*Birth control for 11 year olds?

Below is a blog from "http://momblog.gainesville.com/default.asp?item=689868" and this is a mothers prospective on this issue. I do not agree with the schools move to give students as young as 11 birth control! For so many reasons! A child at the age of 11 should not be worried about if they will get pregnant...and if they are...then i think the school has other issues to worry about before they start handing out birth control! Also, the health issues that could result in a childs life if they started birth control at 11 and continued until marriage...this could be 10 years in most cases...this could cause a child to not be able to become pregnant when they finally want to....those are two of my main reasons....now lets hear from a mothers side:


"Birth control for 11 year olds?








Okay, how can we not discuss this one?

School officials at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, have passed a policy that will allow children as young as 11 to obtain birth-control pills at a middle-school health center without their parents knowing about it, according to a report by the Associated Press.

Parents are required to sign a waiver allowing their children to receive medical care at the school. However, now that medical care -- in the area of birth control -- is kept secret from the parents.

The school defended its decision by saying that the new policy is aimed at a tiny number of sexually active students. It also said that birth control would be given out only after extensive counseling, and no prepubescent children would get it.

The school will become the first middle school in Maine, and apparently one of only a few in the nation, to make available a full range of contraception, including birth-control pills and the patch.

I understand what this school is trying to do -- they are trying to protect sexually active children, who maybe cannot talk to their parents, from getting pregnant. But I think they are missing it. So, here are the big issues I have with this:

1. Birth Control is a medication: Like all medications, there are a slew of side effects that the pill can cause, not to mention the danger of drug interactions. If a kid who is on another medication takes the pill, there could be severe consequences.

2. STDs: I think that simply handing out the pill could give a young girl a false sense of protection. While she may not get pregnant (assuming that she could responsibly take a daily pill that most adults even forget,) what about the risk for STDs?

3. Parents' right to know: This is a big one for me, as a mom. So, you are telling me that you -- the school -- could give my child prescribed medication and I am not allowed to know about it? The thought of that simply makes my blood boil. In trying to protect a small number of students, you are trampling over my rights as a parent.

Okay, so let's hear it. I know there are people on both sides of the fence. Honestly, how do you feel about this? Parents across the country are furious, especially in Portland, Maine. If it were your kid's school, what would you do?"

Go ahead and tackle her questions here!

*Your LA TOPS information LOST!!!

click on the following link to access a secure website to see if you were among those affected:
https://osfantweb.osfa.state.la.us/Notice.nsf/

Additional information, including a toll-free call center number will be provided to you once you have completed this on-line query.


"Sensitive data for virtually all Louisiana college applicants and their parents over the past nine years were in a case lost by a Boston-based contractor last month during a move, officials said.

The lost case held backup data for every Louisiana application for federal student aid -- just about anyone who applied to college -- from 1998 through Sept. 13 of this year. It also involved anyone who had a college savings account under the START Saving Program or who applied for the TOPS scholarship program in those years.

The data included Social Security numbers for applicants and their parents; the bank account information for START account holders also was involved. Sophisticated equipment and knowledge would be required to access the data.

The case was lost Sept. 19 when a driver for a Boston-based contractor failed to follow company procedures when loading it onto his vehicle, according to a statement e-mailed Wednesday by Laura Sudnik, spokeswoman for Iron Mountain Inc.

"Our entire business is built around high security and reliability and we regret that this employee error took place," the data-protection and storage company said.

The driver was fired. Sudnik said the man had worked five years for Iron Mountain and his work record had been in good standing. The loss of the case was an accident without malicious intent, Sudnik said.

The data was being moved from Iron Mountain's Port Allen storage building to Baton Rouge. Iron Mountain said it notified the state immediately of the problem, but Amrhein said the office waited until this week to discuss the loss publicly to allow time to find the case.

Colleges did not learn about the problem until Monday, said Jim McCoy, LSU vice provost for enrollment management. "We're working diligently today to find out exactly what this means," McCoy said.

The student aid office set up a telephone hotline and posted a notice on its web site with a link to a secure site where people can find out if their records were among those lost. It advised people affected to place fraud reports with credit agencies and for those whose bank accounts were affected, to change the accounts.

More than 60 college-related records breaches have occurred nationwide this year, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

State Commissioner of Higher Education Joseph Savoie said he was shocked by the large number of breaches. "The whole issue of identity protection is something everyone needs to be concerned about," Savoie said."


Student aid's office notice, with secure link:

http://www.osfa.state.la.us/notice.htm

http://www.ironmountain.com/index.asp


Source: http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/10/17/sensitive_financial_data_lost_on_louisiana_college_applicants/

*LAST MINUTE ELECTION INFO!!!

Use the link below to visit and compare candidates so you can make an educated Choice!!!

http://www.commoncause.info/LA/results.php

*Info about upcoming LA elections!

Election Information...
^Click the link above to find out any of the following...
>Dates and Times
>My Ballot
>Candidate Qualifying
>Where Do I Vote?
>What District Am I In?
>Ballots by Parish
>Proposed Constitutional Amendments
>Important Dates for 2007 Election Cycle for State Legislators
>Other Statewide Races
>Members Elected Without Opposition: Senate House
>Members Retiring: Senate House
>Members Term-Limited: Senate House
>Campaign Finance Disclosure
>Campaign Finance Contribution Report
>Campaign Finance Expenditure Report


Louisiana Candidates and Referendums
November 2007 General Election
^This is a directory of Louisiana Candidates and Referendums November 2006 General Election provided by Vote-USA.
Use the candidate name links to obtain
a) biographical information about each candidate,
b) each candidate's position and views on issues, and
c) a pictures of each candidate.

Use the office buttons to obtain side-by-side comparisons of the candidates' views and positions on various issues.


Who is running for what???

*Hillary would ruin this nation!

This is one of the reasons why I will NOT BE VOTING FOR HER! As much as I think it would be a big step for women...I can't vote for her! I think that she would not only be the first woman president...she would also be the last!

If you are voting for her..tell me why?!!?? I do not understand why anyone would choose her of all the candidates...even tho our choices are lacking....but HER??!! As far as I am concerned if the name "Clinton" never made it back into the white house the US would be better off!

Convince me otherwise?! Who are you voting for...and why? Let your voice be heard! We are becoming a silent generation and we are slowly killing our freedoms and leaving no hope left for our children and grand children. Is it that you really don't are? Or are you scared?(post with no name then!)....or are you just lazy??

visit this link if you need help with who to vote for...it is a chart of where they stand on popular issues:

http://www.2decide.com/table.htm


Have a good one!

*The Jena Six...

In a small highly segregated rural Louisiana town of Jena in September 2006, a black student asked permission from school administrators to sit under the shade of a tree commonly reserved for the enjoyment of white students. School officials advised the black students to sit wherever they wanted and they did. The next day, three nooses, in the school colors, were hanging from the same tree. The Jena high school principal found that three white students were responsible and recommended expulsion. The white superintendent of schools over-ruled the principal and gave the students a three day suspension, saying that the nooses were “a youthful stunt.” Black students decided to resist and organized a sit-in under the tree to protest the lenient treatment given to the noose-hanging white students.

Racial tensions remained elevated throughout the fall. On Monday, December 4 2006, a white student who allegedly had been racially taunting black students in support of the students who hung the nooses got into a fight with black students. Allegedly, the white student was taken to the hospital treated, released, reportedly attended a social function later that evening.

As a result of this incident, six black Jena students were arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder. All six were expelled from school. The six charged were: 17-year-old Robert Bailey Junior whose bail was set at $138,000; 17-year-old Theo Shaw - bail $130,000; 18-year-old Carwin Jones--bail $100,000; 17-year-old Bryant Purvis--bail $70,000; 16 year old Mychal Bell, a sophomore in high school who was charged as an adult and for whom bail was set at $90,000; and a still unidentified minor.

On the morning of the trial, the District Attorney reduced the charges from attempted second degree murder to second degree aggravated battery and conspiracy. Aggravated battery in Louisiana law demands the attack be with a dangerous weapon. The prosecutor was allowed to argue to the jury that the tennis shoes worn by Bell could be considered a dangerous weapon.

When the pool of potential jurors was summoned, fifty people appeared, all white. The jury deliberated for less than three hours and found Mychal Bell guilty on the maximum possible charges of aggravated second degree battery and conspiracy. He faces up to a maximum of 22 years in prison.

The rest of the Jena 6 await similar trials. Theodore Shaw is due to go on trial shortly. Mychal Bell is scheduled to be sentenced July 31. If he gets the maximum sentence he will not be out of prison until he is nearly 40 years.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETETION!
http://www.petitiononline.com/aZ51CqmR/petition.html

TO SEE THE FULL STORY LOOK @ THIS VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuoiZnr4jLY

*FLY THE FLAG

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive how the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation."

George Washington

Please join us in this FLY THE FLAG campaign and please tell everyone about this effort and for them to pass on the word. We have a little less than one week and counting to get the word out all across this great land and into every community in the United States of America .

On Tuesday, September 11th, 2007 , an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States . Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this anniversary of our country's worst tragedy. We do this in honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms.

In the days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds.

Thank you for your participation.

Today in History

August 29

1533

Atahualpa, the last ruler of the Incas, was murdered as Francisco Pizarro completed his conquest of Peru.

1786

Shays's rebellion, an insurrection of Massachusetts farmers against the state government, began.

1842

The Treaty of Nanking was signed, ending the Opium Wars and ceding the island of Hong Kong to Britain.

1877

Brigham Young died in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1949

The U.S.S.R. tested their first atomic bomb.

1957

Strom Thurmond ended the longest filibuster in U.S. Senate history. He spoke for more than 24 hours against a civil rights bill; the bill passed.

1966

The Beatles played their last major live concert at Candlestick Park, California.

1981

Stacy Nason was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1991

The Supreme Soviet, the parliament of the U.S.S.R., suspended all activities of the Communist Party, bringing an end to the institution.

2005

Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast, destroying beachfront towns in Mississippi and Louisiana, displacing a million people, and killing more than 1,000.