Category — Social Policy

Boston.com / News / Local / Sale of spanking tool points up larger issue: “On a spring day, Susan Lawrence was flipping through a magazine, Home School Digest, when she came across an advertisement that took her breath away. In it, ”The Rod,’ a $5 flexible whipping stick, was described as the ”ideal tool for child training.’”

(Via .)

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interesting concept….. training children, not teaching children. sure… there is some training involved i suppose.

The nonperson is unborn: The question of it’s/his/her rights: “Writers on the prochoice side generally accept the premise that pregnant human mothers carry developing human life. The departure usually occurs on philosophical arguments of what constitutes ‘personhood.’ Some prochoice advocates argue that the unborn lack essential qualities of being a person, and hence, do not obligate us morally. Whatever …”

(Via Science, Politics and Ethics.)

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the only person that has rights in regards to their life in the situation of a woman with unborn child is the woman. the unborn have no rights to anything. the state has a responsibility first to the mother, and then if that is met, to the child, but the responsibility to the child can never outweigh the mother on any consideration. the child is as such not a person, it has no rights, and any rights it will have for some time will be through its parents, even after it is born. the woman has several rights including a right to her body, a right to privacy, and a right to self-determination, no consideration of the unborn can overrule those rights.

if you disagree, you will have to find some evidence in some tradition to prove otherwise, but i think that if you honestly pursue the question, you will have to come to the above conclusion.

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Susan Sontag Dies at Age 71 at The Washington Post (reg. req’d) (Dec 28, 2004)

(Via .)

Bush Cuts Financial Aid For Up to 90,000 Students: “The Bush Administration has decided on a new formula for calculating student aid–a formula which will eliminate Pell Grants and cause a loss of student aid for up to 90,000 low-income students. Bush administration officials said the new formula —…”

(Via TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime.)

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i think they are really trying to increase poverty.

US Moves to Muzzle Dissident Voices: “In an apparent reversal of decades of U.S. practice, recent federal Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations bar American companies from publishing works by dissident writers in countries under sanction unless they first obtain U.S. government approval. The restriction, condemned…”

(Via Spitting Image.)

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what was it now that democracy requires? was it freedom of speech and the distribution of knowledge amongst its populace? even if that knowledge is antagonistic toward the current regime…..

Kevin Kelly — Cool Tools: “Modest Needs, a minuscule non-profit, grants modest (under $200) one-time cash gifts to those who require just a little help to get them through a tough time. A need, if honored, is granted within 72 hours, with no strings attached. Modest Needs does this with commendable efficiency via the web (it’s not hard to be broke and still get online), heart-warming sympathy (every request is read by a volunteer), and impressive reach (220 requests granted this year, or 7% of the million dollars sought for). “

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this is the type of thing that we need more of in the u.s.

INSIDE JoongAng Daily: “‘We received a tip that Mr. Song was confined and killed by his followers because they wanted to experience eternal life and resurrection,’ a police representative said. ‘We are investigating whether this was caused by a group of devotees who were into this new pseudo-religion.’
“

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just because you have faith, doesn’t mean what you have faith in…. is true.

Cost of Cyberliving: “Internet surfers in many countries have to spend as much as a day’s earning for an hour in a cybercafe. This page provides a map and table of Internet surfing rates at Internet cafes and the percentage of people living on $1 per day in 26 nations. Dated July/August 2004, published by Foreign Policy.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=2594“

(Via Information Policy.)

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wow, this is somewhat amazing. i wonder how the profit works out….

FT.com / Arts & Weekend – Dock of the bay: “As this magazine was going to press, a Guantánamo public affairs officer said the combatant status review tribunals were continuing at the camp despite the judge’s ruling. ‘In the meantime, some legal issues are being argued in Federal Court which may or may not ultimately affect this process,’ he added.”

(Via .)

ummm, doesn’t anyone have the power to intervene in these kangaroo courts?

Wonder, Delight and Approval: “

A must read: Rep Henry Waxman’s report on The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence- Only Education Programs finding that these curricula, meant for children and adolescents, present “false, misleading, or distorted information about reproductive health” (including assertions that an abortion will make you sterile and that condoms don’t protect against STDs) and stunningly outdated stereotypes about gender roles. This paragraph from the report made me whoop and then go grimly silent:

“Another curriculum lists ‘Financial Support’ as one of ‘The 5 Major Needs of Women’ and ‘Domestic Support’ as one of ‘The 5 Major Needs of Men.’ The curriculum states: Just as a woman needs to feel a man’s devotion to her, a man has a primary need to feel a woman’s admiration. To admire a man is to regard him with wonder, delight and approval. A man feels admired when his unique characteristics and talents happily amaze her.”

The spirit of Phyllis Schlafly, if you remember her. I’d worked hard to forget.

-RH

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(Via Girl In the Locker Room!.)

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one more example of the republican social agenda writ large into the minds of children. the waxman report is a must read for those that think ignorance is a bad thing.