My thoughts on recent controversy

Here I am sitting in front of the computer in my office, waiting for Matlab to process code yet again, so I've decided to write another post, mainly on controversial topics that are currently regaining controversy due to news coverage.

The first of which is the abortion debate. Here's where I stand on that subject. I'm pro-choice. I know, that's not entirely surprising, since I'm quite leftist. However, I don't mean to say that women deciding to have an abortion should enter into it lightly. I'd much prefer some other option, if possible. Of course, if giving birth would harm/kill the mother, or if the child was a product of rape, an abortion is probably a likely outcome. However, a woman that becomes pregnant by having indiscriminate, unprotected sex should not just have an abortion on a whim. They really need to think about whether they can handle having a child, or if they'd want to give a child up for adoption, or many other things.

Having said that, I still am pro-choice, because I feel that women should have a choice. I also think that some people are just not meant to be parents. Of course, lately, just about everyone I've seen with kids are not good parents. (Seriously, go to any store and just watch what parents let their kids get away with.) Part of this is due to society. It's almost as if punishing kids is a faux pas. If you spank a child, you could almost get sent to prison for child abuse. And what, really, is a "time-out" going to teach a child? But, here I go off on a tangent that really could be saved for a different post.

Back to the abortion issue and what's going on with the Alito hearings.... I read relatively recently that Bush is touting that soon abortion will be illegal, as part of his "morals-based" political stance. (Don't even get me started on how hypocritical that is.) Mainly, he's saying that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, thus making abortion illegal. I think this is one of the stupidest things the Supreme Court could do. I say this because some women are going to want to have an abortion, no matter what the law is. So, my feeling is that if a woman is going to have an abortion, wouldn't it make more sense for them to have the procedure done safely, by a doctor? If abortion is illegal, women who want to terminate a pregnancy would have to come up with other ways to do it, most of them likely to be harmful to these women. It's going to happen no matter what, illegal or not. I just don't see how overturning Roe v. Wade would be a good idea, even for the Bible-thumping followers of Bush. Yes, it's immoral in Christianity to have an abortion, but so are a lot of things. (That's the thing about Catholicism, specifically. People pick and choose what things in the Bible should be followed. You can't have it both ways, people!)

That's just my take on this. And if Alito does get confirmed to the Supreme Court, I think the country is heading for trouble. Hell, from what I've been hearing (and granted, I listen to mainly left-biased news) the president could gain power if Alito does get confirmed. And considering how well off the country is at the moment, I'm a little scared by what could happen if Bush gets his way with his nomination.

Another controversial thing lately is the whole James Frey basically writing a novel, for all intents and purposes. I heard that Oprah yesterday was very good with Oprah basically berating Frey about how factual his book was. I saw some of it on Anderson Cooper 360 last night, and I just have to say, go Oprah! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And she proved it. Boy, I'm surprised she kept as calm as she did. I could have easily seen her show turn into some sort of Jerry Springer incarnation. I'm glad she kept it relatively civil, and not started bitch-slapping him. I also am glad that she wasn't afraid to say she made a mistake. It's so refreshing to hear that.

The last controversial thing I want ot mention in this post is about Brokeback Mountain. The only thing I want to say is that it's finally come to State College. I'm not surprised it took this long, because central Pennsylvania is basically Alabama in between to relatively urban areas. I guess they finally brought it here because it's winning awards. The theaters around here seem to do that with smaller movies like that. I think it took them quite some time to show Crash here, and then it wasn't in theaters very long. I'm a little worried that's what's going to happen with Brokeback. I really, really want to go see it, though. And I may just do that, even if I have to go by myself. I'd much rather go with someone (going to a theater by yourself just seems sad), but if no one wants to go with me, I will go by myself. When is a better question. I will make time for it sometime within the next week, though, because I'm afraid that it won't be showed in theaters here for very long. So, if anyone does want to go with me, feel free to comment and let me know!

Alrighty, my code is done processing, so I'm off to continue working.