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“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.”


Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Remember, You Are Nothing But a Baby Factory

Via Sheelzebub, an article on the so-called "Refusa Clause." Originally this was a way out for doctors who didn't want to perform abortions; unfortunately, it's being extended to pharmacists who don't want to fill prescriptions for things like birth control or emergency contraception.

This angers me on several levels; first, there's the denial of choice to a woman. This isn't even a woman who is having an abortion--this is about preventing an abortion later. With emergency contraception, women take this when they're raped or when the condom breaks. Of course, when states like South Carolina saying that spousal abuse is less worrysome than cockfighting, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

And then there's birth control. Pharmacists are refusing to dispense them on grounds from everything from the myth that it's an abortificiant, to the simple opposition to women having non-procreative sex. And while that's certainly the primary reason I use birth control, there are many other reasons women use it, including disorders associated with menstrual cramps (my secondary) and polycystic ovaries. These aren't just "quality of life" issues--this is about being able to get out of bed in the morning, instead of spending five days a month bed-ridden (something that I used to go through).

But the kicker, as many women will point out? Viagra is readily available. No one opposes the dissemination of that particular drug.

And you wonder why I'm not a "Christian." I'm just not that into hating myself.

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posted by Tlachtga, 12: 20 PM

Only a Sith Thinks in Absolutes,
Or,
I Can't Believe I'm Writing About Star Wars.

SO! Via Lance Mannion via Atrios, I learn that the Right is not only convinced that Star Wars is anti-Bush, but that, yes, the Jedi are actually the villains, and the Sith are the true good guys.

Wait, what?

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this; they paint the Jedis as moral relativists, elitists, and corrupt Liberals. The Sith, on the other hand, are moral absolutists (ok, so their morals aren't that good) who are trying to destroy the degenerate Jedis. Of course, they don't focus on the Sith's genocide, totalitarianism, militarism, and, oh, I don't know, allegiance to evil.

It's amazing that these people can't even watch Star Wars without rooting for the fascists.[1] They really are lost.

NOTE:
1. Comparisons between the original film and the techniques of Leni Riefenstal aside.

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posted by Tlachtga, 9:45 AM

Monday, May 23, 2005

If Only They'd Pay My Phone Bill, Too

White House wants FBI to be able to track mail-NYT:

A Bush administration proposal would grant the FBI broad authority to track the mail of people in terrorism investigations, The New York Times reported in its Saturday editions.

Citing government officials who spoke on Friday, the newspaper reported that the proposal, to be considered next week in a closed-door Senate Intelligence Committee meeting, would allow the FBI to direct postal officials to turn in names, addresses and other material on the outside of letters sent to or from people connected to foreign intelligence investigations.

[snip]

A postal official called the move a "major step." Zoe Strickland, chief privacy officer for the Postal Service, told the Times that "from a privacy perspective, you want to make sure that the right balance is struck between protecting people's mail and aiding law enforcement, and this legislation could impact that balance negatively."

Looking more and more like the USSR every day, kids.

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posted by Tlachtga, 3:05 PM

And the Weird Gets Weirder

Out of Louisiana is a shocking story about sex, Satanism, and Christian Fundamentalism:

But murder, said Roberts, would be easier to accept than the aggravated rape charges facing her oldest brother, who became pastor of the Hosanna Church in 1993 and is now at the center of a growing investigation into what some are calling the cult-like activities of the curious congregation.

Some of the alleged activities include the sexual abuse of juveniles and animals, such as dogs and cats, police said. Chief Charles Fitz, the director of investigations at the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Office, said Friday that there may be as many as two dozen victims, ranging in age from 1 to 20. And more arrests may follow, he said, as investigators from Tangipahoa, the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office, the Ponchatoula Police Department, state Child Protective Services and the FBI continue to interview people and analyze seized computers.

The arrested include: Lamonica, of Holden, on two counts of aggravated rape and one count of crime against nature; his wife, Robbin Lamonica, 45, on one count of aggravated rape of a juvenile under the age of 13; Christopher Labat, 24, a Tangipahoa Parish patrol deputy, on one count of aggravated rape; and Allen Pierson, 46, of Ponchatoula, on one count of aggravated rape.

[snip]

In the years that followed, Tim and Gwen Normand noted increasingly strange happenings among their neighbors at the Hosanna Church: how they covered their windows with aluminum foil, how they came out at night "making these Indian sounds," and how they generally bickered with the Normands over property rights.

However, after hearing these kind of stories so often, I can't help but wonder what the hell is going on.

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posted by Tlachtga, 3:00 PM

The Revised Declaration of Independence

Satire from World O'Crap. Satire, but sadly, I know a lot of people who think this way, except maybe the part about Catholics.

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posted by Tlachtga, 11:46 AM