the first openly-gay person to be elected to Congress--ever (Baldwin and Frank came out while already in office). The article takes stock all around the country.

“Jared Polis is the first openly gay man to be elected to Congress as a non-incumbent, and he joins Tammy Baldwin and Barney Frank as the three out members,” said Denis Dison, a Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund spokesperson."

“a bittersweet election for gay people.”

At American Medical News, a website of the American Medical Association, Emily Berry does some pretty good low-flying snark as she reports on the latest marketing ploys of "health plans":

Health plans are on a marketing mission. They "want you to know" how to "thrive" by turning to them for "guidance when you need it most" because "it's time to feel better," and their business is "helping people live healthier lives."

...

45 years ago today, in Washington, DC -- I have a dream

for Bayard Rustin -- and all the rest of us who remain "Brother -and Sister- Outsiders" -- who still don't have the opportunities, equality, and rights that others have -- and that we all deserve.

Hell, we thought we ran recipes just for fun. Fun is good. If you can't have fun during your revolution why the fuck bother?

Little did we know....from today's (Jan. 1 2008 that is) Guardian: relaying a question posed to a number of prominent scientists asking "What have you changed your mind about recently?":

What was the turning point in human evolution?

Richard Wrangham, British anthropologist who studied under Jane Goodall. Now at Harvard University, his research includes primate behaviour and human evolution.

"I used to think that human origins were explained by meat-eating. After all, the idea that meat-eating launched humanity has been the textbook evolutionary story for decades, mooted even before Darwin was born.

"But in a rethinking of conventional wisdom I now think that cooking was the major advance that turned ape into human ... Cooked food is the signature feature of human diet. It not only makes our food safe and easy to eat, but it also grants us large amounts of energy compared to a raw diet,