July 1, 2014

Countries where 'the pill is free':

<snip>
Using data from Harvard University's Center for Population and Development Studies, Slate put together a map of where almost every country in the world stood on public provision of oral contraceptives. They divided the world into three categories: "the pill is free" (blue), "partial subsidy" (purple), and "no subsidy" (orange). Here's how the globe looks, adjusted for today's ruling:


One thing that's interesting here is the total lack of consistency. North America is the only continent where the pill is free or subsidized everywhere. In Western Europe, most countries offer a full or partial subsidy for the pill, but Spain and Ireland - two countries with strong Catholic roots - offer none. Neither does much of former-Soviet Eastern Europe. In the Middle East, maybe unsurprisingly, Saudi Arabia does not offer subsidies for the pill - but Iran makes it free. Norway doesn't subsidize the pill, but Sweden does. This suggests there's no clear consensus, regionally, about the state's proper role in providing birth control.

Inside countries, there are some interesting patterns. J.M. Ian Salas, an economist at the Harvard center Slate's data came from, wrote up the results of several recent papers on birth control subsidies around the world. Here's what he found:

1-Despite a financial crisis and a sharp increase in contraceptive prices between 1998 and 2008, Indonesian birth control use rates remained stable. The government-run National Family Planning Institute, set up in 1968, distributes contraceptives and provides family-planning counseling.

2-Comparative studies of six African countries found that the abortion rate increased when access to contraceptives, provided by non-governmental organizations, decreased in the countries that most depended on NGOs to subsidize contraception.

3-Poor Filipino women were significantly more likely to have an unplanned birth after even a temporary disruption in free access to contraceptives.
<snip>
More:
http://bit.ly/1oiXfWk

SCOTUS-MEH!

June 30, 2014

It's really SCROTUS not SCOTUS:

@GreatDismal:
SCROTUS Supreme Court (Religious) Of The United States

Word!

June 30, 2014

Posting 3 happy pics to provide a break. I could seriously blow a gasket. SCOTUS-MEH!

Pals


Look what I did


Gots to get over this mountain

June 30, 2014

Time to really boycott some companies.

Starting with Hobby Lobby.

June 30, 2014

Lizz Winstead: This is what happened to me when there was no buffer zone at an abortion clinic:

The violence at clinics started in the late 1970’s. I was in my teens and I paid attention as in 1979, at 17 years old, I got pregnant. The journey that led me to my abortion choice is here:
http://vimeo.com/7548216

I went alone, I had no support, and the first time I could have real feelings about my choice in front of someone was at the clinic. I could speak freely, and without judgment.

I was professionally counseled; I was asked questions that did not have an agenda attached, it was only to evaluate my decision. It reaffirmed what I knew about myself, not as I had experienced days before at a Crisis Pregnancy center, what a stranger tried to impose upon me. I felt safe, I felt heard and – as I say almost every time I have written about this subject – I felt relief.

I made a promise to myself that I would always be there to advocate in anyway I could. And when the violence at abortion clinics started escalating in the 1980’s, I tried to help.

Doctors were being gunned down at their clinics and in their homes. Their children were followed to school, taunted by dangerous pied vipers shouting, “Your mommy (or daddy) is a murderer.”

There wasn’t organized clinic escorting yet so some activists would do things like stay overnight to protect clinic entrances before the most rabid of the protesters arrived. These people would do ANYTHING to gain access and even chain themselves to the clinic door, disrupting women’s access to health care for the day.

There often was swarming between camps and chaotic pushing and shouting. We were without training so we made up rules as we went along. First rule we learned quickly was always wear thick jeans. No matter how hot it is.

Why?
<snip>
Read the horrifying rest:
http://bluenationreview.com/hey-scotus-right-get-stabbed-anti-abortion-protester/

An article about what abortion clinics can still do to protect themselves:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/29/abortion-clinics-are-not-defenseless-but-there-is-reason-for-caution/

The plaintiffs presented a 'kindly', elderly grandmother as the face of 'counseling' that people outside clinics do. The reality is far different.

SCOTUS seems to believe that clinic violence has is no longer a factor.(see the article above) They need to live in the real world. This is the same attitude that they had about voting rights. They seem to think that voters are no longer impeded.

Per ABC, one clinic had more than 200 people volunteer to be escorts after the ruling.

If you volunteer to be an escort, you have to be ready for anything. The loons will be out. Winstead spells out some of their nasty tactics. It won't just be locking arms.
You will literally have to fight and learn tactics that won't get you arrested. That might mean surreptitious self-defense. If they aren't seen attacking, you can't be seen forcefully defending yourself.

June 30, 2014

Former Auburn TE Phil Lutzenkirchen died Sunday. He will be missed by many who didn't know him. Why?

<snip>
Those around the Auburn program knew best what kind of truly special person he was. Like the time in 2010 when he attended the prom at his alma mater Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga., with a young woman with Down syndrome.
<snip>
I can't say I knew Lutzenkirchen well. I think I interviewed him a few times over the years. But his heart and spirit had an impact on me, too. Last month, he and I traded about a dozen direct messages over Twitter. The exchange started after I praised him in a tweet for some of the comments he made in support of former Mizzou star Michael Sam during the NFL draft. Lutzenkirchen, a Christian who worked with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, also had begun sparring with some fans, including many of his alma mater, who didn't approve of Sam. These were some of the tweets from Lutzenkirchen's timeline that day:

@Phil Lutzenkirchen
That was a moment America will never forget @MikeSamFootball Uncomfortable for some but changing. #bestofluck brother

@Phil Lutzenkirchen
If someone is in love with a person let him be in love. He doesn't judge you for loving a straight, cute, gay, fat, ugly, sexy, person.
Please read the rest:
http://msn.foxsports.com/college-football/story/auburn-philip-lutzenkirchen-car-accident-legacy-of-kindness-compassion-062914

RIP Phil Lutzenkirchen!
You could have remained on the sidelines and not said a thing. You stepped up at a crucial moment in a very conservative area. I will always wonder what you could have accomplished.

June 27, 2014

Watching over me:

Moonpie is on the left and Tater is on the right.

When I go outside, Moonpie and Tater used to watch intently as I left. I had to be careful that they didn't slip out. Yesterday I noticed them peering through the blinds at me as I was getting in my car. (Mousie used to appear when I returned from a trip.)

I don't know if they want to see what I'm doing or they want to make sure I am coming back. I also have to close the door to the bathroom because Tater is intent on jumping in the tub. They cry until I come out.

(Scat passed a month ago today. At times it feels like years, and at other times it feels like it just happened. Sigh......)

June 27, 2014

A moment in the NBA draft that you should see:

Last I heard, he is going to be an assistant coach at Baylor or in some position. At any rate, he will stay there in some capacity. That won't make up or having your dreams crushed after years of work, but it's a familiar place to regain his footing.
He is also blind in one eye.

Flo Hyman, a world-class volleyball player, died suddenly from this condition.

June 27, 2014

It's getting real in Latta, SC. The Mayor hired a new sheriff before the old one can be reinstated.

LATTA, S.C. — The results from Tuesday’s referendum in Latta are scheduled to be certified at 11 a.m. today at the Dillon County Courthouse. And if everything goes as expected, Latta residents could see changes before the end of the day. Latta residents voted 328-147 on Tuesday to change the town’s form of government from strong mayor-weak council to strong council-weak mayor.

Members of the council announced Thursday they don’t plan to waste any time getting to work.
They’ll hold a special public meeting at 7 p.m. Friday at the Latta Community Center during which they say they’ll address several ongoing controversial decisions Mayor Earl Bullard has made since taking office in January.

First on the agenda, council members say, is the rehiring of former Latta Police Chief Crystal Moore.
“The vote will be certified at 11 a.m.. After the Secretary of State is notified by phone call, council will assume control of our town,” Councilman Jarett Taylor said. “Once that vote is certified, council will be giving Crystal Moore her job back.”

Bullard fired Moore after she refused to sign seven unexplained reprimands — the first of her 23-year career in law enforcement — that Bullard presented to her on the same day. Council members pleaded with Bullard to reinstate Moore, to no avail, and finally voted in May to let the town’s citizens decide whether they wanted council or the mayor in charge of the town’s business.

Less than 24 hours after the referendum passed, Bullard announced he’d hired Freddie Davis to be the town’s new police chief. Davis’ resume includes past work in law enforcement at the Florence Police Department, Pamplico Police Department, Florence County Sheriff’s Office, Kingstree Police Department and, most recently, the Hemingway Police Department, where he was employed as a captain. According to a copy of Davis’ contract obtained by the Morning News, Davis is scheduled to start work as chief on July 1.

But that doesn’t look likely to happen at this point, if the town’s council has anything to do with it. Additionally, state law doesn’t stipulate any waiting period on the transition in government forms.
“The statute is truly silent on when the change is effective,” said Bill Taylor, a field manager with the Municipal Association of South Carolina. “However, it’s been our recommendation that it should take place after the election is certified by the municipal election commission. So our opinion would be that absent any other problems, council can move forward with conducting business under the new form of government right after Friday’s certification.”
http://www.scnow.com/news/article_0da6e542-fd8c-11e3-a5f4-0017a43b2370.html

Now he's made the citizens real mad. If he gets to have a key to the bathroom I'd be surprised.

One council member was surprised at the hiring because she said there was no money to hire anybody. Another member said that he can't hire anybody without council approval even under the old rules.

And Freddie Davis is a fool for taking the job. I bet the mayor told him it would be if fine and that it would all blow over.
Not.Gonna.Happen.
Davis said he and his wife prayed about taking the job. They better pray again and hear another answer.

You don't treat people like this. Everybody knows everybody in a town like Latta. They were happy with Moore on the job and her sexual orientation wasn't a problem. They knew about it but most probably have known her since she was little. They might not approve, but it wasn't something that got in anybody's way. I know some like Bullard had a problem, but not nearly a majority.

None of these people will be leading a gay rights parade. However, they do know Moore and know that nobody has ever been hurt because of her lifestyle. This is how progress is made in some places.

On the other hand, the DO know Bullard is a mean,nasty, pigheaded fool who wasn't raised right. Everybody at that meeting tonight will probably say, "Bless his heart " right before they shite on his plans.

June 26, 2014

The USMNT on the way to the stadium:

@SBNation

Ha!