Remaining Childfree

My partner and I are childfree. Initially this was due to necessity but now it is also a choice.
Both of us are probably infertile but I don't want to explain this to everyone I know especially as this will most likely result in unwanted sympathy. Even if it was possible for me to have a biological child or to adopt one, I would still choose to remain childfree.
Most of my decison is health related. I'm not the healthiest person and I have no idea how much of that might be genetic. I've been lucky enough to find a loving partner but that doesn't mean that passing on my genes is the right thing to do. For me, that's part of being responsible. This is a personal choice that is right for me and I don't expect others to make the same choice. I couldn't cope with the guilt if I somehow gave a child any of my chronic illnesses. If I was only thinking about passing on my blindness my decisions might be different. My life is valuable and I'm glad that I and other people with disablities and chronic illnesses exist. With that said, I wouldn't give this to someone I love. Even if my child would only carry my poor genes without being negatively affected by them I still feel like I should do my part to remove my genes from the gene pool in the future. This choice is called genetic-suicide by some and I can see why; however, not every gene leads to wonderful things.
Adoption would circumvent the genetics concerns. However, I don't have the monetary or physical resources to take great care of myself so how would I take good care of a child? The mental health of my child would be more important to me than physical health. If I honestly assess myself, I have to say that I don't think that I could give a child a stable enough home life.
Some would say that I'm doing the right thing and that I have no buisness even considering having children. Others might say that I'm selfish because I'm putting myself first. (In my book, I need to put myself first to be able to do anything else.) Overall, I wish I didn't care what others think. I this this should be a decision between the intended parents and it would be best to ignore outside pressures as much as possible. That said, it's really hard to tell my own Mom that I not only can't give her grandchildren but I also choose not to.

Accessible voting versus secure voting

At one point I was an advocate of accessible voting. The more my
partner reads to me, the more I am ashamed to be connected to push
for electronic voting machines.
I may be unique in this view, but I'd rather not be able to vote
independently rather than open up the voting process to hacking.
I have the option of voting absentee and getting a trusted friend to
help me vote if I'm worried that I won't like the help available at
the voting booth. I have heard concerns that these absentee ballots
won't be filled out according to the voter's wishes. Someone in that
situation needs help to get into a healthier one.
While I don't really like needing help to complete a ballot and am
worried that it may not be filled in incorrectly I am far more
uncomfortable with the fact that using electronic accessible voting
machines may make it easier for someone to modify my and others votes
later.

Information, lots and lots of information

I listen to quite a few podcasts. I feel chronically behind in my
podcast listening.
Part of the problem is how eclectic my interests are. Perhaps if I
only listened to knitting podcasts I wouldn't feel so overwhelmed by
the amount of information available to me each day.
I have a selection of freeware RSS readers for Mac OS on my system.
While I'm interested in using one, the process of setting one up is
rather daunting.
I also subscribe to several email lists. Do I read them? Hardly ever.
I do seem to take in audio information far more readily than visual
information. I don't think that warrants a judgement call. However,
there is a great deal of information out there that I can only access
in a textual form. Yes, I have the option of using text-to-speech to
access textual information. However, I haven't figured out how to
listen to two things at once and take anything substantial from either.
That said, if I try to read something and listen to something at the
same time, I really feel that I do both a disservice.
There is so much information available to me. I'd like to be able to
take as much of it in as possible. Doing things in a half-assed way
just doesn't appeal to me.
If I take in too much information, then I can't process what I take
in. What good is taking in information if I don't think about it?

my reasons...

I spend a great deal of time by myself. To avoid boredom I watch a great deal of TV and listen to quite a few podcasts.
Being a rather opinionated person, I have a lot to say about the things I take in every day. Sometimes far more than my partner really wants to hear.
My hope for this blog is to be able to have a place to share my thoughts and opinions.
I'm not opposed to dialog so please feel free to comment.