Reba McEntire-Fancy... This One's For The Girls - Live In Concert... You Tube Videos

["Reba McEntire-Fancy"; as submitted to You Tube by TOPaBOY on December 17, 2006; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K6Y-YGZUec]

Soon to be Released...

["This One's For The Girls - Live In Concert"; as posted on You Tube by martinamcbride on April 08, 2008; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9nVoQpB7cE]

Passing This On (From My Email):

"DAILY WOMEN'S HEALTH POLICY REPORT...

OPINION | Abstinence-Only Sex Education Fails Teens, Texas Rep. Says in Opinion Piece
[April 14, 2009]

The abstinence-only approach to sex education currently used in Texas schools and other states across the country "isn't working," Texas state Rep. Joaquin Castro (D), vice chair of the Texas House Committee on Higher Education, writes in a San Antonio Express-News opinion piece. Texas has the third highest teen birth rate in the nation -- 50% higher than the national average -- he notes, adding that increases across all "races and ethnicities ... demonstrate that the current lack of sexual health curriculum in our schools is seriously harming all of our children." Texas taxpayers spent $1 billion on teenage pregnancies and an estimated $15.1 billion over a 13-year period, according to a 2004 study by the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, Castro writes.

"Despite these costs, 94% of students in Texas receive abstinence-only sexual education and, to date, more than $1 billion in federal funding has been spent on abstinence-only education," he adds. Texas ranks No. 1 in the amount of federal funding for "abstinence-only education dollars in the country -- more than $18 million" -- he writes. According to Castro, teens "need to know that we want them to stay in school and graduate, foster healthy communication with their peers and their parents, cultivate healthy living skills such as goal-setting and responsible decision-making about sexual health, and to leave parenting to later in life when they are emotionally and financially prepared." He adds that the Education Works Act (H.B 741) "will ensure that teens learn about abstinence, healthy relationships and appropriate birth control methods so that they can protect themselves from an unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted [infections] when they do become sexually active -- whether that is at age 16, 18 or 25."

A comprehensive sex education curriculum that gives medically accurate information to teens is needed because "[w]e can't continue failing teens by keeping important and lifesaving information about contraception from them," Castro writes. He concludes that "a curriculum based solely on abstinence and birth control failure rates isn't keeping Texas teens from becoming sexually active nor does it help avoid pregnancies or" STIs, adding that it "only makes it more difficult for teens to make healthy and informed life choices" (Castro, San Antonio Express-News, 4/9)" (National Partnership for Women & Families; http://www.nationalpartnership.org/site/News2?abbr=daily2_&page=NewsArticle&id=16451&security=1201&news_iv_ctrl=-1

Popeye - I Yam What I Yam - Robin Williams Shelley Duvall... Free Write... Bob Marley - Redemption Song

["Popeye - I Yam What I Yam - Robin Williams Shelley Duvall"; as submitted to You Tube by essexboi1993
on June 30, 2007; www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8TRoMSG-5I]

Every nobody is somebody. Every word spoken leaves many words unsaid. Every life that turns bitter is a pill all will have to swallow. Every lie told is a facet of
shame that burdens all - not just the carrier - of mankind.

I am nobody, but somebody. "I am... what I am" - with a right to be, think, feel and form opinions - and to speak and write about the truth as I see it...

Like "Popeye" in a bar (minus spinach) - this blog (and my others) is where I "pull my punches" - "take my stand" - "am what I am."

'Tis a sad world that we live in today.

Full of conflicting messages...

Full of people attempting (in a variety of ways) to "sell" their fix or tricks...

Traumatic events occurring by the bucket load...

The less fortunate among us trying to "make it" - far too often - in any way they can...

The more fortunate among us trying - far too often - to make a profit off the exploitation (ignoring or pretending not to see the heartache and anguish that this creates) of others...

Every "system" (from the family to the government) - as Bob Dylan put it - "broken."

One must wonder; even the most hopeful among us, I would think...

What will the outcome of this ongoing "mess" be?

Will the collective consciousness of activism, recently inspired in some, be enough to pull us through?

Or is it really all about, as the saying goes, "the 'hokey pokey'"?

Are even the "players" being "played?"

Who is one to trust?

Is a crowd in a bar, loud and obnoxious at times... somehow more integral than a crowd in a boardroom?

"I am what I am."

Imperfect yet perfectionistic. Self-deprecating yet full of pride. Intelligent but impotent. One tiny bird in a mighty big sky...

You might like what I write and present here. You might not.

You might like what I have been able to accomplish in this lifetime. You might not.

But when you look in the mirror, please gaze at your own reflection...

Because when it comes to honesty, I'm pretty high up on the list - which is probably at least part of "why" I don't climb any ladders of influence or prosperity in this (the only one I'm familiar with) society...

Which is a "pretty sad statement...

Don't ya' think?

["Bob Marley - Redemption Song"; as submitted to You Tube by QueenRocker89 on August 24, 2007; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yXRGdZdonM]

John F Kennedy Speech Before the American Newspaper Association... Dated but IMPRESSIVE... You Tube

["John F Kennedy Speech"; as submitted to You Tube by Burster1 on April 02, 2009; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40vsjBHq7XI]

America's First Puppy... You Tube

["America's First Puppy..."; as submitted to You Tube by myhope001 on 4/12/2009; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlFwTeZyDAI]