot has happened since the last time I wrote anything up, and rather than go into details, I'll just give you the broad strokes:

I got a different job.

I quit that job.

I moved to a different town, state.

I got another job.

There was also a lot of shit that went on across the country while I was away, but there are plenty of other blogs available for you to sift through the archives of for all that. Otherwise, expect a few new posts over the next couple of days as I try to get back into this habit.