I have the unenviable position of being neither for nor against this war. Of course, I support the soldiers. Then again, I also support humane treatment of all prisoners, even ones that don’t deserve it. But whether or not you can justify the war at its inception, you can’t just send everyone home overnight, especially not when a war has been going on for as long as Afghanistan. There’s probably a whole war-based economy by now that would collapse, for one (and no, I am not talking about the dealing of weapons). Once you get past the inflammatory title, this is actually a well-rounded article that touches, if however briefly, on how complex these issues can be when viewed from different angles.
Fri 5 Feb 2010
Article Link: Obama’s Secret Prisons
Posted by Jadxia under War and Peace
No Comments
Sat 30 Jan 2010
Quick Example of Ridiculous Abstinence-Only Education
Posted by Jadxia under Education Programs
No Comments
In the “Not Now” abstinence-only-until-marriage program, delivered to students in part of Mississippi, students participate in a mock wedding ceremony. As part of the ceremony, the bride presents the groom with a dirty sneaker as a wedding present. The dirty sneaker signifies “a lifestyle of impurity” and relays the message that no sock (representing a condom) could ever fully protect the foot from dirt and diseases. The groom, on the other hand, gives the bride a clean sneaker representing his “purity up until marriage.” At the end of the wedding activity, the students “pledged to remain pure” and bring clean tennis shoes to marriage.
While this is awful messaging in and of itself, research also shows that 88 percent of students who pledge to remain abstinent until marriage fail to keep this pledge and have the same STD rates as those who didn’t take a pledge. They are also less likely to use contraception when they do become sexually active.
All I can say is, what the hell?
REFERENCE:
This is an except pulled from http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/.
Thu 21 Jan 2010
2010 Roe vs. Wade Anniversary
Posted by Jadxia under Abortion Issues
No Comments
Each year on January 22nd, folks on both sides of the abortion issue descend on the Capitol.
This year the March for Life (pro-life) will begin with a rally on the National Mall & 7th Street at noon. The march will go down Constitution Avenue and end at the Supreme Court.
Pro-choice organizations such as the National Organization for Women, Choice USA, and NARAL Pro-Choice will gather at noon at the Supreme Court, on 1rst Street NE between Maryland Avenue and East Capitol. Also, if you are registered as a clinic escort please contact the Planned Parenthood in the District. As the March for Life goes by the clinic, every year escorts are asked to stand together to help protect the clinic from potential acts of violence.
All groups will need to take the metro and, as many streets downtown will be closed, driving in the District is not advised.
Tue 3 Nov 2009
Finding the Spin
Posted by Jadxia under Morality, Personal Safety, War and Peace
1 Comment
The nice thing about being a extrovert in DC is I often learn the truth behind the fantastic news spewed from the press. The media has this way of looking at issues from only one side, and then pushing that side as the only reasonable and sane way of looking at something. It sounds perfectly logical when it is said on the television, but when I hear an opposing viewpoint from some knowledgeable soul in the city, their way sounds just as correct. It pays to remember that the louder someone screams, the more obvious and simple the press makes their viewpoint out to be, the more likely it is some information just as relevant and diametrically opposed to that opinion exists.
Still, I can’t find the spin in the Franken rape amendment. What happened at Halliburton was atrocious, to be sure, but it may be something in the wording of the bill itself (as presented by Franken) that caused thirty Senators to oppose it. Congressman and senators love to pass feel-good fluff bills, so the fact that so many opposed this amendment makes me smell a dead rhinosaurus in the room. My natural inclination is to believe in the utter corruption of Congress (which I know to be an unjust assumption) and I generally want to villify big business, male dominated environments, and sexual offenders. This emotional charge makes it hard for me to take a step back and look at the facts logically, to ask the mundane questions. Remember that even a miraculously wonderful bill may be scratched if the wrong miniscule clause is thrown in, and it is a common political tactic to hide sneaky self-serving (or publicly damaging) tidbits into much needed amendments. Politics is all about throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
Where’s the damn spin?
For more information, visit: Huffington Post article
Wed 9 Sep 2009
Members of Internet Society to Form DC Chapter
Posted by Jadxia under Uncategorized
No Comments
“The mission of the Internet Society is to promote the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.”
With these opportunities come new challenges. Will competing companies work together on critical standards or lock in customers using proprietary software? Will efforts to address Internet security vulnerabilities be successful?
Join us for an informal, wide-ranging discussion of where the Internet is headed. The Internet is forty years old but still evolving–at an accelerating pace. In the next ten years we will see even more growth and new applications than we’ve seen in the last forty. Entire industries will be transformed. The Internet of Things connecting hundreds of billions of devices and sensors, new mobile applications, cloud computing, and virtual worlds.
Discussion Leaders:
- Leslie Daigle, Chief Internet Technology Officer, Internet Society
- Eric Burger, Chief Technology Officer, Neustar
- Steve Crocker, Internet pioneer and CEO, Shinkuro, Inc.
Moderator:
- Michael R. Nelson, Visiting Professor, Internet Studies, CCT Georgetown University
Details, visit www.isoc-dc.org.
This organization is the pivotal point of moderate. They stress a non-agenda and wish only to be the forum for opposing groups to have a conversation to decide the future of the internet.
Fri 24 Jul 2009
Why We Don’t Need WireTapping
Posted by Jadxia under Privacy Rights
[3] Comments
Sun 21 Jun 2009
How Outsourcing Wins The War On Terror
Posted by Jadxia under War and Peace
1 Comment
Seems that there is a new push to end terrorism by bringing jobs and hope to impoverished Muslim strongholds. Outsourced call-centers teach employees English and provide America-based jobs, which also bolsters areas of economic distress while promoting friendly relations with the West.
Full Yahoo Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090613/lf_afp/financeeconomyphilippinesunrestmuslimbusiness
WHY AREN’T WE DOING THIS WITH MEXICO?! All the racists and rednecks constantly gripe about how the illegal immigrants are ‘taking all our jobs’ when really these are the jobs no one is willing to do, or do well, or do for the price American businesses and consumers demand. Mexico and parts of Central America are so desperately impoverished, of course people would want to come to El Norte for a chance at a better job and life. Our current economic crisis has done more to stem the tide of illegal immigration than any number of law enforcement officials or tactics.
We sit up here and fret and worry about the drug cartel violence spreading across our mutual border, yet all we want to do is bitch and put forth violent and useless options such as, “round up all the immigrants and send them a) back home, b) to jail, c)to their Maker (i.e. shoot them)”. How about we help them fix their economic problems, and in doing so we ALSO SOLVE OUR OWN BORDER ISSUE.
Of course, this would involve some serious and open talks with the Mexican government, who would have to be willing to be helped. We’d have to help them solve their endemic corruption problem to ensure goods/services coming from Mexico or Central America met our standards. These are not small items, but it is a far better solution than the one found at the end of a gun.
Wed 10 Jun 2009
My Input on the Dr. George Tiller Murder
Posted by Jadxia under Abortion Issues, Morality
1 Comment
Like many activists on both sides of the abortion issue, I’ve been following the murder of the abortion doctor George Tiller. Even as a pro-choice activist, I can still see the point of the pro-life side. Now, however, I have a new take on the whole issue which is worth sharing.
Yes, Dr. Tiller was an abortion doctor who performed late-term abortions. Some people see this as murder. Some people believe murderers should be put to death (especially in light of the fact that these were ‘legal murders’ and not likely to stop).
Others view these late-term abortions as justifiable homicides. Most states, including Dr. Tiller’s Kansas, have quite reasonable restrictions regarding late-term abortions. Late-term abortions are legal if the fetus is found to have a disease which will prevent it from living, one that wasn’t caught earlier in the pregnancy. For example, if the neural cavity doesn’t close properly and the brain is exposed, then it might be best to abort (because the chance of the baby surviving at all are very slim).
When it comes to the mother’s health, however, these situations are not so cut and dry. Dr. Tiller was one of the few doctors who would perform late-term abortions for rape victims who simply couldn’t handle it. In some cases, the mother would have died giving birth, such as the case where a 9-year-old was raped by her father. In less clear decisions, the mother was deeply suicidal, such as the 14-year-old raped by her uncle and thrown out of her home. Apparently, whenever the baby kicked she relived the rape, and she just couldn’t take it. Late-term abortions, in almost every state, are for valid reasons only. They are cannot be used as ‘contraception’ in the way early abortions can. It is only the definition of what is or is not a valid reason that changes.
My point is, who determines what is valid by law? Our judicial system makes that determination, and our judicial system is governed by the will of the people. The same people who determine that it is wrong to murder also made it legal to perform abortions. This is the power of democracy, and one of the important things to remember about democracy is that sometimes you have to follow the rules of the majority even when you don’t personally believe in them. That is how our society is able to function. When Scott Roeder took the law into his own hands and assassinated Dr. Tiller, he not only acted illegally, but un-democratically and, in essence, un-patriotically. You cannot protect the sanctity of the moral structure of a nation by going against the majority’s moral code, even if that code goes against your personal beliefs or values.
So whether or not you believe in abortion, that does not give you the right to be in defiance of the law. Protest the law itself and work to change it if you feel it is wrong. If you want to be a member of a democratic society, follow its rules.
REFERENCES:
Prustice Blog: Dr. Tiller’s Medical Reasons for Late-Term Abortions
Our Bodies, Ourselves: My Late Term Abortion
Warner Blogs NY Times: Tiller Rape Case
Hampton Roads: Vigil Held for Slain Doctor (another rape case)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Tiller
Thu 30 Apr 2009
A Moment of Remembrance
Posted by Jadxia under War and Peace
1 Comment
One Last Time
The night before the burial of her husband’s body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her.
I would like to take a moment to remind everyone that we are still at war, and that we still have soldiers fighting overseas. Whether you believe in their mission or not, the job they do is an honorable one. So as we buckle down to deal with more pressing issues such as the economy or swine flu, don’t forget that somewhere the most pressing issue for one of our own is a bullet or an IED. Blessings to everyone.
THIS IS A CROSS-POST FROM AN UNRELATED SITE, FOR THE FULL ARTICLE VISIT:
http://shock.military.com/Shock/images.do?displayContent=101062#
Thu 30 Apr 2009
Game: Poz or Not
Posted by Jadxia under LGBT rights, Personal Safety, Sexual Freedom
1 Comment
Image linked from http://www.positivenation.co.uk/
Think the HIV/AIDS epidemic is over? Check out this game to see if you can tell who is HIV positive.
Comment back here if you’d like, to show how well you did or how you felt about it. The game doesn’t keep track of ’score’, but it only takes one wrong to fail!
(This has been cross-posted to its sister website http://healthsneak.com.)
REFERENCE:
http://www.positivenation.co.uk/issue130/features/feature1/feature1.htm – great article about disclosing your HIV+ status