The Washington Post’s article “Obama Administration’s Sex-Ed Program Criticized by Both Sides of Abstinence Debate” discusses how, as with many issues of late (cough, gay marriage, cough), the Obama administration does not want to commit to funding only methods of sexual education that are proven to work. But more than this administration’s specific problem, their stance on sex ed seems to represent the greater confusion our society has over …
Sort-of fresh off the heels of the Obama administration’s creation of The White House Council on Women and Girl’s, ABC finds that the White House is planning to issue a report on women and the economy. At first glance, I was pretty sure that Obama was trying to do as his strikingly charismatic forefather President Kennedy did, with the release of his Presidential Report on American Women in 1963. That Report suggested few tangible ways of helping women, and continued with the assumption that women were meant to be wives and mothers, but did contribute to the jump starting of the Second Wave.
But as excited as I have been about the Council on Women and Girls, like everything in our government, it’s a clear political move stemming from concerns about the midterm elections. White House deputy communications director Jen Psaki said:
STI transmission is a rampant problem and has been for many years. Even today, when the “Is it safe?” question comes up in casual sexual encounters, there’s a base assumption that you’re talking pregnancy, not the herp. If, as a woman, I say, “I take the pill,” it seems like men are perfectly happy to just go for it, to both take me at my word in terms of pregnancy prevention and totally avoid the equally important STI conversation.
There is a risk involved on both ends in those kinds of situations, but there can be an assumption made that consenting adults can make the choice to take every precaution to protect their health.
Fifty years ago, Guatemalan prisoners and mental hospital patients were not so lucky when the U.S. government used them as unsuspecting guinea pigs to conduct research into treatment of STIs including syphilis and gonorrhea.
I guess it should come as no surprise to anyone that Facebook, like AIM and MySpace before it, has become something of a tool for pedophiles to stalk their prey. What is a bit shocking, though, is the very public presence on the social networking site that the nebulous NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association) has achieved.
In fact, I give mad props to Fox News (hard as it is to believe) for bringing this extremely serious issue into the limelight, resulting in action by Facebook, a day late and a dollar short thought it may be, to rid itself of the presence of these dangerous people.
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