I know everything I know

Friday, April 28, 2006

The Ultra Right of Center Leftist Capitalistic Fascism view of Abortion

I was discussing Fake Crisis Pregnancy Centers with Shadoe earlier today and I realized that even those who know me pretty well don’t really understand where I stand on much of anything. Leading me to believe that no one really knows me very well. Is that because I’m elite and above the masses? Probably not. Does that mean I’m an elitist? Nope. It just means that my views don’t hold to any one historical or popular doctrine. Instead, my views and positions on issues and the world in general are most definitely a la carte.

When my widely scattered and sometime apparently contradicting views are considered with my staunch often stubborn hardnosed take on issues I can think of only one title which fits my “political stance” well: Ultra Right of Center Leftist Capitalistic Fascism. I’m sure of course that others will think of a few of their own. ;)

To explain further I’ll cover a few examples. I’ll start with one now and add others over the next few weeks. Let’s start with the subject of Abortion…

Abortion - I believe that a woman has the right to have an abortion in all cases where the woman is deemed sound of mind and legally capable of making such a choice. However, I also believe that the existence of a right does not constitute right. By that I mean, just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean that doing so is necessarily right. So yes, a woman does and should have the ability to have an abortion is they so choose, but I don’t believe that doing so is the right thing to do. That statement is of course former fact and latter opinion. In my way of thinking, such a statement is perfectly acceptable.

Being a male obviously makes it impossible for me to fully understand the female point of view on this subject. Just further proof that males and females of the species are intrinsically different animals, different but equal animals in a perfect world. However, in thinking through this issue I have striven to take the female point of view into account as much as I am capable of.

My main concern where the choice for abortion is concerned is this: If carrying the fetus to full term and giving birth does not pose a mental or physical medical issue for the woman, then choosing to abort the fetus basically comes down to a choice of convenience or inconvenience. While I can honestly say, I would not want to be responsible for a child at this point in my life; I also realize that partaking in such activities as those which generally lead to the creation of a fetus, carry some amount of responsibility. If a person chooses to have sex, they should be prepared to accept the responsibilities which such activity might carry. Sex is great. Sex is good. Sex is not all fun and games.

This is of course assuming that the sex act which led to conception was consensual. That should go without saying I think and any law or even discussion which does not assume so is flawed from the beginning.

Let me be clear. In my view, abortion comes down to acceptance of responsibility. If a woman chooses to have sex, then any fetus which might conceivably come about as a result bears a responsibility upon that woman. If the woman has sex forced upon her however, then she should be free from actual responsibility and the choice becomes purely that…a choice. If in either case the woman then logically weighs the responsibility between protection of her own being, which must come first, and that of the potential child, which must necessarily come second, she should come to a logical conclusion…to bring the child to full term or abort.

Notice that I said “bring the child to full term”, not to “raise the child”. I am a strong proponent of adoption.

If the choice to have sex results in conception, in my view, it is the least a mother can do to carry the child to full term and allow it a chance at life. If that life is to be with her or another matters little at this point. There is no shortage of happy, loving, stable couples out there vying for the chance to raise a child.

So then, my view on abortion in short is this: to choose to have sex, then to choose simply out of convenience to abort a child instead of giving it a chance at life with loving parents, is a deprived selfish act…it is however also a right. It is a right for which I am willing to fight because all choice ultimately comes down to freedom. Freedom is something which must always be defended.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Bill would make sale of sex toys illegal in South Carolina

sc_cucumber

By SEANNA ADCOX (The Associated Press)
April 21, 2006

COLUMBIA — Lucy’s Love Shop employee Wanda Gillespie said she was flabbergasted that South Carolina’s Legislature is considering outlawing sex toys.

But banning the sale of sex toys is actually quite common in some Southern states.

The South Carolina bill, proposed by Republican Rep. Ralph Davenport, would make it a felony to sell devices used primarily for sexual stimulation and allow law enforcement to seize sex toys from raided businesses.

“That would be the most terrible thing in the world,” said Ms. Gillespie, an employee the Anderson shop. “That is just flabbergasting to me. We are supposed to be in a free country, and we’re supposed to be adults who can decide what want to do and don’t want to do in the privacy of our own homes.”

Ms. Gillespie, 49, said she has worked in the store for nearly 20 years and has seen people from every walk of life, including “every Sunday churchgoers.”

“I know of multiple marriages that sex toys have sold because some people need that. The people who are riding us (the adult novelty industry) so hard are probably at home buying it (sex toys and novelties) on the Internet. It’s ridiculous.”
The measure would add sex toys to the state’s obscenity laws, which already prohibit the dissemination and advertisement of obscene materials.

People convicted under obscenity laws face up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

South Carolina law borrows from a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling to define obscene as something “contemporary community standards” determine as “patently offensive” sexual conduct, which “lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.”

Sugar ‘N Spice manager Pat Irons says a proposal to outlaw the sale of sex toys in South Carolina is outrageous.

While Davenport’s proposal is probably aimed at shutting down X-rated adult bookstores, Ms. Irons said, it hurts customers of “couples-oriented” stores such as her West Columbia shop, which sells everything from lingerie to bridal shower novelties to lotions.

At Sugar ‘N Spice, sex toys are displayed in a separate room. Buyers include men and women who “need a little help” because surgery or medical problems are affecting their marriage, Ms. Irons said.

“We’ve been selling these sex toys for 27 years,” she said Friday. “Even pastors shop in here. They send couples in here they counsel for marriage problems. It’s probably going to hit people like that harder than people realize.”

A Townville sex shop owner questioned the proposal’s legality.

“I don’t think that would be fair,” said John Terezakis, owner of Paradise! in Townville. “It’s depriving people of their freedom of choice. I don’t think the customers would appreciate it very much.”

Rep. Davenport, who is from Spartanburg County, did not return several messages Friday to talk about his bill, which was introduced last month. No other legislator has signed on as a co-sponsor and its passage this year seems unlikely.

Recent police raids in Rep. Davenport’s county have targeted adult-oriented businesses.

The sheriff’s office there seized movies, sex toys, sexual-enhancement pills and surveillance tapes from two businesses in January.

One of the stores, Priscilla’s, sued the sheriff’s office, claiming the raid violated constitutional rights and asked for the return of the seized items. Sheriff Chuck Wright refused.

The case has not yet gone to trial, Maj. Dan Johnson said.

Maj. Johnson said he knew nothing of Rep. Davenport’s proposal and was unsure how it could help their investigations, which involve undercover detectives renting movies or buying magazines and prosecutors determining whether they’re obscene.

“We’re focused on the hard-core magazines, videos … the hard-core porn,” he said.

Other states that ban the sell of sex toys include Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas, said Mark Lopez, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Alabama’s law banning the sale of sex toys has been circulating through the courts since its passage in 1998. U.S. District Judge Lynwood Smith Jr. twice ruled against the law, holding that it violated the constitutional right to privacy, but the state won both times on appeal.

In February 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, which is back in the lower courts.

“People think it’s distasteful. It makes for good campaign fodder and panders to the conservative side of people. That’s why we see the laws in the South,” Mr. Lopez said.

The ACLU got involved in the case, he said, to “keep the government out of the bedroom.”

Though the laws don’t punish people for owning sex toys, banning their sale is a backdoor attempt to discourage their use, Mr. Lopez said.

“People have a fundamental right to engage in lawful sexual practices in the privacy of their home,” Mr. Lopez said. “It’s not like this stuff is available in Macy’s. Kids aren’t allowed in. You or I wouldn’t accidentally walk into one.”

Friday, April 14, 2006

Bush’s Medical Plan


…yeah…it’s a joke.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Happy Egg and Zombie Day!!


Here’s some funny for the weekend’s holiday!

Monday, April 03, 2006

I Read Giberish!! You Can Too!

Now this could just be because I’m southern, but I can actually read this stuff. It’s like you’re looking at it and know it makes no sense…yet you can read every word of it straight through!

This is wild wild crazy stuff! Tax payer dollars well spent as well I might add.