Blog for Choice Day 2010!

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Friday January 22, 2010 · 8:07 AM PST

2010/01/22 · 08:07

Happy Roe v. Wade anniversary!

Every year on January 22nd, NARAL Pro-Choice America has Blog for Choice Day, and this year, in honor of the memory of Dr. George Tiller, the question is "What does Trust Women mean to you?" (www.blogforchoice.com)

To me, Trust Women means exactly what it says: trust women. Trust women to make their own decisions, personally, politically, in business, everything. Trust women to know what to do with their bodies, their lives.

It's the opposite of what anti-choice waiting periods and ultrasound laws do- they don't trust women to understand what is happening in their own bodies.

Trust Women means seeing women as independent, strong, self-sufficient people. Do say anything less is to deny women their humanity.

It's a fundamental part of equality: no one ever has to say "trust men."

And it goes further. We should trust all groups that fight for social justice to know what is best for themselves, from racial minorities to the LGBTQ communities.

Trust Women. We know what we're doing.

Happy Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day!

jakri2

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Wednesday May 06, 2009 · 12:39 PM PDT

2009/05/06 · 12:39

Did you know that today is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day?

According to the website for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy:

Why a National Day? Since the early 1990s, the teen pregnancy rate has declined 38 percent and the teen birth rate has declined 32%. In fact, few social problems have improved quite as dramatically over the past decade plus. The most recent news on this front, however, has not been positive. According to data released in March 2009 by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the U.S. teen birth rate increased for the second year in a row since 2005. These increases follow 14 years of continuous decline in the teen birth rate. That is, after declining 34% between 1991 and 2005, the teen birth rate has now increased 5% between 2005 and 2007.

So what can we do to help prevent teen pregnancy?

jakri2

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Friday April 03, 2009 · 1:28 PM PDT

2009/04/03 · 13:28

Public universities are a hugely valuable resource in this country. They provide (relatively) cheap college education to thousands of students each year, who might otherwise be unable to afford it, perform enormous amounts of research, making a great contribution to this country. The states, having an interest in educating their population, bringing and keeping educated people in the state, and in the academic and scientific research these institutions perform, provide funding, sometimes a substantial part of the budget, for these schools.

So does the state have a right to control controversial speech and activities provided by campus organizations?

jakri2

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Friday March 13, 2009 · 10:56 AM PDT

2009/03/13 · 10:56

Today, I'm glad I don't live in Arizona.

According MSNBC, the Arizona State House today approved a bill that, among other things

would require a 24-hour waiting period before a woman could terminate a pregnancy. During that time, the woman would have to be told "the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics" of the unborn child at that point.

Even better, when Arizona lawmakers were asked about the bill,

Rep. Frank Antenori, R-Tucson, said there is "a duty to protect either our wives or our daughters from making decisions that may come back to haunt them further down the road in their lives."

jakri2

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Wednesday February 25, 2009 · 11:56 AM PST

2009/02/25 · 11:56

As part of my plan to be fully self-supporting, I have been working some nights and weekends for a political organization doing fundraising phonebanks.

Having now been on the other end of these calls, I humbly submit these suggestions on how to handle these calls.

Note: this applies primarily to political/charitable phone calls. If someone is trying to sell you something, these points might still apply, but I'm really not as concerned.

jakri2

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Thursday February 19, 2009 · 11:12 AM PST

2009/02/19 · 11:12

As reported by AP.

I was just looking at dhonig's diary "If Life Begins at Conception." Terrifyingly, this idea is well on it's way to reality in North Dakota.

jakri2

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Friday February 13, 2009 · 10:06 AM PST

2009/02/13 · 10:06

Welcome to the new media. Anyone with a computer gets to take a fact, an article, or an executive order and claim that it says something completely other than what it actually says.

Today's exhibit: Pres. Obama Invites Hamas Terrorists to America

This beauty was found in a blogpost that was emailed to me by my mother.*

Let's examine it in detail, shall we?

jakri2

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Monday February 09, 2009 · 8:59 AM PST

2009/02/09 · 08:59

NYTimes: Send ROTC Back to School talks about the relationship between the military and Ivy League schools- namely, that there isn't any. It says, among other things:

At Yale, which has supplied more than its share of senators and presidents, almost none of my former classmates or students ever noticed the absence of uniforms on campus. In a nation at war, this is a disgrace. But it also shows how dangerously out of touch the elites who shape our national policy have become with the men and women they send to war.

The first instinct here, especially if you are part of the liberal elite (or any elite) is to defend the separation, insist that colleges and universities should not subject their students to the out-of-touch military viewpoint. But I think that's wrong. and I think that there are many benefits to having ROTC and other military programs available on university campuses.

jakri2

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Friday February 06, 2009 · 12:50 PM PST

2009/02/06 · 12:50

Have you all seen this?
http://tv.hollyscoop.com/...

On the View, while discussing Ashley Judd's new ad about Sarah Palin and the aerial killing of wolves, Elisabeth Hasselback compares it to abortion, asking "The problem I have here is, a lot of these vocal celebrities in a way get very loud about these animal killings. Is she as loud about the 260,000 kids that are killed in abortions?"

Wow. Apples and oranges here. If she had compared the two in any kind of reasonable manner... no, I don't actually think there could be a reasonable manner here.

jakri2

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Wednesday February 04, 2009 · 1:54 PM PST

2009/02/04 · 13:54

(I'd like to preface my remarks by saying that I know how lucky I am to be young, college-educated, and employed at all. I'm not complaining so much as chronicling.)

When I was growing up, I was told that if I worked hard and went to college, I could succeed in life. So that's what I did. I wasn't a straight A student, but I did well. I did extra-curricular activities, ensured that I had leadership positions. I had a part-time job during school. I interned during the summers in my desired field (non-profits). And senior year, I applied to jobs, figuring that even if I didn't get one right away, I'd find something within a few months of graduation, so I could be self-sufficient.

Boy was I dreaming.

jakri2

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Monday February 02, 2009 · 8:16 AM PST

2009/02/02 · 08:16

I recently saw a blog post at Slate.com claiming that "Choice is Dead." Granted, the poster was really talking about how the argument has changed, at least on the pro-choice side, from legalization to reduction of abortions (through birth control, accurate sex ed, etc.). But I think that the choice (haha) of title is unfortunate.

(More below the fold, including free.will.power)

jakri2

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Sunday October 12, 2008 · 6:06 PM PDT

2008/10/12 · 18:06

by Jocelyn K, Shulman Field Coordinator

On Saturday, we went to the West Milford Autumn Lights Festival. Originally a celebration for the town’s first stoplight, the festival on Saturday was a full street of booths and crowded with people. We were with the West Milford Democrats, including the Mayor and two Council candidates, who seemed to know everyone walking down the street. Dennis came by around 1:30, along with some of his childhood friends, who were visiting (and helping campaign) for the weekend. They walked around passing out literature, while Dennis met voters, both at the booth and around the fair.

RSS

Blog for Choice Day 2010!

Happy Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day!

Public universities, state $ and controversial speech

How dare you try to "protect" me from my decisions.

How to Talk to Phone Soliciters

North Dakota gives a fertilized egg human rights

Stop Willfully Misreading the News!!

the Military and the University

Ashley Judd vs. Elisabeth Hasselbeck: is killing wolves like abortion?

Young, College-Educated, and Underemployed

How to Keep Choice Alive

NJ-5: Updates from the Dennis Shulman Field Campaign