News and Current Events - 2012

[janjo]

A political what?

I was talking about the majority of party members, re
 :Dgardless of party. It is easy to see what you are saying in SOME leaders, but the generalization just doesn't work over all.

Oh sorry, we have these all of the time. Various politicians and thinkers get asked questions by an audience. Does BBC World do any that you can receive? I forget just how bad so much US tv politics is.

Here we have a good selection even down to a right wing and left wing journalist or thinker reviewing the newspapers every evening. The right wingers jump up and down, and shout, sweat and get angry all the time. The left wingers tend to say...................."whatever."
Of course if they go far enough left they start coming back right again..................

[doodler]

Do these shows include sex and drinking? 'Cause if not, they'll never catch on here. Even with i ntellectuals.

[AZ.bbm]

C-SPAN (cable) carries "Prime Minister's Questions"*  a televised Q&A where Members of the British Parliament may individually rise & grill the PM or his associates over serious issues, and he/they respond accordingly.


I just wish we had a 'constitutional convention' like this in the U.S., as some of us here have more than a few pointed questions for Mr. Obama & Co.


*a.k.a., Questions to the Prime Minister

[AZ.bbm]

No, no, no. I am talking about the run-of-the-mill party member. I refuse to believe that all Dems are sweet, loving, giving people and all Reps are evil mean bad and nasty. My own daughter is a registered Republican and there is no more loving, generous person in the world, not just with her family and friends, bit with her community as well.

-Which begs the question, Why is she registered as a Rep?

[brokebacktom]

-Which begs the question, Why is she registered as a Rep?

not very nice. I have great friends who are Reps too. We fight all the time, but we still get along. Why they vote for them, usually do with their Religious beliefs or their frustration that Government is to intrusive. yet they for get the Republicans tend to want Government to decide what should be on TV, or any other social issues, like marriage. Either way, one should be registered as an Independent. It will make both parties having to fight for their votes.

[doodler]

-Which begs the question, Why is she registered as a Rep?

It begs nothing. She shares a lot of their views on government. THAT doesn't make her a troll. Or any other Republican for that matter. This IS still a free country and opposing views are allowed... even if they are discouraged by many, many people... of both parties.

[Marge_Innavera]

Akin arguably got his ideas from the "pro life" movement, which isn't surprising.

from "Christian Life Resources", 1999:

 "Finally, factor in what is certainly one of the most important reasons why a rape victim rarely gets pregnant, and that's physical trauma. Every woman is aware that stress and emotional factors can alter her menstrual cycle. To get and stay pregnant a woman's body must produce a very sophisticated mix of hormones. Hormone production is controlled by a part of the brain that is easily influenced by emotions. There's no greater emotional trauma that can be experienced by a woman than an assault rape. This can radically upset her possibility of ovulation, fertilization, implantation and even nurturing of a pregnancy. So what further percentage reduction in pregnancy will this cause? No one knows, but this factor certainly cuts this last figure by at least 50 percent and probably more. If we use the 50 percent figure, we have a final figure of 225 (or 370) women pregnant each year. These numbers closely match the 200 that have been documented in clinical studies.

"So assault rape pregnancy is extremely rare. If we use the figure of 200, it is 4 per state per year. Even if we use a figure of 500, we're talking about only ten per state, per year. In the United States in one year, there are more than 6 million pregnancies. Roughly 3 million eventuate in live birth, 1.5 million are aborted and 500,000 miscarry. And so while each assault rape pregnancy is a tragedy for the mother (not for the baby, though), we can with confidence say that such pregnancies amount to a minuscule fraction of the total annual pregnancies in the United States. Further, less than half of assault rape pregnancies are aborted, even though that course of action tends to be vigorously pushed by those around the woman."

http://www.christianliferesources.com/article/rape-pregnancies-are-rare-461

The same publication has issued a statement on the controversy about Akin:

" Akin suggested that the emotional trauma of a rape creates some sort of natural birth control reflex in a woman’s body.  He does not say pregnancies never occur, but in fairness he does not acknowledge that fact either.  Is he just clinging in hearsay and rumor?

"Right now news sources are quick to repeat the familiar mantra that a pregnancy occurs in 5% of rape cases.  It is a 16-year old statistic lifted from a study of 4,008 women.[2]  A 1982 study of 692 women suggested the chance of pregnancy occurring from a rape to be between 2% and 4%.[3]  While statistically 2% to 5% is not a large percentage, for the victim the prospect no matter how remote emotionally compounds an already traumatic event.

"But let’s be honest here – Akin violated the emotional sanctity of this topic with his term, 'legitimate rape.'  We now want to know the accuracy of his statement.  Emotionally, there is no debate that even 2% is 2% too much.  Is it true that the trauma of the rape reduces the chances for pregnancy?

"I have yet to see a study that demonstrates some sort of contraceptive effect from a rape.  I do believe, however, it is not an unwarranted conclusion."

http://www.christianliferesources.com/news/rape-pregnancy-and-the-akin-controversy-8741



According to The Atlantic, Akin might also have been channelling North Carolina state Rep. Henry Aldridge's statement in 1995, to the North Carolina House Appropriations Committee, that "The facts show that people who are raped -- who are truly raped -- the juices don't flow, the body functions don't work and they don't get pregnant. Medical authorities agree that this is a rarity, if ever."

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/08/a-canard-that-will-not-die-legitimate-rape-doesnt-cause-pregnancy/261303/




Resorting to facts as reported by professionals may be passe, but here's some stats reported in 1996 by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of South Carolina anyway:

"The national rape-related pregnancy rate is 5.0% per rape among victims of reproductive age (aged 12 to 45); among adult women an estimated 32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year. Among 34 cases of rape-related pregnancy, the majority occurred among adolescents and resulted from assault by a known, often related perpetrator. Only 11.7% of these victims received immediate medical attention after the assault, and 47.1% received no medical attention related to the rape. A total 32.4% of these victims did not discover they were pregnant until they had already entered the second trimester; 32.2% opted to keep the infant whereas 50% underwent abortion and 5.9% placed the infant for adoption; an additional 11.8% had spontaneous abortion."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8765248

In any event, the GOP furor over Akin is blatantly hypocritical, in view of the plank in their own platform calling for an absolute ban on abortion, including cases of rape and incest.

[Marge_Innavera]

Akin was not my choice to go up against incumbent McCaskill.  I wanted Sarah Steelman, strictly from the cat-fight standpoint of two strong politically tied women going at each others throats for three months.   It sure would have been entertaining.

And aren't we lucky that Missouri, along with 49 other states, isn't allowed to impose literacy tests for voting (yet)?

[brokebacktom]

And aren't we lucky that Missouri, along with 49 other states, isn't allowed to impose literacy tests for voting (yet)?

That's next when the Republicans gain more control after the election. Along with Cutting SS, ending Medicare and Medicaid, Head-start, ALL public supported media, like TV and Radio. ANd lets not forget more Tax cuts for the Rich, they will get another one under Ryan's Budget plan and with a tax increase on the bottom 10%. I guess I'm still waiting for that Jobs bill the Reps promised too.

[Tony_]

 TMZ released nude photos of Prince Harry, cavorting in Las Vegas, just this last hour.  These things do not happen by chance.  It is probably a desperate attempt to distract the press while Julian Assange makes his escape, and UK relations with South America can return to normal.
 BTW, he needs exercises to pump up his rump  .

[AZ.bbm]

It begs nothing. She shares a lot of their views on government. THAT doesn't make her a troll. Or any other Republican for that matter. This IS still a free country and opposing views are allowed... even if they are discouraged by many, many people... of both parties.

It begs many questions, my dear girl.
For starters, one wonders how "the most generous person in the world" feels about the so-called entitlements of the poor, like social security, the minimum wage, the right to a gov't-funded abortion, etc...?

As Tom might ask, Would the most generous person in the world indeed vote against her own interests?

[Marge_Innavera]

That's next when the Republicans gain more control after the election. Along with Cutting SS, ending Medicare and Medicaid, Head-start, ALL public supported media, like TV and Radio. ANd lets not forget more Tax cuts for the Rich, they will get another one under Ryan's Budget plan and with a tax increase on the bottom 10%. I guess I'm still waiting for that Jobs bill the Reps promised too.

Comic relief often surfaces where you least expect it.

But never fear -- I live in Missouri too and am quite certain that cockfighting, dogfighting, mud wrestling and "cat fights" will be legal for a very long time.  The "book smart" folks just can't appreciate the sheer wonderfulness of such diversions.

[AZ.bbm]

not very nice. I have great friends who are Reps too. We fight all the time, but we still get along. Why they vote for them, usually do with their Religious beliefs or their frustration that Government is to intrusive. yet they for get the Republicans tend to want Government to decide what should be on TV, or any other social issues, like marriage. Either way, one should be registered as an Independent. It will make both parties having to fight for their votes.

For the most part I get along with my 'conny' friends, too. We often go out together, argue endlessly about who is entitled to what, how the poor are destroying the nation, etc., etc... I don't agree with them most of the time nor do I share in their endless paranoia, but we ALWAYS agree that the government goes too far, particularly when they have a virtual one-party state like they had under the Bush regime (i.e., the Congress, the President, the SCOTUS, all conservative) and dare to do just about whatever they damned well please...

Collectively, most of the connies I know are essentially fear-based  people --this is not intended as a put-down, it is simply how I (and others) perceive them to be.

-Az

[Marge_Innavera]

Reality-Free Zone Dept:

[doodler]

It begs many questions, my dear girl.
For starters, one wonders how "the most generous person in the world" feels about the so-called entitlements of the poor, like social security, the minimum wage, the right to a gov't-funded abortion, etc...?

As Tom might ask, Would the most generous person in the world indeed vote against her own interests?

Is THAT all that is involved in government... entitlements? Are those the only issues that separate Dems and Reps?
How nice if that were so.
Those may be the issues that are of most importance to YOU. They aren't to ME.