Pills and Bills

The Pill...

On February 16^th, I could feel my blood boiling, started shaking my head, and wondered if this could be happening in 2012 in the United States.  What set me off?  Representative Darrell Issa had a Capital Hill hearing that was “supposedly” to be about religious freedom and a mandate that health insurers cover contraception.  However, there were no women on the all-male panel.  Representative Carolyn Maloney declared at the hearing “…we will not be forced back to that primitive era…”  Not surprisingly, Ms. Maloney and Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton walked out of the hearing.

Darrell Issa insists he refused a female witness from the Democrats because she wasn’t a member of the clergy.  This doesn’t sound like separation of church and state to me!  According to ABC News reporter Alexa Keyes, the witness named Sandra Fluke “…would have talked about a classmate who lost an ovary because of a syndrome that causes ovarian cysts.  Georgetown, which is affiliated with the Catholic Church, does not insure birth control, which is also used to treat the syndrome.”

This is clearly a hostile attack on women.

What is Darrell Issa afraid of?  Women having a say in their reproductive rights?  The appearance of not even one woman on the panel is disturbing and unwarranted.  Maybe Mr. Issa is unaware that the pill is used for many other uses than the prevention of pregnancy.  According to the Center for Young Women’s Health website, here’s a list of medical conditions that can be helped with the use of birth control pills:

1. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a hormonal imbalance which causes irregular menstrual periods, acne, and excess hair growth.
2. Endometriosis includes cramps or pelvic pain during a menstrual cycle.  Birth control pills are often prescribed to treat endometriosis and work by temporarily preventing periods.
3. Lack of periods (amenorrhea) from low weight, stress, excessive exercise, or damage to the ovaries from radiation or chemotherapy: With any of these conditions, the hormone “estrogen” is not made in normal amounts by the body.  Birth control pills may be prescribed to replace estrogen, which helps to regulate the menstrual cycle.  For girls whose menstrual periods are irregular (too few – or not at all), birth control pills can help to regulate the menstrual cycle to every 28 days and provide the body with normal amounts of estrogen. Normal estrogen levels are important for healthy bones.
4. Menstrual Cramps: When over-the-counter medications don’t help with severe cramps, birth control pills may be the solution because they prevent ovulation and lighten periods.
5. Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS): Symptoms of PMS such as mood swings, breast soreness, and bloating, along with acne can occur up to 2 weeks before a young women’s period.  Birth control pills may be prescribed to stop ovulation and keep hormone levels balanced.  Symptoms may improve, particularly when oral contraceptive pills are prescribed continuously.
6. Heavy Menstrual Periods: Birth control pills can reduce the amount and length of menstrual bleeding.
7. Acne: For moderate to severe acne, which over-the-counter and prescription medications haven’t cured, birth control pills may be prescribed.  The hormones in the Pill can help stop acne from forming.
8. Because there is less menstrual bleeding when taking birth control pills, you are less likely to get anemia (low number of red blood cells, which carry oxygen from the lungs to the tissues). Birth control pills lower your chance of getting endometrial (lining of the uterus) cancer, ovarian cancer, and ovarian cysts.,

In other parts of the world, freedom of women is limited.  In some countries women aren’t allowed to drive, vote, or express themselves.  What makes the United States unique is that everyone has the right to live in freedom.  Isn’t the current motivation behind the wars we fight is to give “freedom” to other countries?

According to Lois Kazakoff of the San Francisco Chronicle regarding Issa: “The hearing, says the congressman from Vista (San Diego County), is not about contraceptives, it’s about religious liberty. That explains why he only invited male witnesses who espouse conservative views of just two faiths to testify at the first of two hearings convened to guide reproductive health care policy for all American women.”

However, this is an old debate.  What is the “real” motivation behind this hearing?

Could it be that religious institutions will be forced to offer contraceptives coverage for employees?  Or maybe women has gotten too much freedom?  Regardless, when filling out a future job application will there be a box to check if you believe in birth control or not?

Doesn’t sound like “freedom” to me…

The links:

http://blog.sfgate.com/opinionshop/2012/02/17/829/

http://www.msmagazine.com/news/uswirestory.asp?ID=13473

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-danziger/issa-birth-control_b_1284812.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katie-halper/darrell-issa-birth-control_b_1282495.html

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/02/17/darrell_issa_s_panel_and_the_contraception_debate_the_top_10_worst_things_about_them_.html

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/rep-darrell-issa-bars-minority-witness-a-woman-on-contraception-2/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57379351-503544/dems-decry-all-male-oversight-panel-on-wh-contraception-rule/

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/16/politics/women-lawmakers-hearing/index.html

http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/med-uses-ocp.html

Major’s not minor

From start to finish...

 

On February 11th, I attended the Considering Time Through Art & Poetry workshop at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.  It was an intimate group of fourteen artists and educators who gathered to discuss strategies on how to bridge visual and literary arts through poetry.  We discussed making the ancient new again, how poetry improves critical thinking skills, and how important interactive museum activities are to classroom learning.

Devorah Major led the group masterfully.  She was San Francisco’s Poet Laureate from 2002 to 2006.  Major has traveled extensively throughout the world, written books, lectured, performed, and success will undoubtedly be in all her future endeavors.  Anyways, it was intellectual bliss to get insight on creative writing practices through poetry.

Ms. Major took us on a tour of ancient artifacts and art.  She then proudly read the poetry of elementary and junior high students that were inspired by the objects in the museum.  The group was eventually let “loose” to compose one poem and share their discovery through a written creation.

The experience reinforced how important writing is for artists and everyone.  Expressing yourself through words equals power.  According to Devorah “I think there’s this idea that you gotta be set right now, and I don’t think you have to be set right now.  I think what you do is you find something that excites you, and you do that and maybe it grows tangentially from that…”

Ideas are not minor notions but thoughts that can grow into major changes and influences in life.  Without ideas and dreams the world would be a black hole of creativity.  I say plant those seeds and see what grows…

Poem by Devorah Major:

 

inside the evening sky

 

i don’t know the name

of the blues that shadow our path

one is sweet and light, a cool meringue

another sharp, but still

a third thick, pressing down upon the rest

 

cobalt they would say

of the uppermost-

a blue that hums deeply

a harmony of firmament

refusing clouds

denying stars

shining inside the cosmos

a forever blue

where life dies

and is reborn

an eternal blue

that exists above the storm

 

a blue that doesn’t suffer discord

that would smile if it had a mouth

embrace if it was armed

comfort if it grew heart

 

but instead it arcs

a concert of blues

hovering over the earth

in an endless ocean

of impossible quiet

thick with blue beyond blue

a blue that disappears

when clutched in the fist

a blue that is

invisible and solid

 

The links:

http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/

http://redroom.com/member/devorah-major

The “art” of…

An example of art.

What is art?  It’s a term that is “loosely” used to describe just about everything and anyone can claim loudly and proudly to be an “artist.”

According to the Merrian-Webster dictionary, the word “art” has multiple meanings.  It can be a skill acquired by experience, study, or observation.  Or maybe it can be a branch of learning and an occupation requiring knowledge or skill.  Art can also be the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects.

Could art be defined as a skillful plan?  Well depends on who you talked to.  If you asked art critic Robert Hughes, Andy Warhol or Damien Hirst lack talent.  He would argue that money has infected the definition of  “art.”  Financial “gravitas” has bought taste, style, influence, power, and redefined the definition of art.

Everything seems to be an “art”:

1. The art of war.  Got military industrial complex?
2. The art of cooking.  For whatever diet-crazed-wave your traveling, the art of cooking becomes a trendy accessory and a multi–million dollar industry.
3. The art of conversation.  In a speed dating and text dominated world, “conversation” has become a dying art.
4. The art of happiness.  Yes, please go buy the self-help books and attend the motivational seminars!  It will lead to rainbows, unicorns, and money growing on trees.
5. The art of listening.  What?
6. The art of negotiation.  Yes it’s fun to feel like you’re not getting screwed…
7. The art of public speaking.  Does this really matter anymore?  George Bush was president.
8. The art of trolling.  Yes being an internet irritant and provoking anger is an art form!
9. The art of the perfect sales pitch.  I’ll have to consult with QVC on this one.
10. The art of enduring another day on planet earth.  Could this be our most important art form or practice for the human race?

Call me old fashioned but art goes beyond mere existence and hedge fund accounts.  “I’m breathing therefore I’m special!” proclaims a new generation of reality television stars and techno music ringtones.  I’ll just continue my “art” of…

The link:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/art-definition/

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/mona-lisa-curse/

Seconds

Word...

Poet Rae Armantrout arranges words to create art.  Methodically she researches language and picks the most interesting words by using them as a source of inspiration.  Armantrout is part of a group known as “language poets.”  Located mostly in New York City and San Francisco, they were greatly impacted by the Vietnam War.  The group took note of how the war was sold by “spin” and how language was being used as a tool.

Most “language poets” write in sections and according to Armantrout “…so that it can be subtle and seen in different ways.”  She brings together words that usually don’t belong together, together.  Armantrout likes the friction that language can create socially, aesthetically, or on paper.

Feelings or current thoughts inspire Armantrout’s writing.  Her recent book Money Shot contains poetry based on the financial crisis and battle with a rare cancer.  Armantrout doesn’t censor out personal narrative in her poetry.  For example, she’ll mix in personal narrative from sex to credit default swaps.  According to POETS.org: “Part of the first generation of Language poets on the West Coast, her work has been praised for syntax that borders on everyday speech while grappling with questions of deception and distortion in both language and consciousness.”

Rae Armantrout’s bio exudes the California experience.  She was born in Vallejo, grew up in San Diego, and attended the University of Berkeley, and San Francisco State University.  In 2010, Armantrout won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

Armantrout on her childhood: “I was alone a lot when I was growing up.  I was an only child and there was alcoholism in my family so I often wanted to stay out of the way.  I think that has affected my work in a couple of ways.  First, I tended to entertain myself by reading and writing.  And then, of course, I was a lonely child.”  Lucky for us, her words get the attention and time they deserve.

Seconds

The point is to see through
the dying,

who pinch non-existent
objects from the air

sequentially,

to this season’s
laying on of
withered leaves?

 2

A moment is everything

one person

(see below)

takes in simultaneously

though some

or much of what

a creature feels

may not reach

conscious awareness

and only a small part

(or none) of this

will be carried forward

to the next instant.

 3

Any one
not seconded

burns up in rage.

The links:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/rae-armantrout

http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/armantrout/

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1134

http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2010-Poetry

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2010/04/conversation-pultizer-prize-winner-in-poetry-rae-armantrout.html

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2012/01/friday-on-the-newshour-poet-rae-armantrout.html