green

What is wrong with sex education taught in schools provided that it is taught in an age-appropriate fashion? Since when did the state of ignorance trump knowledge as a good place to inhabit? Up in Canada where sex ed is taught there are 25.6 per cent births to unmarried women as contrasted with 38.5 per cent births in the United States. We all know that the ideal family is one where kids have two parents, not one, that these families will be less likely to live in poverty, and that the burdens and joys of raising kids do not fall upon one pair of exhausted shoulders. Kids from two parent families tend to be more functional, do better in school, stay longer in school, stay out of trouble with the law, and grow up to form mature and stable adult relationships themselves. What is wrong with this? Kids ought to be educated about sex. They ought to know about pregnancy and about sexually transmissable diseases. They can be taught that abstinence is the safest and most effective method to protect themselves but they should be aware of the mechanics of sex. You see, kids will be curious. And sometimes kids will do crazy things,...like get drunk on stolen liquor, try smoking a cigarette, or try sexually fooling around. I don't like to think of any young person finding herself pregnant through ignorance.

Counselling is always a useful option, even when you must go on your own. Remember: you cannot change anyone else's behaviour but your own and once your behaviour begins to change that of those who are around you will begin to change in response to yours. It's inevitable.

From the little I have seen of Bill Maher on television, I think he is hilarious and very witty. I think he is great and an amusing antidote to all the right-wing pundits. He has a pretty interesting web site.

I loved the opening post. Absolutely brilliant. Thanks for posting this. It made my day.

It is a good idea to teach everything there is to know about sex and reproduction to kids while they are in school; this includes the various methods of birth control available and their fail rates. Many parents are not comfortable talking about these matters with their kids and many kids will not feel comfortable talking about these matters with their parents. School teaching can neutralize a potentially hot topic and, let's face it, we are sexual creatures. Sooner or later, but ideally later, we will all need to know this stuff. Knowledge can help one to avoid risky behaviour and that means fewer cases of STDs, unwanted pregnancies and possible abortions. Knowledge is always better than ignorance.

It seems that anyone can have an opinion. I find it amusing that Clinton is being blamed for having left this country in good financial shape and the two Bushes praised for having financially emptied out its coffers. Mini-Bush has engaged in a war over phoney claims that there were WMD in Iraq, a war which has the United States pumping out trillions of dollars that your grandchildren will be left on the financial hook for. The NATO countries including Canada and sissy France are fighting in Afghanistan, a war which was considered to be a legitimate issue. The invasion of Iraq was mini-Bush's trip. An international research team based in Iraq since immediately after the first Gulf War and headed up by the Dane, Hans Blix, told Congress that there were no signs of WMD in Iraq. Bush and company chose to invade against the agreement of other countries and won a great deal of bad will on the global stage as a result. As to whether one needs to have folk in the military in order to have an opinion on American issues, it strikes me that everyone, no matter how much or how little knowledge they will bother to accrue on a topic, will have an opinion nevertheless. But basing the value of your opinion on the fact that you have relatives in the military seems to me to be entirely specious. (Oh, but my father was in the British Intelligence during the Second World War. Now I am wondering if that counts for anything. Ha ha.)

I always liked Romney the best of the Conservatives from the point of view of experience and character. He has a wealth of executive experience, and his age and health don't stand against him. And like Obama, Romney gives the impression of being a cerebral individual. I think McCain's pick for VP panders to the sentimental, "touchy-feely" streak in the crowd. But then it's a fact that the old boy does like young good-lookin' women....

The McCain's adopted daughter is not black. She is from Bangladesh, the poorest and the smallest of the three countries which make up the subcontinent of India. Bangladesh was originally known as East Pakistan until it achieved full statehood. It is a Muslim nation but does not seem to be violence-plagued, unlike Pakistan, parts of Indonesia, or the middle east.

Yes, the burden of reproduction really is assymetrical. The male contributes five minutes and a little bit of sperm and the female is on the hook for the rest of it. And the male is left relatively unscathed unless he is running for President and the pregnant woman is not his lawful wife. lol Birth control can fail. My one pregnancy, at the age of 33, was the result of a failure of birth control. Though I am a pro-choice grrl, I feel that it would be wrong for Palin's daughter and her pregnancy to be dragged through the media mud. Pregnancy is something which can easily happen to any young woman. We are hardwired to mate. She is now pregnant. It is, perhaps, a messy matter given her youth, that she is not married, etc but it is a family matter, not one for national concern. This is what I think.

Presidential candidates do, rightly or wrongly, get judged by the behaviour of their immediate families and Palin knows that her daughter's teenage pregnancy will be dragged through the mud during this election. I say that Alaska has long dark winters and there likely ain't a lot to do up there except make your own whoopee. Hence the kid's pregnancy. I believe her parents will be supportive of her and that is a good thing.

Directed at Potector.

It is hard to pay attention to your words of wisdom. You can't even spell. Obama has been through Harvard on scholarships. This is a man with a powerful intellect. And the dude is one-half white, eh.

Yep, Palin is just Huckabee with boobs.

Are you nuts? I have been heavy and I have, thanks to the band, been a normal size and believe you me, life as a normoloid is just so much better! The clothes are great! Folks treat you better. There is no reason why one should settle for being an over-weight woman and trying to love the sight of yourself in your ugly big grrl clothes when the technology exists where you can do something about this situation. I live in the heart of a big city and women here tend to be slim, elegant and well-dressed. After I hit menopause at the early age of 41 I started packing on the lard. By the time I was 57 I was fat and I was terribly ashamed of my appearance. Now, I get to wear the kind of clothes they show in fashion magazines. I am always getting compliments on my appearance and my clothes. And I get to wear belts, for Gawd's sakes!!! Belts! For people like me, people with portion control problems the lap band is a brilliant tool and worth every penny I paid for it. Why put up with something when you can fix it?

Making whoopee. Doctor John

She may be the governor of Alaska but a couple of years ago she was only the mayor of a small town in Alaska. She is a woman but apart from that she shares little in common with Hilary and I would hope that Hilary's supporters would be able to discern this. She is also not a friend to women or homosexuals. She is against gay marriage and the right of a woman to choose.

He is also white. He was raised by a white - his materal side - family. I am very impressed by both Obama and his wife. They seem like smart, disciplined, caring, mature individuals. My brother who lives in the States will be voting for him. This makes me very happy.

I like that Joe Biden. He may not be tactful but he is witty and funny.

I don't like her beliefs and she has no experience in foreign issues and policies, either. She, too, has little experience. Would you want her as your President if the old man croaks while still in office?

Great post, Indio. Froggi, it seems to me that you are trying to be elitist about fat. But obese is obese and morbidly obese is morbidly obese and these categories encompass a great many people who all want to be slim, attractive and healthy. Who gives you the right to determine who gets to qualify for surgery and a better life. Your comments on this thread display you as immature and jealous. Every overweight man or woman who wants this surgery should have a right to have it, even if it means for some that they must pay for it themselves. I paid for my own surgery and I sure am glad that my surgeon wasn't as judgemental as Froggi seems to be. The surgery changed my life. I went from 200lbs - I am 5'6" and had no co-morbities except for vanity - to 143 in one year and I looked great. I also learned how to change my eating habits for healthier ones while practicing portion control. The band is great for portion control but it is up to us to do the rest of the work.

In my case I lost all kinds of unwanted weight - 60 lbs - thanks to the band but the neighbourhood speculation was that I was losing because I was ill. Then, after a year of being banded, I did get cancer! Oops!!! My bad, eh.... But the neighbourhood has found my illness a much more believable reason to lose a lot of weight than exercise, avoiding empty calories and practicing portion control - the band being one's secret helper when it comes to the last on that list.

Thanks for your kind words, everyone. Give my best to your mum, Bandiva. It sure is weird jumping on that scale and hoping to see that it has gone up!!! Especially after having been such a "healthy" grrl all my life.... LOL

I love the before, during, and after pics. I don't enjoy looking at babies but that is just me. I don't like babies but most people do. I do like some family pics, Hallowe'en photos for instance. I think that the value and the charm of this site is that it is a very big and generous site. It has made room in order that it might accomodate all of our interests. That is why I am personally cool with the inclusion of material that does not personally interest me.

Sounds like we have similar hair, grrl. I am crossing my fingers that mine grows in straight and fuzz-free. That would be my dream hair. *sigh* But the medical hassles which you and your mate have been having are not good. They do make retirement seem like a dream, eh. How do Americans look after their medical needs once they are retired?

Argh! Frizzy hair is so NOT what I want. Both my brothers had the classic Jewish 'fros. My hair is the straightest, comparatively speaking...! We are fuzzy-heads on both my Celtic mother's and my Jewish father's side of the family and this is why I need to wear my hair longish and use quite a lot of product in order to keep it under control. Indeed, when I was living in France I could tell by the size of my hair if the pastries were going to be any good. Big hair meant that those croissants and pains au chocolate wouldn't be flakey enough. Too much humidity in the air, you know.