I was thinking of Plan B. It is approved as a prescription drug but the FDA rejected the request to make it over the counter. Here's an excerpt of that decision from the FDA's site: Following the advisory committee meeting, FDA requested additional information from the sponsor pertaining to adolescent use. The sponsor submitted this additional information to FDA in support of their pending application to change Plan B from a prescription to an over-the-counter product. This additional information was extensive enough to qualify as a major amendment to the NDA. Under the terms of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) performance goals, major amendments such as this may trigger a 90-day extension of the original PDUFA deadline. Now FDA has completed its review of the supplemental application and concluded that the application could not be approved at this time because 1) adequate data were not provided to support a conclusion that young adolescent women can safely use Plan B for emergency contraception without the professional supervision of a licensed practitioner and 2) a proposal from the sponsor to change the requested indication to allow for marketing of Plan B as a prescription-only product for women under 16 years of age and a nonprescription product for women 16 years and older was incomplete and inadequate for a full review. Therefore, FDA concluded that the application was not approvable. LOL. Or, in other words, daddy Bush said no. FDA decision

^ So you don't believe prevention of HPV will lead to promiscuity? Do you know of other similar cases (of diseases) falling under this religious prohibition vs. medical prevention debate? I know there's another but I just can't think of it at the moment.

In case you're still not sure just how destructive the Bush administration has become to this country, you need to read Michael Specter's piece in the March 13 issue of the New Yorker magazine. It's enough to give you the willies. Specter documents how the Bush people have stacked the Food and Drug Administration with fanatics who regularly trump science to advance their own religious beliefs. It reads like a modern-day Galileo being persecuted by the Catholic Church because he maintained Earth was round. Although Specter cites several examples of religious beliefs thwarting scientific advances by key appointees to the FDA and other divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services (Tommy Thompson's old department), one of the most egregious has been to block a vaccine designed to thwart cervical cancer. Two of the country's bigger pharmaceutical companies Merck and GlaxoSmithKline have developed and proven the safety of a vaccine that prevents a common sexually transmitted disease called human papillomavirus (HPV). Strains of HPV are known to cause cervical cancer in early adulthood. The vaccine needs to be administered to girls before they become sexually active, which is an average age of 17. And therein lies the rub for the religious base of the Republican Party that George Bush and company have installed in crucial posts in the health department. That base and George W. Bush himself steadfastly adheres to the proposition that kids need to practice abstinence. In their eyes, anything from promoting the use of condoms to giving young girls vaccinations against sexually transmitted diseases only encourages promiscuity among young people. These people refuse to believe results of the numerous scientific studies that have shown the availability of condoms, for instance, has absolutely no impact on the rate of teen sex, or that young people who pledge to abstain actually engage in sex as often as those who don't take a pledge. Their religion maintains that premarital sex is a sin, period, which is fine except that Bush has created a situation where those overzealous religious beliefs instead of scientific fact determine national policy. "Since George W. Bush became president, the United States has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on abstinence programs, and it has cut almost that much in aid to groups that support abortion and the use of condoms as a primary method of birth control," Specter pointed out. But, who would believe they would actually block approval of a vaccine that can prevent cancer? The role that religion is playing in important health decisions has caused several career FDA doctors and staff to quit their jobs in disgust. It isn't just an insane war. It's the anti-environment policies, the unjust tax policies, the ceaseless trashing of civil liberties and the subjugation of solid medical science for religious zealotry that is tearing down an America that was based on fairness and truth. Can we really survive nearly three more years of this destruction? Source

SB, if you still think this is not about oil, Euros or hegemony, may be this viewpoint will explain things in better terms than I have. Please take the time to read it, specially the areas I put in bold, just for you. Published on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 by The Age (Australia) Bush's Iran Plan A Time Bomb With Explosive Results by Kenneth Davidson The updated version of the Bush Administration's 2002 national security strategy, released in Washington last week, identifies Iran as the country that may pose the biggest danger to the United States. According to Reuters, the strategy document, which reaffirms pre-emptive military action as a central tenet of US security policy, raises fears the Bush Administration will resort to force to prevent Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. If force is used, it will come in the form of air strikes, as US land forces are already overstretched in the occupation of neighbouring Iraq. One question still to be confronted is the impact such a strike would have on the US economy and how that would affect the global economy, particularly Australia, which is, after the US, the largest-deficit country in the advanced industrial world. At the very least, a broadening of the war in the Middle East would be certain to push up interest rates in the US and Australia, because the central banks there would have to protect the currencies' value by increasing yields. How far and fast would depend on judgements about the likely outcome of the military intervention. An air strike against Iranian nuclear facilities is unlikely to be surgical. There are about 50 sites associated with nuclear development in Iran and they are mainly sited in towns where civilian populations would be at risk. An attack would be certain to inflame the Islamic world against the US, almost certainly lead to a full-scale civil war in Iraq with the support of the predominantly Shiite Iranian people, and the US fleet in the shallow and narrow Persian Gulf would have to withdraw or be vulnerable to Iranian missile attack. Worse, any air strike against Iran is unlikely to get the support of the United Nations Security Council, given that China and Russia would likely veto any resolution put up by the US. Why would the Bush Administration risk widening Gulf War II to include Iran when it still has the chance to limit its losses to Iraq? The most popular explanation is that the US wants to pre-empt the Iranian decision to set up a Tehran oil bourse to facilitate the selling and buying of oil in euros instead of US dollars. [Remember Saddam was contemplating the same thing in the late 90's and early 2000's.] The idea is that this would cause a chain reaction in which more and more oil producers and their customers would trade in euros and eventually force the US to pay for its oil in euros too. This would mean the US would have to do what every other country in the world has to do, namely earn foreign exchange through exports in order to pay for its oil imports. [ That whole stand-in-line thing I kept repeating to you.] Last year the US trade deficit for petroleum products was about $300 billion. While the $US remains the international reserve currency and oil continues to be traded in dollars, the US can pay for its oil simply by printing more IOUs in the form of US treasury bills. If the US had to find euros (or yuan) to pay for its oil, it would have to increase taxes, cut consumption and increase exports. In short, according to this scenario, the US could no longer afford to be a military superpower and would have to cut back its global adventures. In the process, the $US would collapse, wiping out the accumulated financial assets of America's major creditors and probably causing a depression of 1930s dimensions. More generally, such a development opens up the question of whether the reserve status of the $US is supporting US superpower status, or whether US military power is propping up the reserve currency status of the $US. While the possibility of oil trading in euros and the yuan present a possible long-term threat to US economic and military hegemony, it doesn't have to be dealt with immediately. Similarly, the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran is at least some years into the future. But even with nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them and the control systems to guide them, deterrence and the doctrine of mutually assured destruction (MAD) applies to Iran as much as it did to the Soviet Union. The main strategic change is that if Iran gets the bomb, the US (and Israel) can't attack Iran unless they are prepared to risk MAD. The cynical explanation for the Bush Administration's threats against Iran is that, like the build-up to the invasion of Iraq, the real objective is "regime change", which has been re-enforced by the slump in President Bush's approval rating to 34 per cent. The only thing on the political horizon that might restore Republican fortunes is a new and credible national security threat in order to keep control of Congress in the November elections. If the Republicans lost control of Congress, the way becomes open for hearings into the constitutionality of the Bush Administration's use of wiretaps on Americans without warrants as required by legislation. The Republican majority in both the Senate and the Reps has blocked examination of the legality of this and other actions by the Bush Administration. How far the Bush Administration is prepared to go in Iran in order to avoid losing control of Congress to a hostile Democrat majority, which might opt for impeachment, will have fundamental consequences for the global economy in 2006. Source

^ How about that for a heart-warming story? Any idea on the dates in her itinerary?

^ Easy with the name calling there. This could be interesting if it's not personalized. Right?

Hey Zafir, did you even read the interview? Do you still think this dude is pro-Islam? LOL. This is one of his many blunders in it: Yes, my views did change. I started out hostile to Islam and after a couple years immersion I gained a greater understanding of the faith, recognizing its strength and power over believers . At the same time I feel that the hierarchal aspects of Islam, the subordination of self and the rigor of its doctrine --- Islam means "submission" --- is profoundly out of phase with the modern world . He might as well call himself Daniel Pipes.

Walt and Mearsheimer are anti-semites. How could they forget the Holocaust and what was done to the Jewish people? These so-called "authors" should be censored.

^ What are you people on about? I said do not discriminate against those who welcomed you to their homes. If you have an inexplicable and irresistible urge to kiss their as$es, that's a personal problem and another topic altogether. Just don't discriminate. Originally posted by Digaale: Dont you see we are benefitting physically but mentally and spiritually we are being deluded. You're only deluding yourself awoowe. Don't be an ingrate.

We'll see if you do know her like that but if you're as$uming, then you know what that makes you.

LOL. Few people I have contempt for like I do for Karzai of Afghanistan and Talabani of Iraq (and of course our own warlords). All should be killed on sight. We're wasting our breath and energy on simpletons who choose Christianity over Islam. The real apostates are those sellouts.

^ That's wrong dude. You don't know anyone on these boards like that.

^ That was an infinitely better topic. Whatever happened to Brother Warsameh? Was he eventually banned or killed?

Originally posted by naden: What makes your blood boil (and possibly your heart harden)? Black refugees from Somalia who "ran" from their homes only to be welcomed in someone else's home and don't even bother to learn the new language of the land yet think of themselves superior to all other beings and choose to discriminate against the very people who took them in. Phew! Now read this about black men in America (Somalis included): Plight Deepens for Black Men, Studies Warn by Erik Eckholm BALTIMORE — Black men in the United States face a far more dire situation than is portrayed by common employment and education statistics, a flurry of new scholarly studies warn, and it has worsened in recent years even as an economic boom and a welfare overhaul have brought gains to black women and other groups. Focusing more closely than ever on the life patterns of young black men, the new studies, by experts at Columbia, Princeton, Harvard and other institutions, show that the huge pool of poorly educated black men are becoming ever more disconnected from the mainstream society, and to a far greater degree than comparable white or Hispanic men. Especially in the country's inner cities, the studies show, finishing high school is the exception, legal work is scarcer than ever and prison is almost routine, with incarceration rates climbing for blacks even as urban crime rates have declined. Although the problems afflicting poor black men have been known for decades, the new data paint a more extensive and sobering picture of the challenges they face. "There's something very different happening with young black men, and it's something we can no longer ignore," said Ronald B. Mincy, professor of social work at Columbia University and editor of "Black Males Left Behind" (Urban Institute Press, 2006). "Over the last two decades, the economy did great," Mr. Mincy said, "and low-skilled women, helped by public policy, latched onto it. But young black men were falling farther back." Many of the new studies go beyond the traditional approaches to looking at the plight of black men, especially when it comes to determining the scope of joblessness. For example, official unemployment rates can be misleading because they do not include those not seeking work or incarcerated. "If you look at the numbers, the 1990's was a bad decade for young black men, even though it had the best labor market in 30 years," said Harry J. Holzer, an economist at Georgetown University and co-author, with Peter Edelman and Paul Offner, of "Reconnecting Disadvantaged Young Men" (Urban Institute Press, 2006). In response to the worsening situation for young black men, a growing number of programs are placing as much importance on teaching life skills — like parenting, conflict resolution and character building — as they are on teaching job skills. These were among the recent findings: * The share of young black men without jobs has climbed relentlessly, with only a slight pause during the economic peak of the late 1990's. In 2000, 65 percent of black male high school dropouts in their 20's were jobless — that is, unable to find work, not seeking it or incarcerated. By 2004, the share had grown to 72 percent, compared with 34 percent of white and 19 percent of Hispanic dropouts. Even when high school graduates were included, half of black men in their 20's were jobless in 2004, up from 46 percent in 2000. * Incarceration rates climbed in the 1990's and reached historic highs in the past few years. In 1995, 16 percent of black men in their 20's who did not attend college were in jail or prison; by 2004, 21 percent were incarcerated. By their mid-30's, 6 in 10 black men who had dropped out of school had spent time in prison. * In the inner cities, more than half of all black men do not finish high school. None of the litany of problems that young black men face was news to a group of men from the airless neighborhoods of Baltimore who recently described their experiences. One of them, Curtis E. Brannon, told a story so commonplace it hardly bears notice here. He quit school in 10th grade to sell drugs, fathered four children with three mothers, and spent several stretches in jail for drug possession, parole violations and other crimes. "I was with the street life, but now I feel like I've got to get myself together," Mr. Brannon said recently in the row-house flat he shares with his girlfriend and four children. "You get tired of incarceration." Mr. Brannon, 28, said he planned to look for work, perhaps as a mover, and he noted optimistically that he had not been locked up in six months. A group of men, including Mr. Brannon, gathered at the Center for Fathers, Families and Workforce Development, one of several private agencies trying to help men build character along with workplace skills. The clients readily admit to their own bad choices but say they also fight a pervasive sense of hopelessness. "It hurts to get that boot in the face all the time," said Steve Diggs, 34. "I've had a lot of charges but only a few convictions," he said of his criminal record. Mr. Diggs is now trying to strike out on his own, developing a party space for rentals, but he needs help with business skills. "I don't understand," said William Baker, 47. "If a man wants to change, why won't society give him a chance to prove he's a changed person?" Mr. Baker has a lot of record to overcome, he admits, not least his recent 15-year stay in the state penitentiary for armed robbery. Mr. Baker led a visitor down the Pennsylvania Avenue strip he wants to escape — past idlers, addicts and hustlers, storefront churches and fortresslike liquor stores — and described a life that seemed inevitable. He sold marijuana for his parents, he said, left school in the sixth grade and later dealt heroin and cocaine. He was for decades addicted to heroin, he said, easily keeping the habit during three terms in prison. But during his last long stay, he also studied hard to get a G.E.D. and an associate's degree. Now out for 18 months, Mr. Baker is living in a home for recovering drug addicts. He is working a $10-an-hour warehouse job while he ponders how to make a living from his real passion, drawing and graphic arts. "I don't want to be a criminal at 50," Mr. Baker said. According to census data, there are about five million black men ages 20 to 39 in the United States. Terrible schools, absent parents, racism, the decline in blue collar jobs and a subculture that glorifies swagger over work have all been cited as causes of the deepening ruin of black youths. Scholars — and the young men themselves — agree that all of these issues must be addressed. Joseph T. Jones, director of the fatherhood and work skills center here, puts the breakdown of families at the core. "Many of these men grew up fatherless, and they never had good role models," said Mr. Jones, who overcame addiction and prison time. "No one around them knows how to navigate the mainstream society." All the negative trends are associated with poor schooling, studies have shown, and progress has been slight in recent years. Federal data tend to understate dropout rates among the poor, in part because imprisoned youths are not counted. Closer studies reveal that in inner cities across the country, more than half of all black men still do not finish high school, said Gary Orfield, an education expert at Harvard and editor of "Dropouts in America" (Harvard Education Press, 2004). "We're pumping out boys with no honest alternative," Mr. Orfield said in an interview, "and of course their neighborhoods offer many other alternatives." Dropout rates for Hispanic youths are as bad or worse but are not associated with nearly as much unemployment or crime, the data show. With the shift from factory jobs, unskilled workers of all races have lost ground, but none more so than blacks. By 2004, 50 percent of black men in their 20's who lacked a college education were jobless, as were 72 percent of high school dropouts, according to data compiled by Bruce Western, a sociologist at Princeton and author of the forthcoming book "Punishment and Inequality in America" (Russell Sage Press). These are more than double the rates for white and Hispanic men. Mr. Holzer of Georgetown and his co-authors cite two factors that have curbed black employment in particular. First, the high rate of incarceration and attendant flood of former offenders into neighborhoods have become major impediments. Men with criminal records tend to be shunned by employers, and young blacks with clean records suffer by association, studies have found. Arrests of black men climbed steeply during the crack epidemic of the 1980's, but since then the political shift toward harsher punishments, more than any trends in crime, has accounted for the continued growth in the prison population, Mr. Western said. By their mid-30's, 30 percent of black men with no more than a high school education have served time in prison, and 60 percent of dropouts have, Mr. Western said. Among black dropouts in their late 20's, more are in prison on a given day — 34 percent — than are working — 30 percent — according to an analysis of 2000 census data by Steven Raphael of the University of California, Berkeley. The second special factor is related to an otherwise successful policy: the stricter enforcement of child support. Improved collection of money from absent fathers has been a pillar of welfare overhaul. But the system can leave young men feeling overwhelmed with debt and deter them from seeking legal work, since a large share of any earnings could be seized. About half of all black men in their late 20's and early 30's who did not go to college are noncustodial fathers, according to Mr. Holzer. From the fathers' viewpoint, support obligations "amount to a tax on earnings," he said. Some fathers give up, while others find casual work. "The work is sporadic, not the kind that leads to advancement or provides unemployment insurance," Mr. Holzer said. "It's nothing like having a real job." The recent studies identified a range of government programs and experiments, especially education and training efforts like the Job Corps, that had shown success and could be scaled up. Scholars call for intensive new efforts to give children a better start, including support for parents and extra schooling for children. They call for teaching skills to prisoners and helping them re-enter society more productively, and for less automatic incarceration of minor offenders. In a society where higher education is vital to economic success, Mr. Mincy of Columbia said, programs to help more men enter and succeed in college may hold promise. But he lamented the dearth of policies and resources to aid single men. "We spent $50 billion in efforts that produced the turnaround for poor women," Mr. Mincy said. "We are not even beginning to think about the men's problem on similar orders of magnitude." Source

Originally posted by makalajabti: Which means that immigrants should learn a lot more about the country History before they contemplate the thought of settling in the Netherlands. So the history of the Netherlands is "two men kissing in a park and a topless woman bather"? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't show this promotional DVD if they were courting, say, rich immigrant-investors or even other non-colored refugees. Otherwise, what's the point of showing "the often crime-ridden ghettos where poorer immigrants might end up living"? This is a classic and shameless fear tactic, atheer, and also the closest thing the Dutch can do legally short of standing at the gates and shooing people away. If you're unable to understand that, makalajabti, then indeed waad kala jabtay.

^ Aren't you pushing an agenda (and some buttons) nowadays. SB, I ain't going no where atheer.

Observers say executing a converted Christian would be a significant precedent as a conservative interpretation of Sharia law in Afghanistan. But it would also outrage Western nations which put Mr Karzai in power and are pouring billions of dollars into supporting the country. A phone conversation between "Western powers" (WP) and Karzai after the man is put to death: WP: "How could you let this happen Kazzie? What with all the money we gave you?" Karzai: "I'm sorry Sir. I couldn't intervene. The people would have my head on a plate." WP: "But we also provide you protection Kazzie. Why do you think we do that? That we really care about your dumbass?" Karzai: "I know Sir. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." WP: "You're really getting on our last nerve Kazzie. You're proving to be even more worthless than people accuse you of. Frankly, we're really dissapointed. We might have to change our strategy." Karzai: "I'm really, really, really sorry Sir. Please forgive me. I'll be good. I promise. Please." WP: "Oh shutup, you sound like a little biaj right now. Hush!" Karzai: "Ok Sir. I'm sorry. Can you send me more Toblerone, Sir. We running really low on stock and you know how much I like that chocolate." WP: "Stubidh, fcuking piece of shit, turban head. And don't forget to submit your timesheet on Friday." [hangs up] Karzai: "Hello? Are you there Sir? Hello?" what right do muslim have demanding Tolerance? I suppose this is your question, Ibtisam, and not part of the article. Do you think Muslims shouldn't ask for tolerance when they put to death a murtad (a revert)? That man couldn't be too bright to begin with. To me, leaving Islam for Christianity is akin to graduating college only to start 5th grade. Let him be. Whatever his punishment, he will receive it from his creator.

^ With this, we've hit bottom atheer so rejoice. No more downhill slide. Prince Charles? The would be king of the British empire? Would this be an honorary doctorate in Islamic law? Fiqh? Which is it? If they do go ahead and do this, I believe George W. Bush deserves one as well. His tireless work to bring democracy to freedom-starved peoples of the world is on record. He is a man of his word (misspelled as it is ) and he certainly possesses the qualities a leader of a nation should possess. Let's see what the great people of Egypt have to say about this.

North Korea also lacks other criteria for a "pre-emptive" strike. It's not in the Middle East. It has no known reserves of oil. It does not have a large Shia population that can basically overrun Iraq and the "coalition". Also, it's only a threat to South Korea and Japan. Two countries that have enough carrots to feed all the rabbits in North Korea. Finally, it already has the bomb. Remember, the US only threatens or invades nations that can provide a quick and clear "victory". No point attacking a dog that can bite you in the as$ and make you bleed to death.

^ You two make a wonderful couple. Carry on.

Originally posted by Tukaale: Proud to see him visit Somali inhabited area in the former republic of Somalia. LOL. Welcome to the fray Tukaale. Your views have been noted.

^ It's a homework club good Suldaanka. Nothing more. Of the thousands of Somali/Arab/Muslim "community" organizations, few, if any, are doing this. Clearly there is a need and they (the Jews) are stepping up to fill it. And if the Christians failed in converting but "two" Somalis in centuries, the Jews will have even less success. As for recruiting spies, well, Jews don't have to do this to gain spies. Any Somali will willingly speak ill of another's tribe without being given a dime. Relax atheer and send your kids there to get good grades. I would, if my kid wasn't already getting straight A's

Originally posted by Cara: She's the most indifferent, hands-off mom I've ever seen. She doesn't talk to her kids unless she's screaming at them. She spends more time talking on the phone than interacting with her 4 year old. She ships them off to her mother every summer. The kids have terrible manners, no self-discipline and little incentive to look after themselves. They will sleep around when they grow older, because they are desperately starved for attention. Since it's customary around here to bash deadbeat Faaraxs, it is important to lambast, just as severely, Xalimos of the type mentioned above. Though not as great in numbers as their male counterparts, the potential damage caused by their failed motherhood is far more devestating than just what an absentee father could cause alone. A failed mother is a failed family. Cara, I'd (anonymously ) report her behind to CPS, if I were you. You don't want shit like this on your conscience for decades to come.

^ I'm the resident feminist objector dear. You have to have 2000+ posts to even apply for that position. Glad you're contemplating a response. If for nothing else, the gallery needs it.

Originally posted by Scarlet: Iranians make my heart flutter as of late; :eek: Did you move to North Vancouver?