WIN, LOSE, OR DRAW?

After watching the Presidential Debates, what is your impression? Who won, lost, or was it a draw? What impressed you the most, what upset you?
Below is the youtube site to watch the entire debate.
DEBATE

Should an incurably-ill patient be able to commit physician-assisted suicide?

The Right to Die

Go to the following website to read about the Pros and Cons of this issue:

http://www.balancedpolitics.org/assisted_suicide.htm


or read the handout (pick up on 9/24) and take a stance. Once you have decided which side you support you must give reasons and be ready to back up your opinion. Don't forget you need to reply to someone's blog as well as answer the topic.

HERE YOU CAN HAVE MY CHILD!!!

Read the article below and comment. Should parents and legal guardians be allowed to drop off children they feel they can no longer care for regardless of the child's age.

2 BOYS LEFT AT NEBRASKA HOSPITALS UNDER SAFE HAVEN LAW

The Associated Press

Published: September 16, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. - Two boys, ages 15 and 11, were left at Nebraska hospitals over the weekend, the first youngsters surrendered under the state's new safe-haven law that allows caregivers to abandon children and teens as well as infants, officials said.

A 44-year-old woman dropped off her teenage nephew at Lincoln's BryanLGH Medical Center West on Saturday, saying the boy had behavioral problems that she couldn't handle anymore, Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said. The woman is the boy's legal guardian.

The other boy was left at Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha on Saturday, said Alegent Health spokeswoman Kelly Grinnell.

The 11-year-old was dropped off by his mother, who said she believed she could no longer care for him, said Todd Landry, who heads the Department of Health and Human Services' division of children and family services.

The two cases are the first uses of the state's safe-haven law, Landry said. Neither case produced suspicion of child abuse or neglect and neither child appeared to be in immediate danger, he said.

"These were two cases where the caregiver or parent decided the behavior issues were such they felt they could no longer provide good parenting skills," Landry said.

The 11-year-old remained in an Omaha hospital for evaluation and observation Monday, he said. The 15-year-old was temporarily placed in an emergency shelter in Lincoln. The county attorneys and the courts will now step in to determine custody.

Nebraska was the last state in the nation to adopt a safe-haven law, which took effect July 18. It allows any caregiver, not just a parent, to leave a child at any state-licensed hospital without fear of prosecution.

Under previous law, a parent who abandoned a baby could have been charged with child neglect or abandonment, both misdemeanors, or child abuse, a felony.

Most other states have focused their laws on protecting infants.

State Sen. Arnie Stuthman said he introduced the bill intending to protect infants. In a compromise with senators worried about arbitrary age limits, the measure was expanded to include the word "child."

The law doesn't further define child, and some have interpreted that to mean anyone in Nebraska under the age of 19. Others have taken the common law meaning of child - those under age 14.

Stuthman's bill was signed into law as a way of protecting children from immediate danger or harm, said Landry, who didn't believe the two cases Saturday carried that sense of urgency.

Stuthman said Monday that he was surprised that two older children were abandoned on the same day. He said the cases didn't meet the intent of his bill, but he said they will open lawmakers' eyes as to the issues affecting children and families.

"I clearly do not believe this was the intent of LB157," he said.

Stuthman and others have said they are open to revisiting the legislation.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE?

Please tell us what is the most important issue in the U.S. today and why? What candidate do you feel most meets your view on the said issue.
If you need help on the political issues of today go to http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/
or http://obama-mccain.info/index-obama-mccain.php.