Big Brother Loves You (the bible tells us so)

Well, Polly, not to infringe on your personal preferences but as someone with asthma who suffers when seated in a smoky room, I very much appreciate being able to go to public establishments without adverse affects.

And I might add, many of the people who work in those establishments who are exposed to a great deal of second hand cigarette smoke are grateful as well.

And no, I disagree with you about this being a big-brother big-government issue nosing into your personal affairs. They simply said that your personal choice cannot affect the health of others. In this case, government stepped in and spoke up for the workers with no power... the waitresses or rather to be p.c., the wait staff, whose health issues were totally ignored in the past.

No, nobody is measuring the bus fumes or caring about what crap is being dumped into the air, but we all want that more than anything.

We all know for a fact that cigarettes dump some serious crap into the air, as well as into the lungs of those who use them and those around them.

Like factories who bellow toxins into the atmosphere, we want to do all we can to stop them.

Here is an instance where the individuals truly can make a choice here to do something to stop it, at the personal level.

This one lucky strikes me as not so much a holier-than-thou moral judgement, as it does of a personal responsibility issue.

No, I'm not saying that people who smoke are irresponsible, so put the lighter down.

I'm just sayin that when there is so much clearly known about the adverse effects of it, why would you do it? Furthermore, why would you feel so careless about putting in into my childrens lungs at a restaurant or some other public estabishment?

As a monkey myself, I've done plenty I know of that I probably shouldn't have at one time or another, hey, it's in the genes... but cigs is one I never could figger out.

I Like Big Butts And I Cannot Lie

Supreme Court sidesteps challenge to Bush administration's wartime detention powers, rejecting appeal of Jose Padilla.

I support the smoking ban and ours is strict and controversial. Go to any recent issue of http://www.thestranger.com or http://www.seattleweekly.com and you are likely to see letters complaining (or applauding).

I do advocate for exceptions.

There should be special smoking bars, such as the one for fancy Cigars that was a separate part of this grand old steakhouse (an establishment for those who still eat, by choice, that said-to-be-unhealthy top-of-the-food-chain meat). There should be an allowance for the "hookah room" that was right downtown - it's exotic, there couldn't be many of them, & it would get people more curious & interested about the middle east.

They could have required better ventilation for the bars and clubs. I can now go out though, and come home without red eyes and a sore throat the next day. & there is no danger of kids coming in bars. This state has an antiquated law where you must be 21.

Don't worry. There are states that ban alcohol altogether except for "private clubs," which are easy to join even at the airport. & I would do not see why alcohol and tobacco use are permitted when they are at least as dangerous as marijuana. If we want to get into civil liberties, I applaud the work of NORML, Rick Steves the Travel Guru's advocacy and the constant work of Rob (uh..sorry..can't remember his name.. what was I talking about? LOL)

Here is an example I was sent this morning of further repression. & take a comparison look at US Vogue, French Vogue, Italian Vogue, British Vogue. Guess which one has the disappearing nipples? & our "progressive" city is cracking down on lap dancing. I agree it's a hell of a way to make a living but hey, supply and demand! Are we capitalist in some areas, moralist in others?

"Anything that is erotic has been banned in the United States," said the Dutch native. "Look at the people at the top (of the government). We are living under a government that is constantly hammering out Christian values. And Christianity and sex have never been good friends."

Erotic Thrillers Lose Steam at the Box Office
http://articles.news.aol.com/movies/article.adp?id=20060403042309990007&cid=445

Monkey
Do you mean Bush was just given total power?

Sexy Media a Siren Call to Teenage Promiscuity

http://tinyurl.com/nlbd8

Now here's another one - Reuters. Increase in teen sexual activity is blamed on the media. Yet they state that black kids have more sex earlier but that's NOT because of the media. Then they cite the fact that US has a high teen pregnancy rate. Getting pregnant is not synonymous with promiscuity. Nor do they compare types of sex education and access to birth control in comparing pregnancy rates.

This is a bunch of crap.

Polly:

Only 6 oz of Cheetos per week?

We have indeed entered the world of Orwell.

Now EVERYBODY wants to read about teen sex.
Note the misleading titles. Are we back to the days when the lower half of Elvis can't be shown on tv? There were those who clamed the Columbine killings on Marilyn Manson, and the recent Seattle killings on raves.

Look at these titles! They remind me of those old pulp novel covers. What about birth control? What about sex education? What about media education?!!

Youth turns on to sexy media
Teen Exposure to Sex in Media Leads to Intercourse have sex at
Racy TV Shows Increase Teen Sex Activity
Sexy media a siren call to promiscuity
Media Rush American Children to Early Sex:Islam Online, Qatar
TV increases teen sex activity
Sexual Content In Media Leads To Earlier Sexual Activity
Playfuls.com, Romania
Sexual Imagery In Media Leads To Promiscuity
Exposure to sexual content boosts intercourse among teens
Teen study: Media use, sexual activity linked
No, Duh! Sex in Media Drives Earlier Teen Passion
Sexual Content of Several Media, Affect on Teens
Sexy media 'a siren call to promiscuity
Sexy media a siren call to promiscuity?
Medias Plays Vital Role In Sexual Behavior Of Teenagers
Teen study: Media use, sexual activity linked
Siren call 'leads children to sex'
Sexy media a siren call to promiscuity

Just about all of those titles are the same wire service article picked up by different news organizations for distribution. It's not really fair to claim there's all this attention when it's a single article under different headings in different newspapers.

Dwahzon
Of course most of those are the same article, reporting the same study. My point is not that they are separate articles, but that they are given titillating titles and that it's the kind of thing that sells. I am trained in research and haven't read the study but what I read is not what you'd call scientific reporting.

To be fair, there are also alot of articles on the study that says that too many American kids are getting too obese for their car seats.

The same day I'm not expected (in any way) to pay the costs of secondhand smoke, either for myself or for others, is the day that I will say people can smoke where ever they want.

Same goes for everything else in this vein.

Posted by: not my president at April 3, 2006 12:54 PM

I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt

Veritas
I agree.

& re any study done by University of South Carolina on teen sex, be aware of the poltical climate in which federal tax dollars are being granted. This is shocking to me and I oppose it as a taxpayer.

http://www.scpronet.com/point/9709/p03.html

federal grants for abstinence education

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/grants-catalog-abstinence.html

I will go on record as saying abstinence education is ridiculous.
Sex education makes sense. Biological education makes sense. If teens know how pregnancy works, how diseases are caught, then they are more likely to make responsible choices.

Hormones cause teen sex. Media does not cause teen sex.
& abstinence education makes as much sense as military intelligence. I notice that dieting does not result in less fat Americans either.

It would make more sense to blame media for the rise in children too obese for their car seats.

Posted by: not my president at April 3, 2006 01:09 PM

I've been known to say things that echo and/or resemble those remarks.

Education first... plus teaching teens and/or young adults about how to use contraception, and make contraception readily and cheaply available to them. Raging teen hormones do not abstain any longer than they are forced to do without....

Anyway, we're overpopulating and over-polluting this world as is, so we could do with some zero population growth....

Boy, Polly, you have some great points there.

Rumor has it that they have already started tracking by bar codes what items you buy at the grocery store.

Don't want to take away our Cheetos, they want us fat, we'll die younger and they won't have to take care of us.

I can speak to this smoking issue from personal experience, since I have been both a smoker for a period of time, and a non-smoker with a severe allergy that results in severe asthma since I kicked the habit.

I took up the habit during an experimental stage in my life akin to adolescence. I did it because I thought it was sophisticated and looked really cool when I went to the high brow Board of Trade Restaurant and meet market. But I did it mostly because it was my statement that I was going to at least try everything my Daddy always told me not to, and my faith told me I shouldn't. I liked smoking. Alot. This was before it became the fashionable thing NOT to do.

I was allowed to chain smoke at my desk at work. All day, every day. My loving boss brought in a medical doctor to take me into a private office and tell me and show me what people's throats, lungs and body cavities look like up close and personal. He brought along pictures. He told me that nicotine is more addictive than heroin. Showed me how people char their insides. Cadaveres that look like this are not a pretty sight. Instead of burning themselves up from the outside, they do it inside out. Some people wouldn't date a gal who smoked, because they didn't want it in their lives. Did I eventually give it up to please others? No. I gave it up because it was a PERSONAL CHOICE that I knew was healthiest for me in the long run. But while I was smoking, I thought it was ridiculous that anyone else would try to control my choice. I don't remember much being said about second hand smoke being bad for people in those days. But, as a smoker, I know how adamant I was that I should have the right to smoke when and where I wanted to. Times have changed.

I think it is the health issue. More likely, since big money has it's way, perhaps some of these laws have been established through lobbiests to save large tobacco corporations millions or billions in law suits.....it's big money that gets it's way in the end. And, as you say, Polly, big money IS BIG BROTHER.

Now, as a non-smoker who has developed an allergy to second hand cigarette smoke, I put up with more than one chronic cigarette smoker in my apartment building. It pollutes the very air I breathe as it filters through the building. I resent them. I wish it was a non-smoking building, but these people do it in their own residences. I checked it out and was told there was no law against a person smoking in their own private residence. I use air purifiers and open windows. I use allergy meds and an asthma inhaler. And my little neighbor, sweetie that she is, is killing her little old self one stick at a time. And she has that right.

Polly, I think both sides of this argument are correct. Why can't we have BALANCE????
People who want to smoke and don't care about the risks it causes themselves or others (having been there and understanding it FULLY) should be able to, in my opinion, go to an establishment or an apartment building that is a SMOKING establishment, and the proprieters should have the right to decide what kind of establishment they want to run. If you don't want the risks and side effects, don't go to a smoking establishment. Stay home and eat Cheetos or breathe bus fumes. I really hope they don't take away my Cheetos.

Posted by: not my president at April 3, 2006 01:09 PM

I think a healthy relationship with their parents does more for the pregnancy rate than expecting hormone raging teens to be responsible, but that's me. I remember my long talk my dad had with me about abstinence and how it was best for ME not to be promiscuous during my teen years. I will always love him for that. And I disagree, I think offering teaching about the option of abstinence is not a totally bad thing. Not for mind control, but for mental and physical health reasons.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060403/ap_on_re_eu/iran_blix
Blix: Iran Years Away From Nuclear Bomb

{{{Will someone in Congress puh-leezeE listen to this man for a change?!? He was right before....}}}

"And Christianity and sex have never been good friends."

Posted by: not my president at April 3, 2006 11:01 AM

A misconception. No pun intended, but it is kinda cute.

Truth Shall Prevail

I was given sex education at Methodist Church, at home and at school. We even had Advanced Biology and this was rural South Dakota in the 1960s! I was taught to respect my body and self and not to be exploited. I was not given access to birth control but was well aware of the danger of pregnancy. I also lived in a town where everyone knew everyone's business and girls could develop a "bad reputation" (but boys were considered "studs" if they "scored"). It was a mixed climate but I would think that almost 4 decades later, kids would have even more access to good information. & I'm not convinced they do. The people who do not want to teach how we evolve will not want to teach how we reproduce. It's science. Respect of one's own body and sexuality is the moral value.

I also taught my son to respect himself and others, and girls and women in particular and he had full access to biological information. He also had something I didn't, and that was access to birth control. It was pretty similar to our situation with alcohol and drugs and violence. We gave him good informaton, let him know how we felt and then let him make his own choices. & he's made good choices.

I think that abstinence is always an option but I do not think it should be under pressure. That also comes down to the issue of virginity and then come the issues of whether marriage is solely for a man and a woman and whether marital partners should always be absolutely faithful to each other. I consider those highly personal and private issues that should not be part of our government's business or anyone else's. I also don't think anyone has a monopoly on what is "right" in these areas, nor that they can prove that any God or religious book such as the Bible clearly and unambiguously spells out a position. Even if someone can quote me a bunch of verses, I would possibly question their relevance given overpopulation, disease and moral issues that are more pressing.

Here is also a reading list. I didn't realize I felt so strongly on this topic but seems moral issues come up on Sunday.

I don't like the message that says we know you're going to have sex, so here's the safer way to do it."
Kansas State Board of Education member Kathy Martin, after a vote by the board to require parents of public school children to sign a permission slip in order for their children to receive sex education, despite the fact that it will cause a decrease in the number of students receiving important information about pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections — including HIV — and facts about the consequences of unprotected sex, Lawrence Journal-World, March 15, 2006
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/webzine/ontherecord/otr-archive-sex-ed.xml

Here is the rest:

from "CrossFire" http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0412/02/cf.01.html (edited slightly)

CARVILLE: A new federal report says federally-funded sex education programs are telling our children that abortion leads to suicide, that AIDS is transmitted through tears, and that masturbation can result in pregnancy. Do you believe it? Are our tax dollars going to raise a generation of ignorant boobs?

FALWELL: Patricia, if -- if we have no problem telling our children no violence, no knives, no guns in school, no alcohol, drugs, tobacco, why is it so ridiculous to tell them no sex before marriage?

PATRICIA IRELAND, FORMER NOW PRESIDENT: I don't think it's ridiculous at all to tell them about abstinence and to encourage it. But all the scientific studies show that abstinence and information about contraception and prevention of STD is what is most effective in reducing the pregnancy rate of teenage girls and in postponing their sexual activity.

FALWELL: Well, for example, Planned Parenthood is in most of our schools, and they have condoms to pass out to middle school and high school kids. Isn't that sort of like passing out cookbooks at a fat farm?

IRELAND: Well, let me just say I don't think that actual sex education that educates people about sex -- now, there's a novel idea -- is any more likely to make them have sex than giving them driver's education is to make them crash their cars. If they are going to learn to control their sex drives, which are very strong at that age, they have got to have complete information. And I want them to trust the people who are giving them the information. If they are told, hey, 50 percent of the time, condoms fail and then they find out it's actually only 3 percent, what are they going to think? Their teacher is lying to them.

FALWELL: You know, at Liberty University, we just tell them no sex period until you get married.

CARVILLE: Well, I'll tell you what. Right. Well, you know, one of the things that I would like to see instituted is, no one can preach abstinence unless they practice it themselves. But that's for another discussion here. One of the things that they teach is, is that you can get pregnant through masturbation. I don't know how to say this, but it's something I have some familiarity with. And I have never gotten pregnant. I have never known anybody to get pregnant through masturbation.

WOOD: Why is it, for 30 years, the -- quote, unquote -- "comprehensive sex-ed movement," those who want to pass out condoms in schools, for 30 years, have gotten all the federal dollars? They have had 30 years in the classrooms having their way with our kids. What's happened from that? Sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers have skyrocketed.

CARVILLE: Teenage pregnancies are down. Teenage pregnancies are down. Actually, it's working. I don't know how to tell you this, but it's working.

WOOD: But STDs have skyrocketed, which shows you, yes, condoms may help...

CARVILLE: Well, can you catch an STD through masturbation? Would you like to teach people not to masturbate? Is that -- what is that, the agenda? You want to teach them that with creationism and all that other nutty stuff you got? We should tell them that condoms can't work and that they can get pregnant through masturbation and all that other goofy stuff?

Falwell vs Wallace

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2004/11/28.html
DR. FALWELL:  Jim, let me ask you a question.  Did you vote for John Kerry?

REV. WALLIS:  I did vote for John Kerry.

DR. FALWELL:  Now, he is pro-choice.  How can you as an ordained minister--you are an ordained minister, right?

REV. WALLIS:  Jerry--Jerry...

DR. FALWELL:  How could you vote for some--I wouldn't vote for my mother if she were pro-choice.

I love http://www.secularhumanism.org.

Teen pregnancy and abortion are the conservative’s best friend
http://www.theangryliberal.com/12-01-01.htm

Bush Government Funds Abstinence Ring
http://www.plastic.com/article.html;sid=05/05/18/07351997

How Teen Sex is Killing Our Kids (endorsed by Falwell)
http://www.femmerotic.com/favorites/110702.html

Advertisers afraid to appear in magazine if it offered sex ed info
http://www.holysmoke.org/fem/fem0423.htm

Robertson says welfare reform caused decline in teen sex
http://mediamatters.org/items/200412170003

Abstinence education grant money used for religious proselytization
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/02/24/govt-agrees-to-cut-funds_n_16271.html

Menphis Group Tried to Transform Gays
http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050713a.asp

Benson and thePlege of Allegance - abridged..
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/benson/

The reason I popped in, before seeing Polly's thought provoking article and reading the thread.....Good stuff......thanks......

For anybody who DIDN'T see yesterday's MEET THE PRESS, Tim Russert really socked it to McCain. Quoted an article that called him an ex-Maverick, and another one that called McCain a FLIP-FLOPPER. Really extensive, good interview. McCain, at the end, said sarcastically and snarkily, "I haven't had so much fun since my last interrogation".

Is McCain already campaigning for '08???? Is the NEW FRAME coming from the right the NEW WORDS we thought were some kind of moral come-upance really ONLY THE NEW SPIN FROM THE RIGHT??? McCain said several times in his interview yesterday on MEET THE PRESS that "MISTAKES WERE MADE" regarding {snark} several issues including the handling of the Iraq war that he didn't personally agree with but....well, here...see it for yourself.

I think my pc has been attacked by some spyware because I accidentally downloaded some freaky program yesterday unwittingly.

I can't even navigate to the MSNBC site for transcripts for MEET THE PRESS. After McCain, they interviewed a distinguished military man who has written a book that says they KNEW Saddam Hussein was contained and had a small inefficient army before they ever went in there. He claims Bush was bent for war.

Excellent, and I highly recommend both interviews, if you have the time.

Will somebody please post the transcripts link to MTP for me? I simply cannot get in. And I am out of time.

Thanks.

Posted by: not my president at April 3, 2006 02:11 PM

I totally agree. It is a moral issue. Not science.

And, I do not mean to imply that anyone else's sexual preferences makes them "weird" or less than or better than anyone else.

Those that want to preach abstinence should take the responsibility to teach - not manipulate, not control, but offer it as an option. Maybe in a church would be the best place for that, but, if teaching it not from a MORAL perspective but rather from a practical and scientific perspective, could perhaps be considered as an alternative choice.

Anyone can do what they want with their own bodies, but I do think they should be offered SCIENTIFIC evidences and facts to ALL options. NOT FOR MORAL REASONS. For, as I said before, mental and physical health reasons.

I'm not a prude. I don't care what my neighbors or friends do, and I have all kinds and I love them all. People who have sex when and where they want to are not abnormal, or freaks, and I don't mean my comments to seem self-righteous or condescending. I am speaking about the mental and physical health of children who often times are not old enough to make any kind of wise choice at all about why they are doing what they are doing. Teaching them to respect themselves enough to try to wait until they are a little bit older seems scientific to me. Psychology?

Anyway, NMP, you got me, and you've got really good points and good data to back yourself up. My comments were my opinions only on the subject that it might not be a bad idea to offer abstinence in a scientific way as an option.

Yikes, didn't mean to open a Pandora's box, but it is a sensitive issue.

I'm not saying that anyone who has premarital sex is immoral or a bad horrible person. I just think that in some cases it may not be the wise decision for everyone. Can abstinence be taught in a scientific way? Separate it from the moral church biblical stuff....separate church from state....scientifically?

Gotta go.

This is from Sojourners

Battle for a wholesome generation?
by David Batstone

What cause do you suppose could bring more than 25,000 evangelical Christians together in San Francisco this past weekend: Immigration? The Iraq war? Climate change? Nope, a celebration of "virtue."

The two-day rally branded itself as Battle Cry for a Generation and fits into a broader national campaign to provide Christian youth with alternative entertainment - Christian rock and rap - and teach clear values.

The moving force behind the campaign is Ron Luce, host of the cable television show Acquire the Fire and author of literature geared for Christian teens. Luce freely uses the language of warfare to express how youth are under attack from a culture that celebrates wanton violence and sexual promiscuity. Corporate commercial centers target youth with a "virtue terrorism," Luce charges, and are winning the battle for their souls. Luce frames his efforts as a culture war, and wants to arm Christian youth with Bible-based solutions for life. The red flags and slogans he uses for Battle Cry for a Generation are revolutionary chic and emotive. Luce is savvy enough to realize that if you are going to resist mainstream pop culture, you have to provide youth a compelling alternative.

Despite my misgivings about the onward Christian soldier motif, I share the concerns that inspire the Battle Cry movement. As a father of four children quickly moving into adolescence I am painfully aware of how advertisers and entertainment outlets hone in on their demographic. The sexualization of youth culture is a primary tool to motivate their desires for consumer behavior. At first blush, that statement appears to be an oversimplification. It's not - titillation is the engine that drives the commercial machine.

So when Luce bemoans the MTV stereotypes of attractive young women and the celluloid images of manhood packed with violence, I am ready to raise his red flag of counter cultural resistance. I, too, do not let my kids run loose on MySpace and closely monitor the DVDs they bring into the house. So much of pop culture is a values cesspool, and I want my kids to understand how those distorted values corrupt a healthy soul.

Of late there have been some encouraging trends in pop culture. A relatively new film company, Walden Films, is making family entertainment that embeds meaningful values. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Charlotte's Web are two of their initial forays into the theaters. And at a time when marketers tell us that only promiscuous sex and violence sell, a rather wholesome "High School Musical" has become a pop phenomenon. These successes hopefully will spawn a new wave of media that I will be happy to see make its way into my home.

Thus, it saddens me to see an event such as the Battle Cry for a Generation rally detour off its original path. It throws itself into the polarized debates on same-sex marriage and abortion. Ostensibly, that is why San Francisco was chosen as the site of the high profile rally last weekend. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Battle Cry invitation stated, "[Come to] the very City Hall steps where several months ago, gay marriages were celebrated for all the world to see."

Predictably, advocates for a libertine culture came out of the woodwork to host a counter-rally. The San Francisco Chronicle ran a front page story covering the conflict - protesters were quoted as calling the event a "fascist mega-pep rally." In the scuffle, the profound range of issues that the Battle Cry raises are lost. Opposition to gay marriage drowns out all concerns about greed, materialism, and the assault on our kids' innocence.

Lamentably, the media fans the flames of the conflict. The Chronicle knows which story will sell papers in San Francisco, in other words. But I also fault the narrow vision of those who stand behind the Battle Cry. If you want to make a symbolic stand, why not go to the town where Desperate Housewives is filmed? Or host the rally in New York City where Sex and the City is set. A gathering outside the studios of MTV also would be rich with symbolism.

I simply cannot understand why so many evangelicals consider same-sex marriage as the prime threat to the virtue of heterosexual families. Honestly, which has ruined more marriages: The extramarital affairs that are so brazenly celebrated on Desperate Housewives or the decision of two men or two women who love each other to make their lifelong commitment public? I don't think there is any doubt about the answer to that question. Yet most discussion of sex and values in the church veers inevitably to the gay and lesbian issues.

I have a proposal: Let's do an honest appraisal of teenage sexuality and lifestyle. Let's evaluate how the values of youth are shaped, and what forces are at play to move them in one direction or another. And let's ignore those political blocs that want to utilize vital family issues for their own agenda.

more sojourners...

SATIRE: Pentagon investigation clears Cheney of wrongdoing in seal-clubbing incident

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Dentist Michael MacKenzie is in serious but stable condition following an accident while on an Alaskan baby seal-clubbing expedition with Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney was in the process of clubbing a 1-week-old baby harp seal when MacKenzie somehow got in the way, sustaining a concussion, broken jaw, and several missing teeth.

Asked to comment, MacKenzie stated, "Umph schmph fluh shuh buh fuh," as his jaw is wired shut and his mouth stuffed with gauze. In comments scrawled on hospital stationery, he said that he harbors no ill will towards the vice president: "I realize that it's all just part of the sporting risk and giddy thrill of baby seal clubbing. More morphine, please."

A Pentagon investigation into the matter has determined that Cheney did nothing wrong, as his executive office affords him the privilege of ignoring international conventions regarding the clubbing of both seals and dentists. A Pentagon spokesperson also indicated that the vice president overpaid $7 for his baby seal clubbing license, and should seek reimbursement from the state game warden.

Animal rights leaders have expressed outrage; they're very good at it. Seal-clubbing safety experts have also expressed concern.

In response to waves of criticism, Cheney plans to go on FOX "News" in four days and say he's sorry for clubbing his friend but that the Iraq war is an unparalleled success.

Reports have also noted that Cheney has restricted his outdoor sporting companions to members of unpopular professions in order to mute public outcry in the event of an accident. MacKenzie, 65, is a dentist, 78-year-old Harry Whittington, whom Cheney shot in the face with a shotgun earlier this year, is a lawyer, and Ronald DuPre, a campaign donor who was accidentally harpooned while on a dolphin hunting tour earlier this year, is a DMV attendant. Reports indicate that Geoffrey Payton, a parking enforcement officer with whom Cheney had scheduled an outing to go dynamite fishing this June, has since cancelled the trip and moved to an undisclosed location.

more sojourners

Top 10 most shocking events yet to happen in 2006
10. Secular northern Europeans riot and burn American fast-food franchises after misinterpreting reruns of Yosemite Sam cartoons as crude mockeries of their beloved Friedrich Nietzsche.

9. Karl Rove resigns, saying he wants to spend more time attempting to salvage his family's sagging approval ratings.

8. Michael Moore ambush-interviews Jimmy Carter while producing a shocking documentary to expose the seamy underbelly of international peacemaking.

7. Abramoff corruption scandal spans party lines as Libertarian and Green Party officials are implicated.

6. Russ Feingold gets little support from Democratic colleagues in his attempt to congressionally censure Arizona for beating Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

5. Imprisoned ex-head of state and war criminal Charles Taylor uses his one phone call to ask Pat Robertson to bail him out with the gold Robertson's company mined in Liberia.

4. Jim Wallis and Jerry Falwell set aside their differences for a celebrity JELL-O wrestling match to benefit cancer research.

3. Tom Cruise leaves Church of Scientology to become a Christian Scientist. "I'm really into science," says Cruise.

2. Afghan court sentences man to death for converting to metric system.

1. Congressional Republicans agree to amnesty for all illegal immigrants...as long as they promise to vote Republican.

more sojourners

The land of the fries, and the home of the shake
Dear McDonald's Corporation:

I am writing you during a time when public support for America, for our commander in chief, and for the struggle to bring democracy to Iraq (and the world) is at a dangerous low. I have been thinking of ways to help the situation and, of course, I started to think about your company. I was remembering the whole freedom fries phenomenon and how helpful it must have been for the patriotism of the members of Congress to eat fries that symbolized the war for freedom. That thought struck me as rather important: with each one of the American people eating meals three or four times a day - what an opportunity for America, and what an opportunity for McDonald's.

I want to translate the current McDonald's menu into a newer, more patriotic form. I believe that this will be a win-win scenario both for our country and for your company. Those who already eat at McDonald's will feel more patriotic after their meals, and people who are already patriotic will be drawn to eat the freedom-loving food at McDonald's.

We may want to use the phrase freedom fries as a point of entry for people already familiar with the term - this way they will know immediately what we are up to with this new menu. Of course, if the congressional lunch room has copyrighted that term, we could go with democracy fries, or liberty fries. I think people will make the connection. I thought also that renaming some of the classic, all-American sandwiches like the Big Mac and the hamburger could achieve our goal of fusing patriotism with eating. For example, instead of Big Mac we could do Operation Big Macky Freedom (that way we could still use "freedom" - such a great word!) I can already see the television spots for that one: a soldier sitting down at a McDonald's booth with the burger in his hand and a huge smile on his face as he prepares to liberate that sandwich. We will need to also reference WWII and other great battles in which we helped to save the world from various ideologies. (What do you think about changing hamburger to 'Namburger? You get the idea.) We should probably stay away from renaming the salads because they might be a hard sell to red-blooded Americans.

I've studied marketing quite extensively, and I believe we can send this menu across the globe as an ambassador in food form. My brother-in-law tells me that it won't sell in foreign countries because they hate us, but what he doesn't seem to understand is that that is the point. (For example, I am convinced that the more they eat Chickenhawk McNuggets, the more they will realize that they like us.)

I recommend rolling this menu out in the U.S.A. and Canada immediately, to be followed by an ad campaign for foreign countries.

I am interested in your response.

Hail to the Beef!

Sincerely,

Loren K. Balkser, Ph.D.

more sojourners...

News you may have missed

Anti-immigrant Minutemen groups seek better image
Will now only use Nerf guns in vigilante border patrols

New Study Shows Freedom Really Isn't Free
Actual costs closer to $10 trillion over 10 years

Bipartisan Statement Affirms "Slight Preference" for Poor People Not Dying
"All things being equal," said Reid, flanked by Frist and Santorum, "we'd just as soon they stayed alive."

New Food Stamp Rules Allow for Christian Music Purchases
"Wholesome food for the soul" acceptable; alcohol, tobacco, music with swear words off-limits

Renewed Concern over Sanctity of Marriage to Coincide With Midterms
"Oh, is there an election this year?" says GOP. "We're too busy protecting sacred institutions to keep track"

EPA Headquarters Sold to Condo Developers
White House promises to use proceeds for initiatives to promote "the environment, tax relief, and national security"

Religious Right admits 'war on Christians' a typo
"We still just meant 'war on Christmas,' sorry everyone"

Ok...I am done....
for awhile

Truth Shall Prevail

I appreciated those comments. Actually, my son was taught abstinence as an option to safe sex, and by me and the liberal public schools, but he was not shielded from information about sex and reproduction. & we attempted to shield him from violence moreso than from sexuality, in life and the media. I do agree about vulnerability of being young and not being emotionally ready, and that that is science, or at least psychology.

Battlebob
That article about the youth convention has alot of barfalicious stuff in it, then packs a wallop toward the end. Thanks for posting the Sojouners. I like Wallis & that site.

I stand by my contention that youth need to be taught not sheltered and that violence in the culture is a far bigger threat than sexuality. The most obnoxious thing I have seen is also the most insidious - the airhead women's magazines. They cover just a few topics - who has a "baby bump" and will they get married? Who has had breast augmentation and facial surgery & liposuction, as judged by before and after photos? Who is over the hill as judged by cellulite photographed when they were trying to sunbathe? Who has had some type of filler put into their lips to make them look fuller? (never mentioning that there is the most racism toward groups who happen to have full lips or that the reason to augment lips is said to be because they call to mind the lips of the female genitalia). It's basic sexism and objectification of women. It's not of interest to these magazines that Angelina Jolie works on issues of substance with the UN but whether she is too thin and should she be flying while pregnant.

I page through them on my lunch break sometimes with the same morbid curiosity that some of you dare to study Fox News (equally unpalatable)

Here is what one of the authors of the teen sex study cited before said - & if you read carefully, it backs up the idea that kids need & want factual information, not to "just say no" - & I would maintain this applies to sex, drugs including alcohol, any sort of risky behavior including with vehicles & guns. So if the conclusion of the study holds any water - that the media plays a role - then then answer is not to censor the media per se, but to provide more solid basic factual information elsewhere.

(from the author)

How about
Raising Emotionally Intelligent Teenagers: Guiding the Way for Compassionate, Committed, Courageous Adults (Paperback)
by Maurice J. Phd Elias, Steven E. Psyd Tobias, Brian S. Phd Friedlander
Why do some kids watch much more sexually driven content than others? "We think it is related to puberty," Brown said. "As kids are maturing, they are looking for information. And we think the media become a kind of a sexual 'super peer.' The other place they might be learning about sex are often reticent [to supply information] -- parents, schools, churches, are just saying 'Just say no,'" she said, explaining why some teens turn to the media for sex education.

In my sister's neighborhood, at her husband's favorite watering hole, they still smoke, despite a ban. The regulars took a vote. And for every cigarette they smoke there, they throw some cash into the kitty to pay for the fine come the day that they are cited.

Now, I can hear DW right now saying, "Are they putting money into the kitty for the cancer from the second hand smoke cancer of the other patrons?"

Um, not that I know of.

And I did hear an intersting quote about smoking sections in restaurants the other day:

Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in your pool.

Hmmm.

I don't understand why we don't just have restaurants called "Smoke and Eat". People who work there would be only smokers, and patron would assume the risk, as a patron does, say, at a sporting event.

The majority of restaurants would be non-smoking. I imagine that market forces would make itself felt rather quickly and that there is a market for both.

My turn to weigh in....smoking isn't an individual's right when the second hand smoke harms others. It also affects the lungs and respiratory system of infants and children (in terms of being in a non-bar atmosphere). So...I'm against.

However, if restaurants want to have nonsmoking OR smoking restaurants where the air doesn't mingle, then let open competition begin.

But it is rather like the pool analogy otherwise and as a nonsmoker, I get really ticked when placed in restaurnants right across the aisle from a smoker (smoking section).

what about the people who work there? Do they have a choice?

Good point DW
The logic is those that are bothered don't have to work there or eat there.
As usual, that is overly simplistic.
I know many folks who work at restaurents in smoke sections that have no other choice.
They don't have the skills, have no other resource for money, have no other job options.

IMHO...smoking in public places should be banned. I wish smoking could be banned in homes that have minor children but that is impossible.

In Arizona, several towns went that way; there is no smoking in any public place. They don't seem to be hurting for business as the restaurant lines are long.

Both Mary and I smoked a lot for a long time (me; 3 packs a day for 30 years). We both find it offensive and will go out of our way to avoid it. Smoke-free places get our business.

The more places banning smoking the better. My husband is down to 5 per day but has failed at hypnosis, accupuncture, tranquilizers, classes etc. His parents died of lung cancer. His mother chainsmoked during 7 pregnancies, including in the house, and all the babies were under 6 pounds. All but one became smokers. I believe it's in their blood, in their cellular makeup. I hate it. I have quit preaching but if there were a class action suit of wives who are as sad and angry about it as I am, I would probably join them in a heartbeat. I am not looking forward to the day my husband has a heart attack or is diagnosed with lung cancer, I'm glad my son never started and that I quit really early.

There was a time when the tobacco lobby was influential and maybe they still are, but with the aging of the population in US and Europe, the costs of health care are going to dwarf any tax revenue that was earned off cigarettes (cancer sticks, coffin nails). I hate them.

http://www.santorumexposed.com/serendipity/archives/158-Santorum-Europe-is-Dying.html

Amazing .. thanks to Georgia 10 at Kos (who just won a Koufax award!)

Santorum says Europe is dying .. for want of religion.
Give me a break - consider the states that are having tornadoes - overwhelmingly voted for Bush.

dw...excellent point. I also ask if you have to work there then are the restaurants obligated to provide health care insurance?

Me...I get incredibly ill from smoke and I would make a rotten employee there.

The workers - one of the big reasons Seattle got rid of smoking in other than private buildings. Now you can't smoke in bars, restaurants, stores, hospitals, lobbies, bathrooms, bowling alleys, etc. If you smoke outdoors you must be at least 25 feet from the entrance. Most places of employment are nonsmoking. The hospital I work at is nonsmoking. Smokers must go off the property.

Hmmm....I went to a conservative Christian school through junior high and their focus was definitely abstinence-until-marriage. STDs were talked about a lot, and graphically; HIV/AIDS was taught to be a death sentence (which it basically was back then). Pregnancy was covered as a "beautiful thing" and we watched videos that showed the development of the fetus from conception to delivery as a way to re-emphasize that from conception, there was a living being inside the mother.

We had one school nurse, the mother of a friend, who in junior high was honest and frank with us about sex and told us that we could get free condoms from her if we needed them. She got in some hot water with the school administration for that.

I went to public high school and don't remember much sex-ed, except that my 10th grade health teacher made us all practice putting condoms on cucumbers. We saw more graphic pictures of STD effects and spent a day talking to an AIDS patient who was on the verge of death (this just at the cusp of the expensive drug treatments).

I do remember going back to visit my religious-school friends during high school and it seemed half the class was pregnant or married by the time they graduated [the other half was drinking or taking drugs]. To their credit, the families were supportive, the grandparents pitched in, and the new mothers and fathers were generally very responsible. Still a rather quick generational turnover and an abrupt entrance into adulthood.

Those of us who left the religious school for public high school didn't have sex in high school at all....when we dated we set strict limits and that was that.

So....there are two levels of the issue to me. The major one is that you teach kids to control their hormones. YES you feel sexual desires but that doesn't mean you have to act on them always. Even when you are married you may well feel desire for other people and that doesn't mean you just run rampage. The other side is that you teach responsibility with an edge. OK so you want to have sex....well sex is part of being an adult and being an adult means taking responsibility for the children you might produce, the STDs you might get, or even just the intense emotions you might experience or produce in others.

Maturity...responsibility...self-control. Oh wait, I'm in America, right?

red neck sex education

Billy Bob and Luther were talking one afternoon when Billy Bob tells Luther,

"Ya know, I reckon I'm 'bout ready for a vacation. Only this year I'm gonna do it a little different."

"The last few years, I took your advice about where to go.Three years ago you said to go to Hawaii. I went to Hawaii and Earlene got pregnant."

"Then two years ago, you told me to go to the Bahamas and Earlene got pregnant again."

"Last year you suggested Tahiti and darned if Earlene didn't get pregnant again."

Luther asks Billy Bob, "So, what you gonna do this year that's different?"

Billy Bob says, "This year I'm taking Earlene with me."

Sometimes this is us...

A West Texascowboy was herding his herd in a remote pasture when
suddenlya brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The
driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and
YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly
how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"
The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his
peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?"
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer,
connects it to his AT&T cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the
Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an
exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite
that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.
The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and
exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within
seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been
processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through
an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and,
after a few minutes, receives a response.
Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech,
miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says,
"You have exactly 1586 cows and calves."
"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the
cowboy. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on
amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.
Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you
exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"
The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why
not?"
"You're a consultant for the National Democratic Party." says the
cowboy.
"Wow! That's correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?"
"No guessing required." answered the cowboy. "You showed up here even
though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already
knew, to a question I never asked; and you don't know anything about my
business........ Now give me back my dog."

This was in my email basket...

On Wednesday of next week, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00
in the morning, the time and date will be

01:02:03 04/05/06

That won't ever happen again ever. ( until 2106 )

You may now return to your normal life.

I'm more concerned about what happens on 06/06/06, but that's just me.

Hornfest

Battlebob
That'll only be true in places where the month is before the dates, but so interesting I had to send to my "nerd" friend even though he's travelling in Norway. He is reachable virtually.

Monkey
You're right! LOL

If we combine the two important dates of June 5th and June 6th, together with recent world events, we obtain the following extremely significant occult triplications:

222 days from the Muslim riots in Paris;
333 days from the London Train Bombings;
444 days from the second anniversary of the Iraq Invasion;
555 days from November 28, 2004 (the 333rd day of the year, with 33 remaining);
666 in the date pattern and in the pattern until the end of the Mayan calendar;
777 days from the foiled Sears Tower Attack.

(threeworldwars conspiracy site)

Joan Chittister: National Catholic Reporter...

http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/fwis/fw040306.htm

What a group of Iraq women think about our presence.

Monkey
The conspirators think things are planned "by the numbers" rather than happening accidentally.

More on 06/06/06
June 6, 2006 is the 62nd anniversary of D-Day. June 6th is also exactly 40 years since June 6, 1966 (6/6/66) - 40 years being associated in the Bible with a period of testing.
LeftBehind.com is releasing their latest book, The Rapture on June 6, 2006. The movie The Beast is due for release on June 6, 2006. Another movie due for release on the day is the horror, The Omen 666, originally released exactly thirty years earlier on on June 6, 1976.
June 6, 2006 is exactly 222 days after the mainly Muslim riots in France started on October 27th 2005.
June 6, 2006 is exactly 444 days after the second anniversary of the US Invasion of Iraq.
June 6, 2006 is exactly 6 years before the next Venus transit across the face of the sun on June 6, 2012, which is the year recognized as the end of the Mayan calendar. June 6, 2006 is also 6 years, 6 months and 16 days before December 21, 2012, which is the last day of the Mayan calendar. This gives a double 666: the date itself and the triple 6’s from the elapsed time.

Maybe we should party like it's 1999.

Quite a stretch. It occurs some might ask why they combine June 5 and 6. It makes the numbers come out (which conspirators can always do) but it also accounts for the time difference across the globe.

This just in... Tom "I Never Met A Graft I Didn't Like" DeLay has put out the word tonight, and will officially announce it in the morning, that he will not be running for re-election to Congress this year.

Yup, that's right DeLay will *not* be seeking re-election to the legislative seat that he's held (hostage? ahem) for so long. [For more details, see the next thread.]

From statements he made this evening, it seems that he's been trend-watching for several months now and has realized that even if he fought the best fight he's still got in him, he'd still get totally creamed in the November elections.

So, DeLay being the stalwart champion of personal principle that he is, he's chosen to cop a walk rather than to face the electoral music down in Texas this fall. Boy howdy, now ain't *that* just a honkin' big surprise?

I'm shocked, *shocked* I tell you, to find rats abandoning this corrupt administration's sinking ship of state in such a fashion!

now try not to gloat too much y'all,
Otter

OH, go ahead!

http://www.troubletown.com/cartoons/index.html

i think that if more people spent less time bitching about me smoking and more time on what our country is doing at home and around the globe, we might actually have a chance at changing some things that truly matter.

and as for teen pregnancy: it seems to me that the majority of americans forget their children are human beings, that they have the same emotions and desires as the rest of us. it is not up to the parents to decide when their children should have sex, that is a personal choice that will effect that human for the rest of their lives. the best a parent can do is be a friend and guide, offer advice and support, and teach your children to value themselves. if you are doing your job as a parent, your child will know when something is right for them.

on another note: do keep in mind that not much more than a century ago, families married off their 12 year old daughters to 60 year old men without a second thought about its morality. but now we arrest 18 year olds for having sex with 16 year olds. i mean WTF!!!!!