land of the free?

I am going to thwrap the next person who tells me the US is so damned spiffy and free.

Just last week abortion became a felony in South Dakota. Think you are safe because you don't live in South Dakota? Think again. If it can happen there, we are all at risk.

And don't get me started on the fact that same sex marriage is legal in that bastion of the Catholic faith, Spain, but gay people in Florida cannot adopt children, let along get married there or in any other state in the good 'ol US of A expect Massachusetts.

And then there is the institution today of the FDA's Accutane registry, iPledge. Among other things, iPledge requires the following:

"As part of the ongoing risk management of isotretinoin products, it is crucial that a female of childbearing potential selects and commits to use two forms of effective contraception simultaneously for one month before, during, and for one month after isotretinoin therapy. She must have 2 negative urine or blood (serum) pregnancy tests with a sensitivity of at least 25 mIU/ml before receiving the initial isotretinoin prescription. The first pregnancy test is a screening test and can be conducted in the prescriber's office. The second pregnancy test must be done in a CLIA-certified laboratory according to the package insert. Each month of therapy, the patient must have a negative result from a urine or blood (serum) pregnancy test conducted by a CLIA-certified laboratory prior to receiving each prescription.

Each month, the prescriber must enter the female patient's pregnancy results and the 2 forms of contraception she has been using in the iPLEDGE system. The iPLEDGE system verifies that all criteria have been met by the prescriber, patient, and pharmacy prior to granting the pharmacy authorization to fill and dispense isotretinoin. The pharmacist must obtain authorization from the iPLEDGE system via the program web site or phone system prior to dispensing each isotretinoin prescription for both male and female patients."

I do not even know what to say except that this is one of the most disgusting invasions of privacy I have yet to see. I'm suprised they didn't find a way to justify this under the Patriot Act.

Can you say "restricted community"?

My head hurts. I wonder what kind of "restrictions" will be placed on who gets to purchase property?:

Pizza Magnate Seeks Catholic-Governed Town
- By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, March 1, 2006

If Domino's Pizza founder Thomas S. Monaghan has his way, a new town being built in Florida will be governed according to strict Roman Catholic principles, with no place to get an abortion, pornography or birth control. The pizza magnate is bankrolling the project with at least $250 million and calls it "God's will." Civil libertarians say the plan is unconstitutional and are threatening to sue.

The town of Ave Maria is being constructed around Ave Maria University, the first Catholic university to be built in the United States in about 40 years. Both are set to open next year about 25 miles east of Naples in southwestern Florida.
...
During a speech last year at a Catholic men's gathering in Boston, Monaghan said that in his community, stores will not sell pornographic magazines, pharmacies will not carry condoms or birth control pills, and cable television will have no X-rated channels.

...

Gov. Jeb Bush, at the site's groundbreaking earlier this month, lauded the development as a new kind of town where faith and freedom will merge to create a community of like-minded citizens. Bush, a convert to Catholicism, did not speak specifically to the proposed restrictions.

More at the link of course.

I am not sure what is more disturbing--the fact that this thing is being created or the fact that Jeb Bush endorses it. Just what we need...faith-based cities. So much for the ostensible separation of church and state.

Oh, yeah, this is all going to turn out well.

The US is becomming more and more embrassing by the day.