It scares me when I hear about teenagers becoming parents. Next thing you know, some of those children become teenaged parents following in the footsteps of their parents who are now grandparents in their 30's. That's scary. :(

A fourteen year old said to me, "Back when you were my age..."
It feels like I was fourteen not that long ago, but it really was a long time ago for her since she wasn't even born back then. :(

more money for schools- less for 3rd world countries we donate to... i realize they are starving and need food- don't cut it all. but our own children aren't learning because they live in lower class areas, that isn't acceptable...

"safe spots" should exist in every state.. these are places where mothers can leave their newborn infants if hey are scared and dont' want them, such as police station, ER.. it saves lifes of infants who would otherwise be stuffed in trash cans..

Just curious why?

This offends me to some degree, but I can understand why you feel that way. We are taught in English in school, cooking directions are in English, the computer programs we use are in English, the senate conducts meetings in Engish, etc, etc. It only makes sense that everyone speak in English right? Wrong. The reason why this is all in English is because a majority of US citizens speak English, not because English is the official language in the United States. There is no official language in the United States, so why must everyone speak English. We are a melting pot, aren't we? Our country is very diverse. Why can't our languages be as well?

I agree.
I think it would benefit Americans to grow up in a bilingual/multilingual environment. Its a beautiful thing to see recent immigrants be able to maintain their own businesses and make it without having full command of the English language.

Health Care and Education should not be denied to ANYONE in this country regardless of their immigration status.

Anyone who seeks asylum in this country should be given a fair chance regardless of whether or not the US government thinks their situation is political or not. (i.e. Haitians)

Interesting idea about having to get a license to have a child. You would have to prove that you have the financial resources to support a child (taking into account any other children you may already have, and a dependent spouse if applicable), and you would have to prove that you're a fit parent. Credit reports and tax returns can be used to evaluate the first, and a psychiatrist or psychologist can evaluate the second. Single parents, married couples of opposite sex, and committed gay/lesbian couples should all be eligible to apply. A woman who gets pregnant without having a license has 3 choices: abortion, adoption, or shape up in the next 9 months.

You should also have a license to get a pet, particularly a dog or cat. I'm not talking about just registering your dog - I'm talking about proving that you can take good care of dogs and/or cats, that they will be well fed, they won't be allowed to run wild, any existing pets you have get taken to the vet when necessary, etc. One of my neighbors lets their 2 mutts run wild (illegal) and yesterday we had to call animal control because they threatened my husband. :mad:

All children in school should be required to learn a second language early on (none of this waiting-until-high-school $h!t, it's far too late then). At the same time, anyone coming to this country and staying for more than a few months should learn some basic English (they don't have to be fluent, but they should be able to understand enough to do their jobs, follow directions in an emergency, etc), and their children should be taught English in school; brand new immigrants can be taught things like math and science in their own language, but with a goal toward eventually transitioning them to classes taught in English.

Prescription drugs should not be so damned expensive!! So many senior citizens do without because Medicare doesn't cover the drugs and they can't afford them on their own. :(

And I think the drinking age should be 18, not 21.

Just one concern about limiting couples to 2 children--not all couples would want to have two children (indeed, there are many out there with no children). Currently in the US the rate of production is under 2 children per couple.. it's more like 1.6 (I know that seems impossible, but this was part of stuff we were learning in one of my psych classes last semester). If it is not at least 2, then the population is decreasing rather than increasing--as it is, our population in not too long will be heavy on the elderly side, which is a big burden to a society (more people relying on being taken care of, not as many working age people, etc). Sure we hear about those worried about overpopulation, etc, but I think there is a certain point where we reach equilibrium and then it might waver up and down--but I don't think it would matter if I had 6 if I wanted to. A limit is not something that will probably happen... among other objections, it'd be against many people's religions (Catholic for instance?)

But concerning that, I don't think birth control is as good as people think it is. Sliced bread induces much more enthusiasm in me than the thought of messing with my hormones.

I also don't think people should get abortions--but I don't think it should be illegal. I think that if people are truly "pro-LIFE," then they need to do things that promote teen mothers etc CHOOSING life and get some more permanent/national support systems in place--otherwise you are just "anti-abortion."

I also think that people should have to take some kind of classes/counseling/preparation before receiving their marriage license--we have to learn how to drive, and people should realize that the act of marriage does not mean you know how to be married :rolleyes:

I don't believe in divorce (although I do not deny that there are many valid reasons for other people to dissolve their marriages). But since I don't think people should marry in haste to begin with, that would hopefully cut down on people just giving up... I am just not a quitter--but I know that that is not the case for many many many divorces so don't think that I'm dissing your parents or you or anything if y'all out there have experience with divorce. I just think the sheer numbers are ridiculous.

I'm sure I have more controversial beliefs (funny thing is, I'm pretty conservative--seems sometimes it's pretty extreme to be conservative ;))

~april

Oh, I also don't think Iraq is a threat to the USA. I think they are a threat to Israel, which means that the US cares.

The only kind of "weapon of mass destruction" I can see them having is the ability to produce is the ability to give us SMALL POX and other diseases that we don't inoculate for anymore. THAT would cause us MASSIVE problems in our extremely mobile society. Chemical weapons at least have a limit.

I also believe in the right to euthanasia-the govt should not be able to tell you that you cannot end your life especially if you are dying of a disease

as far as the limit of 2 children goes-I have come across many people that have no business having kids yet seem to be having 3,4 or 5-this would help limit that. Maybe if we limited the number of children then welfare would eventually die out.

If there is to be a limit on number of children, it shouldn't be 2 - it should be at least 3, possibly 4.

Two children are required to take the place of their two parents in the next generation. But there are plenty of people out there who cannot have children or who choose not to have children, and there are plenty of couples who decide that one child is enough. These people, too, need to be replaced in the next generation, otherwise, as aprilxo pointed out, the overall population will decrease over time.

:) I'd rather see welfare live than our population die out. I don't think children are the root cause of welfare. Perhaps a factor in continued aid, but not one great enough to cause or even allow welfare to die out eventually. I think to some extent laziness is a larger factor in welfare, one that reaches further into the evolution of our society in values and as a whole.

www.aliveandwell.org

I'm no medical expert, but I think she has some compelling information.

Beliefs
 

OK, I am totally not saying anything about the HIV comment because I'd get slack about mine.

I believe that everyone should have their own trained bear. This bear would wear cute clothing and do your laundry and cook for you. The government should provide bear funding, and I believe lots of people would be off of welfare if they only had a bear.

-Rudey
--And funding for bear training should come from the accounts of PETA.

I think that remedial classes make sense. I could be a math genius, but remedial english is not necessarily reading Dick and Jane. Maybe I don't understand literary allusions. However, never having taken any remedial class, this is just my assumption

I think that customer service people are constantly getting more stupid and rude. I realize they pay you $hit, but you took the job knowing that. Don't take it out on me when I call cause your product is crap and I need you to fix it.

UPS is the devil. I HATE that damn company. They will never do anything right.

I hate people who think I am an airhead because of how I talk. So I say like, and sound like a valley girl. Its not on purpose, and I'm probably a hell of a lot smarter then you.

And Finally, (I swear this is really what I think) The people who live in Florida are the stupidest and most uneducated people I have ever come across. I don't know what causes this phenomenon but they are...EG- Voting, Jeb Bush, and Orlando in general. I blame it on the fact that they are 49th in public education, but I think it runs much deeper then that. I think the whole south is wack in the head, something about Georgia originally being a colony for criminals. However there are normal parts of Florida, Palm Beach, Ft. lauderdale, parts of MIami. the rest of the state is a crapshoot waiting for a hurricane to wipe it out. Tampa especially. We should teach people who think that they speak English what English really is. Fixin' is NOT another word for getting ready to do something!

If I Knew then what I know now.

Okay, people are always whining about customer service reps. Just wanted to mention something here. I worked in customer call center briefly in college. Most of my co-workers were 17 year old high school flunkies with an amusing menagerie of substance abuse problems. (i.e. Crank girl who hadn't slept in three days.) If it seems like they don't care... well, they don't. The term customer service is a joke in places like that. Wanna hear the punch line? Ask to speak to a manager. Then you get someone slightly older and deemed to be more responsible (like me when I was 20.) They're trained to say two things to you. "I'm sorry that's policy." "It was outlined in the user agreement you signed."