Unplanned Parenthood: The Hidden Costs

This month a bill is being voted on that will completely defund Planned Parenthood. The pro-lifers will be cheering in self-righteousness if this passes. But before we get all high and mighty over what we are about to do, let’s look at the facts.

According to Planned Parenthood’s website:

·         Only 3% of all Planned Parenthood services are abortion services.

·         One in five women in the United States has visited a Planned Parenthood in their lifetime.

·         79% of Planned Parenthood clients are over the age of 20.

·         Planned Parenthood provides nearly 1,000,000 Pap tests and more than 830,000 breast exams each year, tests that are crucial towards preventing cancer.

·         Planned Parenthood provides almost 4,000,000 tests and treatments for STD’s and STI’s, including HIV.

The extremists want you to believe that abortions are the only thing Planned Parenthood provides. In fact, Senator Jon Kyl blatantly lied, saying, abortion services “are well over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does.”

Let’s think logically for a moment and give emotional thinking a rest. Funding Planned Parenthood saves us greatly in the long. Planned Parenthood educates our youth into making smart decisions with their bodies and teaches them to be safe; because, let’s be honest, the average age for sex is 15 years old. It is smarter to teach them to be safe instead of deluding ourselves into thinking our children will be virgins forever. At least this way, we can prevent unwanted pregnancies before the option even turns to abortion. This is morally and logically the right way to handle it.

Economically, it saves us as well. By preventing unwanted pregnancy, even in cases of abortion, we prevent the burden being placed on the taxpayer. Because when a poor person has a child they either give it up for adoption, forcing us to pay for it, or they keep it and live off of government assistance, again placing the cost burden on the taxpayer. The smart decision is to pay a little upfront, preventing a lot having more to be spent in the future.

Source:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/planned-parenthood-glance-5552.htm

Preventing Martydom

It seems that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel after all. After being on death row for almost 30 years for a crime he did not commit, Mumia Abu-Jamal has been taken off death row. It's not all good news however, because Mumia is still set to serve a life sentence.

Brief background:
In 1981, Philadelphia Police officer, Daniel Faulkner, was shot and killed and Mumia was shot as well. The evidence against Mumia was four eye witnesses: a cab driver, a prostitute, a motorist, and a pedestrian. The motorist only saw a man who matched Mumia’s description and the pedestrian never actually saw the murder. The other two witnesses (the prostitute and the cab driver) were never at the scene. From photos of the scene, the cab driver’s cab was not parked where he said it was. The other witnesses said they never saw the prostitute at all… And this is what put Mumia behind bars.

Today, Mumia’s death sentence has been removed. The DA has 180 days to retry the case to reinstate the death sentence, but we all know that is not going to happen. No one is that dumb. If they retried the case, the death penalty would not be reinstated. Instead, Mumia would be set free. Faulkner’s widow does not want to risk that, Seth Williams does not want to risk that, and the racist people who framed Mumia do not want to risk that.

The powers that be are in their ideal position. Mumia is still behind bars, but alive, saving them from turning him into a martyr. They think this will be enough, and probably is for many protestors. But we must not be stagnant. We must not be satisfied. We must push, claw, scratch, and bite until Mumia Abu-Jamal is finally set free.

FREE MUMIA!!!

Souces:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu-Jamal

http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/827

http://rt.com/usa/news/mumia-abu-jamal-justice-usa/

Working Class Hero

Today is a celebration day for us hippies; A holiday in a sense. Today is John Lennon's 71st birthday. But it is a bitter-sweet day because, as we all know, John was gunned down 31 years ago and silenced forever. John was a voice for the people who just wanted peace. He was a voice to end war and hatred and a voice to spread love. He was an inspiration.

I think John’s vision is still alive. With people protesting in cities around the country, speaking against greed, exploitation, and war, we are reminded of the dream. I know that if John was here, he would be with the people. He would be writing songs and standing up for the 99 percent—The Working Class Heroes. I think his song speaks numbers for what we are seeing here today.

 

Working Class Hero by John Lennon

As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so fucking crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still fucking peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me.


Lyrics were used from:
http://www.lyrics007.com/John%20Lennon%20Lyrics/Working%20Class%20Hero%20Lyrics.html

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG7p6CSbCU

The Oligarchy We Call America

In America we are told that we are a Republic. That we have a say in how our government is run and that congress is a smaller representation of the country. What they don't tell you is that without money, you lack influence. We don't have a government of the people. We have a government run by big business--The richest .1%. They own the Republicans, rent the Democrats, and sell out this country. They ship jobs overseas, then pay the journalists to call them Job Creators. They destroy the economy, convince congress to bail them out, then pay themselves big bonuses for their troubles.

Finally, people have had enough. For the past 23 days in New York, and the past Week here in Colorado, people have been fighting back. Thousands of American Patriots are standing up and telling Wall Street to go to hell. These people see through the political agendas and can see real solutions that can help America. What do they get for their troubles? Media blackouts and hundreds of non-violent protesters arrested, pepper sprayed, and flat out assaulted. To add insult to injury, the NYPD kettled and arrested over 700 peaceful protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge after receiving $4.6 million from JP Morgan. Big Business controls the judicial, legislative, and possibly the executive branch of the government. Some democracy this is...  "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." John F. Kennedy.

The Lust for Blood

I realize I am way behind on this topic but today is my first day of blogging and I really need to comment on this topic.

On September 21, 2011 At 9:08 pm an innocent man named Troy Davis was executed. The reason I say innocent is because according to the US judicial system, he should have been set free. The Evidence on behalf of Troy Davis was astounding. In this case, the only evidence against him was nine eyewitness statements. Of those nine, seven recanted their story, saying the police hand fed them their statements.

Now to get to my point. Even if Troy Davis was guilty, the death penalty is not the correct punishment. We are the United States. We are supposed to be the greatest nation on earth; The leader. The Declaration of Independence promises the right to life and I don't think that there is ever a time to kill someone. We are better than that. We are supposed to look beyond the victims feelings and see what is right. Carlos DeLuna, Ruben Cantu, Larry Griffin, Joseph O'Dell, Leo Jones, and countless others have been put to death and later found innocent. If just one innocent person is killed, the death penalty should be abolished. When will we end our lust for blood?