Amazon Fail and Amazon Rank

I posted on the Amazon Fail incident yesterday and more and more stuff is coming up about it. The folks at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books have set up a page for the purposes of Google bombing Amazon because nothing hurts a company worse than bad PR. Give it a click folks.

And following closely on the heels of that lovely prior post....

I get this in my inbox which was like a slap in the face...

SIECUS

Cody, WY

Sexuality education in Cody High School is under the microscope after members of Cody Right to Life submitted a petition to the school board asking to ban a local family planning group from teaching the sexuality education component of the health curriculum.

The school board accepted the petition of approximately 500 signatures and quickly voted 4–3 to suspend Northwest Wyoming Family Planning (NWFP) from teaching its one-day lesson in the health classes. The board resolution also mandates that students be segregated by gender for the lesson about contraception and STDs and that it be taught by a health teacher or school nurse.[1] In addition, the board voted to create a task force that would include representatives from NWFP, Cody Right to Life, parents, teachers, a school nurse, and a board member that would review the high school’s entire health class and come back with recommendations.

Members of Cody Right to Life, who argued that NWFP did not focus enough on abstinence, “negative outcomes,” and the risks and side effects of contraceptives, were satisfied with the board’s decision. A city council member also said she was pleased with the board because of her concern that NWFP was not covering the “damaging emotional consequences that come with underage sex.”[2]

When will people learn that their personal beliefs do not sound public health policy make?????

Ada Lovelace Day was yesterday...

Did you all know about this? I sure as hell didn't and that makes me ask myself..."WHY THE HELL DID I NOT KNOW???"

Ada Lovelace Day — Bringing women in technology to the fore

Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of blogging to draw attention to women excelling in technology.

Women’s contributions often go unacknowledged, their innovations seldom mentioned, their faces rarely recognised. We want you to tell the world about these unsung heroines. Entrepreneurs, innovators, sysadmins, programmers, designers, games developers, hardware experts, tech journalists, tech consultants. The list of tech-related careers is endless.

Recent research by psychologist Penelope Lockwood discovered that women need to see female role models more than men need to see male ones. That’s a relatively simple problem to begin to address. If women need female role models, let’s come together to highlight the women in technology that we look up to. Let’s create new role models and make sure that whenever the question “Who are the leading women in tech?” is asked, that we all have a list of candidates on the tips of our tongues.

Don't know who Ada Lovelace is? For shame!!!!

Ada Lovelace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815, London – 27 November 1852, Marylebone, London), born Augusta Ada Byron, was the only legitimate child of George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron. She is widely known in modern times simply as Ada Lovelace.

She is mainly known for having written a description of Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. She is today appreciated as the "first programmer" since she was writing programs—that is, manipulating symbols according to rules—for a machine that Babbage had not yet built. She also foresaw the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching while others, including Babbage himself, focused only on these capabilities.[1]

So yeah, the first computer programmer was a chick. LONG LIVE THE OVARIES!


I raise a glass in honor of all the awesome, tech geeky chicks I know. Every single one of you is made of win and awesome.

March 24th-World TB Day

Just an FYI. I know most of us don't see a lot of TB in everyday life but the fact is that it remains a problem here and in many other places in the world, including our neighbors.

Materials » World TB Day

Mexico’s multidrug-resistant TB has been acknowledged as a serious public health problem. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Report 2006, Mexico had nearly 34,000 TB cases in 2004, with an estimated incidence rate of 32 cases per 100,000 people. The prevalence of TB in Mexico is of great concern to the United States, given the shared borders and immigration flow between the two countries. To combat TB, in 2000 the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Mexican Secretariat of Health signed a $16 million bilateral grant agreement to strengthen TB prevention efforts.

Urgent Action Appeal from PLanned PArenthood

TELL CONGRESS: DON’T DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD - Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood has just learned that Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) is expected to attack Planned Parenthood again today. He will offer an amendment to the Appropriations Act this afternoon that would block Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving federal funds from Title X, the nation’s family planning program.

This move is an unconstitutional, completely unfounded attack on the nation’s leading source of reproductive health care information and services. In these difficult economic times, we need to make reproductive health care services more available for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women — not less.

We need you to call your senators and tell them to stand up and oppose the Vitter amendment.

The appropriations bill is being voted on this afternoon, so we need you to call today. Ask your senators to speak out on the floor and oppose Sen. David Vitter’s Amendment No. 601 to the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 (H.R.1105).

The Postmodern Geek's Guide to Sex #37: The POTUS is Rocking My Sexgeek Socks

Download the MP3 here!

Hi folks! I"m back after a rather long holiday hiatus. I chat a bit about some of the exciting policy decisions that have come out of our new President's policy decisions as well as throw in some random sexgeekiness that has struck my fancy recently.

Global Gag Rule: LIFTED!
UNFPA Funding: RESTORED!


I mention NARAL's Blog for Choice Day and the entry I made on that day which I was then happy to see start coming true the next day as mentioned above. :-)

Also, Condoms do help protect against HPV, Tonsils are not friendly to HIV and in Weird Sex News: Blow Up Doll Bandit.


Email: postmodern.sexgeek@gmail.com


Twitter: http://twitter.com/PMSexgeek


Feed URL: http://marieb.libsyn.com/rss

Intro and Outro music is "We Carry On" by Portishead

Hidden Agenda? Who me???

Nevada ogles the potential tax dollars of legal prostitution - Los Angeles Times

"I think it's an appalling way for a state to make money," said Melissa Farley, executive director of the nonprofit Prostitution Research and Education group in San Francisco. "Once there's an awareness of what prostitution does to women, it makes no sense to allow it, to tax it, to decriminalize it or mainstream it."

Nevermind that Farley relies on funding that is predicated on the idea that all women in sex work are poor helpless victims. She just wants to save them all from a life of sin and loose morals. She doesn't care about the money! *nod nod*


Perhaps she needs to talk to actual sex workers before saving them from making a living?

The article itself is fairly informative.  I'm just annoyed that as usual they interviewed another would be savior of prostitutes everywhere (whether they want to be saved or not) but couldn't be arsed to speak to an actual sex worker to see what she thought.

Oh Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!!

Obama To Alter Abortion Policy -- Courant.com

In one of his first acts as president, Barack Obama is planning to lift a rule that prevents federal money from going to international family planning groups that counsel women on abortion or perform the procedure.

Obama's repeal of the abortion aid policy is one of several executive actions that he will take soon after his inauguration today, according to several Obama transition aides. He is also considering lifting Bush administration restrictions on federally funded stem cell research.

My thanks to Mr Rubix for first bringing this to my attention. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. It is almost enough for me to forgive him for this: Obama Sides With Bush in Spy Case.



Note: I said "almost".

Blog for Choice Day

I almost missed it! Thank god for Twitter...

This year's topic? What is your top pro-choice hope for President Obama and/or the new Congress?

Well let's see.

• I want medically accurate information about condoms put back on the CDC web site
• I want the US to stop throwing money away on abstinence only education that has been shown not to work and in fact that actually hurts the kids receiving it
• I want the global gag order lifted
• I want us to be able to provide money for HIV prevention to agencies even if they have not come down on the side of the moral majority regarding sex work
• I want access to medically accurate information about human sexuality, contraception and disease prevention to be available to kids and adolescents in a way that they can easily access it
• I want pregnancy to stop being seen as punitive damages paid for having sex
• I want there to be safe, medical abortions available for women who have to make that tough choice

Yes, that's a long list and perhaps an ambitious one but I believe that if enough of us pay attention, make some noise and insist that our government listen to us, we can make some if not all if it come to pass.

Go here for more info about Blog For Choice Day.

I Have a Dream

I find myself brought to tears listening to this speech on the day before we inaugurate our first African American President. I wonder what Dr. King would have to say on such a momentous occasion and I give thanks that I am here to witness it.

Some may ask why I, a Latina, feel so strongly about this speech and Dr. King. I know many non-African Americans who feel no sense of significance on this day and to them I say, you're a fool. Dr King spoke of the shared slavery every one of us suffered when even one member of our society was not free. For those who live in Texas, remember, there was a time when those of Mexican descent were being made to accept "separate but equal" accommodations. A time when our people were lynched for perceived crimes. There was a time when signs were put in the windows that said "No dogs or Mexicans allowed". Make no mistake, Dr King's legacy was as important for our equality as it was for the African American community and to forget history is to be foolish enough to repeat it.

Condoms Do Help Prevent HPV Infection

SIECUS

On December 2, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published final rules governing the labeling of male latex condoms set to go into effect January 9, 2009. The biggest change to come out of the new labeling is the FDA’s conclusion that correct and consistent condom use reduces both the risk of infection with HPV (the Human Papillomavirus) as well as rates of HPV-related disease including cervical cancer and genital warts.

This is an important bit of info for everyone to know about. Hopefully it is also one more nail in the coffin of abstinence only education.



Technorati Tags: hpv, sex, abstinence only, science, fda

This is Me Geeking out on Sex Related Info

And yes, it is very likely that I will manage to work this into a conversation with someone about prevention.

Aidsmap | Cellular infection study partially explains lower HIV infection rates through oral sex

A study in which slices of human mucosal tissue were infected with HIV has partially explained why HIV is caught so much more easily through anal sex than through oral sex. The study, in which tissue samples from the tonsils and the rectum were infected with two different kinds of HIV, found that rectal CD4 cells express five times as much of the CCR5 receptor molecule on their surface as tonsil cells. This is the co-receptor for R5 or M-tropic virus, the variety of HIV that is usually transmitted. Rectal CD4 cells, once infected, also produced more of this virus than tonsil cells.

The study also found that in response to infection with the other kind of HIV, X4 or T-tropic virus, tonsil cells, but not rectal ones, secreted chemicals called chemokines that blocked further access to the CCR5 receptors.

However, while showing why CD4 cells in the tonsils are so much less susceptible to R5 infection than rectal ones, it does not show why these cells – most of which also carry the CXCR4 receptor – are so much less likely to be infected with X4 virus in vivo than in the laboratory. The researchers say that another so far undetected defence against X4 virus must exist.

The research team was led by scientists from the US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland, and also included prominent microbicide researchers Ian McGowan from UCLA and Robin Shattock from St George’s Hospital, London.

Well imagine that...

Womanist Musings

Throughout the film Eastwoods character kept referring to the visible minorities as spics, chinks, gooks, and niggers, all while he demanded to be addressed with respect. It seems that only whiteness deserves to be acknowledged as human and not referenced by a racial epithet. I continuously marvelled how Eastwoods character was able to assume such a position of superiority based solely in race and have this premise accepted by every single person of colour that he interacted with.

When I started seeing the ads for this movie I couldn't help but notice the casting of characters and the fact that Eastwood was the sole voice of moral superiority in each clip they showed. I guess my initial misgivings where on the money.

Are you lonesome tonight.....

Police seek blow-up doll sex bandit - Yahoo! News

SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian man broke into three adult shops, had sex with blow up dolls named "Jungle Jane" and then dumped his plastic conquests in a nearby alley, local media reported Wednesday.

"It's totally bizarre. It's a real concern that someone like that is out on the street," said one of the owners of the adult sex shops in Cairns in northern Queensland state.

"He has been taking the dolls out the back and blowing them up and using the dolls and leaving them in the alley," the owner, who gave the name of Vogue, told the Cairns Post newspaper.

Police told the Cairns Post that scientific officers had taken DNA samples, fingerprints and pictures of the crime scene.

(Reporting by Pauline Askin, Editing by Dean Yates)

A shout out to my LJ friends...

Who may be making it over this way for the first time. *waves* Nice to see you! Take off your coat, have a seat and stick around for a while. It's usually quite cozy.

The Postmodern Geek's Guide to Sex #36 International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

You can download the podcast HERE!

Today's podcast is a quickie.

It's a brief blurb about the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. I mention it's origins as a brain child of Dr. Annie Sprinkle that the Sex Workers Outreach Project ran with and turned into an international event.

I discuss my reasons for supporting this day, namely, the human right not to be hurt or killed while working just because someone does not approve of your line of work or thinks you aren't really human.

Please give it some thought and definitely give some thought to the many people who have been hurt or killed simply because they were (or were thought to be) sex workers.


Annie Sprinkle offers Ten Things You Can Do to Participate(from the SWOP Web site)

Absolutely EVERYONE is invited to participate. Here’s how.

1. Organize (or attend) a memorial in your town. Simply choose a place and time to gather. Invite people to bring their stories, writings, thoughts, related news items, poems, lists of victims, performances, and memories. Take turns sharing.

2. Hold (or attend) a candlelight vigil in a public place.

3. Do something at home alone, which has personal meaning, such as a ritual memorial bath, or light a candle.

4. Call a friend and discuss the topic.

5. Send a donation to a group that helps sex workers stay safer. For example, some teach self-defense or host web sites that caution workers about bad Johns.

6. Go to the Sex Worker Outreach Project’s, www.swop-usa.org, read it, and add something to the site. Do let others know about any planned Dec. 17 events by listing them on the SWOP web site.

7. Spread the word about the Day to End Violence Towards Sex Workers and the issues it raises; or blog, email, call, send a press release, or forward this text to others.

8. Go to Washington DC. This December 17, 2008 there will be a National March for Sex Worker Rights. People will converge from all over to take a stand for justice and safety. Info at www.swop-usa.org

9. Organize a panel discussion about violence towards sex workers. Procure a community space and invite speakers like sex workers, police, and families of victims.

10. Create your own way to participate.


Intro and Outro music is Melody Gardot-Wicked Ride




Wanna talk to me outside of the podcast?

Email: postmodern.sexgeek@gmail.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/PMSexgeek

My Space: http://www.myspace.com/postmodernsexgeek

RSS Feed URL: http://marieb.libsyn.com/rss

And I HALPED!

Leo mac.jpg
Originally uploaded by postmod_sexgeek

This is my cat, Leo attempting to help me scour the intarwebs for more fascinating sexgeek info.

Happy Human Rights Day from the Bush Administration

Final Regulations Changes to H-2A Guestworker Program Are Out

The long anticipated regulation changes to slash wages and reduce worker protections under the H-2A agricultural guestworker program are out. The changes, proposed by the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were revealed on the DOL website late Monday evening but have not yet been officially published in the Federal Register. The changes are horrible. At a time when the jobless rate is at a 15 year high, they reduce obligations for growers to effectively recruit U.S. workers before applying to bring in guestworkers for these jobs. They lower the wage rates for all farmworkers by changing the program's wage formula and, in an industry known for labor abuses, they eliminate or reduce government oversight.

Isn't it lovely that the same year we elect our first African American President we also tell the people who harvest our food "Fuck you". * Found thanks to Nezua over at The Unapologetic Mexican. Technorati Tags: human rights, farmworkers, friends

Remember this day

International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers - Home

December 17th is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. This event was created to call attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers all over the globe. Originally thought of by Dr. Annie Sprinkle and started by the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the Green River Killer in Seattle Washington. International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers has empowered workers from over cities around the world to come together and organize against discrimination and remember victims of violence. During the week of December 17th, sex worker rights organizations will be staging actions and vigils to raise awareness about violence that is commonly committed against sex workers. The assault, battery, rape and murder of sex workers must end. Existing laws prevent sex workers from reporting violence. The stigma and discrimination that is perpetuated by the prohibitionist laws has made violence against us acceptable. Please join with sex workers around the world and stand against criminalization and violence committed against prostitutes.

Technorati Tags: sex workers, violence, women, human rights

The Postmodern Geek's Guide to Sex #345 Return of the Brain Dump!

For direct download of the show CLICK HERE!

Today's show is even more randomness from yours truly. Today I discuss:

• International Human Rights Day, the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  
• Day without a Gay
• Proposition 8 (personal disclosure)
• Sexism on Obama's staff? And sorry folks I got the blog wrong on this one in the podcast, it was actually Shakespeare Sister not Feministing, although they did give me the link to the actual post.
• Control of Women through threats of violation/violence (more personal disclosure)
• One more example of society and the media trying to control women: Amanda Palmer's Belly is Too Fat???
• The resulting Rebellyon takes off right here

And here is the infamous fat belly video, Leeds United. I don't know about you but I think Amanda looks pretty goddamned hot just as she is!




Wanna talk to me outside of this podcast?

Email: postmodern.sexgeek@gmail.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PMSexgeek
My Space: http://www.myspace.com/postmodernsexgeek
RSS Feed URL: http://marieb.libsyn.com/rss