The Display
Yesterday morning, two of my fellow College Republicans and I joined a handful of dedicated members of the Students for Life of America in setting up their third annual display called the "Cemetery of Innocents."
For anyone who passed by the lawn in front of Coffman and saw rows of black balloons attached to a variety of baby toys, diapers, shampoos, wet wipes, story books, outfits, burp cloths, etc, but did not see the sign in front of it, the 138 black balloons in this display were put out to represent the 138 babies who die every hour in the U.S. alone through abortions.
Members of the group spent the day handing out pamphlets to raise awareness of the issue and to protect the display from pro-choice students, who have tried each year to ruin the display. Actually, I was shocked and disappointed to hear that pro-choice last year students had actually rushed in with scissors to cut the strings off of the balloons. One of the SFLA members joked that it was ironic, since that wasn't very eco-friendly behavior, letting balloons loose like that. Unfortunately, after looking into it, I found out that this has happened quite a bit. This last January, at George Washington University, the College Democrats vandalized a pro-life display that the Young America's Foundation group had erected with crosses in memory of babies killed in abortions. The College Republicans, who shared a joint office with the College Democrats, came in to find that the crosses had been pinned around the office upside down with anti-Christian messages written on them and even condoms pulled over some of them. The crosses had been donated to the group for awareness purposes by a New York-based church, and this vandalism was a blatant act of assault on public property and disrespect against the pro-life students. There have been a list of incidents, ranging from tearing down and destroying or burning displays to slashing the tires of pro-life student group leaders. I was extremely disappointed to hear all of this. It's really unfortunate to see such an affront to free speech, especially on college campuses, which were meant to be forums for students to learn to open their minds to or at least respect the ideas of their peers.
Today was a beautiful day, though. Not too windy and to my knowledge things went smoothly.
The group, Students for Life of America, is a national non-profit organization, originally founded in 1988 as the American Collegians for Life. It has evolved and expanded and is now run by a board of directors, in order to create a more stable representation on campuses in order to raise awareness and promote activism on the issue. The group works with student groups on campuses across 43 states in order to educate the public about abortion, euthanasia and infanticide.
And not to worry. All of the items that were bought for the display were saved (and in some cases protected in Ziploc baggies) so that they could be donated after. The message was concise but powerful, with a shocking stat and an attention-grabbing visual that combined to spread awareness about the sheer numbers of lives lost to abortions every hour in our country.
Abortion
And, in order to do the Conservative Awareness Week's awareness topic of the day justice, I went online to the SFLA website, where they have information and facts about abortions. I know we all know that an abortion is a method used to end a pregnancy, but beyond that, most people don't know too much. According to the SFLA website's fact sheet from the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1.31 million abortions occur every year in the United States. The U.S. abortion rate is unfortunately one of the highest among developed countries. In addition, if you go onto the Planned Parenthood website, it reassures readers that, "Abortions are very common. In fact, more than 1 out of 3 women in the U.S. have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old."
So what do abortions actually entail? I won't go into highly descriptive detail here, for those of you who are squeamish, but I am going to be honest, so if this is going to disturb you as much as it disturbs me, you need only know that there are various methods, including curettage, evacuation, extraction, injection, drugs and suction. There's a list of medical complications which come along with abortions. According to the SFLA site, these include heavy bleeding, infection, incomplete abortion, sepsis, anesthesia, damage to the cervix, scarring of the uterine lining, damage to internal organs and in severe cases, death. In addition, there are emotional complications such as eating disorders, relationship issues, guilt, depression, flashbacks to the abortion, suicidal thoughts, sexual dysfunction and alcohol or substance abuse. 52% of abortions are performed on women under 25 years old as well, so we are seeing more and more young women making this decision and then suffering the consequences of it.
While I believe strongly that abortions are morally wrong, however, my goal is to spread awareness so that when women make the decision to abort a baby, they realize that they aren't simply clicking the edit-undo keys on their computer. They really are having a baby medically murdered. The baby is extremely young and has not yet seen the world, but it is still a human life. I sincerely wish that women didn't have to pay the heavier price for unprotected or insufficiently protected sex more so than men, because it obviously took two to conceive. And, in the cases of rape and sexual assault, the woman may not have had any choice in conception. This is why I am hesitant to advocate for a law prohibiting all abortions. It's a difficult issue. On the one hand, the government does have the responsibility to enforce the protection of our right to life, and abortion is an obvious attack on that. In addition, in the case of abortions, the victim is hidden from the world, within the one who will be permitting the kill. I do feel that we owe it to these children to speak up for them in at least some way, seeing as they still have life and are still human beings. The fact that they are so heavily dependent and fragile still, and that they require further gestation and nurturing before they can speak for themselves should not provide reasoning against their right to live, but provide us an extra incentive to protect them. This is why I support raising awareness and educating women (and men) about the abortion issue. Perhaps if they realized the true nature of the procedures and the harsh reality of the choice they are making, they would decide not to go through with the abortion.
It is important that we stop letting society see murder as a solution.
Here is the link to the page where these procedures are described, and to where more information can be found:
http://www.studentsforlife.org/index.php/getthefacts/facts-and-talking-points/
I encourage everyone to familiarize themselves as much as possible with the harsh reality of abortion, and to do what you can to help those around you to understand exactly what such a thing means when they are considering getting one. The information is difficult to read and disturbing and painful to imagine, but if we don't become more aware of it, we will continue to death tolls in the millions every year, and it will be those innocent lives paying for society's ignorance.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age
Last night, in order to kick off our Conservative Awareness Week, the College Republicans group at the U of M held a screening of "33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age," a documentary by the Heritage Foundation exposing the very real threats posed to us by nations like Iran and North Korea, and rogue terrorist and political groups for which this dangerous weapons technology is becoming more attainable. The documentary was an interesting introduction to the issue, posing many questions and urging its audience to really consider the gravity of the issue of ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass destruction that our public all too often chooses to ignore, as if the issue could simply solve itself. Or maybe it's just that we have too much faith in our government's ability and will to do so.
The Documentary
Beginning with an array of clips depicting incidents throughout history involving our relations with nations such as Iran, Libya, North Korea and the Soviet Union, before addressing the issue of missile defense. It's outlined in the first paragraph of the Constitution that a government must provide for the common defense, in order to ensure the safety and stability of its people and national interests. The documentary, in true Conservative fashion also quoted Jefferson, who declared eternal vigilance to be the price of freedom. Now that we are in a "new missile age," where ballistic missiles can reach across the globe and life as we know it could end in just 33 minutes, that governmental responsibility is more crucial than ever.
President Ronald Reagan warned us not to fall to the temptation of ignoring the effects, urging us to instead create a missile interception system, and to build up our defenses. Ballistic missiles in the hands of our enemies could be used as a deterrent or threat, preventing us from going to the aid of our allies, amongst many other negative consequences.
But let's freeze for a moment. What exactly is a ballistic missile? The key to this type of weapon lies in trajectory. It is propelled into space, using the Earth's gravity in order to gain speed as it orbits the globe. It has large rockets and guidance controls, so it can either continue to orbit, or dive down for the attack.
And, while the physical damage of a near-ground detonation would obviously already be a catastrophe, having one detonate in the atmosphere above the U.S. could inflict even longer lasting damage. Such a detonation would let off an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), incapacitating every electrical system in the United States. Such a pulse would lead to voltage shortages, causing the complete shut down of electrical systems across the nation. Medical services, cell phones, transportation and traffic lights, electronic funds and media would all come to a sudden halt, putting us back to the 1800's.
And, aside from the threats of ballistic missiles, there are also biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to be thinking about. The documentary differentiated these as follows: nuclear attacks are destructive, wiping everything out physically in that area, biological warfare could bring on epidemics and plagues, and chemical warfare would be immediate, with the potential for tens of thousands of possible casualties.
The Reagan-era defense strategy, in exact opposition of the strategic theory preceding it, called for the use of increased defenses in order to discourage a missile attack from either side. This involved five blocks of capability: first, protection from North Korea, second, regional protection, third, protection from Iran, fourth, protection of our friends and allies, and fifth, the ability to defend multiple regions at once. But how did we plan to be able to stop an incoming missile? Fire control systems would be able to compute the trajectory and launch and intercepting missile ("kill vehicle") to intercept it in the air. Upon impact with the warhead, 50 percent would be vaporized, and only ten percent in the end would actually make it to the ground as debris, eliminating the majority of the threat. And by February 2008, the U.S. was able not only to hit another warhead, but to be able to hit a satellite in space, an even harder target. Technology appears to have finally caught up with Reagan's vision.
Unfortunately, we lack the capability to have this SDI system. In order to avoid the severe consequences of discontinuing our progress and deployment of missile defense, we must be willing to invest in its costs. Just look at the costs of the damage from 9/11. And that wasn't even a nuclear weapon, which would cost more like trillions. We have a 13 trillion dollar economy, and the estimates have it that it would cost us most if not all of that if we ever underwent such an attack. So really, the hundred billion dollars we'd spend on a defense system would be a necessary and logical security investment. And, having such a defense system that the President could activate could help stabilize our situation with North Korea and its missile supplies and testing, as well as to generate doubt in the minds of our enemies in general. Such a defense system could be shared with our friends and allies as well, as a means of devaluing such weapons and thereby making nuclear war obsolete.
Overall, the video was quite informative and did a good job of reintroducing a critical issue, especially now, as our President has moved on to his next big plan, with a stubborn refusal to acknowledge party, minority and voter criticisms. I didn't, however, agree with the statement that this was America's responsibility because we alone have the capacity to create these defense systems. Our allies as well are perfectly capable and advanced nations, so I do not feel that this is solely a U.S. responsibility, but a global responsibility in order to protect the world's people from nuclear war and the devastation of the use of weapons of mass destruction. In general, though, the documentary introduced the issue in an interesting and visually energetic way, and I felt it was overall well done.
More information on these threats and solutions can be found at http://33-minutes.com/, along with updates on Obama's concerning nuclear policies and the status of current attempts at negotiations.
The Documentary
Beginning with an array of clips depicting incidents throughout history involving our relations with nations such as Iran, Libya, North Korea and the Soviet Union, before addressing the issue of missile defense. It's outlined in the first paragraph of the Constitution that a government must provide for the common defense, in order to ensure the safety and stability of its people and national interests. The documentary, in true Conservative fashion also quoted Jefferson, who declared eternal vigilance to be the price of freedom. Now that we are in a "new missile age," where ballistic missiles can reach across the globe and life as we know it could end in just 33 minutes, that governmental responsibility is more crucial than ever.
President Ronald Reagan warned us not to fall to the temptation of ignoring the effects, urging us to instead create a missile interception system, and to build up our defenses. Ballistic missiles in the hands of our enemies could be used as a deterrent or threat, preventing us from going to the aid of our allies, amongst many other negative consequences.
But let's freeze for a moment. What exactly is a ballistic missile? The key to this type of weapon lies in trajectory. It is propelled into space, using the Earth's gravity in order to gain speed as it orbits the globe. It has large rockets and guidance controls, so it can either continue to orbit, or dive down for the attack.
And, while the physical damage of a near-ground detonation would obviously already be a catastrophe, having one detonate in the atmosphere above the U.S. could inflict even longer lasting damage. Such a detonation would let off an electromagnetic pulse (EMP), incapacitating every electrical system in the United States. Such a pulse would lead to voltage shortages, causing the complete shut down of electrical systems across the nation. Medical services, cell phones, transportation and traffic lights, electronic funds and media would all come to a sudden halt, putting us back to the 1800's.
And, aside from the threats of ballistic missiles, there are also biological, chemical and nuclear weapons to be thinking about. The documentary differentiated these as follows: nuclear attacks are destructive, wiping everything out physically in that area, biological warfare could bring on epidemics and plagues, and chemical warfare would be immediate, with the potential for tens of thousands of possible casualties.
The Reagan-era defense strategy, in exact opposition of the strategic theory preceding it, called for the use of increased defenses in order to discourage a missile attack from either side. This involved five blocks of capability: first, protection from North Korea, second, regional protection, third, protection from Iran, fourth, protection of our friends and allies, and fifth, the ability to defend multiple regions at once. But how did we plan to be able to stop an incoming missile? Fire control systems would be able to compute the trajectory and launch and intercepting missile ("kill vehicle") to intercept it in the air. Upon impact with the warhead, 50 percent would be vaporized, and only ten percent in the end would actually make it to the ground as debris, eliminating the majority of the threat. And by February 2008, the U.S. was able not only to hit another warhead, but to be able to hit a satellite in space, an even harder target. Technology appears to have finally caught up with Reagan's vision.
Unfortunately, we lack the capability to have this SDI system. In order to avoid the severe consequences of discontinuing our progress and deployment of missile defense, we must be willing to invest in its costs. Just look at the costs of the damage from 9/11. And that wasn't even a nuclear weapon, which would cost more like trillions. We have a 13 trillion dollar economy, and the estimates have it that it would cost us most if not all of that if we ever underwent such an attack. So really, the hundred billion dollars we'd spend on a defense system would be a necessary and logical security investment. And, having such a defense system that the President could activate could help stabilize our situation with North Korea and its missile supplies and testing, as well as to generate doubt in the minds of our enemies in general. Such a defense system could be shared with our friends and allies as well, as a means of devaluing such weapons and thereby making nuclear war obsolete.
Overall, the video was quite informative and did a good job of reintroducing a critical issue, especially now, as our President has moved on to his next big plan, with a stubborn refusal to acknowledge party, minority and voter criticisms. I didn't, however, agree with the statement that this was America's responsibility because we alone have the capacity to create these defense systems. Our allies as well are perfectly capable and advanced nations, so I do not feel that this is solely a U.S. responsibility, but a global responsibility in order to protect the world's people from nuclear war and the devastation of the use of weapons of mass destruction. In general, though, the documentary introduced the issue in an interesting and visually energetic way, and I felt it was overall well done.
More information on these threats and solutions can be found at http://33-minutes.com/, along with updates on Obama's concerning nuclear policies and the status of current attempts at negotiations.
Starting Conservative Awareness Week
Hello again! I'm sorry I was MIA for a little bit there. I still am a college student after all, so midterms had to take priority for a week or two.
But now that Conservative Awareness Week is starting, I had to jump back in.
Awareness Week will kick off tonight at 7 pm in Coffman, where there will be a screening of "33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age." Tomorrow morning, I'll be waking up far earlier than my strategically organized class schedule has ever required in order to help set up another one of the week's events, the Cemetary of Innocents. This is put on by Students for Human Life in order to raise awareness about the many lives lost to abortions. For anyone who will find time to pass by the U of M's Coffman plaza between 9 am and 3 pm, I highly encourage a visit. On Wednesday, John Coleman, best known as one of the co-founders of The Weather Channel, will be speaking out about the fallacies of global warming propaganda, a political exaggeration of some of the effects humans have had on the naturally occurring cycle of climate change. This will be at 7:30 in Rapson Hall, room 43, and there should be free food as well. Thursday the 22nd will be both the Support the Troops Rally, which we purposely put on during the same day that anti-war protesters call "zero recruitment day" as well as a visit from Karl Rove. Rumor has it that "zero recruitment day" as a peace protest has ironically had a habit of turning violent, with protesters breaking windows and flooding into recruitment offices. That is why conservative, libertarian and other Republican groups rally to literally support their troops on that day. I will most definitely be blogging more on the details of that later in the week. Karl Rove former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush will also be speaking in Smith 100 at noon! Finally, on Friday we'll be closing up with a mixer!
On another note, I wanted to post a link to something I was happy to see in the editorials of the Daily. The article discusses how disagreeing with the current administration so often leads to unjustified accusations of racism, and how, if that is how discourse is to be viewed, perhaps we really weren't ready for a black president. Written by fellow undergrad, John Eloranta, it's a concise and worthy read. Below is the link to the MN Daily's website where you can see for yourselves!
http://www.mndaily.com/2010/04/13/perhaps-america-was-not-ready-black-president
But now that Conservative Awareness Week is starting, I had to jump back in.
Awareness Week will kick off tonight at 7 pm in Coffman, where there will be a screening of "33 Minutes: Protecting America in the New Missile Age." Tomorrow morning, I'll be waking up far earlier than my strategically organized class schedule has ever required in order to help set up another one of the week's events, the Cemetary of Innocents. This is put on by Students for Human Life in order to raise awareness about the many lives lost to abortions. For anyone who will find time to pass by the U of M's Coffman plaza between 9 am and 3 pm, I highly encourage a visit. On Wednesday, John Coleman, best known as one of the co-founders of The Weather Channel, will be speaking out about the fallacies of global warming propaganda, a political exaggeration of some of the effects humans have had on the naturally occurring cycle of climate change. This will be at 7:30 in Rapson Hall, room 43, and there should be free food as well. Thursday the 22nd will be both the Support the Troops Rally, which we purposely put on during the same day that anti-war protesters call "zero recruitment day" as well as a visit from Karl Rove. Rumor has it that "zero recruitment day" as a peace protest has ironically had a habit of turning violent, with protesters breaking windows and flooding into recruitment offices. That is why conservative, libertarian and other Republican groups rally to literally support their troops on that day. I will most definitely be blogging more on the details of that later in the week. Karl Rove former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush will also be speaking in Smith 100 at noon! Finally, on Friday we'll be closing up with a mixer!
On another note, I wanted to post a link to something I was happy to see in the editorials of the Daily. The article discusses how disagreeing with the current administration so often leads to unjustified accusations of racism, and how, if that is how discourse is to be viewed, perhaps we really weren't ready for a black president. Written by fellow undergrad, John Eloranta, it's a concise and worthy read. Below is the link to the MN Daily's website where you can see for yourselves!
http://www.mndaily.com/2010/04/13/perhaps-america-was-not-ready-black-president
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