It will make me late and lame for basketball if I don't get it up quick:
"Imams in Senegal oppose contraceptive message" by Allyn Gaestel | Washington Post March 30, 2014
MERETO, Senegal — From the corner of his family’s bustling courtyard, El Hadji Fally Diallo looked out approvingly at his large extended family. Several women with babies on their hips prepared the massive midday meal, and children studying the Koran mumbled verses to themselves.
“It’s like we expanded from one family to three,” Diallo, a 76-year-old village leader, said of his three wives and expansive brood. “With 30 children, some can go to the field, some can deal with the cattle, some can go abroad. It’s a lot of money you can have with this size family, so that is a lot of power.”
(Thinking of old anthropology class to keep from coming)
The Diallos have a time-tested definition of success in which a large family plays a central role. But that model is clashing with a government program to increase contraceptive use and reduce family sizes. Largely financed by international donors, the program is part of a global campaign that aims to give 120 million more women around the world access to contraception by 2020.
Oh, I'm not using a condom; I thought you knew that.
For supporters of the program, the benefits of contraception are clear: better health for women and children, economic benefits, and smaller families.
I used to believe years ago before I completely lost faith in the agenda-pushing organizations cited by mouthpiece media, and nothing in their behavior since -- especially recently, it's shameless at this point -- convinces me otherwise.
Oh, I'm sorry for talking during sex....
This last justification, smaller families — and so smaller populations — has drawn the women’s health program into conflict with religious leaders and rekindled suspicions about the motivations for international aid.
For Diallo and his son Ibrahima Diallo, who is an imam, a large family is not only an economic boon, it is also a moral imperative. “If Europeans say the population is too large so we need to limit births, Islam can’t agree with that because God says, ‘You are my people, multiply,’ and it is the duty of God to take care of the family,’’ the younger man said. ‘‘It’s not for Europeans to bring family planning and say, ‘You have a large population, you will have consequences.’ ”
Okay, putting aside the nut Muslim narrative, my feeling on the matter is ANYONE who feels the earth is OVERPOPULATED can do us all a favor and STEP OFF! Don't whine and cry about the issue; do something about it or stop spewing such hateful nonsense.
I mean, c'mon. This world has plenty to take care of us all; it's the global managers and international cartels of banking and business that are ruining it for the rest of us.
Related: CDC Says Kill Yourself
Well, that is a separate issue I have been current on and will soon be again, so...
Oh, right, talk.... let's try to get you back in the mood.
Senegal, a country of 13 million, is 94 percent Muslim, and the views of imams such as Diallo are deeply respected.
Okay, the significance of this is not only the destruction of tight family units that can fight the impression of state benevolence and continued cultural management, it is also doubles as an ulterior attack on Islamic banking that allows no usury or compounding interest and only charges a flat fee for loans. It's a threat to the western banking model and the international in$titutions that carry out currency policy.
I'm a pretty lousy f***, huh?
West Africa has one of the lowest rates of contraceptive use in the world. And while some local activists have been pushing for family planning for decades, much of the current programming is funded by international donors.
Why wouldn't you say many of the current programs are? Is it a strange Freudian slip from someone in the know, or is it a signal by a brave reporter who managed to slip it through the censors known as editors?
I mean, we are all being programmed. I'm reading a Globe; what do you think that is, an hone$t pri$m and per$pective on the world? More like an agenda-pushing, mind-manipulating, myth-reinforcing piece of propaganda pre$$. I'm so heartbroken.
A Senegalese women’s rights network called Siggil Jigeen has been advocating family planning for nearly two decades, and program director Fatou Ndiaye Turpin is frustrated with its dismal progress. The biggest hindrances, she said, are Islam and rumors about side effects of contraception.
“If religion allowed it, there would be no problem,” she said.
Siggil Jigeen works with imams to find theological justifications for family planning, such as highlighting sections of the Koran that emphasize preserving women’s health and spacing children. “It’s always men who come and say this is forbidden by Islam,” she said. “Women don’t know what’s in the Koran.’”
What, you reading in bed on me?
Turpin said she has been criticized for promoting what many here see as an international agenda that goes against Senegalese values. “Some people understand our mission, but some think this is an invasion that came from outside the country because they give us money,” she said.
(Oh, I ju$t came. Sorry.)
At Senegal’s financial ministry, Lanfia Diane, who works in the population and development planning division, said population control must be at the heart of all development efforts. “Five children per woman? No country in the world has developed itself with this rate.’’
(Time to roll over because now I don't feel so good about the experience; already talking abortion?)
--more--"
Looks like the gay rights (for all the love.... no reproduce) and the population reduction plan(!!!!!) are going in different directions!
(I rolled back over in time for a quickie)
"Report: Senegal failing to stop child begging" by Krista Larson | Associated Press March 20, 2014
DAKAR, Senegal — Senegal’s government has failed to make good on promises to close dangerous and unsanitary boarding schools that house child beggars more than a year after a fire at one such shack killed eight young boys, an international human rights group said Wednesday.
Well, overpopulation.... that is tragic, as is any loss of life. That what this blog stands for: LIFE! It's antiwar and a whole lot more.
Human Rights Watch also called on the government to move quickly to implement legislation that could regulate conditions at such schools.
Who is Human Rights Watch anyway?
Now I understand why they always rush in with a report on the latest enemy or push for agenda. The expansion into Africa has begun as the papers are full of Ukraine and Syria.
Tens of thousands of young boys in Senegal are supposed to be learning the holy Koran at the schools but instead spend eight hours a day begging in traffic.
The 1% never sees them.
The government has tried for years to ban the practice, but it remains embedded in Senegal, where many view it as the only way to provide an education for their sons.
An untold number of young boys have been run down and killed while begging, but the March 2013 fire in Dakar appeared to heighten the urgency of the boys’ plight, if only because President Macky Sall subsequently declared that all substandard schools would be closed. However, Human Rights Watch found that Sall’s promise remains largely unrealized one year later....
--more--"
That leads me to the march through the Metro section so I can kill two birds with one stone (try getting them into formation). Since I can't stay and it looks like the cars aren't safe for a drive out of Boston, I will just have to cross my fingers and take the T out.
Even though I say no, no, I can't claim rape, readers; it's all con$en$ual.
UPDATE:
My first game was not glorious at all; didn't make a shot and we lost. Had one play where I had four straight shots from close in and missed all. Got into argument with guy I was guarding about fouls and made me want to leave. Had to sit and pout and then be on his team. Half-assed it for half a game but after that, I once again had them hooting and hollering. Drained long shots, was going to the hoop and getting fouled, and made winning shot! Last I game I was main force on team. Scoring on drives and cutbacks, getting rebounds, had at least half the teams points with game tied at 12 before team collapsed and no rotation led to two fast break layups and 15-12 loss to finish it. Gave all I could, but still should have come up with three more hoops (know I missed at least three shots) and more rebounds. Teammates and opponents were full of praise though! Even said I had clean block when I called foul on myself and told me to give myself more credit; he was right, and I should! I can't express enough how much I cherish the effort and experience at my age.
