Wednesday, July 26, 2017

On Censorship


Censorship:


               Good morning, today we are going to talk about censorship and how I feel about it. I have always been a fan of the least amount censorship possible. I truly believe that for us to remain a free society we have a duty to keep censorship at a minimum. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says: “Congress shall make NO law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” I would like to break this down with some examples of what this could include as well as explain why I believe it is a personal responsibility to censor one’s world as opposed to the government’s job and how censorship could cause the downfall of a society.
              
First let’s look at the First Amendment, the first line being: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;” my understanding of this leads me to believe we should not be stopping polygamous groups from their practice of polygamy. Now I hear you shouting “What about the children?!” It is an unfortunate truth that a few of these groups practice underage marriage and systematic rape of the women and girls. This alone does not mean we should ban the practice of polygamy but should be examining why this perversion is happening in the first place.  I could probably go on for an entire paper on why polygamy should not be banned in the U.S. but we don’t have that kind of time and that’s not why we are here today.
              
Secondly let’s take a look at the next bit of the First Amendment, “or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;” here we see something that I think we are forced to look at a lot more in our current political climate. There is a lot of talk about “fake news” and our current president is all about quieting opinions that do not match his own or go against him. This is not ok in my book, and goes back to personal accountability and self-policing. If you do not want to hear about the liberal view on Donald Trump, don’t watch those news programs, don’t read that article. By limiting what the press can say we are looking at a very biased view of the world.
              
Thirdly we are going to look at the last bit of the amendment, “or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Here I feel we are looking at something that directly allows us to tell the government that we disagree, that the people do not feel the way congress does. This takes us full circle here really, looking at censorship and our given ability to self-police.
              
I believe that the First Amendment is our given right to self-police and not have the government censor us. I honestly feel that very little should be censored. I very much believe in self-accountability. I feel that the only ones who should be in charge of what we read or see is ourselves or in the case of younger children, parents. I do not feel that someone else should be in charge of what I see. Up to and including things such as child pornography, which in of itself is illegal but still readily available on the internet. One can argue that by not censoring what goes on the internet that we can perhaps track down the people who are producing these illegal things. Personal accountability is key in this argument I believe. However, suggesting that parents should be in charge of what their children see is also a slippery slope, at what age is it acceptable to let your children navigate the world on their own? How young is too young to access ‘questionable’ content?  I suppose that also would have to be up to the individual parent as to when they feel that their child has developed enough cognitive reasoning to know right from wrong and be able to police their own activities, this would be different for every person and in some cases may never develop.

I don’t think censorship protects any of us, only gives us the illusion of a safe bubble that we live in hoping that the outside world won’t get us from in here. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas in The One Un-American Act says, “Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversion. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.” and I agree totally. It is a theme that has been repeated in a number of dystopian novels such as, Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” and Orwell’s “1984”. There is a reason that these type of books scare us and make us think. They challenge us to look at our world and at things that are happening to our society and what could happen if things get out of hand. I hope to see a world where people start to realize that they are in fact in charge of what they see and instead of trying to keep others from seeing what they don’t like just look away instead.

       A famous bear once said “Only you can prevent forest fires!” and I think that can be applied here. Only you can control what you read, and you can’t prevent others from reading things that may cause you harm.  Also it is not your job to police what they are reading, and G-d help us if that ever becomes a job. I am reminded of the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury (which itself has ended up on the banned book list). In Fahrenheit 451 books are rounded up by government officials and burned, the title Fahrenheit 451 being a reference to the temperature at which books burn. This may seem like an extreme thing that would never happen but book burnings are a thing that has happened. This form of extreme censorship is a practice that still happens today and has the possibility to keep happening and even get worse if we do not take it upon ourselves to meter what we consume via text and other media. It’s about personal responsibility. Without access to controversial materials we cannot have open dialogues about the subject matter. Without open dialogues about the issues we cannot grow. Without growth we stagnate and as with water, a mind that is stagnant is not a healthy mind. A society that refuses to grow and becomes stagnant will collapse like a flan in a cupboard.

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Obsessions with Evil pt. 2

So... here I am again writing about this... again.

My stance hasn't changed. I think I may have figured out where the particular bent came from. My boyfriend/childhood sweetheart/ man of my dreams.

He has a fairly evil streak to him. From the wicked grin to being a sadist... I used to think maybe evil could be fixed and be perfect and what not... Evil cannot be fixed, however I recant my previous statement that evil isn't relationship material. Dag and I are doing incredibly well this time. We have both grown up and understand that relationships take work and communication. blah blah blah.

Here is a list of (fictional) Evil Sexy-ness:

Lady Lucille Sharpe (Jessica Chastain)


The Phantom (Gerard Butler)



The Black Swan (Natalie Portman)


Lucius Malfoy (Jason Issacs)


The Evil Queen (Charlize Theron)


Loki (Tom Hiddleston)


Queen Beryl 


Dr. Jonathan Crane Aka Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy)






If anyone is interested, I am thinking about compiling a list of actual (historical) sexy evil people. I think it would be an interesting list. Lemme know what you think?

Friday, April 28, 2017

National Infertility Awarness Week - Guest Post: Barren & Broke: Mia Pet

I was 14 the first time I had my "Aunt Flow" make an appearance in my life. It was anti-climatic to all the things I had heard & expected. I was at a friend's house for the night, I had to pee & when I looked down there was blood. I looked under their bathroom sink & luckily for me there was some pads down there. I put one in my underwear and went on with my day until the cramps started & I walked home. I awkwardly told my dad that I needed him to take me to the store to "buy girlie objects". 

I had NO idea what I was looking for because at that time in my life, my sister wasn't around much & my mom wasn't really in the picture. I had heard some horror stories about tampons (and being a virgin didn't think it was was a good idea at the time) so I bought some regular pads & some midol & went on with life.

The first time I tried using a tampon, was actually my dad's suggestion (can we say "awkward"?). I had just graduated high school & we were going to a water-park to celebrate. Unfortunately I was, what I started to refer to as "broken" (on my period) and didn't know how I was going to manage swimming. One of my friends who was there told me the basics, (after assuring me that my virginity would be fine) & I bought some. Easy peasy, right? Besides the uncomfortable-ness & the fear that everyone would know somehow, the day was great.

I should have known something was wrong when I was bleeding so much throughout the years & how bad the cramps were that midol couldn't even wave to across the street. It wasn't until long after I became sexually active and 2 miscarriages later that I found out I had endometriosis. By that time I was buying the largest pads I could find & also the biggest tampons I could think of (without being physically uncomfortable) & wearing both to stop the amount of blood my body was putting out. This isn't even bringing into the equation that my periods were never "Normal". I had light flow, I had heavy flow, I had weeks where I wouldn't have any... I didn't know what was wrong with me, except I felt "broken". Finally an amazing doctor in Tacoma (who delivered my brother!) finally suggested I may have this weird disease I had never heard of. Finally an answer to the multiple ovarian cysts, the impossible cramping, the anemia...

Over the course of that year I had 11 surgical procedures done. A diagnostic laparoscopy showed that this "Thing" had developed so badly it was attached to some of my other organs. Bring on a few D&Cs, an upper GI, a few colonoscopies (all the medications they put me on & blood loss did not agree with my stomach & my eating habits were atrocious), a presacral neurectomy (cutting a nerve in my lower back in "hopes of relieving some of the cramps") & finally an ablation after my 3rd miscarriage which just about broke my heart. Learning that my eggs were still ok, but I wouldn't be able to have any kids on my own was shattering. I can't even begin describe the darkness that crept in. Little did I know it was about to get darker.

I started bleeding again & though I was only 26 and didn't have any children (which is why my doctor was loath to do this sooner) they decided to do a full hysterectomy. In my mind that meant they were going to take one of the main things that made me "A woman". Thankfully they did it in time to catch my appendix being 3x the size it was supposed to be, so they took that out at the same time. 

I felt like a broken toy with missing parts. After the long healing process & discovering I couldn't even take estrogen because it made me sick, I started trying to be intimate with my boyfriend at the time. It was difficult because, although he was supportive of my health issues, he kept pushing me in more ways than one. "You're just being lazy, you're tough", "Let's have sex all the time, no matter how you're feeling", etc... He was emotionally abusive & a drunk and putting up with that on top of my own darkness was almost more than I could bear. Thankfully I had a good support system & finally put my foot down that I would not live that way anymore.

The cramps are still bad, even though I don't have the parts. I think it's phantom pains, or from the nerve they cut, or maybe even from the fibromyalgia I found out the same year I was suffering from. My heating pad is my best friend & there's nothing like a good cup of tea. Yoga is good for the muscles & meditation helps keeps the darkness at bay. Hot flashes are no picnic (picture this... There's 7 feet of snow on the ground & I'm outside in a tank top sweating to death while people tell me "I'm too young for menopause". I'm too young for a lot of things, but such is my lot in life). 

I've learned that I have the ability to tell my partners that while I'm attracted to them, I don't always want to/can't always have sex because it hurts. There are really good days & then there are days when I get a little rough with someone/cut myself shaving an intimate area & see blood & nearly have a panic attack. 
Like all things, it passes eventually. 

There are days when I see pregnancy announcements/baby shower invites from those near & dear to me & I want to scream/cry/laugh/rage, but then my compassion kicks in & I want to show love & support despite my breaking heart. I've been a nanny for a long time & I try very hard not to get attached because I know they're not mine. People say "well, you can adopt." I just got divorced & before that my ex husband had lost his job. Do these people understand how expensive adoptions are & the hoops you have to jump through just to be approved? "Well, have someone be a surrogate". They still have Doctor appointments, hospital stay & baby things you have to pay for. 

I went from Barren & Broken to Disabled & Divorced. 
I try to stay positive & it's not always easy, but for those who are struggling with the things I have already lived through, I need to say this: Never underestimate the power of a good shower. Don't wear white bottoms. Your own saliva takes out your own blood (cleaning skives). Talk to your doctor & BE HONEST! You will survive this. There is support. You're stronger than you think. 

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Does pot make sex better?

Simple answer: Yes

Smoking or consuming marijuana before sex can increase how much one enjoys sex.
This is for a number of different reasons.

1.
Marijuana doesn't produce serotonin but it does affect a chemical in the brain called anadamide, which causes soothing sensations in the body when it reacts with THC. Mj also affects dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in the brains pleasure producing mechanism. These 2 combined can lead to better sex.

2.
Its relaxing. Personally I feel more relaxed when I smoke, which allows me to let go, which leads to better orgasms.

3.
Its fun, which can lead to the giggles, and if you have never had giggly sex you are missing out.