Limitless and bewildering.

Cocktails for a Cause

2006-09-26T18:18:43Z

Host: Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania
Location: tonic bar & grill
971 Liberty Avenue (at 10th)
When: Tuesday, September 26, 5:30pm to 8:30pm

I'll probably leave straight from campus. Let me know if you want to go and need a ride.

I am a menace.

2006-08-17T21:49:29Z

Do not leave me unattended with your computers. Or your teeth.

My laptop has been cranky lately, and most specifically since I tried to install updates for SpySweeper. Apparently, trying and failing to update SpySweeper will cause your laptop to freeze. Okay. So, since my laptop wasn't looking like the most stable piece of equipment ever, I thought it might be a good idea to back up my harddrive. Except then I discovered that the CD drive wasn't working. Like, at all.

I dropped my laptop off at SCS Help this morning so that it could be repaired and went back to my office to use my desktop machine. Only to discover that it had what appeared to be a virus. All of the text had turned into unreadable nonsense characters. Fun for the whole family. I called the help desk and they sent someone over to take it away. He seemed to think it was a bad video card. (Actually, when he called me later, he said he couldn't find anything wrong with it and rebooting seemed to fix the problem. Which I find very sketchy.)

So now I had no computers. All of my computers were broken. I went down to the lab to check my email, where I promptly caused the computer I was using to freeze up. dlv78 kindly made me an account on a spare Powerbook. I suspect he's still trying to win me over to the Mac side.

Since today is clearly not my day, I went home to sulk, taking the Powerbook with me. Where I also managed to cause it to freeze up while watching a DVD. Fortunately, power-cycling seemed to take care of that.

But seriously, this is 4 computers in less than 12 hours. I am extraordinarily talented.

As for my teeth...
About two years ago, I had a horrible root canal experience. I thought I was just getting a cavity filled, but midway through, the dentist said, "Oh, looks like we need to do a root canal," except he hadn't given me enough Novacaine for that and it started to wear off partway through and really was by far the most unpleasant thing I have ever experienced. Ever. Plus, it hurt for about 2 months afterwards, and has caused me to avoid the dentist ever since. (Oh yes, if you are in Pittsburgh, DO NOT go to Dr. Parker. Just don't.)

This Saturday, while I was in Florida, I was sitting at the kitchen table with my siblings when I bit down on a pretzel stick and felt something bad happen. That very same root-canaled tooth had broken into three pieces.

I couldn't convince myself that it was quite enough of an emergency to page the dentist at home, so I waited until Monday. At which point my parents' dentist said that the tooth was too badly broken to repair and had to come out. He said that the cavity that had been filled was too big for the onlay that Dr. Parker did and should have been a crown. Since he didn't put a crown on it, the filling served as a wedge, chiselling my tooth right down the middle. (As an aside, can I sue Dr. Parker? I really really want to.)

So, he sent me to a periodontal specialist on Tuesday morning, who was supposed to remove the broken tooth and put in an implant, on which a fake tooth can be mounted. Except, I, mutanty freak that I am, happen to be one of the 1 in 1000 people whose #4 tooth has two roots instead of one. Which means that the hole where the tooth used to be is too large for a small implant, but is nonetheless too small for a large implant such as would be used to replace a molar. So, the doctor did a bone graft (?), stitched my gums up, and sent me back to the dentist, who glued a fake tooth to the two neighboring teeth. Yes, glued.

Now, I have to wait 4 months for the bone graft to take and then go and get an implant placed so I can get a more permanent fake tooth. Just the thought of having anything titanium placed inside one of my bones, and especially in my jawbone, in my mouth, regarding which I am particularly squeamish, makes me consider passing out. I'm really nto looking forward to it.

I'm having a bad week.

Oh no! Not the liquids!

2006-08-10T13:24:00Z

Guess where I'm not!

If you guessed, "On a plane to Florida," you would be correct. See, it turns out that as of this morning, the FAA has raised the threat level for air travel and in response, has banned the transporting of any liquids or gels in carry-on luggage.

I wasn't planning on checking bags, so after waiting 20 minutes in the Extended parking lot for a bus and making it to the terminal exactly 45 minutes before my flight, I checked in as quickly as I could and ran down to the security line. Where I was informed about the "no liquid" rule and sent back upstairs to check my bag. Except, you can only check bags up to 45 minutes before a flight. And since pretty much the entire contents of my bag were either liquids or gels, I declined to throw them all out. So now I'm flying though Charlotte, arriving a mere 5 hours later than planned.

But don't worry, America. You're definitely safe from my toothpaste and contact solution.

Bible nerd-dom

2006-08-09T18:55:16Z

So, this week's parsha (Torah portion) is Parsha Eikev, somewhere in the middle of Deuteronomy (7:12-11:25 for the equally nerdy). This and the surrounding Torah portions are basically Moses' last minute exhortations to the Jews before he dies and they cross the Jordan River into the land of Israel. This parsha is a big list of commandments that the Jews must follow, and an enumeration of the rewards that G-d will give them if they play nicely: He'll defeat their enemies, and give them the Land, and make their crops successful and their animals healthy. But one of the statements that jumped out at me was this one:

"And the Lord will remove from you all illness, and all of the evil diseases of Egypt which you knew, He will not set upon you, but He will lay them upon all your enemies."

Now, (finally) I get to my question -- Am I crazy for being absolutely convinced that madvei Mitzrayim (the diseases of Egypt) is referring to STIs?

Rashi doesn't comment on it.

ETA: I think I figured it out. I clearly was thinking that participating in ma'aseh ha'eretz mitzrayim (the ways of the land of Egypt (Leviticus 18:3)) might lead one to acquire madvei mitzrayim.

Giant robot imprisons parked cars

2006-08-08T14:55:19Z

The perfect example of an article that is much less exciting than its title would lead you to believe.

Yum

2006-08-04T19:11:52Z

I had a weird burst of domesticity today and spent almost the whole day cooking. So far, I made:

- cucumber salad
- some cucumber/dill/mint yogurt thing
- I don't know what the difference is between roast beef and pot roast, but I made one of them
- and weirdest of all, a cake

Plus, I prepped a bunch of vegetables for future cooking, even going so far as to freeze some of them for posterity.

Still to be made:

- coleslaw
- Something involving a lot of chard. I haven't decided what yet. I'm leaning towards chard paneer simply because they (shockingly!) had paneer at Murry Avenue Kosher this morning, prompting just the tiniest dance of joy on my part.

I think the vast amounts of farm-share vegetables in my refrigerator were starting to look a little ominous. That, or I was just hungry. But in any case, if anyone feels like declaring a potluck this weekend, I am all set.

Running in the Special Olympics

2006-07-27T00:34:28Z

I will not argue on the Internet.
I will not argue on the Internet.
I will not argue on the Internet.
I will not argue on the Internet.

Opera?

2006-04-06T15:23:25Z

Can I interest anyone in seeing Tosca with me on Sunday?

A straw-poll for the boys

2006-03-31T19:09:49Z

Apparently, there's a new non-hormonal male contraceptive method undergoing large-scale clinical trials in India right now. Basically, this method works by injecting some kind of gel into the vas deferens that disables sperm. It can last up to 10 years, and is reversible by a second injection that flushes the gel out. The major side effect (which, I'll grant, sounds a little squicky) is "several weeks of non-painful scrotal swelling".

So, I'm curious, guys. Would you go for this if it became available on the market in the US?

Finally, someone doing something.

2006-03-23T15:43:31Z

You all heard about the South Dakota abortion ban, of course. Well, it turns out that there are some places inside South Dakota that aren't actually South Dakota:

Cecilia Fire Thunder, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is opening a Planned Parenthood on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Since this is Sioux sovereign territory, the South Dakota law is not applicable.

Here's Fire Thunder's contact information if you want to show your support.

susancalvin @ 2006-03-15T10:15:00

2006-03-15T15:17:06Z

If anyone feels like doing some night-skiing today, medtecher and I are probably going to go to Seven Springs this afternoon. Let me know if you want to join us.

ETA: As an extra added incentive, it seems that there's a BOGO special on lift tickets on Wednesdays.

The Freezing. The Popping. The happiness.

2006-03-03T22:08:41Z

Continuing in their grand tradition of only playing in Pittsburgh on daemonv's birthday, Freezepop will be at the Garfield Artworks this Sunday at 7:30 pm.

Continuing in their grand tradition of booking terrible opening bands, the Garfield Artworks has again secured the musical stylings of Girl Talk, the craptacular naked DJ who serenaded us with his musical writhings before the last Freezepop show.

Therefore, I intend to go late, like around 9ish. Would any of you lovely people care to join me?

Everyone else is doing it...

2006-02-14T23:00:36Z

http://kevan.org/johari?name=Maayan

http://kevan.org/nohari?name=Maayan

They should have a box that says "easily influenced"...

Things I have stuff to say about

2006-01-30T20:51:25Z

Wow. Eloquent, aren't I? Should that be, perhaps, "Things about which I have stuff to say"? Anyways...

My new favorite thing is the chef salad at the Quiet Storm. Vegetarian chef salad sound like a travesty to you? Well, maybe so, but how the hell would I know, having never had the real thing. In any case, it is delicious. There's something about their facon (fake + bacon, obviously, in the grand tradition of the guitarmadillo and the margarero) that fills me with infinite happiness. I pretty much want to rub it all over my body.

Moving on...

I realize that I never got around to posting about the absolutely ridiculous road trip that robots_suck, robogock, and I went on a few weeks ago. If you've been following along, you are by now aware that Stumptuous is the height of excellent when it comes to weight lifting for chicks. krustukles, the fine proprietress (proprietrix?) of the site, has been hosting a program called "Mistress Sunday" where, periodically, weight-lifting wimmins in the Toronto area get together to throw heavy things around on a Sunday morning. Well, Pittsburgh isn't exactly in the Toronto area, but hey, we're hardcore, so we figured, why not?

So, we drove up to Toronto on Saturday morning, checked into a really nice hostel (Canadiana Backpackers, if you happen to be in the area and are looking for a cheap place to stay), and froze our collective asses off looking for dinner. (See, we thought it was going to be 34F, but it was actually closer to 15F, and we hadn't brought certain basic necessities like, say, pants... Well, ok, we had pants, but no hats or gloves or scarves.) Then, Sunday morning, we pumped iron, had brunch, and drove back to Pittsburgh. The iron-pumping was primarily focused on learning the components of Olympic lifts. Outstanding. Want proof? Check out this shot of me learning to overhead-squat. Kindly disregard the stubbliness of my armpits and admire, instead, the hotness of my deltoids.

Finally, I was hoping you could help me decipher a new sign one of the clinic protesters was sporting this weekend. On one side, it said, "Did Vatican II's 'New Mass' Cause Abortion?" That's fairly straight-forward, I think, although I appreciate that it's phrased as a question. Gives you something to ponder in case you get bored. (Well? Did it?) It's the other side that is currently boggling my mind. It said, "Russia Needs to be Consecrated Correctly! Our Lady of Fatima 1917" Any ideas?

Blogging backlog

2006-01-06T21:00:25Z

I hate the feeling of knowing that I haven't updated my livejournal for a long time and so I have so much to recap but then I'm too lazy to write about it all so I procrastinate and then I have even more stuff I feel like I should recap and really, this shouldn't be an added stressor to my life.

Fine, here's my story: I just got back from Florida yesterday. I was home for about 3 weeks, 10 days of which were spent on a weirdly nostalgic roadtrip. See, when I was little, my family used to drive up the East Coast every summer for a few weeks in August. In retrospect, it's clear that my parents always had a plan for where we were going since they had things like AAA triptiks and hotel reservations, but to me, it pretty much seemed like we were driving until we felt like stopping. A few times we visited my second cousins in New Jersey and Boston, once we made it as far as Quebec City, but mostly, we ended up in the Smoky Mountains. I'm pretty sure that the last time I went on one of these trips, I was still in high school.

We had talked about going to Puerto Rico over winter break but plane tickets became expensive literally overnight, and I suggested a roadtrip instead. Jokingly, I pointed out that we hadn't been to the Smokies for a while. medtecher instantly latched on to the idea and demanded skiing. Well, between my sister from Los Angeles and the rest of my family in South Florida, my desire for a few weeks on the beach were overruled. We were driving north to find winter.

It ended up being really great. We spent 3 days in Gatlinburg, TN, the biggest tourist trap outside of Niagara, one day in Knoxville (the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge is heavy on pro-bomb propaganda and light on actual information about the Manahattan Project but the Jim Campbell exhibit at the Knoxville Museum of Art is seriously cool (geekily, my favorite pieces were the ones in which increasing amounts of random noise are added to the images of Shannon and Nyquist)), and then 3 days in Asheville, NC.

In North Carolina, we went snowboarding at Wolf Laurel (see link for why I am now cranky and feel obligated to write them a letter explaining why I will be taking my business elsewhere when I am next (?) in the market for some NC skiing). The first day was full of suck. My siblings and I took a lesson, but I'm not sure how much it helped. The slopes were really icy and the parts of the day that weren't spent on my hands and knees were spent primarily flat on my ass. The second day, the sun came out and with it, the wonders of snowboarding in a tshirt on wonderful, sloooow slush. I actually managed to make it down a few times without falling. My brother, however, was not so lucky. After the first day, he declared that he hated snowboarding, he never wanted to do it again, and he was sure that the lodge had wireless ethernet. Could he please just borrow a laptop and sit the next day out? After an extended session of cajoling, he was finally convinced to give it one more try, and on his first run down the next morning, fell hard on his wrist, necessitating a trip to the emergency room and a giant brace thingy for the rest of the trip. He hates us now.

Well, I think that about does it for a reasonable recap. My next post will probably be a book review, since I actually got some reading done over break.

The silver lining?

2005-12-11T22:59:45Z

At least my car wasn't stolen.

I went over to tepui's house last night because it was his birthday and we were all getting together to make dinner. So, I parked across the street from his house, and we made dinner and watched Barbarella, which started out hilarously awful and ended up being just awful (although full of a whole party's worth of great Halloween costumes) and then around 11:30 when I went to leave, my car wasn't there.

So, we all walked up and down the street looking for it, just to make sure I hadn't come down with a bad case of the stupid and had actually parked somewhere other than where I thought I parked, but it wasn't there. And then I wasn't really sure what you're supposed to do. Especially since the border between Pittsburgh proper and Wilkinsburg runs right down the middle of tepui's street. I called the Wilkinsburg police and said that my car wasn't where I left it and was there any chance that it was towed? The woman I spoke to said that they hadn't towed any cars that evening and, after getting a description of my car, said that she would send an officer over to take a statement from me but that they were all out at a shooting and it might take some time before they could get there.

Well, ok, I certainly understand that a shooting takes precedence over my stolen car.

But then after a while, I thought, well, the side of the street where my car was parked is actually Pittsburgh, so maybe I should call the Pittsburgh police. Which I did, and they also took a description of my car and said that they would send someone over to take a statement. About half an hour later, I got a call from the Pittsburgh police saying that my car wasn't stolen and that it had been towed earlier that evening and that I need to call the tow pound to get more information.

But the tow pound is closed on Sundays, so I can't get my car until tomorrow. And also, why the hell was my car towed? The only thing I can think of is that I blocked someone's driveway but I never do that. My only guess is that, because of the 4 inches of snow on the ground, I just didn't see that there was a driveway there. Which makes whoever called and got my car towed a tremendous dick because, hello asshole, if you would shovel your driveway, I wouldn't block it!

Anyways, regbug and ri_cube gave me a ride home, and then at 1:30, after I'd gone to sleep, I got a call from the Wilkinsburg police saying "We haven't forgotten about you! We were out at a shooting. We can send someone to take a statement now," and I explained that the Pittsburgh police had already told me that my car was towed, so no thank you. And it costs $100 to get your car out of the tow pound, and I'm really very cranky about it.

But at least my car wasn't stolen.

Success!

2005-12-08T16:17:55Z

The buffer zone legislation that I've been nagging y'all about incessantly passed yesterday by a vote of 5-3. dlv78 and I went down to City Council to watch the public hearing. All my favorite crazies were there. One man exhorted City Council to listen to the "prayerful pro-life advocates" and not us "Jezebels". I don't really know who Jezebel was, but I presume that she was a seducer of righteous men. I kind of want a t-shirt that says "Jezebel", but not as much as I want this one. I didn't make a statement, in part because I have no voice to speak of (stupid sickness) but mostly because people had already said whatever I would want to say, but dlv78 did, which was great because he was calm and articulate and didn't call anyone names.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I don't, for instance, know how long something like this takes to go into effect. Does it need to be signed by the mayor? I have no idea how city government works.

In short, I have a ridiculous crush on Councilman Doug Shields who is full of nerd-chic.

Again with the clinic stuff

2005-12-05T22:10:24Z

Geez. It's like I have nothing else to talk about.

Apparently, some Planned Parenthood people were annoyed by this Post-Gazette article about the proposed buffer zone legislation. Honestly, I don't know why. The article seems fine to me, and if anything the picture of the creepy fuck of a protester that goes along with it just makes our case even more effectively. Incidentally, the guy in the picture is my favorite anti. On the first day that I escorted, back before the protesters started to recognize me, as I was walking into the clinic, this protester (we call him Al) called to me, "Jesus loves you! He wants your baby to live!" He likes to admonish us "young ladies" that we should "be glad [our] mothers didn't go in there, otherwise [we] wouldn't be here today!" The article doesn't give full justice to Al's bloody crucifix, but I think you can just make it out in the picture -- he's glued a little plastic fetus onto it next to Jesus. Al and his wife, Sal, come to the clinic every week.

But I digress. There's going to be a hearing about the legislation at City Council on Wednesday morning. It starts at 10, which sucks because I have class until 10:30, but I'm going to head over directly afterwards. You all are, of course, invited to join me. Should be good times.

Genius

2005-12-02T04:29:57Z

2PM QA

Tester: Dude, did you see this? There's a button in the software that says "Fuck Off."
Designer: So?...That's a feature. Did you press it?
Tester: Yeah...it just went away.
Designer: And did it make you feel better?
Tester: Strangely, yeah. Yeah, it did.
Designer: See?

211 Van Buren Street
Nashville, Indiana

Overheard by: Scott

Livejournal Spam

2005-11-30T16:10:12Z

I'm sorry to repeat myself, especially since many of you don't live in Pittsburgh, but as you can probably guess, this is really important to me.

I wrote yesterday about the buffer zone legislation that was proposed in City Council by Doug Shields and Bill Peduto. This legislation was developed by them in cooperation with the Women's Law Project (their website appears to be experiencing technical difficulties), and the goal is to address the situation that is currently occurring outside of the reproductive health clinics in Pittsburgh.

I've been working as a clinic escort for Planned Parenthood of Western PA for the past two years. When I started, there were two police officers stationed at the clinic on Saturday mornings, which is when most of the protesters are present. While the police presence existed, although the protester situation was unpleasant, there was never any doubt in my mind that our patients were safe. The rules were known and enforced. I never once saw a protester touch a patient. For the most part, they agreed to back off if the patient said she wasn't interested in talking to them.

Due to City of Pittsburgh budget cuts, the police presence was withdrawn last spring. In the time since then, I've seen the protesters become not only more aggressive but more numerous. Whereas when I started escorting, a typical number of protesters was 15, it is now more common for there to be close to 30. Sixty-five protesters on a given Saturday is not unusual, and I escorted one morning about a month ago when there were over 100 protesters at the clinic downtown. I don't feel comfortable going into the details of the increased protester aggression, but it is clear that the atmosphere outside the clinics is one of intimidation.

The proposed legislation creates a 100-foot buffer zone around clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare providers in which, although protesting is allowed, no one may approach a patient of the facility without her permission. Additionally, the legislation creates a 15-foot buffer zone around clinic entrances where protesting is not permitted. I have available the full text of the proposed legislation and I can email it to anyone who is interested. I've just recently been told that the ACLU has reviewed the proposed legislation and does not intend to challenge it.

If you haven't called your Council member, please, please do so. In particular, Luke Ravenstahl, Len Bodack, and Gene Ricciardi have not yet signed on to the legislation. If you live in one of their districts (districts 1, 7, and 3 respectively), it's especially important that you call. However, even if you live in the district of a Council member who has expressed support, it is still important to call, as they may change their mind under the barrage of anti-choice outrage that they are receiving. The City Council members, their contact information, and the districts that they represent are as follows:

* Luke Ravenstahl, 412-255-2135, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district1/html/district_1_map.html
* Dan Deasy, 412-255-8963, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district2/html/district_2_map.html
* Gene Ricciardi (Council President), 412-255-2130, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district3/html/district_3_map.html
* Jim Motznick, 412-255-2131, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district4/html/district_4_neighborhoods.html
* Doug Sheilds, 412-255-8965, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district5/html/district_5_map.html
* Sala Udin, 412-255-2134, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district6/html/district_6_map.html
* Len Bodack, 412-255-2140, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district7/html/district_7_map.html
* Bill Peduto, 412-255-2133, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district8/html/district_8_map.html
* Twanda Carlisle, 412-255-2137, District Map: http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district9/html/district_9_map.html

Thank you for your help. This legislation will, I believe, make a big difference in making clinic access safer for the patients of all of the women's health clinics in Pittsburgh.

Buffer Zone

2005-11-29T18:25:05Z

It's already been reported in the Post-Gazette, so I think it's fair game to talk about it. Apparently, some people on the Planned Parenthood board have been working on buffer-zone legislation, and it was just introduced in City Council by Doug Shields and co-sponsored by Bill Peduto.

Apparently, the legislation would create a 100-foot zone around health care providers where, although protesting is still allowed (please, ACLU be on our side on this one), it is illegal to come within 8 feet of a patient without their permission. The article specifies that there will also be a 15-foot buffer zone around clinic entrances where protesting is not allowed, but I can see how this clause is more problematic from a 1st Amendment perspective.

The not approaching patients, though -- fan-fucking-tastic. In the past, we've always had a problem drawing a legal line around what constitutes harassment. This way, the line is much brighter. If the patient says, "Don't talk to me," and the protester persists, that's harassment.

This is a really good solution, in my opinion, and I think it has a good chance of succeeding in City Council. Doug Shields is my Councilman and I intend to call him and tell him I appreciate his help on this issue. If any of you feel like calling your Council members and showing your support, I would be really grateful.

Must read Pride and Prejudice immediately

2005-11-28T05:06:12Z

Alas, Barnes and Noble was closed when the movie let out. And, according to Cameo, every single copy is checked out of the Hunt Library. I believe an emergency visit to Jay's Bookstall is called for tomorrow.

Embarrassingly, I think the only thing by Jane Austen that I've actually read is Sense and Sensibility, also immediately after watching the movie.

In any case, the movie was good. Go see it.

Once more, with particle filters

2005-11-14T16:34:00Z

I mean, with feeling.
No, actually, I mean with particle filters.

I'm on the 4th version of code for the experiments for my paper that is due tonight at midnight. Oh, but it's only 11:30 right now. And it'd due at midnight on the West Coast. Plenty of time.

So, yes, 4 versions of the same code. Because the first 3 version run out of heap space in the first 17 seconds of execution. And despite ri_cube's very helpful suggestion, it's not because my code was so incredibly wasteful. The problem I'm trying to solve is just that intractable.

Sorry for the boring. It's just that my particle filter code is very slow. Waiting for code to run bears startling resemblance to watching paint dry. Except more boring because you can't even watch the code running. Print statements are too slow.

I hate everything.

susancalvin @ 2005-11-11T11:07:00

2005-11-11T16:10:01Z

In rapid succession, I:
1) Found out that I've been looking at the 2005 website for the conference I am sending a paper to, instead of 2006 and that therefore the paper, instead of being due on November 17th, is actually due on November 14th, with the abstract due today.
2) Made my computer freeze up through intense stupidity on my part.
3) Hit myself in the face with a peanut butter-covered bagel.

Today fucking sucks.

susancalvin @ 2005-11-10T16:13:00

2005-11-10T21:14:04Z

Andrew Sullivan recommended this article from The Weekly Standard. There's a lot that I don't agree with, and a few parts that made me physically cringe, but I think it's definitely worth a read-through. I was especially struck by this bit:

"A better way to approach the division between work and family life might be what sociologist Neil Gilbert calls a "life-course perspective," with measures that would allow a mother (or father, for that matter) to provide child care full-time for several years before entering, or reentering, the workforce. For instance, the government could offer subsidies to those who provide child care in the home, and pension credits that reflect the economic value of years spent in household labor. Or again, Republicans might consider offering tuition credits for years spent rearing children, which could be exchanged for post-graduate or vocational education. These would be modeled on veterans' benefits--and that would be entirely appropriate. Both military service and parenthood are crucial to the country's long-term survival. It's about time we recognize that fact."

That is some extremely radical feminism right there. It would be startling coming from the Left, but it's shocking from the Right. One of the arguments that the authors make is that a key to establishing credibility with voters is to do something other than what is expected of your party, demonstrating that you're not blinded by ideology. Maybe they're right and the only way to implement dramatic change is for it to come from the people who were previously the enemies of that change.