Babies Without a Country
In America in 1790, for the foreign-born children of an American white woman to be American citizens, the father had to be a white American. Now that we live in a supposedly more enlightened time, it looks like we're going backwards.
Ellie Lavi is an American citizen who lives in Israel. She gave birth to twin daughters, Maya and Shira, in Israel. Under current U. S. law, and even the laws through much of the 19th and 20th centuries, her daughters would ordinarily be American citizens as is the foreign-born 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain.
But to have children, Ellie underwent in-vitro fertilization. Even though Ellie would likely be named as the legal mother of the children and thus legally responsible in America, she's not their mother in regards to citizenship.
Twins born in Japan faced a similar dilemma. In that case, they weren't accepted as Japanese citzens even though their parents were Japanese. Their birth mother was American.
Supposedly the American law was made to prevent people from fraudulently claiming they are Americans. Apparently there is a significant threat to America from foreign-born fetuses.
As usual, the law is years behind the world of physical reality. The first successful in-vitro birth was back in 1978, over 30 years ago. And it can be worse--with some combination of these conflicting laws in various parts of the world, children could be born without a country.
Details and links below
In Texas they said a woman couldn't breastfeed at Target even though the law said they could. So women protested Wednesday by having "nurse-ins" at 250 of Target stores.
The U. S. Army will stop removing openly gay and lesbian recruits. It will no longer go by, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
America's third largest state by population, New York, approved same sex marriage. The vote was close, but included Democrats and Republicans voting in favor of the legislation.
Yes, Olivia aka Miss Monkey Candy aka Ms. Candy Money pushed out a baby girl at 05:28 local time on 11 June 2011. The baby weighed in at 3676 grams (8.1 lbs), and was 51.4 cm long (20.23 in).
Much of the world just celebrated St. Patrick's Day, which in America means a tradition of wearing green and of pinching those who don't. It can be a lot of fun.
Westboro Baptist Church
This entry's a little different than the usual as it doesn't deal directly with political or social issues. Nor is it about a member of our family. But it shows how cats and other animals can hug each other, and we think it's appropriate for Hug Day.
This month on The Loveshade Family Blog, TawTew the Naturally Perfumed had a question. 'I have a question.' See, I told you. 'I see two pictures of pregnant girls in a row on this blog and one on the loveshade.org home page. I have to be curious why? Something going on? ;)'
A group of anonymous types flooded YouTube with pornographic videos. It was bound to happen sooner or later. In this case, many of them were hidden. A video might start out as a kid vid, then in the middle switch to porn.
A federal judge not only struck down California's Proposition 8 (2008), which disallowed same-sex marriage. But the ruling not only said that homosexual marriage should be allowed, it challenged the very concept of gay marriage.
For every 100 people who say they don't believe in stereotypes, probably 98 of them actually do.
Senator Al Franken (D-MN). introduced The Student Non-Discrimination Act (SNDA) in the U. S. Senate. If approved, the bill would require schools that receive federal funding to not discriminate against students on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
"
You may have read 
ncess.
Constance McMillen wanted to go to her high school prom with her girlfriend. She wanted to wear a tuxedo. The Itawamba County Agricultural High School faced a dilemma. Their policy said no same-sex couples, and no cross dressing.
You may remember when pushing for breast-milk foods for people was a publicity gimmick done by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals--see below). Well, this time it's real.
The United States' capital now accepts same sex couples. Starting today (Tuesday, 9 March 2010), the District of Columbia joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont as the sixth place in America that allows lesbian and gay marriage. (California did briefly until a court decision was rendered moot by an amendment to the state constitution).
California's gay marriage ban is now on trial. Beginning today, Monday, 11 January, the court is examing the ban. Currently, five U.S. states and the District of Columbia approve gay marriage. 
It may seem difficult to believe, but until today, people who were HIV-positive could not come to the United States of America.
Among the factors that go against a candidate for public office in the American state of Texas are these: being a Democrat, being a woman, and being gay. Somehow, Annise Parker managed to beat the odds and get elected mayor of Houston. She will become the first openly gay mayor of one of the United States' biggest cities.
Parents, moralists and media are curently attacking Sexting, or sending nude, semi-nude or sexually-explicit images and videos of yourself over phone and the Internet. They're even going after cybersex, or sexually-explicit conversations in chat rooms. Naturally, the biggest concern is when it's done by "young people."
Remember Australia, which used to be such a cool place to visit and live? Well, censors and social prudes are continuing to wage their glorious battle to make the country sterile and oppressed for visitors and natives alike.
The preliminary hearing for suspect Israel Mireles has been rescheduled for August 18, 2009. Mireles has been charged with the capital murder, rape and aggravated sodomy of Emily Sander.
'According to the study by Todd Kendall, an economics professor at Clemson University, “the arrival of the internet was associated with a reduction in rape incidence.”'
New Hampshire is now the sixth American state (if you don't count California) to recognize same-sex marriage.
Gay Marriage in California has been a merry-go-round in just the last year.
13-year-old Alfie Patten, who got front-page recognition as the father of his 15-year-old girlfriend's baby, is not the father.
Texans love five things: barbecues, football, guns, executions, and registering sex offenders. It's a good-old-boy state where you can get lifetime registration as a sex offender and 20 years in prison for downloading photos that have appeared in several art museums. But leaving a loaded gun where a kid gets it and shoots and kills his cousin can get you a fine.
Connecticut is set to become the fourth U. S. state (if you don't count California) to legally recognize same-sex marriage.
In case you aren't an American who has or works with young children, you may not know what all the fuss is about.
Two girls, age 14 and 15, have been arrested and charged with disseminating child porn--for sending pictures of themselves.
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. 
Proposition 8, a California initiative that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, has passed. Because the measure amends the state constitution, it would effectively overrule the decision of the California Supreme Court that banning same-sex marriage is discriminatory.
"This morning, PETA dispatched a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of ice cream icon Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace the cow's milk in their products with human breast milk."
Allowing homosexuals and bisexuals in the United States military is being examined by Congress for the first time in 15 years.
(Alden Loveshade is a freelance writer who became involved in a political protest while vacationing in Boulder, Colorado, some time before JonBenét Ramsey (sometimes spelled JonBenet Ramsey) was reported missing. Alden has been following the Ramsey case ever since.)
Mandi Hamlin was handed a pair of pliers and told to remove her nipple rings before boarding a plane, according to attorney Gloria Allred. In a news conference on 27 March 2008, Allred said Hamlin was forced by the Transportation Security Administration on 24 February 2008 in Texas. (For those who don't know, Texas is a part of the United States, although some Texans insist it's the other way round.)
Arthur C. Clarke, the 90-year-old icon of science and science fiction who passed away on March 19, 2008, has been cleared of having sex with boys.
Until now, if you sold "marital aids" in Texas, you could be prosecuted for obscenity. A federal appeals court has finally overturned that law.
Tragically, authorities believe they've found the body of Emily Sander. The body was found about 50 miles from El Dorado, Kansas, where Emily attended school and was last seen.
The Holy Bible says nothing against polygamy--in fact, many of the greatest spiritual leaders and men of God were polygamists. Even King David, the man after God's own heart in Christian and Jewish faith, practiced it.
Once again, Texas has the highest teen birth rate of any state in the United States. Interestingly, Texas has a policy of denying contraceptives without parental consent and strongly promotes abstinence-only sex education in public schools.
Many teenagers may be shocked to learn that the intimacy that they and many of their classmates share could land them in prison. In fact, the senior who's dating a junior could be in danger of becoming a lifetime registered sex offender, and considered a sexual predator of children.
Should a 17-year-old teenager get 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend? The state of Georgia said yes; but now, after two years, the court said no. But just barely.
King Middle School in Portland, Maine will let students get birth control pills. The Portland School Committee voted 7 to 2 in favor.
Adam Newton, an educator and freelance professional writer who's done work for magazines, newspapers, radio and television, interviewed us! Why we don't know.
Do you want to support breast feeding? There's a bill in the United States Congress called H.R. 2236 to do just that!
According to the mother of the 10-year-old girl Riley, she has a birth defect--a penis. The preteen transgender girl, who is biologically a boy, finds self-identity as the opposite sex. Even as a toddler, Riley wanted "girl" toys and clothes.
On the flip side, 14-year-old girl Rebecca wrote Mom a letter saying "she" wanted to be a "he." Rebecca, now known as Jeremy, was "a boy in a girl's body."
Do search engines such as Google violate copyright laws? Is the display of a low-pixel image in a search engine illegal? The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco just said no.
Here's another twist on the sex offender laws that have been popping up in the last few years and are growing bigger and bigger throughout America.
In 1892, Horner Plessy, a "colored" shoemaker, was locked up in jail for sitting in the "White" car of the East Louisiana Railroad. With a series of failed appeals, the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896 established that the principle "separate but equal" was legally valid in the United States of America.
"OSLO (Reuters) - The birds and the bees may be gay, according to the world's first museum exhibition about homosexuality among animals.
"This summer, a group of teenagers has disrobed near restaurants, bookstores and galleries, igniting a debate about whether this bohemian southern Vermont town should ban a practice that has been tolerated until now." That's from an article called "Nude teens raising eyebrows in Vermont."
(Alden Loveshade is a freelance writer who became involved in a political protest while vacationing in Boulder, Colorado, some time before JonBenet Ramsey was reported missing. Alden has been following the Ramsey case ever since. Here, Alden looks at the problem of false accusation, like what happened in the Ramsey murder case and to a small town mayor).
