Happy New Year!

I resolve to:

• Post here every day
• Stop stressing
• Bring my own bag when I go shopping
• Make friends, especially in law school

Planned Parenthood Doesn’t Get It

Planned Parenthood has on several occasions been caught on tape covering up cases of statutory rape.  In one recently released video, an Indiana PP counselor is confronted with a girl who says she is 13 and her partner is 31.  The response?  “I didn’t hear the age.”

Now, PP is promising to conduct internal reform, and is teaming up with Prevent Child Abuse of Indiana to make changes.  Sounds good, right?  But there are two problems.

First, the reform is contained to Indiana.  However, Planned Parenthood has been caught doing the exact same thing in North Carolina and several other states.  They are also under investigation in California for defrauding the government, and a counselor admitted to infanticide in New Jersey.  Statewide reform isn’t going to cut it when the corruption is nationwide.

Second, even the Indiana attempt at reform is highly suspect.  Prevent Child Abuse of Indiana has a long-standing relationship with Planned Parenthood.  In fact, PCAI leader Carol Pool volunteered for Planned Parenthood for 13 years!

That Planned Parenthood won’t employ an unaffiliated, unbiased group to conduct its reform suggests to me that they are hoping that the problem will just go away.  It will not.  As long as Planned Parenthood continues to systematically break the law, pro-life activists will be there to get it on the record.

Third World Farmer

I have become addicted to this game.  In it, you and your family manage a farm while dealing with droughts, diseases, and government corruption.  It is not an easy game to win- and that’s the whole point.  Play and try to put yourself in the shoes of a Third World Farmer.

If the game motivates you to take action, please explore the my page of good causes.

Feminism and the Drive to Succeed

Last night, my boyfriend of nearly four years broke up with me.  This post is not meant to be a pity party.  But the breakup has gotten me thinking about a lot of issues, one of which I would like to share.  He said that I was “driven” and that he needed someone more “laid-back.”  Is this just him, or do most men find “driven” women unappealing?

I work hard and last semester was particularly stressful.  I’m writing a thesis, serving as the president of a student organization, and applying to law schools.  So I don’t dispute his analysis- I’m definitely driven.  Certainly this would be a nice quality to have if I were male, but being a woman, and a petite one at that, it has an unnerving effect on people.

I’m tempted to champion the feminist brigade here, to cry out that no woman should ever change herself for a man.  (This is, in fact, his view.)  But I’ve come to realize that relationships do change people, appearance does count, and that maybe I could stand to relax more.  The challenge is to act on these realizations without losing my feminist, driven identity.  I don’t know how I’ll do it, but it would be unlike me not to try.

Check out the platform

As promised, the platform has been posted.  It’s in the right-hand sidebar.  Comments are welcome, especially on health care.

Save the planet

I got a DVD of Wall-E for Christmas, and what do you know, it came with a promotional code for a free evergreen seedling.  The company behind it, Green World Project, sells seedlings that you can give for occassions like baptisms, weddings, and the like.  It’s for-profit, so I’m not going to add it to the Good Causes page, but it’s worth a look.

Welcome

The Justice Party platform is well underway, and I will put up a page for it as soon as it is done.  In the meantime, I wish you a very merry Christmas.