- New app to help prevent sexual violence – "Cirlce Of 6 allows you to pick six friends whom you can easily contact when you need help. Text messages are prewritten into the app with messages like “call and pretend you need me, I need an interruption” and “come and get me, I need help going home safely.”"
- Arizona Republican wants to force women to witness an abortion before having one – "Personally I’d like to make a law that mandates a woman watch an abortion being performed prior to having a “surgical procedure”. If it’s not a life it shouldn’t matter, if it doesn’t harm a woman then she shouldn’t care, and don’t we want more transparency and education in the medical profession anyway?"
- Ayaan Hirsi Ali: from Muslim "infidel" to mother – "I'm just going to tell my son, in regards to morality, once he's old enough to understand, that there are people who think there is a God, and there are different gods, and there are people who think there is no God, and there are different forms of atheism."
- Why "civil disobedience" isn't the answer in this case – Amanda Marcotte responds to the post "A doctor on transvaginal ultrasounds."
- Cute Animal Friday! From Paul, a baby elephant plays at the beach. We all know how cute otters and sloths are, well today we offer both in one article! And a kitten freaking out at apples from nowoo.
Everyday my distaste for Arizona grows more and more,
We're not all bad. Promise. The problem with a very right-wing state is that a good chunk of people who aren't assholes get silenced. We're trying to fight this crap. It isn't easy, but we're trying.
Of course, if Sheriff Joe gets elected again, even after this incredibly appalling year of his, I am not sure I can defend this state any longer, heh….
Hi marilove! Just thought I'd let you know I put up a new Eddie Izzard parody a couple of days ago–Enjoy!
:-)
Can't wait to see him at the Reason Rally tomorrow!
HE IS GOING TO BE THERE?
GDI I never get to do anything fun. :P
I'm just glad I've seen him live twice. *brags* hahaha
haha you're awesome :)
Thanks!! I've been meaning to do some of his more skeptical stuff–like his hilarious riffs on religion, but I haven't settled on the best material to pair it with. The most religious bit I've done of his is "Cake Or Death"–but that's not exactly skeptical, more just cultural commentary (and hilarious at that!).
But MAN is Eddie getting some concern trolling over on his forum for appearing at the Reason Rally–yikes! I just love that defense mechanism that these people seem to have–they seem fine with the religious critiques in comedy shows, and they'll laugh at them…but as soon as he actually shows that he MEANS it, and that all this stuff is just fucking silly, then all of a sudden they get the vapors!! I mean, I'm a lifelong atheist, reared by two atheists, so I honestly don't GET this thought process–but how does one compartmentalize that much?! That one will laugh at all these critiques of religion and not realize that they are RELEVANT?? My mind boggles.
In other news, after the immense annoyance of all those people trying to wave the whole "In God We Trust" bromide in Jessica Ahlquist's face, I have resolved that no bill shall ever leave my wallet trusting in god again. And yes, some of my legal tender now reads "In Eddie Izzard We Trust"!! (Other bills have variously trusted the Flying Spaghetti Monster, John Lennon, Tim Minchin, George Carlin, Charles Darwin, and just plain "money.")
Emotionally I agreed with Dr. Anonymous, but after reading Amanda Marcotte's post and thinking about it some more, I'm in agreement with her rebuttal.
Of course my baseline stance is we shouldn't have to worry about this as the rightful way is for all medical choices to be handled by doctors and their patients, not the government or the insurance company. Unfortunately that land seems to exist somewhere between Never Never Land and Homer's Land of Chocolate.
I've just gotta love the "If it's not a life it shouldn't matter…" REALLY?!?!?! How many non-medical people do you know who can watch a knee replacement and not feel seriously traumatized?! Imagine that! Here you go: "we're going to force you to watch this very bloody procedure that involves taking saws to people's limbs and this giant mallet to hammer in a new joint. But, everyone's fine with it and no life is lost, so you really shouldn't be disturbed when an artery spurts some blood across the orthopedic fellow's visor*…"
Do any knee replacement patients think "transparency" would be well-served by seeing someone else get cut into before their procedure?!
Also, I've witnessed an abortion (a D&C for an early fetal loss)–the actual procedure is nowhere near as dramatic as a knee replacement, and I could barely even identify what used to be the fetus as opposed to decidua. But, seriously, just the FACT that the state is forcing you to go through something is harassment in and of itself, and most people get seriously freaked out by anything medical!
*Actually, if you are a medically-trained person and not put off by blood, this was fucking hilarious!
How come all of these draconian abortion laws completely ignore that the fetus has a father as well? When it comes to unwanted pregnancies, while ultimately it is the woman's decision, it is not always made entirely by the female partner. There ARE two people involved and often are both involved in the decision making. There are certainly cases where women are already under a lot of pressure to get an abortion from the man who got them pregnant and now does not want to face the consequences. In fact, the choice between an abortion and having to deal with a deadbeat dad all their lives could be a big factor.
Of course these laws are awful on their face and shouldn't come into being at all, but they are all the more egregious in that they ignore the enormous complexity of a situation like an unplanned pregnancy, where there are two people involved and myriad possibilities for each person's state of mind. These laws place the consequences for seeking an abortion entirely on the woman, allowing men to potentially place tremendous pressure and emotional stress on their partner to take an action, without having to face any of those consequences themselves.
Another thought that occurred to me regarding the Arizona Repug's proposed stupidity: who would consent to having their abortion observed? I totally inderstand interns observing procedures, but some random patient? Aw hells no.