abortion ban bill

Odd that I was just praising birth control and maintaining why abortion should be legal.

What do I find out today? The lovely State of Ohio has a bill in its House to ban abortions. Completely. No exceptions for rape or medical anything - just no more abortions. If that wasn't making enough of a woman's choices for her, they would also like to criminally convict anyone who assists a woman by taking her over the state line to get an abortion elsewhere.

I also found it interesting that they would increase the penalty for anyone found participating in illegal abortions. It's a big red flag that says "We know that abortions will happen, legal or not." We really aren't that far away from a hanger in the back alley.

friday foto: speed limit

Speed Limit
Originally uploaded by SilverTurtle.

energy policy

Required Reading for this post:
Bush's Energy Policy

So our energy situation can be improved by "... a series of energy initiatives, including more oil refineries and nuclear plants, to combat the problem..." That's right, oil, something the Bush's just happen to own a bit of money it is the answer- more oil. It's not going to, like, run out or anything. And nuclear power? We can just keep burying the waste in Nevada - who cares about that. I'm sure it won't leak or cause any future problems for the environment or the people that have to live in it. We watched a documentary in my HS French class about how the French just accepted nuclear power - it was no big deal. I'm not educated enough about it to really know what's going to happen, but that's sort of the point - no one know what's going to happen, but we do know it's potential.

Has anyone on Mr. Bush's staff heard of ethanol? Or hydraulic power? Or solar power? My guess is that they have, and those things are bad for the current oil economy so we're ignoring them. Ethanol comes from corn. If you've ever driven across the midwest, you've seen a bit of corn. We can grow and regrow it. Unlike oil. My limited understanding is that it burns cleaner - less harm to the environment and is more efficient that our current fuel. (Here's the Wikipedia entry on ethanol).

There are so many promising, apparently easy answers out there. Why doesn't our administration even act like they are considering them?

Friday Foto

Colors of Jade
Originally uploaded by SilverTurtle.

I really love taking photos and flickr just rocks my world. To keep myself interested in the photos, I'm going to post one of my favorites every Friday. Of course, I might forget or get bored with it, but for now you can enjoy random photos I've taken every week!

Bo Bice

That's right, I'm blogging about an American Idol finalist. I'm not feeling especially creative right now.

First, I was sad to see Nadia go last week - she was my favorite girl this year and just seems like a wicked rad person in general.

I think Anwar is the best singer overall, despite his weak moments. And he oozes good karma.

And Bo Bice just kicks ass. I received a newsletter from Garage Band featuring Bo Bice & Sugar Money - his local band back home. These guys are sort of southern-rock-infused-funk. Not what I expected and kind of cool. So go listen to a few songs and enjoy.

birth control

I don't get how people can be morally opposed to birth control. I get the anti-abortion thing. I still think it needs to remain legal and be accesible. If you're against abortions, it seems logical you would be pro-birth control. Prevent the pregnancies rather than eliminate them after the fact.

Maybe people just don't understand how birth control works. Here's a quick crash course. Birth control pills prevent the woman from producing eggs. So there's nothing for the sperm to conceive with. In the case of emergency contraception, the sperm and egg have joined, but are prevented from actually attaching inside the woman. So they can't grow into a fetus/baby. We should note that this can and does happen naturally at times as well.

With that knowledge, we should all be espousing the greatness of birth control. There should be almost no need for abortions, with the exception of pregnancy complications, because people wouldn't be getting accidentally knocked up.

My mom had a partial hysterectomy. Several years later she had me. And then my younger sister. If a kid is meant to make it to earth, they will. Birth control just makes sure they're all wanted.

vacation part III - the photos

View of Boston from the Harbor
Originally uploaded by SilverTurtle.

Check 'em out here

vacation part II - the return

Ugh... back to work.

I had a great time in Boston. Pics will be online whenever I get to that. Here's a brief recap of the journey:

Friday
Friday morning I was on the road before 5:30. Drove and drove and drove. Thought about stopping at Niagra Falls when I went by Buffalo, but didn't. Paid too much money in tolls. Driving all the way across NY is like driving through Georgia - really long. Got into Boston, found an overpriced parking garage a block from my hotel.

Met my friend and we jammed a little bit. Then we went to dinner in Chinatown (yeah - I didn't know Boston had a Chinatown, either). Tony thinks the restaurant we ate at is run by the Chinese mafia. Then we went to Harvard Square and had giant cake for dessert.

Saturday
Got up early, tried to go for a walk but it was cold and rainy. Took the subway to Tony's and met his girlfriend. Then we went and played in a very cool music shop by his house. We had lunch and then went back to the hotel and jammed for awhile. Dinner was at a place called Fire & Ice.

Sunday
Met in the morning to jam. Then we went for a walk around the Public Gardens, Boston Common, and some other places. Tony went home for awhile and I explored around a lot myself. More jamming and dinner that night was at an Irish pub called O'Leary's. Good stuff. Then we went to a different Irish Pub to watch the Red Sox loose on opening day to the Yankees.

Monday
We walked up to North End and the Boston Harbor. I had a really delicious canoli at a place called Mike's Pastry. Then I drove home. I didn't Boston until almost 1:30 so I got home close to 2AM.