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| Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | | 4:33 pm |
| | Saturday, June 13th, 2009 | | 9:12 am |
Canoe Over Canoe Rescue
If your canoe capsizes, and you have a friend, or friends, in a canoe nearby, it is possible for them to empty the water out of your canoe and help you get back in. It's called "canoe over canoe rescue" and some canoe books swear by it, and some say that in conditions where you're likely to capsize the water will probably be too rough for you to use this technique and you should just swim the canoe to shore. At any rate, I thought it would be good if those of us going on the canoe trip in August knew how to do this and had done it a few times. So since Dad and Jake are visiting right now, we took yesterday's relatively warm and un-stormy morning to go jump in the lake. On purpose. Repeatedly. ( And you can read all about it here ) | | Friday, June 12th, 2009 | | 9:27 am |
I have family over so I won't be posting or reading much. We're going to go jump in the lake now. It's canoeing practice. Really. | | Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 | | 9:53 pm |
| | Monday, June 8th, 2009 | | 9:17 am |
One more thing to think about.
For those on my f-list who are pro-Life but would make an exception in cases where a woman would be harmed by carrying a fetus to term. Dr Tiller only did late-term abortions on women facing harm if they carried to term. How do I know? Because that's the only circumstances under which late term abortions were allowed in his state. You may recall that Tiller was tried for being "too close" to a second physician who had to sign off on the abortions he did. The second physician is supposed to validate whether the mother will face "substantial and irreversible" harm to "a major bodily function" without the abortion -- the lone times when a late-term abortion can be done legally. Lifenews.com (I picked Lifenews because they're pro-Life so they have no reason to try to make Dr Tiller, or laws permitting abortion, sound more reasonable than they actually are. Hopefully you're comfortable with the choice.) Now, first, the trial verified that he wasn't, in fact, in a position to influence that second physician's determination and was therefore operating legally. And second, and mostly, he was only allowed, by the laws of his state, to perform late-term abortions on women who were in serious danger, as determined by not one, but two, independent doctors. So, I don't understand what more a reasonable pro-life person could want. Do you not believe that these abortions were conducted only because they were medically necessary, despite these precautions? If not, how do you propose to eliminate late term abortions where a healthy woman wants a healthy fetus aborted while still retaining the option of late term abortion for women who are in danger? If we are ever to come to any kind of common ground, it would honestly be helpful to know. | | 8:35 am |
Frantically Cleaning
I have family coming over. My house is the way it is based on desultory cleaning most of the time, combined with periodic more thorough cleaning when something bothers me, combined with frantic cleaning when guests are about to come over. So I end up frantically cleaning about two or three times a year. I don't just sweep the floors (desultory cleaning) I mop the floors and dry them on hands and knees with a towel because otherwise the local hard water leaves white spots. I don't just put books on bookshelves, I dust bookshelves. I don't just pile important papers on a desk or in a corner, I go through the piles of once-important papers, discarding the ones that aren't important anymore and filing (most of) the rest. I have ambitions of washing the windows, but hesitate to go so far as to promise that this will actually, you know, *happen* this time. I expect it is this that keeps me from having to saw whole rooms off the house when they get full. But it feels like I'm cheating--trying to make it look like I keep house this way all the time. However I need to keep in mind, as Peteralway pointed out "Frantic cleaning three times a year *is* normal." | | Saturday, June 6th, 2009 | | 8:32 am |
Calling on the wisdom of the interwebs
As you can imagine, in the wake of the shameful murder of Dr. Tiller, anti-abortion groups have been very much on my mind. People keep telling me that most people who are anti-abortion are reasonable people. So I'm looking for reasonable anti-abortion groups. To my mind, to be reasonable, a group would have to 1) sincerely repudiate causing death, harm or property damage and expel members who do so 2) repudiate tactics of intimidation, including the practice of screaming at patients and staff of clinics that perform abortions 3) propose to allow exceptions to anti abortion laws for women whose lives or heath were in danger or women whose fetuses were already dead, would live only a short time after birth, or would suffer to a degree that most reasonable people would agree is unacceptable and 4) (very important) strongly support birth control, including the most effective methods. I didn't think this was a very high bar for "reasonable." However I've been trolling on Google and not finding much. So far I've looked at:
Operation Rescue. Long practice of intimidation. American Life League. Opposes birth control. Pro-Life Action League. Opposes birth control. Nutbars. Colorado Right To Life "abortion providers should expect that violence begets violence." Nutbars. Priests for Life basically said Tiller had it coming. Also oppose birth control. Nutbars. Colorado For Equal Rights. Opposes birth control (may not realize it yet, but since they want to define fertilized egg as person, and this means IUDs logically become murder, they do. Whether they're proposing that all women be gynecologically searched for IUDs (wonder what *that* would do to the tourist trade) is unclear. ) Nutbars. The Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer. Opposes birth control. Nutbars. Ones that *might* qualify. National Right To Life. Can you say Terri Schiavo? anti-stem cell research? But insisting that they not ignore reality or hate science would be moving the goal posts at this point, and I agree that is not fair. Justice For All. Famed for squicky exhibits. Believe that " Likewise men need to assume a responsible voice for the welfare of their children they help conceive." which sounds a whole lot like they think that the man who impregnates a woman against her will should get to decide her future. *And* they actually issue a handbook to their new members on how to simulate concern for women. But I didn't insist that they not hate women, so again, can't move the goal posts now.
I've been hunting for hours and I'm a bit tired, so I'm turning to my friends list. Can you tell me some anti-abortion groups who meet the "reasonable" standard above? | | Thursday, June 4th, 2009 | | 9:43 am |
| | Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | | 6:36 pm |
| | 9:51 am |
Pro-Life reactions to George Tiller's murder
Of course I believe that most pro-Life people don't murder and many don't condone murder, by for instance, financially supporting organizations that publish details about abortion supporters that make it easy for a murderer to get at them. I'm trying to find out more about the general reaction to George Tiller's murder; here are some reactions from well known people and organizations in the movement. Some opinions (some of these organizations are Pro-Choice so read carefully) are aggregated here. By the way, it is good to keep in mind that "abortionist" is a made up word, like "Darwinist" or "evolutionist." The real word for the former is "doctor" or "Ob/Gyn" if you want to get specfic. The real word for the latter is "scientist" or "biologist." Just doing my part to keep the record straight. There is no such thing as an "abortionist" just as there is no such thing as an "appendectomist." Any doctor does a large variety of medically necessary procedures and Ob/Gyns are no exception. From the link above I was particularly struck by: At this point, we do not know the motives of this act, or who is behind it, whether an angry post-abortive man or woman, or a misguided activist, or an enemy within the abortion industry, or a political enemy frustrated with the way Tiller has escaped prosecution. We should not jump to conclusions or rush to judgment. Priests for Life "Post-abortive man"? Huh? Another quote: This killing -- if it is in any way connected to a genuine proLife group, has the potential to set back the proLife movement by 20 years or more. Kansas Coalition for Life We can only hope for the best, I suppose. Here are some more reactions. I particularly like the way that Operation Rescue's founder and its current leader both claim they share no responsibility. Very ironic given that Operation Rescue made a deliberate practice of publishing details about Tiller and anyone associated with him that would make it more convenient for a nutcase with a gun to track him down. Gingi Edmonds weighs in. He also obviously strongly felt that every abortionist should be a wanted abortionist. Is it not a personal decision? His ammunition, his choice? Everybody has an opinion... can't we all just get along? Find common ground, like Obama asked us to? You know, I think there are people you just can't find common ground with. A surprising post from Frank Schaeffer. Like many writers of moral/political/religious theories my father and I would have been shocked that someone took us at our word, walked into a Lutheran Church and pulled the trigger on an abortionist. But even if the murderer never read Dad's or my words we helped create the climate that made this murder likely to happen. And from the American Life League Justice for all human beings includes the lives of those with whom we fundamentally disagree as well as the victims of abortion. | | Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 | | 8:27 am |
The "peaceful, legal means" Operation Rescue uses
Some people may wonder why I'm beating a dead horse. Because as long as there is one person left who says "I'm quite relieve(sic) someone killed him. When I think of how many babies he killed everyday, I think it's a small price to pay." the horse isn't dead. Now, I agree it is possible to honestly believe that a fetus is a human being. Say, when it's five weeks along, and a half inch long, worm shaped, obligate parasite, for instance. I don't buy it myself, but I can picture someone believing it, and while I disagree with this belief, I don't think someone is evil for holding it. And I suppose it's possible that someone could weigh the wrenching choice of enslaving over a million innocent women a year versus murdering over a million obligate parasite human beings a year and come to the conclusion that the enslavement, while horrific, was necessary to save those lives, and a price they were willing, with deep regret, to force women to pay. I disagree with this belief too, and like anyone staring the prospect of enslavement in the eye, I find it harder to sympathize with people who hold it. But I guess they aren't evil either. I just don't think that, for example, Operation Rescue are those people. Here's an article that explains some of the "peaceful, legal" means that Operation Rescue used, not just on George Tiller, but on anyone associated with him in any way--not just the people who worked at his clinic, whether guard, administrative assistant, or janitor, but on his dry cleaner and on taxi companies that women might hire to take them to his clinic. Tactics like this: A week later, hundreds of Phares' neighbors received an anonymous postcard of a mangled fetus. "This is abortion!" read the big block letters. "Your neighbor Sara Phares participates in killing babies like these." Or this: In Wichita, members of the group rummage through employees' garbage in search of incriminating information. They tail them around town as they run errands. They picket clinic staffers at restaurants while they're inside having dinner .... Or this: The collaborator list is constantly growing. Just a few days earlier, Newman added a place called Elite Cleaners after his aide-de-camp, Cheryl Sullenger -- who spent two and a half years in federal prison for conspiracy to firebomb a clinic -- spotted Tiller's wife, Jeanne, turning into a strip mall near her house. But hey--I don't want to make this so long I have to cut it. The link above has the whole thing, and there's a good set of excerpts here at Hilzoy's blog. These are some of the people who oppose abortion. If Dr Tiller's colleagues re-open his clinic next week, these are the howling hypocrites who are going to continue their campaign of intimidation and harassment, against his grieving colleagues and family, against the secretaries and janitors, against the dry cleaners. These are the people who are going to publish "collaborator's" addresses and phone numbers, to recruit their neighbors to make their lives miserable, and-- oh so coincidentally, I'm sure--to make it easy for the next murdering bastard with a gun. Ladies and gentlemen; one face of the "pro-Life" movement. What can you do? 1) Write your Senators and Representative ( get their contact info here: (enter zip to get names, then look in the lower right corner of the page their name-links produce)--they get astonishingly few letters, so your letter *does* make a difference) to repeal the "Partial-Birth Abortion" Ban, or, if you can't bring yourself to promote that, at least to rewrite it so that it specifically exempts women whose fetuses have died inside them, women whose fetuses have some serious and incurable medical condition that would prevent their living for more than a short time if delivered, and women whose health would be endangered by continuing their pregnancy. That's only reasonable, right? Because until that happens, there will be cases like this. 2) Donate to Medical Students for Choice (the site has "exceeded its CGI resources" at the moment so I'm guessing 1) that you'll have to wait a few days and 2) that response has been good so far--but that doesn't mean you should stop!) If you want to do something right now, there's always Planned Parenthood. Why? Because Terror Shouldn't Pay. | | Monday, June 1st, 2009 | | 9:34 pm |
Wow
The more I read about Dr. George Tiller, the more I admire him. There's a compilation of stuff here at FeministeAnd someone posted a series of personal remembrances at Daily Kos. He was obviously not just a gentle and caring man and a courageous one, but also a multi-faceted one--here's something that particularly caught my eye: The last story I have to share is about my friends who could not have children. Dr. Tiller’s office worked with several attorneys in the Wichita area to provide adoption services for his patients who wanted this option. My friends have a 10 yr. old boy now, who is loved and adored. A very nice illustration of the fact that pro-Choice people love babies too. Lady Bright, what a loss. P.S. and since there has been some confusion else-journal about who has late-term abortions and why, here is a little information from someone who has actually been there and is more qualified to comment than I am. | | 8:00 am |
Anti-Choice Terrorism
A terrorist of the "In Sorrow Shalt Thou Bring Forth Children" crowd acted to bring sorrow to the friends and family, colleagues and patients of Dr. George Tiller yesterday. It was the second time he'd been shot by an anti-choice terrorist. His clinic had been bombed and vandalised by anti-choice terrorists. All because he acted to prevent the enslavement of women impregnated against their will to produce unwanted babies. Nor was he the only victim of this kind of thing.For a particular dash of irony, this particular terrorist shot him in his church. It would be nice if the goverment could bring itself to defend us against local religious terrorists, in addition to those terrorists overseas. The problem with that, of course, is that these particular terrorists are members of the majority religion, locally, and surrounded by enablers who insist on special treatment for them that foreign terrorists don't get. I'm going to donate to a pro-choice organization in his honor. I'm thinking about Planned Parenthood, though I am seeing good things about Medical Students for Choice. | | Thursday, May 21st, 2009 | | 9:59 pm |
| | Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 | | 6:24 pm |
| | 12:52 pm |
A modest proposal and passing thought.
Reforming health care. So far we've been dancing around, trying to paper up the cracks in the system, when the real problem (in my opinion) is structural. Basing health insurance off your job requires that everybody have jobs and all jobs offer insurance, and neither of those things is even remotely so. I kind of like the idea of single payer health care. Canada and Britain do it, if I understand right, and neither of them is blowing up, burning down, and sinking into the swamp. I've heard that if you have a knee injury in Britain you may wait a year or more to see an orthopedic surgeon, and I agree that's kind of a long time. But at the same time, sick people can see a doctor--without going to the emergency room (which I think they call the "casualty ward") and without having to get a second mortgage on the house. Whereas here we have old people sitting in the hospital parking lot, weeping, because they know they're having a stroke and minutes can make the difference between being paralyzed for life and recovering more-or-less okay, but they're terrified that if they go into the emergency room, they'll lose their house. Maybe some people are comfortable with that, but I'm not. What if we had single payer health care? I understand that maybe we can't afford to insure everybody to full access to 2009 (and future) medical advances at public expense. Some kinds of hormone treatments or new drugs or tests are very expensive. But maybe we could afford to insure everybody to, say, 1975 levels of medical care? Or 1980? 1985? Plus those advances that made care cheaper; for example I bet arthroscopic knee surgery is cheaper than the old fashioned kind. Yes, people who were rich might be able to afford better insurance or pay for more advanced care out of their own pockets, so in effect I guess it would be a two-tier health care system. But wouldn't 1975-level care be a lot better than nothing? And wouldn't it be cheaper to fund than, for lack of a better term, "full care?" | | Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 | | 5:29 pm |
Sometimes people, even people we generally admire, are wrong.
And this is one of those times. Obama wants to keep the lid on the abuses of prisoners promoted and carried out by the Bush Administration. I'm not sure why. Maybe he's horsetrading with somebody. Never mind. It doesn't matter. No amount of cooperation from a former Administration member is worth abandoning the moral principle. Torture is wrong. People who torture, or who enable or pressure other people to torture, belong in jail. The shame is not in the photos. The shame is in what happened when the photos were taken; the moving finger writes and there is absolutely no way to undo the shame now. Pull out the photos, pull out the memos, let them lie in the cleansing sunlight where everybody can see. Lay the perpetrators and the wrongs they did bare to the world. It is the only way to begin to set it right. And for goodness sake, won't that torture-promoter Cheney slither back to his undisclosed location? | | Sunday, May 10th, 2009 | | 4:29 pm |
Earworm
I have an earworm today. It's "Barfy the Seasick Hedgehog." Sigh. In other news, I have heartlessly slaughtered more dandelions (an everyday occurrence right now, but I outdid myself this morning), carried most of the dead branches up to the street for the yard-garbage crew to pick up tomorrow morning, held the ladder while my husband unplugged the gutter, tightened the nails where the gutter was drooping because it wasn't really up to sitting around full of water all the time, done two loads of laundry and put in a little more work on my new clamp-in yoke for my solo canoe. And invited two of my neighbors to the upcoming League of Women Voters potluck. I don't know why I feel as if I haven't gotten anything done. Maybe it's because the kitchen is a mess. Now I have a friend I am seriously overdue in writing to; I guess I better get to that. | | Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 | | 9:48 pm |
New Kindle Out--Soooo close, but not quite!
The Kindle DX is out. It's like a Kindle, but the screen is twice as big. It can do everything the Kindle 2 can do. It can also display PDFs. Since it automatically crops the white space, it can display 8 1/2 X 11 pdfs at near full size. If that isn't big enough for you, it has an accelerometer; turn it from portrait orientation to landscape orientation and the text reorients (unless you turn that feature off to read in bed or something). When the text reorients, you can see the pdf a half page at a time, at 100% or maybe a little more. That is sooooo cool! But. You're wiser than I am; you knew there would be a but. But you can't highlight or annotate pdfs. And it looks like you can't search inside them either. Dammit! This would have been *perfect* for reading, annotating, sorting, searching and transporting the hundreds of journal articles inherent in writing a paper or a grant application. But without search or annotation, what the hell good is it anyway? Dammit dammit dammit. Maybe the Plastic Logic reader or the Astak or the Hanlin 9VT will be up to the job. Dammit. And really, I don't read papers much these days, and the K2 is perfectly good for my needs and much easier to transport. Dammit. | | 5:17 pm |
Pat Robertson makes his views known
Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zv9AgwKAE0What really strikes me is the way that, after advising a "new Christian" to leave her fiance of 4 years because he's an atheist, he chuckles in a warm and fatherly manner. The other thing that really strikes me is the woman talking to him cooing "That's so true. That is so true," as he finishes saying "he'll be serving the Devil and you'll be serving God. There is no peace in that situation." Yum. Oh, sorry; got to run. Belial is calling me. |
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