Current Events Blended Almost Smooth

Allow me to exploit this story as a vehicle to mount my soapbox, once again. This story really bothered me, and more than just because of the content of the story, it was the article itself. The story is about a Christian militia that was prevented, by the FBI, from going through with a horrific killing spree of law-enforcement officers. The article talks a lot about who was involved, what happened, where it took place and when, but there is only one sentence in the entire story explaining why. I think this signifies a grievous oversight our general priorities. Sure, the FBI was able stop this attack, this time. But if we spent more time examining the thought processes that go along with planning such an appalling act of violence, we could address the actual cause. It all goes back to that “teach a man to fish” scenario.

Oh my gosh! What is that?

(it’s a Segway, get it? Because what I’m going to talk about next is completely unrelated, and so to segue I put up a picture of a Segway, because Segway and segue are homophones…. you get it.)

Today, Ricky Martin revealed that he is gay. In a similar story, historians are now hypothesizing that popular 50’s R&B musician, Ray Charles, may have suffered from some degree of visual impairment.

As much as I applaud Ricky Martin for finally coming out, I’m a little it upset that he waited so long. When he was asked about his sexual orientation, when people actually cared, that is (circa 1999), he would avoid the question or straight up say that he didn’t want to talk about it. I kind of thing that this is how everybody should respond when asked about their sexual orientation, it’s nobody else’s business, and people should be allowed to reveal facets of their character on their own time and at their own comfort level.

But he always refused to answer the question because he was embarrassed about the answer, and afraid it would ruin his career. What kind of example is that set for all the young in-the-closet boys who want to grow up to be the next Ricky Martin? Stay in the closet until your career is dead, and so that when you finally do come out the media and the world erupts in a resounding cry of “duuuuuhhhhhhh”?

*descends soapbox*

For the n00bs: The Health Care Bill passed. Where have you been?

But what does that entail, exactly?

At the very least it means that Obama will not go down in history as that attractive guy with the great speechwriter who sat in the Whitehouse twiddling his thumbs for four years. It also means that the democrats have actually done something with their majority in Congress, and it means that for the length of time it takes to vote at least, the politicians weren’t worrying about getting reelected and were instead worrying about getting something done.

Yes, but what does it actually DO?

Throughout this entire struggle, I’ve heard more misinformation about the health care bill than I have real information (“Death Panels” anyone?). It seems to me that most people who oppose the bill do so on principle, because Obama is the president, or because he’s a democrat, or because his dad was from Kenya, or because they lap up like starving rats every hate-filled, repugnant, misinformed, bigoted, discriminatory, tearful word that falls out of Glenn Beck’s mouth like acid rain on the heads of the ignorant and weak-minded— whoa, sorry, just a wee bit of a digression. Moving on.

At any rate, people seem to oppose the bill with little or no knowledge of what is actually in it, so I took the time to read all 1,000+ pages of the bill and thought I’d outline it for you now complete with visual aids. And by all that, of course, I mean I searched for #healthcarereform on Twitter, and I found this and this (I know, it’s FOX, so just take it with a grain of salt, although this article seems pretty ok, “fair and balanced”-wise).

The highlights for me are that I won’t be booted off my parents’ insurance plan until I’m 26. This is good, because I’ll be turning 22 (when I’d normally be kicked off) in four years, and I somehow doubt that I’ll have the capabilities to obtain or pay for any sort of insurance anything.

Also, if when I’m 26, I can’t afford health insurance, the government will help me pay for it, or if I make little enough, I can go on a government plan.

The bill isn’t perfect, by any means. But it’s certainly a step in the right direction, a conversation starter of sorts. Now, we’ve got 9 more months of holding the majority in congress, I propose we get something radical done. Marriage equality, anyone?

This week’s news story makes me a little bit sick to my stomach, so I’m just going to write this and be done with it, because I think its something that you should know about. I don’t know to whom I’m particularly referring when I say “you,” but it could include any literate English speaker with access to Internet, and if that’s the case, you should know about this. Also, tell all your illiterate, non-English speaking friends with no Internet, because they should probably hear about it too.

But I digress, again. Basically, Utah is trying to pass a law that would attempt to prevent illegal abortions in that State, by “criminalizing a [pregnant] woman's ‘intentional, knowing, or reckless act’ “ that leads her to have a miscarriage. What this law would actually do is make it possible for any woman who has a miscarriage in Utah to be charged with homicide and possibly serve life in prison.

Personally, as a woman, an individual who might conceivably get pregnant one day, and also might conceivably go to Utah one day, the fact that this law is even up for discussion is disturbing. Who is the state of Utah to tell me what I can and can’t do while in a particular medical state? I think this is a violation of civil rights, and freewill, but I think a lot of laws are violations of freewill, which isn’t protected in any constitution I’ve ever read, so I’ll try not to dwell on it.

The law doesn’t even make sense, since Roe v. Wade made abortion legal, ruling that a fetus is a fetus and not a baby, why should the state pass any laws protecting that which the Supreme Court ruled is not alive? By that logic, it should be illegal for anybody to, for example, fall down the stairs, or consent to getting punched in the stomach.

Alright, well, that’s enough of that. I shouldn’t get too angry, it might raise my blood pressure and damage the eggs in my ovaries, which may one day become a fetus, which may one day become a baby. I really need to stop engaging in such “reckless acts.”