Abortion: Rewinding Time

by Ceridwen

I feel the American mind is going back to the 1950s when I hear Rush Limbaugh call Sandra Fluke a slut and again when Lisa Brown, a Michigan representative, uttered the offensive word vagina.

I don't like the word vagina, it sounds like a dirty word to say, I think my sexual organ should be called electra, but I forgetting the main issue, America, stop acting like the abortion issue is a political one.

An abortion is between a woman and a doctor; it's private, sensitive and a choice, not a political issue.  Even when people make it a political issue just think, how are my medical records any of your business?  The only reason this issue came up again is because of the medical advances available for premature babies.  I honestly believe life begins when a baby is born, until then, the life is just potential.

Unwanted children are a tragedy, but on a very strange note, aborting unwanted children did have a positive effect on the crime rates between 1985-1997.  Freakonomics has fascinating articles and a few podcasts on this topics pointing out how abortion reduces crime.  This is not just a policy for crack whores, but level headed college students who don't want a child now, but later have one.  Most women who have an abortion have children later, when their ready.

by David Roseborough

Doesn't a girl have a right to have a child when she is ready?  I think so, but with America still in the dark ages on sex education, abstinence please, is there any wonder why girls become pregnant as teens?  The rest of the modern world is laughing at America, why is America so scared of sex?  I blame the Puritans and their anti-sex ways.

American's do not want to admit women are having casual sex, abortion makes people confront the issue of woman's causal sex and American's do not like it.  It is an issue dealt with already, Roe vs Wade, learn from the past and move on.  Improve sex education for goddess sakes, teenagers are already having sex, make sure they are educated and have access to check ups and condoms.  Please stop this time travel nonsense and deal with the now issues of Americas sex education.

Educating for the Future

by Southbanksteve

I am a product of the education system here in the United States and I listen to program after program on NPR only to realize the system does not benefit the children anymore.


Billions of dollars go into the US school system and unless a student is from a wealthy family or apart of a wealthy school, chances are he/she will have a severe lack in basic education.


California spends, on average, about $8,887 per student, this is about $260,000 going into the class room, $68,000, on average, goes to the teacher where is the rest of the money going?


When teachers buy their own supplies, work 70+ work weeks, have to pay off a master's degree where is the money to help they be paid for their time and energy in the classroom?  


Even though California is one of the lowest in paying per student in the public schools, a quarter of a million is still a huge chunk of change and if the teachers aren't getting it who is?


Obviously it's the infrastructure filled with janitors, secretaries, administrators, who take up most of the funding.  I'm not saying schools do not need infrastructure, however, it is far from streamlined considering how teachers have to buy simple school supplies like paper.


This is a monstrous problem in the system and I truly believe no one wants to deal with it.  charter schools can be better, but not always, however the greatest difference between a charter school and a public one is if the charter fails it's shut down, but if the public school is failing it receives more money.


How does that make any sense?  It sounds like an absent father who throws money at problems rather than go to the root of the issue.  I'm not saying looking into the school system will be easy, but it looks like the whole body needs a therapist.

by Stroble, David

Root causes for the issues pop up everywhere; teachers, money, parents, students the government, but I think we need to dig deeper to an older issue.  Placing similar age groups together, learning the same subject at the same time, different classrooms or no, has not  proven to be an effective teaching practice, honestly it is an experiment.  


To go to a more recent time, the 1950s, schools trained college bound students and blue collar workers on different tracks, but with the manufacturing leaving the US to countries like China this system is no longer valid.


The roots of the educational system are flawed and unless we rip out the old dying roots the system will just try to grow again leaving the education of the future no better than before.

Why Did I Choose Paganism?

My response to a post at Paganspace.net:

When you're a child growing up on Christianity you were taught God can change the world and you could be apart of it if you were faithful.  Slowly you discovered the world wasn't fair, regardless of your boundless faith and belief, becoming angry at the injustices allowed to happen while God does nothing while you pray.

Later, you actually read the Bible, trying to understand it, dissecting it, analyzing it like a real historical text and realized it doesn't stand up to common logic.  You asked why were the four Gospels written about 70 years after Jesus' death?  Why are there no authenticated outside records of Jesus' life, or even the earthquake hitting Jerusalem after his death? 

As you researched more, you found the Jews worshiped multiple gods at one time and Yahweh, or Jealousy, was the one surviving over the ages.  You realized the Bible wasn't written all at once, and there was no way for any one man to follow all the rules.  You understood the cultural and historical context of the words and sought out understanding the original Hebrew, Arabic and Greek translations by scholars. You looked at other religions and saw patterns with Buddha, The Sin Eater, Osiris and Isis close to the story of Jesus.  Opening and understanding brought you a new belief applying to all religions on a path of "do as you will, but harm none."

You took control of your life, with this new found knowledge and through yourself stop in injustice overflowing to another generation in your family.  You didn't pray, you said stop, took the heat from your family for revealing a dark secret and are now stronger for it.

When I finally found the power within myself to confront my family for my abuse, my sisters abuse and my nieces abuse this is when I knew I wasn't Christian, I am something else.  I am a warrior for justice, called by Luna after much meditation and study living my life without fear of judgement.

Why did you choose Paganism?

American Colleges Murder Artists

Sweeney Hall SJSU Outside

I went through some depression while I was at SJSU and ranked up $20,000 in student loans.  Sadly this was not only a waste of time because I decided to peruse a Child Development degree at De Anza College, rather than my Creative Writing degree, but I couldn't complete hardly any of my classes because of how depressed I was.


The only problem I to have are getting the federal government to find my taxes for 2011.  I cannot simply print out my tax forms from Turbotax, no, they want documents from the government.   I've tried all my addresses, talked to a representative who said all the tax forms are not in yet, so there is a chance I will not be going to school in the fall.

Sweeney Hall Inside
What am I paying for?

If the school wants to encourage students it should be relatively simple for students who apply, especially when you have to have official documents from the federal government.  The government is slow and still cannot find my information.  I'm just so frustrated.


I believe De Anza is making their students do some of the legwork because of the lack of staff and horrible education cuts.  I just wish they chose another way to reduce their costs, because I cannot see how this is making a student's life any easier.


To go even further when a student works part-time it leaves less time for studying.  But he needs to work to pay off his bills, unless he lives at home or has financial support from his parents.  If he does need to work, he still doesn't earn enough to pay the bills and has to have a loan.  This makes the student acquire debt.

Coffee Backpack
by Rocketpacks1

Yes, education is an investment, but at what cost?  Lack of health care for the student, sleep deprivation, emotional stress, poor diet, long work hours, financial debt all promote health issues spanning well beyond college years.  


After a student acquires all of this stress and debt there is no other option but to "opt to major in fields that will give them more marketable skills in the current job market: Think computer science, information technology, and engineering" (From the interview with Andrew Delbanco on NPR).  The artists are dead because society has murdered them financially, so will only rich children shape the art in America?


I think all of this helps promote the stress and unhealthy fervor for money.  I plan not to pay back my student loans for as long as possible, because I do not think my higher education helped me peruse the goals I wanted.  I felt they threw a bunch of English classes together and some writing classes, only 15/48 units were writing classes; not even half the classes you are required to take focus on your personal writing ability.

by Axstrat

Perhaps this is just the major I chose, and changed after I was so unhappy, but if colleges cannot make an effort to help liberal arts students making a living in a field they love, what is the point of earning a degree?