Saturday, December 29, 2007

I Love Lily Allen.

Yup, we're in the height of the holidays, and probably eating much more than we're used to (I know I am! Belch). So, I thought I'd share this little PSA from one of the best musical exports from England - Lily Allen.

If you've never heard of her, shame on you, and check out her single, "Smile."

And if this doesn't brighten your day, then watch one of those damn Rankin-Bass movies...

Monday, December 17, 2007

Happy Holidays from violent activists...

Arsonists set fire to an Albuquerque abortion clinic on the night of Dec. 6th, destroying its exam room.

Witnesses staying at a nearby hotel said the two suspects dumped a can of gasoline through a window and then set it ablaze. Fortunately, no staff was present during the fire.

Officials are conducting a thorough investigation and plan to check hospitals for anyone admitted for "accidental" burns...

The clinic, Abortion Acceptance of Albuquerque, is run by Dr. Curtis Boyd. He is a founding member of the National Abortion Federation (NAF) and has been providing services in New Mexico since 1972.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Teen birth rates rise - wtf?!

Looks like we're finally starting to see the effects of abstinence-only education. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released preliminary data on U.S. births in 2006. For the first time since 1991, the rate of teen births increased – kind of a big deal, since we had been experiencing a steady decline for the past 14 years.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2002, only 62% of sexually experienced female teens had received instruction about contraception before they first had sex, compared with 72% in 1995. Coincidence? I think not...

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Excuse me, can I have some salt for my placenta?

What's new and exciting in the world of new motherhood? Placentas! Apparently, a woman who ingests her own placenta has a better chance of avoiding postpartum depression and the "baby blues."

While there's no scientific research yet, women across the country swear by it. It makes sense, when you consider the hormone factor. The placenta contains estrogen and progesterone, both which sharply decline in women right after childbirth. Some women say ingesting the placenta stabilizes these hormone levels.

Now before you all get visuals of post-delivery women scooping their afterbirths off the floor and chowing down, it's not like that. Guides for eating placenta recommend adding it to lasagna or as a pizza topping. Squisito!

Jodi Selander dried hers, grinded it up into powder and made capsules. She now sells placenta encapsulation kits on the Internet.

Sure, it sounds weird in a bad sci-fi movie kinda way, but Selander makes a good point:

"We have a very sanitary society. Anything that is not cleaned up and pretty and made to be put on display, we do deem as gross. But the thing is, birth is a messy process and the whole act of bringing life into the world is a whole messy ordeal."

Monday, December 3, 2007

Giuliani: Not so much the beacon of moderate politics.

Some of us kinda chuckled when Rudy Giuliani announced his presidential candidacy. Why on earth would the Grand Old Party (home to Pat Robertson and the Christian Coalition) throw its support behind the former mayor of New York City, who publicly asserts he is pro-choice and pro-gay rights?? Jerry Falwell is convulsing in his grave.

An odd stance for a Republican, that's for sure. But with how incredibly polarized the parties have become today, it's somewhat refreshing to find someone brave enough to walk outside his party line....right?

Well, just how "pro-choice" are you, Mr. G? Sure, you throw that word around to pique the liberals' interests, but honestly, just how does your party tolerate you?

Taking a closer look at Giuliani's record, he's pretty damn similar to an anti-choice Republican - the only difference is that he calls himself "pro-choice."

Like his anti-choice cronies, Giuliani supports parental notification laws and the so-called "partial birth" abortion ban (a false medical term used to describe the dilation-and-extraction method). He also said he'd appoint "strict constructionist" judges to the Supreme Court, similar to Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts and Samuel Alito (his examples) - all of which are anti-choice and do not support Roe v. Wade.

When Giuliani first ran for NYC mayor in 1989, he assured his Republican party that he personally opposed abortion. Public funding? Ew, no! Roe v. Wade? Yucky!

I guess as Election Day loomed closer, Rudy realized he couldn't possibly win anything in New York Fucking City if he was anti-abortion. He issued a statement in the New York Times:

"As mayor, Rudy Giuliani will uphold a woman's right of choice to have an abortion. Giuliani will fund all city programs which provide abortions to insure that no woman is deprived of her right due to an inability to pay. He will oppose reductions in state funding. He will oppose making abortion illegal. Although Giuliani is personally opposed to abortion, his personal views will not interfere with his responsibilities as mayor."

Too little, too late - Giuliani lost the election on account of his flip-flopping, but won in 1993. Not because he changed anything regarding his views on abortion - he just started calling himself "pro-choice." Hey, it's what New Yorkers wanted to hear.

And now, Rudy's using what he learned and applying it to his campaign for the presidency: Run as a "pro-choicer," so you can gain some liberal votes, but promise your conservative base that you're really on their side - all while making a mockery of the issues.

Good strategy, Rudy - now go home and curl up on Pat Robertson's lap. You know, the evangelist guy who's endorsing you? The one who agreed with Jerry Falwell when he said we got what we deserved on 9/11 because of "abortionists"...