Griswold v. Connecticut

June 7, 1965 was the day that the Supreme Court decided that women had the right to contraception. More precisely, the Supremes ruled that ordinary Americans have a right to privacy, and little is more private than what a married couple do in the privacy of their home. It was later rulings that extended the right of contraception outside marriage.

That was over 40 years ago. Women of my generation have never known a time when you couldn’t get the means to control your whether or not you could get pregnant. We’ve lived all our lives knowing that reliable birth control was a prescription away. Things weren’t so rosy for the generation immediately ahead of us.

Yet despite the fact that birth control is almost universally used by women, despite the fact that it’s good for our health to control the size of our families, and despite the fact that it is good for the economy that we can choose not to get pregnant, this fundamental right is under fire. There are people who want to make sure we can’t get it, people who want to make sure we can’t afford it, and people who want to make sure that we can lose our jobs for getting it. How exactly does that last bit figure into the right to privacy?

None of this is about how wonderful babies are. None of this is actually “pro-life,” because if they thought about it for 5 whole seconds the so-called pro-life movement would realize that contraceptives prevent abortions by preventing unwanted pregnancy. The desire to limit access to something almost all women use is one thing and one thing only: anti-woman.

In Closing: short stories; age gap; Carol Burnett does her best James T. Kirk; couldn’t have to do with dumping underwater houses; and oh hell no you’re not charging me extra for the privilege of sitting with my family.

I’ll pass on the candy booze, thanks.

Ok, let’s talk about these damned flavored vodkas. I’m not talking about old fashioned infusions you might find lovingly prepared at better bars, I’m talking about the artificially colored/flavored junk cluttering up the shelves at my local liquor store. It’s getting stupid out there. Many of the fruit ones taste like freakin cough syrup (I’m talking to you, Absolut!). But now we’ve got crap flavors like cake, marshmallow, and whipped cream.

Listen kids, if you don’t like how real vodka tastes, don’t drink it!

In closing: Princess; turns out the so-called pro-life nuts were wrong about Plan B; unintended side effect; unprepared; gold; he’s baaaaaack; maybe I spoke too soon about hope.

Hope?

It’s June, and I’m already really tired of the 2012 election season: delegate shenanigans; voter suppression (oh the irony of toting out the GOP’s token black man for this!); shoddy fact-checking; shoddy spell checking; fear mongering; birtherism; austerity. Blah! Some people are asking — and reasonably so — whether it’s even possible to have a constructive campaign this year.

But two things have me thinking that there may be a ray of hope. Maybe 2012 is doomed, but there’s signs that we may at some point in the future be able to talk reasonably about political issues, and maybe even find middle ground in the obvious places.

First, it looks like the IRS will actually be enforcing long-ignored rules about churches getting involved in politics. Nobody says your preacher can’t have an opinion and can’t have a political bumper sticker, but he’d better not preach that if you vote a certain way you risk eternal damnation. Damnation!!

Now it looks like the GOP is actually trying to get back to basics with people who  “stressed the need to work with Democrats to get things done in Washington.” Younger politicians who say stuff like “I think the government, again, should get off your back, out of your wallet and away from the bedroom.”

I sure hope that works out.

In closing: salt; stranger danger has gone too damn far; it turns out that unlawful intrusions are unlawful; is anybody surprised to learn that Facebook ads don’t work? Anybody? Bueller?; Fail; childhood poverty; don’t fight the ocean, it will win in the long run; too much of a good thing is bad; and anger management.

The Lords of Shorties

Haven’t got much today. Hope to find something outlandish I can take a picture of when I do my weekly shopping tomorrow.

Follow Up: In a stunning display of stupidity false modesty, the Texas girl put in jail for truancy because her parents are vapor and she’s working two jobs has decided she doesn’t want the money that’s been raised for her.

Hide, Watch, and Wait: Employers aren’t hiring yet because they want to see what happens next. Eventually, they will reach capacity and have no choice but to hire. In the meantime, I’m sure they see an upside in having terrified, overworked employees.

More research says fish oil is good for you: Specifically, it might prevent age related vision loss, in addition to all the other good stuff it is known to do.

Channeling Andy Rooney: “Have you noticed that people who are screaming up the terror over deficits are the very same people demanding tax cuts for the rich, no cuts in military, cuts in the minimum wage, selling off public assets, etc?”

And finally: “Gotham is safe.”

The First Husband: Not Exactly a Roman Holiday

Today’s BlogHer Book Club selection is The First Husband by Laura Dave. Although I am being compensated for this review, the opinions expressed are my own. Join the discussion over at BlogHer!

One fine day, travel columnist Annie Adams’s live in boyfriend of 5 years arrives home from a business trip and announces that he’s leaving her. Some quack therapist says he needs time on his own — and by the way he wants to see what happens with a high school crush. Oh, and one last thing, he’s taking their dog.

Who wouldn’t be devastated? A couple weeks later, she finally tries to put her life back together. Almost immediately, Annie meets someone new, exciting, totally different. Just a few months later she’s married to her new love and moving cross country to his hometown.

What could possibly go wrong?

The First Husband is a novel about self-discovery. Obviously, lots of things go wrong, from bizarre situations with the in-laws and run-ins with exes to job troubles. But just as obviously, Annie becomes a much better person in the process; one who knows what she wants and knows that she’s already got a lot of it.

So to use a cliche straight out of the book: What’s the best and worst thing about The First Husband? The worst thing is Annie blaming her troubles on watching Roman Holiday. The best thing: a little spoiler for you, she did get her dog back.

In Closing: No, HFCS is not “corn sugar“; a picture says a thousand words about maternity leave; SEC fail; and misuse of authority.

Pair of Docs

Who knew doctors were good at cooking Chinese food! You would think they’d practice medicine instead. Free blood pressure check and egg rolls with purchase of family dinner?

Also, I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s Club Ash Pa, Lash Spa, or Cash Spa for 6 months now.

In Closing: a fun game you can play at home; Darwin Award nominee; what??; caffeine; don’t keep it simple; wages and rents; and, um, Unicorners. Stay tuned for a book review tomorrow to round out my own month of everyday blogging (sometimes over at my pro site). Nope, not gonna call it NuPaBluGagEvQ or whatever the cutesy name for “blog every day month” is.

Detail Work

Ok, let me start by saying that I’m as outraged as anybody that we have JUDGES in this country that can’t seem to use good JUDGEment.

The story of the 17 year old honor student jailed overnight for truancy has made the rounds. It’s very sympathetic. She works a full time job and a part time job to support her siblings and still manages to pull down good grades. The judge felt he had to make an example out of her. Wow, what a heartless judge, right?

Some people think this is a travesty because “how is putting her in jail going to put her in school.”  Some say it’s a travesty just because the situation is ludicrous — after all she’s an honor student, not some gang-banger. Some say it’s a travesty because she’s old enough to drop out of school with her parents‘ written consent.

And, you see, that’s the real problem that everybody seems to have missed, including the judge. Her parents are gone. Split up, one no longer even in the state and the other only occasionally around, not really in her life. She shouldn’t have to work 2 jobs to support her siblings and herself.  No 17 year old should have to do that. When the judge realized that she was a minor and her parents were not there, he should have adjourned to call Child Protective Services. You know, the government agency that protects children. She and the younger sister should be with a foster family today, she should be able to at the very least quit one of her jobs, and her truancy problems should be over.

Who is the adult here? Sadly, the 17 year old truant who can’t even sign a binding legal document is.

In Closing: consumer lack of confidence; easy ways to end up in indefinite detention; and a list of keywords that the Department of Homeland Security is watching for. If this list is correct, the DHS must spend a lot of time looking for secret messages in newspapers and blogs.

Modern Patriotism

Nothing says “I love my country” and “support our troops” like a great t-shirt. This one makes sense, mostly. What could be more American than Rock and Roll?

Then again, maybe you prefer patriotic stars-and-stripes dolphins on a lavender background. Maybe they are helping our Navy!

Surely, nothing represents remembering our fallen troops like a kitten sitting in a flag-bordered red-white-and-blue flowerbed watching fireworks! How A-MEOW-ican!

Don’t dare tell Sigfried and Roy that white tigers can’t be patriotic Americans too. Roar!

And finally, patriotism is not just for American cats. Japanese cats can love America too (offer not valid during World War 2). Heck, Hello Kitty loves America so much, you can co-ordinate patriotic Hello Kitty shorts with your patriotic Hello Kitty t-shirt.

I think I need some nice, American bourbon.

In Closing: TED; poor deliberately made poorer; space for profit; Robert Reich; bloody Romans Government; more Mitt on education; should have expected this; and castles.