Woah, nelly. A successful transplant surgery was just conducted with a windpipe made from the patient’s own stem cells. Supercool.

The CSU system is having some issues.

Ever wondered who is responsible for thin condoms? You can find out here.

Michelle Obama is going to be in a comic book!

It looks like Hillary Clinton is back on the quest to reform healthcare. Maybe she can convince President-Elect Obama that we need a nationalized healthcare system, and that his healthcare proposal sucks.

Hey, Fort Braggers! Does anybody know why public works randomly turned my water off this morning? (It’s not just me, it appears to be the surrounding area.) I’m thinking that since my landlord pays our water bills, public works sent him a notice about a planned shutoff for maintenance and he, uhm, didn’t mention it. But it would be nice to know when/if I am going to have water again. (Edit: mystery solved.)

Apparently, people like to use the term “identity politics” to describe people who speak up for themselves and suggest that government should not consist entirely of white men. While it sure is nice to blame people of color, women, and LGBQTs when things fall apart, is it really so unreasonable for us to ask that we be represented in government?

Monty Python has surrendered to YouTubers, and started posting video for free. Yay new media!

Holy LIFE photo archive, Batman!

The Guardian has a neat little feature up talking about organ donation, with interviews from a variety of perspectives.

Let Black Friday begin!

Apparently, the majority of homes sold in SoCal last month were foreclosures.

Why is that dance=sex in the media narrative?

Clare Says is my NaBloPoMo featured blog today.

Is there a solid Constitutional basis for a legal challenge to Prop 8? Oh, yes. Most definitely. (Do yourself a favor and don’t read the comments, unless you enjoy quivering in rage, in which case, be my guest.)

One of the fastest growing demographics of new AIDS infections is in black women between 50 and 60. What’s the deal?

The New York Times manages to cover TwiMania with a reasonably straight face.

Vultures descend wherever profits are to be made, and that includes the market for foreclosed homes.

A Wallace and Gromit Christmas special on BBC1! Who among my UK readers wants to obtain A Matter of Loaf and Death for me, since the BBC refuses to share the goodies with us Americans?

My my, pirates are getting ambitious.

The President-elect says that he will close Guantanamo, but I note that he says nothing about extraordinary rendition.

Sweetheart scams are apparently the next big thing, now that most people have wised up to the fact that strangers in Nigeria don’t actually need help smuggling their funds out of the country.

“All is won,” shout the Democrats. Uhm…not so fast.

The NSA is notoriously secretive. So when I see an interview with a former NSA advisor, I feel obliged to link to it.

A very neat article on a phenomenon known as imprinting: apparently, genes from your parents behave differently, depending on which parent they come from.

The Times has deigned to dedicate a small amount of print (and one picture) to the Join the Impact protests on Saturday.

Happy birthday to KT! May the next year be filled with excellence.

As for the rest of you, here’s the news of note. (And non-note.)

Doves Today is my NaBloPoMo recommendation of the day.

Care about the environment? Then, for the love of Pete, stop using air fresheners.

This column discussing the blow to LBGQT equality dealt by the election is pretty good, if you can ignore the bits in which the author seems to think that the struggle for black civil rights is somehow magically over.

Apparently there are…warring duck tours in San Francisco?

Thomas Beatie is pregnant again. Way to turn 15 minutes of fame into 30 minutes!

Protests for LGBQT equality are being held all over the United States tomorrow. Find your local protest info at the link and get thee to a march!

First of all, I have run out of NaBloPoMo sites to feature. I’m sure that this is because the project has simply become so huge that it’s impossible to really navigate, not that all of the sites are totally crappy. I’ll keep poking around in the hopes of finding something good for y’all, but this is what happens when you get the Internet involved in anything.

The New York Times has some news for you! (Be patient, they didn’t upgrade their servers, so it’s hard to get through.)

Reviews are coming in for Quantum of Solace, and critics seem underwhelmed. Is the Bond franchise over?

Schoolgirls in Afghanistan are being attacked with acid (presumably by people who think that women should not be educated). Glad to see the American “liberators” are protecting the people of Afghanistan.

Some of the crazy food-standardization rules in the EU are being dropped.

Not having credit cards makes you pretty unusual in an era when everyone 12 in up seems to have at least one. But, honestly, it’s not such a bad idea.

An awesome article about the rise in home births in the (real) New York Times.’

Are you one of those people who lives on the fringes of the country and thinks that the middle of the country is full of closed-minded crazies. If you are, you are a fool.

Life in a Suitcase is my NaBloPoMo featured site of the day. If you are at all interested in Korea, teaching, and ESL instruction, definitely check it out.

ZooBorns is filled with really cute baby animals from zoos all over the world. Heck yeah.

Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight has done some crunching of numbers in re: Prop 8. Since Nate is pretty much the last word in statistics right now, given his right-on election predictions, why don’t you go read what he has to say?

An update about the same sex marriage situation in Connecticut.

PTSD: the silent epidemic. And sometimes not so silent.

Sarah Palin isn’t the only person who thinks that women should pay for their own rape kits, apparently. The military also forces soldiers to pay for rape kits, under the argument that rape kits are evidentiary in nature, rather than being a form of medical care. Given the very serious rise of rape in the military, you’d think that officials would want to, er, make it easier to identify and punish rapists. Guess not.

You know what would be awesome? If US-Latin American relations improved under the new Presidential administration.

Ciao, Chessa! is my NaBloPoMo featured site of the day. Lots of great photography.

Don’t believe me when I say that some Mormons support marriage equality? Go check out Mormons for Marriage.

Are you as obsessed with Michelle Obama’s fashion as I am? Mrs. O can hook you up.

Oh no, animals aren’t anything like us.

Here’s the dirt on ecologically friendly products for ladies. (Er, personal care products. For ladies.)

Colorado is experimenting with a new style of prison management, with the goal of creating more humane conditions, and less troubled prisoners.

Was your pet poisoned by melamine-tainted pet food last year? Details about the settlement are here.

Pole dancing is the new hip fitness fad, and, surprise surprise, people have reservations about it.

Apparently it’s not just me who sleeps all the time in the winter.

The groundbreaking human trafficking unit at the Met in London just got closed due to lack of funding. I really wish governments wouldn’t do things like that.

Take Your Face Out of Your Hands and Open Your Eyes is my NaBloPoMo featured site of the day. Lots of great discussion of LGBQT issues and race, among other things.

The Press Democrat has a great story up on getting Iraq veterans involved in training therapy/assistance dogs, with some excellent photos.

Have you ever longed for a list of White House pets? Well, look no further. Fun fact: Taft, one of my favourite Presidents, was the last President to keep a cow at the White House.

One of the distinctive features of our legal system is the lawyers appointed by the court for people who cannot afford legal services. That’s about to change: public defenders are revolting against increasingly heavy case loads and poor pay. (I should note that every single public defender I have known is now working privately.)

Get ready for a fight.

Great, we elected a new President. Now what?

British voters may have a way to come before they elect a minority Prime Minister.

This is exactly the kind of irresponsible, careless, thoughtless writing which drives a huge wedge between the white LGBQT community and people of color.

The sites of interest is back! Sorry about the hiatus. Or maybe not. Maybe no reads this anyway, and it is totally pointless. Who knows. Anyway, sites of interest.

[Useless Dicta] is my featured NaBloPoMo blog of the day. Yay, blogs by lawyers in training.

There’s a new category in my navigation menu: LGBQT. (For those of you who have been confused by my use of this acronym in the last few days, I apologize. It stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning/Queer*, and Transsexual. Get used to seeing it, because I’m going to start talking a lot more about LGBQT issues. More on this later.)

Bummed about the nation’s choice of President? From 52 to 48 With Love has some solace for you.

Cartograms!

Here’s The Onion’s report on the election results, in case you missed it. It is totally awesome, all the more so because unlike the usual reporting at The Onion, it’s all true.

Are you missing Bush as President yet? Here’s a photo gallery of some of his most awesome moments. (Including the great shot of the turkey, ah, investigating his pants at Thanksgiving in 2001.)

The Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center is raising funds to help fight the legal battle to overturn Prop 8. Please consider donating.

There aren’t many survivors of the First World War floating around at this point. Here’s a profile of one of them.

Some other responses (and studied analysis) to Prop 8 over at Obsidian Wings, discussing Prop 8 and the black vote; Slog, where Dan Savage wrote about homophobia in the black community; Bitch PhD, talking about the dangerous Constitutional implications of Prop 8; Joe. My. God., which reports that anti-equality organizations are monitoring gay websites and comment threads; Kate Harding’s Shapely Prose, with a discussion of 8 and other anti-equality measures (and a lively comment thread); the New York Times, with a column about the nature of equality which belies this quote from a fawning Kristof editorial: “We Americans have periodically betrayed that idea of equality and opportunity, but on Tuesday evening we powerfully revitalized it,” and a story with what may be the saddest picture I have ever seen; and Jezebel, where people wonder what to do now that intolerance managed to win out.

*”Oh my God, I can’t believe you said “queer,” that word is offensive!” No, it’s not, it’s our word, and we’re taking it back, damnit. (More on this later as well.)