A Sprinkle of Politics!

Stem Cell supporter!

2009-12-08T21:01:00.000-06:00

I read Mollie’s post on stem cell research and I totally agree! I think that people who oppose it should really look into how the stem cell process works and how people benefit from it. I like how she mentioned the different typed of stem cells and their benefits. Overall her post is highly informative and it has very important facts that those who oppose stem cell research should be aware of.

Abortion or Adoption?

2009-11-24T21:39:00.001-06:00

I definitely agree that abortion should be legal because it would be doing many people a favor. Why would a teenager want to have a baby when she isn’t even old enough to take care of herself? I have a 15-year old cousin who just had her baby about three months ago. She doesn’t even know how to carry the baby and gets frustrated when her baby cries. I asked her several times why she didn’t have an abortion. Apparently her “God” would punish her because she is killing someone else and her mom would rather pay for the newborn expenses than burn in hell. I find it quite disturbing. To think that people are so bound to their religion that they would make their lives miserable to avoid being punished. Now I hear my aunt complaining about how she doesn’t have enough to raise her 2 teenage daughters and a 2 month old baby. If my cousin would’ve had an abortion then money wouldn’t be a problem in their household, and my cousin would actually be paying attention in school.

What about adoption? Many will say that it’s best to ought for adoption rather than abortion. Well, who is going to pay for the pregnancy expenses? Unless the woman has a great insurance policy or some kind of Medicaid, then she would have to come up with the money herself. A delivery ranges from $5,000-$10,000 add another $2,000 for prenatal expenses such a doctor appointments and such. Having a kid isn’t cheap at all and unless you get lucky like Ellen Page in her movie “Juno” where a couple decided to adopt her baby and pay all her expenses, then you might as well start thinking about abortion. The average cost of a medical abortion ranges from $300 to $400. Let’s just say that the girl decides to put her baby to adoption. What are the chances of that kid to get adopted? Due to our failing economy I doubt anyone would spend $20,000 on an adoption. If I am not mistaken, according to Mardie Caldwell at the Lifetime Adoption Facilitation Center, that since the stock market started to fall, "the number of birth mothers now planning to put their babies up for adoption has tripled to 378." More children are being given for adoption than being adopted. This is another reason why women should really think of abortions; however, there are those who say that abortions are morally wrong, that you are killing a human being and yet they are killing people as well. People like the man who shot George Tiller, an abortion doctor, a couple of months ago, is it just me or this person is really a hypocrite? So it’s not okay to have an abortion because it kills babies, but its okay to go killing those who are supporters of it? It doesn’t make sense to me at all.

Another "end the war" supporter

2009-11-10T18:59:00.003-06:00

I couldn’t agree more to what my classmate “Swing Vote” had to say about the war in Afghanistan in his post: Bring the troops home; However, I have faith (for the lack of a better term) that President Obama will put an end to this war. Sadly, if I am not mistaken he did approve on sending the 40,000 or so troops overseas.

I do think that our government needs to realize that they can’t really change the ways of the people in Afghanistan and that we are just wasting time there and losing lives. I was unaware of the number of casualties occurring recently because of the war. Overall, “Swing Vote’s” post was good. It contains a couple of numbers there that might poke people’s interest.

It's about time to end this war

2009-10-29T22:51:00.000-05:00

NO NO NO NO! Why are we sending more and more troops to Afghanistan?! To fight the war! WHAT WAR?! It’s been so quite some time since this so called war started and we haven’t heard anything good about it ever since then! Day by day we just hear about more and more casualties from our country. It brings me to tears to see the pictures of those men and women fighting miles and miles away from their home trying to solve an issue that it really and truly not our business. So far this year, there has been roughly 400 soldier casualties most of the American (because the other countries have “seen the light” and are pulling their troops out of that mess.)

I recently found out that President Obama is deciding whether to send an extra 40,000 additional troops. Why can’t he just say “Okay let’s go back home”? Mr. Obama please don’t let me down. Don’t let down all those families that are hoping for their beloved ones to come back home safely. Why is it that other countries are backing out and we aren’t? Is it pride? Or maybe people will think we are cowards? Who cares! As I was driving the other day I saw a car with a bumper sticker saying something like this: “☮ is the foot print of an American chicken” I was just speechless. I knew I was bound to find something similar to that, but that is just ridiculous. Since when is a pacifist a coward? All those people who are agree this war is needed, should be over there, but of course they send the “American chicken” to go die while they are safe at the comfort of their homes. How dare they look down on those who want to end war?

Not only is this war taking precious lives, but it is also taking about 36% of our tax money while only 30% is used for human resources. You’d think our government would prioritize the health and well being of its nation… WRONG. People are dying here every day too and not because of some war, but because the government is too busy playing G.I. Joe overseas.

NASA did WHAT?!

2009-10-13T22:32:00.000-05:00

Today I stumbled upon Lisa Derrick’s “Rocket Into the Moon? This was wrong on So Many Levels” and the only thing that could come out of my mouth was GASP well, more like the sound. Bombing the moon? Sounds like something coming out of a sci-fi novel. Lisa argues that the whole idea of blasting a bomb in the moon is rather something juvenile and “just damn stupid.” I have to agree that spending zillions (yes, I said zillions) of dollars on coming up with something like that is a bit odd. It’s not the usual robot-sent to-Mars exploration for sure.

Lisa clearly states that she dislikes the idea of moving mankind to the moon. I have to say that it is an excuse to do whatever we want with this planet and not worrying about having a place to live since we can just hop to another planet. Instead of planning on making the moon go boom! Why can’t scientists think of other ways to rescue our planet? Maybe they have thought of many ways to help, and sending a Centaur Atlas rocket to crash into the Moon seemed the most appealing to them. One thing that our green friend here forgot to add is that the whole purpose of the mission was to find out whether there is water or ice in the Moon. The space cloud that would be caused by the explosion will be analyzed for any trace of water. That changes things don’t you think? Blowing up the moon seemed more like a geek’s fantasy, but adding a purpose such as finding water in the moon sounds like a more credible story. Scientists didn’t just blow up to see what happens Lisa, they did it because they want to find water, thus making it easier for us humans to habit the place. I do think we should focus on our own planet first, but if there isn’t more to do about Earth then let’s start moving up to the moon. Lastly, I have to add that her last sentence made me upset because we both agree that instead of researching other planets to live in we should focus on saving our own; However, I don’t think blowing up a crater in the moon for the sake of research makes it a violent act and I don’t think that just because of that it gives Lisa the right to say President Obama doesn’t deserve the Novel Peace Prize because of that decision.

No more prescribed Plan B

2009-10-01T23:09:00.001-05:00

Today I came across a commentary by Prime News host, Mike Galanos called Plan B risky for 17-year-old girls,and it sort of made laugh… well just a little bit. I love how he starts his commentary making 17-year-olds seem as if they are little girls that play with dolls… okay so maybe I’m exaggerating, but come on. How innocent can a 17 year old be if he or she can get the death penalty in Texas? Mr. Galanos is ranting about how U.S. District Judge, Mr. Edward Korman, who is now my hero because of this, stated that is “O.K” for 17-year-old girls to get Plan B without a prescription after the FDA approved, of course.

Galanos also mentions how birth control needs a doctor’s prescription and then argues that Plan B doesn’t and yet it’s more powerful than the average birth control and he is correct. According to the Plan B website, the emergency contraceptive has a stronger dose of levonorgestrel than other contraceptives; however, Plan B is a single dose only compared to the everyday or once a month dose of levonorgestrel on any other birth control option.

Now going back to getting the contraceptive without a prescription, Galanos mentions how parents “will be cut out of a traumatic situation.” That is not necessarily true. The deal here is that a seventeen year old can get it without a prescription, yet it doesn’t mean they don’t have to consult their parents about it, and of course there will be teens that will want to hide their “boo boo” from mommy and daddy and maybe even purchase the drug for a younger friend, like Galanos says, but that is their problem. Before I was married my mother would stress how much she would punish me if I were to ever get pregnant. Don’t you think those girls would do it for the same reason? A seventeen year old is not a child anymore. "Teenagers are known for thinking they're untouchable and here we are saying that they can continue to do that and that there aren't any consequences.” That statement bothers me a bit because not all teens are like that. A lot of teens I know already work by that age and even have their own cars and pay their bills! He has no right to say that! Then again this commentary is most likely aimed for an older audience like parents. I doubt a teen would even be on the CNN website unless it’s for a homework assignment, but who knows there might be teens reading this same article and getting upset about it.

I noticed he made a statement about how supporters of the pill say that Plan B needs to be timed as it is essential for the drug to work properly to which he argues that a consulting a doctor and asking your parents for permission shouldn’t take long. My take on this is that it just makes the process easier. I mean, who wants to call the doctor and spend who knows how much money on the appointment especially without a health insurance, if they can get the pill without worrying about having to sell their organs in the black market? You aren’t just seeing a family doctor, you are seeing a gynecologist! Mr. Mike might not know how much it cost to see a gynecologist, but I spend about $100 for just an appointment that I scheduled on June, but due to the doctor being too busy vacationing in the Alps, I end up going until the next month. By that time the girl will probably be pregnant and unless the parents let her exercise her right to privacy and has an abortion, she would have to deal with the consequences of having an unwanted child that the family wasn’t prepared for both economically and psychologically. According to the Walgreens website, the pill is going for $49.99. I rather pay that than suffer the consequences of unwanted pregnancies.

When he stated that having an over the counter contraceptive will encourage teens to have unprotected sex, I could only add this: There are side effects to taking Plan B which I doubt anyone in their right mind would want to go through again. Just ask people around who’ve used it, but it’s better than having to deal with nine months of torture. The only argument were I can’t defend myself is the one he makes about the risk of catching sexually transmitted diseases.

Lastly he comments that Korman is pushing for FDA to approve a contraceptive for all ages, which seems to upset him. “Think of a 14-year-old girl taking Plan B without the love, support and guidance of parents and without the medical supervision of a doctor.” Well Mike, why don’t you think of that same 14- year-old girl not being able to go to her high school prom because she has to stay home taking care of her baby? Now that’s a traumatic experience for a 14-year- old. Teens have difficult situations throughout their life time. It’s called growing up.

bye bye recession?

2009-09-15T22:41:00.000-05:00

I recently stumbled upon MSNBC stating that according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, "the worst recession since the 1930s is probably over." Unfortunately, there's still nearly 15 million unemployed Americans and sadly, that includes me. Bernanke also stated that even though our economy is growing, it's not enough for the employment rate to increase. Well that's not nice... people will not feel at ease until they feel that their jobs are secured. According to the article, the recession, which began around December of 2007, "has claimed a net total of 6.9 million jobs."
I've heard from my high school economics teacher that the economy will probably get better within four to five years, and he could be right. The jobless rate will most likely drop to the normal range of 5% in the next four years. I really hope so because it's horrible to be without a job!
I think the issue with the high unemployment rate is obviously very serious (and scary!) and it will take us quite some time to recover. While we wait, you should really check out this article! It's got quit a lot of information that is good to know about the status of our economy and what our government is doing to fix the problem.