Sep 27 2007
Archive for September, 2007
Sep 22 2007
personal blogging
I have been asked why I don’t do more blogging about my life. I have a real paper and pencil journal for that. Usually, after I finish an entry and read over it, I think “Well, it’s a good thing no one else can read this!” or “Thank god I didn’t really say that!” I’d rather my friends and family were bored by my blog rather than offended by it.
Sep 21 2007
“Supporting” the troops
This is a terrible story. An injured Iraqi vet was forced out of the military for admitting he was gay. Not only did they kick him out before taking care of his severe knee injuries, he now owes them money:
With his two-year anniversary in the Army coming up, marking a promotion and pay raise, officials acted swiftly to discharge him. It also meant he had to pay back a sign-on bonus he had already spent because he didn’t fulfill his commitment.
Perhaps the army wouldn’t have to lower its recruitment standards if they would let gay people openly serve in the military.
Via The Frontlines.
Sep 18 2007
in the words of a doctor
As more and more healthcare workers refuse to provide women with medical care for “moral” reasons - from refusing to perform abortions to refusing to write prescriptions for EC to refusing to dispense contraceptives - it is reassuring to read this physician’s reasons for becoming an abortion provider.
There are very few of us willing to do these procedures. Most obstetrician-gynecologists do not offer them to their patients. With the history of anti-choice extremism we have witnessed in this country, it is easy to understand why a physician would decide not to offer abortion services in their office. They may be afraid of being protested or worse. What I do not understand is how someone could call refusing to provide abortion care, or at least provide a referral, a ‘moral choice’.
What is moral about telling a woman with a terminal illness that she has to continue her pregnancy? What is moral about telling a woman who can not afford to support the children in her home to have another one? What is moral about bringing a child into this world that will not receive the love, support and attention it needs because its mother has to work two jobs just to pay the rent and their father is long gone? Frankly, I do not see it.
Abortion is a moral choice. It is about a human being’s right to determine their own destiny and the destiny of the family surrounding them here on Earth. It is never an easy choice, but it is always moral.
Via AbortionClinicDays:
Sep 16 2007
red mountain
I pretended I didn’t have any work to do and went to Red Mountain yesterday. Red Mountain is an old and oddly shaped cinder cone.
I’m helping with some research on pinyon pine, which I’d read were dying quite quickly in great numbers. There were many, many dead pinyon along the trail.
I took lots of pictures, mostly of plants, because that’s just what I notice the most. However, there are a few pictures of the absolutely bizarre rock formations. They are called “hoodoos,” which I think is a fantastic name for such strange things. I was also very pleased with myself for managing to climb up some rocks. Unfortunately, I did not realize going down is much harder than going up.
Sep 15 2007
oh no!
Sep 13 2007
good ideas
Tara Smith at Aetiology wrote about some fantastic inventions that can really improve the lives of millions (billions?) of poor people around the world. As she puts it, this is “intelligent design the world really needs.”
Cheap irrigation devices, water filters, and energy solutions are detailed at Design for the Other 90%. These devices are typically quite simple, but ingenious and cheap.
The Pot-in-Pot system consists of two pots, a smaller earthenware pot nestled within another pot, with the space in between filled with sand and water. When that water evaporates, it pulls heat from the interior of the smaller pot, in which vegetables and fruits can be kept. In rural Nigeria, many farmers lack transportation, water, and electricity, but one of their biggest problems is the inability to preserve their crops. With the Pot-in-Pot, tomatoes last for twenty-one days, rather than two or three days without this technology. Fresher produce can be sold at the market, generating more income for the farmers.
Sep 12 2007
this is the consequence
Sep 07 2007
on lesbians
So it seems that Henry’s sister has never been the same since the war, because she never had on a man’s collar and a necktie until she drove an ambulants in the war and now they cannot get her to take them off. Because ever since the armistice Henry’s sister seems to have the idea that regular womens clothes are effeminate. So Henry’s sister seems to think of nothing but either horses or automobiles and when she is not in a garage the only other place she is happy is in a stable.
And Muriel would make an ideal wife, because she did not care for the boys, and spent all of her time with girl friends. But I always think that Muriel really did have a small feeling for the boys, after all, because the girl friends she chose always seemed to resemble boys as closely as possible.
Sep 05 2007
on smart people
And meeting all of those famous people that New York is practically full of, gave Henry new thoughts, and opened up things. Because after Henry held a conversation with them, he was quite surprised to find out that he was just as full of brains as they were. But that is what always happens to people who have an inferior complex about coming to New York. Because no matter how inferior your complex is, you can always meet very promanent people in New York, who have not got any more brains than you have.
