It’s just like that… except it’s not at all.

Ruben Navarrette Jr. had an apoplectic fit over increased funding for birth control in the stimulus bill. He takes issue particularly with a comment by Speaker Nancy Pelosi about how funding for birth control helps the economy:

“The family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now, and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those -- one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.”

Navarrette squeals about how this implies Pelosi support eugenics just like Margaret Sanger. But is Pelosi saying anything incorrect?

Children cost money. Maybe in Navarrette’s world they don’t but here in real world they do. They cost money to the parent for food, clothing, etc and to the government for education, health care, food stamps, etc. More children = more expenses. Pelosi is not advocating forcible sterilization like eugenicists; she’s saying kids cost money and if people have less kids, we don’t have to spend as much. It’s common fucking sense.

Navarrette seems to think there’s something racist about what Pelosi said but perhaps Dr. Martin Luther King would disagree. From his acceptance speech winning the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood:

“The Negro constitutes half the poor of the nation. Like all poor, Negro and white, they have many unwanted children. This is a cruel evil they urgently need to control. There is scarcely anything more tragic in human life than a child who is not wanted. That which should be a blessing becomes a curse for parent and child. There is nothing inherent in the Negro mentality which creates this condition. Their poverty causes it. When Negroes have been able to ascend economically, statistics reveal they plan their families with even greater care than whites. Negroes of higher economic and educational status actually have fewer children than white families in the same circumstances.”

Aren’t Republicans FOR AIDS Relief?

With the huge stimulus package, some conservatives are crying foul over the increased debt it will require. Since the states are requesting up to $1 Trillion in funding, state Republicans are throwing in their two cents. Glenn Grothman sent out a press release saying how Doyle should cut programs instead of asking for more money. That’s not out of the ordinary. But read the second to last sentence:

“Be it their past energy package, agriculture package, transportation package, No-Child-Left-Behind program or AIDS relief, we have had enough stimuli out of Washington.” (Emphasis added).

Is Glenn Grothman OPPOSED to AIDS relief? The other complaints are just standard conservative complaints but AIDS RELIEF?! Bush’s only international success has been PEPFAR and he’s been in favor of increased foreign aid to fighting AIDS.

I called Grothman’s office and they stated that Grothman doesn’t support deficit spending and has concerns about some parts of the AIDS relief program. I mentioned that he didn’t say that, he implied that AIDS relief was not something worth spending money on and asked if Senator Grothman really wanted to take that position. They didn’t really respond.

We knew Grothman was crazy but seriously, opposed to AIDS RELIEF?

Sex offenders must hand over passwords - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

How much longer until we put them in camps and begin their extermination? We’re at that point almost already.

Sex offenders must hand over passwords - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

Women have abortions to not get stretch marks

Or so says our friends at Wisconsin Right to Life. WRTL claims that under the Healthy Wisconsin universal health insurance plan Wisconsin taxpayers would be forced to pay for abortions for any woman including(with my commentary in parenthesis):

• The married woman who isn't sure who the father of her baby is and doesn't want her husband to know she's got a boyfriend. (Evil slutty women... And couldn't that be in order to protect her safety from an abusive husband?)
• The woman who is having her third abortion. (Evil slutty women)
• The woman who doesn't want the inconvenience of a baby to interfere with her career plans. (Evil greedy slutty women)
• The woman who doesn't want to appear in her bikini with stretch marks. (That's just too ridiculous to say something about here)
• Any other Wisconsin woman, for any reason, at any time during pregnancy, for as many times as she would choose to have one, with no restrictions whatsoever.

The last one is laughable because it implies Healthy Wisconsin allows abortions past viability. However since the state still bans abortions past viability (hell the state actually bans all abortions but its an unenforceable law) these abortions wouldn't be covered anyway.

Do they really think most women are so shallow as to have abortions to keep from getting stretch marks? How deluded are these people?

Isaiah 55:6-7: "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

Clearing the way for the oil brigade

"We don't need your hypocrisy
Execute real democracy." -- Serj Tankian

Proverbs 17:17: "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."

Big surprise, they're the first to do this

According to WisPolitics, a group of recent UW grads have started the Free Trade Shop. No not the FAIR trade shop, the FREE trade shop. They're doing it to counter the fair trade movement because they claim fair trade is anti-capitalist, etc., etc. Puhleeze.

Most fair trade is not government sanctioned but is conducted by groups who sell goods they bought at a price higher than standard and sell to consumers who are interested in those goods. Consumers buy these goods because for moral and practical reasons (the goods are often higher quality than what people buy in most stores). In other words its simply an example of the "invisible hand" working. People choose to pay a price they feel is reasonable for a type of good they want. Why they do so is irrelevant. There is demand for these types of goods and fair trade groups service them.

One shirt they have indicates that they have a problem with fair trade coffee. The complaint makes no sense if they really believe in the market system. Starbucks had demand for fair trade certified coffee so they provide it. It's not supply and demand that's solely based on the price of the product, it's supply and demand period.

I also find it funny when they say that some people are looking for low cost, high quality goods. If that was totally true, no one would buy their shirts. They would simply be priced out of the market. The whole idea of this store is laughable. I'm not surprised when they say they're the first to start a company over this.

Matthew 6:6: "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Abortion is Evil

Great title huh? Watch this video. In it the poster asks anti-abortion protestors, some of whom have volunteered about 5 years, are asked what the punishment should be for a woman who chooses to have an illegal abortion. Stunningly only one would accept that a woman who killed her unborn child should receive jail time. Every single protestor says without hesitation that abortion should be illegal but stammer and stumble when asked what the punishment should be for a woman who kills her baby. The conversation with the elderly lady is priceless and show how little abortion foes have thought through the consequences of their plans.

As pointed out in Newsweek, there are two ways of looking at this issues:

1. Abortion is murder and if outlawed, women who get abortions should get some sort of jail time (likely similar to pre-meditated murder).
2. Abortion is not murder and abortion should be legal.

Abortion opponents claim without doubt that abortion is murder. If that's so, why should women get anything less than the punishment for murder? I'll be the first to support rehabilitation and compassion criminals but there's no chance I would support convicting someone for first degree murder and letting them go without some time in a prison or mental institution.

By my estimation, if a pro-lifer supports anything less than a charge of first-degree murder for a woman who gets an illegal abortion they view the life of a fetus as less important than other life. Isn't that the meaning?

Oh readers, what should the punishment be for a woman who get illegal abortions?

Philippians 2:9-11: "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

It's odd how it hurts

Most who know me know that I am a fan of wrestling. While I don't watch as regularly anymore, I do still have a love of the soap opera inside the "squared circle." The beauty of two human beings working together to put together a complex morality play on the fly continues to enrapture me. The butterflies in the pit of my stomach that I feel during a great wrestling match have rarely been matched. I have an immense amount of respect for the people who perform and put their bodies on the line every night to entertain, especially those who are true students of the "game." That's why this hurts.

I woke up today and saw that CNN.com had a link to a story about a bizarre murder involving a pro-wrestler and his family. Curious, I clicked through and read with disbelief the details that many others have read. Chris Benoit over the weekend killed his wife Nancy and 7-year old son Daniel before taking his own life. Both Nancy and Daniel were asphyxiated. Nancy's legs and feet were bound with blood around her head. Chris hung himself using one of his weight machines. Over the day these and other details came out including what could be an important point: anabolic steroids were found inside the house.

Today I have been in shock and my thoughts naturally go to the question of why this tragedy happened but I have to comment on other parts of our society's reaction to this tragedy as well. While only knowing that Benoit and his family had been found dead, the WWE canceled their live Raw show last night and instead aired a tribute show to showcase Benoit's accomplishments and love for his business. Other tributes were featured on the WWE's web site. After more information came out including that Benoit had been the instigator of a double-murder suicide, the WWE subsequently apologized for airing the tribute show, removed all tributes and said that Benoit's name will not be mentioned on programming in the future as a way to begin the healing process. I find this fascinating and saddening.

A tremendous performer is still dead. His family is still dead. Co-workers have said that Benoit was in a paranoid and unstable mental state in the past weeks. Why may we not mourn the passing of a great superstar because an apparent mental illness led him to kill? I feel no better knowing that Chris Benoit will not longer be mentioned. I feel worse as not only does the WWE have little respect for those who have passed too early but they have absolutely no understanding of mental illness or compassion for those afflicted by it.

There have been claims by the WWE that the media sensationalized the Benoit tragedy and jumped to conclusions regarding a connection to steroids. No doubt, the media loves any murder that involves a wife and kids and will report it endlessly. Add in the fact that it involved a celebrity and it's a veritable circle-jerk of media frenzy. They also mention that we need to wait for the toxicology reports to know whether Benoit had any drugs in his system. Even though their has been sensationalism, the WWE's claims in other ways are weak and in many ways sickening.

The WWE states steroids were not the cause of death; that asphyxiation and hanging were the causes of death. What a simplification of the steroid question that is. Not one person has claimed that steroids DIRECTLY caused the death of anyone in this case. The concern is that steroids may have played a role in Benoit's actions. They also claim that because Benoit's actions were deliberate and spread out over a long period that steroids couldn't have been involved. Steroids mental and emotional side-effects are not limited to "'roid rage." Depression and paranoia are two other side-effects of steroid use. When you consider that Benoit was reported as so paranoid by his co-workers in the past few weeks that he claimed that someone was following him and that he ordered his wife not to leave their house for her own safety, the possibility of steroid abuse being a factor in this case seems more likely.

I am tired of the WWE's excuses on wrestler's dying too young as a result of steroid and painkiller abuse. The WWE claims Benoit's last drug test in April was clean. I say bullshit. No one believes that the WWE has legit drug tests and we have one more reason to feel that way. The WWE is killing human beings by encouraging them to gain muscle mass, with little concern for how they do it, pushing them to perform when injured and giving them so many painkillers that addiction can only be expected. In return for giving so much of their lives to the WWE, wrestlers receive no disability benefits, no health insurance and no retirement benefits. To think that a billion dollar company would treat its most valuable assets with such disregard is surprising, to think that these assets are human beings is sickening.

Government needs to step in and regulate a company that for too long has ignored the safety of their workers in order to make a buck. Wrestling will always be dangerous and painful; that can't be avoided. What can be avoided is the continued sacrifice of talented human beings at altar of the dollar.

I will miss Chris Benoit. I can only hope his death will finally be the wake-up call the wrestling industry has needed for far too long.

Galatians 5:16-17: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do."

New York City pays $29,000 for arresting topless woman

Run to the Hills publicly supports the right of any woman to go out into public topless.

Matthew 6:14-15: "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Totally Unacceptable

As reported on CNN.com, Immigration and Customs Enforcement apparently deported a mentally challenged 29 year old US citizen, named Pedro Guzman. The LA Sheriff's department identified Pedro as a non-citizen after he was jailed on a misdemeanor trespassing charge. This despite him not only having a birth certificate on record but also having a previous conviction on drug possession which would verify that he was born in California to Mexican parents like he said he was.

Once he was (wrongly) identified as a non-citizen, the Sheriff's Department obtained his signature for voluntary removal from the United States, turned him over to ICE and was deported. Apparently ICE didn't look into whether he should be deported or didn't do a very good job. Pedro can't read or write and has difficulty processing information. How can he legitimately understand and sign a form that would remove him from the United States?!

I guess if you're behind on your quota for the month this is a good way of getting it up. I'm going to enjoy hearing the verdict when the ACLU and Pedro get a big fat settlement. (Provided anyone can find Pedro as he's currently missing)

Psalm 55:22: "Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved."

What? No Ovens?!

I received a comment on my previous post from a gentleman I will refer to as Dick.  Dick decided to ignore every last point I made in my article and write a very long manifesto about how we need to protect children and how we should pass a constitutional amendment to create colonies for sex offenders to live in... Just take a deep breath and read that again. (Don't worry I'll wait.)  Unfortunately I hastily deleted the comment as I didn't want people to use the comment as a way to contact him. He's free to espouse any whack job view but I'm not going to help him do it.

Dick referred to something called "domestic terrorism." At first I had no clue what in the world he was talking about but eventually I realized he was referring to sex offenders. Apparently sex offenders by themselves aren't scary enough so he wants to make sure he puts in the primary buzzword of fear since 9/11: terrorism. Because of that word, the President took away our civil liberties and Dick intends to use the same scare tactics to mutilate the Constitution into supporting some Nazi-esque police state.  (I know I just invoked Godwin's Law but does anyone have an analogy that fits better?)

Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."

Sex Offenders Are Bad (And Getting Badder)

Last night I caught part of the CBS Evening News. (Yes, I know was one of the ten or so that actually watch but bear with me. ) Katie Couric had a story about sex offenders and MySpace. It seems MySpace is trying to remove sex offenders from their web site. In addition, a number of states have sued to force MySpace to turn over their list of sex offenders who have registered. Texas was one of those states and their Attorney General used that information to pick up sex offenders whose probation rules prevented them from using the internet. So far, so good I guess. I think it's a silly regulation but hey its the rules. I feel better to know that children are safer though. *sigh of relief* Unfortunately Texas AG Greg Abbott had more to say:

Parents need to understand there are predators on the Internet who are more vicious than those who used to lurk in parks or playgrounds.

What? Huh? I don't feel as safe anymore.

These predators are incorrigible; they will stop at nothing in order to try and find their next victim.

Oh my God! That's scary!! Unfortunately, its also not true. A few things to consider:

• "Predators" don't lurk in parks or playgrounds. 95% of the cases of child sexual abuse involve someone the child knows, not a stranger.
• More vicious? Do you have any evidence that they're more vicious? Or does it make you look tougher on crime?
• "Predators" aren't incorrigible. At least according to the state of Wisconsin Department of Corrections (15% re-offend in 10 years), the state of Arizona (5.5% over a 14 year period), North Carolina Sex Offender registry (only 71 recidivist sex offenders in the entire state, including prisons), National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (13.7% re-offend) and the Canadian government (13.4%). There is no way that you can consider someone who has a 15% rate of re-offending "incorrigible." In fact sex offenders have a lower rate of being re-arrested for any offense after release than non-sex offenders (43% vs. 68%).
• Stop at nothing? If they will stop at nothing, they must be pretty incompetent if they only re-offend at most 15%.

Our country has a hang-up on sex. It's why we treat sex offenders much worse than drug dealers or armed robbers. Parents are scared by the thought of their babies being violated (not that it's remotely likely but they don't know that) so they elect leaders that say they'll be tough on crime. The elected leaders talk about how sex offenders are monsters which makes the officials look like saviors when the tough on sex offender laws pass but also scares parents even more who demand more be done which makes officials get tougher and enact stricter laws and around and around we go...

In the end, we have people who are treated like a Jew in Nazi Germany when these people are less likely to commit a crime than other felons. We have parents incredibly scared, children aren't that much safer than they were before and our Government is spending our money with little to no benefit.

Galatians 5:1: "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."