Ridiculous abortion article in newspaper

I don't like to talk about abortion because it's not as important of an issue as many people consider it to be and because there's not a whole lot of persuading going on in the abortion "debate." Nevertheless, there was an article in the student newspaper yesterday that I feel compelled to talk about.

There was a speaker on campus at a forum called "Access Denied II: The State of Women in Texas" and the article in the newspaper tried to share what the speaker discussed. At times, though, the article seemed more like an editorial, with the author seeming to share the speaker's beliefs as her own. In the author's words:

Since Roe vs. Wade, abortion has been a fully legal process, yet anti-abortion groups have taken measures to ensure that access will be denied to anyone other than upper-middle class white females.

That's a pretty bold statement for a supposedly-neutral article author to say. However, that's not my main objection to the article, my main objective is below:

Therefore, the reason abortion is critical is that when women are unable to control the number of kids they have, they can no longer control anything else in their lives, such as their health and their economic standing. Dyer said that since “they have no option” they are kept “in subordination and second class citizenship.” The bottom line is that “abortion is a fundamental human right” bearing power over all other rights.

There is so much I could say about this paragraph, so I'll start at the beginning:

"...the reason abortion is critical is that when women are unable to control the number of kids they have, they can no longer control anything else in their lives..."

As if abortion is the only way women can control when they give birth? If they are raped, sure, but in all other circumstances, there is a very simple and natural way to control the number of kids they have. (Not having sex. Or, less effectively, using protection)

The bottom line is that “abortion is a fundamental human right” bearing power over all other rights.

This is a pretty bold statement and seems perhaps to be more in the words of the author than the speaker, again, but it's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read in the abortion debate. The right to abort is more important than all other rights? So, the first amendment to the constitution should have read something like "Congress shall make no law restricting a women's right to abortion"? Not even fundamental rights such as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" trump the right to abortion? Sure, there's room for debate, but pro-choicers can't just brush off the importance of letting people exist in the first place in deference to the almighty right to abort. The right to actually be born is a pretty important right, too.

Anyway, I just found that article in the newspaper to be ridiculous, and I didn't feel like writing a letter to the editor about it, so I thought I'd just share it here.

I joined deviantART

I like to post somewhat artistic photos from time to time, and I usually get a few comments. In an effort to hopefully get more comments on my photography, I have created a deviantART account to showcase some of the photographs that I have taken that I have already posted here on my blog. So, don't expect anything different on my deviantART site, but you can go there if you want to see only my photos.

Botox for your birthday

Read this overheard conversation, it gives a disturbing insight to the misplaced priorities of some of the wealthy people that live among some of us.

Money in higher education

Here's a good commentary from a former SMU professor on what's wrong with higher education today. Here's an excerpt:

In the never-ending search for funding, even we adjunct slobs were told to comb our class rolls looking for scions of the rich and powerful whose parents could be tapped by our chairperson for checks with many zeroes.

...

But it should not be this way. Universities shouldn’t be selling themselves to the Mercedes-and-merlot crowd with the same marketing strategies used by high-end resorts and gated communities. Get the rich kids in. They can pay their own way. Make sure not to flunk them, because they're cash customers and we need to retain, retain, retain. Let them buy a degree on agreeable terms and as alums they’ll endow chairs and stick their names on buildings. It’s investing in the future. What future is there in a scholarshipper who wants to go into the Peace Corps?

The article doesn't paint a good picture of SMU, but it's not as if we're alone.

I saw Eliot Spitzer speak

Last night, I had the opportunity to hear New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer speak as part of the university's Tate Lecture Series. I've attended several of the lectures, but this one was perhaps the most intellectual. Rather than simply talk about his success or about what he has done, he made a persuasive argument that the government has the responsibility of interfering in the economy in an affirmative role.

He cited the example of Teddy Roosevelt, who helped the free-markets by breaking up the trusts. He then talked about the investment banks that underwrite businesses were making stock recommendations that weren't in the public's best interests. He sued one of the banks and their informal defense was that other banks were worse. He analyzed the fact that people would consider that doing the wrong thing isn't that bad if someone else is doing something worse. In short, his argument for the necessity of affirmative intervention into the economy by the government was based on three arguments: First, that without the government, the economy won't ethically regulate itself, and he cited examples. "Secondarily" (as he would say) that the economy doesn't account for externalities, such as the smokestacks in Ohio that were built high enough to put pollution into the jet stream that then blew into New York. And thirdly, that the free market won't change on its own until the government passes laws based on core values, such as child labor laws or anti-discrimination laws.

He made his argument very well, not only because it was a well-organized and sound argument, but also because he was articulate, and he did an excellent job of using humor to relax the audience at the beginning of his speech and then at various points throughout his speech. He delivered his speech excellently and the subject matter was some of the most stimulating of any lecture that I have attended.

Excursion on Sunday

On Sunday afternoon the weather was nice and I wanted to get outside of the house for a little bit. I used to really enjoy driving on farm roads, so I decided to drive on some country roads for the first time in a while with my girlfriend. After driving a little bit, I pulled onto a driveway for a water tower and I felt like getting out of the car. I sat on the hood for a little bit and I really enjoyed being in the country in the cool, fresh air and the warm light.

It's unfortunate that so many people feel compelled to take their waste out into the country to dispose of it. I saw a TV and a chair on the side of the road, as well as a vacuum with its cord resting on a fence:

Then, we were going to go to a park, but decided to stop at a lake. We walked around a little bit, with the sun low in the sky:

And the moon rising:

And, while driving back, I took this picture:

Cowboys vs. Eagles review

The Cowboys have swept the Eagles for the first time in a long time and the Eagles might not even make the playoffs. The Cowboys, on the other hand, are first in the division. Even though this was a must-win game for the Eagles, at home, against a divisional opponent that embarrassed them in Week 5, I think that it really says something about the Cowboys that they were able to come back and win. It might say that the Cowboys are lucky, but they're also pretty good.

Still, we shouldn't overlook the fact that the running game was horrible (though the Eagles have stymied every rushing offense that has come to Philadelphia this year), the Cowboys were a mere 3-13 on 3rd down, and the Cowboys had only 241 total yards. So, in short, the Cowboys did get kind of lucky, and the Eagles hurt themselves with 14 penalties, but it's great to win.

I've gone tea crazy

As recently as two years ago, I didn't like tea and I never drank it, but I've started to drink it pretty regularly. I just had one cup of green tea and I'm going to make another, I meet with a group of people to have a different kind of tea every week, and I have a box of tea in my drawer. I'm glad I have developed a taste for tea, I like developing tastes for things, and I like to drink tea.

Happy Texas Recycles Day

Today is Texas Recycles Day, so the Environmental Society set up a table outside of the student center with information about recycling to get people to increase awareness of recycling on campus. Unfortunately today was cold and windy, with some strong gusts. It took a while to set everything up at the table, and then once I did, things kept blowing away. By the end of the day though, everything had been taped down and would stay in place even during the wind gusts.

We invited people to our table with free candy, which we would give to them after first quizzing them on whether various items were recyclable on campus. We had a poster with a lot of information about recycling, as well as a drop box for recycling old or broken cell phones. I also made a pamphlet that told people why to recycle, what they can recycle, where they can recycle it, and how recycling benefits SMU. I think everything went well. It would have been nice to have had more people stop by, but I'm satisfied with what we accomplished.

I cooked steaks for my family yesterday

I had been planning to buy steaks and cook them for my family, including my grandmother, but my grandmother has been out of town, so yesterday I cooked out without her. I cooked some filets and baked potatoes and some rolls. Also, at church, I finally asked the pastor where he gets the bread for communion, and he actually let me take home the leftover bread. It was kind of strange to take the body of Christ home and eat it with a meal, but it was pretty good bread. Anyway, the cookout went pretty well, the food was pretty good, and even though it cost me like $50 to feed everyone, it was worth it.

New poll: torture

Since I've been talking so much about the United States using torture lately, I'd like to see how my readers feel about it. Also, at any time, you can click on the "current poll" link at the top of the blog and you can vote in the most recent poll.

How do you feel about the United States practicing torture?

I find the idea completely abhorrent and contrary to what America stands for.
I guess we shouldn't be practicing torture.
We probably shouldn't torture as much as we are.
Torture is necessary for our protection.
We do not torture.

Current Results

Previous poll, Should ethnicity-based special interest seats on SMU's student senate be removed?, results.

Bryan visited Friday night

For the second week in a row, a friend visited me at school Friday night. After he arrived, I first showed him around the campus and after that, we took the light rail to the West End. We walked around and then decided to eat. We decided to sit on the roof, where we got a pretty cool view of a few of the buildings downtown and the sky, but I was in constant fear of having one of the birds deposit extra mayonnaise on my otherwise-pretty-good sandwich. After we ate, we realized that there wasn't really much else to do in the West End - it was still pretty early and not very busy, and other than the Marketplace there were just a bunch of restaurants.

While walking back to the light rail station, a bird crapped on my pants. Then, we went to a used CD store and looked around a little bit and then we bought some hot, fresh Krispy Kreme donuts, and I was finally able to wipe off my pants. We decided to go back to my school, where we played a game of pool in my dorm, but the pool cue stick was supposedly giving Bryan splinters, so we only played one game. Also, there was an unwrapped (and possibly used) condom on the floor. How disgusting and ridiculous.

We wanted to find more things to do, but outside of going to bars/clubs or going to restaurants, there wasn't really much else to do. We were interested in some kind of entertainment, but unless we went back to the West End to look for some live music, we didn't have many options, especially considering we didn't really want to drive anywhere.

So, then I showed him my library, which is more interesting than you might think. There were a bunch of old books there; we found one from 1860, written in German, I believe, with the cover almost falling off. I also found an old book in which someone wrote that the book was shipped from Paris in 1892. I'm really not sure what it says about me that I show my friends a good time in Dallas on a Friday night by taking them to hang out the library.

Anyway, after that, we went to a coffee shop on campus and played spider solitare on the computers there, and I had a smoothie, while we listened to some live jazz music, which included mostly Miles Davis songs. I enjoyed the live music until we went back to Fort Worth. I had a pretty good time and even though we basically just did the same stuff I did with my other friend last Friday night, it was fun to hang out with Bryan.

How we torture

First, here's an editorial in the Economist opposing the United States' use of torture.

And here you can read about waterboarding, a way our country is inflicting tremendous pain on other human being. The method we are likely using was also employed by the Nazi's:

(c) choking - as in attaching a person to a board and dipping the board into water. This was my understanding of what waterboarding was from the initial reports. The use of a board was stylistically most closely associated with the work of a Nazi political interrogator by the name of Ludwig Ramdor who worked at Ravensbruck camp. Ramdor was tried before the British Military Court Martial at Hamburg (May 1946 to March 1947) on charges for subjecting women to this torture, subjecting another woman to drugs for interrogation, and subjecting a third to starvation and high pressure showers. He was found guilty and executed by the Allies in 1947.

So, at one time we executed people for doing this and now we're doing it ourselves.