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Link Roundup

Bikes
Tuscon, Arizona is Tops in Bike Lanes Per Mile
Shit Cyclists Say
How to Fucking Clean your Bike
Two Wheels and High Heels

Running
5 Core Workouts to Boost Your Runs 
The Downsides Of Barefoot Running: Stress Fractures, Mean Looks And More


Women
Study: Abortion 14 Times Safer Than Giving Birth
President Obama on the 39th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade 
39 Years Ago, Roe v. Wade Changed the Life of Every American Woman
Obama Approves Rule that Guarantees Near-Universal Contraception Coverage
Santorum and the 'Anti-contraception' Conservatives


Politics
FACTS: The State of the Union
Newt Gingrich and the Politics of Resentment
What the Left Gets Right
Barack Obama, Post-Partisan, Meets Washington Gridlock

Education
How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life
One Percent Education

Science and the Environment
A Comprehensive Review Of What's Causing Global Warming 
Obama's First 2012 Campaign Ad Hits Big Oil, Touts Clean Energy (Video) 

Architecture and Design
Gorgeous Apartment Building Above the Polar Circle Uses Zero External Heating
Plants on Green Roofs Help Solar Panels Keep Cool
Proof That The Greenest Building IS The One Already Standing
 
Just Fucking Awesome
Elizabeth Warren on The Daily Show
Puppy Bowl VIII Is Coming
The Manual Photography Cheat Sheet
Cinema's Best Knockouts

January 22, 1973 - Blog for Choice

A woman's right to bodily autonomy was my political awakening. I was 16 and completely politically apathetic in 2003 when the Bush administration used their brand new mandate to shoulder through a new piece of legislation: The Partial Birth Abortion Ban.

That was all it took. I was a done deal. I immediately saw the incredible hypocrisy of this conservative, small government president (government so small it can fit in my uterus?) and it pissed me the hell off. I've argued for and championed women's rights ever since. That's what this post is for.

Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, probably the most famous case the Supreme Court has ever ruled on because it gets under people's skin like very little else. And when it comes those of us who care deeply, no matter the side, there's no swaying us. We talk at each other. I've been vocalizing my support for women's rights for nearly ten years, and I've only worked one person back over the line with me. It's not an easy topic.

But it's one I continue to discuss because it continues to be an issue. Elected on a platform of economic issues, this 112th Congress pushed twice the anti-choice legislation in 2011 than in any previous year. Apparently, the GOP spells "jobs" u-t-e-r-u-s. And they're pushing this legislation through to take our county backwards, even as Americans themselves move forwards. So much of our government is pandering to (to quote the Daily Show) a small but vocal group of elderly lunatics.

Most Americans support abortion rights. Conditionally, yes, but they don't cop to this bullshit about eliminating it entirely, like, say, the uber-religion governor of my state. But even if the majority of Americans don't support the unconditional right to terminate a pregnancy, this is one of those situations where we need our government to be better than us. To handle what we cannot.

I talk about it because the conversation won't end. These people who call themselves "pro-life" will continue to execute doctors, and to promote their assassination and label them targets. To bomb our clinics and harass any woman who dares use their services. And then they stick their god in my government to legislate my body.

On this anniversary, as on every anniversary, NARAL (a previous employer!) promotes their Blog for Choice day. So I am blogging for choice. I'm an insignificant blip, but I am a blip. I exist. I have a voice and just as importantly I have a vote. I vote for Eddie Bernice Johnson. I vote against Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn and Rick Perry and I am vocal about it.

And just sayin: Abortion Rates Are Higher In Counties Where Procedures Are Illegal

Things I forgot to include:

Reproductive coercion: In a relationship, it's sexual violence. When it's state-mandated, it's just being a good Christian.

And the Texas sonogram law that just cleared the courts? That ain't always a jelly-on-the-belly sonogram. "The vast majority for women in their first trimester of pregnancy will be done by a vaginal probe." A) So much for any sense of privacy or freedom from government intrusion and b) the state is going to force a doctor to put a stick up a woman's vagina? Is it just me or does that fit the FBI's updated definition of rape?

Link Roundup

A day late. Damn you, SOPA! Tell Congress: Don't censor the web!

Bikes
Accident Raises Urgency for Bike Lanes in Dallas (Seriously? Fuck you, Dallas. You AND the SUV you rode in on)
"I Didn't See the Cyclist" Isn't a Defense, It's an Admission of Guilt
Biking + Farmer's Market = Velo Fare Cookbook (Recipe)
Biking In Dallas » Dallas Bicycle Cafe coming soon!

Politics
Andrew Sullivan: How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics
7 Things Poor Voters Want Rich Candidates (and Their Rich Supporters) to Know
5 Things More Likely to Save Marriage Than an Anti-Porn Crusade
12 Times Stephen Colbert Interrupted Politics 
Gingrich Suggests Illegally Firing Federal Employees Over Liberal Views

SOPA
No More Highlight Reels: How SOPA Would Hurt Sports Fans
Movie Flops Are Driving Internet-Killing Bills in Congress
Infographic: Why the movie industry is so wrong about SOPA
What are the REAL motivations behind support for SOPA?

Women
New Hampshire Introduces Bills to Defund Planned Parenthood, Weaken Domestic Violence Laws (GOP to Women: "No, seriously. We couldn't give less of a shit about you. Make me a sandwich") 
Teen Birthrate Plummets Because Girls Can Actually Get Birth Control
Santorum Campaign Worker Believes God Doesn't Want a Female President
Abortion Rates Are Higher In Countries Where Procedure Is Illegal, Study Shows

Science and the Environment
Climate change skepticism seeps into science classrooms
At the Consumer Electronics Show, a New Focus on Recycling Old Gadgets
CES 2012: 3 Examples of Sony's Mantra, "Do More With Less"
Collar Camera Offers Unique Glimpse of Life as a Grizzly Bear

Architecture and Design
Wind-Powered Land Mine Clearing Device is Nominee for London Design Museum's Design of the Year Award 
Industrial Piping, Recycled Into One of a Kind Shelving 
200 Chinese Workers Erect a 30 Storey Prefabricated Hotel in Just 15 Days 
Embodied Energy and Green Building: Does it matter? 
How To Build a Resilient Design: Make it Smaller, Higher, Stronger and Warmer 

World
The Rise And Fall Of Poverty Porn 
 
WTF
On the New York Times and Truth Vigilantes: The Place of the Media is NOT Stenographic Journalism
New York Times Public Editor Asks Readers To Weigh In On Whether Or Not Reporters Should Attempt Some Sort of 'Reporting'

Pretty Cool
There Flows the Neighborhood: Follow the Booze to the Next Big Block
What the Right Gets Right
Cuppow - Turn a Canning jar into a Travel mug
Coffee Is For Closers: 14 Of The Most Impressive Monologues In Movie History
The Cast Of Community As The X-Men

Just Sayin

Stop SOPA

I'm blacking out for the day in solidarity with Wikipedia, Reddit, Craigslist and a ton of other sites. I know I'm tiny and inconsequential, but enough of us tiny folks add up to one regular folk so ... 

Oh no

So after Dallas said it's too broke to paint in bike lanes as they go through basic street repair, a cyclist was struck and nearly killed crossing a bridge from Oak Cliff to downtown this weekend. A bridge that was a focal point of the proposed bike plan, because it's, you know, dangerous.

If you haven't seen the story, here it is on WFAA.

Please keep Dallas and his wife in your thoughts. Word is he's already able to talk and the doctors think that, with therapy, he should eventually make a full recovery. Looks like this is an instance in which they were able to snag the driver who did it as well.

If anyone has any links where we can help support either Dallas the person or Dallas the (lack of) bike plan, please leave them in the comments.

It is 7:10 AM on January 16

Who has two thumbs and rode to work this morning in September clothes? This girl ...