For Athena's sake, just do it.

[nolawitch58]

Go to this website for Seventh Generation paper products and donate tampons to a women's shelter. (Many thanks to witchy_abriel by way of entheos93 for the original link.)

Recycling is something we can all support. I actually use Seventh Generation's paper towels and toilet tissue. If I can find their feminine hygiene products, I'll start using those as well. It depends on what Sav-A-Center carries. Now that I have health insurance, I'm going to look into an endometrial ablation so that I don't bleed anymore. While reading rants about how many poopy diapers end up in landfills and create tons of pollution, I realized that bloody sanitary pads and tampons end up there as well.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. There's only one reason to cling to a menstrual cycle and that's for procreation. Those of us who have avoided procreation have no use for a monthly cycle. It's nasty, messy and bad for the environment. Maybe one of you on my flist is thinking about typing a response about the mystery and magic of menstruation. Don't. There's nothing remarkable about a bodily function. People only apply that bodily function as magic to procreation which is not magical and has resulted in the glut of humanity that infests this lovely planet. I'm sure the fluffy bunnies created that myth to make themselves feel better every month they bloated and PMSed toward their coven-mates.

Too much to do this weekend. Last night, we went to the Voodoo game. They won. It was fun. But it entailed me driving like a bat out of hell to get home, pick up hmc_lavadogs and drive back to the arena within an hour. The place where we park for arena events is a couple of blocks away requiring us to hoof it over there as fast as our middle-aged legs could carry us. We finally got to our seats in time for the national anthem immediately followed by kickoff. We got home around 11:00 and watched a show on the PBS station about shopping in old New Orleans.

Today, I'm going to try to get a buttload of cleaning done and work on the First Degree manual. I need to give Scott a copy since he's started teaching a class. This evening, hubby and I are going to his mother's for his birthday dinner. I took pictures of my office to show her.

The new server for one of our systems is sitting in boxes in my office. I shall commune with it and nag the hell out of the hardware geek until he removes it to his building to install. We did the last of the tweakage of the space on the 4th floor that we could do. It looks nice. We got our two new printers installed, one of which actually has a network drop. I ordered five more network drops to move some stuff around. There are a plethora of Post-it notes ringing my monitor like petals on a flower. Every day I pull some off and every day I have to stick a few more up there.

Tomorrow is the bitching ritual at the covenstead. All the idiocy they've gone through with Allstate makes me want to add some bitching about that as righteous indignation on their behalf. Their lawsuit seems to be panning out in its initial stages. I hope they get every penny out of that ratbag company and I hope all the other suits against them force them to pay all their claims. Insurance Commissioner Donelon this week ordered Allstate to reinstate policies for people they had canceled due to "drive-by inspections" of property. In most of the cases, the so-called inspectors reported that the properties were vacant or abandoned when if they had actually stopped and knocked on doors, they would have found people inside toiling on repairs.

Please insert my yearly whine and rant about Daylight Saving Time. Other than this horrible idea and the turkey as our national bird, I think Benjamin Franklin was brilliant.

And belated birthday greetings to ozdragonlady.

Comments

[goddessmusings.livejournal.com]

Clicked and done! I also added it in my LJ and forwarded the link to the EBC's and a bunch of people via email.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

Merci beaucoup. It will be nice to see y'all tomorrow.

Wow.

[saminz.livejournal.com]

Can you really get one on a health care plan?! Do you have endometriosis already, or is it just done without medical indication at all?

I would have been behind you ever so feverishly in my early twenties. These days, I have more or less given in to resignation about the fact that I'll just have to wait it out - and it's getting less and less trouble anyway :-). I never really thought it worth several thousand franks and some fierce fighting with incredulous doctors, to be honest.

Since I'm being honest here: Last time I went in, my gynecologist showed me an ovulation in progress with this ultrasound device for the first time, and I couldn't help feeling just a little bit awed. So this is going on faithfully in there, in all it's useless beauty, like some ancient clockwork...? I couldn't help some eerie fascination - even if I certainly don't feel in any way mystified and magicked about menstruation on a monthly basis :-P.

Have fun at the "bitching ritual". Sounds like a very useful festivity indeed ;-).

And that's a cool link, too. Women's shelters all over the world are always in need of support, sadly enough. Even ours - which is an effing shame.

Re: Wow.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

Yeah, if you have really awful periods, you can. I've been complaining for years so that's all in my records. The only reason a doctor wouldn't do it is if you indicated you wanted to spawn larvae down the line. That sucks that you would have to pay for something like that out of pocket. Decent healthcare coverage should include all gynecological maladies. You shouldn't have to fight with the doctors either. I got so little hassle when I had my tubal ligation. Unfortunately, there are others who aren't so lucky. Their doctors give them all sorts of shit and refuse to perform the surgery until they've gotten older or had a batch of fucktrophies. It's idiotic.

If my life ever settles down enough, I'm going to write a grant proposal to some billionaire for money to provide surgical sterilizations for any and all who want them. Overpopulation is a runaway train, but I figure whatever small dent I can help make will be its own reward.

I forgot to mention above that our coven regularly gives money and donations to a local battered women's shelter. We give soap, shampoo, toothpaste and other toiletry items because we asked what they needed. Those women are usually escaping from awful, abusive relationships with nothing. Every time we put together a batch of stuff for them, I thank my lucky stars I have such a wonderful life.

Re: Wow.

[saminz.livejournal.com]

Well - it's idiotic all the way here. And I don't have any malady, is part of the problem. Part of the missing motivation as well, maybe. I don't care much for the mess, of course, but am in no pain to speak of, so...

That's very cool of you. Our shelters here are okay with basic needs, but have to fight other wars: Quite a lot of the women there are foreigners, and if they want to go ahead and sue an outrageously cruel husband, they risk being thrown out of the country before anything can be done about it. Once these girls leave their "homes", they are practically instantly "illegalized". It in fact says so in the first permit: "Reason for residence: Stay with husband". He more or less "owns" her for these first 5 years. Once she runs - and believe me, only the very most endagered ones dare to - they have more than one fight to face...

It's scandalous. Enraging. And awfully costly. Lawsuits and campaigns and stuff. Plus website. These ladies do fabulous work, and I support them financially.

Every time I get their mail, and see those case studies, I can't help feeling grateful as well. For having had the chance to be autonomous, first and foremost. Not only materially, but that I have never felt the need to be part of a pair to be "worthy" at all...

Re: Wow.

[entheos93.livejournal.com]

I've applied to the Take Charge program- it's a state grant to have a tubal and ablation done. Light a candle for me, and wish me luck!

Re: Wow.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

Hell yes! All the luck in the world to you. I've been so happy with my tubal all these years. I don't know why the medical profession balks at providing them to all who ask. I'm not really as much of a freak as people think I am. I'm every bit as normal as most of the people I know.

Re: Wow.

[kitten-goddess.livejournal.com]

I think that anyone who gets fixed, male or female, should get a lifetime break from paying income tax - federal, state, county, or city. The surgery should be free, of course. That would cut down on unwanted pregnancies and abortions alike.

[mcnutcase.livejournal.com]

Menstruation is an aberration. The human female is *not* designed for monthly oestrus. Back in the stone age, when procreation was necessary due to most kids dying before even being able to speak, a typical woman would have been a) pregnant (suppressing the menstrual cycle, for obvious reasons), b) lactating (suppressing menstruation for less obvious reasons) or c) about to become pregnant (you figure out what the cycle was up to!). From a long perspective, the human reproductive system is optimised for frequent, closely-spaced babies. It's no wonder periods hurt - you were never "expected" to have to put up with many!

The chemical contraceptive firms carry a lot of blame for this - simulating pregnancy to suppress ovulation, but not suppressing the unpleasant effect of the human reproductive system's short recovery time...

I guess we just ought to be glad women aren't like jill ferrets...

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

It certainly isn't a freaking picnic, unless you're some twisted vampire. Just suppressing menstrual cycles for several months isn't a good enough excuse for pregnancy in my weltanshaung. It's a sad fact of life that our physical evolution is slow in catching up to our social evolution. Doctors should be more amenable to providing permanent contraceptive and anti-menstrual solutions. They get so much more money from them that squeeze out larvae. Altruism isn't dead, but it appears to be on life support.

[mcnutcase.livejournal.com]

I never said that was a good reason for pregnancy. I was just adding some more backup to the view that menstruation shouldn't have to be gone through every four weeks.

In many cases, the doctors are happy to advise women on anti-menstrual procedures. With some brands of oral contraceptive, you can skip the placebo week easily - and presto, no more periods. It's just the damned fundies screaming about how it's "agin nature" (in which case why the hell are they wearing clothes?) not to bleed once a month, that makes the drug companies include that week.

Fully agreed on the physical evolution being slower than social. Just look at lactose intolerance - that's because it's only six thousand years or so since we enslaved cattle...

[gyrbyl.livejournal.com]

There is a company working on a drug to fix this. It sounds EXTREMELY promising so far...

Right now they're approaching phase 3 clinical trials, which are the last trials they have to do before they can apply for FDA approval... I REALLY hope they get it...

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

I hope the FDA isn't run by Bush's fundie fucktards at that time. I can't see the point of spending years bleeding from the snatch unless a person wants to squeeze out larvae. If she does, swell; the pain should be managed. If she doesn't, ditch the whole messy ordeal. All the years of bleeding into pads and tampons and eating ibuprofin aren't worth it without a reason.

[mcnutcase.livejournal.com]

Blimeh. All that and I forgot to add my usual bitch about clock-wanking. Why are politicians so fucking convinced that they can make more sunlight? What makes them believe they can lengthen a piece of string by cutting off one end and tying it to the other end? GAAAAAH!

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

The 600 quid answer to that question is: they're fucking idiots.

[mcnutcase.livejournal.com]

The coincidence between the lunar cycle and the menstrual cycle is just that: coincidence. Look at how easy it is to influence the menstrual cycle (either to lengthen it, or to get various women to synch up when they live together. If it was really linked to the moon, then they'd already be synchronised!)

Other animals have different cycle lengths. Humans, in biological terms, are nothing out of the ordinary...

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

True dat. All the references I've ever read about stated that the ancients segregated women on their cycles because they were considered unclean. Nothing sacred in being considered unclean, is there? I want to slap the snot out of the fluffy bunnies for that horseshit.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

Throw a bloody tampon at any fuckwit who suggests that nasty process is a gift from any deity. What kind of sick, rotten, fucked up deity would consider something so grody a gift?

I guess I'm lucky in that my coven doesn't really get all fluffy bunny about that sort of thing. When I've done blood magic, it was with a vengeful bent and I remember thinking that the jerks I was pouring my menstrual blood to ward off should have every bit of crampish displeasure that I suffer.

Go for the endometrial ablation. I've heard nothing but good about it for an otherwise OK uterus. If you've got fibroids or other stuff in there, the best thing would be to yank it. If they can't find anything like that and you're just suffering, the least they can do is the ablation.

We should both get ours this year and have an ablation party to celebrate.

[tkirk.livejournal.com]

Hooray for the menstrual cups.

I loathe tampons and pads. I use a Keeper, and I used cloth nappies for my boy. No landfill-stuffing for me.

My Mum got an operation which I think is similar to the ablation. She had cysts from an early age (complications from a burst appendix)and I think it actually helped, so I'd be surprised it it made them worse for you :)

[snarl817.livejournal.com]

You know, hornetskaya had an idea about building a tampon trebuchet. Might come in handy for launching them at targets from long range... :D

[willow-dragon.livejournal.com]

I got an ablation when they did my Essure. It hasn't halted my cycle completely, but it has brought it down from 7 days of hell to about 2-3 days of mild annoyance. I was told that it wouldn't get rid of my cycle completely because "I'm still young" (i.e. under 35).

As an alternative to tampons or pads, you could always try a "Mooncup" or re-usable cloth pads.

And I did go to that site and donate. Once for my state and once for another random place.

[snarl817.livejournal.com]

But, but, but...if you don't spawn, who the hell will I conscriptenlist to be in my World Domination Army™? Sure, 3.5 million clones of myself will get the job done...but variety is the spice of life.

You take all the fun out of plotting to take over the world! :P

[mcnutcase.livejournal.com]

If you can clone yourself, you can clone other people.

And clones don't necessarily share the views of the original.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

All those lamer UFies who are spawning can provide you with cannon fodder for your army. That's what most of their offspring are going to end up anyway, except for the more rabid militaristic types. They'll likely do anything and everything to prevent their own kids from going into the service so they can advocate sending other people's kids off to die.

Take over the world. You couldn't do a worse job than the morons who are currently at the helm.

If you can get them, go for it

[real-skeptic.livejournal.com]

If I went to my doctor asking for that treatment, she'd throw me out the window.

One of the members in a forum I attend ("Women who don't want children" - although he's a guy) once sought vasectomy. He went to the orologist, who summarily refused to give him one. "You'll come to regret it, you're still a bachelor". The health services are programmed towards fertility, and the doctors think of any treatment that would hurt your potential fertility as unethical.

We're a backwards country in that respect.

By the way, nowadays one can get progesterone injections or pills as contraceptives, and they suppress menstruation as well, although not on a permanent basis, obviously. Dumb-ass fertility doctors would be more lenient on these.

Re: If you can get them, go for it

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

That attitude is prevalent here too. Although in keeping with the sexist double standard the twerps hold dear, it's considerably easier for a man to walk into his urologist and get a vasectomy than it is for a woman to walk into her gynecologist and get a tubal ligation.

I recently saw a report, which didn't surprise me at all, stating that a study was done showing that doctors would neither perform procedures or prescribe medications nor inform patients of those procedures and medications if they had religious objections to them. Because your country is a religious state, I'm not at all surprised.

I find it repulsive that doctors are willing to help loopy sixty-year-old women conceive when there are too many damned people on the planet already.

Re: If you can get them, go for it

[real-skeptic.livejournal.com]

It's not really related to religion, in this case - though it may have some influence. These doctors are perfectly secular - there are less religious people in Israel than there are in the USA, I believe. It's a bit more complex. It's an attitude that's backed in state policy, having ethnic and national background. For one, we're supposed to undo the damage Hitler has done in terminating 2/3 of the Jewish people. Second, we view ourselves as a "small country surrounded by enemies" (although nowadays we have peace with two of our neighbors), and we therefore should increase and multiply in order to keep our majority in our own area, and to have - sigh - enough soldiers to match the vast number of the enemy. Sounds archaic, but it's true. The state encourages births. Every woman receives a birth payment. Fertility treatments are in the basic National Health Insurance package. Contraceptives are not. The doctors perscribe them freely enough - but you pay the full price, as opposed to "covered" medication on which you pay only 10%.

That's why there is actually a web forum for women who don't want children. When you say that you don't want to have children, you're immediately either ridiculed or considered insane. It's much more acceptable to say that you're a lesbian than to say that you don't want to have kids.

So it's not really about religion. It's a combination of factors.