My Weblog

SpeakUp and Be Counted

Good Afternoon:

Another topic that needs addressing is the enviornment outside of the United States of America.  You've got to remember that the entire world is being threatened by global warning, not just the United States or our western allies who have good harvests, plenty of food, gasoline, oil, and creature comforts.

There are other parts of the world where global warning is effecting their environment at a much faster pace, and effecting their civilian population at a faster clip, too.  One of these places is called Darfur.

There are two million people living in Darfur.  And there, the land and their resources will make it impossible for many of its people to live the good life as evidenced by us on the other side of the world.

Desertification, soil erosion and shrinking rainfall will hurt its people and their livestock.  The "sober reality" (like the U.S. reality programs, only it's for REAL, not like the fake reality  programs we view on our tv's back home) is that people can't return to their homes or live the way they use to do things.

Andrew Morton, of Uneps' post-congflict and disaster management branch, said Darfur had seen conflicts over water and grazing land for generations, as a growing population competed for declining resources."  Now, because of global warming, there's even less for a growing population.  As these people move away from dwindling resources, they compete with people already lving in the south.  Which means, less for everyone living there.

The report covers the entire country and warns Sudan that no peace will be likely unless its rulers are prepared to meet the growth of deterioration of the land and its natural resources.  Mr. Steiner said "parts of the Sudan where the desert is moving steadily southwards, were facing ecological collaspe.  However, he doesn't seem to feel that it's too late to take action, which could be financed by booming oil and gas revenues."

The deterioration of the land is due to Sudan's farming practices including a livestock book from 27 million in 1961 to 135 million in 2007.  "Darfar's forest coverage shrank by a one third between 1973 and 2206, according to Unep."

In 80 years, Darfar has seen rain decreased one third from its average rainfall.  This lack of rainfall is expected to worsen as a result of a changing climate.

It makes you wonder how long it will take before the rest of the world wakes up and takes notice of this problem.  Problems don't remain isolated for very long.  They tend to become other people's problems over the long haul.  Peal  S. Buck had a saying and it went something like this:  "When the rich become too rich and the poor become too poor, there's revolution."

Makes you wonder if we can rephrase Ms. Buck's premonition into something like this:  "When the world gets too thirsty and only 20 percent holds the world's water resources in their hands, the world will erupt."

It makes sense, don't you think?

Let me know what you think.  My crystal bowl is in the repair shop!

Thanks,

SpeakUp & Be Counted

Good afternoon:

This arrived in my email today, and I want each and everyone of you to read this and let me know how you would feel if someone you know or loved got caught in a similar situation.  Just remember, it doesn't happen to other people.  It can happen to you!

Dear friends:

In May, three soldiers, including Army Specialist Alex Jimenez, were captured by al-Qaeda in Iraq, and one of those soldiers turned up dead not long after. Jimenez was serving his second tour in Iraq, after returning with a Purple Heart from his first. At this point in time, we don’t know what his fate is, but the signs are not good. What we do know is that is wife entered the US illegally in 2001. The couple, married in 2004, had applied for a green card for her, and the process was underway, but was stopped by an immigration judge after he went missing. This soldier’s wife now faces deportation from the United States.

We all know that institutions can sometimes be crazy, and the Department of Homeland Security is no exception. Here’s a video DHS recently posted of their officers harassing a woman travelling through Reagan National Airport with her toddler. Her offense? She tried to carry her kid’s sippy cup through the security checkpoint. Ironically, they posted the video to show how professional their folks are. Professional enough that it took a crowd of security people to force this woman to get down on her hands and knees in the airport to wipe up a water spill as passengers went by.

Those are a couple of recent items I’ve blogged about, and I’ve also got some good news to share, and a favor to ask:

This morning, a review of Republic was written up on DailyKos and is now one of the top recommended diaries. You can check it out here.

What is the favor? Drop by and join in the conversation, and please put in your recommendation to help keep it up on top of the list for a while! Let a friend know about it, and if you have a blog or discussion board you participate, please tell others.

So far, reactions to the book since its release have been great. Chris Gerrib, author of The Mars Run, wrote up a very positive review, and for most of the last week the book has been in the top ten subscriptions on Podiobooks.com. If you haven’t been to podiobooks.com before and like audio books, you should check it out. Everything they have is released under a Creative Commons license.

Thanks so much, and please drop by and say hello!

Best regards,

Charles

Well, what are you waiting for?  SpeakUp and Be Counted!

I did!

SpeakOut & Be Counted

Welcome to LCauldwell's Media Weblog.

After much thought, I've decided to name this Media Blog as SpeakOut & Be Counted. 

What does this mean?

I INVITE all guests to tell me how they feel about specific events that aren't being adressed by Congress, Senate, Presidential Candidates, or other so-called Authority Figures.  There are many areas in our country that face problems that haven't been solved because the powers-to-be refuse to deal with them on any level.

I want this blog to reflect UR opinions, feedback and problems that you feel our legislative branches aren't addressing or in a hurry to address.  One of the biggest topics surfacing in today's political arena is does a hospital or a physician have the right to refuse treatment or refuse medication to a patient if they're morally, ethically, or religiously against that type of treatment or medication?

For example, let's take a look at RAPE.  When a man or woman is raped, the first step they take is to go to an emergency medical facility and be examined and then treated to prevent veneral diseases and/or pregnancy.  However, in today's medical climate, it seems that doctors and hospitals have the right to refuse a patient parts of a RAPE KIT that many cities use after the victimn comes to the hospital for treatment.

In a recent article written by Sabrina Rubin Erdely appearing at MSNbc website, she states that "nearly 1 in 20 women are refused treatment in cases of rape, and the doctors decline to give these women referrals to get the morning after pill or pregnancy shots because it's against their moral, ethical, and religious principles.  Ms. Erdely goes on to state that "18 percent of these doctors and hospitals felt no obligation to refer patients elsewhere."

Jamie D. Brooks, a former staff attorney for the Nations Health Law Program says:  "It's obscene.  Doctors swear an oath to serve their patients.  But instead, they are allowing their religious beliefs to compromoise patient care.  And too often, the victims of this practice are women."

I ask you in a country that boasts the most superior and obtainable health care in the world, is it right that women suffer because of a doctor's or hospital's prejudice in what they believe is morally right?  These doctors and hospitals claim that the  Constitution of the United States gives them the right to refuse treatment to these victimns.  They add, too, that part of their oath is to "keep a patient from harm" and therefore they refuse to abort the fetus.

Would these same doctors and hospitals hold that same view if their wives, daughters, nieces, or themselves were raped?  Or would they hold firm and bear a "raped victimn's baby regardless of the result of such a forced union.

I wonder, and I suspect that many of you wonder, too.  Sometimes, I suspect that these same doctors and/or hospitals wouldn't hold too tightly to what they believe - unless it happens to them, their relatives or immediate families.

I know how it feels to be raped.  I was raped fifteen years ago.  Yet, I can still relate in great detail what the assailant did to me and how I felt during and after the rape.

The police treat you like a whore as if you invited that rapist into your home or gave them permission to rape you.  You're taken down to the police station in whatever state the rapist found you.  That means if you're sleeping, you go down in your nightie.  If you're wearing sweats, at least you're decently dressed.

Tip:  Don't wash yourself in your private area or take a shower or bath.  Why?  Because for evidence, you'll need to comb your pubic hair and give it to the police who place it in a plastic bag.  If you're rapped while you sleep, your bedsheets go along with you.  Semen evidence.  The police will ask you for a description.  Never mind that out of the five other women who were raped, you were the only one who wasn't killed.  The police, doctors, and/or the hospital don't care.  They only care about one thing:  their perspective of what happened whether or not it coincides with your version or not.

Once down at the police station, you're treated as if you're the criminal.  You'd let yourself be raped.  Shame on you!  You will spend hours looking at mug shots.  If you live in an apartment complex, don't expect any sympathy.  They won't believe you're an innocent victimn.

By the time a woman is finished with her physical examination, given the shots in either side of her hips, help the police identify the culprit, the woman isn't in any mood for a doctor/hospital to refuse her requests.

I've been taught that United States of America has separation from Church and State.  Yet, it doesn't seem to have gotten down to the medical profession.  If the doctor and/or hospital can't treat the whole patient, why bother being in or be a medical practioner. 

Are we going backwards in our society?  Are we looking at back alley abortionists?  Do we need permission from the Church to protect ourselves? 

It seems that way.

What about you?  Were you ever a victimn of rape?  How did you feel?  How would you feel if a doctor/hospital refused you medical treatment and/or a perscription to abort a fetus.  Would your religious principles stop you from taking care of yourself?

I would like to know because it's too important an idea to die on the floor.

Many people believe if doctors/hospitals refuse treatment on religious principles, where does it stop?  Will Republican doctors/hospitals refuse treatment of Democrat patient's, Conservatives or Liberals?

Let me know what you think.  I'd appreciate all comments and arguements.

One last thing.  Buckle up your seatbelt because it's gonna be a bumpy ride all the way in LCauldwell's blog of SpeakUp & Be Counted!