I Am A Feminist.

I am a Feminist. I will put my hand up and shout loudly that I AM A FEMINIST. I am getting more and more pissed off with the continual attempt to make Feminism out to be something it isn't, and that any one who considers themselves to be Feminist is somehow a misandric sociopath.


WHY I AM A FEMINIST:

 * I have automatic and autonomous rights to my own reproductive system and sexual behaviour.

 * I have the same right to work, earn money, save money, spend money as any other individual, irrespective of their gender. If I am have the same experience and qualification, am doing the same work at the same level of competence, then I have the right to the same pay.

 *I also have the right to choose a more traditionally viewed way of life, to stay at home and raise my children. However, this right is also not dependent on my gender and is a role that any parent should be able to choose, rather than have to make a decision purely based on economics.

 * I believe that sex is a natural part of healthy life, that has been trivialised and demeaned to a state where it is used a commodity to subjugate society into behaving in particular ways.

 * I believe that raising healthy, independent children is one of the most important things that human beings can achieve, but there is no BEST way of doing this, and the hetero-normative view of Married, Female Mother and Male Father is not always the best way of achieving this.

 * I believe that all people are equal, and this equality is not defined by gender, sexuality, religion, race or any other such definition. I do also accept that equality does not mean that every one is the same, and should be treated as such. Every person will have different needs or have different limitations, just that no one person is worth more than someone else.

I could elaborate more on these points, and add more, but I think at this time, this encompasses the most salient points of my Feminism.

More Links to my Feminism:
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-would-you-call-it-then.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2009/03/froyw.html http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2008/10/pro-choice-does-not-equal-pro-abortion.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2008/09/quick-simple-post.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2008/09/fertility-at-any-cost.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2008/09/feminism-for-all.html
http://hystericaljugglings.blogspot.com/2009/03/patriarchy-hurts-men-too.html

Generation X,Y and Z. The End Of Days...

Society has become obsessed with Consuming. Your own personal worth is dictated by the things that you have. Not what you know, or what you do, but what you have. We must all Live to Work, to create money to get the stuff we want, and to make ever increasing profit. If you don't have things, or show off the things that you have, then you have no social status or standing amongst your peers.

If you have children, you must give them stuff to show them how much you love them and how important they are. The more expensive the better. It doesn't matter that you may put yourself in debt, your children will just see that as a sign of how important and loved they are. Things equal attention, affection and love.

We are told on a daily basis that we must consume more, have more, we need more, we are lacking without, in fact we are worse than that, we are somehow less, meaningless, not worthy if we do not have the things we are told we want.

We watch governments, professional politicians taking money away from us, with no return. We see big business evading taxes, putting prices up and making profit off of us. We see the banks, taking money from us, then us again through the government bailouts and then again through government taxes with no return.

We live in a society based on Greed. So why are we surprised when people who see these big businesses, government, banks and professional politicians taking from us indiscriminately, start to do it themselves?

Why is it right for them and wrong for the others? The answer is that it isn't right for ANYONE to take from others. Whether it be a politician fiddling his/her expenses, big business evading taxes and profiteering from us, or masked looters smashing in windows of JD Sports. IT IS ALL FUCKING WRONG!!!


TO BE CONTINUED...

Sorta Rape, Not Real Rape... (Warning...possible triggers.)

There has been a lot in the press this week stemming from comments made by a couple of Conservative MPs (and one MEP.)

Firstly Nadine Dorries introduced the Bill, that if passed would mean that girls between the ages of 11-15 would have lessons in sexual abstinance. Just girls, mind you. Not boys... Guardian article on the Bill

Then in a television interview, she came out with, I quote;
“If a stronger ‘just say no’ message was given to children, there might be an impact on sex abuse. A lot of girls, when abuse takes place, don’t realise until later that that was wrong because sex is so common in society."

Later that same week, Ken Clarke came out with comments that could be construed as meaning that some rapes are somehow less than other. He did try to clarify what he meant, but still managed to show his little understanding of what he was talking about in the first place. Ken Clark Clarifies?

He was then defended by the MEP, Roger Helmer, who definitely feels some rape is worse than other rape. "Women share some of the responsibilty"

Let's just say it's been a bad week for Tory politicians opening their mouths without thought, but also a bad week for us all when we look at these views in a broader perspective.

Nadine Dorries...WTF? Seriously? My mind cannot comprehend that a modern woman would come out with this claptrap. But when you take on board her religious and political beliefs (Fundie and very RightWing) it all becomes clear. I really don't even have to pull her ideas apart to show how ridiculous they are. But unfortunately, there are those that while agree that her Bill for single sex abstinance education is ridiculous fail to see how those ideas translate into the comments that her male colleagues make later in the week.

If we are teaching young girls that they must hold ALL sexual responsibility, as women, they STILL must hold that responsibility at all times, and if they are raped, then somehow it must be their fault. Your clothing, your attitude, your whereabouts, your alcohol consumption are all questioned in an attempt to show how a woman's actions contribute to her rape. And if you happen to be raped by someone you know (the majority of all rapes) then all of that, AND your sexual history is taken into account.

Dorries' comments that “If a stronger ‘just say no’ message was given to children, there might be an impact on sex abuse. A lot of girls, when abuse takes place, don’t realise until later that that was wrong because sex is so common in society."

Because when a sexual predator is about to abuse someone, saying no always stops them...What? You mean it doesn't?

Abuse isn't about sex. Like rape, abuse is about POWER! The power of one person over another!

I know I will be preaching to the converted here, but rape and abuse is about violent power over another. It isn't just about sex, or sexual gratification, it has a whole load of other nasties wrapped up along with it.

But the bottom line is, if a woman or man says they don't want to have sex at ANY point of the act, they have that right, and whoever they are with MUST STOP NO MATTER WHAT!

It infantalises and demeans men when the notion that they are somehow incapable of stopping having sex at any given moment is put forward as an excuse, and that when they have an erection or intercourse, that their minds switch off entirely and they become little more than drooling sexual automatons.

On a very personal note, I will share some of my more nasty sexual experiences...(Possible Trigger Alert)

The first time I had sex. I was sixteen, a bit of a social klutz, and generally a bit of a emo teenage mess. I was unsure if I wanted to do anything, but found myself led along and plied with alcohol, so when I really did want to stop, it didn't happen. I "changed my mind" at the last moment, so I know that I fall into that catagory of "it's not proper rape", but imho he had the power, he didn't stop when I wanted him to, and while I don't feel I have any long lasting damage from the event, it still means the first time I had sex is not something I feel fondly about.

I once met someone and went on a few dates with him. He was quite a bit older than me (at Uni while I was still at school.) He was nice enough, and then one Saturday morning, I met him at his digs thinking we were going to go out. As I turned up, his housemates were leaving. He was still in a dressing gown. To cut a long story short, I spent most my time trying to fend off his advances, to stop him trying to "persuade" me to go upstairs with me, and it ended with me managing to get out of the house. (Thank the Gods it wasn't locked.) and ran to a friend's house around the corner. At her house, I managed to rearrange my clothes and refasten my bra that he had managed to undo. Was this a sexual assault? Probably. Did I tell anyone other than my friends? No. Did I think I was an idiot for getting myself into that situation? Yes. However, I didn't ask for any of it, I wasn't expecting it, and why should he have thought he could get into knickers just because he felt like it.

On more than one occasion, I have had my hand forced down someone's trousers to get them off. Even to the point, that the young man in question didn't want me, he wanted my friend, but when I went out of the party to tell him that, he felt he would make do with me instead...

I have lost count of the times I have had my breasts groped and poked by men thinking that because I have spoken to them, maybe even kissed them, that I was "up for it".

It doesn't happen anymore. I am older and wiser and know how not to get myself into those situations. (Or as some arse would say, I am fatter and uglier now...a whole different issue in itself).

I never reported or told anyone (who could/would do anything about them) about these incidents, but I can guarantee that every woman out there probably has similar tales. Does this mean we were all asking for it?

WTF?

In the USA, a woman is executed, although she didn't actually murder anyone...

I appreciate that I won't know all the details in this matter, but essentially it is reported that Teresa Lewis has been executed for her part in the murder of her husband and stepson. However she didn't actually kill them. And the TWO MEN that did got life imprisonment...

I am not saying she shouldn't have been punished for her part in this awful event. But SHE DIDN'T PULL THE TRIGGER. SHE WASN'T EVEN THERE!

She had a limited mental capacity, one of the men in his suicide note wrote that HE instigated it all, and she didn't kill anyone.

But she has been executed all the same...

Why?

A-Z of why these cuts are mad

We are going to hammered with some serious cuts to public spending. Basically the government is using our tax money to pay back our tax money that was used to bail out the banks when they screwed us over so monumentally. So we are having our money taken from us, to pay back the money that was taken from us...

INFORMATION FROM HERE...

a) the biggest waste in our economy is unemployment not spending
b) we’ve lower debt:GDP than most EU/G8 nations
c) the money is owed to us
d) the payoff on public services’s > our loan interest
e) Italy’s credit rating is far below ours but they only pay slightly more interest
f) where else will bond markets lend?
g) how can we have export led growth as the EU collapses
h) why is growth meant to be led by the banks?
i) raising the personal allowance gives more to the rich than the poor
j) VAT is the most regressive tax
k) what happened to green investment?
l) WTF is this I hear about first children only?
m) scrapping child trust funds while promising cuts to inheritance tax is fair?
n) cutting jobs hits the poor first (are you listening @guardian?)
o) we still remember you cut uni places – crushing a generation’s hopes
p) universities have the biggest jobs multiplier of anything, so cutting their funding is the thing most likely to cause a double dip
q) Tories have always opposed proper funding for public services
r) the long term economic costs of the human strife of austerity are huge
r) the deficit has already naturally dropped by more than Osborne said he wanted it to this year, & will half by 2015
s) taxes on the top take fewer jobs away
t) it took decades to build the public services he wants to ruin
u) the economists against this tend to be those who predicted this mess
v) what’s the point of a triple A rating if you can’t borrow in a 100 year recession?
w) our loans are very long term
x) we have big assets
y) the richest 1000 people have seen their wealth increase by 30% in a year – half the value of the deficit
z) Osborne is trying to save the economy by destroying the economy. That’s as crazy as it sounds. That is all

Uncomfortable posting.

But I am gonna have to say this.

The oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is a tragic, awful, indescribable horror. And BP should be held accountable, should be making more effort to clear up this catastrophic mess. We all, as citizens of this planet should be doing all we can to help out.

The US government is right in saying that BP should be held accountable and set money aside to deal with this.

However.

I have one word to say.

Bhopal.


That said, I don't blame the US people that a US company caused such devastation on foreign soil.

ConDemned

It looks like the Liberal Democrats are going to make a coalition government with the Conservatives. My title for my previous post seems very apt. We are being Hung Out To Dry.

I can't imagine that there is a Liberal Democrat out there at grassroots level who actually wants this to happen. The only good thing that could possibly come out of this, is that the Tories will make a complete pigs ear out of it, and will be voted out again within a year. However, as much as that would be a good thing to happen, in the meantime the damage would have already been done. Both to this country and to the Liberal Democrats.

I CANNOT see how a Liberal Democrat can get into bed with a Conservative. Their political views are just so different from each other.

The UK General Election

is 2 days away. I have absolutely no enthusiasm for it. That doesn't mean that I won't be voting, I definite will be. Unfortunately I have no enthusiam for who I will be voting for. It will be a tactical vote, made to help stop unwanted candidates from getting in.

What this election has done, is opened my eyes up to see there are things that I had previously realised, but have really become obvious in the last few months. I have always known that I must be wired differently for the majority of other people, but politics is the one area where that difference becomes very apparent.

My politics are Green, and I cannot get my head around the fact that there are people out there that don't believe in Climate Change, don't realise that the Environmental issues are probably going to be the most important factors for EVERYONE in the next 100 years. I don't understand those that think the Economy can grow and grow, and we became richer and richer, consume more and more, and it not have any kind of impact? What planet are these people living on?

I am sick of short-term knee-jerk politics where politicians and big business look only to line their own pockets and never see further into the future to see what impact their policies have on our lives.

I do not understand people who blame economic downturns on a particular type of people. We are not in a recession because we have too many immigrants, or because the politicians took liberties with their finances, we are in the shits because the b(w)ankers took the royal piss out of us all, took our money, lost it, and then expected us to give them more of it, without ever giving it back. Yes, politics should be clean and transparent, but you know what? So should fucking Banking! Give us our money back, you shitheads!

(My inner conspiracy theorist found it very interesting that the politicans' finances fraud neatly replaced the banking fiasco story. You know, the one where the banks lost BILLIONS of our money, compared to the politicians' smaller amount. Now I am not saying that the politicians shouldn't have been brought to book about what they did, but in the big picture, why wasn't more done about the b(w)ankers?)

I read the Green Party's Manifesto. It makes sense to me. But I wonder how many people out there have actually read the manifesto of the political party they are going to vote for.

Am I really so weird that I try to make informed decisions about things in my life? Am I really so odd that I can see the bigger picture and want to do something about it? Why am I wired so differently from so many other people?

*People I am friends with tend to also see the big picture and care about stuff, which is probably why I am friends with them in the first place. Just a shame most of them are only on the interwebz*

Climate Change

This isn't a big rant about stupid people and the denial of climate change, as that would just go on for too long.

However, I thought I would share this with you. Write a letter to your MP about Bangladesh and the effect Climate Change is having on the country - via FACEBOOK

I have done it, and if others could too, it would be fantastic. If you add a personal message to the C&P'd text, then it will get past their C&P filter. It is UK orientated, but it wouldn't take a lot to change to work for whatever country you come from.

Those Pesky Vampires.

You would think that the Vatican would have better things to worry about. Or rather SHOULD have better things to worry about.

I certainly don't think that sparkly vamps are much of a threat to Catholism. I would suggest that outdated dogma and hypocrasy are much bigger threats.

"The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion"

"Abortion is a highly personal decision that many women are sure they'll never have to think about until they're suddenly faced with an unexpected pregnancy. But this can happen to anyone, including women who are strongly anti-choice. So what does an anti-choice woman do when she experiences an unwanted pregnancy herself? Often, she will grin and bear it, so to speak, but frequently, she opts for the solution she would deny to other women -- abortion.
In the spring of 2000, I collected the following anecdotes directly from abortion doctors and other clinic staff in North America, Australia, and Europe. The stories are presented in the providers' own words, with minor editing for grammar, clarity, and brevity. Names have been omitted to protect privacy."
"The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion"
When the Anti-Choice Choose
By Joyce Arthur Copyright © September, 2000



A friend of mine posted this on her LJ. I thought I would share it here too. So much for Galatians 5:14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." But then, this isn't often one of God's laws that people like these women actually follow. Hypocrites Much?

Fay Weldon

To be honest, I am tempted to just dismiss this latest hoo-hah over Fay Weldon's comments this week, and blame on the fact that she is an old dear, and therefore may be becoming prone to making comments that are blatently full of shit. I won't though. I suppose if you have ever considered Fay Weldon to be a feminist, then it is a blow to read one of your icons come out with such a crock.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1209154/Fay-Weldon-Women-life-easier-picked-mens-socks-cleaned-loo.html

But the worse thing about it all is this insistance on telling how useless the poor men are. You know, women need to look after them, and change their opinions to make sure they don't threaten their poor minds and egos. I am completely willing to accept that men and women are wired differently. But you know what, everyone is wired differently from everyone else. It has fuck all to do with gender. Gender is a really easy box to put people into, "well, they don't do tidying because they are a man." Nooo, they don't do tidying because they either hate it, or they are lazy fuckers.

If both of you are working, then both of you clean the house. If both of you are working, then both of you cook. If both of you are working, then IT IS AN EQUAL FUCKING RELATIONSHIP WHERE BOTH OF YOU PULL YOUR OWN WEIGHT!

Now, I am a full-time mum at the moment. My husband works hard, but he acknowledges that SO DO I! Looking after children is knackering. Caring for anyone takes time, effort and it is worth something. More than it gets at the moment. Our jobs are different, but one isn't more important than the other. And it certainly doesn't mean that my husband doesn't do anything around the house or with the children. And if I worked fulltime, then he would do more, not less.

Some men would probably live in a hovel if they could get away with it. Some women probably would. But usually someone who lives on their own can cope with the idea of housework. Why does that change for a man as soon as a woman is on the scene. In fact, I would be interested to know what the dynamics are with gay couples get together? Or is it still that old chestnut of gay men aren't the same because they are gay? That argument gets very old very quickly.

So, yes Fay. Quite frankly, I think you are talking out of your arse!

Where have all the Grown Ups gone?

There is a side effect of our Youth obsessed culture that doesn't seem to be talked about much. But a number of events that have happened in the past few months have made me realise that most adults are so by chronological age, rather than maturity. There seem to be more and more examples of people that just need to grow the fuck up.

I don't mean that everyone should be sensible all the time, boring and unable to kick loose, but overall there are too many people I know who range in age from 25 to 60+, for all intents and purposes meant to be Grown Ups, who behave like immature adolescents.

I am really very tired of adults whinging about how crap their lives are, and how mean everyone is to them, and how the world owes them something. Too many people have Redwood size chips on their shoulders that they won't take responsibilty for.

I am the first to admit there are occasions where I drink too much, muck around and generally behave in a manner "unbecoming of a lady my age"!! But I don't do it often, I don't see it as a right and I certainly don't do it in front of my children.

In the workplace, bullying is rife. It is either ignored, condoned or encouraged. Therefore, because bullying is so commonplace, it is easy to slip into a victim mentality that isn't healthy. Now, don't get me wrong, being bullied is shit whoever you are. But recently I have experienced grown women pulling the "I am being bullied" card, because they aren't getting their own way. It seems to be so easy to pull out these labels and hide behind them, rather than actually working the situation out, even if it is hard work.

In every walk of life I am seeing it. Everything is always someone's fault. Why have we lost the ability to take responsibilty for our own lives? WE can't be looked after for ever.

The scariest part of it all is our future. What happens to children when their parents don't act like Grown Ups?

Fitting In

Human beings are social animals. We like to be part of a group. Ideally this would be a group of like-minded, friendly peers of our own choosing. Eventually if we are lucky, we have established a group like this (of varying sizes) by our adulthood.

However, for some reason society insists on throwing our children into large groups where the only thing in common is the year of their birth. Group dynamics and social status are set by who you are friends with and what your interests are. Often however, there is one child, for whatever reason doesn't quite fit in.

This would be my son. He is nearly 8 years old. The youngest of his year. I feel guilty as I know that it is somewhat my fault. We don't socialise with the other parents, other than superficial chitchat outside the classroom, but then we have very little in common with them. The area where we live, success is based on what car you drive, how big your house is, how much stuff you have. And in those terms, we are not successful. We don't drive, we live in a too small maisonette, and we don't do stuff. We are a bit weird, a bit radical, a bit different. Those aren't good things to a child.

It has come to a head this year when my son's best friend left school without a word. Owen came back from his holidays and his friend just wasn't there anymore. And the worst thing, he didn't even bother saying goodbye. (His mum has my contact details. There was no excuse to do that to a child.) But having his buddy gone has meant that his position in the class has changed. He is bestfriendless, and it hurts. The other kids seem to now barely tolerate him. He isn't allowed to join in games, he is told he is "rubbish", and that "boys with O in their names and who wear glasses can't join in..." Talking to the teacher hasn't really gone anywhere. We had assurances that things would be kept an eye on, and that support would be given. I mean, adults miss their friends, and this is an eight year old! However, I don't really think the support has been given to him.

I honestly don't know what to do. While I understand what is going on, the repercussions for us are that we have a miserably and stroppy child who argues and sulks over the slightest incident at home, because he is unhappy at school. I can't condone the bad behaviour, but I hate telling him off constantly for rudeness and inconsideration. It is upsetting as I feel so useless.

I know kids can be cruel. However, now having children of my own, I know that some of that cruelity is based on parental response. If your kids see you taking the piss out of other people they aren't going to think twice about doing it themselves. If you make a huge deal about your plasmascreen tv, then someone that doesn't have one must be weird.

We need to change our materialism, thatcherite/blairite, dogeatdog attitude, yet I look at the majority of the children around here, and it isn't happening.



This depressing post was brought to you by fed-upness irritation, and hopelessness.

A Bad Thing

*Spits*

The BNP now have two MEPs!!!!!!

I am disgusted. I am disgusted at the stupidity and ignorance of the people that voted for them. I am sure that they would not have looked into the BNP's policies or past the shallow rhetoric saying what they think people want to hear.

The irony of it being the anniversary of the D-Day landings this weekend, and our country elects fascists to represent our country in Europe is just sad and horrifying beyond words.

Sometimes I have very little faith in humanity.

Quelle Surprise!? Ummm, non...

We all now that politicians are often sponging, grasping arseholes. Now we have the proof, thanks to the publication of all British MPs' expenses by the Daily Telegraph.

Don't get me wrong, it is disgusting that these people have made up their own salaries and own bonuses and own expenses and have basically sponged off the taxpayer for years, however at the moment this is all the media is talking about. And whilst very very embarrassing for the Government, I am pretty sure there is other newsworthy stuff going on in the world! I personally feel that we need to spend less time discussing how greedy these people have been, and more about sorting out the situation that let this happen in the first place. Why have we let our Government (that we elect and pay for) create a situation where they take and take and take with very little in return.

Our whole society is based on the principle that Profit is God. That making money is the only and most important thing to do, no matter what your job is. Every public sector service is now run with the view to making profit. (I have always wondered how you can make a monetary profit from the NHS and Education, but our Governments liked to have a damn good try!) So why are we so shocked that our politicians would be any better behaved. I KNOW they should be, but they ain't!

And while all this furore goes on, people lose faith in the main parties and look for alternatives. It would be nice to think that it was the Green Party and the likes they are turning to. But unfortunately, this probably isn't the case. Other parties who start saying what they think the public want to hear, with their hot air and false promises. I wonder how many seats the BNP (WILL NOT put a link to their website) will get, because their shameful comments about how they are the only party with the UK's wellbeing at heart, and their insidious blaming of every one who doesn't fit into their ideals.

I hope that British public will see that while the state of British politics is pretty shameful at the moment, to vote in the likes of the BNP will make things a thousand times worse.

United Kingdom - 03/08/08

Will nothing be done?




Spread the word.

F.R.O.Y.W.

Isn't it interesting how long some men stay "liberal" when it's a choice between his job and HER job? "Oh yeah, I am all for equality!" Yeah, right. Until it is a choice of being equal in who keeps their job! Let the part-timers (predominantly women) and those on maternity leave (umm, women) lose their jobs first!

The old chestnuts of "men need to support their families", "women must choose between a career and having babies". Since apparently men don't have babies. That's quite outstanding scientific news. I am surprised there hasn't been more made of it. Since I had always thought men that had babies were called FATHERS!

So yeah, the title of this post stands for FUCK RIGHT OFF, YOU WANKERS!

Disillusionment...part deux

I have started to tentatively put my nose back out on the pagan scene. I was quite active a few years back, but after some horrible experiences I pulled my head back in. But I do miss it. I am not entirely sure why, but I want people that feel the same way about things as I do, or at the very least people that don't think I am a freak for feeling the way I do.

I just find that a lot of pagans/witches/insert your appropriate label here just don't seem to be on the same mindset as me. Now I have never expected people to be exactly the same as me, but I do get tired of being the odd one out.

I often have the conversation with my husband where we ponder if we really are the weirdos. The conclusion that we have come to is that we must be. We look at our peers, and we have very little in common with them. Our concerns and priorities aren't the same. And I just don't understand why that is. My concerns and priorities are based on what I consider to be common sense. But that appears to be different from what others consider common sense.

I am very disillusioned with People at the moment. I am just not that sure what to do about it.

Glad to be British

It isn't often that I can say I am proud to be British. Which is quite a sorry state of affairs. However, because I am a Brit, because we have a free NHS (no matter how much we moan about it) this means we have FREE contraception.

Living the the Free and Glorious US of A, you don't get this. As we all know health is something you HAVE to pay for in the states. So if you are suddenly ill, or have an accident, you had better pray to whatever Gods you believe in that your Health Insurance is in order. If it isn't, or you don't have any...well, from the outsider's point of view, it looks like you are screwed.

The reason why I am blogging about this, is because of this here. Hekate's Blog What a sorry situation that is, where politians are actually saying the contraception has no bearing on economics. Even I, who failed her Socialogy A'level understand the links. If women have better contraception, then they can control the size of their families, which impact on how much help from the government they take. It can also free up an extra worker, which makes more money for the economy. It isn't bloody rocket science.

It also links into my rant about Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life. If the Pro-Lifers put as much time, energy and money into helping end poverty, increase sexual education and put money into free contraception, than villifying women for making difficult choices then there would be less abortion! A complete winwin situation. But no, that just makes too much sense.

So yeah, to my US chums out there, I am really sorry that your government can't get their heads around the fact that a National Free Health Service does not equal Socialism, and I wish they would pull their heads out of their arses.