A Good Plan for Abortion Opponents

Thursday, August 24, 2006

While my pro-life (or "anti-choice.....to have an abortion") friends are frowning upon the decision to allow over-the-counter sales of Plan B birth control, I see this as an opportunity to make a stronger case against the abortion option as a "necessity." There's good news in this:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Women may buy the morning-after pill without a prescription - but only with proof they're 18 or older, federal health officials ruled Thursday, capping a contentious three-year effort to ease access to the emergency contraceptive.

Girls 17 and younger still will need a doctor's note to buy the pills, called Plan B, the Food and Drug Administration told manufacturer Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The compromise decision is a partial victory for women's advocacy and medical groups that say eliminating sales restrictions could cut in half the nation's 3 million annual unplanned pregnancies. Opponents have argued that wider access could increase promiscuity.

The pills are a concentrated dose of the same drug found in many regular birth-control pills. When a woman takes the pills within 72 hours of unprotected sex, she can lower the risk of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. If she already is pregnant, the pills have no effect.

The earlier it's taken, the more effective Plan B is. But it can be hard to find a doctor to write a prescription in time, especially on weekends and holidays. Hence the push to allow nonprescription sales.

The two-pill pack of Plan B costs from $25 to $40. A Barr spokeswoman estimated that pharmacists dispense about 1.5 million packs a year.

Plan B's maker was disappointed that FDA imposed the age restriction and pledged to continue working the agency to try to eliminate it.

But higher-ranking officials rejected that decision, citing concern about young teens' use of the pills without a doctor's oversight. Barr reapplied, asking that women 16 and older be allowed to buy Plan B without a prescription. Then, last August, the FDA postponed a final decision indefinitely, saying the agency needed to determine how to enforce those age restrictions.

But opponent Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, said Plan B's wider availability could give women a false sense of security, since it isn't as effective as regular birth control. Wright also worries that adult men who have sex with minor girls could force the pills upon them.

"Statutory rape is a very serious problem. This decision is going to allow statutory rapists to rely on this drug to cover up their abuse," Wright said.
The purpose of Plan B is simple: to stop unwanted pregnancies - the kind that results in abortions. Conservatives fear the availability of this drug will promote promiscuity and give women a false sense of security, but I don't think that's for us to determine. Condoms have the same consequences but we're at a point where we know they're necessary.

Adult women will have to be trusted to use Plan B responsibly, and at its price range I don't see many girls substituting it every time they have sex for traditional forms of birth control. It's to be used when traditional birth control fails.

Critics are right to say Plan B should be restricted to adults or minors with permission. At no time should it be easier for underage girls to buy contraception than cigarettes or lottery tickets.

And because underage girls must have permission, the argument that rapists will force Plan B upon them is moot. What is a problem however is the ability for rapists to drive underage girls across state lines to get abortions unbeknownst to their parents (recently addressed by the Senate).

In a perfect world unwanted pregnancies would not exist. Needless to say we don't live in one, and something like Plan B can help reduce the number of pregnancies that end up in the trashcan.

This Monument Still Stands

Friday, August 18, 2006

The clean-slated judge who was unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2003 probably just raised a few eyebrows with this decision:

OKLAHOMA CITY - A federal judge on Friday said a Ten Commandments monument outside a courthouse can stay, rejecting arguments that it promotes Christianity at the expense of other religions.

U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White in Muskogee ruled that Haskell County did not violate the Constitution by erecting the monument. The county did not "overstep the constitutional line demarcating government neutrality toward religion," he wrote.

The county argued that the monument outside the Stigler courthouse was part of a historical display that included other monuments recognizing war veterans, the Choctaw Tribe and others. The Ten Commandments monument has the Mayflower Compact etched on the other side.

"A significant factor is that someone comes and looks at all the monuments on the lawn, they can't just single out the Ten Commandments monument and say, `Ah ha!' and that means government is impermissibly endorsing religion," said Kevin Theriot, an attorney for the Haskell County commissioners.

Micheal Salem, an attorney representing the American Civil Liberties Union and Stigler resident James W. Green, said he thought "the court's decision really represents a loss for religious freedom." He said he would have to thoroughly review White's decision before deciding whether to appeal.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that religious displays on government property are not inherently unconstitutional and must be considered on a case-by-case basis.
That's right, according to this ACLU attorney, the ruling "represents a loss for religious freedom." Apparently religion is only free when every last remnant of it is shielded from public view.

The Supreme Court looked at two similar cases a few years ago and came to opposite conclusions on the constitutionality of religious displays. Because each case must now get individual attention, we don't know whether a display is constitutional or not until the highest judge who hears the case makes a decision.

With Alito now on the Supreme Court we may get a more definitive answer in the near future. In both 2005 cases, Justice O'Connor - whom Alito replaced -joined the side that found the displays unconstitutional.

Yahoo! Changes Again

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

If you're like me you get used to your homepage and don't want it messed with. I had enough of a problem when Yahoo! moved its e-mail button from the left to the right side of the screen last update, but now they've completely redone their homepage and I don't like it one bit. I'm currently using the old page but it will expire the first of September.

So now I have to get used to a new new page, only to see it change probably some time early next year. Bastards!

Cancer Will Be Gone...But So Will Earth

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

A Democratic candidate from Maryland promises to cure cancer by 2015 if elected:

With a month to go before primary voters head to the polls to choose Senate nominees, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin kicked off yesterday a weeklong effort to highlight his congressional record and vision on health care by making the mother of all campaign promises - to cure cancer.
But wait, he's not the only Democrat making ten-year predictions. Even if Cardin is right, we must contend with the more ominous prediction from Al Gore, who says that by 2015 our precious planet will have imploded from the consequences of Global Warming.

And while we're on the subject of predictions, the Democratic Party never said exactly when they'll catch Osama bin Laden if they take back Congress. But they'll catch him, they say. And Benjamin Cardin will cure cancer.

Hardly a Case of Moral Equivalency

Monday, August 14, 2006

Remember when a whole lot of people had to die because a Swedish newspaper printed those cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed? Now Iran wants to turn the tables and is inviting cartoonists to do their best by depicting the Holocaust. Amazingly, these idiots think a cartoon of Mohammed is comparable to what we can expect in this new fun contest:

TEHRAN (AFP) - An international contest of cartoons on the Holocaust opened in Tehran in response to the publication in Western papers last September of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

"We staged this fair to explore the limits of freedom Westerners believe in," Masoud Shojai, head of the country's "Iran Cartoon" association and the fair organizer, said.

"They can freely write anything they like about our prophet, but if one raises doubts about the Holocaust he is either fined or sent to prison," he added.

"Though we do not deny that fact that Jews were killed in the (second world) war, why should the Palestinians pay for it?" Shojai told the opening ceremony of the month-long fair in Tehran's Palestine Contemporary Art Museum.

He added that around 1,100 cartoons were submitted by participants from more than 60 countries and that more than 200 are on show.

He said the top three cartoons will be announced on September 2, with the winners being awarded prizes of 12,000, 8,000 and 5,000 dollars respectively.
This cute little stunt is only going to prove just how fanatic the extremist Muslims are. When they saw a cartoon of their prophet, people had to die. When their precious cartoons are released I highly doubt it will look like the end of the world.

Fox News Journalists Kidnapped

And Huffington Post readers are responding accordingly. Sick stuff.

Call them what you want; they're still Islamic Fascists

Friday, August 11, 2006

President Bush pinched a few nerves yesterday with his choice of words:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Muslim groups criticized President Bush on Thursday for calling a foiled plot to blow up airplanes part of a "war with Islamic fascists," saying the term could inflame anti-Muslim tensions.

U.S. officials have said the plot, thwarted by Britain, to blow up several aircraft over the Atlantic bore many of the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

"We believe this is an ill-advised term and we believe that it is counterproductive to associate Islam or Muslims with fascism," said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations advocacy group.
Which is why he didn't say we're at war with Islamic people. We're at war with Islamic fascists. By using the word "Islamic" as an adjective Bush was purposely not associating Muslims with fascism, hence the qualifier. And if you haven't heard by now, the roster of suspected terrorists has not a Tom, Dick or Harry among them:

Umir Hussain, 24, London E14
Muhammed Usman Saddique, 24, London E17
Waheed Zaman, 22, London E17
Assan Abdullah Khan, 22, London E17
Waseem Kayani, 28, High Wycombe
Waheed Arafat Khan, 24, London E17
Cossor Ali, 24, London E17
Tayib Rauf, 21, Birmingham
Ibrahim Savant, 26, London E17
Osman Adam Khatib, 20, London E17
Shamin Mohammed Uddin, 36, Stoke Newington
Amin Asmin Tariq, 23, London E17
Shazad Khuram Ali, 27, High Wycombe
Tanvir Hussain, 24, London E10
Umar Islam, 28, (born Brian Young) High Wycombe
Assad Sarwar, 25, High Wycombe
Abdullah Ali, 26, London E17
Abdul Muneem Patel, 17, London E5
Nabeel Hussain, 21, Waltham Forest
Lest you be confused with the suspects from an earlier plot foiled in Canada a few months ago:
Fahim Ahmad, 21, Toronto;
Zakaria Amara, 20, Mississauga, Ont.;
Asad Ansari, 21, Mississauga;
Shareef Abdelhaleen, 30, Mississauga;
Qayyum Abdul Jamal, 43, Mississauga;
Mohammed Dirie, 22, Kingston, Ont.;
Yasim Abdi Mohamed, 24, Kingston;
Jahmaal James, 23, Toronto;
Amin Mohamed Durrani, 19, Toronto;
Steven Vikash Chand alias Abdul Shakur, 25, Toronto;
Ahmad Mustafa Ghany, 21, Mississauga;
Saad Khalid, 19, of Eclipse Avenue, Mississauga.
We've got a Steven, the one word that didn't crash my spell-check, despite it being followed by a Vikash Chand Abdul Shakur. Folks, if it's Islamic, and fascist, it's an Islamic fascist. But because we don't want to sound hateful we must pretend everyone's a possible suspect and make airline travel more miserable than it's ever been.

Faux Support of a "Friend"

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

The conservative National Review has endorsed Joe Lieberman's independent Senate run on the heels of his defeat in the Democratic primary. The reason isn't explained too well in an editorial titled A Friend in Need:

Joe Lieberman may go on to win his Senate seat as an independent, and we hope he does. But the Connecticut primary race was about the future of the Democratic party as much as it was about the future of his seat. And while the margin may have been small, Lieberman's loss was big.

He is an 18-year incumbent. He was his party's candidate for vice president six years ago. He is squarely in the mainstream of his party on most issues. He had the backing of most of the party's establishment. Yet he lost. The election was close enough that it is possible to think that Lieberman could have won if he had started campaigning earlier, or had kept in closer touch with his constituents. But the question posed to Democrats was whether they could tolerate a man who, while toeing the liberal line on abortion and taxes, supported the Iraq War and was willing to work with a Republican president. The answer is no.

Since the race now pits Lieberman against Democratic nominee Ned Lamont, a creature of fevered liberal bloggers, and a Republican candidate who is a non-conservative nonentity, we're backing Lieberman.
National Review is backing Lieberman for one of two reasons; A Lieberman victory would mean one less "D" in the tabulation for Senate control. The fact that he could be a hard-left liberal and vote liberal all the time is irrelevant, just as long as Republicans control the Senate and lead the committees. The goal of the game is 51. If you subtract one "D" for an "I" you make it that much harder for the Democratic Party to become the majority.

The other reason to support Lieberman is for his position on the Iraq War and willingness to work with the President. Because NR just loves this freakin' cowboy and is blood-thirsty for more combat they are willing to ignore their pro-life, anti-tax principles to support a true liberal who happens to be too far to the right for the Democratic Party.

PC-Chairman Kills Effective Ad

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

The political correctness police are at it again:

PHILADELPHIA - Health officials yanked public service advertisements urging HIV testing after a gay advocacy group expressed concerns about images depicting young black men in a gun's cross hairs.

"Putting the face of a black man in the cross hairs of a gun paints a damaging message about violence and black men," Lee Carson, chairman of the Black Gay Men's Leadership Council, wrote in a letter to the city's interim health commissioner last month.

The $236,000 campaign, which ended abruptly Monday, was geared at gay and bisexual men and featured the tagline, "Have YOU been hit?"
It's an analogy, and an effective one. No one is talking about blacks and violence. If we're going to discuss the dangers of HIV, let's be honest add talk about the group most at risk: gay men - black or not.

So here we had an abrasive ad campaign that might have gotten attention but because some might find it "offensive" it has been pulled indefinitely. Maybe Lee Carson needs to re-examine the purpose of his job.

Putting the French Back in Fries

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Finally our cafeterias in Washington don't look so retarded anymore:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - French fries are back on the menu of cafeterias that cater to US lawmakers on Capital Hill, more than three years after they were replaced by "freedom fries" in anger over France's refusal to join the US-led war in

Of the five food outlets that had heeded calls by House Republicans to inject patriotism into their menus in March 2003, the last two that still used "freedom fries" reverted back to the original name in the last two weeks.
I wonder if any Republican lawmakers will be protesing this by opting for egg salad over the fried potatoes that have no relationship whatsoever to France.

Rangel to Call it Quits if Dems Lose

It's no fun losing all the time:

WASHINGTON - Rep. Charles Rangel (news, bio, voting record), a senior Democrat in Congress and the dean of New York's congressional delegation, said Wednesday he'll retire if the Democrats don't retake control of the House this year.

"Hell, if we don't take back the House, then the Democrats would go down in history, saying that there's no group in the world that can grab defeat from the jaws of victory," Rangel said in an interview Wednesday. "It just seems like America is so frustrated and fed up like I am and if she's not, then I may have to say maybe it's me."
Can we get this in writing?