I hate the men that I don't love

*snort*

Okay, I don't like Yahoo Messenger some days. Okay, most days. With the fact that I'm fairly busy at work lately, I don't have time to chat. So when I turn on my computer and it pops up, I have to go over and sign out because of the lack of being able to chat except when it's super slow (chatting via email is so much easier because I can respond when I have a chance).

Well, I managed to forget to actually sign off this morning. So I suddenly had an IM from Mark. *glowers* Except for the part where I know two Marks, one of which is a lovely person, and the other of which I'm trying to figure out why he's monitoring when I'm on IM, because I haven't spoken to him in a year.

Of course I thought it was Markle. And was asking about him and Gemma, and this asshole actually *played off* the misunderstanding. Like it was really Markle.

Then I realized it was way too early for Markle to be online...it would more likely be Gemma online at this time of day. I hate posers.

Smallville - Regarding the Spoilers

Okay, I've been holding off on this for a while. It's conjecture on the spoilers for season four. Part of my holding off has been due to the fact that I find the idea intriguing, but if it doesn't come to fruition I'll be disappointed.

Believe me, I've had that happen.

paperbkryter and I have been discussing some of the things, so pretty much everything in here is a collaborative effort.

And this actually *isn't* about anyone who is not currently (at the end of season three) a main character. Well, indirectly it is, but not directly.

( Season Four Spoilers )

Confusion is nothing new

*raises hand*

I have a question. Does THIS make sense to anyone else?

Mainly one quote from a U.S. official says all about what confuses me the most.

U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the only member of Congress to attend the week-long meeting, accused the Bush administration of using ideology, not science, to dictate policy.

She said the U.S. AIDS initiative requires that one-third of prevention funding go to "abstinence until marriage" programs.

"In an age where five million people are newly infected each year and women and girls too often do not have the choice to abstain, an abstinence until marriage program is not only irresponsible, it's really inhumane," Lee said.

"Abstaining from sex is oftentimes not a choice, and therefore their only hope in preventing HIV infection is the use of condoms," she added.

Okay...what? Is she saying that these females who don't have a choice should have a choice on condoms? Because...what? When I hear the words "she doesn't have a choice", the first thing that comes to mind is rape. That's a major non-choice. But is the rapist going to offer up a condom because he's nice? WTF?

Please, I really honestly can't think of any other U.S. issue that would cause this woman to make such a stupid statement. Is there any other situation? In third world countries I can possibly see some cultural reason that this explanation might have merit, but in the U.S.?

*sigh*

The thing that "progressive" folks don't want to accept is that abstinence is the best medical option for preventing the spread of AIDS. Now, is it expedient for everyone on the planet to abstain? No. I guarantee you it won't happen. And I'm not saying everyone should abstain all the time. That's not even the argument.

The thing is, if people don't have sex, the virus can't be spread through sexual intercourse. Condoms are not absolutely going to stop the spread. They may do a good job. But they're not an absolute. The only absolute is abstinence. And if we all do that, we'll end up dying off as a race. *shrug* There are ways to control the spread. Claiming that the catch-all is using a condom is ridiculous. Condom usage should be taught for the purpose of preventing the spread of as many diseases as possible and for preventing pregnancy, but not as the absolute best option, because it's not.

In the fight against AIDS, there are far more pressing issues that need to be addressed. Take, for instance, the fact that men in South Africa are told that sex with a virgin will cure them of the disease. We laugh, but when the result is 5 year old girls getting raped, it's scary.