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Textbook debate in Texas over sex education

Of the four state high school health textbooks under consideration in Texas this summer, one says teenagers should “get plenty of rest” if they want to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. It also suggests students can help prevent pregnancies by respecting themselves. The book avoids any discussion of condoms.

[...] State Board of Education member Mavis Knight supports the inclusion of both condoms and abstinence in the texts. Through education “you can empower the students to make an informed decision about what lifestyle they would like to pursue,” said Knight.

Other groups argue teachers give conflicting messages by teaching students both the practice of no sex and safe sex.

“If you tack on another message, you are garbling the effect,” Jennifer Marshall of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington group, told the Austin American Statesman.

But Knight believes an educated message is the best option. “I think teachers should teach both because that’s what education is—teaching students about the pros and cons and helping them make the best possible choice for themselves.”

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I had a great time last night at the poetry meeting at Barnes & Noble. It seemed like it would be a small gathering, but after a while there were about nine people there. Everyone had informed criticism. It was nice to be very specific about my criticism ("I enjoyed the voice in this poem" or "You'd do well to include more images"). It made the other poetry group I attended this month seem like a support group.

When the meeting broke up, more than one person extended an invitation for me to come next month. So I think they like me! :) It was fun. I'm definitely going back.

Interesting!

Kerry Has Strong Advantage Among Latino Voters

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Army Finds 94 Cases of Abuse in Iraq, Afghanistan

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Owning Up to Abortion

Abortion is legal - it's just not supposed to be mentioned or acknowledged as an acceptable option.

[...] At least 30 million American women have had abortions since the procedure was legalized, mostly for the kind of reasons that anti-abortion people dismiss as "convenience" - a number that amounts to about 40 percent of American women. Yet in a 2003 survey conducted by a pro-choice group, only 30 percent of women were unambivalently pro-choice, suggesting that there may be an appalling number of women who are willing to deny others the right that they once freely exercised themselves.

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Bigger breasts offered as perk to soldiers

The U.S. Army has long lured recruits with the slogan "Be All You Can Be," but now soldiers and their families can receive plastic surgery, including breast enlargements, on the taxpayers' dime.

The New Yorker magazine reports in its July 26th edition that members of all four branches of the U.S. military can get face-lifts, breast enlargements, liposuction and nose jobs for free -- something the military says helps surgeons practice their skills.

thought.

The more you empathize with someone, the less likely you are to hold power over them.