Dewey ENG102

The U.S. Roman Catholic bishops issued a pastoral letter that would criticize abortion and end the disgrace of having an abortion under law.

My mother was born to an unwed 15 year old in 1940. My mother was given away in adoption to a family member. My grandmother wanted to have my mom (she had fallen in love with a service man who was killed in German) but her mom wanted her to have an abortion. It was illegal in those days and my grandmother refused to go to the "special doctor." So she was shipped away to a home for girls like her in Chicago to have my mom. My story is different then most. I am a product of a saved baby. Without my grandmother fighting for my mom, myself, my brother, my children, we would be dead. It is harder to speak to a child that survived abortion. No one has the right to tell me that we do not have the right to live. I am so grateful that abortion was illegal. I am so grateful that my beautiful children are alive.We are blessed.

Whenever this issue comes up one thing always pops into my head. My body, my choice. I am a female that was born and raised in the Catholic church and had to listen to this stuff for years. It never made sense to me why so many people try revoking this right from women. If you don't support it, fine. However, to take the option away from women who do want abortion as an option opens up even more negative doors. When women do not have a safe environment to discuss these options and the operation itself is made illegal then women who are desperate are more likely to go to back alley doctors or try to perform their own abortion. This often leads to more deaths among women whether it be from a botched, cheap operation or a horrific infection. It should also be noted that each woman is different. They might want the option of abortion for various reasons. Perhaps something is wrong with the child, and the doctors note it won't live past a couple of days, maybe the woman was raped and ended up pregnant, perhaps the fetus was dying and was also killing the mother, perhaps the woman just doesn't want children. You never know the circumstances of why a woman chooses to have an abortion, and they should never be judged for it or have that right revoked.

Should kids be required to get vaccinations? This website talks about how there are now fewer kids getting vaccines because of a number of reasons. some of the reasons are that the parents are simply opting out because of fears or paranoia or just laziness. The article says that the reasons that parents use for kids to skip shots vary, some are related to religion. 

Hi all, I am a parent of three. All of my kids are current on all vaccines recommended by their PCP. I am a true believer. That being said I do think something could be changed for the vaccine requirements. I have spoken to many people about this in my area. I'm actually scared for the un-vaccinated kids so it always sparks curious conversations for me. The common denominator I found with everyone I have spoken to about not vaccinating their kids is, they don't want to vaccinate all at once, they want to spread it out. I feel it's a greater risk to wait or not get a child vaccinated period, but I'm wondering for those who are just not educated on the facts of vaccines or those who are afraid of all of them at once maybe they can have a different vaccine protocol. While it won't be what the CDC recommends initially, I feel that it would still be better than not vaccinating period.

I agree with my colleagues above, the ignorance about vaccines is becoming widespread. We are in an age of refined medical practices and innovation based on factual evidence and research. Parents in doubt should consider two words. (Herd Immunity) for those unfamiliar with its meaning I'll leave you with its definition - the resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a population that results if a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination. "the level of vaccination needed to achieve herd immunity varies by disease but ranges from 83 to 94 percent" We all have a stake in this.

This article talks about how New York City's public middle schools and high schools are now required to take sex ed classes. This article talks about this new mandate and its implications and the effects that it might have. The article also provides reasons on why it was decided that sex ed should be a required class and its benefits. 

Sex ed should be a choice for kids to take in accordance to their parents, for myself when I was younger we had to have a signed paper from our parents giving us permission to take part in the sex ed class and for those parents who said no and wanted to teach there kid themselves went to another room. I see both sides to this article and its a very well informative piece.

I think a semester of sex ed would be great. When I was in school it was just a 55 minute lecture with a couple of videos. I understand why some people may be upset with this, however, those people must understand that not every child has an involved parent who are capable or willing to educate their children. I think safe sex is integral for our children to learn. I believe it could help lower the stats of sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancies.

This website talks about the different opinions of whether or not kids should wear school uniforms. This article says that school uniforms may help prevent violence and make a better learning environment. The article also gives other possible benefits of wearing school uniforms. 

I personally have never been a fan of school uniforms for my own children but I can understand how they are warranted in some districts. Some parents may not be able to affront the things other students have making them feel inferior; this allows for everyone to maintain the same sense of self without being picked on.

I can see both sides to this issue but honestly I think that children should be able to pick what they want to wear appropriate of course but to be able to have that voice through clothing when they might not have a voice in general can do a lot of a child I think.

Should single people to allowed to adopt? This website fights for the equality of unmarried people and it discusses whether or not unmarried people should deserve more equal opportunity of being able to adopt a child. it explains first that there are so many children waiting to be adopted. Then the website also talks about how unmarried people actually want to adopt. 

Being married should not have any precedence over those who are not. Love is a universal concept that everyone has to offer. Women no longer need a man to provide for them, so why should one have to be married to love and care for a child? Especially if the willing parent has no issue providing the means to support the child. It is better than just leaving the child in a system that gives them no actual emotional support, which only contributes to abandonment and self-worth issues.

Personally I think anyone who is willing to tell themselves that they want to take in a child that is not born from their blood line and care for that child as if they are then all power to them, there are too many children out there that don't have homes and are put in the system until they age out and I think equality for single people is the right thing to do.

This article features Ken Robinson; a prominent public speaker. In it he discusses how children are being taught the answers and denied the freedom of asking questions.

Really great read!!! This article really digs deep into so many issues our educational system has today. I feel strongly about all of the authors assertions and hope soon we make some changes.

Great find, the article it very well written and the topic alone is something to really just think about, I agree that children are becoming much more shy when it comes to asking questions and instead of being told there is no stupid question they just go on not understanding because they didn't want to ask someone a question that they had concerns about.

This article discusses the controversy between freedom of speech and preventing terrorism. A high school students Facebook comments put him in court.

It's nice to see how serious our law enforcement agencies are taking this. I'm all for making an example out of this kid. However, I'm not sure if 20 years is the answer either. If anything the kid needs some help, not a third of his life behind bars. Of course I can't share a definite observation, and opinion on the matter because I haven't listen to the video. Again, either way the security of our nation and its people is and should be highest priority.

he anti-abortion group that recently revealed two videos from a secret investigation into abortion clinics released a third on Thursday. The group, Live Action, previewed it first to CNN, providing what appears to be full footage and an edited version.

This article goes over the negative side of abortion and what goes into having one. In addition to that it goes over how abortion is done correctly in certain clinics.

When Paul Watson says that he and other members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society risk their lives to save whales, he isn't joking. Every winter, the Sea Shepherd staff and crew set sail to the treacherous Southern Ocean to stop Japanese whalers from catching and killing nature's largest mammals.

I used to love watching their show on discovery channel. I agree they do risk lives every time they go out to stop the Japanese whalers. I do feel that the conservation of whales is important to our environment. I went whale watching in San Diego over the summer and they are magnification animals.

Why are Black women over 3 times more likely to obtain an abortion than White women? Even though African Americans are only 12.6% of the population, they received 30% of the 1.2 million abortions in 2008 (latest available statistics), killing 360,000 Black babies at a rate of nearly 1,000 per day.

This article goes over why black women are 3 times more likely to have an abortion. In addition to that, it goes over why Planned Parenthood's are strategically place in black poverty neighborhoods.

The National Security Agency has greatly expanded since September 11, 2001. People have come forward and recently exposed the corruption of the system, and the spying the agency has conducted on millions of Americans, through phone calls and other mass forms of media we consume everyday.

I understand the reason for the surveillance, but I feel that if they find nothing wrong, they should move on. I also feel that it is a violation of peoples' rights to privacy. If I was a suspected terrorist or caught peeping on sites that I shouldn't, please track me so that I don't hurt anyone or do irreparable damage. However, if you spy on me and all I do is talk to family and do homework, pay bills and occasionally visit Facebook, then just leave me alone. Spend the time watching someone that you should be.

Whether the NSA is listening to you or not, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about, they are not sharing your information with others, nor are they even listening closely to your conversation. The NSA was weakened through the repealing of the patriot act last year, and since there have been 3 major terror attacks on the homeland, a clear rise in terror in the homeland through the gained power of terrorist due to paranoia from American citizens, who value privacy over safety.

It is evident that a major threat to our personal privacy, and the possible infringement of our rights are increasing due to the use of unmanned aerial vehicles "UAV's" in U.S airspace.

I found this article pretty interesting. I never really realized that were were using the UAV's until my sister in law started flyng one. She is a pilot in the air force and flys the UAV's into enemy territory from her basement in South Dakota. I feel in this case that it is a valuable asset. Atleast we are saving our lives by using that instead of sending soldiers to die.

The article covers the announcement of Obama's gun debate in 2016. It talks about the many concerns of gun restrictions as well as President Obamas proposal on these issues and more.

I love the fact that Arizona is a right to carry state. I think the biggest thing that people need to think about is this.. Most people that commit crimes with guns did not go to their local Wal-mart and buy a gun and go kill someone. Most people that use guns for violence came across those guns illegally. Whether they were stolen or bought from an illegal arms seller, they were obtained illegally. These are the guns that need to be controlled, not the ones that were legally obtained.

The article covers the ranking and study of the worst states for personal freedoms, and the issues that captivate these problems.

American public on lack of education regarding the world and history, that people will buy any propaganda that is thrown at them to win public opinion.

The annual Press Freedom Index reached its lowest ranks science it was created back in 2002. The fact that United States journalists still are not entitled to protect sources about confidential information about his or her own work.

Incentive of the abuse of power within the American Government. The every evolving concept of personal freedom that is America and a small and restricted government in the United States.

The article explains how free speech is not being treated as it should on Collage Campuses and how these acts are leading to unrest and tension. This article also covers the diversity and separate places that students want to express their differentness.

This article talks about how legislations would allow open discrimination against people whose sexual identities defy the heteronormative construct. This article also covers other sexual identity problems such as none catering of gay weddings.

The article talks about privacy exemption and how it is used as an important tool for protecting personal information in the government. But it is overused to stop the release of a wider range of government information.