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| Thursday, January 24, 2008 |
| Birthing isn't something I'm gonna do. |
I'm male. I don't get to do the more involved half of baby-making. I just watched the trailer for The Business of Being Born, which is a Ricki Lake production about how natural birthing is pretty rare nowdays and how hospitals-as-businesses have a lot to do with that. It's most likely going to present hospitals as The Evil and midwifing and water-births as The Ecstasy, but hyperbole notwithstanding, the points are sound.
This is something Rachel actually decided quite awhile ago, since her aunt (I think) is a midwife. She's also the kind of tough-minded feminist that can't believe that she (and most anyone else) can't do what women have done since there were women. I admire that, and know full well I'll need a gauntlet to keep my hand from being broken off during childbirth.
No, this is not a veiled way of saying she's pregnant, despite the fact that we've had something like half our friends and most of her co-workers tell her that they've had dreams that she is pregnant. (Grammatically, that is an awesome sentence.) But we've discussed how and why we're going to have kids, though the exact times aren't something anyone can exactingly plan (nor should it be). Honestly, the only thing that really makes me think is how she's going to get her Librarian degree amongst part-time jobs and/or pregnancy.
It's all academic now, of course. Really. Of course, it takes like a month to find out, so how would I know?Labels: feminism, kids, Rachel, women |
posted by Steve @ 2:49 PM  |
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| Thursday, December 06, 2007 |
| Throw all the Women into Guantanamo |
I really try not to get riled up by things that are clearly meant to rile me.
I'm not very good at this, apparently, because when I read this, well, I felt compelled to respond:
"You know, liberalism is a greater threat to freedom, democracy and human rights than these detainees. Maybe we should consider a swap."
- Amy Proctor This is in response to a report on CNN, in which the reporter notes that in addition to the restrictions that the detainees had "no contact with the Red Cross or a chaplain, no books or mail, a Koran, but no prayer beads or cap," they also were occasionally rewarded with TP but prevented from handing it out to others.
"I think what's really notable about this is just the incredible petty cruelty and dehumanizing aspect of all of this. Detainees are punished for tearing a sheet or for very, very minor infractions."
-Jennifer Daskal, Human Rights Watch Amy's response to the was, "Oh, ye gads, the inhumanity."OK, that's the setup. Make up your own mind for a minute.
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Now here's what I have to say to Ms. Proctor:
1. Can you explain how people who are trying to be sure that the U.S. protects human rights are a threat to human rights?
2. As for swapping terrorists and liberals, Conservatism and Liberalism is a balance. Without the former, you have bloated government that can't balance a budget*; without the latter, we'd still have segregation and no women's suffrage - your opinion, as a woman's, wouldn't be valued if not for Loony Liberals. I couldn't even refer to you as "Ms." Proctor. So if throwing all the liberals into Guantanamo Bay Detention facility is feasible, well, why not throw in all the women, too, since they benefited so much from liberalism? We'd jail half the country either way.
In other words, your smearing brush is too wide; your rhetoric is absurdist.
3. I agree that, when caught, tried, and proven guilty, terrorists need to be tossed into a cell. But since those detainees in Guantanamo are rarely actually tried in a court, it's hard to say whether or not they're actually guilty. I personally think it would be AWESOME to see these people tried on public TV. I would watch with rapt attention. I would cheer when we proved, conclusively and transparently before the world, the guilt of those who are guilty and I would cheer just as much when someone who is innocent is proved innocent.
4. It's been known since the 1500's the torture isn't an effective means of interrogation. It's great for false confessions, because tortured people will tell you anything you want, especially if you threaten family. But when you're getting false confessions, and basing your entire nation's intelligence activities on false information, you are in much worse shape than if you hadn't tortured. I didn't come to this conclusion - people who interrogated for a living came to that conclusion:
That said, the sum total of my experience suggests the most effective means of conducting interrogations—and by effective, I mean achieving consistent success in obtaining accurate, comprehensive, and timely information—is through what has been frequently described as a “relationship-based” model. Let me emphasize that this is far more than just establishing rapport; it involves the pursuit of operational accord. Employing non-threatening principles of persuasion and enlightened cultural finesse, the interrogator seeks to establish a productive, nonadversarial relationship wherein the source perceives his interests to be best served by engaging cooperatively with the interrogator.
Since issues relating to coercion and torture continue to occupy centerstage in the public debate over this country’s interrogation policy, I feel compelled to briefly address this issue, especially as it relates to the question of effectiveness. I find it curious that in the debate involving the so-called “ticking bomb” scenario, there has been a pre-supposition that physical, psychological, and/or emotional coercion will compel a source to provide actionable intelligence, the only issues in contention being those legal and moral arguments in favor or in opposition. To the best of my knowledge, there is no definitive data to support that supposition and considerable historical evidence to suggest the contrary."
- Former USAF interrogator Steven M. Kleinman's Statement before the Senate 9/25/07; Emphasis mine
Feel free to discuss in a way that doesn't insult either one of our intellects.
*Of course, the only presidents in the last 50(!) years to balance the budget were Democrats: Johnson and Clinton.Labels: evil, idiots, politics, torture, war, women |
| posted by Steve @ 1:47 PM |
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| Friday, July 20, 2007 |
| Menstrual Cycles in the Middle Ages |
So, Rachel, AZ and I were discussing chocolate's ability to soothe a menstrual cycle:
Steve: So, I've got a question - what happened in the middle ages, before chocolate was available?
Rachel: Oh, I have an answer - Lady Macbeth.Labels: AZ, frightening thought, joke, Rachel, shakespeare, women |
| posted by Steve @ 5:49 PM |
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| Friday, September 30, 2005 |
| Random Thoughts no. 8 & 9: Do ya think I'm sexy? / Misnomers / Music |
I know I'm not the first to say this, and won't be the last, but it's wierd how much more attention I get from girls/women now that I'm married. It's nice, but it makes me wonder, have I changed or am I just more relaxed? I like to think the latter.
Also - why are they called 'speed bumps' -- shouldn't it be 'slowing bumps' or 'destroy your suspension bumps'?
Finally, I am going to be posting a rotating set of song snippets and ideas from my next (4th) album, called Ignition. For all five of you that read this. If anybody who reads these are disposed to critique music, I'll post a link probably tomorrow to a place over on impulsenine.com and you can tell me how good or how shit they are.
 | Currently listening :
Pop
By U2 |
Labels: cats, demo, Ignition, Impulse Nine, mp3, random, women |
| posted by Steve @ 3:31 AM |
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| About Me |
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Name: Steve
Home: Tucson, Arizona, United States
About Me: I like to think about things, and I occasionally like to write what I think.
See my complete profile
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