Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Danica Patrick Survives 3rd Crash to Finish Daytona 500

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Is Danica the reincarnation of the ancient Irish Goddess Morrigan?

We said she was the toughest super model in NASCAR and after her first weekend at the Daytona Speedway as a fulltime NASCAR driver she demonstrated in a way that would make the ancient Irish Goddess Morrigan proud.

In three straight races including the 500 the bad boys of NASCAR knocked her car into walls and wrecks that many a person might not have survived but not Danica, the new ratings queen of the speedway.


Like a cat with nine lives she climbed back into her car for another 200 mph challenge to the men's club of stock car racing.  Even in the five car pile up in just the second lap of the 500 classic, as her car limped back to the pits with the rear end destroyed and the sheet metal battered, this spunky little Irish lass refused to get out of the car in the shop, insisting on staying in the battered machine until extensive repairs were made so she could continue the race.


With her Irish heritage Danica reminds me of Morrigan of ancient Irish mythology, a fearless dispenser of courage and Goddess of victory.  She proved that on the Indy car circuit before moving to NASCAR and demonstrated it again with her courage to finish the race.  It took 65 laps before her car was repaired enough to reenter the race but she came flying out of the pits to the wild ovation of the 176,000 fans and millions of prime time television viewers who were still waiting to see if she could survive.

In the end she finished while the likes of legendary Jimmy Johnson who plowed into her car and Jeff Gordon did not finish.  In fact nearly a dozen of the guys didn't finish in this most bizarre of all Daytona 500 races.

This year's Daytona had a series of most unusual firsts that must have been brought in on the wings of the Irish lass.

It was the first Daytona 500 rained out.  When the second start time at noon Monday was also rained out it became the first Monday night prime time television broadcast of the 500, bringing NASCAR to perhaps millions of new fans.


It was also the first Daytona 500 to get a red flag, meaning the race was stopped cold, because of a jet fuel explosion on the track during the 160th lap.  No NASCAR does not allow jet fuel in the cars though the speeds they reach over 200 mph might seem like it.

This time a truck was on the upper part of the track with a jet engine to dry the track and a race car who was supposed to be passing it at the bottom of the track suddenly swerved into the jet dryer causing a massive eruption of the jet fuel on the truck.  It took nearly an hour to put out the fire and clean the track before the race could be restarted.


It was also the longest Daytona 500 in history taking over 36 hours to finish from the original starting time.  The race extended from noon Sunday until the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

In spite of about ten wrecks, some multi-car, the rains and the jet fuel explosion, it was an electrifying mad dash to the finish that was won by Matt Kenseth over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

And after surviving three major crashes between Thursday and Monday across the finish line came Danica Patrick fresh from her introduction into the men's club of NASCAR.

NASCAR and Fox television surely got a massive bump in television ratings because of Danica along with the delay of the race until prime time Monday.  She was also one of few new drivers who brought her own major sponsors to the sport.


In fact Go Daddy, the Internet domain company who sponsors her has put her in more Super Bowl commercials, ten, than any other sports star and they are the most expensive commercials on television at $3.5 million each.  Not only did they sponsor her but they were a presenting sponsor for the Daytona 500 Nationwide broadcast.

“I did not sponsor Danica because I wanted to get into racing,” Bob Parsons, head of Go Daddy said. “I got into racing because I wanted to sponsor Danica. If it wasn’t for Danica, I’m not sure I’d be involved in racing.”

The best news is we only have to wait a few days to see her second NASCAR race in Phoenix this weekend.
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Saturday, February 25, 2012

America's Toughest Super Model - NASCAR's Danica Patrick

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Survives major crash to win Daytona 500 pole position

Danica Patrick, the hottest driver in the fastest and most popular sport in the world, NASCAR and Indy car racing, survived a crash on the last lap of a race, then went out the next day and made history winning the pole position in the legendary Dayton 500 racing classic Sunday.

Born: Beloit, WI
Residence: Phoenix, AZ
Website:
www.danicaracing.com


In seven short years, Danica Patrick has risen from IndyCar® Rookie of the Year to Superstar. Former team-owner Bobby Rahal has dubbed her the "first real media star in IndyCar since (Mario) Andretti and (A.J.) Foyt."*


Widely credited with bringing new interest and fans to open-wheel racing, Danica's fame has often overshadowed events on the track. Whether she's walking the red carpet or driving the Vegas strip, fans simply can't get enough of her.

Danica has appeared in numerous commercials, a Jay-Z music video, an episode of CSI:NY – she even played herself in an episode of The Simpsons. She's been mentioned in a total of 227 articles in Sports Illustrated, featured on the cover twice, and has appeared in the legendary swimsuit edition. Twice.

After splitting her time between IndyCar and NASCAR® in 2011, Danica will compete full-time in stock car racing starting in 2012 with Go Daddy's sponsorship.

And just in case there's any doubt, she's already having a powerful effect on NASCAR viewers. According to Nielsen Television Research, her 2010 Nationwide Series debut at Daytona resulted in a 35 percent increase in viewership.

Ended the 2011 NASCAR season – her second part-time season – with three top-10 finishes, including a fourth-place finish in Las Vegas.


Finished #10th in the 2011 IndyCar Series standings, logging one top-5 and nine top-10 finishes out of 17 starts. Holds the series record for consecutive races running at the finish (50).

During seven seasons in IndyCar, she had 63 top-10 finishes in 115 career starts.

Best finish by a woman in a NASCAR top-circuit race (4th place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – March 5, 2011).

First woman to win a major open-wheel race at Motegi, Japan (2008).

First woman in history to lead laps in the Indy 500 (2005).

* "Danica changed open-wheel racing," Holly Cain, 10/14/11, FoxSports.com

Here are the news highlights of Danica's week in Florida.

Danica Patrick made her NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing debut in today's first Gatorade Duel At Daytona. The first 59 laps were uneventful; Lap 60 was horrifying.


"It happened really quick," said Patrick, who was evaluated and released at the Speedway infield care center. "It felt pretty big. I don't know what it looked like."

Patrick's No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet was bumped off the racetrack on the final lap. Her stock car bee-lined to the infield retaining wall and crashed hard.

An in-car camera aboard her car showed the 29-year-old driver take her hands off the wheel and up to her helmet shield just before impact.

Open wheel racers are taught that so that the sudden impact to the steering column won't snap a wrist.

"I felt like I was having a solid race," she said. "I was up with the front group for a while then felt like I started to slow down.

"We were looking to finish honestly. I felt comfortable. It was just a matter of getting into the right line with the right people. I'm just bummed out. We only had two corners to go."

Ironically, her car owner, Tony Stewart, won the first 150-mile qualifying race over the 2.5-mile tri-oval.


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the first time in her NASCAR career, Danica Patrick was the fastest driver in Nationwide Series qualifying Friday.

That also meant she was the fastest female and only the second woman to capture a pole position in the three major touring series in NASCAR's 64-year history.

"I really don't think about it from a girl perspective," she said after turning a 182.741-mph lap for Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300. "I've been taught from a young age to want to be the best driver. My dad's here, so he can attest to the fact that when we'd go out go-karting, and I'd be a half-second quicker than everyone, and he was still ticked off and not happy and we kept working.

"It was about being the best driver and not the best girl."

Patrick, who will make her Sprint Cup debut in Sunday's Daytona 500, is making a full-time move to NASCAR this season. She will race full time in the lower-tier Nationwide Series and making 10 starts on the premier circuit.

In making the transition from the Izod IndyCar Series (where she raced from 2005-11 and became the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500 and win a major-league oval race), Patrick has talked often about wanting to build credibility with her new competitors.

She was hopeful that starting first Saturday would get more drivers enthused about seeking her out for bump-drafting, which is when two cars make contact to increase their speeds.

"Anytime that you show that you have a fast car, it's encouraging for people to want to help you," Patrick said. "You always want to be with the fastest cars possible. We'll see how it works on in the Nationwide race because it seems like there's a lot of bump-drafting. So I think that starts to earn you some respect and credibility because people will want to work with you then. Then my job is to show them that I'm good to work with."

Elliott Sadler, who qualified third, said Patrick already had proved that last July at Daytona when she led 13 laps and placed 10th (tying for her second-best finish behind a fourth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last March that set a record for a woman in NASCAR's national series).

Want a thrill?  Ride with Danica in the following video as she is pushed into the wall this week.


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Friday, February 24, 2012

Smoking pot found to cause slackers to slack off at work

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If that isn't the most obvious conclusion to one of the dumbest studies ever conducted.  At first I thought this must be part of the new Obama health care initiative since this is just the kind of study you would expect from those left wing socialists.

Then I remembered those left wing socialists most likely used to be 1960's hippies and are probably growing the best pot in the world by now and since more than half the states now have medical marijuana I don't want to upset a great source for really good medicine in my old age.


This does sound like a typical federal government study however, a study of something else we already knew and really have no interest in further study, or rehashing in this case.

Once I found out it was done in Norway I understood.  Norway is directly in the path of prevailing winds from the Netherlands and Amsterdam, where pot is served from menus in cafes.  The smoke cloud must seem like a morning fog in Norway.

Obama, Bush & Clinton smoked pot

In fact, pot is not legal in Norway and the Norwegian authorities do every bit as good a job of keeping pot out of their country as we do here in the states.  So why is Reuters news service doing a story about something this corny?

I mean Iran is rattling nuclear weapons at the world, Syria is systematically slaughtering their population, the price of gasoline is once again going through the roof as the money market shows it's true colors, and Reuters decides to cover this major marijuana exposé.


In typical pot smoking fashion, doesn't everything seem to be in slow motion for serious pot smokers, this study followed 1700 Norwegians over a 25 year period.  The results were inconclusive.

I guess after smoking pot for 25 years you have no clue what the hell you were supposed to be doing at work in the first place.


Now here in America there are probably a few other more significant reasons workers might slack off after 25 years.  Like they hate their boss.  Or they hate their job.  Maybe they are tired of paying taxes.  Or tired of making money for some fat cat owner of the company.

Next thing you know to be a plant manager will mean you have to grow grass.


Think I can get in a clinical trial for 25 years to see if pot smokers out perform general slackers and disgruntled employees?  Or just maybe the whole concept should go up in smoke.
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The 84th Academy Awards - CPT Picks the Winners

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Ever the risk taker when it comes to picking winners, especially when I know almost nothing about the picks, it is time for the 84th Academy Awards and once again I shall pick my winners without seeing a single nominated film. Lest you think this is a fruitless exercise on my part just remember last year I picked the top 12 winners of Oscars.


 This time I should get back to earth so here are my favorites.


Best Picture - The Artist

As Michael Braithwaite recently wrote, "Silent films, like theater, require their audience members to suspend a sense of reality, investing instead in wonder, imagination, and sensory titillation. The greatest films of the silent era were able to transform the dart of an eye, the contortion of a dimple, or the mournful whine of a violin into entirely new vernaculars. It is no small thing to be able to communicate character complexity in a look or a gesture, or to inspire empathy through a series of comically ill-fated endeavors."

She, yes Michael is a she, described the situation as it was 84 long years ago when silent films were the only nominees in the first Oscars and this year The Artist is turning back the clock and should sweep the Academy awards.


 Best Actor - Jean Dujardin in The Artist

See what I mean about the sweep. It would be the 1st Oscar for the French actor.


Best Actress - Viola Davis in The Help


 Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Plummer in Beginners


Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer in The Help

Best Visual Effects - Rise of the Planet of the Apes


 Best Original Score - The Artist


In Hugo, Martin Scorsese has hired himself a bunch of A-plus-list artists and techies, and together they've crafted a deluxe, gargantuan train-set of a movie in which the director and his 3-D camera can whisk and whizz and zig and zag and show off all his expensive toys — and wax lyrical on the magic of movies.

The source is Brian Selznick's illustrated novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which takes place in 1930 and centers on an orphaned 12-year-old, played in the film by Asa Butterfield, who lives in a flat in the bowels of the Paris station.

Hugo's drunken uncle, until he went missing, had the job of setting the station's clocks, so now the boy, to cover for the disappearance and stay out of the orphanage, does the job in secret, stealing through tunnels, up rickety ladders and over catwalks, careful to avoid Sasha Baron Cohen's stationmaster with his relish for orphan-catching.

For a while, Hugo's only company is a semi-complete automaton, a kind of primitive mechanical man that his late machinist dad (Jude Law, seen in flashback) discovered in a museum storage area. Hugo thinks the automaton holds the key to his future; alas, the key it doesn't hold is the one that would wind it up and set it in motion.

Best Costume Design - Hugo

Best Cinematography - Hugo

Best Original Screenplay - The Artist

Best Animated Feature - Rango

Best Director - Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist


 There you have it, the top 12 Oscar winners.  The first films I intend to watch are Hugo and The War Horse.
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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Solving Social Issues - The Most Tragic of all Issues - Abortion in USA

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Abortion Policy - Where Choice can end Life

Abortion is perhaps the most complex of all social issues.  A way to accommodate both sides of the Pro-Life and Pro-Choice movements must be found that does not make our young girls and women victims between factions.


The Facts

54,559,615

Total abortions since 1973

Based on numbers reported by the Guttmacher Institute 1973-2008,

with estimates of 1,212,400 for 2009-2011. GI estimates a possible

3% under reporting rate, which is factored into the total.



Race                Abortions                  Population

White             19.6 million              211.4 million

Hispanic        13.6 million                46.8 million

Black              16.4 million                38.1 million

Other races     4.9 million                  3.7 million

Total               54.5 million              310.0 million

Just the sheer volume of abortions are staggering.  In the USA 55.4 million since 1973, worldwide 1.7 billion.  Those are millions and billions of incidents.  Yet there are also disturbing trends in those statistics that represent real lives.

Most abortions are from unwanted pregnancy, as if that would not be obvious.  However, abortion was never intended to be just another form of contraceptive.  Yet analysis now shows that as many as half of all women receiving abortions have had a previous abortion.  Are abortions so readily available that women are using the abortion to exploit sexual promiscuity at the government expense?  What does this say about the value of life in America? 


Annually the number of abortions has ranged from about 1.6 million to 1.2 million since 1990.  Only four cities in the United States have a higher population than the annual abortions, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.

Since the automobile was invented and records started in 1900, one hundred and eleven years ago, there have been 3.5 million killed in America.  Since 1973 there have been 15 times as many abortions as auto deaths since 1900.

There have been almost as many abortions in the US as the total number of people living in Great Britain, France or Italy, men, women and children combined.

Compared to Worst Health Disasters in History

Between 1348 and 1350 the Black Death or bubonic plague is estimated to have killed 30–60 percent of Europe's population, more than 50 million people, reducing the world population from an estimated 450 million to between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century. 

The Great Influenza, 1918 - 1919, also known as the Spanish Flu, the Great Influenza was most likely the deadliest plague in history. The extremely virulent influenza virus killed an estimated 50 million or more people in the space of just six months.  The world’s population at the time was just 1.8 billion.

For comparison, the total abortions in America equaled the total world deaths from either of the two worst disease outbreaks in history, the Black Death and Spanish Influenza.

Worldwide abortion deaths of 1.7 billion are more than three times the total world population in 1350, and nearly equal to the entire world population in 1919, the years of the health disasters.


The debate over Abortion - Choice or Life or both

By all public opinion measures Abortion is the most volatile and controversial of all social issues in America.  The Pro-Choice (Pro-Abortion) movement defends the right of women to control their body while the Pro-Life movement defends the right of the unborn human life.

Roe versus Wade in 1973 set the standard for federal law on abortion yet it is often wrongly credited with also legalizing abortion at any time during the nine months of pregnancy.  In fact it was limited to the question of personal rights versus legitimate government rights.

Specifically what is the government's legitimate interest in protecting the rights of the embryo or fetus?  Since an embryo or fetus do not have rights themselves then what determines when they are human persons?

In 1973 medical science and forensics was far from the level of sophistication of today in being able to determine the moment life begins and when the fetus acquires human rights.

Four decades have passed since the landmark ruling.


During that time Pro-Life and Pro-Choice movements have become rich and powerful and abortion continues to be one of the most decisive issues of the day.  The special interests in the abortion debate are every bit as powerful and demanding as any from the financial or other sectors.

Yet there is something different about abortion than most social issues.  It is the only one in which there is a living entity as the victim and thus it elevates the issue to a real matter of life or death depending on your definition.

Now I don't know of anyone in the Pro-Choice or Pro-Life movements who would say any baby can be aborted.  The dispute is over when they are a human person, which allows a fetus to not be considered a human.  I don't think anyone wants to be seen as a baby killer.


When Does Human Life Begin?

The problem is determining the moment life begins, at least in the eyes of the courts.  That is what Roe versus Wade did nearly 40 years ago.  Science has now proven otherwise.

Advocates claimed abortion was needed in three cases, rape or incest, a threat to the health of the baby, or a threat to the health of the mother. History has proven them wrong. Multiple studies performed with the advantage of actual statistics show only 1% of all abortions resulted from rape or incest, just 2% resulted because of the health of the baby, and 2% resulted from the threat to the health of the mother. In other words the three major causes for passing Roe versus Wade actually represented no more than 5% of the total abortions performed.

Based on the claims in the debate over Roe versus Wade we should not even have a law since so few abortions performed meet the primary needs used to justify the law. However, there is another reason to reconsider the language of the law besides 50 million deaths and no justification for the law, that is what the law did do in the first place.

Roe versus Wade was a ruling by the Supreme Court that centrally held that a mother may abort her pregnancy for any reason, up until the "point at which the fetus becomes ‘viable'". The Court defined viable as being potentially able to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid. In 1973 viability usually occurred at about seven months (28 weeks) but might occur earlier, even at 24 weeks. Medical breakthroughs since the ruling and prenatal advances have demonstrated that the ability of the fetus to live outside the mother's womb can come at a much earlier time.

In fact in recent years the youngest baby in history was delivered in Florida at 21 weeks and 6 days, survived and has now gone home to live a normal life.  She is living proof that Roe versus Wade is scientifically wrong, a baby can survive at 21 weeks, not 28 weeks.

Clearly the language of the law is flawed, so what should it be? Here is the test for all pro abortion groups who claim they really aren't advocating taking lives.   If you are sincere in wanting to protect human lives while pursuing an abortion option, then you should have no problem accepting the newest scientific evidence of when life begins.


Scientific Proof of Life versus Death

 There is one medical test widely accepted and upheld by the courts to establish that a human is legally alive or dead.  All 50 states have used this test for over 30 years.

The Uniform Determination of Death Act, promulgated in 1980 and supported by the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research, has served as a model statute for the adoption of state legislation that defines death. The act asserts: “An individual, who has sustained either irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions, or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brainstem, is dead. A determination of death must be made in accordance with accepted medical standards.”

Since brain activity is the legal measure for the cessation of life, then it must also be the legally accepted measure of the beginning of life. A fetus becomes a living baby when brain activity can be first measured. According to established science with the use of an electroencephalogram, or EEG, activity in the brain can be detected as early as six weeks gestational age (6). Whether brain activity begins at this time or started earlier but becomes detectable at this time is uncertain; it is known that neural connections begin forming as soon as neurons begin forming, as early as 14 days gestation.


A Constitutional lawyer like President Obama should embrace scientific advances that have proven when brain activity is detected, at six weeks, and since the courts accept brain activity as a reliable measure of life or death, then life can be scientifically proven at six weeks.

As science improves, the brain wave activity will consistently be detected some time between 14 days and six weeks.  All hospitals are equipped with EEG machines and they could be adapted to complete these tests for pregnant women.


Roe versus Wade Needs a Scientific Overhaul

Roe versus Wade, adopted nearly four decades ago, is medically and scientifically obsolete in the determination that life begins at 28 weeks. Responsible members of Congress and the White House should advocate, in the interest of scientific accuracy, a change in the law to reflect the latest scientific advances. With nearly 55 million abortions already performed, do we really want to keep terminating the lives of babies we know are living beings?

Abortion is not a matter of pro choice when the baby being aborted is a living, human being in the eyes of science. Pro Life and Pro Choice advocates should join in seeking this correction of a flawed law and the Obama Administration and Congress should make it the law of the land.



Implementing the New Scientific Findings

In the end this could be the easiest huge policy change regarding a volatile social issue in history.  It would not appear to require any action by Congress or the President.  Since the courts have recognized The Uniform Determination of Death Act as the national standard for scientifically proving death over life, then the same standard and same tests, can determine when the fetus becomes a "human" life or person, when life begins according to science and the courts.

Most governors or state attorney generals could find a way to incorporate the missing language from Roe versus Wade, the lack of a court tested determination of the difference between life and death, through executive order or the many remedies used in the judicial process.

Another option to clarify this issue would be for a legislature to amend whatever their determination of death law to use it as a determination of life or death.  There are many avenues open to those who really want to end the debate and protect those children who are not protected under the current flawed laws.

Get your governor or state attorney general to act and act now and this debate can be brought to a close.  We will have a scientific determination of when life begins and ends, and we will stop using abortion as just another form birth control to terminate unwanted pregnancies.


Most of all, we will all agree on life.
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America's Biggest Social Issue - Social Media - Facing the Facebook Psychology

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When is a Social Issue a Social Issue?  When the media says so!

I've always been intrigued by the public perception of social issues.  What makes something a social issue in your eyes?  Why does a social issue become political?  Is it possible to ever solve a social Issue?

There are many social issues in America covering the entire spectrum of possibilities.  They range from child and female abuse to abortion, legalizing marijuana to poverty, gun control to contraceptives.


It is not often they come to the forefront of political campaigns but this year seems to be an exception.  The Republican primary and President Obama's White House have both raised social issues when they saw a political opportunity to exploit them, and that is rather common in politics.

How can social issues push the recession and economic recovery off the font pages?  Why are social issues dominating our national debate?  What makes health care reform more important than foreign aid or defense spending?


I believe it is the proliferation of social media like Facebook that drives the debate over social issues.  With social media everyone in American can comment on just about anything.  We no longer need to know what we are talking about or even back up what with say with facts.

Truth has been destroyed by unethical and predatory practices of the Internet masters who create all kinds of vehicles for expression but care less about the accuracy or validity of what is discussed.  These avenues of expression, free expression if you really want to buy the bull, are nothing more than ways to increase the ability of Internet service companies to bill clients for clicks.  I believe the driving force behind Internet use is greed, not good, profits, not progress and hits, clicks and cash.


Math & Methodology

But first of all let me qualify my interest.  Back during the Great Society days of President Lyndon Johnson I did some work for the US Census and the US Department of Labor.  Both dealt with statistical analysis and methodology.  Sound boring?  It wasn't.

At DOL I worked with the Bureau of Labor Statistics to develop a methodology for identifying high pockets of unemployment within urban areas.  We found an acceptable solution and the problem was solved.  At the time in the late 1960's this was a big social issue.

At the Census Bureau I was involved in computerizing the Address Coding Guide for Americans which collected the information needed on a national basis that could be converted to block by block data.  The ability to instantly sort data for 250 million people all the way down to a block by block level changed forever the way problems like poverty, unemployment, health and education were identified.


Political Polling

Later I worked in 32 political campaigns at the local (mayor and city council), state (both governors and state senators), and federal (presidential, senate and house races).  Working with all three levels of government gave me the opportunity to understand the inter-relationship and inter-dependence of each level from the executive branch, legislative branch and judiciary which exist at every level.

Beyond that, involvement in the campaign allowed me to play with more statistics as I then had access to polling information.  Once I got into the development of newer and more accurate ways to measure for political purposes I was in heaven.

It was amazing to measure how people reacted to polls, how to make the polls totally objective and representative of the diversity of the public, and how to interpret the results.  A real pollster does not try and confirm anything, but measures the true thoughts of the voter.

Over the decades social issues were almost always an integral element of the polling activity and measuring the true public feeling for an issue could help win elections, especially in limited geographic areas like Congressional Districts.


Through this experience it was always the intent of the polling to maintain absolute integrity over the results.  In other words, the intent of the poll was never to influence people but to understand people.

Focus groups, a key element of comprehensive polling and analysis, became a world of fascinating human reactions and emotions and led us into human response monitoring, an electrical monitoring method of verifying emotional response to any issue, word, phrase, image or color.

I offer this overview to show I've been aware and involved in polling and measuring public response to public issues, often social issues, for over four decades.

Becoming a Social Issue

I believe the point a concern becomes a "social issue" as defined by the media and political parties, is when there is sufficient public interest in any issue to create a reservoir of support for and against the issue.  In other words, when the interest becomes a "special" interest to those for and against something, you have a "social issue".

We searched for a "radical fringe", both for and against an issue, and when it was discovered suddenly the issue could cause polarization.  It was a science to predict the impact on the voting public of a politician taking a side for or against that issue.  There was much research exhausted to find this formula.

In the end you really couldn't, there were simply too many valid variables.  Many consultants tried to capitalize on their version of the truth but trying to manage reaction to social issues is a political time bomb and fraught with dangerous consequences.  There were always exceptions to a rule.


Ronald Reagan could take almost any side of any issue and people still supported him because they trusted him to look out for our overall good.  Reagan never wavered on his patriotism and never wavered on doing what was best for all Americans, not just those who agreed with him.  Few politicians have the trust of people, especially those from all political parties and independents.

Measuring the Importance of Social Issues

This changes from neighborhood to neighborhood, even block to block in some areas.  A strong local church can generate interest in issues that might otherwise never see the light of day.  Urban areas differ from suburbs, cities from farming areas.

In the end there are always two key considerations.  First, the person you represent, the politician you are trying to get or keep elected, better have a clear standing on the issue in the minds of the voters.  And second, if you open Pandora's Box by introducing the social issue to a campaign, you better make sure your opponent thinks the opposite so a clear distinction can be drawn.


Can the social issue ever be solved?

If the wounds of polarization and the emotional pain associated with it are an indication of the consequence of failing to resolve the issue then we better make it a priority.  We were put here to help and serve, not hate and kill.  There can be no higher purpose for mankind.

So we must get beyond the social issues that inspire anger and hatred.  In truth, many social issues have their grounding in religious belief and teachings.  Yet most social issues involve judgment, a function most religions agree is left to God in whatever form you recognize the Deity.

Government cannot legislate God's Law nor take God's place.  Free will, a gift to us from God in most religions, gives us a choice and makes judgment between God and us, not big government and us.  Freedom of religion must be protected, but religion cannot be legislated.

According to the King James Bible, Cambridge Edition, in Mark 12:17, "And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him."

Well judging spiritual morality is God's work, not ours.

We must make the laws of man clear, concise and unmistakable in their intent.  But we must not usurp the laws of God.

Social issues, a liberal term for matters of religion, are compromised when they are codified into man's law.  When we try to legislate gay marriage, contraception, abortion and similar issues under our law there is conflict, disagreement and polarization.  There is the conflict between socialism which wants to controls religion and democracy which respects individual rights and freedom.


Man's law can accommodate both sides of most issues if used to achieve fairness and freedom for all.

For example, civil marriage need not specify sex, leave that to the participants.  But marriage in the church, any church, should conform to the dogma of that church.  If you don't agree with the civil law get married in the church where a marriage between man and woman can be required.

Contraception is similar.  The government can make it available but it cannot make it mandatory for those religions that oppose it.  Much is said about the Roman Catholic stand on contraception.  The church is opposed.  Yet many Catholics in America support the use in spite of the efforts of the Bishops to encourage church dogma.

In the end, that is a matter between the individual Catholic and God come Judgment Day.  The individual has the right to use free will and can decide either way.  If they are wrong on their decision, a just God will let them know and pass judgment.


What is the truth about contraceptive use in America?

Here is a recent report by the Guttmacher Institute that attempts to document contraceptive use.

Facts on Contraceptive Use in the United States

June 2010

WHO NEEDS CONTRACEPTIVES?

• There are 62 million U.S. women in their childbearing years (15–44).
 • Seven in 10 women of reproductive age (43 million women) are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, but could become pregnant if they and their partners fail to use a contraceptive method.

• The typical U.S. woman wants only two children. To achieve this goal, she must use contraceptives for roughly three decades.

WHO USES CONTRACEPTIVES?

• Virtually all women (more than 99%) aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method.

• Overall, 62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using a method.

• Almost one-third (31%) of these 62 million women do not need a method because they are infertile; are pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant; have never had intercourse; or are not sexually active.

• Thus, only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives.

• Among the 43 million fertile, sexually active women who do not want to become pregnant, 89% are practicing contraception.

WHICH METHODS DO WOMEN USE?

• Sixty-three percent of reproductive-age women who practice contraception use nonpermanent methods, including hormonal methods (such as the pill, patch, implant, injectable and vaginal ring), the IUD and condoms. The remaining women rely on female or male sterilization.

• Contraceptive choices vary markedly with age. For women younger than 30, the pill is the leading method. Among women aged 30 and older, more rely on sterilization.

• The pill and female sterilization have been the two leading contraceptive methods in the United States since 1982. However, sterilization is the most common method among black and Hispanic women, while white women mostly commonly choose the pill.

• Female sterilization is most commonly relied on by women who are aged 35 or older, women who are currently or have previously been married, women with two or more children, women below 150% of the federal poverty level and women with less than a college education.

• Half of all women aged 40–44 who practice contraception have been sterilized, and another 20% have a partner who has had a vasectomy.

• The pill is the method most widely used by women who are in their teens and 20s, women who are cohabiting, women with no children and women with at least a college degree.

• Some 6.2 million women rely on the male condom. Condom use is especially common among teens and women in their 20s, women with one or no children and women with at least a college education.

• Dual methods (most often the condom combined with another method) are used by 13.5% of contraceptive users. The proportions using more than one method are greatest among teenagers and never-married women.

TEEN CONTRACEPTIVE USE

• Teenagers (aged 15–19) who do not use a contraceptive at first sex are twice as likely to become teen mothers as are teenagers who use a method.

• Twenty-three percent of teenage women using contraceptives choose condoms as their primary method. Condom use is higher among women aged 20–24 and is lower among older and married women.

• Of the 2.9 million teenage women who use contraceptives, 54%—more than 1.5 million women—rely on the pill.

TRENDS IN CONTRACEPTIVE USE

• The proportion of women aged 15–44 currently using a contraceptive method increased from 56% in 1982 to 64% in 1995, and then declined slightly to 62% in 2002 and 2006–2008.

• Among all women, 7% were at risk of unwanted pregnancy but not using a method in 2006–2008, an increase from 5% in 1995.

• Among just those women who are sexually active and able to become pregnant but do not want to become pregnant, 11% are not using contraceptives. That number is much higher among teens aged 15–19 (19%) and lower among older women aged 40–44 (8%).

• The proportion of women using contraceptives who rely on condoms decreased between 1995 and 2006–2008 from 20% to 16%. However, use was still higher in 2006–2008 than it was in 1988.

• Between 1995 and 2002, the share of users relying on the pill increased slightly, from 27% to 31%, but it declined slightly, to 28%, in 2006–2008.

• In 2006–2008, 27% of contraceptive users relied on female sterilization, compared with 23% in 1982.[funded family planning clinic.

• The proportion of all users relying on the IUD has increased substantially, from less than 1% in 1995, to 2% in 2002, to 5.5% in 2006–2008.

Data Sources

  • The information in this fact sheet is the most current available. All of the data are from research conducted by the Guttmacher Institute and the National Center for Health Statistics or from Contraceptive Technology.
  • U.S. Bureau of the Census, Table 2: annual estimates of the resident population by sex and selected age groups for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2008, no date, , accessed May 25, 2010.
  • Mosher WD and Jones J, Use of contraception in the United States: 1982–2008, Vital and Health Statistics, 2010, Series 23, No. 29.
  • The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), Fulfilling the Promise: Public Policy and U.S. Family Planning Clinics, New York: AGI, 2000.
  • Piccinino LJ and Mosher WD, Trends in contraceptive use in the United States: 1982–1995, Family Planning Perspectives, 1998, 30(1):4–10 & 46.
  • Frost JJ, Trends in US women’s use of sexual and reproductive health care services, 1995–2002, American Journal of Public Health, 2008, 98(10):1814–1817.
  • Dailard C, Contraceptive coverage: a 10-year retrospective, Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, 2004, 7(2):6–9.
  • Sonfield A et al., U.S. insurance coverage of contraceptives and the impact of contraceptive coverage mandates, 2002, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2004, 36(2):72–79.
  • Guttmacher Institute, Insurance coverage contraceptives, State Policies In Brief (as of May 2010), 2010, , accessed May 25, 2010.
Go to Guttmacher Institute website for more information.

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