Did you think I wouldn't jump at the chance to rant?

[primroseburrows]

In no particular order, off the top of my head:


1. I think that Americans need a wake-up call about finding alternative sources to energy. We're a country of SUVs and not enough caring that we're destroying our planet with fossil fuels. It would be a hardship, but I'm for Americans paying three or four dollars a gallon for gasoline. Wake up and smell the MBTE, people. And you, Dubya, should be ashamed of yourself.

2. Medical circumcision (graphic link here) is a Bad Thing, unless it's medically necessary (and it's usually NOT). Looking like Daddy or making washing up easier are no excuses for mutilation.

3. I subscribe to the Consistent Life Ethic, which makes me a persona non grata in most political camps, especially among the liberals.

4. Babies should be born at home unless there's a real medical reason for a hospital birth. Statistics continue to show that homebirths are safer.

5. Infant formula should be available by prescription only (this idea isn't really mine, it's patchfire's, but it was so good I stole it). That way a doc can determine if a woman is really unable to lactate properly. Breast pumps should be available free of charge for working moms who need them. I'd pay a tax to make that happen.

6. Marijuana should be legalised, so that the War on Drugs can spend more time and money chasing the cocaine and heroin dealers.

7. George Bush should be impeached. He's violated at least as many laws as Bill Clinton. His violations are worse, because what Clinton did had nothing to do with National Security, and what Bush has done has everything to do with it.

8. Except for people who had family or friends who died in the 9/11 attacks, Americans need to Get Over It, People, and stop using it as a reason to support American invasions and occupations and supression of our civil rights. There are plenty of other countries who have to deal with acts of terrorism every single day.

9. I don't care about Michael Jackson. Listening to/Reading/Watching stories about him and his lunacy is like watching a train wreck. It's interesting for a while, but afterwords just makes you feel awful inside.

10. I like Howard Dean because I like Howard Dean. I'm not "settling" because I don't think some other candidate couldn't get elected. I'm not going to vote for him for any other reason than he's my candidate of choice, and if any other candidate were frontrunner I'd still vote for Dean. I perhaps didn't think this at the beginning of my research, but after reading about his platform and watching the way he's conducted his campaign, he's my guy.


Okay, guys, don't go defriending me all at once, okay?

Comments

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

If one contends, as we do, that the right of every fetus to be born should be protected by civil law and supported by civil consensus, then our moral, political and economic responsibilities do not stop at the moment of birth. Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless among us: the old and the young, the hungry and the homeless, the undocumented immigrant and the unemployed worker.

Absolutely. We need to support the women who are having the kids. The amount of abortions in the country (far more than I think the people who wrote Roe v. Wade ever imagined) is a symptom of the way women, especially poor women, are treated in this country.

Feminists for Life say, "Every thirty-six seconds in America a woman lays her body down, forced to choose abortion out of a lack of practical resources and emotional support. Abortion is a reflection that society has failed women." That being said, I basically hate the pro-life movement, because they don't address the problems of women, but instead, cloak their narrow-minded views in the Bible. FFL seems to be the exception.

Yeah, you can gack my icon. I got it from the button page of northernsun.com. They actually have some great stuff.

I'll shut up now.

[cirakaite.livejournal.com]

I think you've put your finger on why the abortion thing is such a hot topic for me. I *hate* the idea of choice being taken away from a woman regarding what is happening with her body. But at the same time, the "choice" to have an abortion is often not a choice at all, but the last refuge of a desperate woman. The support systems need to be instituted- and not just in the US, this is the case world-wide, IIRC- to give women the chance to make an informed choice on what is best for them and the fetus, not be forced by circumstance.

(Oh, and thanks for the link about the breast feeding)

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

But at the same time, the "choice" to have an abortion is often not a choice at all, but the last refuge of a desperate woman.

Yep. I wonder how many fewer abortions there'd be if pregnant women were supported and treated like the living miracles they are. Dude, the mothers! We'd disappear without them. Yet the world as a whole treats young, poor, single pregnant women with disdain and contempt. It kind of makes you wonder what they'd make of Mary of Nazareth.

[muffytaj.livejournal.com]

Yet the world as a whole treats young, poor, single pregnant women with disdain and contempt.

I think that's caused by two main things:

1. Leftover Christian values about sex only in marriage.

2. The view the media puts up of those girls being crackwhores and sluts.

I've heard so many stories (hell, I know people) who've been celibrate and had sex once, only to get pregnant. Or have been dumped.

If you're married and get pregnant, all the congradulations and applaud and love you get showered on you is nice, but not really needed because you have a partner and a stable life or at least an income. The girls who really need some sort of support are the single girls without money etc and they're the ones who get avoided and shunned.

I agree with most of your stuff too ^_^ And the sad thing about some of the stuff (like how Bush is fucking things up with power etc) is that I don't think it's ever going to be fixed. Not unless something drastic happens.

[meggitymeg.livejournal.com]

Abortion is a reflection that society has failed women.

Not that the women have failed, but the society itself.

I love that quote.

And thanks for the icon gack-age. :D