Drug Companies Stop Cheap Birth Control Pills

The pregnancy rate among teens and early twenty something year olds maybe on the rise soon.  That is because a new bill moved many   pharmaceutical companies away from providing cheap birth control pills to clinics. The new pricing system for this front line defense against unwanted pregnancy will undoubtedly affect the lower financial classes in a few predictable ways. First, obviously we can expect the pregnancy rate to rise as will the rate of single parents. Second, conservatives tend to rattle their sabers against abortion but, we can certainly expect to see the need for more clinics as young girls flock to get the procedure done despite newer and, depending on what state you live in, more restrictive laws.

 

With more women now being put in a position of having to consider the price of birth control one must wonder how much longer condoms will remain free in some college medical centers. The connection between the costs of social goods as compared to the profit margin unfortunately has become so skewed in the direction of free market thinking. The idea of social responsibly becomes lost in today’s paradigm. The ending result will take the form of an increase of young single mothers with few resources. As a result, don’t be surprised if the number of younger students who are forced out of school due to unwanted pregnancy skyrockets over the next decade. While hardened conservatives scream about personal responsibility, they often forget that the task of making the decision of going down to any clinic to avoid any potential mistakes is in itself taking personal responsibility.

 

Speaking of conservatives, no matter what else in world is going on; they usually hang onto the abortion issue like spider monkeys. So it seems odd that this group has yet to come out in favor of keeping birth control available. Make no mistake, we will see a spike in performed abortions due to the recent decision by the drug companies to choose profit over social responsibility.  While such notions are unpopular into day’s world we can’t ignore the results of the break down of our social system as a whole. This ranges from a collapsing school system to what we have seen going at

Walter
Reed
Hospital. The Young Turks seem to be out of control in the heart of Wall Street which is why this new attack on reproductive rights maybe part of the new civil rights movement.

 

Until next time.  

 

 

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Commentary on The Fourth year Anniversary Of Iraq War

It seems just like yesterday the George W Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in what can easily go down as the shortest flight in history. The camera men had to position their shots just right so that they don’t get the
California skyline in the broadcast. Then of course is the infamous “mission accomplished,” speech that should be viewed as the lowest point of any western nations history. So here we are 4 years later, 600,000+ dead Iraqi’s and 3217 dead Americans, not counting the 700+ private contractors, along with some 40,000 wounded troops and there is no end in sight. In fact the situation is
Iraq is quickly slipping deeper in a civil war that seems to be exasperated by or presents. And in
Washington, the White house seems content in using the same dialogue that came from their pre-war diatribe despite the fact that the rest of the country has moved far behind their phony rhetoric.

 

Even the Democratic led congress has reached the point that there is an understanding that a complete pullout is needed. While there is a serious disagreement on how go about the process, the dialogue is now on the table which is extremely. But even here the ideas of gradual withdraw at this late stage of the game seems to more of the same pandering that we’ve seen since the pre November elections. The best idea that the rank and file Democrats have been able to come up with is a pullout by March or September of 2008, meaning that if this bill were to pass, we a would have to accept another year of blood shed in a war from, our stand point, which has been lost and seems to spin further out of control.  The sad irony here is that this idea is still better than what is coming out of the White House which is nothing more than an open ended and potentially endless war.

 

Speaking of the White House, despite the outcome of last November elections, they still are under the illusion that they have the support of the American people which couldn’t be further from the truth. Despite the fluctuation in poll numbers, Bush’s approval rating remains around 36% while Cheney’s is stuck at 29% and Rice’s continues to free fall. Many Americans have long since turned their attention to domestic issues, meaningful jobs, universal health care and so on. But according to Tony Snow and others in DC, there is no money in the budget for the reestablishment of our social programs along with the creation of new services. Instead, we are witnessing the cannibalization of that very structure in the name of a war that clearly no one wants and yet it is being forced upon all us.

 

Until next time.

 

 

     

 

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Silencing Of THe American Voice

When the news came out several weeks ago that Washington would be sending 21,500 troops to
Iraq, there was an immediate roar of outrage from around the country. With the recent Democrat victory to take back congress, there was a sense that the American people would finally have the opportunity to have their collected voices heard. On the surface of things the election seemed to be a vote against the war and a vote for the reinstatement of the constitution and refocus on social issues like universal health care. But the dream of having

US troops pulled out of the abyss of an already lost war was quickly dashed. The decision to send these 21500 troops over to the war was in short a spit in the face of those who bothered to vote. So now that the news has been released that the Bush/Cheney White house wants to send another 80,000+ on top of the 21,500, it remains unclear what the average US citizen’s reaction is going to be. On top of all this, Senate Democrats have had every one of their efforts to curb this war stymied.

Today the senate Republicans turned back an effort to bring
US troops home before the 2008 elections. This is the same bill that passed fairly easily in the House and seemed to have some promise of passing in the Senate as well but true to form, the Republicans rode the same patriotic wave that that they have been straddling for the past six years. Forget the fact that more than 56% of Americans want the troops to come home sooner than later, what we have in
Washington is a partisan politics by any means approach to doing business.    

So the question that must be asked here is this, how much of the American voice is now silenced from American politics. More to the point, will the
US voter population revert back to the same attitudes that came out of the 1974 pardon of Richard Nixon where the faith in politics became so embittered that for the next thirty + years nobody believed that their voices meant anything. In fact, there was no feeling left that came out of the short John F Kennedy years. At it now seems like we are heading down the same road. With the pentagons 26,000 and the White houses 80,000, there is little reason to believe that the same shell that the
US voter retreated into during the darkest days of the voters themselves won’t be full again.

Until Next Time

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How Safe Are Our Hospitals

How Safe Are Our Hospitals With all the cutbacks that are affecting the nation’s capitals, one of the first areas in the facilities that give way to failure is security. And that is what happened at Saint Joseph’s hospital last week. A mentally woman posed as one of the staff and had administered first aid to several patients before she start miss using several pieces of equipment. Several staff members noticed her mistakes and asked her to stop performing any more treatment. It is important to note at this time that she had been working long enough and fouled staff to the point that the believed that she was a nurse, for a while anyway. When it was uncovered that she was a fraud, the head of the hospital scrambled to head off the fallout, and possible lawsuits that would come with such situations. The good new here is that the woman never had access to medication or to classified records but the incident should bring into question how safe are America’ hospitals and how open are others to similar situations. The breakdown of the veteran’s wing at Walter Reed hospital has been so well documented due to who the victims are and the political weather surrounding the war in Iraq and massive spending costs that siphons funds from our social institutions. What is still unclear is how safe are the rest of our medical facilities. At a time where there seems to be a climate of demanded security, one would think that the first places that would be secure enough would those places that are dependant on safety to allow its staff to perform their duties. Only time will tell if this story will force some changes in how hospitals treat the subject of security here on out. Until next time.

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The Cost Of War

The Cost of War 

 

It would come as no great revelation to say that the cost of any war goes behind monetary spending and its reach stretches far beyond the battle field. As many veterans from earlier wars can contest to, the social structure that is suppose to care for the wounded often forsake those that are so often held up by the current administration as the “heroes” that fight for what is sold as “freedom.” During the early post
Vietnam years, for example, many veterans were denied medical and psychological care due to a system of red tape and the rise of policy of anti-worker paradigm. Today we have a similar climate of hidden abuses of those that risk their lives for yet another unpopular war. While these soldiers do receive medical care in medical facilities such as Walter Reed, the conditions of centers often do not meet acceptable standards.

 

As first reported in the Washington Post and later in multiple other media sources, the veteran’s wing of Walter Reed hospital was found to heavily infested with black mold, rats and other sub-standard conditions. Since the report,   Maj. General George W. Weightman was relieved of his duties as the head of the hospital. Even so, reports have been released that conditions in the ward had been known about for years and nothing had been done about them until now, after the publishing of the post article. What’s even more disturbing is the fact that these brave men and women are revered in the press but seem to lose value in the eyes of some when they are no-longer able to fight. In
New York, there is a move to close down one of the largest VA hospitals in the State. The facility cares for thousands of vets both in New York City and in
New Jersey. For many, this treatment includes psychological care for those the suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. The closing of the hospital is a cost cutting move to funnel funds into the active war effort. Walter Reed, could also be viewed as a similar cost cutting move but there is no evidence at this time that, that is the case.

 

Whistle blowers are also feeling the heat of this current war. In 2003, after Joseph Wilson released now that famous article that rebuffed the Bush administrations claims that the Iraqi government had weapons of mass destruction, his wife’s identity as an undercover CIA agent was exposed. Many through the political horizon have viewed the outing the Valerie Plame as an act of political assassination. The only one to pay any kind of political price for the revenge was the GOP’s favorite fall guy, Lewis Scooter Libby. Thanks to his trial we now have a very clear understanding of the inner working the Bush White house. While the spot light is now on Vice president Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage but the trial that they may face will likely be a civil one so, for those who remember the Contra hearings, its deja vu all over again all over gain. Only this time, those on trial can claim executive privilege during war time and any further actions on the criminal level would, at this time seem rather unlikely.

 

Until next time…

 

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Images And Children

According to a new report by the Pew research center, more than 80% of teenagers in the

United
State are money obsessed and have developed an identity based on what it is that they own, this maybe the first generation that has such an explicit idea of “keeping up with the Jones.”   The advice that was given by the experts suggests what might help the situation is by urging parents to say no when their children want something that they don’t need. However what is not mentioned is how parents can successfully deal with a younger generation that is bombarded with the idea that if you don’t have a stock pile of crap, then you don’t fit into the new idea of what is cool. The attacks come from such titles as 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Trying,” to MTV’s “Cribs.” Both outlets prescribe to the idea that the highest level to reach for in life is consumption. Here is a closer look at these attacks in detail.

 

It would be no great revelation in saying that the TV is the main parenting tool in most households across the country. And it is here that the problems may begin. It is important to acknowledge the images that are shown repeatedly from music videos to commercials. The idea of “bling” for example, in the still developing minds of children creates the negative image of what it means to be child. This ranges from having an imagination free from goods to the classic connection to their care givers. Disney is just as guilty in redefining childhood. It is not quite as explicit as the “bling” phenomena but, is just as damaging.

 

 

The idea of the commercial approach in dealing children   plays on the idea that kids can not discriminate between what their ids want and appealing images that tell the child what he or she should or should not be. This is why Joe the Camel was banned. His cartoon image of being cool, leather jacket, shades and smoking a cigarette received a positive expectance by many children who saw the posters. It is no accident that most companies were spending as much as $1 billion on advertising alone during the 1990s.  Somewhere along the line someone figured out that combining a product with a TV program or movie may work even better.  Remember, most younger children are not able to separate a character from the actor. There is a good reason that different manipulation tools are used against adults. No one over 25 is going to buy sneakers just because Will Smith decided to where same brand in Men In Black 4 for example. But, that is what children’s movies have become, hour and half commercials that will bring new records in sales.

 

In short it should come as no surprise that with all of the attack on this generations senses since they could sit up, that they have come produced consumers who know nothing else.

 

Until next time….

 

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