health care

Won’t Somebody Please Terrorize the Children?!

07/03/2008 by Debra

We are all familiar by now with the big trucks big anti abortion horror show that the fetus fetishers like to drive around. Calgary version here WARNING:Graphic Propaganda

You might think that those who are so concerned that every egg be born would be just as concerned with those eggs once they have fully developed taken a breath and become “a person”. Well think again my friend. Here is a nice little quote from one such egg fancier;

Ted Mathis has heard from many parents who would be appalled if their children saw this truck. And indeed it would be traumatizing.
My advice to those parents? Keep your children at home. Do not let them out doors. Do not own a TV or a computer with the internet. Do not listen to the radio and especially remember to never send your children to a public school, for they will see and hear many more gruesome things if you do.

Can’t you feel the compassion? What…well now that you mention it, neither can I.

Image via WikipediaIn California one such truck targeted a middle school. Just as they would for any other type of pornography the principal and school staff phoned police who ordered the truck away from the school.

The Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform was having none of that, however, and took the case to court. And amazingly won the right to terrorize children.

A federal appeals court ruled today that authorities violated the rights of members of an anti-abortion group by ordering them to stop driving a truck displaying large, graphic images of aborted fetuses around a California middle school.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, in San Francisco, ruled unanimously in Center for Bio-Ethical Reform v. Los Angeles County Sheriff Department that a California statute that bars disruption on or near school grounds could not be applied under the First Amendment to efforts by the anti-abortion group to drive its truck around Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.

SOURCE

PDF of full text of the court decision here

Good on ya CBR if those kids wanted to be treated as worthy of love, protection and respect they should have stayed in the womb.

Judge Rules U.S. Violated Human Rights

06/26/2008 by Debra

The treatment a U.S. official said Omar Khadr received at Guantanamo Bay to prepare him for an interview by a member of foreign affairs was a violation of international human rights, a Canadian federal court judge ruled on Wednesday.

It is no great surprise that human rights violations are going on in Guantanamo, it is damning however that two governments of countries who pride themselves on rights and freedoms allowed the torture of a child. In Canada Khadr if charged with a crime would be protected under the Youth Act. And yet Canadian officials raised no alarm when they found out he was being subjected to torture.

Canadian and American governments bear an enormous responsibility not only in setting back human rights but also in ensuring there will continue to be terrorist incidents. Some of course find the torture of a child perfectly fine. The comments at both CTV and CBC are disgusting and as one commenter said “makes me less and less proud to be Canadian”

Image via WikipediaSome have argued that he was responsible for the death of a soldier. To which I wonder is that not the risk our governments are willing to take when they send troops to war? Is the new war rich countries sending troops to rob poor countries of their resources and the people of those poor countries rather than protect themselves are supposed to say OH HAI! and serve tea/beer/crumpets?

How does one murder a combatant in the heat of battle? In any case the original details of the incident were shown to be wrong. Khadr was not the only person who could have thrown the grenade and likely wasn’t.

It is time our government showed some respect for human rights, the Geneva Convention and basic decency. Bring Khadr home. As commenter carlbailey said to another commenter with the mindset of the conservatives;

quote mr.calgary:
“I knew what was right and wrong when I was 15.”

so, how old were you when you forgot the difference?
or did you just decide to ignore it altogether in favour of blind ignorant hatred.

Teaching Hate

06/12/2008 by Debra

Image via WikipediaA self proclaimed “proud Scottish chick” from Manitoba has had her son removed from her home because he came to school sporting a swastika. Personally I am offended both by her beliefs and by her bringing the Scots into it. Nevertheless, the question here seems to be, can the government remove children for parental teachings of hate.

At first blush one might be tempted to say yes. However, further reflection sheds light on the dilemmas this would cause. For instance, many fundamentalist religions teach hate against women, gays and others not seen as reflective of their beliefs. And while anyone with any humanity would wish this sort of brainwashing not be inflicted upon the next generation, taking children from their homes is a serious issue and should not be done lightly.

Imagine if the current crop of nutters, aka the Not your Father’s Conservatives Party had the authority to take children from homes they considered “unsuitable”. A horrific thought indeed.

So while the teaching of hate is not something we wish to see and is indeed, in my mind at least, child abuse in protecting the rights of parents to teach their values we protect the rights of all. Paradoxically the reality that these self same people would take away our rights if given half a chance is all the more reason to ensure that we protect theirs.

And this is the appropriate way to show Scottish Pride. Wha’s Like Us? Damn Few And They’re A’ Died!

Abortion and time travel

06/03/2008 by Debra

Those who like to think of themselves as “pro-life”, “pro-family”, “pro-values” are in fact far from it. The governments and policies these people support has done more to hurt families than perhaps any government before it. Save for the injustices done to the native Canadians and the internment of the Japanese families during the war.

These ‘not your father’s Conservatives’, are an unhealthy blend of blinkered, literalist religion and unshackled corporatism. In no way should they be confused with the likes of Bill Davis.

These anti choicers often claim they want a return to the 50’s and 60’s as if there was no sex then, no out of wedlock children, no rape, and that corporate profit was valued above all.

Being the product of a 1950’s out of wedlock sexual experience I can testify that even then teenages felt the urge to merge. The sad thing was that so many were forced into giving their babies away or giving them to family to raise. Which impacted not only thier lives but the lives of the children involved.

Rape was as common then as now, it was just blamed on the woman. Heh, I guess that hasn’t really changed much.

Corporations, however, did pull their own weight, paid their taxes like good citizens and in fact carried a much heavier tax load than did the average hard working Canadian, as is appropriate. Interestingly, they managed to do all that and still provide plentiful and usually decent paying jobs.

The upside of this besides the job availability was that schools, health care and other social programs were being properly funded and there was increasing recognition that taking care of “the least of these my brethren” was not only a proper Christian thing to do, but benefited society in general.

I remember schools being open during the summer months with arts & crafts, sports, movies, and other programs being run by university Recreation students. These provided stay at home moms with a break and kids with something to do. These programs were free of charge, drop-in and definitely “family friendly”. I very much doubt the so-called pro-family sorts would support their tax dollars going to it however. Other free programs that provided entertainment for children were swimming pools, ice rinks, and parks provided programs and places to play ball.

Health care funding came into being and was amply supported by the corporate tax base. Now that that base has been so throughly eroded health care appears to be an undue burden when in fact it is the change of tax base that is the unfair burden.

It had been recognized that providing at least a semi decent living for families out of work, single mothers and the children associated with these families was a good thing. Then the CONservatives came along and othered the poor. Now there are Canadian children going to school without boots or properly warm coats, going to bed without dinner and poverty related businesses like pawn shops, buy & sells and pay day loans are booming. Diseases like TB once thought to be under control are flourishing again as are other poverty related illnesses.

Anti-choicers in the U.S. and Canada are working ‘incrementally’ towards making abortion unconstitutional. Well lets look at that in practice.

Section 12 of the Philippine constitution reads;

The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.

oooh a fetus fetishers wet dream come true.

Or maybe not so much. Let’s look at how this works in practice.

Official estimates put annual abortions at 400,000 to 500,000, and rising. The World Health Organization estimate puts the figure at nearly 800,000, one of the highest rates of unsafe abortions in Asia.
Seventy percent of unwanted pregnancies in the Philippines end in abortion said Jean-Marc Olivé, the country representative of the World Health Organization. One of four pregnancies in the Philippines end in abortion, according to Pro-Life Philippines, an anti-abortion group.
According to the Department of Health, nearly 100,000 women who have unsafe abortions every year end up in the hospital.
The Philippines, with its high population growth rate (2.6 percent) and low rate of contraceptive use (an estimated 35 percent) also has an increasing number of teenage pregnancies. As many as 17 percent of all unsafe abortions are done on teenage or young mothers, according to the Department of Health.

Use of contraceptives is actively discouraged

Women in the Philippines are trapped in an unbearable dilemma: the Catholic Church, whose influence over the country is strong, prohibits all forms of contraception, but extreme poverty prohibits large families. As a result, the Philippines has a very high abortion rate: 20-30 out of every 1,000 women of childbearing age have had an abortion, despite its illegal status. Filipino women, in an effort to keep their abortions secret, use crude methods, such as inserting sharp objects into the uterus or drinking toxic chemicals. The problem is so severe that illegal abortion is now the fourth leading cause of death among Filipino women.

Well now doesn’t that sound terrific? And I mean that as in the Latin terrificus : terr?re, to frighten + -ficus, -fic

Before you decide that bills like C-484, and campaigns like The Pill Kills, are of no consequence remember the stats above. Making abortion illegal, making contraceptives illegal does not stop the reality of the need for abortion. Indeed all it does is make criminals out of women exercising control over their bodies and of mothers trying to ensure there is enough for their already born children. From Reuters, ” Most women who have abortions in the Philippines are married, Roman Catholic and mothers already with at least three children. The majority terminate their pregnancy because they cannot afford another child.”

Those who truly believe in families, in values and indeed in a glorious being, will recognize the value in a political system which does not seek to make women’s reproductive capacities state infrastructure.

Sean Bell Shooting

05/08/2008 by Debra

Image by nickjohnson via FlickrThere were demonstrations across New York City yesterday as people took to the streets to protest the verdict in the Sean Bell case.

The three officers involved were acquitted of charges and so yet another black man lies dead at the hands of the New York police department and no one is forced to take responsibility.

Image via WikipediaThe officers,

testified that they feared for their lives after Bell and his friends got into a testy exchange with another patron outside a Queens strip club and appeared to be going to retrieve a gun; Bell’s friends testified the detectives fired wildly and without warning at Bell’s car. No gun was found with Bell or his friends.

Perhaps they found another deadly wallet.

Some will point to the fact that the men involved were not squeaky clean. However, any past infractions certainly did not warrant the action taken that night. One wonders too if the comment supposedly made earlier to a white woman would have been used as an excuse were to have been uttered to a black woman.

Perhaps this Mikhaela cartoon says it best.

8 Year old asks for divorce

04/12/2008 by Debra

Nojoud Muhammed Nasser arrived at court by herself on Wednesday, April 2, looking for a judge to handle her case against her father, Muhammed Nasser, who forced her two months ago to marry Faez Ali Thamer, a man 22 years her senior. The child also asked for a divorce, accusing her husband of sexual and domestic abuse.
According to Yemeni law, Nojoud cannot prosecute, as she is underage. However, court judge Muhammed Al-Qathi heard her complaint and subsequently ordered the arrests of both her father and husband.

Link

Now there will be some who will see this as an excuse to loose racist nonsense, just one glaring example from a yahoo thread;

These people are uncouth savages. Always have been…always will.
Human rights and the rights of women are virtually non-existant in this place and others that surround it. And yet you have imbicilic females from the U.S. and Europe that marry these men and are shocked to their roots when the first time they want to go out in public they’re beaten sensless by their husbands because it’s ‘custom’ for you to hold a position in his and the other male family members lives that is no better than a goat or a piece of furniture. Property…that’s all.
Stay on your side of the world. And we should be staying on ours as well.

My one would almost think that these sorts gave a rats ass about women and girls. Never fear the National Pestulance comes along to dispell that notion in no uncertain terms.

Seems like this is a cause Canada’s feminists should get behind — assuming they’re not too busy protesting laws that would protect unborn children from murder.

This is a heartrending story of a an 8 year old subjected to rape, to multiple beatings to things no child should ever have to bear. It is also a story of bravery and survival. An example of the power of just one voice. Yet the right wing radicals over at NP are climbing on this brave girls back to shout anti-feminist and anti-abortion slogans. The headline on Jonathan Kay’s story dubs her “world’s bravest 8-year-old feminist” , we all know how the NP and their rabid readers feel about feminists, so they appear to be actively attacking this girl. Of course appearances can be deceiving and one hopes that is the case here.

As for young Nojoud Muhammed Nasser;

“We are planning to put her in Dar Al-Rahama [an non-governmental organization that works with children], where she can have a better life and education. We do not want her family to pay her expenses, as they are poor.”

I believe this girl could have a very bright future ahead of her.