Tag Archives: America

America: Change begins within

The last barrier to African Americans actually achieving the American dream has been broken. Barrack Obama has been elected president of the United States of America in a landslide win.

Obama’s decisive political sweep indicates it’s time for citizens to unify, to celebrate their similarities and to look forward to a future marked by changes. Healing will NOT take place overnight and change will meet resistance. The dog in the manager right wingers are bound to bark and howl and whine as the move forward is made. They were not able to top this tsunami of support for Obama.  Barrack Obama has won the hearts of the American people and now it’s up to them to open their hearts to one another and work together to make the changes happen.

This historical election means it’s time for the American people to actualize, and to initiate the changes at the individual and local level, and work together from the bottom up.

364 electoral votes is the likely final count. Barack Obama not only got a clear majority of the votes, he won with a coalition that dramatically redrew the Electoral College map. Commonly red states – Indiana, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia – have gone blue.

How Obama Rewrote the Book

Blacks, Postgrads, Young Adults Help Obama Prevail

The smear campaigns and divisive politics did not work and the Republican Party now faces a long list of problems with no clear national leader and an identity crisis.

GOP in dire straits

GOP faces identity crisis

The GOP Fallout: Cue the Circular Firing Squad

GOP rebuild the party

God is pro choice!

by guest blogger buddhaofhollywood

I have a very good and dear friend. I can’t use her name here but let’s just call her Beth. She is a lovely lady, blonde, blue eye, a perfect poster picture of an American woman. She met this handsome man, lets call him Bob, a country boy, hard working, honest, and a bit religious, if being born again Christian can pass for “a bit”. He tried to push his beliefs on me once and the discussion went way out of hand. In the heat of the argument I shouted: “Are you a true Christian?” “Of course I am” he shouted back. I took a long, deep breath and very gently asked him: “Do you love me?”
He didn’t speak to me for a week after that, but then he came back and apologized for losing his temper. I apologized to him for being an asshole, and after that we became very good friends. But I digress.

The one thing Beth wanted more than anything in this world was to have a baby, and after getting married with Bob they did the sex thing and she got pregnant. Everything was going perfect. She was a radiant pregnant woman, and her joy could be read in her omnipresent smile. But something went wrong. Before the delivery date she started having contractions, this was in her 6-7 month I believe. Bob took her to the hospital and in spite of all the doctors efforts the fetus died. I don’t have to tell you how devastated they were. They tried again and again. Same result.

Neither prayer nor science would help them. Finally she gave up. Her body was beat up and she couldn’t put up with the emotional wreckage the losses were creating. God just didn’t want them to have a child and they had to leave with that. The thing that bothered me even more is that they took the blame on themselves and the marriage was falling apart. It took a lot of convincing from their family and friends to save the marriage. Even their priest was on the same page but he stopped short on admitting God was pro choice.

I don’t have any statistics about how many babies are aborted by God every year but I’m sure this story is familiar to a lot of people out there. So I say on to you my Christian friends, lets boycott God or even better lets bomb some churches! Let’s send him a message we wouldn’t put up with his pro choice position any longer!
Be loved! BoH

Miscarriage

During the second trimester the chance of miscarriage drops again to 3%. After you’ve reached 20 weeks gestation, it is no longer considered a miscarriage. The statistics regarding miscarriage vary widely depending on the source. Here are some of the basic numbers:

  • Almost 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, with the majority occurring during the first 12 weeks
  • There is a 75% chance of miscarriage in weeks 1-2 of pregnancy, when you do not know you are pregnant
  • There is a 10% chance of miscarriage in weeks 3-6 and this number drops to 5% during weeks 6-12

For repeat miscarriage the statistic are as follows:

  • If you have had a miscarriage during your first pregnancy, your chances of another miscarriage are 10-13%
  • If you have had one or more live births and one miscarriage your chance of another miscarriage is around 10%
  • There is a 40% chance of a repeat miscarriage if you have had two pregnancies and two miscarriages
  • The chance of multiple miscarriages is lower, at around 13%, if you have had one or more live births
  • If you have had three pregnancies and three miscarriages there is a 60% chance you will miscarry again. If you have had four miscarriages with no live births your chances of a healthy pregnancy drop to 0-5%  Source
Statistics USA

Pregnancy:
There are approximately 6 million pregnancies every year throughout the United States:
* 4,058,000 live births
* 1,995,840 pregnancy losses

Pregnancy Loss:
Every year in the United States there are approximately 2 million women who experience pregnancy loss:
* 600,000 women experience pregnancy loss through miscarriage
* 1,200,000 women experience pregnancy loss through termination
* 64,000 women experience pregnancy loss through ectopic pregnancy
* 6,000 women experience pregnancy loss through molar pregnancies
* 26,000 women experience pregnancy loss through stillbirth

Pregnancy Complications: Every year in the United States:
* 875,000 woman experience one or more pregnancy complications
* 458,952 babies are born to mothers without adequate prenatal care
* 467,201 babies are born prematurely
* 307,030 babies are born with Low Birth Weight
* 154,051 children are born with Birth Defects
* 27,864 infants die before their first birthday

Reproductive Health:
Every year in the United States, there are 60,000,000 women in the childbearing years of 15-44 :
* 70% of these women are sexually active
* 64% use a form of contraception
* 3,000,000 use NO form of contraception, accounting for 47% of unplanned pregnancies
* 6,000,000 women deal with infertility
* 2,000,000 married couples are infertile

Currently there are 68,000,000 individuals with an STD:
* There are 15,300,000 new STD cases each year
* 3,000,000 teenagers acquire an STD each year

Pregnancy & Social Concerns: Every year in the United States:
* 468,988 babies are born to teenage mothers
* 11% of pregnant woman are diagnosed with Post Partum Depression
* 820,000 woman smoke cigarettes while pregnant
* 221,000 women use illicit drugs during pregnancy
* 757,000 woman drink alcohol while pregnant
* 240,000 pregnant women are subject to domestic violence

* 40% of domestic assaults begin during the first pregnancy
* Pregnant women are at twice the risk of domestic assault than non pregnant women are Source

California's Proposition 8: Same Sex Marriage

In May 2008, the California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, saying sexual orientation, like race or gender:

“does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights.”

In a 4-3 120-page ruling issue, the justices wrote that

“responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation.”

“We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples,” Chief Justice Ronald George wrote for the majority.

Religious zealots on their knees
“Protect Marriage” is exactly what voting no to Proposition 8 will result in if passed. Yet, in a room on the top floor of an evangelical church in San Diego, dozens of  Christian zealots are praying and fasting for 40 days. They are petitioning their God to uphold the continued discrimination against natural citizens – consenting same sex adults who want to be treated equally under the law.

Spurious advertising and outrageous claims
The Yes on 8 campaign has gone to extreme lengths to attempt to convince the electorate that Prop 8 is all about preserving marriage and protecting children when it isn’t.  The expensive California media market has been saturated with TV ads and campaign ads focusing on children.

Despite the fact that none of their claims are true, some evangelicals have even gone so far as to suggest that if same sex marriage is allowed to stand,  it would force churches to marry gays, force schools to teach gay marriage, setting off a snowball effect and opening the door to pedophilia and bestiality.

“A person could say, ‘I love my dog, why should we not be married?’” said Anna Good, a member of the Skyline Westlean Church.

What nonsense. Since when can dogs write, complete marriage application forms, and affix a signature to them?

The opposition rightly says these arguments are spurious.

“Let me be clear, there is nothing in California state law that would require the teaching of marriage and that will not change,” California State School Board President Ted Mitchell said. “These ads are ridiculous and they are an insult to California voters,” he added in a statement.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said campaign ads focusing on kindergarten children “are alarming and irresponsible. Our public schools are not required to teach about marriage and using kids to lie about that is shameful.”

“Since they lack arguments to support their discriminatory proposal, they resort to fear using children and targeting Hispanics, in their campaign of lies,” said Monica Trasandes, spokeswoman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

ProtectMarriage.com, a coalition of pro-family religious and educational groups, said the ban would “protect our children from being taught in public schools that ‘same-sex marriage’ is the same as traditional marriage.”

Once again this is untrue. Marriage is not taught in schools and parents in California are given a right to opt their children out of any teaching they find objectionable. Churches set their own policy when it comes to whom they choose to marry.

New record set for social policy initiative donations
Perhaps the most shocking revelation of this campaign has been the financial aspect. Supporters include Focus on the Family, the Knights of Columbus and members of the Mormon church. Campaign finance records show the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has given $200,000 to back a Nov. 4 ballot initiative that would change the California Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage.  According to outside estimates, the campaigns for and against have raised more than $60 million in donations. This has set a new record for a social policy initiative, trumping every other race in the country this year in spending except for the presidential contest.

It’s amazing how much money is being wasted to defend hatred and bigotry. Can you imagine how many starving and/or sick Americans $60 million could help?

IMO  everyone should be treated fairly under the law.  Proposition 8 discriminates against natural citizens and should not be voted for. What do you think?

References:
Same-Sex Marriage in California – Overview and Issues
TYPES OF MARRIAGE LICENSES IN CALIFORNIA
California Same-Sex Marriage Initiative Campaigns Shatter Spending Records
Proposition 8: Gay Marriage on California’s Ballot
Catholic bishops give $200K to ban gay marriage
California split over gay marriage referendum

Related post found in this blog: Gay Rights: Equality or Hypocrisy?