Archive for December, 2005
Birth Control
There’s a debate going on in Wisconsin and nationally regarding access to birth control. The FDA refuses to allow the Plan-B (aka Morning After) birth control pill to be offered over the counter. The science experts working for the FDA have ruled that the drug meets all the safety guild lines for a OTC drug. There is clearly a need, as is evident by the number of unexpected or accidental pregnancies in America. The holdup is the fundamental Christians who currently have way too much power in the federal government.
Their arguments are insane at best; criminal at worst. From what I’ve read, it boils down to two main thrusts:
#1: The fundies have confused the concept of abortion with the concept of contraception. Abortion refers to terminating a pregnancy. Contraception is preventing that pregnancy in the first place. (It should be noted that pregnancy does not occur until a number of days after intercourse. Days. Not hours. Not minutes. Days.) In a nutshell, CONTRACEPTION IS NOT ABORTION! Apparently, this crucial distinction was lost somewhere between Pat Robertson and Mega Church. Regardless of how you feel about abortion, contraception is a good thing. If more women had access to birth control drugs, there naturally be less need for abortions. To confuse the two is morally reprehensible.
#2: The second argument that gets thrown around is something like this: Making birth control drugs easily accessible to women encourages sexual promiscuity. This argument is likely false to begin with, but for the sake of argument, we’ll accept it. Now, consider the next logical extension: Unwanted pregnancies are an acceptable punishment for women, to discourage sexual promiscuity. This is worse than insane. This is worse than negligent. This is criminal.
Access to birth control should never be part of a political agenda. It is simply too essential to the health and lives of women. This is not just an issue for women to care about, either. No woman has ever become pregnant without a man in the picture. When women have access to safe birth control, men are also safer.
Next time you hear some self-proclaimed Christian trying to limit a woman’s access to birth control, think about where their argument leads us. Please help stop the war against science and reason in America. It’s gone on far too long.
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Dec 14th, 2005
Why TV?
I know I’ve written about TV recently, but this one’s a little different. Here goes:
A day is 24 hours long. We sleep for about 8, spend another 8 at work/school, and maybe 2 hours total showering, cooking, eating, traveling, etc. This leaves another 6 hours to spend as we please. These six precious hours should be filled with stuff that brings you joy: spending time with friends or lovers, working towards your dream, doing hobbies, etc. Few would quarrel with the assertion that life is short, and these six hours are even shorter.
Which is why I can’t understand why some people choose to fill two, three, maybe four hours of the day with TV. Sure, it’s nice to relax in front of the boob-tube every now and again, and we all have a favorite show or two. But why invest so much of your time in an entirely passive medium like TV? I’ve seen what’s on television. It’s not that great.
One of the problems is that TV is terribly addictive. Every show ends with a cliff hanger to suck you back in next week. Shows include ads for the next show to whet your appetite for more. It’s a vicious cycle, and it’s much easier to just sit on the couch than to actually get up and do something.
But you must! Go outside! (well, not right now if you’re in Wisconsin) Call a friend! Call your mom! (she’ll appreciate it) Read a book! Go to a coffee shop! (where at least you’ll be near other people) Work towards your dream! Do something, please!
The political system in America relies on inactivity and apathy to get away with terrible leadership. Prove them wrong. Do something!
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Dec 12th, 2005
More on Lifehacking
Due to a surprising amount of interest in the subject, I thought I’d include a special bonus-post on life hacking. (Shout-out to the Hilber brothers!)
I mentioned december.com in my last post. It’s a good one, so check it out. Here’s a list of some more quality life hacking resources:
lifehack.org
lifehacker.com
soundmoneytips.com
savingadvice.com
tradetricks.org
There you go. Half a dozen quality links for your enjoyment. You’ll be surprised at how efficient your life can be once you start to tweak it. Save money, reduce clutter, be more happy.
Isn’t the internet great?
Filed under Uncategorized : Comments (0) : Dec 4th, 2005
