Billboard near Beach & University Blvds (Miami: health insurance, school, rich)

[jsimms3]

I think it's actually about abortion. Sarah Palin is majorly pro-life (practically her biggest issue) and I think if her PAC funded it (which I think it did in conjunction with a pro-life group), it was not to be racist, but to try to spread awareness that so many AA children are un-necessarily aborted (if anything that's the opposite of being racist, that's trying to help the AA community). So of course planned parenthood had a problem with it (and of course many if not most planned parenthood centers are in predominantly AA neighborhoods).

I think at the bottom of the message, the hidden message that whoever funded the billboard wanted to get out is that at the heart of Planned Parenthood's founding was a completely racist agenda (Margaret Sanger I think her name was hated blacks and wanted a way to exterminate black babies). I know it is controversial, but there have been "telephone" stings on planned parenthood centers to shed light on their controversial practices (much of which is racist and/or illegal...underage abortions, not telling parents, not offering alternatives, promoting black abortions, and the list goes on).

Whether you like or dislike Sarah Palin, the one thing she's not is a racist. The one big thing she is is a pro-lifer. She could have aborted her mentally challenged son like so many mothers do, and that was simply not an option for her. She also made her daughter give birth to her underage kid, even though so many nowadays choose to get an abor. It is true that abortion is vastly practiced in the AA community wayy wayy more than in other races, and much of that is because of the influence of planned parenthood.

[jsimms3]

The new face of AIDS in the FTU was a great article, though! People need to quit stigmatizing AIDS. Most people that carry the HIV virus don't even know they carry it because they feel that because they are white and straight they need not get tested (or they are worried to get tested because they know that if they are poz they will be treated like dirt by so many bigots who don't understand anything). I know a few people at my university that have HIV, and living in midtown Atlanta I certainly know a ton of people with it. It affects everyone nowadays, but thankfully it actually forces you to be healthy and with the new meds, it is more easily manageable than diabetes.

[KerryB]

Ah, I see they're playing their abortion wildcard again. Its either that or play up the scary terrorist angle.

Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure we have bigger fish to fry right now. We can pick up the usual bickering about social issues when everything isn't going to hell in a hand basket.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by jsimms3

I think it's actually about abortion. Sarah Palin is majorly pro-life (practically her biggest issue) and I think if her PAC funded it (which I think it did in conjunction with a pro-life group), it was not to be racist, but to try to spread awareness that so many AA children are un-necessarily aborted (if anything that's the opposite of being racist, that's trying to help the AA community). So of course planned parenthood had a problem with it (and of course many if not most planned parenthood centers are in predominantly AA neighborhoods).

I think at the bottom of the message, the hidden message that whoever funded the billboard wanted to get out is that at the heart of Planned Parenthood's founding was a completely racist agenda (Margaret Sanger I think her name was hated blacks and wanted a way to exterminate black babies). I know it is controversial, but there have been "telephone" stings on planned parenthood centers to shed light on their controversial practices (much of which is racist and/or illegal...underage abortions, not telling parents, not offering alternatives, promoting black abortions, and the list goes on).

Whether you like or dislike Sarah Palin, the one thing she's not is a racist. The one big thing she is is a pro-lifer. She could have aborted her mentally challenged son like so many mothers do, and that was simply not an option for her. She also made her daughter give birth to her underage kid, even though so many nowadays choose to get an abor. It is true that abortion is vastly practiced in the AA community wayy wayy more than in other races, and much of that is because of the influence of planned parenthood.

Margaret Sanger was certainly a complex controversial figure:

Margaret Sanger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Still - she brought birth control for the first time to women in my mother's generation - where none had existed before. Very important during the Depression - WWII - etc. When many women could ill afford any children - much less many children. Although devices like diaphragms left much to be desired - they were much better than the back alley abortions some women in my family had. And what were you going to say to your husband when he came back from WWII for a week - no thanks - I'm practicing abstinence .

I feel sorry for a lot of AA women. Because they have some things working against them. Demographics - especially the large number of AA men who are in jail or otherwise dysfunctional. Too many women - not enough men for stable long-term marriage relationships (and it's a lot more common for an AA male to marry a white woman than the other way around). Guys who do the "down low". Etc.

OTOH - since it's pretty clear that perhaps the single largest factor in terms of living in poverty - regardless of race - is being a single mother - I want to see that all women have access to all options in terms of their childbearing decisions. Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by KerryB

Ah, I see they're playing their abortion wildcard again. Its either that or play up the scary terrorist angle.

Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure we have bigger fish to fry right now. We can pick up the usual bickering about social issues when everything isn't going to hell in a hand basket.

There will always be issues larger than those involving women bearing children - but the latter are issues that promise to be around for a long time . Robyn

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by jsimms3

The new face of AIDS in the FTU was a great article, though! People need to quit stigmatizing AIDS. Most people that carry the HIV virus don't even know they carry it because they feel that because they are white and straight they need not get tested (or they are worried to get tested because they know that if they are poz they will be treated like dirt by so many bigots who don't understand anything). I know a few people at my university that have HIV, and living in midtown Atlanta I certainly know a ton of people with it. It affects everyone nowadays, but thankfully it actually forces you to be healthy and with the new meds, it is more easily manageable than diabetes.

Actually - I think you're stating some mistruths. Everyone is not at equal risk for HIV/AIDS. There are 3 basic categories of much higher risk. Sexual (e.g., having sex with multiple partners - getting STDs - having male homosexual sex - having sex with infected people - etc.). Drug related (e.g., sharing needles with infected people). And blood need related (e.g., getting transfusions). The 3 can overlap. I think it is fair to say that for a negative monogamous woman my age who only has sex with a negative monogamous spouse - the chances of getting infected absent a bad blood transfusion are zilch. OTOH - if I were a gay guy having unprotected anal sex with 25 new unknown partners a year - my chances would be a lot more than zilch.

Also - although AIDS is now treated as a long term chronic disease - it is hugely expensive to do so. Who should pay for it? I smoke - so I'm not answering that one - won't be the pot calling the kettle black. OTOH - most smokers don't get sick until they're older - with not so many years to live. People can get AIDS when they're 20 and live for another 50 years. Robyn

[jsimms3]

Agreed with everyone there are much bigger fish to fry. The day we don't have bigger fish to fry will be a blessing for everybody.

Also, Robyn, true that there are levels of risk with HIV. You being married, monogamous I presume, etc are at virtually no risk. People my age are at high risk no matter who you are. It seems most people have at least one STD, and certain STDs make it that much easier to catch the HIV virus. Also the statistics with HIV are always skewed. It's so stigmatized that many people keep if completely private and off the books, and many people NEVER get tested and don't realize they have it. Certainly if you're gay and have unprotected sex with 25 random other guys your chances are highly elevated, but the fastest growing segments are white straight people and black women because those two groups don't get tested. There are only estimates of how many people have it, but judging by how many people I know who have it the numbers have to be pretty high (and we are talking rich white kids at my university from good families that went to private school). I probably know more people who have it and don't realize it because they either don't know or they aren't planning on telling anyone. Scary but harsh/sad reality. I mean the numbers aren't 25%, but they are higher than you would think and rapidly increasing. Thank God it's the hardest STD to catch, even without using protection.

[mississippimagnolia]

Originally Posted by mosmo

Freakonomics.....everyone should read it!

Agreed! Both of the Freakonomics books are excellent!

[KerryB]

Billboards only seem to appeal to a certain demographic, esp around here. It's sorta the equilivant of the bumper sticker on a pickup truck shouting things at me like to "Be American! Stand up for America!!" and whatnot (whatever the hell that even means).

You know, can I just drive down the road without having everyone's opinions thrown in my face??

[jsimms3]

Would you rather have the billboard directly across from my building saying "Learn How to be a Professional Computer Hacker in 15 Easy Minutes! Call ..." LoL

Billboards are great at what they do (catching people's attention and spreading a message). I happen to like the black billboards with the white word one liner signed by -God.