"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!" - Mario Savio
Mexico approves morning-after pill, Catholic church is piiiiiiiiiiiiissed
The Mexican Government has taken a pretty bold risk (for them, at least) and approved the sale of the morning-after pill. Unsurprisingly, the Catholic church, which is a major player in Mexican (and the rest of Latin-America) societal and governmental affairs is in a major tizzy, threatening the excommunication of any woman found knowingly taking the so-called "abortion pill".
First off, anyone who knows anything about science or women's health knows that calling the "morning-after pill" an abortion pill is disingenuous. They do the exact same thing as birth-control pills (trick the body into thinking that there is no fertilized egg, thereby inducing a normal period). In fact, they basically are just super-sized birth control pills (which are pretty much just estrogen supplements anyways). In fact, for a woman who has not been taking normal birth-control pills, they can be used as a form of emergency contraception. This is far different from the abortion of an implanted and growing fetus.
But then again, we already know that the Catholic Church has serious birth control issues. In fact, they have no problem lying about birth control (i.e. "condoms don't prevent the spread of HIV"). This is what makes me especially happy about Mexico's decision to approve the use of morning-after pills. It seems to signal the beginning of a shift of power from the RCC to normal and practical public-health decisions. That, my friends, could be monumental, but it's also guaranteed to be painful.
As anyone who has seen El Crimen del Padre Amaro can attest, Mexico's policy of keeping abortions illegal leads to underground abortion clinics that are unsanitary, risky, and at times deadly. Too often, the governments of Latin-America have permitted the Roman Catholic Church to dominate their public health policies, preventing the citizens of these countries from getting important and truthful information. Parts of Latin-America are becoming extremely infested with HIV, now placing second to Sub-Saharan Africa in the spread of the disease. The population living below the poverty line (which is, needless to say, quite a bit lower than what we're used to here in the States) is increasing at a frightening rate.
This isn't to say that a shift in Public Health policy would be a panacea for these problems, but if it doesn't occur, odds are they're only going to worsen, at a rate that could become a major global problem.
100 extras for a 3-4 hour shoot on Friday, January 30 in the afternoon on Swiss Avenue - Dallas.
“United Tour of Texas” which is slated for fall 2005 will be the largest bike race in the country similar to the Tour De France, however the monies raised will be donated directly to a non profit cancer foundation to benefit victims of cancer and their families.
A bike race will be staged- a crowd needs to be created to cheer the racing cyclists. The shoot should take 3-4 hours. This scene will be included in a 4 minute presentation to potential corporate sponsors.
Please consider donating your time to this worthwhile project.
Men, women, all ages, all races, children welcome.
Please email Tisha Blood at : tisha@buffalocasting.com with FRIDAY EXTRA in the subject line and she will send you all the details.
I'll be at work, otherwise I'd strongly consider going. Could be cool.
:: Scott
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:: 28.1.04 ::
Maybe the Utah Saints were right...
James Brown is the new Nick Nolte. I'd ask what he's doing with a wife less than half his age, but somehow, it doesn't surprise me.
:: Scott
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XML feed
Should be working now. Try it here. Please comment if you've got an atom-enabled aggregator and it works. Or if it doesn't. Merci.
:: Scott
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Seeking to recast its reasons for toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the Bush administration is sending high-ranking officials abroad to justify the war as good for humanity, despite increasing evidence that Baghdad did not possess stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
"The former dictator sits in captivity. He can no longer harbour and support terrorists, and his long efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction are at an end," U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney said yesterday in a speech to political and business leaders in Rome. Today, Mr. Cheney will take the same message to the Vatican on a fence-mending mission to Pope John Paul II, who had condemned the war as a defeat for humanity and whose personal emissary failed to dissuade President George W. Bush from attacking Iraq last spring.
..::The SXSWblog is back - I liked the Shiner based design better though::..
:: Scott
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According to the LCV, Kerry is the environmental best choice (something that does hold some water for me). Via the LCV's breakdown of the candidates, Kerry seems to separate himself from the rest of them by way of his actions in the Senate. While serving, Kerry was a key fighter for the protection of the Arctic refuge, called for increased fuel efficiency, and supported the re-engagement of the int'l community to go beyond the Kyoto protocol.
While other candidates may support some of these measures, Kerry is reported as being the only one that supports all of them actively and has made the environment a major tenet of his campaign. I suppose it really doesn't matter too much though, as whoever comes out of the Democrat clusterbomb will almost assuredly be getting my vote anyways.
:: Scott
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Companies scramble to cope with multiple languages in the workplace
They were the go-to people when customers needed advice in Spanish about eyeshadow or perfume. But when Hispanic employees wanted to speak Spanish to one another, they say it was forbidden - even on lunch breaks.
Five women who worked for the cosmetics store Sephora in New York filed complaints, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued last fall on their behalf. They argue the policy is too restrictive and amounts to national-origin discrimination, which is illegal under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
There's no quick fix. Some employers go to the expense of offering classes to improve workers' English. Others turn the tables and train supervisors in languages most often spoken by workers in their industry (see story, page 15). What seems the simplest answer to some - an English-only policy - is tricky because conflicts between court rulings and EEOC guidelines leave a lot of gray areas.
Obviously, this is something that is going to become more and more precient in the upcoming years. Dallas (and the other areas around here) is fairly fortunate in that for the most part, you're only dealing with English/Spanish issues. I can't imagine how it is on the coasts where you have to throw in Asian, African, and other assorted languages.
The stores that you go to in this region that you'll hear languages other than English and Spanish (foreign cuisine restaurants and markets, dry cleaners, and gas stations, mostly) seem to be owned and run strictly by people of the same nationality, so worrying about say Spanish, Korean, and English issues isn't a problem.
It's interesting to see how, say, in the service industry, you see a lot more managers lately speaking a (non-native) Spanish to their employees. I'm not sure if it's becoming an implicit prerequisite for management types or if the companies are training the managers themselves. I know that the County has offered voluntary Spanish classes to clerks in the public services realm.
I like the idea of major manufacturers where there are people of many different nationalities offering English classes to their workers. It works from a constuctive work environment point of view (versus the slap-down nature of 'english-only' policies) and is a great benefit to the employees who have recently arrived in the country.
:: Scott
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Number of cars sporting official "Texas State Judge" license plate: 1
MPH by which said car was exceeding the legal posted speed limit: ~12
Number of eighteen wheelers rolled over on side seen: 1
Amount of time wasted by rubberneckers gawking at a stalled car on other side of highway: 25 minutes
Number of games bowled; highest score acheived: 3; 153
Number of times eyes were covered by imminent cring-inducing scene in The Cooler: 3
Number of games in current Mavs winning streak after yesterday's freaking great game agains the Kings: 8
Number of meals eaten consisting solely of popcorn and granola bars: 1
As a maintenance note, Blogger is finally offering RSS/XML feeds. Mine can be found here. I'd appreciate someone letting me know if it works or not. Grazi.
:: Scott
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:: 21.1.04 ::
Media
I've had the pleasure of taking in some good reads lately. Just thought I'd share.
A friend loaned me a copy of Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. It's a quick read (about four days and I'm nearly through with it), but it's quite good. Here's an especially insightful sample paragraph:
Below screevers come the people who sing hymns, or sell matches, or bootlaces, or envelopes containing a few grains of lavender - called, euphemistically, perfume. All these people are frankly beggars, exploiting an appearance of misery, and none of them takes on average more than half a crown a day. The reason why they have to pretend to sell mtatches and so forth instead of begging outright is that this is demanded by the absurd English laws about begging. As the law now stands, if you approach a stranger and ask him for twopence, he can call a policeman and get you seven days for begging. But if you make the air hideous by droning "Nearer, My God, to Thee," or scrawl some chalk daubs on the pavements, or stand about with a tray of matches - in short, if you make a nuisance of yourself - you are held to be following a legitimate trade and not begging. Match-selling and street-singing are simply legalised crimes. Not profitable crimes, however; there is not a singer or match-seller in London who can be sure of 50 a year - a poor return for standing eighty-four hours a week on the kerb, with the cars grazing your backside.
This month's Harper's has a very good essay by Don DeLillo about Lee Harvey Oswald. Unfortunately, it's unavailable online, so you have to go to your local bookstore/newstand/really cool doctor's office to read it. But it's worth it.
I found this entry at Tailor's Today notable. The better among you have likely already read it, but for those of you lagging behind, get on over there.
:: Scott
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Another good week, and another tip o' the hat to Charles for the assistance.
:: Scott
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:: 18.1.04 ::
Random Mavs/NBA Stuff
I don't talk about sports too often here, but those of you that aren't interested will either have to skip this post or just indulge me.
There's all kinds of talk right now about a Mavs/Blazers trade of Antawn Jamison and Tariq Abdul-Wahad (who has yet to play this season) for Rasheed Wallace. With the game tonight between those two teams, speculation has run rampant. I've thought about it quite a bit, and here's how I break it down, from a Mavs fan point of view:
Pros: 'Sheed will offer a lot of things that Jamison won't. He's a much better post-up player, something the Mavs are sorely lacking. Plus, he's a much better defender against those that the Mavs have no real answer for (like Duncan type players). He can also pop the three. Plus, he's got that certain swagger/panache that can spark a team. I thought Antione Walker would do a better job of doing that for the Mavs, but that hasn't quite panned out. They need a fireball for those tough games that are close and important, and obviously (much as I love them) the big three don't do that. In that respect, it could work out. But.....
Cons: Jamison has been an absolute angel. He came to the Mavs before the trade for Walker and offered to play sixth man. This coming from a guy who was #1 on his previous team, a huge, huge step down. He's done it so well, and come of the bench like a real team player. 'Sheed won't do that. He's got serious attitude problems, and I see him clashing with the Mavs big time, especially with Walker. Plus, what the Mavs need is not another scoring power-forward. They need a big man (Center) that can defend very well against the top o' the line guys in the west. Sheed can do that better than Jamison, but not well enough to justify the cost. Plus, Jamison hustles night in and night out. When Wallace cares, he plays well, but that's not every night.
Add in the fact that if this trade does happen, the Mavs will be faced at the end of the year with resigning Nash, Walker, and Wallace, all of whom will probably demand a raise. Add again, the Mavs keep screwing around with the lineup before the team can have a chance to gel. It's worked out well for them in some cases, but not all, and I really think the team they have now is as good as they're going to get this year. Let them have a push, for goodness sakes. This is a team that has gone 2-0 against the Spurs, beaten the Lakers in LA, and beaten the Kings in Sacramento. The record isn't as good as it was this time last year, but they're winning big games, which, come playoffs, is all that matters.
The local media has treated this trade deal as much more of a 'when' versus an 'if'. I can't say for sure that it would be a huge mistake, but I don't like it. I have no personal beef with 'Sheed. Hell, I've always liked the Blazers with him at the forefront. But it just doesn't make sense to me. We'll see what happens, I guess.
:: Scott
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For the past four decades, Iraqi women have enjoyed some of the most modern legal protections in the Muslim world, under a civil code that prohibits marriage below the age of 18, arbitrary divorce and male favoritism in child custody and property inheritance disputes.
Saddam Hussein's dictatorship did not touch those rights. But the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council has voted to wipe them out, ordering in late December that family laws shall be "canceled" and such issues placed under the jurisdiction of strict Islamic legal doctrine known as sharia.
This week, outraged Iraqi women -- from judges to cabinet ministers -- denounced the decision in street protests and at conferences, saying it would set back their legal status by centuries and could unleash emotional clashes among various Islamic strains that have differing rules for marriage, divorce and other family issues.
"This will send us home and shut the door, just like what happened to women in Afghanistan," said Amira Hassan Abdullah, a Kurdish lawyer who spoke at a protest meeting Thursday. Some Islamic laws, she noted, allow men to divorce their wives on the spot.
"The old law wasn't perfect, but this one would make Iraq a jungle," she said. "Iraqi women will accept it over their dead bodies."
I really don't think much comment is necessary here.
:: Scott
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..::M.C. Escher meets origami. Impressive. And FYI, because I'd never really thought about it until now, the M.C. in Escher's name stands for Maurits Cornelis, according to this page::..
..::As antiheroes, the "Trenchcoat Mafia" - the name high-school jocks [slang for athletic teens] gave to Eric and Dylan's gang - have the same appeal as A Clockwork Orange's Alex DeLarge, with the added potency of being real. Yahoo discussion lists with titles like "I love Eric and Dylan" have, between them, thousands of members. Websites with names such as "In Remembrance of Eric and Dylan" - and even one encouraging teens to wear "sympathy ribbons" if "you want to remember their achievement" - have received hundreds of thousands of hits. -- A Creepy article from the Independent on the Cult of Eric and Dylan::..
..::The Government of Mexico's official David Alfaro Siqueiros site (flash). Siqueiros, another in the long line of exceptional Mexican muralists, was remembered in a ceremony on the 30th anniversary of his death earlier this week::..
:: Scott
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:: 14.1.04 ::
Stealing some fodder...
Jaq points to the Gamer's Nook who's got the latest and greatest blog meme, listing of 100 movies, bolded are the ones that I've seen.
1. Godfather, The (1972) 2. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) 3. Godfather: Part II, The (1974) 4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003) 5. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002) 6. Casablanca (1942) 7. Schindler's List (1993) 8. Shichinin no samurai (1954) 9. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) 10. Citizen Kane (1941) 11. Star Wars (1977) 12. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) 13. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 14. Rear Window (1954) 15. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 16. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 17. Memento (2000) 18. Usual Suspects, The (1995) 19. Pulp Fiction (1994) 20. North by Northwest (1959) 21. Fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain, Le (2001) 22. Psycho (1960) 23. 12 Angry Men (1957) 24. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 25. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) 26. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) 27. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 28. Goodfellas (1990) 29. American Beauty (1999) 30. Vertigo (1958) 31. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 32. Pianist, The (2002) 33. Matrix, The (1999) 34. Apocalypse Now (1979) 35. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 36. Some Like It Hot (1959) 37. Taxi Driver (1976) 38. Paths of Glory (1957) 39. Third Man, The (1949) 40. C'era una volta il West (1968) 41. Fight Club (1999) 42. Boot, Das (1981) 43. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) (Spirited Away) 44. Double Indemnity (1944) 45. L.A. Confidential (1997) 46. Chinatown (1974) 47. Singin' in the Rain (1952) 48. Requiem for a Dream (2000) 49. Maltese Falcon, The (1941) 50. M (1931) 51. All About Eve (1950) 52. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957) 53. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 54. Se7en (1995) 55. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 56. Cidade de Deus (2002) 57. Raging Bull (1980) 58. Wizard of Oz, The (1939) 59. Rashemon (1950) 60. Sting, The (1973) 61. American History X (1998) 62. Alien (1979) 63. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 64. Leon (The Professional) (1994) 65. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 66. Vita bella, La (1997) (Life Is Beautiful) 67. Touch of Evil (1958) 68. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) 69. Wo hu cang long (2000) (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) 70. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948) 71. Great Escape, The (1963) 72. Clockwork Orange, A (1971) 73. Reservoir Dogs (1992) 74. Annie Hall (1977) 75. Amadeus (1984) 76. Jaws (1975) 77. Ran (1985) 78. On the Waterfront (1954) 79. Modern Times (1936) 80. High Noon (1952) 81. Braveheart (1995) 82. Apartment, The (1960) 83. Sixth Sense, The (1999) 84. Fargo (1996) 85. Aliens (1986) 86. Shining, The (1980) 87. Blade Runner (1982) 88. Strangers on a Train (1951) 89. Duck Soup (1933) 90. Metropolis (1927) 91. Finding Nemo (2003) 92. Donnie Darko (2001) 93. Toy Story 2 (1999) 94. Princess Bride, The (1987) 95. General, The (1927) 96. City Lights (1931) 97. Lola rennt (1998) (Run Lola Run) 98. Full Metal Jacket (1987) 99. Notorious (1946) 100. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
I only counted those that I've sat down and watched, not those that I've seen various bits and pieces of or seen probably as a whole in parts. I have shichinin no samurai right now from NetFlix, but probably won't get around to watching it until Sunday.
Oh, and if I counted right, I've got 44/100. Less than half. Oh well.
:: Scott
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(meta)Filtering AskMetafilter
Time for round 2 of Best of AskMe. Previous entry here. Sorry I'm a day late, but I've been busy and laid out with a cold. Bad combination. Thanks to Charles for the help.
Quite a long list this week. Hopefully more will come.
:: Scott
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Liberal Talk Radio
Reports are now surfacing about a company named Progress Media who is enlisting the likes of Al Franken and RFK Jr. to host their own programs on a liberal talk radio station. Franken will be on directly competing with Rush Limbaugh, a match made in heaven.
I hope this is done well. I really don't like listening to people rant and rave on various topics (a reason I do well to stick with NPR for the most part), but if Franken can be as funny as he has been in his books, then it may be worth tuning in.
I'm skeptical that this will serve as much of a way to sway opinions though. It seems to me that those that can tolerate listening to the likes of Rush and O'Reilly are either those that already agree with them on everything so much that they just like to have their opinions mollycoddled, or those that disagree with them so vehemently that they tune in just to get some rage-induced fuel for attacking them. I really can't see it as that much different for the other end of the spectrum, but it's nice that there will be an alternative out there and I may be proven wrong. There aren't any plans yet for a Dallas station, but hopefully one will pop up somewhere.
:: Scott
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:: 9.1.04 ::
Trippy
These 9 drawings were done by an artist under the influence of LSD -- part of a test conducted by the US government during it's dalliance with psychotomimetic drugs in the late 1950's. The artist was given a dose of LSD 25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. His subject is the medico that jabbed him. (via the ultimate insult)
:: Scott
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:: 6.1.04 ::
Best of AskMe
Like many, I'm pretty enthralled by the great response to Ask.Metafilter. I'm usually not too big of a help to people with problems, but my general ignorance of science and technology lends a certain voyeuristic pleasure to people with the nads to ask questions I never would. That said, there's a deluge of questions asked every day, and often a question is left on the front page for less than 24 hours, leading to a lot of missed posts and an unfortunate amount of repeated questions.
With that in mind, for those that don't read MeFi, those that don't read AskMe on a regular basis, and just curious parties betwixt the two, I'm going to start doing a weekly round-up of the most pertinent questions in my opinion. They may be things I've been curious about in the past, or something that I think would help someone specific, or just generally good things to know. So, here's the first of many Best of AskMe posts.
..::Advice for long distance moves - for what it's worth, we used Penske this weekend to move Denise to Houston and aside from a late truck-arrival issue (which she got a substantial discount for) there were no problems::..
More this time next week. And remember, this is just one guy's opinion. A guy that has no problems starting sentences with "and".
:: Scott
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StadiaNation
This is a beautiful site featuring sliced panoramic shots of stadiums all over the world. More often than not, they're empty, but many of the European shots are from live games. I've only been to one stadium they have on here, but I love looking at photos like these. Beautiful stuff. (via ball of hate)
:: Scott
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