Civilized Society Watch

Dignified death -- in Switzerland, assisted suicide is legal

2009-07-15T17:44:00.000-07:00

A sign of a civilized world:
'The children accompanied their parents to Switzerland where assisted suicide is legal: "Within a couple of minutes they were asleep, and died within 10 minutes,” Caractacus Downes, the couple’s 41-year-old son, said in the interview after his return to Britain. “They wanted to be next to each other when they died.” He added, “It is a very civilized way to end your life, and I don’t understand why the legal position in this country doesn’t allow it.”'

New York Times Article

Education is key to future jobs

2009-07-14T14:17:00.001-07:00

Obama has pledged to direct funds to community colleges to aid in the retraining of workers for future jobs. Hoorah for the philosophy of the more you know, the more power you have! "President Barack Obama on Tuesday unveiled a $12 billion plan to help community colleges prepare millions of people for a new generation of jobs."

AP Article

The only problem in Obama's plan is the perceived problem with fewer folks completing a degree at the Community College level than at the 4-year colleges. People who understand community colleges know that they attract people who are dabbling, who might want to take just a few classes, or who want a certificate for a job training program -- NONE of which requires completing the necessary classes for an actual AA degree. Pushing these people to get AA degrees would not be in their best interest. Completion rates of AA degrees should NOT be part of any future funding plans.

Australian Heathcare -- One good example

2009-07-14T12:53:00.001-07:00

For a review on Australian Healthcare, look to this article. Per my recent travels, Australia makes the US look third world.

Where love leads, nature follows.

2009-07-14T12:40:00.001-07:00

The animal world gives us evidence of the same behaviors we see among couples in the human world -- bisexual behaviors, break-ups, and interest in the next-door neighbor -- from Penguins to Chimps to Swans.

For more information, read this SF Chronicle Article: Widow a wedge between zoo's male penguin pair.

Indian Courts Decriminalize Consensual Gay Sex

2009-07-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

Indian Courts Decriminalize Gay Behavior

Encouragement from the White House

2009-06-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

I believe. I believe. It's silly, but I believe. (Think, "Miracle on 34th Street)

The White House has verbally committed to being on the side of equality for all.

Health Care Reform TODAY!

2009-06-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

From Wikipedia: "The U.S. spends more per capita than any other nation in the world, but is the only wealthy industrialized country in the world that lacks some form of universal health care."

Read more at Wikipedia on the , see debate for Universal Healthcare.

Review this article on
10 lessons for national health care reform

Melissa A. Rodgers
Tuesday, June 23, 2009

It's time to modernize our country's health care system and begin matching that offered by so many other countries throughout the world!

Letting Go of God

2009-06-29T07:25:00.000-07:00

Julia Sweeney's Letting Go Of God! Monologue

This excellent monologue, by Julia Sweeney, is a hilarious, poignant, brave, and uplifting story about her search for a more real relationship with God. She relates her love of the Catholic Church in which she was raised, and her disillusion with the Bible on which its teachings are based. Ultimately, through much soul-searching and education, she comes to the understanding that there is no God. WHETHER YOU BELIEVE HER OR NOT, her presentation is worth listening to, if for no other reason than to hear about all the different conversations she's had with the Church and other spiritual leaders of our time.

Personally, she illustrates beautifully what I myself went through when I was in High School. And she ends by eloquently describing the sheer joy and spiritual high that we both share as we participate in the natural world without a God describing its actions or pulling its strings. Nature is amazing. Life is amazing. And ultimately -- we are here for one small moment in its trajectory -- how lucky we are to each have our moment, to get here at ALL!!!!! How important it is to really be alive and experience it all.

Nuclear energy poses an even greater environmental threat than global warming

2009-05-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

Nuclear waste has way more destructive effects on the environment than fossil-fuel burning. Eventually the environment will suck up the CO2 we've added (once we've stopped adding to it), and though that will take generations, thousands of years from now we will not have a CO2 problem. But nuclear waste lasts 100s of thousands of years if not millions to billions. Some nuclear material will last longer than our planet. That means it easily lasts longer than any containers we have to hold it. And so far we don't even HAVE a place to hold it. Nuclear waste is a tragic legacy we leave for future generations of our planet and until we have a proper way to deal with it, what are we doing even discussing producing more? Today, more than ever, we owe it our future generations to act responsibility and in the long term. I hope we don't respond to the fears of global warming only to produce an even greater problem!

Wall Street Journal Article

Girls are dying for the right to go to school.

2009-05-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

The Taliban believes that girls should not be allowed to attend schools. They are killing and threatening young girls who are in schools (many built and paid for by western countries and individuals who want to help).

All the money in the world to build these schools and pay for their maintenance are NOT going to protect the people who want to attend them.

How can we fight this horror? How can a moment go by when we are not outraged about this atrocity and others like them? And if I have such difficulty going through a single day knowing how much suffering is going on elsewhere on this planet, how do our leaders fare?

How do our women leaders, in France, England, Iceland, Canada, South America, the U.S., the world at large -- how do we all not want to pick up arms and protect them all?

BBC News Reuters Story Spiegel Online Story

The complexity of morality. So what?

2009-05-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

All over this country and world, I hear people telling other people that the choices they make are "immoral" or "wicked," and that governments should prevent such behaviors from happening. But here's the rub: who are these people to think that society should run by THEIR definition of morality and wickedness? Who gets to decide what is and is NOT immoral or wicked? Whose code do we use? Which religion? Which book?

My own moral code does NOT come from a book a bunch of men wrote thousands of years ago and a bunch of men today interpret as they see fit. I'm an atheist. That already makes me wicked to many.

My code comes from the observations from my own life and the lives of people around me -- it comes from seeing what brings love and brings goodness into people's lives. I value honesty and responsibility -- commitment and stewardship. I believe that everyone has a right to make their own choices, even if I think those choices are wrong or bad or immoral or wicked, as long as those choices do NOT jeopardize the personal welfare and equal freedoms of the rest of society.

I could make a HUGE list of the behaviors I see in others that are "immoral or wicked" by my code or that aren't good for society (in my humble opinion) such as:

having more than 1 child in a day and age where our planet is overpopulated beyond control.
smoking
owning hordes of guns
plastic surgery
getting drunk
cheating and lying
NOT recycling
fundamentalists who think there is only one way for every human to behave, and it's their way
controlling the views and lives of your children or spouse

I and people like me could call for legislation against all the above. And maybe someday we will.

Again I say someone thinks someone else immoral or wicked? So what? EVERY HUMAN BEING IS DOING SOMETHING THAT SOME OTHER HUMAN BEING THINKS IS IMMORAL OR WICKED!! I would like these moral educators who point the finger to look at their own life choices and imagine the horror so many of the rest of us feel about those. Such individuals should be GRATEFUL that they're free to make their own choices, and that the rest of us are not actively trying to take their rights away.

Then maybe they'll get it and help us all protect the rights of everyone to choose their own moral codes and not have those legislated by one religious group!

The greatest irony is that in a society of free choice and speech, there will be people whose choices and speeches are about removing choice and speech from the rest of us. And yet we must let them talk and choose and hope(?) that in the end they don't win!

What's wrong with Prop 8?

2009-05-27T08:39:00.001-07:00

The word marriage has changed throughout the ages to reflect the fairness and understanding of a constantly evolving society desiring to allow everyone the freedom to choose and provide equal protections for all. No one can claim the word hasn't evolved! It now includes interracial couples AND civil unions made outside the church and occasionally between, gasp, atheists!

Today, civil unions between heterosexual couples are called marriages. Civil unions between homosexual couples are called partnerships. Separate but equal? Everyone knows that policy is wrong and destined to change. History proves it.

This inequity has been removed in many other states in our nation as well as many other nations in our world. The protections of personal freedoms and equal rights will ultimately win, and the citizens of California who voted for Prop 8 will eventually see the error of their ways. It is NOT right for 52% of the people of this state to make such important constitutional decisions that 48% disagree with! We need to fix the process!

The folks who voted for Prop 8 believe homosexual relationships are wrong. No one's asking folks to change their beliefs. Allowing homosexual couples to marry does NOT mean that everyone has to believe homosexual behavior is OK. Striking down Prop 8 is saying that one group's religious and historic beliefs should not define the behaviors of others! Be careful -- because this sword cuts both ways! And now we all know where the sword is and how to use it...

San Francisco Chronicle Story