War on Sex

The Utah State Senate passed a bill that would effectively limit sex education to abstinence only teaching. Also making it possible for districts to completely drop sex education from their curriculum and if they choose not to, the class is an opt-in for parents. Meaning that the parents have to ask the school to teach sex education.

"To replace the parent in the school setting, among people who we have no idea what their morals are, we have no ideas what their values are, yet we turn our children over to them to instruct them in the most sensitive sexual activities in their lives, I think is wrongheaded," said Sen. Stuart Reid, R-Ogden.

OK. Senator Stuart Reid when was the last time you actually saw what was taught in sex ed classes. It's been a little over a decade for me but there was nothing sensitive about what was taught. A person's anatomy and how to keep oneself from becoming pregnant or infected with STD's is not a moral question. It is about information. What you have just voted to pass into law is telling parents throughout the state that you don't care what their wishes are for their children, you are deciding for them that their kids will only be taught that sex is bad and if they have it they will die (obvious exaggeration added to break down the subject to the senator's level of thinking). You sir are wrongheaded.

Other Options...

OK. Here's the road map.

Article here, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/world/europe/greek-workers-strike-against-new-round-of-austerity.html?_r=1&hp

The other option.

Article here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_economic_crisis_(1999%E2%80%932002)

Then this happens.

There are alternative options. These are not new situations. It is best to learn from the past.

In solidarity with the Greeks.

Vote for you!

Targeted Killings

I would throw my hat in that ring as well. As an American citizen I would like to know the criteria used by my government to decide to kill me without trial, without public debate. I find it interesting how up-in-arms  this country will get over simply gun licensing but won't make a peep about the government violating any citizen's right to a fair and speedy trial.

As part of the current system of government (at least the way I was taught it was supposed to work in grade school), the whole thing was supposedly set up to keep the power out of the hands of one person.

Little is known about the process by which the US determines whether killing an American citizen suspected of terrorism abroad is justifed. Just last week, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS' 60 Minutes that the president himself signs off on targeted killings when aimed at American citizens. 

The president himself signs off on targeted killings? That is disturbing. I know I couldn't sign off on such a thing. That is a power that no man should have.

Full article here.
If you haven't heard of the National Defense Authorization Act, you may want to come out from under your rock and read this.
And since the "long memory is the most revolutionary idea in the country," if you haven't yet, you should learn who Mother Jones was.



Vote for you!

Bail You Out.

Four years has passed since we bailed out the banks. Four years that they didn't have to wait around on the verge of collapse, wondering if they would be able to make it to the end of the month. Wondering if their decisions would leave them with nothing. They spoke and those in power reacted, quickly.

Four years has passed

Four years that the average person has been toiling, working, hoping that with their efforts, their decisions they may be able to hold on till the end of the month, that they might be able to make ends meet. Four years of wondering if anyone would come to their aid. Four years of anguish and anxiety waiting for that notice to come for you to vacate your home.

Four years has passed and we still have no bail out for the average person....

A Deal on Foreclosures Inches Closer - NYTimes.com


Why is a deal even in the works, political pressure and hoping to yet again win an election.

But a final agreement remained out of reach Monday despite political pressure from the White House, which had been trying to have a deal in hand that President Obama could highlight in his State of the Union addressTuesday night.

Wow. Thanks governing leaders. We are all so very happy that it is so easy to see where your loyalties lie...

Luckily for us, the Occupy movement has shifted the context of political debate in this country. Ideas and movements that were unheard of or scoffed out of existence before they had a chance are up and running. The recent blackout of the internet being a fine example. Followed by the take down of a slew of government websites when the DOJ shut down Megaupload.com.

One of those ideas is similar to the Voteforyou! creed, Americans Elect is an organization that is setting up to be the first real attempt to get a non-partisan primary going allowing any and all Americans to vote for a third party candidate that suits their ideologies.

Is it in the right direction? I believe so. Is it where we want to be? Not quite yet, but I'm willing to support it in an effort to move in the right direction. Democracy is about making choices, not having choices made for you.

P. L. and R.

This is a great read, worth the time as we look back on the year that saw us finally get out of this mess.

Dumbest Facebook Posting to date

As seen on Facebook...

"SO LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT ... If you cross the North Korean border illegally, you get 12 yrs. hard labor. If you cross the Afghanistan border illegally, you get shot. Two Americans just got eight years for crossing the Iranian border. If you cross the U. S. border illegally, you get a job, a drivers license, food stamps, a place to live, health care, housing & child benefits, education, & a tax free business for 7 yrs ...No wonder we are a country in debt. Re-post if you agree"

No, let me get this straight. You think that we should have a country that is more like North Korea, Afghanistan and Iran? Good luck getting any kind of fresh vegetables when all those immigrants are gone, at least at a good price. And let me guess you think we should deregulate the market. Yup? Yes then you really are that stupid. Did you ever stop to think that labor was a commodity and if you deregulated the market, there wouldn't be any illegal immigrants to complain about because the market would allow labor (ie immigrants) to flow freely to where ever they are needed. Do you see the disconnect? Nope? Didn't think so..

Ames what?

So the big news over the weekend was the Ames Straw Poll which apparently was the place to be for the conservatives wanting to run our country even farther into the ground. And who was the winner?

Michelle Bachmann. Yup the crazy right winger came away strong taking the stage and the win.

Mother Jones covered her history well in their recent article, a must read if Bachmann seems scarier than any devil you saw in Sunday school.

After reading the article I had to wonder what this devil was up to. So I jumped on over to see how her "truth-o-meter" was looking. Seems that honesty is one of those sins she is still working on...

I have to admit that of all the coverage, verbage and video that I consumed this past weekend, Jon Stewart summarized the whole mess best.

The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Corn Polled Edition - Candidate Tent Coverage
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

To close things up, let me just mention that I will not be voting for Bachmann...