The Loveshade Family Blog

U. S. President Barack Obama announced he will end America's combat in Iraq in 18 months, and will begin a new diplomatic era in the Middle East.

"Let me say this as plainly as I can: By August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end," said the President.

Some of us clearly remember when America "won the war" under President George W. Bush on May 1, 2003. Victory was declared, and the war was supposedly over, except for the usual clean up. Supposedly.

This war has been filled with supposedlies. Iraq was invaded because of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" that Iraq supposedly had, or supposedly was building, or supposedly was thinking about building.

As further investigation showed, there were no such weapons or even the viability of building such weapons. And it's likely, if not yet proven in a court of law, those in charge in the United States and the United Kingdom knew there wasn't sufficient evidence to justify mounting an invasion.

Millions of people in various parts of the world protested the war even before it began on March 20, 2003.  Rome had an anti-war rally of 3 million people, which the Guinness Book of Records sets as the largest anti-war rally in history.

After the attack, the premiere Russian newspaper Pravda called the invasion an act of terrorism.

Whatever you call it, it has not been successful. Some may recall that years before George W. Bush set out to invade Iraq, another U. S. president wisely decided such an invasion was not realistic, and would be doomed to almost certain failure. That president was George H. W. Bush.

But the son didn't listen to the wisdom of the father, and neither did the son's advisors. As a result a great number of people have died and many, many more are homeless.

Thankfully, President Obama at least plans to bring American service people home.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090228/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_iraq

Posted by Alden Loveshade at 06:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

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Yes, it may sound like a bit of strange advice, but it's true.

Children who always follow the rules, who do what they're told, can grow up sadly unprepared for the realities of life. Not all rules are good, and not all good rules are good all the time.

And those who continue to follow the rules are the same people who support oppressive and unfair regimes. They are also the people who are oppressed by such regimes.

While we don't necessarily agree with everything in Craig Playstead's article, you might want to check it out at http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/family-parenting/article.aspx?cp-documentid=16949831.

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 02:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

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Filmmaker George Kalman tried to register the name "I Choose Hell Productions" with the state of Pennsylvania.  It was rejected because of a state law that prohibits names containing profanity or blasphemy.

The ever-vigilant ACLU filed a lawsuit based on the Bill of Rights; freedom of religion/separation of church and state, and freedom of speech.

Someday someone's going to have to go after that obscene and profane unholy book that talks about hell, bestiality, both outlaws and promotes incest, and promotes genocide.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29284648/?GT1=43001

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

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Two girls, age 14 and 15, have been arrested and charged with disseminating child porn--for sending pictures of themselves.

The teen girls from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, were arrested along with two teen boys, ages 16 and 17, who are accused of having received the photos over their cell phones.

Ironically, the law could also classify the "criminals" as victims.  The underage girls could be classifed as victims of sex crimes because two teenagers possessed their nude photos.  And the underage boys could be classified as victims of sex crimes because they were sent "child pornography."  So if the law punishes the "criminals," it also punishes the "victims."

Some American laws are just too stupid to believe.

And these teens aren't the only ones. Others have been prosecuted under the same kind of laws.  In fact, millions of teens could be arrested for disseminating child pornography. According to a survey released in December 2008 by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 20 percent of teens have sent nude photos of themselves to someone electronically.  And many more have possessed such photos.

In other words, the biggest producers, and probably consumers, of kiddie porn are kids.

These laws are supposedly written to protect the victims. But who is victimizing them? Themselves, or the government?

Am I the only one who thinks there needs to be some changes to these laws?

I learned about this at http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/01/teens-send-nude-pics-to-one-other-face-kiddie-porn-charges.ars For more info, see http://www.wpxi.com/news/18469160/detail.html (about the arrest) and the survey results in pdf form at http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/sextech/PDF/SexTech_Summary.pdf

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBacks (0)

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The father of a United Kingdom boy who impregnated a girl when he was age 12 plans to have a talk with his son about sex. 

Dennis Patten, father of new father Alfie Patten, now age 13, decided it's time for an education. '"I will talk to him again and it will be the birds and bees talk. Some may say it's too late but he needs to understand so there is not another baby."'

The new mother is Chantelle, who was 14 when impregnated and is now 15.

Just another example of how effective it is to try to keep children ignorant about sex.

See more at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29184929/?gt1=43001

Posted by Reverend Loveshade at 07:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)

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An update on the case of Troy Davis, a man whom several people including top investigators believe was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer: nothing.  It's still a waiting game.

If the best for Davis happens and he is released, at least 17 years of his life, his young years, will be gone.  He's 40 now; he was 23 when this all began. We don't know what Georgia does, but in some states when you're wrongly convicted and serve for years for something you didn't do, you get a few thousand dollars.  In others, you get nothing but "sorry."

Neither one comes close to making up for those years of your life.  But let's hope something is done soon.

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You can find more information at http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/

To see all of our blog entries dealing with Troy Davis, click on http://www.loveshade.org/blog-mt/mt-search.fcgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=troy+anthony+davis

Posted by The Loveshade Family at 01:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

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