I went to a rally yesterday for Emergency Contraception. There is an effort in the state of Illinois to make Emergency Contraception aka The Morning After Pill aka Plan B available over the counter. With EC the sooner you take it, the more effective it is. It is most effective in the first 2 days but is effective for up to 5 days after sex. It isn't harmful and it won't work if you are already pregnant. There was a recommendation made to the FDA to make EC available over the counter which was approved and then stopped by everyone's favorite President W.
Making EC available over the counter would give women access to contraception at night and on the weekends. Times when it is very difficult to get a hold of a doctor to write you a prescription.
A further impediment to access is that many pharmacies that do not stock and refuse to order EC for their customers. Perhaps they feel that such a thing would be too controversial. Walmart will sell you guns but they won't sell you EC. In our town, Meijer also does not stock or order EC, Target as well. And so we can add another to our list of reasons that the Walmartification of the world is a bad thing. This company rolls into town and puts many many local businesses out of business. And as the only game in town Walmart gets to dictate what you can and cannot buy and in a sense how you can live your life.
An idiosyncratic and non sequitorial examination of the contents of one head.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Busted
I saw a documentary film today called "BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters." It has changed my perception of the police. I always thought that they were here to serve and protect. This is true. My experience with the police has thankfully minimal and hopefully that will continue to be the case.
But you hear stories and they can't all be lies. And you never know what situations fate will offer up. Most folks have this idea that if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide. I have always thought that too. But you must accept that when you interact with the police, they are not on your side. And often if you are looking for something (like evidence of wrong doing) it's very possible to convince yourself that you have found it. Hopefully, they are on the side of whatever they perceive justice to be. But you don't know. They maybe be corrupt, they may be abusing their power.
In some situations, they are not there to help you. They are looking for a reason to arrest you. That is what they are paid to do. So, you need to know your rights. If you give up your rights you cannot get them back. You are the only person that can protect them.
Things that I learned:
Be polite, be respectful but do not waive your rights.
Never run from the police. If you run you must be guilty. Running in some places if you run, they will shoot you.
Do not lie to them.
Be aware that they can lie to you. Do not believe them.
They will tell you that if you are honest, if you cooperate they will go easy on you. Don't believe them. You are helping them find reasons to arrest/convict you.
They will tell you that a signed confession will mean that you are released. It also means that they will put out a warrant for your arrest and use your confession as evidence to prosecute you. Ask to see a lawyer.
Do not invite them into your house. When you get out of the car close the door. Lock the door. Open doors and an invitation inside make it easier for them to persuade/coerce you into waiving your rights and letting them search your house or car.
Make it clear that you do not consent to search. They must have a warrant to search your house, to search your car to search your bag to search your person. If they have a warrant you can't stop a search. If they ask for your permission/consent it means that they don't have the authority unless you waive your rights and you give them permission.
It is very common for police to stop you and then look for lots of other reasons to detain you. Don't give them other reasons to hassle you. Do not confess to anything. Do not volunteer information.
Ask them if they are detaining you and why.
Ask them why they have pulled you over, do not admit to anything.
After they write you a citation or a ticket they have no further reason to detain you, you are technically free to go.
If they try to keep you longer, ask them if you are free to go.
If they do not charge you with anything and they do not have a reason to detain you, they can't keep you.
Ask them if you are free to go.
Respond to their question with a question.
Get their name and their badge number.
If the police trample over your rights file a complaint of misconduct.
If they threaten to call the dogs, let them call the dogs.
Do research, the law and your rights will vary from state to state, vary by town, by county.
But you hear stories and they can't all be lies. And you never know what situations fate will offer up. Most folks have this idea that if you have done nothing wrong you have nothing to hide. I have always thought that too. But you must accept that when you interact with the police, they are not on your side. And often if you are looking for something (like evidence of wrong doing) it's very possible to convince yourself that you have found it. Hopefully, they are on the side of whatever they perceive justice to be. But you don't know. They maybe be corrupt, they may be abusing their power.
In some situations, they are not there to help you. They are looking for a reason to arrest you. That is what they are paid to do. So, you need to know your rights. If you give up your rights you cannot get them back. You are the only person that can protect them.
Things that I learned:
Be polite, be respectful but do not waive your rights.
Never run from the police. If you run you must be guilty. Running in some places if you run, they will shoot you.
Do not lie to them.
Be aware that they can lie to you. Do not believe them.
They will tell you that if you are honest, if you cooperate they will go easy on you. Don't believe them. You are helping them find reasons to arrest/convict you.
They will tell you that a signed confession will mean that you are released. It also means that they will put out a warrant for your arrest and use your confession as evidence to prosecute you. Ask to see a lawyer.
Do not invite them into your house. When you get out of the car close the door. Lock the door. Open doors and an invitation inside make it easier for them to persuade/coerce you into waiving your rights and letting them search your house or car.
Make it clear that you do not consent to search. They must have a warrant to search your house, to search your car to search your bag to search your person. If they have a warrant you can't stop a search. If they ask for your permission/consent it means that they don't have the authority unless you waive your rights and you give them permission.
It is very common for police to stop you and then look for lots of other reasons to detain you. Don't give them other reasons to hassle you. Do not confess to anything. Do not volunteer information.
Ask them if they are detaining you and why.
Ask them why they have pulled you over, do not admit to anything.
After they write you a citation or a ticket they have no further reason to detain you, you are technically free to go.
If they try to keep you longer, ask them if you are free to go.
If they do not charge you with anything and they do not have a reason to detain you, they can't keep you.
Ask them if you are free to go.
Respond to their question with a question.
Get their name and their badge number.
If the police trample over your rights file a complaint of misconduct.
If they threaten to call the dogs, let them call the dogs.
Do research, the law and your rights will vary from state to state, vary by town, by county.
the question
It was a simple question: What will you do if Dubya gets reelected? When a Republican comes within 20 feet of me I will scream "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" I will screech like a stuck pig.
Friday, October 22, 2004
a little rebellion now and then
This post is sparked by DB's "Express yourself on November 2nd, 2004" compilation.
"I love my country so much, man, like an exasperating friend." -Mike Doughty
Love is so much more than hugs and encouragement, if you love someone you call them out on their shit - as RB might say.
"And I keep on fighting for the things I want, though I know that when you're dead you can't. But I'd rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave" -Jimmy Cliff: A one man Reggae Declaration of Independence.
Y'know - When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a people to flip the government the bird and break away as an independent entity, first they should explain why they are doing so. We and everyone on this planet accepts as truth that all of us are created equal and have certain unalienable rights, to name just a few: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - Duh. Government is created by us to enable us to exercise these rights. We consent to be goverened only so long as we are able to live, be free, and pursue what make us happy. When government can no longer do this for us, we have the right to change it or abolish it and create a new government more likely to bring happiness and safety. And while we don't do this for bullshit reasons but only under the most dire of cirumstances, when such circumstances are found it is our right and duty to overthrow the government and set up a new one. (Insert the long list of the ways the Brits have done us wrong.) We have expressed our horrible situation to the King and asked for assistance and for change but the governement has turn a deaf ear. We tried to no avail. So we're declaring ourselves free of our rulers. We declare ourselves independent states with all the powers and rights that are conferred on a state. And to this declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. (I'm paraphrasing here, of course.)
"The harder they come, the harder they'll fall. One and all." -Jimmy Cliff
"I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people, which have produced them ... It is medicine necessary to the sound health of government." - Thomas Jefferson
When someone tells you that it's wrong to dissent, that it's wrong to protest or criticize the government remind them from whence our nation came.
"I love my country so much, man, like an exasperating friend." -Mike Doughty
Love is so much more than hugs and encouragement, if you love someone you call them out on their shit - as RB might say.
"And I keep on fighting for the things I want, though I know that when you're dead you can't. But I'd rather be a free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave" -Jimmy Cliff: A one man Reggae Declaration of Independence.
Y'know - When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a people to flip the government the bird and break away as an independent entity, first they should explain why they are doing so. We and everyone on this planet accepts as truth that all of us are created equal and have certain unalienable rights, to name just a few: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - Duh. Government is created by us to enable us to exercise these rights. We consent to be goverened only so long as we are able to live, be free, and pursue what make us happy. When government can no longer do this for us, we have the right to change it or abolish it and create a new government more likely to bring happiness and safety. And while we don't do this for bullshit reasons but only under the most dire of cirumstances, when such circumstances are found it is our right and duty to overthrow the government and set up a new one. (Insert the long list of the ways the Brits have done us wrong.) We have expressed our horrible situation to the King and asked for assistance and for change but the governement has turn a deaf ear. We tried to no avail. So we're declaring ourselves free of our rulers. We declare ourselves independent states with all the powers and rights that are conferred on a state. And to this declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. (I'm paraphrasing here, of course.)
"The harder they come, the harder they'll fall. One and all." -Jimmy Cliff
"I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people, which have produced them ... It is medicine necessary to the sound health of government." - Thomas Jefferson
When someone tells you that it's wrong to dissent, that it's wrong to protest or criticize the government remind them from whence our nation came.
small pleasures
I made a flyer on my laptop, printed it out on my printer and took it to Kinko's and made a stack of flyers and handbills. (Did you know that the copy machine can take your 8.5x11 sheet and reduce it to fit 4x's to a page and become instant handbills??!!! Brilliant. With this knowledge you do not have to go ghetto-lo-tech with the scissors and tape and the wasted bits of paper which is fun but time consuming with a final product lacking the precision of Xerox automation.)
It does give me pause to consider how technology has enabled a unskilled amateur with no graphical or artistic talent like me to make a flyer. It does give me pause to think about how much dead plant matter and electricity I used. All those beautiful trees that are now my less-beautiful flyers. The dark lining to a silver cloud I guess. Setting these uncomfortable thoughts aside for the moment, I LOVE having a laptop and a printer. It is ridiculous how pleased I am. I had no idea that it could be this simple to become this happy. To be fair the acquisition of the proper drawing program made all the difference. If I had known that the key to happiness was so small I would have gotten a laptop and printer years ago.
It does give me pause to consider how technology has enabled a unskilled amateur with no graphical or artistic talent like me to make a flyer. It does give me pause to think about how much dead plant matter and electricity I used. All those beautiful trees that are now my less-beautiful flyers. The dark lining to a silver cloud I guess. Setting these uncomfortable thoughts aside for the moment, I LOVE having a laptop and a printer. It is ridiculous how pleased I am. I had no idea that it could be this simple to become this happy. To be fair the acquisition of the proper drawing program made all the difference. If I had known that the key to happiness was so small I would have gotten a laptop and printer years ago.
Monday, October 11, 2004
Vote, Dammit!
Citizens vote. Patriots vote.
You don't like Kerry, you don't like Bush. Fine. Vote Reform Party, vote Libertarian party, vote Green, vote Constitution party. Vote for Madonna, vote for Gallagher, vote for me!
What would happen if Kerry won the election but only got 15% of the vote? What would that say? Look out Kerry, Madonna's gaining on your ass!
Throw away your vote on public record, not uncounted.
Vote your disgust for the two party system. That's fine, that's cool. Just vote.
You don't like Kerry, you don't like Bush. Fine. Vote Reform Party, vote Libertarian party, vote Green, vote Constitution party. Vote for Madonna, vote for Gallagher, vote for me!
What would happen if Kerry won the election but only got 15% of the vote? What would that say? Look out Kerry, Madonna's gaining on your ass!
Throw away your vote on public record, not uncounted.
Vote your disgust for the two party system. That's fine, that's cool. Just vote.
the consolidation of capital
This weekend I went to the Dollar General Store, Big Lots, and Deals. There a section of town that is becoming the ultimate econo-mini-mall. This is all in a strip mall that was left for dead. A store like Lowe's wouldn't come anywhere near here. It's the Sav-a-lots, Aldi's business model. The retail area is depressed and rent is cheap. Regular businesses leave it for dead. But the thing is, poor people need the things that everyone needs - soap, birthday cards, underwear and cleaning products. And if you can provide something that people need and do it with low overhead, there's money to be made. Walmart in its way proves the same point. There is money to be made among those who don't have a lot of money.
So here the thing,there is capital, the potential for building wealth ... it is just very dilute. If poor communities could figure out a way, some kind of mechanism by which they could keep and concentrate wealth in the neighborhood. Material changes could be made. Mountains could be moved.
In our economically driven times, a community bank could be the vital component to revitalizing lost areas. A community bank could be the economic liberator of a neighborhood. I used to dismiss the Grameen Bank as merely undercutting the local money lender. But perhaps that is the model that best fits the world in which we now live. Charity and Government assistance have been seen as problematic, as ineffective. But perhaps material and monetary investment in our poorest citizens if done to encourage growth, not exploit is useful model in our market driven times.
Where would you rather have the money go, to building more jails or to enabling people to buy houses and start businesses.
So here the thing,there is capital, the potential for building wealth ... it is just very dilute. If poor communities could figure out a way, some kind of mechanism by which they could keep and concentrate wealth in the neighborhood. Material changes could be made. Mountains could be moved.
In our economically driven times, a community bank could be the vital component to revitalizing lost areas. A community bank could be the economic liberator of a neighborhood. I used to dismiss the Grameen Bank as merely undercutting the local money lender. But perhaps that is the model that best fits the world in which we now live. Charity and Government assistance have been seen as problematic, as ineffective. But perhaps material and monetary investment in our poorest citizens if done to encourage growth, not exploit is useful model in our market driven times.
Where would you rather have the money go, to building more jails or to enabling people to buy houses and start businesses.
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