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[Hollylane]

FULL DISCLOSURE: It’s not really Adele singing, but a well-timed voice over. Still, we nominate this as share-worthy! Watch:
Adele Serenades Newt Gingrich At The Grammys

[Lady Pamela]

Very important news we all need to know,
about Social Security


http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/02/...6pLid%3D136039

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Lady Pamela

Very important news we all need to know,
about Social Security


http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/02/...6pLid%3D136039

I guess it always puzzles me when they say stuff like this. How can they not have our social security? We already paid it. It's not like other people who are working when we retire are going to pay our social security. We already put the money in there.

Social Security Isn't in Crisis We Already Paid For It

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

I guess it always puzzles me when they say stuff like this. How can they not have our social security? We already paid it. It's not like other people who are working when we retire are going to pay our social security. We already put the money in there.

Social Security Isn't in Crisis We Already Paid For It

If government would stop borrowing from social security and giving tax breaks from social security and make the wealthy pay INTO social security, there would be NO problem whatsoever With social security.

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Corkey

If government would stop borrowing from social security and giving tax breaks from social security and make the wealthy pay INTO social security, there would be NO problem whatsoever With social security.

LOL. Truer words were never spoken.

[Toughy]

What concerns me about Social Security has to do with the payroll tax cuts that have been passed and are up for renewal right now. I hope folks realize that little tax break being given to folks working really is a reduction in the amount the individual is paying into their social security. You are paying less money in and that will affect how much you get when you reach 62 or 65 (at least those are the ages now) and start collecting your SS.

I'm in favor of middle/working class tax breaks but not at our own expense. Raise taxes on the top 1-2% and give us a straight up tax break instead of the 'tax break' scam being played out now.

[DapperButch]

Personally, I think that it is all going to work out in the end. I am not sure how, but I believe it will.

However, with that said, I believe that this article speaks to how important it is that people should not plan on it being there. Work your ass off to put as much money away as you possibly can.

Stats are showing that people are saving more than they have in the very recent past, but certainly not even as much as they saved historically.

Since social security was put in place there has been a steady decline of how much people save for retirement. This, of course, is not surprising.

[Toughy]

I"m speechless

Virginia House, Senate and Governor are all Republican. They are passing a law that requires a transvaginal ultrasound be done on every woman seeking an abortion. And her consent is not required. No exceptions. There is no medical reason to require that procedure be done. They would not even allow an amendment that asks the woman whether or not she consents to the medical procedure.

legally required rape by a health care provider......

[Corkey]

Originally Posted by Toughy

I"m speechless

Virginia House, Senate and Governor are all Republican. They are passing a law that requires a transvaginal ultrasound be done on every woman seeking an abortion. And her consent is not required. No exceptions. There is no medical reason to require that procedure be done. They would not even allow an amendment that asks the woman whether or not she consents to the medical procedure.

legally required rape by a health care provider......

Someone is going to have to sue them.

[Laerkin]

It's completely unacceptable on every level. Women are not human or worthy of control over their bodies to these people. It's disgusting and offensive. I hate living in this (Virginia) state. I cannot wait to get out.

Originally Posted by Toughy

I"m speechless

Virginia House, Senate and Governor are all Republican. They are passing a law that requires a transvaginal ultrasound be done on every woman seeking an abortion. And her consent is not required. No exceptions. There is no medical reason to require that procedure be done. They would not even allow an amendment that asks the woman whether or not she consents to the medical procedure.

legally required rape by a health care provider......

[Toughy]

Rachel Maddow did a segment on her show tonight

[Cin]

state laws on ultrasound and abortion

BACKGROUND: Since the mid-1990s, several states have moved to make ultrasound part of abortion service provision. Some laws and policies require that a woman seeking an abortion receive information on accessing ultrasound services, while others require that a woman undergo an ultrasound before an abortion. Since routine ultrasound is not considered medically necessary as a component of first-trimester abortion, the requirements appear to be a veiled attempt to personify the fetus and dissuade a woman from obtaining an abortion. Moreover, an ultrasound can add significantly to the cost of the procedure.

HIGHLIGHTS:
11 states require verbal counseling or written materials to include information on accessing ultrasound services.

20 states regulate the provision of ultrasound by abortion providers.

7 states mandate that an abortion provider perform an ultrasound on each woman seeking an abortion, and require the provider to offer the woman the opportunity to view the image.

9 states require that a woman be provided with the opportunity to view an ultrasound image if her provider performs the procedure as part of the preparation for an abortion.

5 states require that a woman be provided with the opportunity to view an ultrasound image.

All these states have some ultrasound requirements for abortion according to this document from the Guttmacher Institute:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

state laws on ultrasound and abortion

BACKGROUND: Since the mid-1990s, several states have moved to make ultrasound part of abortion service provision. Some laws and policies require that a woman seeking an abortion receive information on accessing ultrasound services, while others require that a woman undergo an ultrasound before an abortion. Since routine ultrasound is not considered medically necessary as a component of first-trimester abortion, the requirements appear to be a veiled attempt to personify the fetus and dissuade a woman from obtaining an abortion. Moreover, an ultrasound can add significantly to the cost of the procedure.

HIGHLIGHTS:
11 states require verbal counseling or written materials to include information on accessing ultrasound services.

20 states regulate the provision of ultrasound by abortion providers.

7 states mandate that an abortion provider perform an ultrasound on each woman seeking an abortion, and require the provider to offer the woman the opportunity to view the image.

9 states require that a woman be provided with the opportunity to view an ultrasound image if her provider performs the procedure as part of the preparation for an abortion.

5 states require that a woman be provided with the opportunity to view an ultrasound image.

All these states have some ultrasound requirements for abortion according to this document from the Guttmacher Institute:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Yes, it seems to me like there has been an increase lately in states requiring the viewing of images and also one recently (can't remember which one), requires the provider to describe the image.

[Nat]

Originally Posted by Miss Tick

state laws on ultrasound and abortion

BACKGROUND: Since the mid-1990s, several states have moved to make ultrasound part of abortion service provision. Some laws and policies require that a woman seeking an abortion receive information on accessing ultrasound services, while others require that a woman undergo an ultrasound before an abortion. Since routine ultrasound is not considered medically necessary as a component of first-trimester abortion, the requirements appear to be a veiled attempt to personify the fetus and dissuade a woman from obtaining an abortion. Moreover, an ultrasound can add significantly to the cost of the procedure.

HIGHLIGHTS:
11 states require verbal counseling or written materials to include information on accessing ultrasound services.

20 states regulate the provision of ultrasound by abortion providers.

7 states mandate that an abortion provider perform an ultrasound on each woman seeking an abortion, and require the provider to offer the woman the opportunity to view the image.

9 states require that a woman be provided with the opportunity to view an ultrasound image if her provider performs the procedure as part of the preparation for an abortion.

5 states require that a woman be provided with the opportunity to view an ultrasound image.

All these states have some ultrasound requirements for abortion according to this document from the Guttmacher Institute:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Vaginal ultrasounds in Virginia...

(Requires non-medically-necessary penetration with a phallic-shaped device))

[Toughy]

There are 2 kinds of ultrasound. One requires vaginal penetration with a probe and the other is what most people think of with ultrasound....some gel on your belly and there is no vaginal penetration.

I'm not sure which kind of ultrasound all those other states require.....a non-invasive ultrasound is bad enough, but invasive is just unacceptable.

[Nat]

Virginia Mandates ‘Unwanted Vaginal Penetration’ For The Abortion-Curious

Virginia is actually talking about the kind of ultrasound that involves a dildo-type sonic boom-generator penetrating the vagina, in a sort of, well, completely non-optional fashion

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Toughy

There are 2 kinds of ultrasound. One requires vaginal penetration with a probe and the other is what most people think of with ultrasound....some gel on your belly and there is no vaginal penetration.

I'm not sure which kind of ultrasound all those other states require.....a non-invasive ultrasound is bad enough, but invasive is just unacceptable.

It's not the easiest information to obtain, but at the very least Texas and Oklahoma require transvaginal ultrasounds if it will supply a clearer picture and of course it always will. That is the rub. Up to 12 weeks, when most abortions occur, it always will provide a clearer image.

Oklahoma

"April 21, 2010 |

The Oklahoma Senate passed five abortion bills Monday night, which opponents have said will severely limit a woman's ability to get an abortion and would entail some of the strictest anti-abortion measures in the country.

One of the bills would force a woman to get an ultrasound at least one hour prior to an abortion and be shown the image and given a detailed explanation of it, even if she wishes otherwise. A vaginal probe would be used if it would provide a clearer image of the fetus"

Texas
May 2011
Not only is this law an insult to women in Texas, a close reading of the Texas Penal Code, Section 22.011, suggests that the new law may also constitute a sexual assault upon women, which is a second-degree felony. Since 88 percent of abortions occur during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy transvaginal probes are necessary. Because the fetus is so small at this stage, traditional ultrasounds performed through the abdominal wall, "jelly on the belly," often cannot produce a clear image. Therefore, a transvaginal probe is most often necessary, especially up to 10 weeks to 12 weeks of pregnancy. The probe is inserted into the vagina, sending sound waves to reflect off body structures to produce an image of the fetus. Under this new law, a woman's vagina will be penetrated without an opportunity for her to refuse due to coercion from the so-called "public servants" who passed and signed this bill into law.

[Cin]

Senate Wants to Force the Unemployed to Work For Free

Along with efforts to drug-test the unemployed and deny benefits to those without high school diplomas, Republicans now want to make "volunteer" work a requirement.

20 hours looking for work and then 20 hours volunteering for free...

A law requiring them to spend 20 hours a week looking for work is nothing but an insult to people who are already searching desperately; making it a requirement would likely add a reporting burden that would either detract from their search or force them to spend time beyond their active job searching.

Forcing them to spend 20 hours a week "volunteering" additionally takes time people need for the very hard work of keeping their heads above water on limited means. And of course, creating an involuntary volunteer workforce is no kind of incentive to job-creation—why would any organization being provided free labor by the government ever create a job?

The are basically two reasons for measures like this. First,

"This proposal is very much about 'welfarizing' federal unemployment insurance benefits," said George Wentworth, a senior staff attorney with the National Employment Law Project, a worker advocacy group. Wentworth noted that the bill borrows language from the 1996 welfare law.

That is, it reframes unemployment insurance as something other than an insurance program that exists for all of us and that we work for.

Second, such measures simply punish and stigmatize people for being jobless at a time when there simply are not jobs in the economy for them. Because Republicans are mean-spirited like that.

[Cin]

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2012/02/15-0

A Whole Lotta Crazy: Sacred Sperm, Guns at Work, Public Hangings and Other News of the Weird and Awful

by Abby Zimet

We dunno: Is there more crazy out there than ever? Maybe it's just that the latest - a Maine law letting you bring your gun to work and an Iowa bishop calling on believers to "violently oppose" contraception as "the devil" - were the proverbial straws. Forthwith, a look at a bunch of bizarro news in no particular order of awfulness. Spilled sperm to no lunch to public hangings to many fetuses: It's A Wonderful Life.

In New Hampshire, GOP legislators want to save the economy by eliminating lunch breaks for (very likely) dawdling workers.

In North Carolina, Republican Rep. Larry Pittman wants to deter crime by reinstating public hangings, especially for “abortionists, rapists, and kidnappers.”

In Missouri, GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler, "a big believer in visuals," wants anti-choice activists to post pictures of aborted fetuses in college dorms.

Then again, Oklahoma GOP State Sen. Ralph Shortey wants a law to ensure that aborted human fetuses are NOT used for "enhancing flavor" in manufacturing food.

In New York, meanwhile, Fox News is worried about another "nightmare" - overpaid hotel maids. And Rick Santorum is worried the famously-anti-religion Obama administration is "on the path" to guillotining Christians.

In Arizona, GOP legislators want to ban swearing by teachers in classrooms or anywhere else on school property, and ban any profanity in any book or other material used in the classroom, which means good-bye to a whole mess of great literature from Catcher in the Rye to pretty much all of Shakespeare.

In Mississippi, patriots want to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America just to make sure who it belongs to.

And in Oklahoma, where proponents of the “personhood” movement are trying to ban abortion, contraception and in vitro fertilization to protect "all the rights, privileges, and immunities (of) the unborn child," State Sen. Constance Johnson tacked on a provision ruling that "any action in which a man ejaculates or otherwise deposits semen anywhere but in a woman's vagina shall be interpreted and construed as an action against an unborn child" - thus outlawing oral sex, anal sex, masturbation and pulling out.

Tricky footnote: Two of these pieces of legislation were in fact offered as a joke. For now, there's still a Gulf of Mexico and you can still do whatever you want to do in the privacy of your home. For now. Most alarming part of the footnote: It's nigh-on impossible to discern them from the rest.

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Toughy

I"m speechless

Virginia House, Senate and Governor are all Republican. They are passing a law that requires a transvaginal ultrasound be done on every woman seeking an abortion. And her consent is not required. No exceptions. There is no medical reason to require that procedure be done. They would not even allow an amendment that asks the woman whether or not she consents to the medical procedure.

legally required rape by a health care provider......

I understand the new laws being proposed and enacted are designed by those pro-life people looking for ways to undermine a woman's right to an abortion. I understand their mind set is something along the lines of ....if only women saw the fetus as a living thing, they would change their minds. And an ultrasound, whether abdominal or transvaginal, is their feeble attempt to do this.

I also understand these idiotic requirements are meant to make the process more cumbersome and distasteful for both the woman seeking an abortion and the person providing the service.

The laws are meant and written to make an ultrasound as a required prerequisite for an abortion. They require not only the test but a visual and verbal description of the results. They require one to have the test in order to proceed with the procedure. If one doesnt consent to the requirements to have the procedure, the procedure, technically, would not be legally able to be performed.

I find it reprehensible for someone to use the law and the health care system to impose their morality and religious beliefs on another. It is one thing to have tests required prior to a procedure as a safety/precaution measure, and quite another to have them required as a morality check.

On the other hand, I also find it disturbing to see people call this "legal rape by a health care professional". It might be the word "rape" that is bothering me. Rape, to me, is a violent act of power. In this context, it brings up visions of women being tied down to gurneys while a transvaginal probe is being forcibly inserted into them. This vision stirs up the emotions but it is not what any law I have read says or implies.

To me, the laws have removed the woman's right to opt out of an ultrasound and the related explanations. It is saying, in order to do this procedure, this is what we are required to do by law. If you agree, we can proceed. If you do not, we cannot.

This is not the same as "legalizing rape by a health care professional". Nor is it the same as saying women do not have to consent. Doing any procedure for any reason without consent is assault and battery.

The Virginia law requires: a doctor to determine the gestational age and listen for a heartbeat. Not a heck of a lot of ways to do this and still be compliant with the law. The Virginia law also seeks to legislate a fertilized egg as a personhood with rights. Thats an entirely different matter.

As reprehensible as these laws may be, it is imperative, I think, to maintain a level head in the entire matter. These constant, repetitve legislative abuses to "legalize" their version of morality, whether it be in reproductive rights or gay marriage or anything else, are increasing at an alarming rate in the strangest of ways. It needs to be dealt with.

Do we have any info on what is being done to challenge these abuses of legislative power?