Tag: contraception

olympics, netvibes, and redefining contraceptives (REALLY?!)?

First up, how proud does it make you feel when you see people like Michael Phelps smashing world records and getting all of those gold medals!? I have to say, that it definitely makes me proud of him for what he has achieved. Also, I can’t seem to get past the bad mouthing that teams get when they “beat us”; meaning that they get the gold and we get anything but gold. Seriously, mistakes happen, and performances aren’t always the best, but let’s not be sore “losers” America… a sliver is still pretty fucking good.

I have been using Netvibes for a very long time, and after the redesign, it has been like a dream feed-reader. However it is doing this new thing where it won’t save a feed for a new item, and that is really pissing me off. Is it doing that to anyone else? Seriously, if you have to enter the feed every time you use the damn thing, what is the point of even adding them?? It is doing this to two websites that are unrelated, and that both have active and working feeds. If you have experienced this, let me know, and hopefully, you can tell me how to fix my Netvibes.

Finally, my friend Deb brought this to my attention today (which makes me wonder why it isn’t getting MORE MSM press than it is): apparently, Bush and some of his fellow conservatives are trying to redefine contraception as abortion. Holy fuck, where in the hell are these people’s minds? As one person says so very well, these are the same people that don’t think it is the government’s responsibility to take care of the people that need actual abortions or assistance as a result of having limited access to, or knowledge of the importance in using contraception. There have been a lot of STUPID things to come out of this administration, but this is a complete violation of responsibility or care for women’s health. This is just dumb, and I can’t believe that they are trying to do this shit. January cannot come fast enough; this nut job has got to go! Seriously, what do you think about this? I mean, redefining contraception (which PREVENTS pregnancy) as abortion (which ENDS pregnancy, a pregnancy that has ALREADY OCCURRED) is completely insane!!! I just can’t believe the rampant stupidity that exists in some people these days. UGH! It’s almost like the “Bush way” is to take common sense, and actual fact-based knowledge, and then throw that out the window and go with the direct opposite (which is also supported by facts stating that it should be your LAST option). *massive face palm*

contraception to be offered to middle school students; and?

So apparently, there is a slight hub-bub about kids being offered contraceptives after an “outbreak” of pregnancies among middle school kids. AND?

Now, regardless of any objection about providing contraceptives for any reason, I want to know why we are not providing them with sex education that is the most effective? Wouldn’t that eliminate the need for this “controversial” take on preventing teenage pregnancy? How come our government still clings to the utter nonsense that is abstinence only education?

If people still think that kids are not having sex, and want to continue with the utter and complete BULLSHIT that is abstinence only education, I seriously think they need to be beaten about the head and shoulders; in hopes that it would knock some fucking sense into them. The time to reform sex education is BEFORE a string of pregnancies; which I might need to remind people that focus on abstinence only education, is caused by having sex. That’s right! Kids are totally doing it, no matter how far you want to go in convincing yourself that they are not.

What really got me worked up in reading this article, is that it mentions that condoms are available, but it doesn’t say to what capacity that they are recommended. Under federal guidelines for sex education, it is my knowledge that they would not be recommended at all, and in some cases, even discouraged, and represented as an ineffective means of preventing pregnancy and STDs. To piggyback on that thought, it really frustrates me that they are so willing to try and prevent pregnancy, without any thought or stance on preventing STD transmission. Sure, having a baby is a big deal, but so is getting HIV! Where’s the concern? (did someone say, love the fetus, hate the child? oh…)

For me, this totally relates to whether girls getting a vaccine for cervical cancer, and how it could be seen as “controversial”. If you can PREVENT a disease by practicing certain things, why wouldn’t you want to encourage those things among the greater population? In all seriousness, to continue to follow this “bury your head in the sand and it will go away” method of treating our nation’s children and their “non” behaviors, is about as backward thinking as it can get. The whole take our government has on childhood sexual education makes me want to fucking scream. Grrrr….

two things Tuesday: evolution and condoms

Kind of different; kind of the same, no? Both of these things have people up in arms, and I just wanted to throw in my two cents; for whatever it’s worth.

Evolution:
Basically, the issue with evolution (this time), is that a local republican state representative sent out a memo stating that evolution shouldn’t be taught in schools because it is a religious deception that was derived from an ancient Jewish religious sect. Basically, his memo is stating that evolution not actually secular science, and is instead a so-called “creation scenario”, that is actually based on the “Christ hating” ancient Jews, and that it was written a couple millenia ago. Okay, let me get this straight, the Jews made up the Big Bang theory? Those crazy Jews came up with this myth to explain the beginning of the world and to explain life on earth, and they called it evolution?! Damn! They are crazy!!! OH WAIT, YOU DOUCHE, not only are you being anti-semitic (surprise), the Jews didn’t make up the Big Bang theory, and it actually isn’t a myth, it is a theory that is still pondered by scientists. You do know what scientists are, don’t you? They are people that use facts to put together ideas about things… and in this case, they continually use the facts they know about and learn about the world, and all of the stuff in it, in order to come up with a good idea of where it came from. See, the difference between a myth and theory, is that one is based on science, and one isn’t. Okay? So it’s pretty clear to me, and MANY others, that evolution is science, and is not a myth. You can believe that if you want, but leave the Jews out of it, okay? And don’t try to use this as your crazy Christian reasoning for keeping it out of schools, you anti-Semite!

Obviously, he denies writing the memo, but regardless if he actually wrote it or not, it goes without saying that people like this guy shouldn’t be allowed to have any political power; all they do is confuse those that are already ignorant. You know that there is going to be someone out there that supports this “idea”, and that is just one person too many. Also, to further illustrate his memo’s off-the-wallness, not only is he saying this about evolution, he also believes that the earth isn’t rotating, and that we aren’t actually going around the sun. I suppose sunrise and sunset are magic then, right? Ugh, people like this make me want to just bang my head on my desk and scream, WTF!?!?! The Anti-Defamation League is going after him, so I hope that he isn’t re-elected. If people like this make it into politics, that is one more reason to fear the government, right? Jesus.

Condoms:

So, NYC has a great idea; let’s make a NYC condom, and hand it out FOR FREE all over the city, in order to curtail the incidence of HIV!! Sounds good, right? It does to me!!! HELL YEAH!

But of course… “NO!”, shouts the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church came out against the condom, stating that you should practice abstinence before marriage, and practice fidelity within marriage to prevent HIV. (They’ve also preached up and down in the past about how condoms aren’t effective at preventing HIV anyway, which they are totally wrong about). Hmm… Let’s look at this from their perspective: perhaps 95000+ known cases of HIV in NYC, is evidence that they are doing such a good job of what you want already, that there is no need for something OTHER than that old abstinence/marriage shtick. Oh, 95000 sounds like a lot to you? Well, it does to me too! Perhaps what you are saying isn’t working? Oh snap!

Listen, if you don’t approve of contraception, realize that condoms do more than that, they protect against HIV! THAT is the reason this program was started… to decrease the incidence of HIV in NYC!! I am so sick of religion poking its nose in issues related to health; it is pretty clear that they have absolutely no idea that what they say and what they do actually causes more health problems. If you really cared, and if you were actually as compassionate as your religion dictates that you should be, then you would want more people to live life without suffering from chronic diseases; regardless of your views on sex. Free condoms won’t increase sex, it will allow for future sex to be SAFER sex… And that is a great thing. All I have to say is a HUGE Bravo(!!!!!) to NYC, and an even bigger BOO(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) to the Catholic Church. I would like to know: when are we, as a society, going to be mature enough to stop putting our heads in the religious sand and actually do something about sexually transmitted diseases, like HIV? We have got to get over this fear of sex, or we will NEVER get rid of HIV, and that scares me, because I truly don’t know if we are all capable of such logical thinking; enough to actually make changes and decrease disease. I do have hope when I see cities like NYC taking it seriously, though… Perhaps Atlanta will follow suit?? Come on you guys! Don’t be afraid of the church! They will get their panties all tied up in knots, while we all can have access to free condoms… it’s a win win, as far as I see it. Way to stick to your guns, NYC, and show your dedication to public health.