Footnotes and dicta

Struggles continue with the book review muse despite my obligations to publishers and other web sites. Perhaps the first item indicates the muse has been distracted by all the abortion rhetoric.

• This headline on the local daily’s business page jumped out at me this morning: “Semen tax bill signed by Rounds.” The bill deals with livestock semen but, for a second or two, I wondered if the abortion foes had come up with a new way of raising revenue or promoting birth control without contraceptives.
• South Dakota Progressive looks at the out-of-state effort to refer the abortion ban to a vote. Perhaps the most interesting observation is that South Dakota law requires registered voters to sign the petition and the first signature on the petition (PDF file) is from Wisconsin and he leaves blank the space for “County of Registration.”
• Here’s a program I had not heard of before but certainly sounds like a fine concept: Buy A Friend A Book. The idea is that in the first week of January, April, July and October you buy a friend a book for no good reason. And here’s my add-on to make the resulting “good karma” even better: why not also buy a book for a kid? (Via MetaxuCafe).

“I Believe in You,” Bob Dylan, Slow Train Coming