Abstinence only education fails at its own goals!

Let’s be as clear as we can about this: Abstinence only education did not work, even though it was strongly promoted by the Bushies.

From the Guardian:

Bush years saw teen pregnancies rise
Pregnancies and syphilis rose sharply among generation of girls urged to avoid sex before marriage

I guess telling teen age children what they must refrain from sex does not work. Who would have thought? Not giving them information about how to protect themselves when having sex leaves them more vulnerable to pregnancy and disease.  Wow! 

According to the article, defenders of abstinence only education claim that the results show that abstinence hasn’t been pushed hard and consistently enough.  That seems to ignore the fact that with such education things have gotten worse.

All-Female Crew on Marine One Flight

The first female Marine One pilot has marked the final flight on her rotation with another first: an all-female crew. CNN reports:

Major Jennifer Grieves is the first Marine One female pilot. Her achievement was marked as she landed on the South Lawn of the White House to pick up the President.

And the LA Times:

Maj. Jennifer Grieves of Glendale, Ariz., flew her first Marine One mission in May 2008, and had flown Obama and then-President George W. Bush.In honor of Grieves’ last day in the rotation, the Marines assigned two other female officers — Maj. Jennifer L. Marino, of Palisade, Colo., and Sgt. Rachael A. Sherman, of Traverse City, Mich. — to complete the crew. And that all-female crew was another first.

Marines say Grieves is off to Command and Staff College in Quantico, Va.

Thanks for the heads-up Vishal Lama!

Miss Authentica Beauty Competition

Follow this link for a slide show of the Miss Authentica Beauty Competition, held recently in Cote D’Ivoire. The idea behind the pageant was to showcase and encourage appreciation of the beauty of natural, non-bleached black African skin. It seems a great cause, especially given that many of the skin-lightening products used on the African continent are apparently carcinogenic (the damaging nature of the attitudes to dark skin themselves seem too obvious to require mention)…and yet, I’m not sure how I feel about the method. It leaves me wondering whether two wrongs make a right. Thoughts?