My Christmas Gift to You

I thought everyone knew this little trick, but the recent holiday season makes it apparent that everyone doesn't. I classify it as one of the 100 most useful tips anyone has ever given me. And now I'm passing it on to all of you.

Let's talk Christmas cookies. There are a thousand kinds out there. Everyone bakes them. Everyone shares them. After you've spent hours and hours turning out your own perfect little sugary emblems of holiday cheer, do yourself a favor and throw a piece of bread in with them in whatever storage container you choose. It doesn't really matter what kind; I always throw the friendless whole wheat heels we seem to have hanging around waiting for a date.

Why?

The bread will get hard-hard-hard, but your cookies won't. They will stay as soft and enjoyable as the day they were baked. Seriously. I am not making this up. I don't know how or why it works, but it does. Try it and become a believer. Then continue to do it, every time you bake cookies. Your cookie audience will thank you.

I hope it was a happy Hanukkah/Solstice/Festivus/Christmas/Kwanzaa for you and yours. And my best wishes for a prosperous new year!

Lose your load, leave your mind behind...

"Oh, Mexico..." James Taylor sings. It's been more than fifteen years since I'd been there and back then it was only a three-star hotel room in Cancun, directly across the street from Senor Frog's, shared with two other girls during spring break. This trip was so very different.


For starters, once we arrived I learned that the resort, Dreams Riviera-Cancun, had only been open since last month. It was a risky proposition, but one that paid off. I was involved not at all in the planning; I did nothing other than, when asked by Hub if I could get away, determining that I could take two personal days. When we first decided to go a friend at work inquired as to our destination and I responded "I don't know! I don't even care! Mexico, maybe?"

Our group was made up of four couples, all close friends. It was the most relaxed I've been in literally four years, nine months. (Nevermind that when we got back, both Hub and I felt like things were more hectic because we needed to catch up.) Since we were only there for four days, we didn't leave the resort at all, didn't take any excursions, do any activities or have any spa treatments. We just relaxed, hung out with our friends, ate and drank. I told our friends that in the future when the adults-only trips are planned, we're in!

I'm including a few details here about the resort because when I searched for reviews (the day before we left -- better late than never), I found nothing because of its relative newness.

The Good

• The room was so wonderfully peaceful, it was almost a zen-like cliche.
• Since it was a new resort, we got a special price. Since I wasn't involved in the details, I was very pleased to learn that we'd booked at six-star (Sorry... six "apple") resort at a four-star price. Score!
• I've never gone anywhere all-inclusive before, and as our group likes to drink, it was well worth it. I'm resisting the temptation to discuss the number and variety of alcoholic beverages I consumed in the time we were there.
  
• The pools were very pretty and not crowded at all, although I have no idea how if the resort was booked anywhere close to capacity.
  
• The Rendezvous Bar was, in truth, where we rendezvoused every evening before dinner. It was beautiful, comfortable and located close to the restaurants.
  
• The food was fantastic, from the buffet in the World Cafe each morning (I ate quesadillas for breakfast every day) to the restaurants.
  
• The Italian restaurant, Portofino, had the best food, but the Mexican restaurant, El Patio, had the best "experience." Marco, our waiter made our last night there fun and memorable. Surprisingly, the French restaurant, which gets all the hype, had neither the best food or the best service.
• The Coco Cafe, the coffee bar, had very good coffee, even if the one size option was on the small side when you're used to American-sized servings.

The Meh

• The beach was not great, because the resort is the only thing on that stretch of beach right now. It's sort of plopped in the middle of the jungle.
  
• On Friday night there was an influx of what seemed to be wealthy locals coming for the weekend. They were clearly given preferential treatment, from bumping our party of eight from the only table for large parties at the French restaurant on Friday night to the bizarre experience of resort staff saving pool lounges for them, warning away anyone who approached the empty chairs over the course of more than four hours on Saturday. I think these people were investors of some sort, as there was a private party on Saturday night.
• I wouldn't ever say I'm a person that's easy to please, but my requirements for this vacation were simple, so there were really no major downsides.
  

Excuse the crappy photos. I didn't take very many, so it was slim pickings.

Harvey Milk Day

Quick flyby to ask, if you're so inclined, for you to add your name to a petition proposing legislation to make May 22 Harvey Milk Day in the state of California. Follow the linky below this quote from the Equality California website:

Last year Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill, stating that Harvey Milk was only a person of local significance.

Sign the petition to tell the governor that Harvey Milk is a figure of national importance. That is all...

Swine Flu, in historical context

We now interrupt my scheduled post to bring you this little history lesson, because, hell, it's been too damn long since I've done that, hasn't it?

Swine Flu.* To freak out or not to freak out, that is the question. Mashable reports that there are 10,000 tweets an hour with the #swineflu hashtag. Let's cut through the crap. (Let's also remember that I'm a History Goddess, not a Science one. But I'll do my best.)

Why are some people scared and others dismissive of Swine Flu? No one seems certain whether it's a health threat worth the hype. Pandemic? Maybe. Probably. But remember, the term pandemic refers only to the spread of the disease, not to the deadliness.

To my understanding, the main issues are 1) that no one is immune to Swine Flu (no one has been vaccinated and no one has acquired immunity) and 2) it can be spread from person to person. The New York Times reports:

In the United States, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the outbreak had caused such concern because officials had never seen this particular strain of the flu passing among humans.

“There is no background immunity in the population, and it is spreading from human to human — all of which has the potential for a pandemic,” Dr. Fauci said.

In the regular old Flu that people catch every winter the virus evolves. It shifts antigens every year. (Hey, that much I remember from reading The Stand.) That's why we can't develop just one vaccine and be done with it. The Flu usually mutates in birds (often chickens) and spreads to humans, who then spread it to each other. It's transmissible between animals and people and is transmissible from person to person. The Avian Flu that was so feared a few years ago mutated in birds and spread to humans, but could not be spread from human to human. Deadly, yes. But as a pandemic? A bust.

According to the CDC, the FDA, and Wikipedia (who, frankly, don't really agree with each other on a lot of things), in the United States each season nearly 150 million people get vaccinated against the regular ol' Flu. The vaccine has a 57-77% efficacy rate, depending on age, health, the particular strain or strains that emerge that season (whether the vaccine accurately targets it) and the fact that it takes about two weeks for the vaccine to take effect, so it is possible to get vaccinated and still catch the Flu during that period. Each season anywhere from 5 - 20% of the population contract the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized for complications from the flu and 36,000 die.

Historically, the pandemics that made the history books are the ones that were the deadliest. Possibly the most famous pandemic of all was the Black Plague in the mid 1300s. I was going to go into a big lesson about it, but instead I'll just say neither transmission nor treatment was understood at the time. Today, we treat it with antibiotics and no longer do we suffer its 30 - 50% death rate. (But it's still out there.)

The much-feared "Sweating Sickness" of late 15th/early 16th century England is believed to have possibly been a strain of the Flu. Starting as a fever and body aches, it moved to the lungs and often caused death in short course. If it hadn't struck in 1502 (in April to be exact), Henry VII's son Arthur would have been King of England, Arthur's good looking younger brother Harry would have been merely a lovable roguish player and the world would have been denied a visually-wonderful, but historically-bastardized, sexed-up Showtime series. Among other things.**

Of course, the "Spanish Flu" pandemic of 1918 is much discussed these days. It was also a variant of the H1N1 strain. No one really agrees as to how deadly it was, but it's believed it infected about 30% of the world's population. Depending on your source, probably less than 6% of those infected died; about 2% of the world, I think. God, I suck at math. And the seven thousand differing accounts of the deadliness of this disease don't help. What was significant about the disease was not only that it was widespread, but that it was particularly deadly. If you're a history buff at all, it's worth doing some local history research about the 1918 Flu. Since diseases don't spread evenly across the planet and do not wreak their devastation levelly, many communities were disproportionally ravaged by this illness and never recovered.

One last historical thought: Because they had no acquired or genetic immunity, Native Americans who contracted Old World diseases during Post-Columbian contact suffered a 90% fatality rate. Of course, they didn't have penicillin, either. Or vaccines. Or running water, for that matter.

Today? We're both lucky and cursed. We have antivirals. We have knowledge. (And as we know, "knowledge is power.") We have running water and skilled health care providers. But we also have the ability to circumnavigate the globe in 24 hours. Our technology is a mixed blessing. It's easier to spread diseases, but it can be easier to cure them, too.

What's the upshot of all this? Honestly, I don't know for sure. Historical experience isn't always the fortune cookie we'd like it to be. (Oh, wow... did I just say that?) This Flu, although it is spreading, doesn't seem to stand out as unusually deadly, now that we know what we're dealing with and are reacting appropriately. If irrationally.***

When the first case of H1N1 was finally, just today, announced in my state, the reaction was along the lines of "Well, if this disease has finally had the guts to cross state borders, then I guess we'd better do something about it here, too. En garde!" Like it's coming for us. With premeditated, evil intent. Mwah-ha-ha. But consider this: One reason the 1918 Flu was so deadly was because, after the initial outbreak in the spring, it returned in the fall after having mutated in response to increased human antibodies, seemingly with a vengeance and even more deadly. Mwah-ha-ha, indeed.


*Okay. Fine. H1N1. (Whatever, spin doctors.)
**Like the English Reformation being delayed by several decades, if not longer. Among other, other things.
***During the Black Death, Europeans killed cats who were mistakenly thought to be spreading the disease. But nothing like that would happen today, right?

History Class: It's not just for 8th graders anymore

Maybe because I spend all day discussing American History, I've been a little sensitive about the recent "Tea Party" protests in a slightly different way than the rest of Liberal America.* From what I can gather, the protests were organized in response to conservative disapproval of the current administration's attempts to help the sucktastic economy. Their main complaints were focused on the stimulus bill and "out of control government spending." I may not agree with their sentiments, but hey, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. And to paraphrase someone who paraphrased Voltaire, I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it. Where my main beef lies is with the protest co-opting the "Tea Party" title, due to the original event's connection with patriots, liberty and righteous protest, but with complete disregard for the veraciousness (or not) of the association.

"History Lesson! History Lesson!"

It's hard to believe the city started as a trading post... Oh, wait, that's a Jimmy Buffett song that has nothing to do with this.

But back to my point, I fail to see the connection between the current "Tea Party" protests and the historic Boston Tea Party from which the current movement inaccurately derives its name.

The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was a response to the Tea Act, a law passed by Parliament earlier that year. Granted, the Tea Act was a sort of colonial era bailout, meant to give support to the British East India Tea Company which was suffering financial problems. Some of these financial problems had surfaced when the colonies began boycotting British tea after Parliament passed Townshend Acts beginning in 1767. That series of Acts placed duties on a variety of goods imported into the colonies, tea among them. The Townshend Acts were met with protests and boycotts because Parliament was beginning to establish a pattern of levying taxes on the colonies strictly for the purpose of generating revenue and not merely for regulating trade. And all of these Acts and taxes were being passed without actual representation of the colonists in Parliament. (Parliament was operating under the theory that the colonies, if they did not have "actual representation," had "virtual representation" by virtue of being British subjects.)

Although most of the Townshend duties were eventually repealed in response to colonial protests, the tax on tea remained. However, the amount of the tax on tea was so insignificant that it was hardly worth mentioning. It was the fact that a tax existed at all that was the sticking point. British citizens could not be taxed without the consent of their representatives. Where was the colonies' representation? Furthermore, the Tea Act gave the British East India Tea Company a monopoly on the tea trade in colonies (bailout), but made British tea cheaper than smuggled alternatives that the colonists had previously relied on during their boycotts of British tea. However, many colonists refused to be manipulated and continued to boycott British tea**

The issue came to a head with the famous Boston Tea Party, when the city of Boston refused to allow three ships from the British East India Tea Company to unload their cargo of tea. The city tried to force the ships to return to Britain without paying the tea tax; the royal governor of Massachusetts refused to allow the ships to leave (it's believed he wanted to force the issue). On December 16, 1773 (on the eve of the deadline for the first ship to pay its tax), a group of vigilantes boarded the ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. The act sent a message to Americans and British alike about how colonists felt about being told what to do by the British government without being given a voice of their own and the steps to which they were willing to go to resist.

Britain -- King, Parliament and citizens -- were not happy. And contrary to current beliefs, most of America was not supportive.

So let's recap. The colonists' main complaint: What do you think we are, stupid? We know there's still a tax on tea. Stop paying lip service to our protests and stop telling us what to do. It was the growing pains of a teenaged colonies.

But the arching overall theme of the colonial protests of the 1770's was that all of the Parliamentary Acts pressed on the colonies were created by a representative government that was not representative of the colonies. No colony had actual representation in Parliament. This was, as the saying goes, "taxation without representation."

The Yahoo News Article "Anti-Obama 'tea party' protests mark US tax day," reported:

One of the bigger demonstrations took place in Washington near the White House, where about 1,000 people waved placards including "Stop Big Government" and "Taxation is Piracy."

"My money is disappearing," said one protester, Marilyn Henretty 70, a retiree. "We are tired of being taxed without representation."

Excuse me... what?! Last time I checked, every U.S. citizen 18 and older who is not a convicted felon and has lived in the state they intend to vote in for at least 30 days has the Constitutionally protected right to vote.

Oh, wait. Do you mean that you don't feel you have representation because your guy lost? Sorry, but it doesn't work that way.

So for someone to say, "The $787 billion economic stimulus bill President Obama signed in February "was basically shoved down the throat of the American people," like protester T. J. Welsh said on Wednesday ("Nationwide Tea Party Protests Blast Spending," CNN.com), is not just their opinion, it's not factually true. We have this cool system that involves separation of powers as well as checks and balances (Don't worry, I'm not going to give an American Government lecture, too). What does all this mean? Short version: the majority of our elected representatives have to agree on something for it to happen.

Holy shit, people. Get your facts straight. And stop trying to gain respectability and legitimacy by piggybacking on an emotionally charged bit of American legend.

Thus endeth the lesson.


*For the record, I'm irritated by the protests in the same way the rest of Liberal America is, too.

**Hmmm. I wonder if the current "Tea Party" conservatives would continue their protest at financial expense to themselves. Principles over personal gain? Somehow, I hardly think so.

My sister's a lesbian and all I got was a lousy t-shirt

The Courage Campaign made this video to convince the California State Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8. (If you don't watch it for any other reason, watch it for the Regina Spektor song. Yeah.)


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.


Watching this made me cry. Maybe it's the wedding photos, or the loving looks on the couples' faces, or the pictures of the kids. Maybe it's just that I'm continually amazed that in 2009 so many people don't recognize a Civil Rights issue when they see one. In the end, this fight will be won. I believe this. It will be won because it is about love. I'm just frustrated wondering how much time it might take and how many people will suffer while we're fighting for love to win.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Please go sign the Courage Campaign's petition by February 14. And keep on lovin'.

Twitterpated

Towards the end of last summer, two things converged on me, purely by coincidence, pushing me toward a new obsession.

For my birthday, the Hubster got me a BlackBerry Curve. Yes, the pink one. I've wanted a smart phone for a while, since trying to juggle all the information I need to carry around with me using a separate cell phone and Palm Pilot turned out to be awkward. He also wanted a BlackBerry and some of our friends had started to get them (allowing us all to use the nifty BlackBerry Messenger), so it seemed like the time to take the plunge.

Not long after that, I signed up for Twitter.

I'd read about Twitter a couple of years ago when it first started out and was getting a lot of press. I even visited their site back then to see what it was all about, but I just didn't get it. At the time, I didn't read as many blogs as I do now and none of the blogs I read used Twitter. I didn't know anyone personally that used Twitter. Also, it seemed inane to me. The idea that someone, even my real life friends, would be interested to know that right now I'm "eating the best piece of pizza in my life" seemed far-fetched. I don't think I'd heard the term micro-blogging at the time, but even if I had, it's a fair assumption that I still wouldn't have gotten it. Then the writers of some of my favorite blogs started to Twitter, but I just ignored the widgets in their blog sidebars because I still didn't get it.

Now, however, I get it. And I love it.

My original motivation for signing up for Twitter was that, during the presidential election debates, Cecily at Uppercase Woman decided to tweet her thoughts in real time rather than write up posts later and I wanted to know what she was thinking.* Then I noticed that Zoot also twittered, so I signed up to follow her, too.** And then I noticed Alexa at Flotsam had a Twitter widget on her blog. So I signed up for her updates.***

I think you can see where this is going.

I love knowing what people are up to, in between their regular blog posts. As anyone who is reading this realizes, since Goose was born I haven't been able to keep up with this blog the way I used to. I think I'm getting better, moving back toward regular postings, but still days (okay, weeks sometimes) can go by where I just can't carve out enough minutes to write something coherent and interesting, so I don't write at all. Also, sometimes I have a thought that's not really long enough for a full-fledged post, but something I'd like to put out there. And that's one of the things Twitter is great for.

The only third-party application I've downloaded for my BlackBerry is Twitterberry. Now Twitter is my new obsession. I have an addictive personality; it's a characteristic I willingly acknowledge. Even as a child, when I became interested in a subject (Like gerbils. Or puppetry. Hey, I've already established I'm more than a little weird.), I'd go to the public library and check out every book possible about it, take them home and pore over them until my mental sponge was saturated. I thank god we didn't have the internet back in the 70s; if we had I think I'd have been some pasty child that viewed the outside world only through her window -- either the literal window in my room or the figurative one that is a computer screen -- because the internet? Oh, the limitless information! (I know, I know... I'm preaching to the choir.) I'm also grateful that through all that reading I learned early the intellectual tools of analysis, synthesis and evaluation. At least I can think critically about the information I'm presented with and form my own opinion. However, as usual... I digress.

With my BlackBerry, I can access Twitter anywhere. And so I do. (Yes, I can access Blogger and Bloglines too, but they're a lot more cumbersome. Someone really needs to develop a cute little app like Twitterberry to make them more accessible via their mobile sites.) Twitter is easy to keep up with it. Usually. I mean, I do still have this pesky family and all that takes up most of my time. But Twitter -- and my BlackBerry -- have kept me from completely falling behind and dropping off the grid. It's quick to read and quick to post. It helps me feel like I'm still connected.

This is my confession that I'm completely twitterpated. (I actually have a really cool Disney album from my childhood that has a song called "Twitterpated" on it. I think it's from the movie Bambi. Now if only I still had a record player...) I'm slowly adding interesting people to follow. (What can I say? I'm picky about to whom I give my time) There's a Twitter widget on my own sidebar now. I'm very glad that our school's tech guy hasn't discovered Twitter yet, as he would definitely block it like all other social networking and social media sites are blocked on our server (as I'm sure they are on every other public school server in the United States). When that day comes, I'll be exceptionally grateful for my BlackBerry. (The love I feel for my BlackBerry could fill a whole 'nother post). Because I can't go without my Twitter fix.

On a related note, I'm working hard to resist the lure of Facebook. We'll see how long I hold out.

*Cause I think she's awesome. Smart. And funny as all get out.
**Cause I think she's awesome. Smart. And funny as all get out.
***Cause I think she's awesome. Smart. And funny as... well, you know.

Education: Change We Need

Ugh. We're currently in contract negotiations at work. For obvious reasons, that's all I'm going to say. Instead, I offer the following:

Education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes. We need gigantic, monumental changes. Schools should be palaces. The competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be making six figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge to its citizens, just like national defense. That's my position. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet.

-- Sam Seaborn, The West Wing, "Six Meetings Before Breakfast," Season 1, Episode 18 (2000)

Adventures of a Suicidal Nursing Pad

Due to the sometimes exciting and always unpredictable condition of overactive letdown, I wear nursing pads for the duration of the nursing year.

I, of course, have a favorite of each style. For disposable, I prefer Lansinoh. For washable cloth (for breathability at night), Lana Wool. And for general everyday, Lilypadz. Yes, it's a terrible name. (That ersatz Z.) But they're very discreet -- no telltale ring-around-the-you-know -- and they're washable and reusable.

A few weeks ago, as I changed my clothes upon returning from work, I realized I was missing a breastpad. I managed to lose it, I correctly assumed, during my last pumping session at work. The next day, there it was, sitting on top of a pile of papers on my desk, dusty & forlorn. Apparently it was found and rescued by a janitor who, although I hope he didn't know exactly what it was, recognized it as an item of some purpose and usefulness.

I was glad it wasn't gone forever. I have two pairs of Lilypadz; one old style (slightly larger in circumference, slightly thicker & slightly more curved) and one new style (slightly smaller, thinner & flatter). I prefer the old and this was the one I had dropped. I took it home and boiled it (one of the virtues of silicone), putting it back into service.

The very next day, both Lilypadz jumped from my pump case where I place them for safe-keeping while I, in the phrase that has entered my workplace parlance, "do my thing." This time I wasn't able to boil them -- I was stuck at work after all --and choose instead to assume the five-second rule also applies to breast-wear. I settled for merely washing them in very hot water & anti-bacterial soap.

The next week, I not only dropped a Lilypad again, but before I noticed, I managed to run over it with my desk chair, grinding some years-old classroom floor dirt into it in the process. It looked mortally wounded upon initial examination, but again, ministrations with soap and boiling water returned it to its former glory. Amazing.

My Lilypadz seem determined to suffer a death by misadventure. In defiance of this evident deathwish, they seem at the same time to be as immortal as Duncan McLeod. There can be only one two.

What's next for my Lilypadz, of the Clan McPadz?

Yes, we can!

I spent today showing Obama's victory speech to my classes, analyzing both the text and historical significance of it, and discussing the history that was made this week. It was inspiring watching Obama's speech again and again. I fell asleep Tuesday night during election coverage and missed the speech live, although I managed to force myself to stay awake at least until I saw McCain concede with my own eyes. I was so afraid that somehow there'd be a replay of the 2000 election.

As happy as I am that the election went the way it has, I still feel the need to acknowledge that the glass ceiling still exists in the executive branch. Three times now women have been candidates of one of the two major parties*, within reach of the presidency or vice presidency, but it's never been attained.

I'm also disappointed in some of the referendums that were held in various states. Although it seems like reproductive rights did not take the hit that they could have, gay rights were dealt a blow. Mark my words: this is the civil rights issue of the twenty-first century. I see Supreme Court cases coming soon.

So, although I'm mostly happy/relieved/insert-positive-synonym here about this election, I'm remaining cautiously optimistic that not only does our new found progressiveness stick, but that it continues to advance.

*If we include third parties, then I lose count.

Bartlet for America

From this imaginary conversation between Barack Obama and the greatest fictional American President of all time, Jed Bartlet:

OBAMA: What would you do?

BARTLET: GET ANGRIER! Call them liars, because that’s what they are. Sarah Palin didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the Bridge to Nowhere. She just said “Thanks.” You were raised by a single mother on food stamps — where does a guy with eight houses who was legacied into Annapolis get off calling you an elitist? And by the way, if you do nothing else, take that word back. Elite is a good word, it means well above average. I’d ask them what their problem is with excellence. While you’re at it, I want the word “patriot” back. McCain can say that the transcendent issue of our time is the spread of Islamic fanaticism or he can choose a running mate who doesn’t know the Bush doctrine from the Monroe Doctrine, but he can’t do both at the same time and call it patriotic. They have to lie — the truth isn’t their friend right now. Get angry. Mock them mercilessly; they’ve earned it. McCain decried agents of intolerance, then chose a running mate who had to ask if she was allowed to ban books from a public library. It’s not bad enough she thinks the planet Earth was created in six days 6,000 years ago complete with a man, a woman and a talking snake, she wants schools to teach the rest of our kids to deny geology, anthropology, archaeology and common sense too? It’s not bad enough she’s forcing her own daughter into a loveless marriage to a teenage hood, she wants the rest of us to guide our daughters in that direction too? It’s not enough that a woman shouldn’t have the right to choose, it should be the law of the land that she has to carry and deliver her rapist’s baby too? I don’t know whether or not Governor Palin has the tenacity of a pit bull, but I know for sure she’s got the qualifications of one. And you’re worried about seeming angry? You could eat their lunch, make them cry and tell their mamas about it and God himself would call it restrained. There are times when you are simply required to be impolite. There are times when condescension is called for!

Because no one writes rants like Aaron Sorkin.

Political Linkage

Due to my recent bout with bad attitude and an even worse ability to focus, most political thoughts I have in draft will stay in draft. (I mean, who wants to read, at this late date, my thoughts about Joe Leiberman's defection, the politics of school "choice," and Sarah Palin's ironically hypocritical stance on abstinence-only sex ed?).

Recently Cecily wrote about the assertion that, deep-down, everyone is ultimately a one-issue voter. In a way, I believe this to be true. For me, the issue I focus on is reproductive choice. It's not that it is the only issue I care about -- far from it -- but it's the issue I use as a barometer to help predict other parts of a candidate's platform. I find that a person's attitude toward reproductive rights is reflective of their general attitude toward other issues I care about: education, health care, gay marriage, women's issues in general, first amendment rights, the [non]Patriot Act, civil rights, the list goes on.

McCain's recent comments about reproductive choice during the final presidential debate speak volumes about his general attitude toward women. (This was just after his comment that "Sarah Palin is a role model to all women." In what world?! I ask.)

Anything I could compose at this point regarding his politics on this issue wouldn't be as articulate as what has already been written. Not to mention that the following women have personal experience to draw from, which gives their arguments more clout than mine would have. So to enlighten yourself, go forth and read:

Why No One With a Uterus Should Vote for John McCain by Julie at A Little Pregnant

Dear John McCain by Cecily at Uppercase Woman

More Wounded Than Eloquent, I'm Afraid by Alexa at Flotsam

And this, on the lighter side, from Pundit Kitchen:

In closing, I think that future candidates should take note: the use of air quotes in a political debate is destined to turn out poorly for the user.

Overdue Olympic Thoughts

Two comments. First, if I were a twenty-something single girl and met a man in a bar who, when I asked what he did, told me he played for the U.S. Men's Olympic Water Polo Team, I'd think he was fucking with me. And second, what the hell is up with the hairstyles on women gymnasts? The slightly- long- hair- slicked- back- in- a- ponytail- but- held- in- place- with- too- much- shiny- hairspray- and- five- or- six- barrettes. Why is is that none of these girls could figure out what an Olympic gold medalist and perfect 10 superstar knew back in 1984... that if you can't have a truly neat and tidy ponytail, then short hair is the way to go.

A Woman's Place is in the House... and in the Senate

I just learned Pennsylvania Senate Bill 387 left the Senate for the House of Representatives. If it passes, Pennsylvania parents of stillborn children will be able to get a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth. I wasn't aware until very recently that in many states (and PA is apparently still one of them), parents of stillborn children do not get any sort of birth certificate at all. Trite as the expression is, there's no better way to sum it up than to say: that's adding insult to injury.

One of my oldest, best-est friends (back to kindergarten... and we were each other's maids of honors twenty years later, too) lost a son at twenty weeks gestation, so although I haven't been there personally and can't empathize, I can sympathize. Although she had C-sections for her other three children, this was the only one that she was able to deliver vaginally. She delivered him. He may not have been born live, but he was born.

As of last May, there were three states that offered birth certificates and provided tax deductions for stillborn children (Arizona, Missouri and Indiana). Seventeen states offer birth certificates for stillborn children. Seven (including Pennsylvania) are considering bills to offer birth certificates. "In the laws, the gestation period at which a fetal death is considered a stillbirth rather than a miscarriage varies among states, with some starting as early as 20 weeks."

New Mexico's governor (Bill Richardson, recent Democratic candidate for president) vetoed a bill last year to allow certificates. Part of the reason for the veto was the concern that anti-abortion advocates would use the legislation to undermine abortion rights. I understand these concerns. I'm adamantly pro-choice. I've marched for women's reproductive rights in Washington, D.C. I've helped more than a few friends sort out unplanned pregnancies, even going so far as to be the support person who drove one to the clinic on the day she terminated. I'd like to think that there's a logical answer to resolving this issues and concerns, but I know well enough that when it comes to reproductive rights, common sense seems to fly out the window. However, I'd think that the language used would be a start. A New York Times article from last year states that stillbirth is "generally defined as a naturally occurring, unintentional intrauterine death after more than 20 weeks of gestation." So, how about we start there? It's not perfect, but it's a start.

I don't have all the answers, but that doesn't mean that we should stop looking for them.

If you're from Pennsylvania, and so inclined, you can send a message of support for this bill to the House by visiting here.

A New Take on Infertility... A Pregnant Man

Okay, it's not really a pregnant man. Atheist in a Minivan reported on an article in the Telegraph regarding a transgender (well, sort of) couple who used their only available, functioning uterus (which just happened to belong to the husband half of the couple) to conceive. Her take on the issue is more coherent than anything I'd be able to write at this point, so go read it.

Slaid Cleaves

The Hubster and I went to see Slaid Cleaves last night. It was by far the most fun I've had in a long time.

It was a casual sort of show at the local Club which attracts those indie artists and D-list musicians that I like so much. I've been there countless times, so I felt pretty good assuring The Hubster that it wouldn't be too crowded, that we didn't need to get tickets ahead of time or get there too early to get a table. I didn't think that that he'd be that big a draw in this area.

Boy was I wrong.

The place was jammed when we got there a half hour before show time (and only a half hour after the doors opened). We ended up standing. The crowd was a very diverse group, by age and appearance, but everyone was looking like they were anticipating a good show. No one looked like they were unfamiliar with Cleaves and had just wandered in to check him out.

Cleaves and his band were fantastic. First of all, I just love his voice. He started his set with some of his own choices, like "Flowered Dresses," but soon played only requests from the audience. He played "Breakfast in Hell," after commenting that they have a policy that they'll only play it if it's requested by three different people who all use the correct song title (I wonder what people call it? Maybe Sandy Gray?).

When "Lydia" was requested immediately after, he asked the crowd, "Do you all really want to hear two workplace disaster songs back to back?" (I was the girl who yelled "Yes!" at the top of her lungs from the back).

One song that they performed that I'd never heard and that doesn't appear anywhere on his discography was "He's Six." It was written by Cleaves' bassist Ivan Brown:

He's wild... He's six
He... pokes things with sticks.

I want a copy of it! But the link to it on the FAQ on Cleaves' site is broken.

Cell Phones

I just read a report that cell phone use while driving is considered to be more dangerous than driving drunk. I know talking on cell phones impairs your response time, but more dangerous? Really?

The one issue I have with this study is that their "drunk" drivers matched the legal limit of 0.08%. My thought on this is how many drunk drivers have had only one or two drinks? While, yes, at or above 0.08 is legally drunk, for the average person at that level they've just arrived at drunk. That's why it's the lower limit of drunk/upper limit of sober. I wonder how drunk drivers would fare as their blood-alcohol content increases.

This isn't to defend driving with a cell phone. It's obviously dangerous.

What I mean is that "driving with a cell phone" is a finite status. (You are or you aren't. You can't be talking on the phone to a greater degree than someone else who is also talking on the phone). Driving drunk has degrees. You can have a blood-alcohol content of 0.08% or one of 0.2% and function very differently. Comparing cell phones and drinking is apples and oranges.

My point is I'd argue that someone with a higher blood alcohol content would be more dangerous that a cell phone operator.