Coming Soon... On the Wrong Side Of the Tracks....
Mood:  lazy
Work on the new issuer is coming along. Hopefully, if all goes the way it should, I should have it ready by the weekend.

On other fronts, life is life. Been busy with the paying job and housesitting. There are a couple of religious scare films coming up in a week and a half that I'll get a chuckle out of seeing. Basically surviving - and I guess that's okay.

SAorry for the general blah leanings of the recent posts. WIll say more when I get the time to do so.

Up and Running
Finally got a rudimentary version of the website up and running. After trying and mishaps last week, I feel relieved. Now to get the print issue done and take care of other obligations. Sorry for the dryness of this post but I need to get some rest.

Weekend And Website
Mood:  rushed
Now Playing: Various Artists - "Comomusic Anthology 1990-2005 Volume 2"
Hey! It's been a rough week between the paying job and other obligations. The new issue is almost done. Still looks like it'll take a few days longer than I'd like but that's okay - I guess. It will be good though when it comes out.

AS for the website. I almost had it beyond construction phase last night when the computer froze and moved me back to square one (what a silly term - what does it mean?). I will get more stuff on there but now I have to get things done tonight. Please bear with me. Thanx.

Blows To The Body
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Napalm Death - "Order Of The Leech"
I just found out today marks the 33rd anniversary of Roe v Wade - the Supreme Court decision that ruled state restrictions on abortions to be illegal. With abortion being a controversial issue thest days (even though it shouldn't be), it felt right to mention a few thoughts about the topic.

I'm worried about the current state of our society on a lot of issues. This one is especially important given that state legislatures have been busy trying to chip away at a woman's reproductive freedom. From parental consent laws to the battle over emergency contraception, forces are underway to protect what they feel is an attack on "the culture of life."

But is that really what they're after? Some people who claim themselves to be "pro life" are sincere. However, I get the feeling a lot more of these people are in that camp more as an attempt to control women and their bodies rather than out of concern for potential life (or even worse, the babies actually born). The latter I get suspicious of when they claim that label yet support the death penalty and the latest wars without question. When you add in the emergency contraception issue, the issue of control appears to take on even more clairty.

The main lynchpin of the "pro life" attack on abortion is the claim that abortion is murder and that the fetus is a complete person? However, whils a fetus is DNA, conception doesn't make it a complete human being. A poential life, yes (especially after the point of viability) - but it's not a complete person once the sperm and egg meet. With that in mind, claiming abortion is murder is inaccurate at best , a sick joke at worst.

So this leave us at the control issue. One of the anti choice movement claims on the issue is that people who get abortions are being selfish or irresponsible. However, there are times when a dificult decision has to be made - unplanned and/or unwanted pregnancies are amongst those situations. To make getting either abortions or emergency contraceptions more difficult doesn't make people allegedly more responsible, it only adds to the difficulties of the dilemma. For men to rant about parental notification or a father's rights makes things even worse, overlooking that many women facing this decision will likely seek the advice of their family in making this decision and gettign laws on the books in many states that protect the worst case scenario of a woman in this situation over the realities of the issue.

So what now? At a time when the Bush administration and their neocon allies are willing to throw the rights of living human beings on the scrapheap, their commitment to the "culture of life" must be seen as the farce it is. The right to reproductive freedom goes beyond abortion into issues such as birth control, family planning, and even the decision to remain childless. By trying to outlaw procedures in the name of protecting potential life, it takes away from women the circumstances and decision making that should be theirs alone - not the church or the governments.

All this over something that in a truly rational world wouldn't even be an issue. In a perfect world this would be seen as a situation involving a woman and her doctor - no one else. It should be obvious that making abortion illegal won't make it go away, but certain politicians and religious figures seem to overlook that in the name of keeping power (religious, political, over women, etc).

There are a lot of different tangents I could look at related to this issue that are important, but unfortunately couldn't get to. I also know that many people who read this post may disagree with me (that's their right) but I stand by what I've posted.

I'll leave this post with a quote from the English grindcore band Napalm Death's 2002 song "Blows To The Body"
"Controlling the womb/Doesn't make her a vehicle/ She dictates the terms."

That pretty much sums it up.

Hello,hello,hello,hello, hello!
We've gone to the blog space at last. There'll be a variety of stuff both personal and big picture topics that night not fit into either the print or web spaces we have. So, for now, we just wanted to say hi! Hope all is well.