What goes through my my mind when I read the news with my morning coffee. …Or for the Simon's Rockers in the group, this is my response journal.
Alabama DA Drops Manslaughter Charge Against Woman In Death Of Her Fetus : NPR
Good.
Also, from a Christian standpoint, fetal homicide laws are not biblical, so therefore they are the work of the devil. (Not following the logic? See the previous post.)
State Laws on Fetal Homicide and Penalty-enhancement for Crimes Against Pregnant Women
Let’s parse this out, shall we?
The typical argument for a life beginning before its birth is that (the Christian version of) God made it so. Since the Bible is accepted authority on the word of (the Christian version of) God, let’s peruse the tome and see what God has to say on the subject.
Genesis 2:7 – And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Man becomes a living soul when the breathe of life flows through his nostrils? OR more simply put, breathing through one’s nose is the point man becomes a living soul? That doesn’t sound like anything that happens in the womb….
Ezekiel 37: 5-6 – Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live;
The moment that bones, sinew, and flesh become living is when breathe is put into it? So there is no life until a body breathes? A body isn’t alive unless it is has drawn breathe. Seems pretty clear that life starts after a body is born and has drawn its first breathe because without breathe it is not living.
Job 33:4 – The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
Even though God made man (in this case, Elihu,) he was not alive until he received breathe. So even though a body has been created it is not alive until it is breathing? Seems pretty clear cut.
Conclusion? God says there is no life without breathe, ergo no body is alive until it breathes. Fetal homicide laws are enacted in direct opposition to the Word of (the Christian version of ) God.
When people who purport to be Christian advocate for fetal homicide laws they are going against the Bible. No ifs, ands, or buts. Calling it based in anything that resembles Biblical teachings is an egregious, blatant, and wholly unchristian lie.
It is a way to degrade women and make them less than a full person in the eyes of the law though. If injury to, or the death of, a woman in itself is a lesser crime than the injury to, or death of, a pregnant woman than the law is saying that a woman who is not pregnant is worth less than one who is.
If women who are pregnant can expect the full support of the law to reconcile aggression against them and women who are not get less support and a lower level of justice from the law then women who are not pregnant are valued as less in the eyes of the law than others. Simply put, unless women are pregnant, their personhood, in the eyes of the law, is devalued.
And that’s not only unchristian, it’s just wrong.
According to Indian Country Today, all native communities acknowledged the following gender roles: “female, male, Two Spirit female, Two Spirit male and transgendered.”.
…“The Two Spirit people in pre-contact Native America were highly revered and families that included them were considered lucky. Indians believed that a person who was able to see the world through the eyes of both genders at the same time was a gift from The Creator.”
Before European Christians Forced Gender Roles, Native Americans Acknowledged 5 Genders | DailyPlug
Over in adult world, where change occurs at a more glacial pace, we’re arguing over whether the women’s team should score so many goals (rude!), and whether they should have celebrated those goals so enthusiastically (super rude!).
Over in adult world, CBS News is tweeting, “Eagles tight end Zach Ertz leaves training camp to watch wife in World Cup.” “Wife” is Julie Ertz, a 2015 World Cup champion, Chicago Red Stars defender and member of the U.S. Women’s National Team.
Meanwhile, boys and girls alike are walking around with the names of female athletes on their backs. You don’t wear someone’s name on your back unless you revere them, respect their game, dream a little bit about being more like them.
hmmm
Last summer, dozens of women from across the country gathered to share strategies about water and forest conservation and improving crop yields, and they got a crash course in social auditing, a way for them to understand their rights and get involved in decisionmaking.
…At the meeting in Guatemala, where much of the population depends on subsistence farming, the women spoke different languages and came from different ethnic groups, but all could share stories of how the soil was less fertile, the seasons increasingly unpredictable, and the rainfall more erratic.
…As in many places, problems here often revolve around water scarcity and soil degradation, conditions that increase the workload for women responsible for providing water, food, and fuel for their homes. When those resources are scarce, they must travel farther, sometimes walking for hours to reach the nearest water source.
Because women’s work is often connected to the land, women have long fought to protect their natural environments, often from extractive industries and agribusinesses that compete for access to resources. Now, some are linking this activism to the impacts they feel from a changing climate.
…Pressures from climate change have worsened poverty, food insecurity, human trafficking, and child marriage, activists argue.
….“Women have always been leaders at all levels, it’s just not been recognized in the same way,” Ms. Blomstrom says. Part of that is a broader recognition that the effects of climate change are so varied and widespread, as well as stronger efforts to recognize women as human rights defenders.
Where women lead on climate change – CSMonitor.com
hmmm
While civilians enjoy First Amendment protection from government censorship or harassment, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that public agencies such as police departments may penalize their employees for speech and behavior in certain cases.
…[At least] hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers from across the United States are members of Confederate, anti-Islam, misogynistic or anti-government militia groups on Facebook.
……Most of the hateful Facebook groups these cops frequent are closed, meaning only members are allowed to see content posted by other members. Reveal joined dozens of these groups and verified the identities of almost 400 current and retired law enforcement officials who are members.
…While Facebook vows that it prioritizes meaningful content, its algorithms also appear to play a role in strengthening biases. The more extreme groups we joined, the more Facebook suggested new – and often even more troubling – groups to join or pages to like. It was easy to see how users, including police officers, could be increasingly radicalized by what they saw on their news feed.
…We wrote software to download these lists directly from Facebook, something the platform allowed at the time.
Then we ran those two datasets against each other to find users who were members of at least one law enforcement group and one [hate-group.]
We got 14,000 hits.
…The groups cover a range of extremist ideologies. Some present themselves publicly as being dedicated to benign historical discussion of the Confederacy, but are replete with racism inside. Some trade in anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant memes. Some are openly Islamophobic. And almost 150 of the officers [were] found [to be] involved with violent anti-government groups such as the Oath Keepers and Three Percenters.
…Many groups ask users [leading] questions in order to join, and these often offer insight into the nature of the group. The group “Stop Radical Islam in America,” for example, asks, “Why do you personally think Islam should be banned in America?” At least 12 current and former police officers were members of that group.
The group “Confederate Brothers & Sisters,” which counts at least 25 current and former cops as members, explicitly asks, “This group is sometimes racist does this bother you?” Inside that group, we found several cops and ex-cops posting racist comments.
…Inside the closed Facebook groups to which we gained access, transparently racist, misogynistic and homophobic content is on full display.
…Biased views like those expressed in these Facebook groups inevitably influence an individual’s decision-making process.
“The perceptions we have about the world at large drive the decisions we make,” Simi said. “To think that people could completely separate these extremist right-wing views from their actions just isn’t consistent with what we know about the decision-making process.”
…Disciplinary records and investigations into police misconduct are kept secret in a majority of states, meaning most American cops enjoy a blanket of protection [and anonymity not afforded to the citizens they are sworn to serve and protect.]
…In Charlottesville, Virginia, marchers flew a “Blue Lives Matter” flag alongside anti-Semitic and white supremacist messages. In Portland, Oregon, police officers were found to have been texting with a far-right group that regularly hosts white supremacists and white nationalists at its rallies.
…n 2017, Best commented on an NPR story reporting that babies of color are now the majority in the United States. Below it, he wrote: “Maybe, but minority on minority homocide (sic) will make sure adults of color remain a minority.”
…Some people” could view his membership in the group as problematic, he acknowledged. However, [Best] said that while some members of the group hold discriminatory views, he does not.
…“I like memes, they make me laugh. I didn’t join to express any racist views,” he said. “I don’t care what you think. That’s my opinion. You know what’s a racist comment? ‘Brits are all full of shit.’ ” [The irony of idiots alert: that’s a bigoted statement but not a racist one.]
…Reached via Facebook Messenger, Quinn defended his posts. “Its also my responsibility to detect possible threats to my community all the way up to and including my country,” he wrote. “Think about this, majority of crimes are committed by minorities (black, hispanic, etc) per FBI statistics….” (According to the latest FBI Uniform Crime Reporting statistics, 68.9 percent of arrestees in 2017 were white.)
…One guard at the Angola prison in Louisiana, Geoffery Crosby, was a member of 56 extremist groups, including 45 Confederate groups and one called “BAN THE NAACP.”
A detective at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston, James “J.T.” Thomas, was a member of the closed Facebook group “The White Privilege Club.”
The group contains hundreds of hateful, racist and anti-Semitic posts; links to interviews with white supremacists such as Richard Spencer; and invites to events such as the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Users regularly post memes featuring Pepe the Frog, the alt-right mascot, with captions such as, “white people, do something.” And there are explicitly racist jokes, such as one with a photo of fried chicken and grape soda with the caption, “Mom packed me a niggable for school.”
……“I ask them, ‘Would you, as a cop, in your uniform, put that on a sandwich board and walk up and down the streets of your town? ’ ” Van Brocklin said. “And they’ll say, ‘No, because I could be fired for that.’ Well, instead of putting it on a sandwich board, you put it up for the whole world to see, so why would you think it’s protected?”
Mmmmmhmmm
Created in August 2016, the Facebook group is called “I’m 10-15” and boasts roughly 9,500 members from across the country. (10-15 is Border Patrol code for “aliens in custody.”)
…ProPublica received images of several recent discussions in the 10-15 Facebook group and was able to link the participants in those online conversations to apparently legitimate Facebook profiles belonging to Border Patrol agents, including a supervisor based in El Paso, Texas, and an agent in Eagle Pass, Texas, a small town in the Rio Grande Valley.
…The postings …reflect what “seems to be a pervasive culture of cruelty aimed at immigrants within CBP. This isn’t just a few rogue agents or ‘bad apples.’”
…Castro, a Democrat who represents San Antonio, [said,] “These are clearly agents who are desensitized to the point of being dangerous to migrants and their co-workers.”
…A staffer for Escobar [said,] “…The comments made by Border Patrol agents towards immigrants …are disgusting and show a complete disregard for human life and dignity.”
…The member asked if the photo could have been faked because the bodies were so “clean.” (The picture was taken by an Associated Press photographer, and there is no indication that it was staged or manipulated.) “I HAVE NEVER SEEN FLOATERS LIKE THIS,” the [delusional] person wrote, adding, “could this be another edited photo. We’ve all seen the dems and liberal parties do some pretty sick things…”
…The Border Patrol Facebook group is the most recent example of some law enforcement personnel behaving badly in public and private digital spaces. An investigation by Reveal uncovered hundreds of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers who moved in extremist Facebook circles, including white supremacist and anti-government groups. A team of researchers calling themselves the Plain View Project recently released a hefty database of offensive Facebook posts made by current and ex-law enforcement officers.
And in early 2018, federal investigators found a raft of disturbing and racist text messages sent by Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona after searching the phone of Matthew Bowen, an agent charged with running down a Guatemalan migrant with a Ford F-150 pickup truck. The texts, which were revealed in a court filing in federal court in Tucson, described migrants as “guats,” “wild ass shitbags,” “beaners” and “subhuman.” The messages included repeated discussions about burning the migrants up.
Composed of both active and retired border personnel yes, but it is still staggering that the number of members in the group are roughly equivalent to the number of people employed by the Border Patrol.
Wonder who created and runs the group….
The Supreme Court ducked another abortion case Friday, refusing to let Alabama defend its ban on a second-term method of abortion that was struck down last year.
The justices, who already have turned down opportunities to hear abortion cases from Louisiana and Indiana, denied the state’s petition to have its ban on dilation & evacuation abortions heard next term.
…In February, the court temporarily blocked abortion restrictions in Louisiana that critics complained were virtually identical to Texas limits struck down by the justices in 2016.
…Less likely to win the justices’ consideration are laws passed recently in Georgia, Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky and Mississippi that ban most abortions. Those laws more clearly conflict with the high court’s precedents.
Abortion: Supreme Court won’t consider Alabama ban struck down in 2018
hmmmm
Meghan McCain on ‘The View’ questions Trump rape accuser Carroll
What a horrible, hateful slug posing as a person that blood-rag is.
On behalf of all women everywhere, fuck you Florida.
I argue that all unwanted pregnancies are caused by the irresponsible ejaculations of men. All of them.
…On average, women are fertile for about 24 days per year.
But men are fertile 365 days a year. In fact, if you’re a man who ejaculates multiple times a day, you could cause multiple pregnancies daily. In theory, a man could cause 1000+ unwanted pregnancies in just one year.
…Modern birth control for women is possibly the most important invention of the last century, and I’m very grateful for it. It’s also brutal. The side effects for many women include migraines, mood swings, decreased libido, depression, severe cramps, heavy bleeding, aneurysm — and that’s just a small fraction of them.
Discouragingly, a promising study on a new male contraceptive was canceled in large part due to… (wait for it)… side effects. …I’ll simply point out that, as a society, we really don’t mind if women suffer, physically or mentally, as long as it makes things easier for men.
…In contrast, let’s look at birth control for men — i.e., condoms. They’re readily available at all hours, inexpensive, convenient, and don’t require a prescription. They’re effective and work on demand, instantly. They don’t cause aneurysms, mood swings, or debilitating cramps. Men can keep them stocked up just in case, so they’re always prepared. They can be easily used at the last minute. I mean, condoms are magic! So much easier than birth control options for women.
As a bonus, most women are totally on board with condoms. They keep us from getting STDs. They don’t lessen our pleasure during sex or prevent us from climaxing. The best part? Cleanup is so much easier .
…Why would men want to have sex without a condom? Because, for the precious minutes when they’re penetrating their partner, not wearing a condom gives them more pleasure. So… that would mean some men are willing to risk getting a woman pregnant — which means literally risking her life, her health, her social status, her relationships, and her career — so they can experience a few minutes of slightly increased pleasure.
…As a general rule, men get women pregnant by having an orgasm. Yes, there are exceptions — it’s possible for sperm to show up in pre-ejaculate — but in most cases, getting a woman pregnant is a pleasurable act for men.
…In contrast, a woman can have nonstop orgasms with or without a partner and never once get herself pregnant. A woman’s orgasm has literally nothing to do with pregnancy or fertility — her clitoris exists simply for pleasure, not for creating new humans. No matter how many orgasms she has, they won’t make her pregnant.
…Pregnancies happen when men have an orgasm. Unwanted pregnancies happen when men orgasm irresponsibly.
…If we’re discussing abortion law — and not how to hold men accountable for irresponsible ejaculations, and the unwanted pregnancies caused by them — we’re wasting our time. …If you actually care about reducing or eliminating the number of abortions in our country, simply hold men accountable for their actions.
…If you’re a man, what would it take for you to never again ejaculate irresponsibly? A loss of money, rights, or freedoms? Physical pain? Ask yourselves: What would it take for you to value the life of your sexual partner more than your own temporary pleasure or convenience?
…To reduce or eliminate abortions, stop attempting to control women’s bodies and sexuality. Because unwanted pregnancies are caused by men.
Men Cause 100% of Unwanted Pregnancies – Human Parts
Dang. Well argued.
Next month, Christine Stark—a student with the University of Minnesota-Duluth, who is completing her master’s degree in social work—will complete an examination of the sex trade in Minnesota, in which she compiles anecdotal, firsthand accounts of Native women, particularly from northern reservations, being trafficked across state, provincial, and international lines to be forced into servitude in the sex industry on both sides of the border.
…Through her independent research and work with the Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition, Stark interviewed hundreds of Native women who have been through the trauma of the Lake Superior sex trade. The stories she’s compiled are evidence of an underground industry that’s thriving on the suffering of First Nations women, which is seemingly going unchecked and underreported.
…“The Duluth harbor is notorious among Native people as a site for the trafficking of Native women from northern reservations.” She continues, “in an ongoing project focused on the trafficking of Native women on ships in Duluth, it was found that the activity includes international transport of Native women and teens, including First Nations women and girls brought down from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to be sold on the ships… Native women, teen girls and boys, and even babies have been sold for sex on the ships.”
Native American Women Are Being Sold into the Sex Trade on Ships Along Lake Superior – VICE
Jeezus!
Instead of Team USA being celebrated for what its players achieved, the victory became an opportunity to lecture these women on how to behave. That lecture is all the more galling given that, in March, the team filed a gender-discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation.
… It isn’t the U.S. national team’s job to spare Thailand from humiliation—especially when, in this phase of the tournament, the differential between goals scored and goals allowed can determine whether a team advances. Considering that Alex Morgan tied a tournament record with five goals, and Morgan’s teammates Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle each scored the first World Cup goals of their careers, this team had every right to celebrate as it wanted.
…Despite having won three World Cup titles, earned four Olympic gold medals, and generated millions of dollars more in revenue than the men in 2015, the women sometimes earn 38 percent of what the men earn per game.
In fact, the 13 goals the women scored were more than the men have tallied in every World Cup appearance since 2006 combined. So if anyone deserved to celebrate on their own terms, it’s these women.
The U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Deserves to Celebrate – The Atlantic
mmhmm
The Illinois measure repeals several decades-old abortion-related provisions in state law. …The Reproductive Health Act includes language that treats abortion as health care.
The Illinois law, effective immediately, repeals the state’s current abortion law, adopted in 1975. In its place is language in which certain elements are removed, such as: spousal consent; criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortions; waiting periods; and other restrictions on facilities where abortions are performed. The legislation also clarifies the definitions of viability and health.
…A new provision says abortions can be performed after viability only if necessary to protect the health or life of the pregnant woman. It also defines the viability as the fetus having a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus without extraordinary medical measures.
…The new law also would repeal the Partial Birth Abortion ban, which imposed restrictions on doctors performing abortions on women who were 20 weeks pregnant or later. The ACLU says about 90 percent of all abortions are performed within the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.
Partial-birth abortions remain banned by federal law, except to save the life of the mother.
hmmmm
The report found commonalities among victims, and where they are assigned by the military, that continue today. For example, the factors that put victims at high risk of sexual assault – youth, not being married, and having lower rank – correspond to their assignment to large training bases and ships.
…”A large proportion of all sexual assaults occur at a relatively few large installations for each of the services,” according to the report. “The Army and Marine Corps, for instance, each have installations where we estimate there were more than 500 sexual assaults of women and men in 2014.”
Military: Sex assault victims are likely young, on large bases, ships
hmmmm
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