Barack Obama, brought to you by . . . take a guess . . .

http://tinyurl.com/56gvuz

Re: McCain 0pposes Contraception

I really don't understand the Viagra vs. Birth Control Pill controversy.

Viagra is used to treat Erectile Dysfunction

Birth Control Pills are primarily used to cause dysfunction.

Obviously there is something medically wrong with men who use viagra, but assuming they are being used for birth control, there is nothing medically wrong with a woman who uses birth control pills.

While I think it's foolish for insurance companies not to cover birth control pills, the double standard argument doesn't work in my opinion.

re: worldpublicopinion.org-

oh, ok, the world isn't against us. it's completely indifferent. i feel much better now. :)jk

seriously, i'd be interested in the logistics of taking a poll of "world" opinion- or even 18 countries, as here. university of maryland must have some fun money, if i'm supposed to take their poll results seriously. finding translators for entire countries must be quite a trick.

was disappointed to see iran in the "take a side" category. maybe there isn't as much of a disconnect (love that as a noun) between people and regime after all.

and no country chose to take israel's side? i was shocked, i was appalled, i was TAKEN ABACK...etc.,etc. yawn...

yeah, i'd like to see a "world opinion poll" (what absolute horseshit) about whether the world likes america. you fuckers got a lotta nerve. "universityofmaryland" rich bored paid-off truthiness motherfuckers...

yeah. oh, i'm sorry, did i say that out loud?

jonathan, I have no opinion whatever about the reliability of WorldPublicOpinion (since I don't anything about them), but they do have documents that explain that they have partnerships with people in each of the 18 countries listed. If you have reason to question their credibility, why not give your specific reasons?

The thing about PCs is that it is much easier to upgrade the hardware, that it is to upgrade a Mac. Plus Linux is way better than any OS out there including Mac.

Syngas,

I'm not sure that a 60-year old man who uses Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction really has a health problem, at least not one that a lot of 60-year old men haven't had for a very long time - but it's admittedly debatable. In any case, a man who doesn't get his Viagra risks no other health related effects that I'm aware of - a 30 year-old woman denied birth control pills certainly does.

Jonathan - Did you look at the whole article? I think this excerpt doesn't quite clearly represent that most of the world is looking for an even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Does that seem wrong?

And, to your other point - I'm pretty sure if you want out there with a poll about the U.S., you'd get some VERY negative feedback. I don't think there is any surprise there...

"In what way is Linux better than the Unix the Mac is based on"

Two words: Open source. Sure Mac's GUI is FRONT END user-friendly, but nothing beats being able to FULLY modify any programs you have to your specific needs.

I personally don't think a claim that one OS is better than another is ever very sound, but each clearly have their advantages.

Plus Linux is way better than any OS out there including Mac.

I agree with Norm - better for whom? The truth is that most people don't want to mess around with their computers - they just want to use them. The Mac OS is way more user-friendly. Hell, so is Windows for that matter. (I'm always surprised with how little interest my daughter has with maintaining even her easy-to-maintain Mac; she - and most users - will never want to mess with Linux.)

I've been weighing this very issue for years now at my geek page. Cupertino still makes the best hardware out there, and it's worth every penny they charge for it. My problem with Apple is with its insistence on what I call "death by a thousand charges". That's an area where Ubuntu's gonna nail 'em -- every time Steve decides to charge people ten bucks for a firmware update, Mr. Shuttleworth smiles.

Linux gets constantly easier to maintain, and is always solid at the core (just like OS X, as Norm observes). Do kids like it? I recently got my daughter an EeePC, and she loves it, and has no problem navigating Xandros. Her iBook now sits on her desk alone while she travels around with that tiny Tux subnotebook.

As Torvalds said in that interview this week, it's all a matter of economic democracy -- choice rules.

Plus Linux is way better than any OS out there including Mac.

When did this become Slashdot? Linux's problem has always been you HAD to modify the programs back end to get them to "work properly". In the last couple years, with Gutsy Gibbon and other assorted "full" releases have made it easier for people to swap over to Linux. Linux is great for those who have the time to have their computer as a hobby, and Mac was for people who just wanted to use the programs and don't have any interest (or time) in modifying their programs to support their specific needs.

@BirthControl vs. Viagra: Birth control isn't just used for "birth control". Some birth control helps reduce the chances of certain types of cancer, or helps women with irregular bleeding or extreme cramps. If Viagra has any similar benifits for men, I don't know of them. It seems to be a single purpose pill.

Right on cue

@Syngas: LOL, i saw that on the news last night. Made me smile.

Still, the point stands that birth control should be covered, due to it's other medical uses.

Agreed, although this article specifically argued for birth control pills being covered for contraception.

That's the problem with straw-man arguments, they take the conversation off in a different direction and leave both sides wondering how they got there.

I sincerely hope that doesn't piss you off. I've done it too.