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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (78860)	11/9/2003 5:21:52 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Well, if my position is ridiculous, then my life is ridiculous, so is that of my wife, so is that of both my parents, and as far as I know of all of their parents. Frankly, I don't see anything ridiculous in saying: a. remain chaste until marriage, and b. if you conceive during marriage, let the child you have created live. Perhaps you will tell me what is ridiculous in this, and therefore in the lives of millions, perhaps billions, of people who have lived precisely this live since the institution of marriage was established.

To: Lane3 who wrote (78860)	11/9/2003 5:51:22 PM
From: epicure	Respond to of 82486

I saw a documentary recently called "Stevie". Such a sad story- and a common one. It was about a boy born to a mother who didn't want him and couldn't handle him. His former big brother, who went on to film Hoop Dreams, filmed his reunion with "Stevie", and managed to make a film about a very marginal, dangerous, and unwanted person. It would have been far better for Stevie, and for his victims, and for his community, if he had been aborted. The problem of the unwanted, and brutalized or neglected child, is as old as the hills- but now we have one way to solve it. It is not the best way- abstinence is better, but ignorant people with limited ways to enjoy themselves are not going to be abstinent, nor are they going to be great parents when their failure to be abstinent does not succeed. Parents of wanted children can fall down on the job too- but the unwanted child is at the greatest risk. I watched Stevie's life unfold on film- he was beaten and tortured by his mother, raped in foster care- and I think an abortion would have been the best solution to that sad painful life. I don't think it was more moral for Stevie's mother to have him and then brutalize him.

To: Lane3 who wrote (78860)	11/9/2003 6:09:37 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I put this on another thread- but you might be interested in it: Good News, Bad News, Unbelievable News US Becomes History's Biggest Jailer The US reached a ghastly milestone on February 15, according to the Justice Policy Institute, a nonprofit research group that advocates alternatives to incarceration.. On that date, the US prison and jail population reached a record 2 million persons. More than half of those imprisoned are nonviolent offenders. And the largest single category of prisoners are drug law violators. [Take note of this people- these are NON VIOLENT prisoners, taking an enormous amount of money to house, thrown in with violent offenders- Justice- I think NOT] The US comprises 5% of the world's population, yet has fully 25% of the world's prisoners. According to the November Coalition, a drug law reform group, the US has a higher proportion of its citizens in jail than any other country -- in all of history. [Land of the free? Doesn't look like it] The Libertarian Party, in a media release, pointed out the following: In 1970, fewer than 200,000 Americans were behind bars. By contrast, in the 1990s alone, 840,000 Americans were sent to prison. Over the past two decades, one new jail or prison has been built in America every week. Violent crime has dropped by 21% since 1993 -- but the number of Americans being incarcerated has grown by 5%-6% each year since then. Less than a third of the people sentenced to jail each year have been convicted of a violent crime, and at least 400,000 inmates are serving time for non-violent drug offenses alone. By one estimate, as many as 750,000 people are in jail for victimless crimes -- like gambling, violating censorship laws, not wearing a seatbelt, or consensual sex. The cost of keeping 2 million prisoners behind bars is $40 billion a year -- or about $20,000 for every man, woman, and teenager serving time. 30% of all African-American males will be sent to prison at some point during their lives. A major reason for this: While only 15% of all drug users are black, 74% of the people in prison for drug crimes are black, according to government statistics. As a result of the Drug War, prison has become one of America's biggest businesses. The multi-billion dollar prison industry employs more than 523,000 people, making it the US's single biggest employer after General Motors. Some 5% of the population growth in rural areas between 1980 and 1990 was due to prisoners being moved into new rural jails. (Sources: The Guardian [UK newspaper]; November Coalition; Justice Policy Institute; Libertarian Party media release) theadvocates.org