Both sides on gay adoption cite concern for children

By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY


When Harold Birtcher and his partner, Thom O'Reilly, decided to adopt a child three years ago, Ohio officials told the men only one of them could become the legal parent. In Ohio, same-sex partners are barred from joint adoption.


So the men, who have been together for 25 years, went to Oregon to jointly adopt Michael, now 10. The boy had been beaten and sexually abused, O'Reilly says, and refused to hug anyone for most of his four years in foster care.
....



You may read the whole article at
http://usatoday.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=USATODAY.com+-+Both+sides+on+gay+adoption+cite+concern+for+children&expire=&urlID=17284478&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fnews%2Fnation%2F2006-02-20-gay-adoption-foster_x.ht
Do you support or oppose gay adoption?

The immigrants they scorn

Feb. 13, 2008 12:00 AM

While some presidential candidates try to score political points by playing into apprehension about immigration, the immigrants they vilify are busy sustaining the American economy.Immigrants play a crucial role in our nation's academic, medical and high-tech sectors.
.......


You may read the whole article at
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0213pastor13.html
Should illegal immigrants be given an amnesty or should they be deported?

Link: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0213pastor13.html

Abortion rates same whether legal or not

Abortion rates same whether legal or not






Study: Rich, poor countries have equal statistics; half of procedures unsafe












LONDON - Women are just as likely to get an abortion in countries where it is outlawed as they are in countries where it is legal, according to research published Friday.
In a study examining abortion trends from 1995 to 2003, experts also found that abortion rates are virtually equal in rich and poor countries, and that half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe.
....
You may read the whole article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21255186/

Are you pro-life or pro-choice and why?

The Fight For the Right to Die

Last Updated June 11, 2007
CBC News
Sue Rodriguez fought the law prohibiting assisted suicide all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, but lost. (CP Photo) In 1992, Sue Rodriguez forced the right-to-die debate into the spotlight in Canada. In a video statement played to members of Parliament, the Victoria woman, diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 1991, asked lawmakers to change the law banning assisted suicide.
...

You may read the whole article at http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/assistedsuicide/




"Do you support legislation that legalizes assisted suicide or do you oppose it?"

Tampa Officer, Teen Helper Attacked During Investigation

Tampa Officer, Teen Helper Attacked During Investigation


By THOMAS W. KRAUSE and CLAUDIA DoCAMPO, The Tampa Tribune News Channel 8 Published: December 26, 2007



TAMPA - A Tampa police officer and a teenage member of the police Explorer program were attacked while investigating a possible burglary Monday night. Both were hit over the head with a police baton during a struggle outside a vacant house at 312 Floribraska Ave., according to police reports. Fernando Lopez, who lives next door to the vacant house, said he was cooking a holiday meal with his mother when he saw a young man and woman bend back some bars on the house and crawl in through a window. "I knocked on the window and said, 'Get out of there; I'm going to call the police,'" Lopez said Tuesday. .....

You may read the whole article at

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/dec/26/me-man-jailed-after-officer-hit-bitten/?news-breaking
What are your thoughts on the Police Explorer Program?

"Guarding Deaths Door"

On March 20, a man named Keith Clay died in Texas. His death was largely unremarkable except for one thing: he was the 300th person executed in Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court reauthorized capital punishment in 1976. One need not ignore the savagery of his crimes--prosecutors said Clay stood by while a friend murdered a father and his two kids on Christmas Eve 1993, 11 days before Clay himself butchered a store clerk--to pause at his execution. Three hundred is an impressive milestone, not only because it exceeds the number of executions in the next five top death-penalty states combined, but also because it was reached so quickly. It took nearly two decades for Texas to consummate its first 100 death sentences after 1976--but only five more years to pass 200 and just three after that to hit 300. (The total has since climbed to 306.)
.....

You may read the rest of this article at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1005201,00.html.

What do you think of the death penalty?

Intelligent Design vs. Evolution

Wednesday, Aug. 03, 2005
Fanning the Controversy Over 'Intelligent Design'
By Matthew Cooper/Washington

A light-hearted White House conversation with representatives of Texas newspapers may have opened a new controversy for President George W. Bush. The President laughed when Knight-Ridder�s Ron Hutcheson asked for Mr. Bush�s "personal views" about the theory of "intelligent design", which religious activists advocate should be taught in U.S. schools as an alternative to theories of evolution. After joking that the reporter was "doing a fine job of dragging me back to the past," to his days as governor of Texas, Bush said: "Then, I said that, first of all, that decision should be made to local school districts, but I felt like both sides ought to be properly taught...�
�

....

You may read the whole article at

http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1089733,00.html

Do you think Intelligent Design should be taught in our schools?

Have a great Christmas and a terrific new year!

We'll be back mid January.

:)) A MUST READ ON THE BENEFITS OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM: Seeing the World from Iran's Point of View

:(( Judge Sarah Bradley decided not to jail nine men guilty of gang raping a 10-year-old girl in an Aboriginal community. In her ruling she told the rapists that the 10-year old "probably agreed to have sex with all of you".

Legal or Not, Abortion Rates Compare

New York Times
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: October 12, 2007

ROME, Oct. 11 — A comprehensive global study of abortion has concluded that abortion rates are similar in countries where it is legal and those where it is not, suggesting that outlawing the procedure does little to deter women seeking it.
Moreover, the researchers found that abortion was safe in countries where it was legal, but dangerous in countries where it was outlawed and performed clandestinely. Globally, abortion accounts for 13 percent of women’s deaths during pregnancy and childbirth, and there are 31 abortions for every 100 live births, the study said.
Read full article



Here in the U.S. laws have never stopped abortion, but only relegated it to back- alley butchers. Abortion was criminalized throughout the U.S. between the late 1800s and 1973.

In 1973 the our Supreme Court handed down Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion in all 50 states.

Laws have never stopped abortion, but only relegated it to back-alley butchers. Abortion was criminalized throughout the U.S. between the late 1800s and 1973. But during that time, millions of women sought and obtained abortions anyway. Illegal abortions were commonly performed in unsafe conditions, and maternal complications and death were common.



There are two sides to the issue here in the U.S.

Pro-Choice, which takes a legal stance that is is the right of a woman to make her own choice on this matter.
Pro-life, which takes a moral stance that it should be illegal based on personal religious beliefs.





What are your views on this highly debated emotional issue?

Illegal Immigration

The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) estimates that in January of 2000 there were7 million illegal aliens living in the United States, a number that is growing by half a million a year. Thus, the illegal-alien population in 2003 stands at at least 8 million. Included in this estimate are approximately 78,000 illegal aliens from countries who are of special concern in the war on terror. It is important to note that the 500,000 annual increase is the net growth in the illegal-alien population (new illegal immigration minus deaths, legalizations, and out-migration).

You may read the whole article at

.http://www.cis.org/topics/illegalimmigration.html

What are your thoughts on illegal immigrants?

America’s Lagging Health Care System

Editorial in New York Times about this survey taken


America’s Lagging Health Care System

Published: November 1, 2007
Americans are increasingly frustrated about the sub par performance of this country’s fragmented health care system, and with good reason. A new survey of patients in seven industrialized nations underscores just how badly sick Americans fare compared with patients in other nations. One-third of the American respondents felt their system is so dysfunctional that it needs to be rebuilt completely — the highest rate in any country surveyed. The system was given poor scores both by low-income, uninsured patients and by many higher-income patients.

You may read the whole article at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/opinion/01thu3.html?ex=1351656000&en=e4fd61e785541332&ei=5124&partner=digg&exprod=digg

Do you agree or disagree that America should go to a more universal heath careprogram?

Thousands Rally Against Iraq War In S.F.

Thousands Rally Against Iraq War In S.F.
POSTED: 4:42 pm PDT October 27, 2007
UPDATED: 6:36 pm PDT October 27, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO -- Thousands of people called for a swift end to the war in Iraq as they marched through downtown on Saturday, chanting and carrying signs that read: "Wall Street Gets Rich, Iraqis and GIs Die" or "Drop Tuition Not Bombs."
...
You may read the whole article at http://www.ktvu.com/news/14439605/detail.html

What do you think about the war?

Mixed Grades In a New Education Report

Mixed Grades in a New Education Report



The education secretary says stats show No Child Left Behind is working.
By Peg Tyre
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 3:54 PM ET Sep 27, 2007


The 2007 National Assessment of Education Progress, known as the Nation's Report Card, was released today for reading and math in fourth and eighth grade—and what it tells us about our children's abilities in mathematics and reading is bound to add fuel to the already contentious debate about No Child Left Behind.
...
You may read the whole article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/41312/output/print

What kind of changes does the high school you graduated from need to implement?

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/41312
© 2007 Newsweek.com

Stop the failed war on drugs: By Bill Steigerwald

October 16, 2007



Let's hear it for America's drug police.

Last year our drug warriors made 829,627 marijuana arrests.

That's the most ever, according to the FBI. Arrests for marijuana -- arguably the least dangerous drug ever declared illegal in America -- are up nearly threefold since 1990. Total arrests for all illegal drugs in 2006 hit 1.89 million, up from 1.08 million in 1990.

...

You may read the whole article at http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/WRT06/710160334/1861&template=printart

What do you think? Do you agree with with the author or not?

Gay parents

Gay adoption: A new take on the American family
By Taylor Gandossy
June 27, 2007
CNN


ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- For 5-year-old Jackson Manford-Roach, Mother's Day means it's time to see his grandmothers.

"I don't need little lace gloves, which is what [Jackson and his classmates] made this year," Jeffrey Roach, one of Jackson's two fathers, said. "The other kids always ask who he's making the stuff for and he always makes his for his grandma."

....

Read the whole article at http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/25/gay.adoption/index.html


What do you think?

A Different War on Drugs

A Promising New HPV Vaccine Gets Caught Up In The Culture War
BY MATTHEW VALJI
January 17, 2007

Twenty million Americans are currently infected with the Human Papillomavirus, more commonly known as HPV. According to the Center for Disease Control, a shocking 75 percent of Americans ages 15 to 49 have acquired HPV at some point in their lives. For most, this STI will clear up quickly on its own with little or no permanent aftereffects, but for about one percent of women infected, it results in cervical cancer.

....

Read the whole article at http://hprsite.squarespace.com/different-war-on-drugs-012007/


Should this vaccine be required just as other vaccines are required for school children of a certain age or should it be left up to the parents?

TEEN PREGNANCY

TEENAGE PREGNANCY
Every year in the U.S. about 800,000 teenagers become pregnant. The causes have been heavily debated and concentrate around lack of sex education and lack of parental involvement. Other contributing factors include educational failure, limited or no access to birth control, poverty, single parent household, a mother who gave birth as a teenager, sexual portrayal of teenagers in the media and an abusive home.

Although teen births have dropped by almost a third since the beginning of the 1990s, the US still has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the world. Almost 80% of the fathers of babies born to teen mothers do not marry the mother. Among the girls who get pregnant less than 1/3 graduates from high school.

The social after-effects are serious. Poverty leads to low educational attainment and these two factors increase the likelihood of criminal involvement and imprisonment. According to the book "The Garbage Generation" by Daniel Amneus, children who live in single female-headed households are eight times more likely to go to prison and five times more likely to commit suicide. Thus the total cost of teen pregnancy tops $7 billion annually.

See the comparisons between the US and the Netherlands. Read if you want this article on the pregnancy rates in the Netherlands.
Why do we have such high rates of teen pregnancy?

GUN CONTROL

The International Association of Chiefs of Police issued a report Wednesday, calling for a ban on assault weapons, arguing it will make officers safer by reducing the ``firepower available to criminals.'' http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/332417_guns20.html

The following day in Florida a Miami-Dade police officer was killed and three others wounded at the scene of a traffic stop by an assailant using a highpowered assault rifle. He bought this weapon legally, although with a fake ID

According to the NRA, the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees individuals the right to own and carry guns. They believe that once started federal regulations will continue to increase until eventually law-abiding citizens will not be allowed to own guns of any kind, which they believe violates their Constitutional rights. They also believe that if law-abiding citizens have guns, they are safer from criminals, which causes crime rates to drop.

However, organizations such as the Brady Center, argues that the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee individuals the right to own and carry guns. They urge for more gun control because they believe the more people have guns, the more deaths and injuries from guns occur.

Does America need more gun control laws?

Tom Coghlan reports on the torture of an Afghan girl sold as bride at the age of 4. Article published in the Independent (Apr 15, 2006)

You may watch this CNN video on a child bride here


The suffering of Gulsoma's first 12 years is not immediately apparent in the little girl with an open face, who is doted on at Kabul's Women's Affairs Ministry. But in repose her features cloud and she clasps her arms around herself, while the overlapping scars on her body offer a crude account of abuse.

Read the whole article at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060415/ai_n16166745/pg_1

College Cost reduction Act was passed today

The HCC faculty was notified today that both Houses of Congress passed the College Cost Reduction Act of 2007 with bipartisan support (by a vote of 79 to 12 in the Senate and 292 to 97 in the House of Representatives). This legislation is of vital importance to the student body as it will boost college financial aid by nearly $20 billion over the next five years, reduce excessive federal subsidies paid to lenders in the college loan industry, and reduce the federal budget deficit by $750 million.

Furthermore the College Cost Reduction Act will increase the Pell Grant maximum award by $4,800 next year and to $5,400 by 2012, it will cut interest rates from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent by 2011, it will provide upfront tuition assistance for graduate and undergraduate students who agree to teach in high-need public schools and it will increase income protections for working students.

It is important that you check to see how your representative and senators voted.

at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll864.xml and http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00326 respectively.
."