YAY!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
I think I'm in love!
Listen to this speech. It's FUCKING brilliant.
Mary Kaptur is my hero for speaking her mind. And way to go Ohio for electing a total BAMF rep! YEAH!
Mary Kaptur is my hero for speaking her mind. And way to go Ohio for electing a total BAMF rep! YEAH!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
An Explanation of Global Warming, Part I
During the last century, we averaged .07 degrees C warmer per decade (which lept to .13 degrees in the last 50 years). This is from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2007. Our concern should be that even a little bit of warming exacerbates the problem. This is because CO2 does not function in water the same way most molecules do. Most molecules are more soluble in warmer water, but CO2 is less soluble in warm water. This means that by even increasing the temperature a little bit, we are reducing the ability of our oceans to hold CO2. This creates a positive feedback situation with our atmosphere that begins a self-perpetuating cycle in which the C02 not absorbed by our oceans helps our atmosphere to trap more heat, which causes the oceans to be able to hold less C02, so on and sof orth. The figures atop this paragraph represent that little bit of warming that will catalyze an exponential increase in temperature in the troposphere (where we live).
For more on this, read here.
Here are the relevant graphs:
The consistent warming of the troposphere is a fact. Period.
So, how much are we contributing to this? First, see this graph.
That is how much we are augmenting the problem. Remember, even a little increase creates an exponential increase, and it's clear that such an increase is precisely what we have. We can cross reference the above research through a variety of methods such as examining the C02 inferred from polar ice cores.
They all point to the exact same conclusion. We can also measure the ppm (parts per million) of C02 in the atmosphere, and we have gone from a pre-industrial average of 280 ppm to 385 now (and this trend is continuing). The only way you could shrug this off is if that addition 105 average ppm didn't make a difference, which I've already established for you it does.
Now, onward to basic physics.
Blackbody radiation:
Suffice for now that a blackbody is a perfect radiator, and thus absorbs energy at all wavelengths and thus reflects none.
You'll also need to have an elementary understanding of Planck's Law, which deals with emission vs. wavelength at a particular temperature. There are several forms of this law, but the one most relevant here deals with wavelength in terms of microns (the reason will become apparent later).
I'll also be using the Wien Displacement Law (the 1st derivative of Planck's Law), which provides us with the peak emission for a specified temperature.
Lastly, you'll also need to be marginally familiar with the Stefan-Boltzman Law (the integral of Planck's Law), which gives us our total emission intensity for a specified temperature.
So, let's start with Solar Irradiance. The surface of the sun runs at about 5,780K - this all must get distributed to our planet somehow. We determine this by using Planck's Law:
We can also find the peak wavelength we receive from the sun via the Wien Displacement Law:
These numbers will come in handy shortly. I'll take a moment to point out that it should be clear in this case that we cannot make science say whatever we want. Science points directly, and unequivocally, to very specific conclusions. I say this because I am composing this primarily as a response to somebody who asserted that we could, in fact, make science say whatever we want.
Now, the total amount of energy reaching our outer atmosphere is 1,370 Wm^2. From this, we derive two different figures.
1. The energy delivered to our cross section (pi * r^2)
2. Total amount dispersed over Earth's surface area (4 * pi * r^2)
The total of 1 divided by the total of 2 should give us the average energy reaching our outer atmosphere. This comes out to 342 Wm^2.
Now, go back to blackbody radiation - this is how the Earth works. If the Earth had no atmosphere, it would absorb 342 Wm^2. What temperature would this predict, that would radiate that same amount of power?
For more on this, read here.
Here are the relevant graphs:
The consistent warming of the troposphere is a fact. Period.
So, how much are we contributing to this? First, see this graph.
That is how much we are augmenting the problem. Remember, even a little increase creates an exponential increase, and it's clear that such an increase is precisely what we have. We can cross reference the above research through a variety of methods such as examining the C02 inferred from polar ice cores.
They all point to the exact same conclusion. We can also measure the ppm (parts per million) of C02 in the atmosphere, and we have gone from a pre-industrial average of 280 ppm to 385 now (and this trend is continuing). The only way you could shrug this off is if that addition 105 average ppm didn't make a difference, which I've already established for you it does.
Now, onward to basic physics.
Blackbody radiation:
Suffice for now that a blackbody is a perfect radiator, and thus absorbs energy at all wavelengths and thus reflects none.
You'll also need to have an elementary understanding of Planck's Law, which deals with emission vs. wavelength at a particular temperature. There are several forms of this law, but the one most relevant here deals with wavelength in terms of microns (the reason will become apparent later).
I'll also be using the Wien Displacement Law (the 1st derivative of Planck's Law), which provides us with the peak emission for a specified temperature.
Lastly, you'll also need to be marginally familiar with the Stefan-Boltzman Law (the integral of Planck's Law), which gives us our total emission intensity for a specified temperature.
So, let's start with Solar Irradiance. The surface of the sun runs at about 5,780K - this all must get distributed to our planet somehow. We determine this by using Planck's Law:
(5.67 * 10^-8 Js^-1 m^-2 K^-4)(5,780K)^4
= 6.3 * 10^7 Js^-1 M^-2
= 63 MW per M^2
We can also find the peak wavelength we receive from the sun via the Wien Displacement Law:
Wavelength (in um [microns]) = 2,898um * K/5,780k = .501um = 501nm
These numbers will come in handy shortly. I'll take a moment to point out that it should be clear in this case that we cannot make science say whatever we want. Science points directly, and unequivocally, to very specific conclusions. I say this because I am composing this primarily as a response to somebody who asserted that we could, in fact, make science say whatever we want.
Now, the total amount of energy reaching our outer atmosphere is 1,370 Wm^2. From this, we derive two different figures.
1. The energy delivered to our cross section (pi * r^2)
2. Total amount dispersed over Earth's surface area (4 * pi * r^2)
The total of 1 divided by the total of 2 should give us the average energy reaching our outer atmosphere. This comes out to 342 Wm^2.
Now, go back to blackbody radiation - this is how the Earth works. If the Earth had no atmosphere, it would absorb 342 Wm^2. What temperature would this predict, that would radiate that same amount of power?
342W/m^2 = (5.67 * 10^-8 * w/m^2K^4)T^4
T = 279K or about 6 degrees celsius.
This is pretty damn cold, so something must be missing.
What's missing is the Earth's Albedo. This encompasses what solar irradiance gets reflected from things like clouds, ice caps, water bodies, light colored land, etc. For the Earth, our Albedo is about 30% of solar irradiance.
Figuring out how much energy reaches our surface is pretty easy after we have our Albedo. It's Solar irradiance * (1 - a), with "a" being our Albedo, which comes out to about 240 Wm^-2. So, to attain a stable temperature, we need to balance incoming energy with emitted energy. The 240 Wm-2 in, must be balanced by 240 Wm^-2 out via blackbody radiation of the Earth's surface.
We can use the Stefan-Boltzman Law to determine what surface temperature we would expect to find in this case.
What's missing is the Earth's Albedo. This encompasses what solar irradiance gets reflected from things like clouds, ice caps, water bodies, light colored land, etc. For the Earth, our Albedo is about 30% of solar irradiance.
Figuring out how much energy reaches our surface is pretty easy after we have our Albedo. It's Solar irradiance * (1 - a), with "a" being our Albedo, which comes out to about 240 Wm^-2. So, to attain a stable temperature, we need to balance incoming energy with emitted energy. The 240 Wm-2 in, must be balanced by 240 Wm^-2 out via blackbody radiation of the Earth's surface.
We can use the Stefan-Boltzman Law to determine what surface temperature we would expect to find in this case.
T ={ [240 Wm^-2] / [5.67 * 10^-8 Wm^-2 * K^-4]}^-1/4 which comes out to be 255K (or -18 degrees C).
So, the 255K represents -18C, but we observe the average temperature of the Earth to be about 15C. This predicts 390Wm^-2. How can this be?
It's because about 150Wm^-2 never escapes back into space. It gets absorbed by the atmosphere and re-emitted to the surface. The primary variable in this is greenhouse gasses.
Before I go on, I'll stop to say that I hope you're getting a feel now for how science is not simply a matter of guesses. It is a very precise process of using what we know to wrest our circumstances from a mute nature.
Additionally, before we go forward, it's really not important that you understand any of this (or that I understand all of it which, allow me to assure you, I do not). All that is important is that the experts do understand it. They have dedicated their lives to this, and understand it better than anybody else on the planet. That is why they are in consensus, and it is the reason that people like John Coleman, non-scientists masquerading as experts, are not present in peer-review - their arguments would simply never survive it.
Part II will be coming shortly.
Get ready to feel even more revulsion...
McCain's campaign manager was being paid $15,000 per month until last month. BY FREDDIE MAC.
Yes. You should be appalled.
Yes. You should be appalled.
Publish Post
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Electronic Frontier Foundation suing Bush, Cheney, and the NSA
See the full story here.
Let's hope that they win, because the patriot act can lick my foot to put it very, very mildly.
Let's hope that they win, because the patriot act can lick my foot to put it very, very mildly.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Palin on Energy
Remember how John McCain said that Sarah Palin knows more about energy than ANYBODY in the United States (a claim he has not withdrawn)? His primary justification for saying so, as well as Palin's, is that Alaska produces 20% of the nation's energy. She even said it on National TV in her only interview since being nominated for VP:"Let me speak specifically about a credential that I do bring to this table, Charlie, and that's with the energy independence that I've been working on for these years as the governor of this state that produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, that I worked on as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, overseeing the oil and gas development in our state to produce more for the United States."
This is bullshit. Just like "I said thanks, but no thanks on the bridge to nowhere." These people just keep lying. How do we know? Because science (and factcheck.org), as usual, comes to the rescue:
"It's simply untrue that Alaska produces anything close to 20 percent of the U.S. "energy supply," a term that is generally defined as energy consumed. That category includes power produced in the U.S. by nuclear, coal, hydroelectric dams and other means - as well as all the oil imported into the country.
Palin would have been correct to say that Alaska produces just over 14 percent of all the oil produced in the U.S., leaving out imports and leaving out other forms of power. According to the federal government's Energy Information Administration, Alaskan wells produced 263.6 million barrels of oil in 2007, or 14.3 percent of the total U.S. production of 1.8 billion barrels.
But Alaskan production accounts for only 4.8 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products supplied to the U.S. in 2007, counting both domestic production and imports from other nations. According to EIA, the total supply was just over 5.5 billion barrels in 2007.
Furthermore, Palin said "energy," not "oil," so she was actually much further off the mark. According to EIA, Alaska actually produced 2,417.1 trillion BTUs [British Thermal Units] of energy in 2005, the last year for which full state numbers are available. That's equal to just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production.
And according to EIA analyst Paul Hess, that would calculate to only "2.4 percent of the 100,368.6 trillion BTUs the U.S. consumes."
Palin would have been correct to say that Alaska produces just over 14 percent of all the oil produced in the U.S., leaving out imports and leaving out other forms of power. According to the federal government's Energy Information Administration, Alaskan wells produced 263.6 million barrels of oil in 2007, or 14.3 percent of the total U.S. production of 1.8 billion barrels.
But Alaskan production accounts for only 4.8 percent of all the crude oil and petroleum products supplied to the U.S. in 2007, counting both domestic production and imports from other nations. According to EIA, the total supply was just over 5.5 billion barrels in 2007.
Furthermore, Palin said "energy," not "oil," so she was actually much further off the mark. According to EIA, Alaska actually produced 2,417.1 trillion BTUs [British Thermal Units] of energy in 2005, the last year for which full state numbers are available. That's equal to just 3.5 percent of the country's domestic energy production.
And according to EIA analyst Paul Hess, that would calculate to only "2.4 percent of the 100,368.6 trillion BTUs the U.S. consumes."
I'm not sure how much more plain I can make it. These. People. Lie. They lie a lot. Although, I'm sure the defense will be "She wasn't lying! She really knows a lot about energy, she just sucks at math...and math is for socialists!"
And they're not even good at it. They do it when it's so easy to catch them. Like when McCain said "The fundamentals of our economy are strong" (the Bush fundamentals that he has voted for and said he will vote to make permanent) less than a day before the stock market crashed.
Ok, here is how US oil production works. Do you know which nation ranked third in the world in oil production last year? I'll give you a hint: it rhymes with the United States.
(::EDIT:: Did you know that our oil exports in the last five years have been the highest ever for the United States? Thanks to dad for this one. ::/EDIT::)
So why the soaring gas prices and what not? It's because when "we" drill for oil here "we" don't get it. The oil companies get it. They pay "us" for the leases on the land they drill on. Now, if they can sell the oil to European countries or Canada for $5 a barrel (hypothetically, I have no idea what the actual numbers on this are) and to our government for only $4 a barrel, who do you think is gonna get it? Drilling off shore will only get the oil companies more oil, not "us."
Try explaining that to the legions who can't hear us shouting stuff like the contents of this note under the drone of "Drill here, drill now!" The only thing that grinds my gears more than liars like Palin and McCain are gullible people, and how many of them there are.
So, to Sarah Palin, from me with love...
Lying bitch.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Just to keep with the Sarah Palin theme...
We have all heard how Palin attempted to ban several books in her hometown.
This is a bit scarier...
In her acceptance speech she quoted a man named Westbrook Pegler on small town values.
What she forgot to mention is that Pegler is a racist facist writer and past presidential contender.
During his run for office in 1965 he said that he hoped "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his [Robert F. Kennedy's] spoonful of brains in pubic premises before the snow flies."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says a few words about Palin's choice of quotations on his blog.
This is a bit scarier...
In her acceptance speech she quoted a man named Westbrook Pegler on small town values.
What she forgot to mention is that Pegler is a racist facist writer and past presidential contender.
During his run for office in 1965 he said that he hoped "some white patriot of the Southern tier will spatter his [Robert F. Kennedy's] spoonful of brains in pubic premises before the snow flies."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says a few words about Palin's choice of quotations on his blog.
This Blog Would Be Dead Without Sarah Palin
The idea of her being VP or President is so absurd that we just have to talk about it. I almost wish we, the America people, were being punked. That's almost what it feels like. A bad practical joke show, like the ones on TBS or USA. I normally don't like practical jokes, but I would accept this one with open arms.
Anyways, Tina Fey came back to SNL this weekend to do a completely spot on impression of Sarah Palin. The rest of SNL sucked, but this is great. Check it out.
*This is a new video from before, since NBC pulled all YouTube videos but they're cool enough to post their own stuff. Thanks NBC!
And while we're at it, this next vid makes me feel better. It's women in Alaska protesting Sarah Palin. Just drive-by shots, but you can read some signs.
Anyways, Tina Fey came back to SNL this weekend to do a completely spot on impression of Sarah Palin. The rest of SNL sucked, but this is great. Check it out.
*This is a new video from before, since NBC pulled all YouTube videos but they're cool enough to post their own stuff. Thanks NBC!
And while we're at it, this next vid makes me feel better. It's women in Alaska protesting Sarah Palin. Just drive-by shots, but you can read some signs.
DRILL, DRILL, DRILL!!!
Eve Ensler, the American playwright, performer, feminist and activist, best known for 'The Vagina Monologues', wrote the following about Sarah Palin:
DRILL, DRILL, DRILL
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drown and starved polar bears around their necks.
I have a particular thing for Polar Bears.Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds,
deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity. Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list.The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered.
The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, 'It was a task from God.'
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not. She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth. Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be. I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected, then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC,
'Drill Drill Drill.' I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008
DRILL, DRILL, DRILL
I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drown and starved polar bears around their necks.
I have a particular thing for Polar Bears.Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds,
deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity. Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list.The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered.
The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, 'It was a task from God.'
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not. She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth. Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be. I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected, then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC,
'Drill Drill Drill.' I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?
Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Pink=Awesome!
For a while now, I've been a closeted Pink lover. Her music is pretty darned good, but today I learned something that made me fall even more completely in love:
She spoke out about Palin! YAY!
A fun quote:
"This woman hates women," the singer said. "She is not a feminist. She is not the woman that's going to come behind Hillary Clinton and do anything that Hillary Clinton would've been capable of ... I can't imagine overturning Roe vs. Wade. She's not of this time. The woman terrifies me."
It excites me that so many celebrities are speaking out for this election...maybe I wasn't really paying attention to the past ones, but I feel as if they are finally using the weird power they have over the populace for good. Woot.
She spoke out about Palin! YAY!
A fun quote:
"This woman hates women," the singer said. "She is not a feminist. She is not the woman that's going to come behind Hillary Clinton and do anything that Hillary Clinton would've been capable of ... I can't imagine overturning Roe vs. Wade. She's not of this time. The woman terrifies me."
It excites me that so many celebrities are speaking out for this election...maybe I wasn't really paying attention to the past ones, but I feel as if they are finally using the weird power they have over the populace for good. Woot.
Since we are sharing Plan B stories...
I have taken Plan B both before and after it became "Over the Counter".
My senior year of high school I needed Plan B. I had never been to Planned Parenthood, but a trusted adult in my life helped me look up their number. (And let me skip her class. She is awesome, and I love her for that to this day). They didn't judge, or question me. They did ask if I was interested in getting on other forms of birth control, to prevent such a need in the future. (And, for the record, I did get on the Pill...)
I took it again in 2005 or 2006. Another condom malfunction. It was still prescription, but I knew that I could get it from Planned Parenthood without any issue. They were completely polite, and at this point it was on their file that I was basically allergic to anything that would keep the baby hatch empty (pills, patch, etc...), so they knew that I had to depend on condoms.
The most recent time I took Plan B was in 2007, early in the year. It had just become over the counter, and I didn't have a car at the time, so I went into the clinic on campus. They sold me the pills, but I certainly felt as if I was in a much more hostile environment then my two times before. Perhaps it was just the staff there was young and in training. (Usually nursing students). It still felt very much like I was judged for being morally loose or something. I actually wonder if I would have come back the second or third time if I had had such a poor experience on my first try.
I have written before about how much I love Planned Parenthood.
I really do.
They provide such an amazing service for our community. To be able to receive medical care without receiving religious judgment or disrespect is something that seems like a fundamental right, yet it is something that many women are still fighting for today. We are all indebted to Planned Parenthood for standing with us in that fight.
My senior year of high school I needed Plan B. I had never been to Planned Parenthood, but a trusted adult in my life helped me look up their number. (And let me skip her class. She is awesome, and I love her for that to this day). They didn't judge, or question me. They did ask if I was interested in getting on other forms of birth control, to prevent such a need in the future. (And, for the record, I did get on the Pill...)
I took it again in 2005 or 2006. Another condom malfunction. It was still prescription, but I knew that I could get it from Planned Parenthood without any issue. They were completely polite, and at this point it was on their file that I was basically allergic to anything that would keep the baby hatch empty (pills, patch, etc...), so they knew that I had to depend on condoms.
The most recent time I took Plan B was in 2007, early in the year. It had just become over the counter, and I didn't have a car at the time, so I went into the clinic on campus. They sold me the pills, but I certainly felt as if I was in a much more hostile environment then my two times before. Perhaps it was just the staff there was young and in training. (Usually nursing students). It still felt very much like I was judged for being morally loose or something. I actually wonder if I would have come back the second or third time if I had had such a poor experience on my first try.
I have written before about how much I love Planned Parenthood.
I really do.
They provide such an amazing service for our community. To be able to receive medical care without receiving religious judgment or disrespect is something that seems like a fundamental right, yet it is something that many women are still fighting for today. We are all indebted to Planned Parenthood for standing with us in that fight.
Another Post on Plan B
Because I was shocked to read MTSS's Nikol's story on her quest for Plan B (see LA's post below for her thoughts and a link), I feel like I should weigh in on this.
I feel really lucky that we have a Planned Parenthood office in town that is so helpful and so active. I have always known that I can get Plan B there, although before I actually got Plan B I didn't know if they would be mean or if it would be difficult to get. I have a card from Planned Parenthood, that I keep in my wallet with a phone number to call to find the nearest place where Plan B can be purchased if I happen to be out of town and something happens. Every time I see Planned Parenthood around, they have these cards. Very helpful.
Okay, now storytime. I've really had to use Plan B - at least twice. These were all because of condom malfunctions mixed with poor birth control usage. (I had forgotten a pill or two, and then a condom fell off in both instances.)
So the first time it happened was about a year ago. I knew I could go to Planned Parenthood, so I checked their hours and I went as soon as they were open. When I got there, I filled out a tiny slip of paper with my information, they check-marked a box at the top that said "Emergency Contraception", typed a little into the computer, asked me for $35 or so, and handed me a little box that they pulled out of a drawer in the reception area. It took maybe five minutes. The woman talked through the directions with me and that was that.
The second time I needed it, it was exactly the same. The whole transaction took less than five minutes.
Not all people are mean about Plan B, luckily. But I'm appalled that some are.
I feel really lucky that we have a Planned Parenthood office in town that is so helpful and so active. I have always known that I can get Plan B there, although before I actually got Plan B I didn't know if they would be mean or if it would be difficult to get. I have a card from Planned Parenthood, that I keep in my wallet with a phone number to call to find the nearest place where Plan B can be purchased if I happen to be out of town and something happens. Every time I see Planned Parenthood around, they have these cards. Very helpful.
Okay, now storytime. I've really had to use Plan B - at least twice. These were all because of condom malfunctions mixed with poor birth control usage. (I had forgotten a pill or two, and then a condom fell off in both instances.)
So the first time it happened was about a year ago. I knew I could go to Planned Parenthood, so I checked their hours and I went as soon as they were open. When I got there, I filled out a tiny slip of paper with my information, they check-marked a box at the top that said "Emergency Contraception", typed a little into the computer, asked me for $35 or so, and handed me a little box that they pulled out of a drawer in the reception area. It took maybe five minutes. The woman talked through the directions with me and that was that.
The second time I needed it, it was exactly the same. The whole transaction took less than five minutes.
Not all people are mean about Plan B, luckily. But I'm appalled that some are.
Why is this not on the FRONT PAGE???
Every morning the New York Times is delivered to my Inbox. I scan the first few pages, looking for anything of interest.
I think this would have passed me by if JT hadn't linked to it on his Facebook.
In the "International News" section, under the "Asia" tab, halfway down the page under a story about China's inquiry into a tainted baby formula scandal is this headline:
"US reportedly kills 12 in Pakistan"
Yesterday morning we killed 12 people in Pakistan. They may have been terrorists on the way to fight in Afghanistan. Locals report that there were women and children killed in the bombing.
Twelve people.
I think this would have passed me by if JT hadn't linked to it on his Facebook.
In the "International News" section, under the "Asia" tab, halfway down the page under a story about China's inquiry into a tainted baby formula scandal is this headline:
"US reportedly kills 12 in Pakistan"
Yesterday morning we killed 12 people in Pakistan. They may have been terrorists on the way to fight in Afghanistan. Locals report that there were women and children killed in the bombing.
Twelve people.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Continuing the Palin Hating
I recently found a blog entirely dedicated to women speaking out against Palin's nomination for VP.
And all I can say is...hells yes!
And all I can say is...hells yes!
Plan B is NOT an abortive pill!
I just want it to be known that no, Plan B (or the morning after pill) is NOT an abortive pill. It is a super charged hormone pill that prevents fertilization from occurring.
After learning about Midwest Teen Sex Show's Nikol and her experience trying to get the drug, I really wanted to just get that out there.
PLAN B IS NOT ABORTIVE!
So get those sticks out of your asses, patronizing pharmacists and right wing nutjobs, and treat women with some fuggin' respect before I beat you stupider than you already are.
/end rant
After learning about Midwest Teen Sex Show's Nikol and her experience trying to get the drug, I really wanted to just get that out there.
PLAN B IS NOT ABORTIVE!
So get those sticks out of your asses, patronizing pharmacists and right wing nutjobs, and treat women with some fuggin' respect before I beat you stupider than you already are.
/end rant
Matt Damon Rips Sarah Palin
This is amazing. I didn't like Matt Damon until he was in The Departed, and I still wasn't sure about him until I heard him talk here about the thought of Sarah Palin being president. He equates her candidacy to "a bad disney movie", calls the idea of her being president absurd and says that if she thinks dinosaurs were here 4,000 years ago and then he needs to know that, because she could have the nuclear codes.
It's only 2 minutes, watch it. Really.
It's only 2 minutes, watch it. Really.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
September 11th, Seven Years Later
"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
Here we are: seven years after 9/11, the day on which 19 pious men showed our pious nation the dangers of religious certainty. It was the day on which 19 men, believing they were doing the best thing possible, had their holy intentions twisted into madness that erased the existence of three thousand innocent people - people who had never harmed or intended to harm a Middle-Eastern man or woman. The people who invaded our nation and slaughtered the innocent were despicable.
And how did we respond to these monsters? By lashing out at a nation that had no culpability in the attack of September 11th, 2001. We have marched into a sovereign nation and have destroyed, by our own hands, the lives of 90,000 Iraqi civilians - people who had never harmed or intended to harm an American man or woman.
Yet, somehow, we are supposed to view America as the hero. And what have we wrought from all of it? Defeating terrorism? We have sixteen spy agencies in this country, and every single one of them concurs on the fact that we are producing more terrorists through our actions in Iraq. Should we be surprised? Terrorism is a tactic, and Islamic fundamentalism is a belief - both are impervious to bullets.
In our panic to mete out justice, we have claimed the right to detain anybody we wish, indefinitely, and without warrant. We are torturing these people. And most Americans, when it is mentioned to them, do not even know about it. I can't help but wonder how many of them even want to know about it.
We have forsaken our humanity, not to unmake inhumanity elsewhere, but in order to avoid living in fear - even as we are cultivating a new generation of terrorists for our children to fear. We are not heroes. This is not boldly saving the world; it is insanity.
Only seven years later, and this is what we have become: a cowed populace guided by weak leaders hiding behind play-acting and bluster. The America we love is better than this. If you are a conservative, it is time for you to stop voting in lock step with your party and hold them accountable for forgetting the true meaning of "conservative" - it means loyalty to the constitution and to this country, not fealty to Dear Leader. It means loving the country and defending it from the people who have taken the collective sympathy of the civilized world we enjoyed after September 11th, 2001, squandered it in a matter of years.
Politics and global policy is not a wrestling match - not every issue can end with the victor trotting about the ring holding the championship belt. It is the nationalist who dogmatically gives their leaders carte blance to do whatever they wish - no matter how inhuman. It is the patriot who cares enough about the nation to alter or to abolish their own government when it becomes destructive to ends that effect the safety and happiness of its citizens (and the innocents of other nations, as the hijackers of September 11th did to us).
Seven years later, we are faced with the choice of who will inherit this once proud nation, that has now come to be rightly seen as a dangerous, lumbering behemoth by the rest of the civilized world. On one hand, we have a man who will perpetuate our presence in the Middle East, exacerbating our military occupation - perhaps extending a campaign we acknowledge to be an engine for new terrorists, into other countries. John Mccain now emulates Barack Obama's campaign of change, even though he has voted 95% of the time with the Bush Administration, which has amassed more national debt than all past presidents combined...
...all the while increasing taxes on the middle to lower classes and absolving the wealthy of such burdens.
In short, John McCain is assuring us that he and the Republican party, which used its six years of exclusive control of the United States Government to bring us to the point we are at, are the only ones who are able to unmake the monster they have created - even as their chosen representative promises to continue Bush's economic and military policies, along with virtually all others.
Even if we are such a nation of idiots, I'd like to think that we are not a nation of dispassionate machines, incapable of seeing that a greater terrorist threat, continuation of economic policies that have the dollar paling in comparison to other currency, and a slaughter of the innocent so harrowing as to dwarf the deaths of September 11th into obscurity, are not what we ever wanted.
You may say that you are not culpable for what our government has done. Maybe not - but if you are of voting age, you stand culpable for what they will do over the next four years. One of the greatest aspects of our democracy is that we have the power to hold our leaders accountable for their past discretions - but that power is meaningless unless we exercise it by staying informed enough to know when we are being lied to, and know when people have been piloting our nation towards less-than-noble ends.
Forget epithets such as "liberal" or "conservative", and let's all converge on the fact that we found the bloodshed of September 11th so detestable that it will forever be branded into our collective conscience. Let us all decide now, at this very moment, to stop becoming the monster we purport to face.
Even if Barack Obama cannot undo all the damage, he will not continue along the same path that has resulted in our current predicament. Not only is he well educated, with at least a collection of well laid out, well researched ideas on how to stop the bleeding, he is the best we can do right now. If you still vividly recall the day that changed out lives forever, don't let it make you forget the damage we inflicted on ourselves afterward - and don't forget who held the knife for last seven years.
Here we are: seven years after 9/11, the day on which 19 pious men showed our pious nation the dangers of religious certainty. It was the day on which 19 men, believing they were doing the best thing possible, had their holy intentions twisted into madness that erased the existence of three thousand innocent people - people who had never harmed or intended to harm a Middle-Eastern man or woman. The people who invaded our nation and slaughtered the innocent were despicable.
And how did we respond to these monsters? By lashing out at a nation that had no culpability in the attack of September 11th, 2001. We have marched into a sovereign nation and have destroyed, by our own hands, the lives of 90,000 Iraqi civilians - people who had never harmed or intended to harm an American man or woman.
Yet, somehow, we are supposed to view America as the hero. And what have we wrought from all of it? Defeating terrorism? We have sixteen spy agencies in this country, and every single one of them concurs on the fact that we are producing more terrorists through our actions in Iraq. Should we be surprised? Terrorism is a tactic, and Islamic fundamentalism is a belief - both are impervious to bullets.
In our panic to mete out justice, we have claimed the right to detain anybody we wish, indefinitely, and without warrant. We are torturing these people. And most Americans, when it is mentioned to them, do not even know about it. I can't help but wonder how many of them even want to know about it.
We have forsaken our humanity, not to unmake inhumanity elsewhere, but in order to avoid living in fear - even as we are cultivating a new generation of terrorists for our children to fear. We are not heroes. This is not boldly saving the world; it is insanity.
Only seven years later, and this is what we have become: a cowed populace guided by weak leaders hiding behind play-acting and bluster. The America we love is better than this. If you are a conservative, it is time for you to stop voting in lock step with your party and hold them accountable for forgetting the true meaning of "conservative" - it means loyalty to the constitution and to this country, not fealty to Dear Leader. It means loving the country and defending it from the people who have taken the collective sympathy of the civilized world we enjoyed after September 11th, 2001, squandered it in a matter of years.
Politics and global policy is not a wrestling match - not every issue can end with the victor trotting about the ring holding the championship belt. It is the nationalist who dogmatically gives their leaders carte blance to do whatever they wish - no matter how inhuman. It is the patriot who cares enough about the nation to alter or to abolish their own government when it becomes destructive to ends that effect the safety and happiness of its citizens (and the innocents of other nations, as the hijackers of September 11th did to us).
Seven years later, we are faced with the choice of who will inherit this once proud nation, that has now come to be rightly seen as a dangerous, lumbering behemoth by the rest of the civilized world. On one hand, we have a man who will perpetuate our presence in the Middle East, exacerbating our military occupation - perhaps extending a campaign we acknowledge to be an engine for new terrorists, into other countries. John Mccain now emulates Barack Obama's campaign of change, even though he has voted 95% of the time with the Bush Administration, which has amassed more national debt than all past presidents combined...
...all the while increasing taxes on the middle to lower classes and absolving the wealthy of such burdens.
In short, John McCain is assuring us that he and the Republican party, which used its six years of exclusive control of the United States Government to bring us to the point we are at, are the only ones who are able to unmake the monster they have created - even as their chosen representative promises to continue Bush's economic and military policies, along with virtually all others.
Even if we are such a nation of idiots, I'd like to think that we are not a nation of dispassionate machines, incapable of seeing that a greater terrorist threat, continuation of economic policies that have the dollar paling in comparison to other currency, and a slaughter of the innocent so harrowing as to dwarf the deaths of September 11th into obscurity, are not what we ever wanted.
You may say that you are not culpable for what our government has done. Maybe not - but if you are of voting age, you stand culpable for what they will do over the next four years. One of the greatest aspects of our democracy is that we have the power to hold our leaders accountable for their past discretions - but that power is meaningless unless we exercise it by staying informed enough to know when we are being lied to, and know when people have been piloting our nation towards less-than-noble ends.
Forget epithets such as "liberal" or "conservative", and let's all converge on the fact that we found the bloodshed of September 11th so detestable that it will forever be branded into our collective conscience. Let us all decide now, at this very moment, to stop becoming the monster we purport to face.
Even if Barack Obama cannot undo all the damage, he will not continue along the same path that has resulted in our current predicament. Not only is he well educated, with at least a collection of well laid out, well researched ideas on how to stop the bleeding, he is the best we can do right now. If you still vividly recall the day that changed out lives forever, don't let it make you forget the damage we inflicted on ourselves afterward - and don't forget who held the knife for last seven years.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
No matter how we define rape...
This isn't along the lines of a normal Teh Juggernauts post, but I figured it was worth spreading the word about.
A new study shows that 18 percent of young women report that they have been forced to have sex. My first thought, of course, was to wonder how they defined "forced".
The answer?
Verbal or physical pressure or being physically held down.
Half of those women (so 9%) say they have been forced to have sex by being held down. A quarter (4.5%) say that they have suffered physical injuries while being forced to have sex.
Think about that.
When you are sitting in a classroom with twenty women, (on average) four of them have been forced to have sex. Two of them have been held down. And one has suffered physical injuries when being forced to have sex.
Is this really a culture we are proud of?
(Thanks, Feministing!)
A new study shows that 18 percent of young women report that they have been forced to have sex. My first thought, of course, was to wonder how they defined "forced".
The answer?
Verbal or physical pressure or being physically held down.
Half of those women (so 9%) say they have been forced to have sex by being held down. A quarter (4.5%) say that they have suffered physical injuries while being forced to have sex.
Think about that.
When you are sitting in a classroom with twenty women, (on average) four of them have been forced to have sex. Two of them have been held down. And one has suffered physical injuries when being forced to have sex.
Is this really a culture we are proud of?
(Thanks, Feministing!)
Friday, September 5, 2008
Palin makes my head hurt.
I don't pay much attention anymore to what the republicans have to say about my kind.
I fit into basically every box they hate... my politics, my religion, my sexuality, my version of womanhood... they basically hate it all.
So when Palin and McCain began commenting on "Community Organizers", I actually shrugged it off.
Ok. So they got the last category I thought was safe. They caught me. I try to help my community, to make the world a better place from the ground up.
But listening to this clip from Jay Smooth over at Ill Doctrine reminded me how outraged we all should be.
The implication that "Community Organizers" are useless should infuriate us, and only act to strengthen our resolve that grassroots organizations and volunteer efforts are the path towards change. For Palin to shrug off the efforts of American citizens as useless shows what she truely thinks of the people she claims to serve and support.
I fit into basically every box they hate... my politics, my religion, my sexuality, my version of womanhood... they basically hate it all.
So when Palin and McCain began commenting on "Community Organizers", I actually shrugged it off.
Ok. So they got the last category I thought was safe. They caught me. I try to help my community, to make the world a better place from the ground up.
But listening to this clip from Jay Smooth over at Ill Doctrine reminded me how outraged we all should be.
The implication that "Community Organizers" are useless should infuriate us, and only act to strengthen our resolve that grassroots organizations and volunteer efforts are the path towards change. For Palin to shrug off the efforts of American citizens as useless shows what she truely thinks of the people she claims to serve and support.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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