20 posts tagged “opinion”
It is no secret that I do not like Gov. Schwarzenegger. My 18th birthday was 2 weeks after the recall election, and I did not vote for him when he was up for reelection. I knew he would never be able to solve the problems he promised he would, and this is one situation where I hate being right.
The people of California (wrongfully, in my opinion) ousted Gov. Davis because of budget and energy problems back in 2003. Granted, it was a little more complicated than a budget crisis and energy shortage, but those were the main issues at the time. And now, shocker of all shockers, Gov. Schwarzenegger has failed to solve the budget crisis.
The Governor’s May revision was released yesterday and California is facing a $17.2 billion deficit, which is over $2 billion more than the original proposal. Instead of raising taxes to repair the budget problems – which, let’s face it, we knew he’d never do because he’s a Republican – Gov. Schwarzenegger has decided to target problems providing aid to children, the elderly, the disabled, low-income families, and immigrants. He has done this at a time when it has been projected that the need for state and government aid will increase during the next budget year. And, the biggest problem of all, his solution is only a temporary fix for the problem. The next person in office will be facing the same problems he is now, only they will be greater because of Gov. Schwarzenegger's reluctance to raise taxes (except for the 1 cent increase he has proposed, which the GOP is adamantly against).
On top of wanting to use lottery money as a temporary fix to the budget, he has proposed that the $828 million from gas taxes be taken away from public transportation and redirected to help with the $17.2 billion deficit. Myself and many other commuters in the state of California rely on public transportation to get work in a safe, cost-efficient, convenient, and green way. By cutting funds from public transportation during a time when gas prices are only going to continue increasing, you are making it impossible for people, like myself, to get to their jobs everyday. When my bus is full and I have to choose between buying groceries or gas for two weeks, I ultimately have to decide between keeping my job or being unemployed.
Personally, I find it ironic that a Governor who uses taxpayer's money to fly back and forth from southern California to Sacramento is impacting commuters by cutting public transportation.
I am extremely upset and I feel very betrayed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. I don’t think I can write about this anymore without resorting to name calling. Combine that with my lack of qualifications to talk about any of this with any real authority, I’ve pasted some quotes below from people who do know what they are talking about.
The Los Angeles Times has a complete list of the budget cuts and who they will/would impact.
From the Sacramento Bee:
The governor's failure is more than just a numbers game. It reflects his – and the state's – refusal to face reality. The public's desire for spending on schools, health care, prisons, welfare, roads and other services is not matched by the voters' willingness to raise taxes.
The result: budget deficits year after year. Those deficits and the borrowing to which they have led mean that we're still paying now for services the state provided five years ago, leaving less money available for the things we need today. And years from now we and future Californians will still be paying – with interest – for the services we're getting today.
The centerpiece of Schwarzenegger's latest budget plan is a proposal to take an advance against future earnings from the sale of lottery tickets. The governor wants to overhaul the state-run gaming operation so that more people play, and more revenue flows to the state from the tickets they buy. Then he wants to get private investors to pay the state $15 billion in exchange for the rights to a portion of those higher proceeds over the next 30 years.
But even if the Legislature accepted Schwarzenegger's lottery proposal, adopted every spending cut the governor proposed and embraced his budget reform plan, the state would still be facing a projected shortfall of about $5 billion in two years. In other words, when the lottery money runs out, the problem is still there.
From The San Francisco Chronicle:
His latest plan is not without severe cuts. While he has abandoned some of his earlier controversial ideas, such as early release of 22,000 prisoners and closing 48 state parks, the new budget still contains cuts totaling $11 billion.
Health and welfare programs were among the hardest hit. The governor has proposed cuts in health care for the poor, recent immigrants and disabled residents.
I sincerely hope that our next Governor is a Democrat not afraid of raising taxes, because this is just not going to work.
If you’re going to make an endorsement because you’re trying to help a candidate win an election, that’s fine with me. But when you make an endorsement, make it clear why you’re selecting candidate A in favor of candidate B, don’t just simply state that you’re endorsing candidate A.
My favorite part of the endorsement had to be when Nancy Keenan said the following two sentences in the same paragraph:
Further, I believe Sen. Obama is going to be the Democratic nominee.
Sen. Obama will be our next president.
It’s nice to know that you aren’t letting your personal beliefs cloud your judgment and make endorsements on behalf of an entire agency. Why didn’t she just say “I like Obama better than Clinton, ne-ner-ne-ner-neeee-ner!” - because that’s what it sounds like.
The past few months, the media has been overrun with stories relating to rapes that have been covered up by the military and KBR (and KBR, again), immigration officials, and many more. The coverage of rape myths has continued to remain popular, despite the thousands of women who have experienced otherwise. Stories have been released that tell us just how frighteningly common rape and sexual assault are in the military, even though we all know that the majority of sexual assaults go unreported, even though it is extremely frequent.
And you know what? I’m sick of it. Sick of the fear, the stigma, and the trauma all associated with rape. Sick of the guilt, sick of the terrible media coverage, sick of people blaming the victim. And you know why this happens? Do you? Because if you don’t, I do.
When companies like KBR discover that their employees are being victimized and violently attacked, they have the opportunity to do one of two things:
- Take a stand for their employees and fight like hell for their rights. Assist them in the investigation and prosecution of the offender(s), and provide them with paid medical leave and access to trained rape crisis professionals, free of charge. Accept that you are responsible for what happened to them and reach an agreement with them privately.
- Cower like idiots, take absolutely no responsibility for the crimes, discourage them from reporting it, force them to sign agreements taking away their constitutional right to a jury trial, and make them feel so much shame and guilt that they can no longer function physically or emotionally.
KBR, of course, being a huge, rich, and wealthy company, opted for route #2. Despite the fact that they have the money to help these women prosecute the offenders and the resources to provide them with help when they return home, they neglected to take care of their employees. They decided to force these women into arbitration so they don’t have pay exorbitant punitive damages to the victims if these charges were sent to a jury. Because, really, let’s be honest: if these cases went to trial, the circumstances are not in their favor. While the offenders may not be convicted, the women would most likely win in civil court.
But KBR knows just how many zeros can follow the number 1, and they didn’t want to take any risks. Instead of taking the high road and setting examples for corporations across America, they took the low road and continued to victimize their employees by not allowing them access to justice. It’s sick, and it’s wrong, not to mention cruel and inhumane.
But back to the point. All of this happens, the lack of reporting, the believing in rape myths, and the blaming of the victim because of the very public actions taken by KBR. If you are a 16 year old girl and you happen to stumble upon the story of one of these KBR rapes, what will you think? Will you think it’s safe to bring rape charges up on someone? Will you think the law is on your side? Will you think people will believe you? No, you won’t. And you won’t report your rape, and you won’t seek help. You will live your life in fear and shame, and you probably won’t even tell your friends what happened to you.
Rape is the dirty crime - it’s a crime associated with shame and dishonor. If you walk outside and discover your car is stolen, you report it. If you wake up and your house is on fire, you report it. If you are walking home from a night class and you are raped, you report it.
If you have been a victim of sexual assault, rape, or domestic violence, I urge you to REPORT IT NOW! April 29, 2008 is Angela Shelton Day: a day where victims come together, break the silence, and transform themselves into survivors.
It occurred to me that I have been neglecting my poor little vox lately. So instead of swamping my neighborhood with all of my posts from the past few months, I have them all collectively linked here for your clicking pleasure. They are listed in reverse order, from oldest to newest.
I vote we just abolish the silly feminism thing right here and now
Published by Liz on February 20, 2008 12:26 am
under equality, feminist thought, ridiculous
Ultimately, I am a feminist because I believe in two things: equality
and choice. Equality for all people, regardless of what labels are
applied to them by themselves and society, and choice for all people,
so they are able to live their lives as close to their dream as
possible. I don’t expect everyone to be
feminists, but I do believe that feminism can benefit the world as a
whole.
Censorship at the Grammy Awards: Somehow I'm not surprised
Published by Liz on February 20, 2008 04:51 pm
under feminist thought, pop culture, sexuality, tv
By now I’m sure everyone knows about Amy Winehouse being asked by the Grammy Awards producers to cover up her tattoo’s nipples for her performance, but can we just pause a moment and reflect on how this is being reported to media outlets?
Reason #389 why I love Bill Clinton
Published by Liz on February 21, 2008 09:08 pm
under abortion, anti-choice, anti-contraception, clintons, reproductive health, tidbits
When verbally assaulted at a rally by anti-choicers, Bill responded,
and I have to say, I am impressed by his response… and not just because
he’s Bill, but because it’s an awesome response. Yes, he got angry, and
yes, he may have yelled more than a little… but he did get his point
across and (I hope) filled the anti-choicers present at this rally with
a more than a little embarrassment.
The usual bull shit: sexism in the media and Hillary Clinton
Published by Liz on February 28, 2008 04:53 pm
under 2008 election, clintons, dollymix.tv, feminist thought, gender, media, politics, pop culture, ridiculous
Sexism in media is kind of a big topic. A lot of people research it for
a living, and quite a few people have gone to painstaking efforts to
observe the sexism that is occurring in the Democratic presidential
election and all the publicity that surrounds it.
Rejoice! Pregnancy can give you a pass for the carpool lane!
Published by Liz on February 28, 2008 11:12 pm
under abortion, anti-choice, children, christian right, feminist thought, ignorance, politics, reproductive health, ridiculous
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, aka Reagan 2.0, has just recently endorsed an amendment to the Colorado constitution that would consider a fetus a person.
Aside from the whole ridiculousness surrounding when a fetus becomes a person, this is a dangerous line to cross.
Where in the world is Prince Harry fighting?
Published by Liz on February 29, 2008 04:59 pm
under media, opinion, politics
Yesterday I was browsing through CNN’s front page when I saw the
headline “Prince Harry sent to Afghanistan”. Now, how is that safe? How
is that ok?
Happy Sadie Hawkins Day! PROPOSE WHILE YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH IT!
Published by Liz on February 29, 2008 05:31 pm
under dollymix.tv, feminist thought, gender, marriage, ridiculous
Not only is today Leap Year (and another lame excuse for things to be
one sale in stores), but today is also Sadie Hawkins Day. Which means,
for you ladies who are so inclined, today is the one day every four years where a woman can propose to a man and get away with it.
Female artist of the moment: Missy Higgins
Published by Liz on March 4, 2008 07:54 pm
under music, pop culture, the usual
I thought I would take a moment to step off my soap box and blog about Missy Higgins,
an awesome musician from Australia who has a lot to say about life,
love, and all the other miscellany things going on in her world.
Stick to what you're good at: housemaking, swooning, etc
Published by Liz on March 4, 2008 11:18 pm
under feminist thought, gender, ignorance, media, pop culture, rant, ridiculous
I think every single feminist blog I read has picked up on Charlotte Allen’s sexist “women are idiots” piece already, but it’s my turn now.
Single sex education versus gender based education
Published by Liz on March 5, 2008 06:19 pm
under children, feminist thought, gender, opinion
The doctor has become an advocate of single-sex education (not same-sex
education, because that would be GAY) because during his years as a
family practitioner (not a child therapist, not a
psychologist, not anything remotely related to early childhood
educational and mental development) he realized that boys and girls
“learn differently”. Now, in psychology, gender is one of those big
categories that they use to look for differences because it is
(usually) easy to identify. However, many studies have come to the same
conclusion: the differences within each gender are greater than those between genders.
LOL of the day: a resume full of "hopes and plans"
Published by Liz on March 5, 2008 07:53 pm
under 2008 election, lol of the day, media, politics, tidbits
All these years I’ve been creating accomplishments and
gathering experience to list on my resume. From now on, I’ll just list
my hopes and plans. All that work was so unnecessary.
Who cares about your career? Have a baby now!
Published by Liz on March 5, 2008 11:59 pm
under american traditions, children, feminist thought, life stuff, rant, reproductive health, ridiculous
“Want to have a baby? Now’s the time women eager to have children need to direct career drive toward mating.”
For an extremely short article, it is riddled with tons of sexist “facts” from various fields of research.
The top 10 things men lie about
Published by Liz on March 6, 2008 06:44 pm
under gender, ignorance, media, opinion, pop culture, ridiculous
If the NY Post can be completely sexist when it comes to lying,
then so can I. The piece was published over the weekend and it uses a
book written by a woman (whose credentials - or lack thereof - are
completely ignored) to claim that women are lies. Well, it’s my turn now. So I present you with the Top 10 Things Men Lie About.
Tid bits: Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics used "sexual experimentation"
Published by Liz on March 6, 2008 11:11 pm
under lgbtqi, media, pop culture, sexuality, tidbits, tv
I caught an article on the New York Times about Issue #12 and
Buffy’s lesbian “experimentation”. This isn’t the first time Joss
Whedon has included lesbianism in his series. For those not familiar with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television
series, Willow - a witch and Buffy’s best friend - develops a lesbian
relationship with a fellow witch, Tara, during college. After Tara’s
death, Willow begins dating a potential slayer.
Life Lesson #7: If you wear a skirt in public, it is 100% legal for people to take pictures of your naughty bits
Published by Liz on March 17, 2008 05:52 pm
under body image, gender, life lessons, politics, ridiculous, tidbits
A man in Oklahoma was found not guilty under a “Peeping Tom” statute for putting his camera up a 16 year old girl’s skirt (without her consent, obviously) and taking photos. Don’t go commando in Oklahoma!
Tid bits: Dolores Huerta's speech canceled at Catholic school due to her public pro-choice stance
Published by Liz on March 17, 2008 06:18 pm
under abortion, anti-choice, children, feminist thought, ignorance, opinion, reproductive health, ridiculous, tidbits
Ridiculous! I am not that shocked that a Catholic school would cancel
Dolores Huerta’s speaking engagement, but at the same time, I thought
they would have enough intelligence to understand that the talk was
about “her founding role in the United Farm Workers and the importance
of public service” and not abortion.
"Horton Hears A Who!" Not "Horton Hears An Anti-Choice Protest!"
Published by Liz on March 18, 2008 03:43 pm
under abortion, anti-choice, children, christian right, feminist thought, gender, ignorance, media, movies, opinion, pop culture, religion, reproductive health, ridiculous
STOP RUINING MY CHILDHOOD, ANTI-CHOICERS! And more importantly, stop ruining the childhoods of the millions of children going to see this movie. I understand that they are trying to make their point in as public a venue as possible, but it is a children’s movie: the primary audience is children (and families)… not exactly the kind of people that need to be converted to their cause.
Celebrity blow up dolls: there are no words
Published by Liz on March 18, 2008 08:05 pm under body image, gender, pop culture, rant, ridiculous, sexuality
Apparently, a company called Pipedream Products (google at your own risk) produces celebrity blow up sex dolls as part of their “Super Star Series”. They have dolls of: Eva Longoria: she’s your whore next door!
LOL of the day: the 105-pound mystery
Published by Liz on March 19, 2008 03:18 pm
under lol of the day, tidbits
While I’d rather not discuss the whole Elliot Spitzer thing, I found this absolutely hilarious: Most of the focus was on “Kristen”, the prostitute he
met at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington DC and booked for $1,000 an
hour. She was described as, “American, petite, very pretty, brunette, 5
feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds”.
Oh, Catholicism, how you humor me
Published by Liz on March 19, 2008 04:11 pm
under american traditions, anti-choice, anti-contraception, christian right, religion, reproductive health
I guess today is the day for humor! As I’m sure everyone knows, the Vatican has just recently released new sins.
Yes, much like a summer blockbuster or a new fashion line, the Vatican
decided to get hip with the times and tell everyone that there are more things they need to not do in order to get into heaven.
Back Up Your Birth Control: EC Day of Action, March 25, 2008
Published by Liz on March 20, 2008 03:46 pm
under abortion, birth control, feminist thought, reproductive health, sexuality
As a woman who falls into the 18-24 and sexually active statistic, it
should come as no surprise that I have used emergency contraception at
least once in my life. I am lucky enough to live in a liberal town
where access to Plan B (and other emergency contraceptives) is readily
available without scrutiny.
How exactly is the blue dress relevant to this presidential election?
Published by Liz on March 20, 2008 08:02 pm
under 2008 election, clintons, feminist thought, media, opinion, politics, rant, ridiculous
I have to say that I am completely shocked that ABC would even consider this as news. This story was published to embarrass Senator Clinton, plain and simple. This is not news!
In now way, shape, or form is this news! I also like how they call her
“Hillary” in the header: almost as if it doesn’t matter that she’s a
Senator or a Democratic presidential candidate.
Senate hearing on rape as a weapon of war
Published by Liz on April 3, 2008 08:44 pm
under feminist thought, politics, rape, reproductive health
We’ve all heard the gruesome stories of female military personnel going
off to war and being raped, kidnapped, mutilated, and tortured, whether
by the enemy or by their fellow soldiers. The United States Senate has
finally caught up with the use of rape as a weapon of war and the
Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and Law held a hearing in regards
to this monstrous tactic.
The beginning of the end of abstinence-only education programs
Published by Liz on April 3, 2008 09:00 pm
under anti-choice, anti-contraception, birth control, christian right, feminist thought, gw bush, ignorance, politics, religion, reproductive health, sexuality
Our lovely lawmakers have finally gotten up the nerve to tackle Bush’s
abstinence-only sex education funding. It’s no surprise that it took a
Democrat controlled House and Senate to allow this challenge to happen,
but the question is, why didn’t it happen sooner? Despite years of
outcry and criticism, it took our lawmakers seven years into Bush’s term as President to put any concentrated energy towards the removal of abstinence-only sex education in schools.
Tid bits: admitted rapist and murderer convicted to 5 years
Published by Liz on April 7, 2008 03:50 pm
under politics, rant, rape, tidbits
A man who admitted giving a woman a fatal dose of “date rape” drug
during his alleged drive to have sex with 100 women was sentenced
Friday to five years in prison during a hearing that exposed the stark
emotions of his victim’s family.
Virginia 1st state to mandate internet safety lessons
Published by Liz on April 8, 2008 03:43 pm
under internet, pop culture, social networking
All I have to say is GOOD, and maybe FINALLY. With so many kids using sites like MySpace, I’m sure that percentage of internet users 10-17 who have received unwanted sexual solicitations has gone up. Is it just me, or does this make you feel old? Do you remember back in the day when you would go into the Yahoo! Chat rooms and someone would send you a message asking what you’re wearing or if you were in the mood to get frisky? I know chat rooms aren’t the thing anymore - and good thing, too, because they were kind of creepy - but places like MySpace are just as bad, if not worse. Innocent unaware teens are posting pictures of themselves with their friends at the beach, school, or wherever else, and someone is using those pictures and the information in their profiles to stalk them.
Life lesson #8: being raped is the same as being force-fed chocolate
Published by Liz on April 10, 2008 08:02 pm under dollymix.tv, feminist thought, gender, life lessons, politics, rape, reproductive health, ridiculous
I read this on DollyMix last week, and I thought I posted it already, but apparently not. The incident which state-side feminist blogs have only now just gotten wind of actually occurred early last week, but we’ll let them pretend they were the first to blog it even though they’re presenting the facts inaccurately.
A much needed reality check for the anti-Hillary camp
Published by Liz on April 23, 2008 04:26 pm
under 2008 election, clintons, media, opinion, politics
With Hillary winning last night’s primary in Pennsylvania, I think the
naysayers who told Hillary to leave the race should be feeling a little
more than stupid right now. While I’m sure their decision to ask her to
remove herself from the race was based on their opinion that Barack is
a better candidate, I feel it’s unfair (and immature) to ask someone to
remove themself from a Democratic process just because you don’t like
them. Maybe there is even a little fear in them asking Hillary to
remove herself - maybe, just maybe they’re afraid she might win and
that their golden boy will have lost.
Just another day int he media: using scandal to degrade victims
Published by Liz on April 23, 2008 04:42 pm
under feminist thought, media, pop culture, rant, rape, reproductive health, ridiculous
This headline is absolutely grotesque and inexcusable: Victim ‘had sex with captor willingly’. While the contents of the article are a little more divulging with the details than the headline, it’s obvious that the headline was created purely to attract attention and raise a shock factor. Which, congratulations, it has. However, I don’t think it’s the kind of attention any paper wants: degrading a victim’s suffering and her exploiting her experiences while being held captive to get more attention. That’s not ok.
How the Democratic party "front runner" managed to lose all the major states, I'll never know
Published by Liz on April 29, 2008 02:57 pm under 2008 election, clintons, opinion, politics
Me, personally, I don’t understand why everyone is so eager to declare Obama as the Democratic party “front runner.” I don’t want the Democratic presidential candidate for 2008 to be weak in California, Texas, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania… need I go on? That just spells yet another recipe for disaster for the Democratic party, and success for McCain.
I'll take a side of forced vaginal penetration with my abortion, thanks!
Published by Liz on May 1, 2008 08:07 pm
under abortion, anti-choice, christian right, feminist thought, ignorance, opinion, politics, rant, rape, reproductive health
The feminist blogosphere has been up in arms lately (rightfully so)
about an Oklahoma bill that requires a woman to get an ultrasound, and
look at the images, one hour before she gets an abortion. The bill
says that the woman will be required to get either an vaginal or
abdominal ultrasound, whichever shows the best picture. Aside from this
being a completely pointless and unwarranted medical procedure, most women in early pregnancy will have to get a vaginal ultrasound, since that provides the best picture.
It took me a little longer than Cate, but I was finally able to articulate in a coherent manner why I can’t support Barack Obama.
I’ve been feeling a lot of unwarranted political pressure in my office and my life lately. Everyone but myself in the office supports Barack Obama, and while a few people are supportive of my advocacy for Hillary Clinton, the majority of them are not. It is the same with my friends - most of them support Barack and are not afraid to be crude and insulting towards my candidate of choice. I try to maintain a level of respect with it comes to the upcoming Presidential election simply because, well, my opinion isn’t hateful, rude, or insulting.
I have several reasons why I have chosen Hillary over Barack, and most of them have to do with her policies on key issues, her experience, and my belief in her ability to do the job. I cannot support Barack because he has been consistently vague about his policies during his campaign, he has almost no experience, and I do not believe he can do the job as well as I believe Hillary can. I do not feel comfortable having someone who was a Senator for one term (regardless of their potentially shady past, all politicians are dirty) running the country I live in. We would not want someone who has only been a doctor for three years inventing experimental treatments and executing them with no supervision whatsoever.
Take it from me and Gloria Steinem, if Barack was a woman, his lack of experience would be a huge issue. People are used to men running the country, and they are willing to elect the far less experienced candidate because they want to keep things the way they are. And, personally, I couldn’t agree more with her. I am not a fan of saying “what if he were a woman…” in situations like this, but I think it’s time we take it a bit more seriously when it comes to Obama:
The woman in question became a lawyer after some years as a community organizer, married a corporate lawyer and is the mother of two little girls, ages 9 and 6. Herself the daughter of a white American mother and a black African father — in this race-conscious country, she is considered black — she served as a state legislator for eight years, and became an inspirational voice for national unity.
[…] I’m supporting Senator Clinton because like Senator Obama she has community organizing experience, but she also has more years in the Senate, an unprecedented eight years of on-the-job training in the White House, no masculinity to prove, the potential to tap a huge reservoir of this country’s talent by her example, and now even the courage to break the no-tears rule. I’m not opposing Mr. Obama; if he’s the nominee, I’ll volunteer. Indeed, if you look at votes during their two-year overlap in the Senate, they were the same more than 90 percent of the time. Besides, to clean up the mess left by President Bush, we may need two terms of President Clinton and two of President Obama.
Yes, Obama is an appealing candidate because of more than just his sex or race. But still, he is severely lacking in experience. Severely.
I can’t believe to express my words of anger, frustration, and downright disbelief about this.
CLARKSBURG, West Virginia (CNN) — The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people’s physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists.
But it’s an issue that raises major privacy concerns — what one civil liberties expert says should concern all Americans.
The bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information — from palm prints to eye scans.
Kimberly Del Greco, the FBI’s Biometric Services section chief, said adding to the database is “important to protect the borders to keep the terrorists out, protect our citizens, our neighbors, our children so they can have good jobs, and have a safe country to live in.”
But it’s unnerving to privacy experts.
“It’s the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated,” said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Technology and Liberty Project.
So, let me get this straight: it’s important to record every defining physical characteristic of every person living legally in the United States in order to better identify criminals? I’m sorry, but if people can remove their fingerprints and not leave their DNA behind, I’m sure they can cover up their tattoos and disguise their eye color.
This is such an invasion of privacy - I can’t believe this is even being considered. I do not feel safe because they have decided to create this database. I feel more at risk because criminals are going to find different, more discrete, and possibly more violent, ways to commit their crimes. An identification database is not going to prevent criminals from committing crimes. Fingerprint and DNA databases haven’t done that, so what makes the FBI think this will?
When talking about doctors giving women abortions and holding the doctors - but not the women - accountable when (not if) he makes abortion illegal and shoves women back into their barefoot and pregnant lifestyles, my least favorite person said the following of the woman seeking an abortion:
I consider her a victim, not a criminal.
A WOMAN IS NOT A VICTIM OF HER OWN CHOICES. A woman is not a victim when she gets up in the morning, puts on jeans and a sweatshirt, and walks past a man who has an urge to kidnap and murder a woman wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. A 12 year-old girl is not a victim when she decides to walk home from school instead of taking the bus and gets raped by a scary old man who likes to eat girls and bury their bones in his basement.
However, Huckabee’s stance is the only “easy” way to get around the question without hurting your poor, teeny, tiny Republican brain to to blame the doctor, not the woman. Who went to the doctor’s office. Specifically to get an abortion. And got one. Because that makes sense…
If you criminalize abortion, you have to punish the woman who gets it, or not make it illegal in the first place. Apparently, the Republicans don’t understand this concept.
Let’s try an analogy for those who cannot wrap their brains around it: let’s pretend buying cars is illegal. A lovely Mormon wife (gag) with her 8 full clothed and perfectly behaved children goes to purchase a minivan to haul around said children. She pays a fair price for the minivan, is satisfied, and drives away happily, knowing her quality of life is now much better, even though she has risked great harm to herself, her family, and her children by engaging in this grave illegal act of purchasing a car. The police discover her terrible crime, they pat her on the head “You silly woman!” they say, “You know buying cars is illegal!” and they run off and arrest the person she purchased the car from.
It would, of course, just make more sense for abortion to stay SAFE, LEGAL, and ACCESSIBLE to women of all ages, races, socio-economic status, and location.
(Also, please, laugh with me as you realize Huckabee believes the “her” in victim is always a woman, but that the abortion provider is always, without a doubt, a man. Probably an atheist Democrat trying to steal the aborted fetus for stem cell research.)
Having a semi-scientific background and understanding the ways in which scientific studies work, I have to say I was more than a little miffed to read this article about a study done linking adolescent girls’ weight to their perception of their own popularity. They claimed that girls who viewed themselves as unpopular gained more weight over a two year period than girls who viewed themselves as popular. What was the weight difference, you ask? Popular girls only gained 6.5 pounds over two years, while unpopular girls gained 11.
While how a woman feels about herself can be important when looking at her weight gain and loss, it isn’t always the source of their “fat”. I have met fat, popular high school girls and I have also met skinny unpopular high school girls - all whose happiness did not hinge on their weight. But then again, what one person knows isn’t true for the entire world of American high schoolers. Unless, of course, I’m completely off base here and everyone is walking around high school in mini skirts and stilettos like the ladies of Mean Girls.
Now, maybe it’s just me being “old” and “uncool” (ok, I’m 22, I’m not that old and uncool)… but have things really changed so much since I was in high school? Sure, girls were dieting and drinking Slim Fast for lunch - or skipping lunch altogether - but they were not nearly as concerned with their weight as high school girls are today. The last time I sat in a room surrounded by 15 year old girls was only a few months ago and all they seemed to care about what their weight, their appearance, and how this would attract boys. They spent eons criticizing other girls out of the yearbook or on their MySpace pages and almost as long looking at themselves in a mirror. Maybe it’s because I went to high school in a smaller and less urban town, but there is something wrong with this picture. Are young girls really connecting thinness with popularity?
Of course, we can always blame the celebrities, models, and other worthlessly famous individuals for this sudden “thin is in” craze. We can even blame Apple, Inc. for their last iMac commercial - “Thin is Powerful.” But really, can we blame anybody? Thin has been in for quite awhile. We can’t blame Lindsay Lohan or Nicole Richie for a trend that has been raging for years - more years than I think most of us have been alive.
While I’m sure being rail thin, but supple in all the right places, has helped many actresses and talentless famous people further their “careers”, is it really helping people in the real world? Other than the occasional “scientific study” claiming pretty people get hired more frequently and those of us blessed with an hourglass body make more money, there isn’t really much of a claim to be had by being thin.
One minor reflection on the previously mentioned study: they compared girls using their self-reports of popularity. While they are claiming to link a girls “self-image” of her popularity with her weight, how do we know this wasn’t impacted by a psychological illness such as depression, or even more serious life events such as sexual assault, family problems, or trouble with classes? Or, even more minor in a researcher’s eye, a recent break-up with a boy who told a girl she was disgusting and nobody would ever love her? In addition to this, they compared 4,264 self-reported popular girls with only 182 self-reported unpopular girls, leaving quite a few questions unanswered as far as I’m concerned.
This study is trying to link a poor self-image of popularity with unhappiness by preying on our deeply ingrained stereotypes that nobody likes a fat girl.
While the data for this study was taken in 1999, they are interpreting the it with today’s societal perceptions of body image and weight, which have become more and more in favor of increasingly thinner bodies. I was a high school freshman just turning 15 in 1999 and I knew I was dreadfully unpopular. Hell, I was even harassed on a daily basis for being rail thin and flat as a board and I still didn’t gain the weight this study is claiming the girls they took data on did. I didn’t even weigh 100 pounds, and didn’t hit anything above 110 until after I was in college for two years. While my weight is mostly due to genetics, my self-image didn’t have much of an impact on whether or not I gained weight.
But then again, I like to think of myself as a fairly logical and level-headed person: I don’t connect two variables together that are entirely unrelated and try to draw conclusions to support society’s stereotypes.
Maybe if Jamie Lynn Spears had received an education other than one that was focused on abstinence, she wouldn't be three months pregnant right now. She would have learned how to use a condom properly or she would have been on birth control. Technically, legally, she shouldn’t have been having sex anyways: the age of consent in Louisiana is 17. I didn’t initially plan on vocalizing my opinion about the Spears pregnancy disaster, but I just couldn’t hold my tongue any longer.
Being a huge Hillary Clinton fan, it is only natural for people to assume that I will be voting for her in the upcoming California primary. I’m not going to lie - I love the Clintons. The whole family, actually. It’s a shame they didn’t have any sons or gay daughters, because I’d do anything to be a Clinton.
With that said, the upcoming Presidential election (that I have been waiting far too long for) is not as clear cut for me as it should be. I love Clinton and some of her policies. At the same time, I like some of Obama’s policies… and some of Edwards’s as well. When it comes to the 2008 election, I’m facing a bit of a problem: the Democratic candidates are all so solid that I’m not sure which one is most likely to take the White House on January 20, 2009.
