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*Death With DignityWho would have thought that lawmakers in Mexico City of all places -- with a predominant Catholic population -- would unanimously approve "a measure to allow terminally ill patients to refuse treatment".To their credit, they did. Not only that, the BBC reported on December 5th: The left-wing congress in Mexico City has recently passed a series of laws which are considered liberal in Latin America, such as legalising abortion in the first months of pregnancy and allowing gay marriages.One can imagine the consternation among Catholics and fundamentalist Christians here in the United States. Too close to home for them not to feel threatened. Invade Mexico? They would like to.BBC Mexico City lawmakers have approved a measure to allow terminally ill patients to refuse treatment. The local assembly voted unanimously in favour of the bill enabling patients living in the city to suspend treatment if it only prolongs life. ...

*Family Planning Program of G.W. BushRecent reports about increase in teenage pregnancy rate in America revives the question of "why" and what went wrong. NY Times (AP)December 6, 2007ATLANTA (AP) In a troubling reversal, the nation's teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials and reviving the bitter debate about abstinence-only sex education.The birth rate had been dropping since its peak in 1991, although the decline had slowed in recent years. On Wednesday, government statisticians said it rose 3 percent from 2005 to 2006.The reason for the increase is not clear, and federal health officials said it might be a one-year statistical blip, not the beginning of a new upward trend.However, some experts said they have been expecting a jump. They blamed it on increased federal funding for abstinence-only health education that doesn't teach teens how to use condoms and other contraception.Even before the spike, U.S. teen pregnancy rate was highest among developed nations. But other countries deal with the issue in a pragmatic way without being influenced by religious groups that oppose education about safe sex and contraception.Ruth Marcus, in her article "Daughter Knows Best", about appointment of Susan Orr to oversee federal government's family planning program in the Post on October 24th:President Bush requires abstinence-only programs to teach that "sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects." Jenna Bush describes how Ana, then 16, has sex for the first time with HIV-positive Berto: "She felt no fear, only love." She relates approvingly how a nurse told Ana at age 10 that "when she was older and ready to have sex that it was very important to always use condoms."As Jenna Bush told Newsweek, "In Africa my dad's policies are pretty much in line with mine, but not domestically." ABC -- abstain, be faithful, use condoms -- is the message abroad, not at home.Contrast Jenna Bush with the president's latest flawed choice for the post of acting deputy secretary for population affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services -- in other words, the official who oversees federal family planning programs and advises on reproductive health and adolescent pregnancy, including abstinence-only programs.You may remember Bush's previous pick: Eric Keroack, who was medical director of a pregnancy-counseling (read: antiabortion) clinic that considered birth control "demeaning to women" and believed that making contraception available, "especially among adolescents, actually increases . . . out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion."Keroack resigned after it was revealed that state Medicaid officials had taken action against his private medical practice in Massachusetts. Bush replaced him with Susan Orr, former senior director for marriage and family care at the conservative Family Research Council and an adjunct professor at Pat Robertson's Regent University. Orr seems to be Keroack Lite. In 2001, when the Bush administration proposed lifting the requirement that health insurers of federal employees provide coverage for contraceptives, Orr cheered. "We're quite pleased, because fertility is not a disease," she said. "It's not a medical necessity that you have it." Tell that to girls like Ana.The year before, Orr fought a D.C. Council bill requiring all employers to cover contraception -- with no exception for those, such as the Catholic Church, that have religious objections. I agree that a "conscience clause" should have been included, but Orr's opposition was disturbingly vitriolic. "The mask of choice is falling off," she said. "It's not about choice. It's not about health care. It's about making everyone collaborators with the culture of death."The Family Research Council argues against funding the family planning program that Orr is slated to supervise. "We don't think there is an argument for taxpayer funding of contraception," the group's vice president for government affairs, Tom McClusky, told me.The group has echoed that message in a prayer alert about the $283 million a year program that funds family planning clinics for low-income women. "Pray that Title X funding, which has increased even under Republican rule, will not be expanded," it urged. "May President Bush use the veto pen if necessary to make sure that the culture of death is restrained."Asked if Orr agreed with those views, HHS spokesman Kevin Schweers replied in an e-mail: "Dr. Orr wouldn't have accepted the job . . . if she couldn't support the Administration's positions. This Administration has worked to ensure family planning grantees effectively provide safe and effective contraceptive products and services to clients in need." Hardly a ringing endorsement.Almost 40 years ago, a member of Congress, urging the federal government to help lower-income women get access to birth control, made a point that seems lost on the Orrs of the world. "We need to take sensationalism out of this topic," he said. "If family planning is anything, it is a public health matter."The lawmaker was George H.W. Bush -- and I suspect his granddaughter would understand, even if his son chooses not to. The "abstinence" president ? Think of what he has done as the "compassionate conservative" president.

*Still babbling, but the president and Vice President Cheney know that their grand plans for another war -- against Iran -- are not going to take shape. Publication of the latest NIE laid it to rest. Now that their lies about Iraq has become public knowledge, Bush and Cheney will not be able to con the nation to allow them to launch preemptive strikes."Look, Iran was dangerous," Bush said. "Iran is dangerous. And Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."We heard that before. The president, however, has a habit of not remembering the past. One could imagine the disappointment of the neocons who support war but don't serve in them. A prime example is Vice President Cheney who took four (or five) deferments during Vietnam. Shameless and utterly unscrupulous.In response to persistent questioning about the new National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), a declassified summary of which was released yesterday, Bush emphasized the review's finding that Iran had a covert nuclear weapons program until 2003, when Tehran halted it under international scrutiny and pressure."Our 'neoconservatives' are neither new nor conservative, but old as Babylon and evil as Hell."-- Edward Abbey (1927-1989)

*A 14 year old Iraqi girl named Abeer Hamza was raped and killed at Mahmudiya, Iraq, by soldiers of 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. To leave no witnesses, the perpetrators killed her parents and 5-year old sister. The brutal crime could not be covered up. Too many people were aware of the facts. Other soldiers came forward to testify. Four have been convicted. Steven D. Green, who was discharged from the army before the filing of charges, is awaiting trial in civilian court.In retaliation, local Iraqis kidnapped two soldiers of the 502nd Regiment. They were tortured and killed. "Redacted" by American film maker Brian De Palma is based on what took place at Mahmudiya on March 12, 2006.David Denby's review of "Redacted"Source: BBC News Wikipedia Mahmudiyah IncidentSee:Mahmudiya, South of BaghdadThe Evil That Man DoesThe Neocons' War and A Girl Named Abeer HamzaThe 502nd Infantry Regiment and Abeer HamzaAbeer Hamza

*If there are sane voices in the Islamic world they are buried in the din of blood-thirsty Muslims seeking death sentence for Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher caught in the "teddy bear" case.Half a chance and the Islamic mobs come out of the holes. Does not take much for them to perceive the Prophet being insulted -- Danish cartoons, knighthood for Salman Rushdie, writings of Taslima Nasreen, or a teacher who unwittingly permitted a teddy bear to be named Mohammed. The Islamic fanatics exist in all countries. Sudan has a large number of them. It is a country where there is strong resistance against steps to outlaw genital mutilation of women.

*Or Bush's Parting GiftThe man who gave us the war under the grandiloquent title "Operation Iraqi Freedom", is now hatching a plot to leave a lasting legacy in Iraq. No surprise that the Iraqi profiteers are with him. They love him, and so do the American contractors raking in money.Excerpts from Harold Meyerson's column in the Post: Bush's Next Preemptive StrikeGeorge W. Bush is focusing now on his legacy. Duck. Run. Hide.Some of his legacy-building, I'll allow, is commendable, if overdue -- most particularly, his efforts to resurrect the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which he ignored for seven long years. But the linchpin of Bush's legacy, it appears, is to make his Iraq policy a permanent fixture of American statecraft.On Monday, Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki signed a declaration pledging that their governments would put in place a long-term political and security pact sometime next year. "The shape and size of any long-term, or longer than 2008, U.S. presence in Iraq will be a key matter for negotiation between the two parties, Iraq and the United States," Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, the White House official in charge of Iraq war matters, said at the briefing unveiling the agreement.What Bush will almost surely be pushing for is permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, enshrined in a pact he can sign a few months before he leaves office. And here, as they used to say, is the beauty part: As far as Bush is concerned, he doesn't have to seek congressional ratification for such an enduring commitment of American force, treasure and lives."We don't anticipate now that these negotiations will lead to the status of a formal treaty which would then bring us to formal negotiations or formal inputs from the Congress," Lute said. The administration is looking to sign a status-of-forces agreement, which requires Senate ratification if it's classified as a treaty but not if it's classified as an executive agreement. One need not be able to solve the riddle of the Sphinx to guess which of those classifications the Bush White House will go for.But if Bush tries to lock the next president into permanent U.S. bases in Iraq, he may also be locking in a Democrat as the next president. Ironically, just when events on the ground in Iraq aren't looking as disastrous as they did six months ago, Bush's efforts to make the U.S. presence permanent would drape the necks of the Republican presidential and congressional candidates with one large, squawking albatross.Is the president personally going to profit from this after his term is over ? Don't ask.

*The Geography of Hate in NY Times is about the corrosive effects of hate. Prejudices exist in our society and they are not about to disappear. Generations of men and women who have grown up in households that encouraged racial slurs are not going to be able to brush off the deep-rooted prejudices by attending classes about diversity.Immigrants who are making this country their home in large numbers are not blameless either. Some of them readily adopt long-standing fallacies about other communities.The noose (Image)FROM the 1880s to the 1960s, at least 4,700 men and women were lynched in this country. The noose remains a terrifying symbol, and continues to be used by racists to intimidate African-Americans (who made up more than 70 percent of lynching victims).Those of us who do not nurse and condone such prejudices are not entirely free from strong sense of antipathy toward people and practices we don't agree with. There are times when such feelings hover close to hate. The fact that they are often directed toward individuals rather than communities does not make them OK.Hate (n): Intense animosity or dislike; hatred.The antonym is "Love" but perhaps "tolerance" -- live and let live is a more realistic goal.Tolerance (n) - a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behaviorPiet Hein - 1905-1996Sunny morning. Birds are chirping. Fall bulbs have started sprouting. Bach's Art of the Fugue on the CD player. Not all is right with the world but I'm not going to let news about war, politicians, and preachers affect my mood......not today.Johann Sebastian BachDie Kunst der Fugue, BWV 1080 (The Art of the Fugue)Musica Antiqua KölnReinhard GoebelArchiv Produktion

*Exit for FOB (Friend of Bush) John HowardGood news. Voters in Australia sent a clear message and ended the era of Prime Minister John Howard.BBCMr Howard, who had been bidding for a fifth term in office, conceded the national election and accepted it was "very likely" he would also be defeated in his Bennelong constituency.Mr Howard had found himself on the wrong side of public opinion on the Kyoto protocol and the war in Iraq, our correspondent said. Many people also seemed to be simply tired of Mr Howard after 11 years of his rule.To my friends in Perth and Melbourne, I say "Bonza"."Down came a jumbuck to dri-ink at that billabongUp jumped the swagman and grabbed him with gleeAnd he sang as he stuffed that jumbuck in his tucker-bagYou'll come a-waltzing matilda with me"--From Australian National Song "Waltzing Matilda", 'Banjo' (A.B.) Patterson, c. 1890

* Heading toward 5th year of the war in IraqThe number of casualties has dropped. Fewer soldiers and Iraqis are losing their lives and limbs. That is reason to rejoice.I feel that it is appropriate to repeat what I wrote last year:Tomorrow, as Americans gather to celebrate this great holiday, there will be many homes in which the shadow of the war in Iraq will be present. Families will think of their loved ones serving in Iraq; some will try to cope with the memories of the dead, and others think of caring for the injured.Those of us who have not been directly affected by the war must not forget them and the hundreds of thousands of hapless Iraqis caught in the turmoil.Let's hope that by next Thanksgiving most of the soldiers will be home and that never again will Americans permit an untruthful, egomaniac president to begin a war without just cause.Every Thanksgiving Day, a column by Jon Carroll appears in The San Francisco Chronicle. Except for names of people he offers thanks to, the column has remained unchanged over the years. Excerpts from the column dated Thursday November 23, 2006.Jon Carroll, San Francisco ChronicleThanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It is comfortably free of the strident religious and/or militaristic overtones that give the other holidays their soft emanations of uneasiness.At Christmas, for instance, we are required to deal with the divinity of Jesus -- I know some of you folks have made up your minds about that one, but not me -- and on the Fourth of July we must wrestle with the question of whether all those simulated aerial bombardments represent the most useful form of nationalism available.At Thanksgiving, all we have to worry about is whether we can wholeheartedly support (a) roasted turkey, (b) friends and (c) gratitude. My opinions on these matters are unambiguous; I am in favor of them all. I understand that there's another story attached to Thanksgiving, all about a meal that may not have happened at all and certainly didn't happen on the fourth Thursday of November. (Check the New England weather reports. Does it sound like a good day for alfresco dining?)Thanksgiving provides a formal context in which to consider the instances of kindness that have enlightened our lives, the moments of grace that have gotten us through when all seemed lost. These are fine and sentimental subjects for contemplation.First, there are the public personalities, artists and entertainers and philosophers, who have been there when they were needed, whether they knew it or not. Let us think kind thoughts about Nancy Pelosi and Helen Mirren, Barbara Lee and Frank Gore, Al Gore and David Milch, David Simon and Mikhail Baryshnikov, Tom Stoppard and Keith Olbermann, Jennifer Egan and Peter Carey, Van Morrison and Clarence Fountain, Don Asmussen and Judith Martin, Duncan Black and Joshua Micah Marshall, Dan Savage and Masi Oka -- this is my partial list; feel free to create your own.And the teachers, the men and women who took the time to fire a passion for the abstract, to give us each a visceral sense of the continuity of history and the adventure of the future. Our society seems determined to denigrate its teachers -- at its peril, and at ours. This is their day as well.Even closer. Companions. We all learned about good sex from somebody, and that person deserves a moment. Somebody taught us some hard lesson of life, told us something for our own good, and that willingness to risk conflict for friendship is worth a pause this day. And somebody sat with us through one long night, and listened to our crazy talk and turned it toward sanity; that person has earned this moment too.And a moment for old friends now estranged, victims of the flux of alliances and changing perceptions. There was something there once, and that something is worth honoring as well.Our parents, of course, and our children; our grandparents and our grandchildren. We are caught in the dance of life with them and, however tedious that dance can sometimes seem, it is the music of our lives. To deny it is to deny our heritage and our legacy.And thanks, too, for all the past Thanksgivings, and for all the people we shared them with. Thanks for the time the turkey fell on the floor during the carving process; for the time Uncle Benny was persuaded to sing "Peg o' My Heart"; for the time two strangers fell in love, and two lovers fell asleep, in front of the fire, even before the pumpkin pie.And the final bead on the string is for this very Thanksgiving, this particular Thursday, and the people with whom we will be sharing it. Whoever they are and whatever the circumstances that have brought us together, we will today be celebrating with them the gift of life and the persistence of charity in a world that seems bent on ending one and denying the other. Thanks. A lot.

*Reports about Iraq war veterans suffering from PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) are appearing more frequently than in the past. It takes time for the symptoms to manifest themselves and as the war continues the number of afflicted grows.Luis Sinco's article in The Observer about Marine Lance Corporal James Blake Miller, who became known as the Marlboro Man after Sinco's photograph of him at Falluja in November 2004 was published in newspapers across the world, takes readers into Blake Miller's battle with PTSD. A superb piece of writing.Am I to blame for his Private War? - Luis SincoSometimes in the night, I hear a grenade launcher belching rounds. Or maybe it's just Miller gunning his Harley. He's roaring over Foggy Mountain, the wind blowing by, cleansing his thoughts. Blake, son, I know it sounds crazy, but my mind always takes me back to that distant rooftop in Falluja, where I snapped your picture. I think of that sunrise, bright and warm, and how lucky we were to see it. * Desertion Rate ClimbsMSNBCWASHINGTON - Soldiers strained by six years at war are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980, with the number of Army deserters this year showing an 80 percent increase since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.