Missy also had some interesting statistics that illustrated the need for comprehensive sex education, like:

• Every day in Utah 12 teenage girls aged 15-19 become pregnant. In 2007, 4356 young girls in Utah, ages 15-19, became pregnant. (According to the Utah Department of Health – 2007)
• In 2007, 62% of births to unmarried mothers were to those under the age of 24. 2747 of those births were to unmarried mothers under the age of 19 (again according to the Utah Department of Health, 2007)
• In a 2006 national survey, 26% of high school students who dropped out of school said that they did so because they became parents. (The Silent Epidemic, Civic Enterprises, Peter D. Hart Research Associates, produces for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)
• In 2007, 72% of 15-17 year old girls who give birth reported that their pregnancy was unintended. Of 18-19 year old girls, the number was 67%. (Utah Department of Health, 2007)
• Roughly 57% of new chlamydia infections and 42% of new gonorrhea infections occur among youth ages 15-24. (Utah Department of Health, 2007)
• In Utah, you’re more likely to get chlamydia than you are H1N1 flu.

Of course there’s going to be a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) spread about the bill, so here’s the gist what Representative Lynn Hemingway (D-Holladay) is proposing (from PPAC’s website):

• Rep. Hemingway’s bill provides parents a choice of two tracks for reproductive health education for their kids. Parents CHOOSE the track in which their child will be enrolled. Both tracks teach that abstinence is the only 100% effective means of preventing pregnancy and STDs, but the comprehensive option includes medically accurate information about contraception, avoiding pregnancy and STDs, and preventing sexual assault through the teaching of healthy relationship skills.
• Rep. Hemingway is trying to address serious health issues that our teens are dealing with in Utah. This bill offers one more tool that parents, educators, and health care professionals can use to address Utah’s rising teen pregnancy and STD rates. Chlamydia is the #1 communicable disease in Utah and 12 teenage girls a day get pregnant. Parents deserve to have a choice in their children’s reproductive health education.
• Studies show that teens who receive comprehensive reproductive health information have lower rates of teenage pregnancy and STD’s than those receiving abstinence-only education. Comprehensive reproductive health education does NOT increase rates of sexual activity; rather, it helps delay initial onset of sexual activity and increases rates of protection among those who are already sexually active.
• Rep. Hemingway’s bill addresses the fear that teachers experience because of current law. While the current law allows for comprehensive information to be given, local school districts across the state have widely varying health curricula and kids are receiving very different information based on where they live. Teachers are afraid of serious penalties if they fun afoul of strict local guidelines that often restrict them from answering kids’ questions or using precise, medically accurate language.
• Will kids be exposed to sexually explicit material? NO The information that will be presented will be age-appropriate and medically accurate. This is not a class that teaches “how to have sex,” nor does it encourage sexual activity. We simply want kids, whose parents approve, to have access to the information they need to make smart decisions about their health and know the possible consequences of those decisions.
• Will the two education choices result in two “extremes”? NO The abstinence-only track simply reiterates current law and would still contain some limited discussion of contraception and STDs, while the comprehensive track would cover these subjects more in depth. Because parents would also have the choice of opting out of any reproductive health education altogether, the options they have clearly cover the vast majority of possibilities of parents’ wishes.
• Will some kids from the comprehensive class “talk”? NO The truth is that all kids are talking, but mostly in myths in half-truths. Despite even the most vigilant parents’ best efforts, every child is hearing things in the hallways and the locker rooms that would surprise most of us. We simply want to provide a resource for those who want it that can combat these untruths and provide accurate information in its place.

It seems to be pretty clear from the stats that what we’re doing now isn’t working. Many of these kids try to live up to their religious obligation to not have sex prior to marriage, but then look for ‘loopholes’ like oral or anal sex (There’s even a saying: if it’s anal or oral, it’s moral). This reduces the risk of pregnancy, but not necessarily STD’s. Floating (penetration but then no movement) is a new ‘loophole’ that doesn’t really reduce either risk. Don’t ask me what you do to pass the time while you’re floating – the whole concept seems pretty asinine to me.

Our DL crowd has a fair amount of educators and people in the medical service field, and they know exactly how bad the problem is. People like me who have very little interaction with kids are always surprised to hear the stories and statistics. It’s an awareness issue, so if you have some insight into the reality of our current failing system, write a letter to the editor. If you’re a parent, urge your congress people to support the bill. And if you’re neither of these or either of these, support health care groups like Planned Parenthood.

We like to share a drink as we share our politics. But it turns out the makers of Budweiser aren’t so concerned about sharing the planet. They’re part of an organization that denies global warming — pitting the King of Beers against Mother Earth.

Tell Budweiser to quit the chamber:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/chamber_dl/?rc=drinking_10192009_chamber

Anheuser-Busch, the makers of Bud, are on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce. This organization has threatened to sue the EPA if it tries to regulate greenhouse gases. This radical stance has already led many companies, including Apple, to drop the Chamber.

Anheuser-Busch, it’s time to toast the Chamber farewell:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/chamber_dl/?rc=drinking_10192009_chamber

Climate change isn’t just a general threat — it actually has directly affected hops production, making it pricier to produce high-quality beer. It’s time that Budweiser sides with its customers, its brewing and its planet.

And if you do drop the Chamber, we’ll all raise a glass and say, “This Bud’s for you.”

Join us now and call upon Bud to quit:
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/chamber_dl/?rc=drinking_10192009_chamber

$15 dollars will get you in the door (or $10 if you bring a casserole for the casserole contest that ‘casserole connoisseur’ Sister Dottie will be judging), which includes potent punch, or if punch isn’t your thing we’ll have other drinks available. And we can’t forget the jello – we’ll have some little cups of jello for you to try.

There will be a haiku contest as well, so start thinking of your Utah-themed haikus. We’ll also have a great view of the fireworks at the baseball stadium.

We highly encourage you to take Trax!

What: Party/fundraiser celebrating Utah in Drinking Liberally style

Who: You and your liberal friends + Sister Dottie S. Dixon

Cost: $15 per person, or $10 per person with a casserole (entrance includes drinks)

When: July 24th at 6pm (We’re trying to beat the crowds for parking since it’s so close to the baseball stadium)

Where: Get onto 1300 South, then turn North onto West Temple. Turn East into parking lot of Associated General Contractors and continue back toward the warehouse.

Parking: Take Trax if possible, but if you’re driving there’s an adult corrections building just north of the warehouse that usually has some parking. The baseball game starts at 7:05, so if you’re driving try to get there early.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you would like to read the interview transcript, visit PBS.org.

BILL MOYERS: Well, on the basis of the past performance, and on the basis of your own experience in the industry, can we believe them when they say they will do these things voluntarily?

WENDELL POTTER: I don’t think you can. I think that they will implement things that make them more efficient. And that enhance shareholder value. And if what they do contributes to that, maybe so. But now, they do say, they are in favor of an individual mandate. They want us all to be insured.

BILL MOYERS: For the government to require every one of us to have some policy.

WENDELL POTTER: Exactly. And that sounds great. It is an important thing that everyone be enrolled in some kind of a benefit plan. They don’t want a public plan. They want all the uninsured to have to be enrolled in a private insurance plan. They want– they see those 50 million people as potentially 50 million new customers. So they’re in favor of that. They see this as a way to essentially lock them into the system, and ensure their profitability in the future. The strategy is as it was in 1993 and ‘94, to conduct this charm offensive on the surface. But behind the scenes, to use front groups and third-party advocates and ideological allies. And those on Capitol Hill who are aligned with them, philosophically, to do the dirty work. To demean and scare people about a government-run plan, try to make people not even remember that Medicare, their Medicare program, is a government-run plan that has operated a lot more efficiently.

And also, the people who are enrolled in our Medicare plan like it better. The satisfaction ratings are higher in our Medicare program, a government-run program, than in private insurance. But they don’t want you to remember that or to know that, and they want to scare you into thinking that through the anecdotes they tell you, that any government-run system, particularly those in Canada, and UK, and France that the people are very unhappy.

And that these people will have to wait in long lines to get care, or wait a long time to get care. I’d like to take them down to Wise County. I’d like the president to come down to Wise County, and see some real lines of Americans, standing in line to get their care.

The plan Wendell Potter warns us about is already in Congress.  It’s called the “Healthy Americans Act” and it was introduced by Ron Wyden and Robert Bennett.  What it will do–if passed–is require everyone to buy a corporate health insurance policy.

Some you God fearing folks such as myself may not be aware that sin is soon upon our fair state. You see, effective midnight tonight, our great state of Deseret will soon be barraged by unseemly individuals who want nothing more than to take down the very fabric of our society. They claim that they are just trying to improve our image to the outside world – but I know the facts.

You see, at midnight tonight, people would be able to simply walk into a bar and get a drink! Yes, a BAR, not a Private Club for Members (an already intolerable institution); this fine state will be flooded with drunkards who want nothing more than to rob our homes and kill our children – I just know it.

Before we were at least protected thanks to the “private club” aspect of these dens of inequity. The $5 membership fee made would-be criminals think twice before picking up that first drink. Now, they can spend that $5 on what I can only assume is 5 shots of the hardest alcohol you can get, stumbling out much sooner and wandering our gated communities.

But now, now, they can just pony up to the devil and order a drink! These so called “adults” will loose all control without the fine guidance of our very reasonable laws.

What is even worse is that children (I presume) will be able to walk in with out people so much as batting an eye. Where is the control people? Where is the duty to protect our children from reality? Where does it end?

I hear these same sinners want them to put two or more ounces (what users call “shots”) or more of alcohol into their drinks – claiming that some drinks can’t be made because of a recipe. Boy, howdy, sounds like they are cooking up hard-core drugs.

But, alas, the users have won. I, for one, will be having a tall cool glass of water tonight as I sit out on my porch and watch the world inevitably come to an end.

Original post can be found at Blue in Red Zion.

http://www.pageflakes.com/jessica_cox/

There are numerous factors that create power on Capitol Hill: how well you are able to talk to people to get what you want, your position within your own party, your ability to rally troops for a particular issue, and what committees you sit on. The first three are somewhat obvious – but committees are a tricky thing – some are more powerful than others, and all have the potential to make you new friends or enemies.

Committees act as a sort of halfway house for bills and are generally the only place that most bills will ever see proper debate – furthermore this is the only time that the public can provide direct input on any particular bill. Committees are specialized into various fields such as rules (the most powerful) to ethics (the least used); this specialization allows the hundreds of bills to be heard at any given time. What makes committees so important is that anywhere from 5-15 legislators sit on a panel and decide if the bill should even be heard by the full legislature – if it does not make it out of committee, the bill is dead.

Within committees, certain positions are more important than others. The most important position in any committee is the chairperson; they control the agenda and what bills will be discussed in the first place – if the chair does not like a bill, guess what, it ain’t going anywhere.

So now we come to Senator Buttars, former chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee – a relatively powerful committee because it is in charge of confirming judges after they have been suggested by the governor. This committee is one of the few places where all three branches of government intertwine and where the legislature has a distinct advantage. With removal from the committee, Buttars continues to hemorrhage political power; the downward slide started in earnest this time last year with his infamous “black baby” comment.

To put it perspective, my Senator, Luz Robles (a freshman, female, Hispanic, non-native English speaking, Democrat, whom I think is fantastic, by the way) now has more political power than Buttars if only because she is the Minority Caucus Manager in the Senate. I have more powerful representation on the Hill when compared it to West Jordan; and this is not due to simple luck of the draw, but because Buttars made statements that compromised his position.

And so here we are, West Jordan is represented by someone who made their district weaker. But don’t cry for them, it is not as if they did not know what they were getting themselves into when they chose to reelect Buttars in the first place; they took a gamble and they lost. Congratulations West Jordan, you have now become politically muted over the next three years, and you had the power to prevent it.

I’ve been hearing quite a bit about HB 187, which is of interest to the Utah Rivers Council and users of Utah’s rivers. This bill could mean 1000’s of miles of Utah rivers could be open to development. This bill is going to hearing and Utah Rivers Council could use your support by showing up Friday, February 20 at 2:00 pm in Room 445 of the Utah Legislature. See more about this on the Utah Rivers Council website.

In case you don’t get the paper and you need a laugh you can see the ad by clicking the photos below:

A full page of hate in the Salt Lake Tribune

A full page of hate in the Salt Lake Tribune