Booze, Sex & Drugs

Romanian girl wants abortion

2008-08-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

I came across a very interesting article about abortion in the Sydney Morning Herald. The title of the article is 'Raped by her uncle, but can she have an abortion.' It was published by the SMH on June 26, 2008. You can view the article here: www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/06/26/1214073379526.html

An 11 year old girl was raped by her 19 year old uncle in Romania and wants an abortion. However, because she is 20 weeks pregnant, she is over the legal limit for an abortion in Romania. The article says, "...a government committee will decide this week whether an 11-year-old who was raped by her uncle can go to Britain for an abortion or must continue the pregnancy." The legal limit for an abortion in Britain is 24 weeks.

I think the girl should be allowed to have an abortion. She is only 11 years old, which is far too young an age to look after a child. Furthermore, she was raped, meaning she did not want to have a baby in the first place. The fact that this case has divided the public really astounds me. I thought most level-headed people would believe this girl should be allowed to have an abortion.

Good advices for blogging from one of the bloggers in the world

2008-08-21T02:25:00.000-07:00

When I was searching a good blog or a blog which is relevant to our topic,

I found a blogger in South Africa. As I read his articles, I thought he knows

blogging. So I emailed him and got a reply. He says something good about blogging

So I post it on here. When I got his email, I felt so good. I don't how to explain

but I reckon I am getting know more and closer to the blog world

as well as citizen journalism. As he says below, there is no a bad bolg.

Keep it up, guys!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Email from Cobus

I just formatted by PC, and is on my way to a camp for the weekend.

Hopefully I'll remember to sign up for your RSS feed when I come home.

Congrats on joining the blogging world!!! Your blogging bout noble causes, keep it

up.

There not something like a bad blog, blogs are blogs, there is just good content and

bad content, keep up publishing good content and link a lot! And comment on other

blogs a lot, this is what makes for good blogs and bloggers.

Oh, and content don't need to be sophisticated to be good, on the contrary, I think

I miss many readers because the content is too sophisticated.

The challenge is to make good thinking accessible to everyone.

Woule like to here more on your project as time proceed.

Cobus
--
check out my blog at mycontemplations.wordpress.com

die blog van 'n paar TUKS studente: teoatup.wordpress.com

Binge Drinking and Drug Abuse Australia

2008-08-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

Thousands of children have parents or carers who use methamphetamine (AFP)

1 in 8 kids exposed to binge drinking, drug abuse: study

A new report has found nearly 250,000 Australian children live in households affected by substance abuse.

The Australian National Council on Drugs has found that about one in eight Australian children are exposed to binge drinking and drug abuse in their own homes.

This article can be found at

I don't want you to fancy this!!!

2008-08-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

you feel like smoking that?

Think about your brain damage!

Cases when abortion should be allowed

2008-08-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

The following article discusses instances when abortion should be allowed.

When I conducted an interview with my father (which you can listen to on our blog) we both touched on a few instances in which abortion should be allowed. These cases included rape, when a child would have mental or physical problems and when parents do not have the financial capabilities to raise a child. But this article is interesting as it looks at abortion from the perspective of a mother and the government. Abortion is considered acceptable if a mother's health would suffer and when governments need to monitor the size of the population. Some people believe that abortion is always wrong, but maybe they should re-evaluate their beliefs when looking at some of these cases.

"Some societies ban abortion almost completely while others permit it in certain cases.

Such societies usually lay down a maximum age after which the foetus must not be aborted, regardless of the circumstances.

At various times some of the following have been allowed in some societies:

* abortion for the sake of the mother's health
- including her mental health
* abortion where a pregnancy is the result of a crime
- such as crimes like rape, incest, or child abuse
* abortion where the child of the pregnancy would have an ' unacceptable quality of life' such as cases where the child would have
- serious physical handicaps,
- serious genetic problems,
- serious mental defects
* abortion for social reasons, including:
- poverty,
- mother unable to cope with a child (or another child),
- mother being too young to cope with a child
* abortion as a matter of government policy
- as a way of regulating population size
- as a way of regulating groups within a population
- as a way of improving the population"

article

Must Watch this!!!!!!

2008-08-12T04:03:00.001-07:00

What do you feel about that???

JUNO

2008-08-12T03:50:00.000-07:00

Hey, guys! Good evening!

Today, I wanna talk about unwanted pregnancy.

Yesterday, I watched the movie called "JUNO".

This movie is about the happenings after a teenage girl becomes pregnant.

This is quite fun!

If you see the very last scene, you can think about unwanted pregnancy carefully...

I'm not gonna tell you the story! you've gotta watch it!!

You can get it from any video shop!

If you have seen it, Make a comment, please!

While I googled about juno, I found a very interesting blog!

There is a very interesting and sophisticated article about Juno & abortion.

You should check it out!

Ihe blog is http://mycontemplations.wordpress.com/the-contemplator/

Emotional rollercoaster: unplanned pregnancy

2008-08-07T17:33:00.000-07:00

Watching the lines materialise into a positive reading on a white plastic pregnancy stick can be exciting for some, daunting for others. Unwanted pregnancies are common in Australia. In 2003-04, about 130 children were given up for adoption in Australia. Meanwhile, abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures in the country with about 80,000, or one in four, known pregnancies ending this way every year.
Deciding the fate of an unwanted pregnancy could be one of the toughest emotional decisions any woman may ever have to make, and it is one that shouldn’t be made without support. "It is really important they don't feel alone, and having information at hand and making an informed choice removes some of that fear factor and some of the emotions such as feeling scared and isolated", says Amanda Ralph, from the Marie Stopes reproductive and sexual health centre. "But, at the end of the day it is the woman who is going to be most impacted by the decision she makes on whether she continues the pregnancy or terminates."

Mittagong child and family therapist Francine Bartlett agrees, and says that if a woman is not totally committed to her final choice she may live with eternal regret and resentment. "It's about being truthful about how you feel and getting support to deal with those feelings so that when you make the decision, you are congruent", she says.

It is up to each woman whether she seeks guidance from a professional counsellor or family and friends, but either way it has to be unbiased and non-judgmental support, adds Ralph. She recommends that women go through a process of asking themselves how they would feel about each of the options available, and how the final decision would affect them and their family.

The Children by Choice unplanned pregnancy support group suggests some questions women can ask themselves when making the decision:

How do I feel about this pregnancy?
How do my values, beliefs, previous experiences or expectations around each of these options — abortion, adoption and parenting — affect how I feel?
What are my goals, plans or dreams?
Do I need more information on any of these options?
How will this affect significant others in my life, including children and partner/
Keeping the baby
If the shock has turned to acceptance, now is the time to start bonding with your unborn baby so you are more likely to form a strong relationship with the child when he or she is born. Bartlett recently conducted a small study among pregnant Australian women and found that stress and the emotions of an unwanted pregnancy could affect the mother's relationship with the child. "Also, there is some reality that if the pregnancy wasn't wanted, those feelings can affect the hormonal environment in the mother and they can also affect the way she copes and her denial, so she might not get adequate pre-natal care', says Bartlett.

Making the intellectual decision to keep a baby may not be enough to cope with the initial feelings of resentment, fear, anxiety and anger. "So, it's okay to not want the pregnancy, but if you are going ahead with it, it is worth being honest about that and getting support to deal with those feelings so you can begin to pay attention to the baby that is growing inside you and embrace it."

To bond with your unborn baby, you can try:

Talking and singing to the baby;
Acknowledging that you are pregnant and starting to become aware of the baby's growth;
Imagining what the child is going to be like and imagining yourself as a mother;
Buying baby clothes and equipment;
Ensuring that you attend ante-natal care appointments
Terminating
Ralph says women can experience a whole gamut of emotions if they decide to terminate a pregnancy, but one of the most common emotions is overwhelming relief. About 98 percent of women who undergo an abortion feel it is the right decision, and most women don't suffer any subsequent psychological or emotional problems, says a report by the Victorian Government.

Those women who do experience guilt, depression and grief are often the ones who feel they were coerced into the decision. "The majority of women feel overwhelming relief that they have made the decision, but they can experience sadness, remorse, guilt", says Ralph.

Abortion legislation differs in all states and territories, but it generally passes the decision on whether or not a pregnancy can be terminated to the doctor. Abortions can be performed up to 20 weeks gestation in QLD, NSW, SA, WA, VIC and 14 weeks in the ACT (although it has been removed from the clinical code in the ACT), TAS and the NT.

Adoption
It takes time for most parents to move past the initial grief of placing a child up for adoption, Debra Smith, former director of the National Adoption Information Clearinghouse in the US writes in a report. Some feel positive early on while others feel loss, but almost all birth parents wonder how their child is doing.

Some women become angry or depressed, and can get caught up in these phases for a long time, says Merry Bloch Jones in her book Birthmothers: Women Who Have Relinquished Babies for Adoption Tell Their Stories.

Some tips to getting out of these cycles include:

Professional counselling;
Talking with supportive family members or friends;
Writing their feelings down in a story or poem;
Writing letters, even if they are not sent, to their child;
Holding a private ceremony each year on their child's birthday

This article is available at http://health.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=63299

Do you take drugs?

2008-08-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

What do you know about drugs?
I think you don’t know much about drugs. Drugs are chemicals that change the way a person's body works. You've probably heard that drugs are bad for you, but what does that mean and why are they bad?

Legal Drugs?
If you've ever been sick and had to take medicine, you already know about one kind of drugs. Medicines are legal drugs.

Cigarettes and Alcohol? Are they drugs?
The answer is ‘Yes’. However, cigarettes and alcohol are two other kinds of legal drugs. But smoking and excessive drinking are not healthy for adults and off limits for kids.

What are illegal drugs?
When people talk about the "drug problem," they usually mean abusing legal drugs or using illegal drugs, such as marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, LSD, crystal meth and heroin. (Marijuana is generally an illegal drug, but some states allow doctors to prescribe it to adults for certain illnesses.)

Why Are Illegal Drugs Dangerous?
Illegal drugs can damage the brain, heart, and other important organs. Cocaine, for instance, can cause a heart attack. While using drugs, a person is also less able to do well in school, sports, and other activities. It's often harder to think clearly and make good decisions. People can do dumb or dangerous things that could hurt themselves or other people when they use drugs.

Why Do People Use Illegal Drugs?
People might be curious or just bored. A person may use illegal drugs for many reasons, but often because they help the person escape from reality for a while. If a person is sad or upset, a drug can - temporarily - make the person feel better or forget about problems. Drugs don't solve problems, of course. And using drugs often causes other problems. A person who uses drugs can become dependent on them, or addicted. This means that the person's body becomes so accustomed to having this drug that he or she can't function well without it.

What do you feel about that? Do you think you have a clear knowledge about drugs now? Good! Have you ever taken illegal drugs? You have?! Ok. That’s enough. Now then don’t do it again! I quit smoking yesterday! You see?! If you don’t want to quit, then just don’t do it too much. It’s for the cigarette not illegal drugs!

The information I’ve mentioned are based on the website (http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/drugs_alcohol/know_drugs.html). So that means those information are not rubbish! You can trust them!

Binge drinking costing billions

2008-07-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

The article explores the idea that binge drinking is not only damaging our health, it is also damaging employment relations in businesses. The article says, "Britain's binge drinking culture is costing the country £20 billion a year, according to a government report. The study by the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit shows 17 million working days are lost to hangovers and drink-related illness each year. The annual cost to employers is estimated to be £6.4 billion." The article further says that "one in three men and one in five women do not drink sensibly." Teenagers as young as sixteen are now binge drinking. Obviously these are alarming statistics and something needs to be done, much sooner than later. This is an issue the Federal Government must tackle. As is argued in the article, mass media campaigns should be introduced. Binge drinking is not only effecting the health of people's bodies, it is also effecting the health of Britain's economy. Businesses are also being effected.