Of course determination of sentience is crucial. I don't want to live as a vegetable, and I don't want anyone else to live like that either, no matter if they or their family members held/hold delusional "right to life" nonsense in their feeble minds. Peter Singer explains all of this sort of thing very well, and he sticks to his positions in the face of clueless emotional outrage.

Besides, don't the religious types believe the "souls" of the aborted/euthanized just go to "heaven," anyway?

These days, imperialism manifests itself in the neoliberal economic policies that Western elites (in collusion with African elites) push on Africa. Obama made it clear in his Nairobi press conference that he does not oppose this sort of thing.

There's a reason Botswana is an exception to this story. They've avoided the worst aspects of neoliberalism, though AIDS has obscured many of the resulting gains.

There's a reason that South Korea looks like it does, and Kenya looks like it does.

Lesbians can be raped as well.

****

True, "anonymous clinic escort" (Ace) was once a fetus, but if Ace's mother had an abortion, how could Ace care? And besides, don't the religious types believe that Ace would just go to "heaven" anyway?

But why do men do things like this? I admit to staring. I feel bad about it. But it would never occur to me to actually violate a woman's personal space like that. No, I never had some wise father figure telling me "how to treat a lady." I just use my prudent, logical, common sense, as always.

As the song goes, "even Hitler had a girlfriend, so why can't I?"

As others have noted, there's a huge difference between attempts and completions. Methods explain much of the difference, e.g. White men over 65 tend to use guns, thus their attempts are usually fatal. That doesn't explain everything, though.

I hate the "virgin/whore" dichotomy, not least for its resilience.

"Do we want to condemn Christianity as well?" (Or words to that effect.) Yes, I do! There is no such thing as god.

The governments of China and Vietnam are still very much in command of their economies. They are just doing a better job these days.

Don't forget that the anti-authoritarian Left (of which I am a part) actually does include some communists, such as council communists and admirers of Rosa Luxemburg and such. These people reject all the tyrannies and clueless central economic planning of the regimes you mentioned, just as much as they (we) reject capitalism. We favor giving power to the workers themselves, not the state.

For the record, Cuba's achievements in health and education (and other areas) are such that one has to wonder what the place would look like without the illegal, punitive embargo. And in 1988, if a peasant from Guatemala or Haiti were to find him/herself in the Soviet Bloc, they'd be very impressed with the sight of a modern, developed country. That's not an argument for communism, but it's one against the neoliberal imperialism that people label "capitalism." T

he only people who actually believe in free market capitalism are libertarians. At least they're honest. Ron Paul says that in a truly free market with no subsidies or other kinds of welfare-for-the-rich, you wouldn't have gargantuan tyrannical corporations. Like I said, at least they're honest.

It often seems that Republicans don't know what "the Left" is.

"Any time a bunch of holy people want to get together and kill each other, I'm a happy guy."

Religion poisons everything.

Perhaps this is a sign the Iranian government is getting desperate. Of course, this whole scenario wouldn't be happening if Washington and London hadn't overthrown Mossadegh.

Are you sure you've never met a man (or woman) who only seems to care about his children's athletic abilities? I thought that sort of thing was rampant.

Why not adopt? I know it's not easy, but it has to be easier than more surgery to one's crotch. It also makes perfect sense to adopt before making more mouths to feed, but that's another thing I just don't understand... I also don't understand why nobody's mentioned all the other kinds of sex that can't result in pregnancy, not to mention all the contraceptive methods that have been largely forgotten (apparently with the encouragement of the chemical BC industry.)

Man-in-middle (MIM,) what's that you wrote about "the n-word" in eeny-meeny...? I don't have any idea what you're talking about.

Back on the subject...

I keep reading (on Wikipedia and elsewhere) about the various herbal methods of birth control/abortion. Apparently a lot of this knowledge has been lost/supressed. Does anybody have any more information about this sort of thing?

Heifer.org for contraception? That sounds like a great idea! Seriously, you should start an NGO, and if I had the wherewithal I would like to help. In the meantime, consider MarieStopes and UNFPA and all the other organizations trying to help.

Stupid Papists.

I don't care what good things it supposedly does for you. The fact is, Mormonism is an outright lie, and we have abundant irrefutable historical evidence to demonstrate this. Mormonism and Scientology are my favorite religions for this reason. Most religions are myths with murky origins. It's ridiculous that people believe in them, but they at least make more sense than Scientology and Mormonism, which are both transparent frauds.

You don't accept homosexual behavior? What are gay people supposed to do?