Tuesday, July 31, 2007

In Georgia...

To continue along the lines of my last post, those who live in Georgia should know laws that are already in place:

1) 94% of Georgia counties have no abortion provider

2) Family planning agencies and individuals are allowed to refuse to provide family planning and birth control services when it is contrary to their religious beliefs. There is no requirement of such individuals/organizations to inform the patient, provide medically and factually accurate information, or provide a referral to another.

3)Similarly, even if one does get a prescription for birth control, pharmacists can refuse to fill your prescription based on their religious/moral beliefs. Georgia also allows hospitals and any of their employees to refuse to perform sterilization procedures. Both of these have no exceptions and no mechanism for women to find information or referrals.

Can you imagine being in a town out in rural georgia, and having to drive counties away just to find a doctor willing to prescribe contraceptives, and then make a similar drive every time you want your prescription filled? Or if you live in such a town, are raped, and want an abortion? Would you even know where to go?

My point is this: it's easy to get wrapped up in the federal level elections, but it's our local politicians that make the laws above. Isn't it time we started paying attention to them too?

Monday, July 30, 2007

How much jail time?

So my sister sent me a story I think gives an interesting perspective on the abortion debate. If abortion is illegal, how much jail time should a woman who has one in a state where it's illegal get? Check it out here

For those who think that abortion and contraception will not be a big issue in the next election, just look at what has happened in the past few years:

1) For three years, white house political appointees interfered with the Food and Drug Administration's decision on the Plan B® emergency contraceptive, delaying the eventual approval of the back-up form of birth control for over-the-counter sale claiming non-existent health concerns.

2) The current president and anti-choice congressional allies have continuously increased funding for abstinence-only sex education programs that have never been shown to actually decrease teen pregnancy or even lessen the number of teenagers having sex. Compare that to the number of studies showing more comprehensive education decreases the number of teen pregnancy cases.

3) Ideology and politics can sometimes trump science. The Department of Health and Human Services recently revised its website, 4Parents.gov, and replaced factual data designed to help parents talk about preventing teen pregnancy with biased and misleading claims about abortion. Previously, the administration had to remove medically inaccurate material it placed on the National Institutes of Health's website that falsely linked abortion to breast cancer, a claim roundly rejected by medical researchers and breast-cancer prevention advocates.

4) On April 18, 2007, the Supreme Court handed down its decision to uphold the Federal Abortion Ban in Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, that held no exceptions for the health of the woman. The current court is likely to leave abortion rights in the hands of the states and legislature, even more of a reason to pay attention to who you elect locally.

Oy, my short post has turned into something much longer than intended... more on this to come later (or just check out the link in the bottom left corner for more info). For now, though, I'd love to hear opinions on the title of this post.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Tisha B'Av

Tisha B'Av began tonight at sundown, and as this is the first time I have ever done anything for it, I wanted to blog about it. Since this was one of the many Jewish holidays I didn't know much about growing up, I'll start from the beginning. The 10th day of the month of Av (Tisha B'Av) is one of the most somber days in the Jewish calendar. Originally designated to commemorate the destruction of the first and second temple (and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people from Jerusalem), a number of tragedies have since happened on/near this day throughout history:

1) The destruction of the First Temple on the 7th or 10th of Av in 586 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylonia)

2) The second Temple was destroyed on the 10th (70 C.E. by Titus)

3)The capture of Bethar, which marked the final defeat of Bar Kokhba's rebellion against the Romans, and the razing of Jerusalem by the Romans

4) The edict of King Edward I compelling the Jews of England to leave the country was signed in 1290,

5) The Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492

6) World War I broke out in 1914

7) The bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina in 1994 by Iranian-backed Hezbollah

It's a bit scary that so many destructive historical events happened then. Likewise, it's fairly depressing to be reminded that in so many stages of history our people have been hated, abused, expelled from one place or another, shattered as a people. So we fast, use the day for introspection, mourn for the tragedies of history. And from what I've found so far, there's also a note of hope, a realization that no matter how much we've suffered, we're still here. We're still alive and kicking. And with Israel's declaration of independence in 1948, we are regathered from exile with a state again. To quote another country song, "That's something to be proud of."

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Country Music

A friend told me that he had a hard time believing that I like country music. For those of my readers in the same category, here's why. Besides the beat, a lot of the lyrics genuinely have good messages, avoid talking about bitches and hoes or shooting people, and touch home about life in general. Some of my favorites:

"Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what your made of
You might bend 'til you break
'Cause it's all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe you hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand" -Rascall Flatts, "Stand"

" I ain't settling for just getting by
I've had enough so so for the rest of my life
Tired of shooting too low, so raise the bar high
Just enough ain't enough this time
I ain't settling for anything less than everything, yeah"
- Sugarland, "Settling"

"I laid in bed that night and thought about the day
And how my life is like a roller coaster ride
The ups and downs and crazy turns along the way
It'll throw you off if you don't hold on tight
You can't really smile until you've shed some tearst
I could die today or I might live on for years

I love this crazy, tragic,
Sometimes almost magic,
Awful, beautful life" -e" -Darryl Worley, "Awful, Beautiful Life"

"Someday she wants a big o' ring
With a big ol' rock that shines
And a big ol' walk-in closet
With shoes of every kind
Yeah, someday she wants a big ol' boat
She can lay around gettin' a tan
But right now all she wants is a man

With a big ol' heart
Who can love her like nobody can
Big ol' kisses that go on and on
And never end
With a big ol' smile
He'll fill her world with laughter
Size matters, size matters" - Joe Nichols, "Size Matters"

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Free Sami Al Arian... Are you serious?!?

So I've become a bit of a facebook junkie lately, and learned one of my friends joined the "Free Sami Al-Arian" group recently. I mean, I'm all for standing up for those falsely treated by our judiciary system, but Al-Arian? Are you serious???

For those who don't know who this is, Sami Al-Arian was a professor at Florida State University who abused his office and funneled money to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a terrorist organization that advocates the annihilation of Israel and uses suicide bombings and other violent means to achieve this goal (and recruit women and teens to do so). For a list of such attacks deliberately targeting civilians by the PIJ, click here.

Lest someone else point this out, the US government charged him with a lot of terrorism-related felonies that he was acquitted of. Now, we can argue whether or not he should have been convicted/tried for those another time, but one thing is for sure. He is serving a sentence to charges he pleaded guilty to, i.e. conspiracy "to make or receive contributions of funds, goods or services to or for the benefit of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Specially Designated Terrorist [sic], in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371". He admitted raising money for an organization he knew employed terror tactics to achieve its objective, and did nothing to stop the violence (to quote the judge in his case, he "lifted not one finger. To the contrary, [he] laughed when [he] heard of the bombings"). And, more likely than not, Al-Arian was a PIJ leader in North America. Someone who raises money to buy the explosives to put into a bomb that kills a dozen civilians and to pay the family of the homicide bomber is as guilty as the one who lights the fuse. Is this really the type of guy you want to be sticking up for???

To my like minded friends, there are a number of Muslim and/or middle eastern people who have run into difficulty with the law in recent years. Pick your battles, there are plenty of innocent people at the wrong place at the wrong time who are worth standing up for. Sami Al-Arian is no such man.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Belize!


My photos from Belize are up! Overall I think Avital and I had a great time, getting to go spelunking, horseback riding, looking at Mayan ruins and snorkeling. The country's official language was English, but most people spoke at least one other (e.g. Spanish, Creole, Garifuna). We hung out a lot with some of the local Belizeans, and it was definitely nice to have a window into a totally different environment, politics, and culture. We definitely met some cool people, and everywhere we went we had "protectors" looking out for us. Fresh fish was cheap too, and we had it almost every night. Avital even brought back some home-made hot sauce from Erva's, one of our favorite restaurants.

This is my second international trip with one other female friend, and I'm really loving it. Travelling this way forces you to meet people, mingle, and really get a feel for the country. Yet you always have your safety bag, your person to unwind to at the end of the day, and relax with when you tire of socializing. And in spending so much time together, you learn a lot about each other, and yourself.

There's so much to say, but I'll end on this note: everyone should travel internationally, and try to actually meet people when they go. It's nice to be outside the US bubble, to start to gain some understanding of the way people live, and just to see new places. And on a student budget, Central America's a good place to start!

It's been a while

It's been a while since I've posted last, so I don't know where to begin. May and June have been filled with all kinds of excitement, from cramming to get simulation results for a grant submission, to a spinal cord conference, to an exciting trip to Belize! Did I mention I moved too? But now that I'm getting settled into the new apartment and found my cable, I can finally post some photos. They'll do little to convey the full extent of my adventures, but should be able to give you a little glimpse into them.

A short update on research, I've found that the more I understand, the more I realize I don't know. For example, I learned just how easy it is to manipulate hidden variables to make your simulation do what you want it to. And that the bulk of being a grad student is learning how to deal with failure and learn from it. Lastly, at the conference I made some pretty cool connections to people who study what I'm interested in and one professor who lives in Israel. Hopefully I can set up some kind of collaboration in the near future, I'd love to spend 6 months to a year there studying.

More posts to come later, as soon as I figure out how to do this whole picture thing....