altara

Friday, February 18, 2011

Planned Parenthood Funding Blocked In House Vote

House Republicans voted on Friday to strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood, cutting money for contraceptives, HIV tests, cancer screenings and reproductive health services .....

These attacks on abortion providers and even on other health services provided by Planned Parenthood and other institutions are an outrage. Abortions are legal in this country and the many restrictions imposed or planned by state and federal governments are unjustified. In fact, it is difficult to see any reason for denial of any federal funds for this legal medical procedure.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Having trouble with my computer. Can I get Watson to help?

Sunday, February 13, 2011

DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA

Hooray for Egypt! The bravery and perseverance of the people have put Egypt on the road to democracy. Let's hope that it turns out to be fair, just and effective.

Meanwhile, our democracy is on a bad course. How bad is it when many candidates are chosen on the basis of their ability to raise money? Very bad, and a continuing corrupting influence. But neither party will do anything about it; so our legislators must keep spending time courting donors.

And misleading propaganda leads a large, undiscriminating segment of the public to oppose a health care law that is a benefit and to believe that a very helpful stimulus law was completely ineffective. (Shades of the lead up to the Iraq invasion!)

The Supreme Court, with Citizens United, now allows corporations to spend massively for Republicans and the increased numbers of Republican governors will skew redistricting; and so 2012 brings the threat of Republican control of Congress. Only re-election of President Obama can mitigate the damage of Republicanism.

Otherwise, our democracy may not be destroyed, but we face further erosion of liberty, more limitation of the rights of women and gays, lax regulation, no action on immigration, less of a safety net, more deterioration of our environment and danger to our planet, more tax cuts for the rich. and more economic inequality.

We may need our own Tahrir Square.