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December 29, 2005
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Thursday's Links
Activism
Planned Parenthood of Maryland has brought to light an important issue. Maryland's General Assembly is considering legislation that would greatly increase access to Emergency Contraception (EC). EC is not the famous "morning after pill," but rather a higher dose birth control pill that can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. Passage of this bill would ensure lower numbers of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. In fact, two seperate FDA panels have recommended that EC be sold as over the counter, but the FDA has failed to act on those recommendations. Go to the above link to send an email to your delegate and State Senator, urging them to pass this legislation. Special thanks to Ginny Phillips for this link!
News
Gibbons rallies GOP. Who is Gibbons? He's Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV). How did he rally the GOP? By saying things like "I say we tell those liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals to go make their movies and their music and whine somewhere else." You know, because one of the great principles of this country is "No disagreement with the President allowed." But the clincher, the quote that cements the fact that Representative Gibbons doesn't have an ounce of respect for the people of the country, is when he said that those against the war and for abortion were the same people that wanted to go to Iraq and become human shields for the enemy, and then remarked: "I say it's just too damn bad we didn't buy them a ticket."
22%. That's the percentage of under-18 children in the United States that live in relative poverty, second only to Mexico (of the "wealthy" countries of the world). Although the number has declined over the last several years, it's still not enough. Unicef regional director Philip O'Brien said, "Higher government spending on family and social benefits is very clearly associated with a lower level of child poverty." Well, gosh, no wonder we have such a high rate!
No one expects stem cell research to produce a cure overnight for everything that ails us. Even if Maryland's General Assembly passes the $25 million initiative to fund embryonic stem cell research, it will still be years before results begin to show. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't start now, and those affected seem to know it. Here's the kicker, folks - back in 2001, Bush restricted funding for stem cell research to the state level. States like Wisconsin and New Jersey have already started funding research. Let's say, 20 years down the road, a cure for Alzheimer's comes out of the research done in New Jersey. Do you expect that those striken with the disease will not take the medication, simply because of how we discovered it? This isn't something we can fight and win, because if we don't do it, someone else will. And if that someone else is overseas, it's going to cost us a LOT more in the long run.
Editorials
All-volunteer Army shows signs of wear. Lawrence J. Korb identifies some scary concerns about our so-called "all-volunteer" army. You know, when you won't let people return home after their enlistment time is up, it's not really voluntary. When National Guardsmen and reservists are constantly called up and their tours extend beyond the promised amount of time, it's not really voluntary. No wonder the military is having such problems meeting its recruitment goals despite increased bonuses, and is instead lowering its standards. Fortunately, Korb also proposes some solutions to this problem, although we think maybe we wouldn't have this problem if Bush stopped attacking countries for fictitious reasons. Just a thought.
Editing Jefferson. It's tough to keep track of the constant attacks on the principle of keeping religion out of the government, but that's what we're here for. The Washington Post editorial staff issued this missive a couple weeks ago, slamming Charles W. Carrico Sr., a Republican delegate to the Virginia legislature. It seems that Mr. Carrico wants to formally codify people's rights to pray and recognize their religious beliefs on public property. That sounds fine and dandy, but it's essentially wholly unnecessary, given that the state of Virginia and the United States both do a fine job of protect individuals' rights to pray. As the Post says, Mr. Carrico's real goal is to "defile the language of Jefferson and embolden religious activists for whom the Founding Fathers' doctrine of separation of church and state is a nuisance."
Democrats Seek to Outmaneuver Republicans by Imitating Their Strategy. While it's not often we look up to the GOP, you have to admire their organization and willingness to stay on message. Too often we've seen Democrats waver in their convictions. Sometimes, they're suckered into false bipartisanship, sometimes they're just being selfish, and sometimes they're simply weak-minded. As of late, those, the Dems seem to be growing a spine. If they can keep Lieberman and other Democrats in line on Social Security, they will have scored a big victory. Of course, there are many small battles that need to be won in the coming years, and the Democrats caving on something seemingly small like the class-action bill is not very heartening. Ronald Brownstein outlines how the Democrats have gotten to this point, and how the party is still debating where to go from here. What are your thoughts? We'd like to see no capitulation on any of our principles - in order to achieve that, we all need to keep contacting our Senators and Representatives and show them the way.
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December 29, 2005
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Thursday's Links
Activism
Planned Parenthood of Maryland has brought to light an important issue. Maryland's General Assembly is considering legislation that would greatly increase access to Emergency Contraception (EC). EC is not the famous "morning after pill," but rather a higher dose birth control pill that can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. Passage of this bill would ensure lower numbers of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. In fact, two seperate FDA panels have recommended that EC be sold as over the counter, but the FDA has failed to act on those recommendations. Go to the above link to send an email to your delegate and State Senator, urging them to pass this legislation. Special thanks to Ginny Phillips for this link!
News
Gibbons rallies GOP. Who is Gibbons? He's Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV). How did he rally the GOP? By saying things like "I say we tell those liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals to go make their movies and their music and whine somewhere else." You know, because one of the great principles of this country is "No disagreement with the President allowed." But the clincher, the quote that cements the fact that Representative Gibbons doesn't have an ounce of respect for the people of the country, is when he said that those against the war and for abortion were the same people that wanted to go to Iraq and become human shields for the enemy, and then remarked: "I say it's just too damn bad we didn't buy them a ticket."
22%. That's the percentage of under-18 children in the United States that live in relative poverty, second only to Mexico (of the "wealthy" countries of the world). Although the number has declined over the last several years, it's still not enough. Unicef regional director Philip O'Brien said, "Higher government spending on family and social benefits is very clearly associated with a lower level of child poverty." Well, gosh, no wonder we have such a high rate!
No one expects stem cell research to produce a cure overnight for everything that ails us. Even if Maryland's General Assembly passes the $25 million initiative to fund embryonic stem cell research, it will still be years before results begin to show. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't start now, and those affected seem to know it. Here's the kicker, folks - back in 2001, Bush restricted funding for stem cell research to the state level. States like Wisconsin and New Jersey have already started funding research. Let's say, 20 years down the road, a cure for Alzheimer's comes out of the research done in New Jersey. Do you expect that those striken with the disease will not take the medication, simply because of how we discovered it? This isn't something we can fight and win, because if we don't do it, someone else will. And if that someone else is overseas, it's going to cost us a LOT more in the long run.
Editorials
All-volunteer Army shows signs of wear. Lawrence J. Korb identifies some scary concerns about our so-called "all-volunteer" army. You know, when you won't let people return home after their enlistment time is up, it's not really voluntary. When National Guardsmen and reservists are constantly called up and their tours extend beyond the promised amount of time, it's not really voluntary. No wonder the military is having such problems meeting its recruitment goals despite increased bonuses, and is instead lowering its standards. Fortunately, Korb also proposes some solutions to this problem, although we think maybe we wouldn't have this problem if Bush stopped attacking countries for fictitious reasons. Just a thought.
Editing Jefferson. It's tough to keep track of the constant attacks on the principle of keeping religion out of the government, but that's what we're here for. The Washington Post editorial staff issued this missive a couple weeks ago, slamming Charles W. Carrico Sr., a Republican delegate to the Virginia legislature. It seems that Mr. Carrico wants to formally codify people's rights to pray and recognize their religious beliefs on public property. That sounds fine and dandy, but it's essentially wholly unnecessary, given that the state of Virginia and the United States both do a fine job of protect individuals' rights to pray. As the Post says, Mr. Carrico's real goal is to "defile the language of Jefferson and embolden religious activists for whom the Founding Fathers' doctrine of separation of church and state is a nuisance."
Democrats Seek to Outmaneuver Republicans by Imitating Their Strategy. While it's not often we look up to the GOP, you have to admire their organization and willingness to stay on message. Too often we've seen Democrats waver in their convictions. Sometimes, they're suckered into false bipartisanship, sometimes they're just being selfish, and sometimes they're simply weak-minded. As of late, those, the Dems seem to be growing a spine. If they can keep Lieberman and other Democrats in line on Social Security, they will have scored a big victory. Of course, there are many small battles that need to be won in the coming years, and the Democrats caving on something seemingly small like the class-action bill is not very heartening. Ronald Brownstein outlines how the Democrats have gotten to this point, and how the party is still debating where to go from here. What are your thoughts? We'd like to see no capitulation on any of our principles - in order to achieve that, we all need to keep contacting our Senators and Representatives and show them the way.
|
December 29, 2005
Planned Parenthood of Maryland has brought to light an important issue. Maryland's General Assembly is considering legislation that would greatly increase access to Emergency Contraception (EC). EC is not the famous "morning after pill," but rather a higher dose birth control pill that can prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex. Passage of this bill would ensure lower numbers of unwanted pregnancies and abortions. In fact, two seperate FDA panels have recommended that EC be sold as over the counter, but the FDA has failed to act on those recommendations. Go to the above link to send an email to your delegate and State Senator, urging them to pass this legislation. Special thanks to Ginny Phillips for this link!
News
Gibbons rallies GOP. Who is Gibbons? He's Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV). How did he rally the GOP? By saying things like "I say we tell those liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals to go make their movies and their music and whine somewhere else." You know, because one of the great principles of this country is "No disagreement with the President allowed." But the clincher, the quote that cements the fact that Representative Gibbons doesn't have an ounce of respect for the people of the country, is when he said that those against the war and for abortion were the same people that wanted to go to Iraq and become human shields for the enemy, and then remarked: "I say it's just too damn bad we didn't buy them a ticket."
22%. That's the percentage of under-18 children in the United States that live in relative poverty, second only to Mexico (of the "wealthy" countries of the world). Although the number has declined over the last several years, it's still not enough. Unicef regional director Philip O'Brien said, "Higher government spending on family and social benefits is very clearly associated with a lower level of child poverty." Well, gosh, no wonder we have such a high rate!
No one expects stem cell research to produce a cure overnight for everything that ails us. Even if Maryland's General Assembly passes the $25 million initiative to fund embryonic stem cell research, it will still be years before results begin to show. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't start now, and those affected seem to know it. Here's the kicker, folks - back in 2001, Bush restricted funding for stem cell research to the state level. States like Wisconsin and New Jersey have already started funding research. Let's say, 20 years down the road, a cure for Alzheimer's comes out of the research done in New Jersey. Do you expect that those striken with the disease will not take the medication, simply because of how we discovered it? This isn't something we can fight and win, because if we don't do it, someone else will. And if that someone else is overseas, it's going to cost us a LOT more in the long run.
Editorials
All-volunteer Army shows signs of wear. Lawrence J. Korb identifies some scary concerns about our so-called "all-volunteer" army. You know, when you won't let people return home after their enlistment time is up, it's not really voluntary. When National Guardsmen and reservists are constantly called up and their tours extend beyond the promised amount of time, it's not really voluntary. No wonder the military is having such problems meeting its recruitment goals despite increased bonuses, and is instead lowering its standards. Fortunately, Korb also proposes some solutions to this problem, although we think maybe we wouldn't have this problem if Bush stopped attacking countries for fictitious reasons. Just a thought.
Editing Jefferson. It's tough to keep track of the constant attacks on the principle of keeping religion out of the government, but that's what we're here for. The Washington Post editorial staff issued this missive a couple weeks ago, slamming Charles W. Carrico Sr., a Republican delegate to the Virginia legislature. It seems that Mr. Carrico wants to formally codify people's rights to pray and recognize their religious beliefs on public property. That sounds fine and dandy, but it's essentially wholly unnecessary, given that the state of Virginia and the United States both do a fine job of protect individuals' rights to pray. As the Post says, Mr. Carrico's real goal is to "defile the language of Jefferson and embolden religious activists for whom the Founding Fathers' doctrine of separation of church and state is a nuisance."
Democrats Seek to Outmaneuver Republicans by Imitating Their Strategy. While it's not often we look up to the GOP, you have to admire their organization and willingness to stay on message. Too often we've seen Democrats waver in their convictions. Sometimes, they're suckered into false bipartisanship, sometimes they're just being selfish, and sometimes they're simply weak-minded. As of late, those, the Dems seem to be growing a spine. If they can keep Lieberman and other Democrats in line on Social Security, they will have scored a big victory. Of course, there are many small battles that need to be won in the coming years, and the Democrats caving on something seemingly small like the class-action bill is not very heartening. Ronald Brownstein outlines how the Democrats have gotten to this point, and how the party is still debating where to go from here. What are your thoughts? We'd like to see no capitulation on any of our principles - in order to achieve that, we all need to keep contacting our Senators and Representatives and show them the way.
