Favorite poster from NR's "The Corner"

well yeah, duh; it just seems that adding shitting yourself to that is just cruel (even if it is an obvious consequence once you think about the situation)

Plenty of women release some feces during pushing stage, but it is immediately removed by nurses/midwives as needed (and during the labor I watched, the woman never noticed this was going on - even with an epidural, you're pretty distracted). Some women's systems kind of clean themselves out before labor starts (this is why diarrhea can be a sign of impending labor, and in fact was what tipped me off to being in preterm labor - usually pregnant ladies have the opposite problem).

As for the orgasmic birth thing... well, whatever works for you, I guess. I wouldn't expect it, though.

So, socialized medicine will somehow move anesthesiologists priorities further away from giving epidurals...? Not sure I'm getting the logic here. Their priority is already the person having surgery over a woman in labor. And hey, here in my little town, I didn't get an epidural with my second because the anesthesiologist was on the golf course!

wait which golf course? if it's that one way south of town, then he is some no-class anesthesiologist

Pretty sure we only have one golf course in Northfield. (?!)

Dude got shoved off into the corner while I gave birth; he showed up, but things were just going too fast for him to get his job done. He wanted me to sign some papers, tried to give me some information, he talked painfully slowly, and I just remember realizing that I had to PUSH NOW!!! I think he probably did the anesthesia for the D&C I had later, though, so at least his trip to the hospital was worth it.

oh right thot u were in hstngs

I planned to have my first baby there, but switched at the end when I had a traumatic visit to that hospital's maternity ward. HSTNGS had horrendous childbirth classes and it seemed like they were totally pushing a "we'll try to talk you out of an epidural" thing.

to be honest I'm kind of surprised HSTNGS doesn't make you hang off of a merry-go-round

Best thing about their childbirth prep. class was the snacks. (And the sense of humor of some of the participants. One guy saw a dilatation chart and exclaimed, "That's gotta leave a mark!!!")

I was not a fan.

Why does Maggie Gallagher worry about women in labor shitting themselves when she's got shit coming out of her mouth and fingers?

[nsfw] SHITTING DICK NIPPLES

lol

Notre Dame [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

Will have Barack Obama as their commencement speaker this year, the White House announced today and Notre Dame confirms.That's shameful. Last week the president of the United States perpetrated an assault on human dignity. No statements or press releases will undo what Notre Dame's position in the eyes of the world is in response: "Doesn't matter." We've got THE ONE. So much for the One its namesake gave birth to.

I've been optimistic that the radicalism of this administration on life could be a real catalyst for renewal in many churches. At Notre Dame, they just made a choice. They took a giant step away from their identity as "Catholic." They rather be of this world than the one they supposedly exist to bring people toward.

So much for the One its namesake gave birth to.

I laughed out loud, for real.

jesus.

^ declarative

Last week the president of the United States perpetrated an assault on human dignity.

^^^^ to what is the troll referring?

Maybe stem cells? That was last week.

The irrepressible Maggie Gallagher:

Gay marriage will not leave marriage undisturbed. If gay marriage becomes the law of the land, then this thing called marriage that I care about, and that most human societies have specially protected, will become nameless in the public square — also, unmentionable in polite society.

If she just means her marriage I'm all for that.

"What is this thing...called marriage..."

Okay the image of Shatner as Maggie Gallagher is in my head, thanks to you.

yea that notre dame shit was lolz

like any college is going to forgo having a fucking US president speak

Friday, March 27, 2009

Vampire Issues [Jonah Goldberg]

From a reader:

Jonah,

I'm very concerned about Tony Woodlief's critique of the "Twilight" books/movie on the front page of NRO today? Now, I know nothing about "Twilight," and Woodlief's analysis makes perfect sense. But his bashing of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" cannot go unchecked. I hope to see a Corner discussion of this very soon, as Buffy deserves a vigorous defense. I'm sure KJL will understand.

Here's the relevant passage:

We have fully reversed the symbolism of Stoker’s vampire, who represented a demonic assault on a virtuous community. Today’s vampire is the hip Other, and the community around him is either bungling, intolerant, or simply a source of comedic relief (as in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Lost Boys, and Fright Night, for example). The modern vampire is in touch with his sexuality, but the community suppresses it. The modern vampire is coming to take away your girlfriend, and she kind of likes it. The modern vampire is the guy you wish you had been in high school, or the guy you wish you’d dated in high school, and Meyer has turned that into gold.

All due respect to Woodlief, I am with the reader on this. I think Woodlief is certainly right about Lost Boys and Fright Night and his point would certainly apply to True Blood and other vampiric fare. But that really isn't what's going on in Buffy the TV series. Vampires are thoroughly, irredeemably evil in the Buffy series. The exceptions, of course, are Angel (and, later, Spike) who are re-ensouled. Indeed, that might the source of confusion here. Woodlief is listing other movies, so perhaps he's discussing the Buffy movie. In which case he's right. But distinctions must be made!

the woodlief article has to be read to be believed. basically: twilight is dangerous because monster stories should not be sexy, they should remind us that there really are monsters out there, like homosexuals and muslims, that need to be killed. jonah pipes up to say "hey, i like buffy!!"

Guys: Jay Nordlinger's back, and Reagan's got him.

Some authorship controversy lolz from Sadly, No!

http://www.sadlyno.com/wordpress/uploads/2009/03/klo_big_bedfellows.png

http://www.sadlyno.com/wordpress/uploads/2009/03/jonah_big_bedfellows.png

no the crucial evidence is this:

http://www.sadlyno.com/wordpress/uploads/2009/03/jo-lo.jpg

wau

http://giftedthought.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/peter.JPG

holy shit goole

haha, thank mr pancakes hackman, it's right there on that post!

or "h/t: Pancakes Hackman" as they say, on blogs

tip o' the hat

Sounds Familiar [James S. Robbins]
I was interested in the number of times Presdent Obama invoked 9/11 in his Afghanistan speech. Wasn't that something President Bush took a lot of guff for from the left? And given the number of snarky cheap shots he took at Bush, the substance of Obama's strategy seems little different than that which was laid out in 2004.

...

Keep Your Daughter Off the Pole [Mark Krikorian]

Here's the end of the WaPo obit for porn actress Marilyn Chambers, dead at 56:

Survivors include a 17-year-old daughter from her third marriage to trucking executive Tom Taylor.

Two years ago, Ms. Chambers told the Providence Journal that the adult-film business "chews women up and spits them out. It's a business I'd never want my daughter to be in."

Uh, I'd bet her own parents didn't want her to be in that business, either.

04/14 02:43 PMShare

makes you think

keep your daughter off the pole

what a hypocrite

Why did Mark Krikorian push his daughter into the adult-film business?

NRO types quoting Chris Rock?

Can't wait to see K-Lo's hysterics about this.

Clinton & Cheney [Kathryn Jean Lopez]

I can totally appreciate that the Obama administration doesn't find Dick Cheney talking to Sean Hannity particularly helpful. But Hillary Clinton was testifying before the House of Representatives today, not a moveon meeting; she didn't need to say that she doesn't consider the former vice president "a particularly reliable source." Even with his criticisms—cautions from a concerned and well-informed citizen—I think he's giving them more respect than that.

new frontiers in crybabyism

back in the lab, with a pen and a pad:

An Epithet, Anyone? [Jay Nordlinger]

Responding to a posting about school choice, a reader has a very interesting idea. He knows that “liberals and their allies in the MSM get a lot of mileage out of the ‘chicken hawk’ taunt” — “chicken hawk” is what they call people who support military action who never served in the U.S. military. (That would be most people who support military action, of course.) Our reader wonders why there can’t be a similar term for politicians who oppose school choice whose children have never been to public school.

I sense the traction for that unbuilding as I type.

In my day "chicken hawk" had a more colorful definition.

^^ this

teabagging chickenhawks

was gonna say, the only milage i know of re: "chickenhawk" is the distance to the nearest highway rest area

Our reader wonders why there can’t be a similar term for politicians who oppose school choice whose children have never been to public school.

I think we call that indie-guilt on ilm