Government Diigo

"In America today, we have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth... One family, the Walton family of Wal-Mart, owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of Americans. "

Someone posted this, but it wasn't possible to comment

First point: I fail to see how denying a single cell the chance to go through mitosis is abortion. It's no more aware than bacteria. Also, the author is referencing the morning-after pill. For some reason there's a lot of confusion about how the morning after pill actually works. It prevents the egg from joining the sperm, or depending on where the woman is in her cycle, prevents the ovaries from releasing eggs. Contrary to what pro-life proponents apparently believe, conception does not happen immediately after having sex. If using the morning-after pill is abortion, we may as well call abstinence abortion. Secondly, "the mandate requires private citizens who are also employers to purchase private goods (health insurance services) with private money from non-government companies." This is clearly written by a sensationalist. What it really means is that a company has to use its own money to provide healthcare. (And everyone seems to be forgetting that employees don't just receive healthcare plans for free). There is a difference between being a private citizen and being an employer. Owning a public company and employing people is about as far from private as you can get. "Requiring private citizens to pay for abortifacients is more akin to requiring the Amish to use their own money to purchase weapons from a private gun dealer or be forced into bankruptcy. Or kind of like forcing anti-pornography legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon to buy pornography for her law students." This is simply ludicrous and shows that the author clearly doesn't understand what a business is. It's a corporation, it employees people, it isn't a private citizen. I will admit that if Hobby Lobby employed only people who were in complete agreement with the beliefs of the owners I would support them in their case. However, the reality is that many of Hobby Lobby's employees don't share the exact same beliefs as the owner. And it would in fact be illegal for Hobby Lobby to choose their employ

ees because of their beliefs. And the last time I checked, in America we don't make people follow certain religions or beliefs. In fact, the law isn't supposed to be based in religion. I know it sounds shocking, but it actually isn't okay to force a religion on people, or to make everyone live in accordance with one belief system, which is exactly what Hobby Lobby, and everyone who argues against this provision in the new health care law, is trying to do. Lastly, the author says repeatedly that this law essentially discriminates against Christians, which is a complete lie. Christians is a broad term. There are Christians who believe in all kinds of birth control and then there are those who think all birth control should be outlawed. There are even Christians who get abortions. So, and this is a message to anyone who writes articles of this kind, stop saying just saying Christians. Tell the truth and call yourself a Fundamentalist. Saying Christians make it seem like the majority of people who believe in Jesus Christ agree with you, and they don't. You're a minority, and you need to accept that. And maybe read a little about how our government works. It's a majority rules system.

Interesting issue. Biological father suing for visitation rights for baby he relinquished custody over when he and girlfriend put the infant up for adoption. I am curious to know what you think should happen.

I feel bad for both sides of this issue and most of all the child in which it involves. Although I believe that the child should be in custody of their biological father.

These situations are always sad in my opinion. I really feel bad for the biological father but I don't think he should get custody of his daughter. He signed away his custodial rights for whatever reason and he shouldn't, in my opinion, be able to back track on that after his daughter was adopted by another couple. The adoptive couple raised her for two years and they formed a bond and loving relationship which would be unfair to both the couple and the little girl to take away because the father decided to "take back" his custodial rights after giving them up.

This happened 2 years ago, in 2011, but I still found it interesting. Someone burning someones house down for a religious belief? Overkill much.

This reminds me of the multiple church burnings in Europe. One house is not overkill multiple churches is. Sorry I don't have a link for it.

It's interesting to read about the controversy over Obama's pick defense secretary and counterterrorism adviser.

I think it's fair to say that the criticisms made against Hagel are in the past now. He should be fit for the job. From a defense standpoint there will be a lot of issues at hand in this administration.

I think Brennan is a wise choice because he's been around for awhile and seems to have a lot of knowledge about a lot of things.

I think that all people should have to pay the same tax rate.

Washington (CNN) -- Inside an ordinary office building six blocks from the Capitol, investigators sift through evidence of possible violations against ethics and laws committed by the nation's elected representatives. This is the Office of Congressional Ethics, also known as the OCE. It is one of the most important watchdogs in Washington.

if the people who are being investigated are trying to stop the investigators then their is most likely some corruption happening in congress

The ones unaffected from the result of the fiscal cliff are the retired, disabled, the unemployed and the rich that do not work

a specific law that has passed both the Senate and the House, and is presently in a conference committee, where lawmakers reconcile the two versions. Observers once worried that the law would permit the indefinite detention of American citizens, or at least force them to rely on uncertain court challenges if unjustly imprisoned.

Personally I believe that the NDAA for 2012 should never have been signed. I also think that it is a little late to try and fix this because people in Congress have already agreed that they want to permanently detain American citizens without trial and now are just trying to save face by "opposing" it. After all the author of that amendment, Senator Feinstein, voted for the NDAA for 2012. What really confuses, and kind of angers me, is that Obama said when he signed the NDAA for 2012 he didn't want that part in the law but he was signing it anyway (I don't have a quote but I'll find one). Now he is trying to defend indefinite detention of citizens in court after a federal judge found it unconstitutional. Another interesting article about this is this one. It shows that even people who generally would work together disagree about this bill: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/18/ndaa-indefinite-detention_n_2326225.html

The Westboro Baptist Church, the controversial group known for protesting outside funerals of slain U.S. service members, announced that it will picket a vigil for the victims of Friday's Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the second-deadliest school shooting in American history.

I hope they lose their tax-exempt status. Here's an article with more information on their 501(c)3 status and how they could lose it. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/westboro_baptist_churchs_tax-exempt_status_challenged_20121218/ Personally, I think their protests are clearly staged with the intent to influence politics. (They want gay marriage outlawed)

well if the parents know they are gonna protest have the funeral be private so they can't protest

"When the KKK steps in as the voice of reason, you know you are dealing with the bottom-of-the-barrel crazy." -Very true. I don't usually approve of Anonymous, but it will be interesting to see what they do.

I find it interesting that the KKK is against what they're doing. Like the quote that Mallory posted said, you're clearly wrong and crazy if the KKK is against what you're doing.

To funny, Anonymous is going after them! This is hilarious! Mallory, thank you for showing me this!

I think life in prison would be worse than the death penalty to begin with

@ Dylan, you are not a prison warden, keep the topics on this page relevant to the conversation, and have some potential form of evidence to back up what you say. @ Joe, it is much less expensive to keep someone alive then execute them. The death penalty is much more expensive than life without parole because the Constitution requires a long and complex judicial process for capital cases. This process is needed in order to ensure that innocent men and woman are not executed for crimes they did not commit, and even with these protections the risk of executing an innocent person can not be completely eliminated. Example State: California How much they could save: With life in prison as the maximum punishment for 1st degree murder, they would save over 1 billion dollars a year. Money that could be saved per year for taxpayers: 90,000 dollars a year. Taxpayers save money if they do not use the death penalty. http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42 Besides, many murder victims PREFER the idea of Life without Parole. If you do not believe this, check out this site made by the victims families: https://www.aclunc.org/docs/criminal_justice/death_penalty/Voices_from_California_Crime_Victims_for_Alternatives_to_the_Death_Penalty.pdf I have the feeling that nobody will even look at these links, but they are blunt evidence that it is cheaper, and makes more people happy, then when we use the death penalty. Oh.... By the way, 2nd degree murders (who cannot receive the death penalty) can do all that which you stated before Joe. Why should first degree murders be any different?

The death penalty is dumb you should just let that sever his/or hers time in prison.

A group of lifeguards get fired because they used their city lifeguard outfits and the public pool they worked at to make a Gangnam Style spoof.

That seems like a harsh punishment, as well as a politically unwise one. The city now has to replace 13 lifeguards, and there probably won't be many people who want to work at the city-owned pool after this.

I applied to University of Iowa this fall and I wasn't asked about my sexual orientation. None of the questions on the application (or the housing app) asked anything about sexual orientation.