Science is True! Believes No Politician Ever, Apparently.

Back at the beginning of April, a US district court judge, in an official ruling, told Kathleen Sebelius, Director of the Department of Health and Human Services, that her 2011 decision to restrict the over-the-counter sale of emergency contraception to women over age 17 was "arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable," and that "the motivation for [her] action was obviously political."

Another point for rational thought! (artist credit)

Sex Work Flow Chart

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I really do try and stay apolitical here.  It doesn't matter which side of the aisle your preferred legislators congregate, pretty much everybody has sexy times, and I don't want to make anyone feel unwelcome.

Fer serious, y'all!  Come on in!

Choppy Chop

Male circumcision: it's a controversial subject.  Some people say God commands it, some people say it's the only way to keep a penis really clean (which is patently untrue), some people say it's merely an unnecessary cosmetic procedure, and some others think it's the straight up mutilation of babies.

Something like that, yeah...

No, Seriously...It's Everywhere

So, some Navy Seals killed Osama Bin Laden.  You've heard this, right?  When I think about the raid, I tend to picture Demi Moore.  Not to take away from the sheer bad-assery of the actual guys that went in and did it, but I've seen GI Jane one too many times.

And also, getting killed in the face by a GIRL would've really pissed him off

What Wesleyan Said

Some students at Wesleyan have produced a protest video that I support and now supply here for to enrichmentize your lives.

I also have sex.  Just so we're clear on that.

You can sign an open letter to your Senator (and a "what the hell?!" letter to your Congressperson) here. Save Planned Parenthood, peeps.  Do it for the chirren - that you have only when you want to!  

Not. OK.

I usually try and keep things light here on Chakabox, even when talking about serious topics.  The world can get really depressing sometimes, and just spewing a bunch of morbid and scary statistics about scary and morbid things doesn't make for particularly engaging reading.  This though...it's morbid, and it's scary, but I can't just leave it be, and can't really make it amusing, because there is nothing funny about it.

like, disgustingly not OK

And I Thought Bush-Era Sex Education Was Bad...

I'll admit to being a bit of an Anglophile. They brought me Jane Austen, Monty Python and Absolutely Fabulous, not to mention Yorkshire Pudding and David Beckham, and for this I am eternally grateful.

However, they're also responsible for hideous acts of colonial violence, bloody wars and that damn 'Shopaholic' book series (which, dear readers, you should especially not read while working in a central African hospital with no electricity or running water. It will anger you deeply).

The Brits also coughed this up, which was sent to the Answerbox this morning. I am at once amused and appalled (click to make it bigger):

Those blokes sure knew how to keep a bird happy!

A few highlights:

"Should your husband suggest congress, then agree humbly, all the while being mindful that a man's satisfaction is more important than a woman's."

"...a small moan from yourself is encouraging to him and quite sufficient to indicate any enjoyment you may have had."

Mind you, this is from the 1960s, not the 1860s. 50 years ago, people. Well within my parents' lifetimes. I mean, I knew the Brits were a little more proper than we Yanks, but this is kind of ridiculous.

Whenever I get pissed off about the inequality women still have to deal with in this world, I like to break crap like this out to remind myself how much better I have it than my foremothers did.

Thank you, JJ, for sending this in, and for raising beautiful boys that will help to keep the gender gap shrinking!

DC Notes

On Friday morning , I posted about a rumor going around the interwebs about the Washington DC police arresting people for carrying 3 or more condoms for prostitution. It was my intention to debunk said rumor, for it is most certainly not true, but even if I accomplished that, I left out a couple of key points that I want to bring to light now.

When I checked my email Friday evening, I'd gotten an email from the office of Adrian M. Fenty, the mayor of Washington DC, which reiterated one of the points I feel wasn't made plain enough: "The criminal offense associated with a Prostitution Free Zone involves the failure to disperse, after an officer issues such an order to two or more persons congragating on public space within the PFZ." It has nothing whatsoever to do with carrying condoms.

However, someone carrying condoms is a factor in determining whether said people are congregating for purposes of prostitution, as opposed to a prayer meeting, which is totally legal, even in a PFZ.

I still argue this will just make prostitutes less likely to carry condoms, as opposed encourage them to find a job in retail. Not reducing prostitution while simultaneously making it more risky doesn't jive with either the point of the law, nor the otherwise-pretty-great thing DC doing to reduce the HIV rate in DC.

That pretty-great thing is the other thing I didn't highlight - or mention at all, for that matter. DC Public Health is doing a mass distribution of free condoms, but they're not just putting them in clinics and health centers and the like. They're putting them in nightclubs, bars, convenience and liquor stores, restaurants and laundromats, which is a fantastic idea.

So, DC could be doing more to reduce its ridiculous 3% HIV rate (on par with Kenya and Uganda), but is doing pretty progressive, forward-thinking things already. I like to be as thorough as I can be and get both sides of things like this, so I hope I've done that now.

And because even the most diligent of us have moments of pheromone-induced insanity, I leave you with a friendly reminder for everyone to USE CONDOMS WITH NEW PARTNERS!!! I won't sugarcoat it and admit that sex with condoms is less fun than without them, but sex with condoms is WAY more fun than sex with HIV.