Entries for March 2007

Putting a Christian antiabortion zealot in charge of the nation's Population Affairs Office and its $283 million annual budget (as President Bush did last November) would be tantamount to anointing pro-choice poster-woman Kate Michelman as pope. Either would constitute a provocative move designed to offend most of the people to whose needs the organization in question is supposed to minister.

A handful of governors seem to be leading the revolt against the religious right, and a Pew Research Center poll shows the American electorate may not be far behind. The Cincinnati Enquirer reports, "Gov. Ted Strickland's proposed $53 billion budget eliminates an abstinence-only sex-education program. Removal of $1 million in state aid over two years marks a shift in Ohio support for abstinence-only programs, which advocates call a national model. The federally subsidized program encourages schoolchildren to abstain from sex until they're married. Strickland said he thinks abstinence programs don't work well in the long run and does not plan to apply for federal money (when it ends this fall)."

When conservative Islamic women vote today in Quebec's tightly contested elections, they'll enter the voting booth minus their niqabs or not at all. Niqabs are the most restrictive Islamic head coverings, revealing only a woman's eyes to the outside world.

Two events this week highlighted technology's increasing effect on the political process and proved that this impact is not all for the better. In the first, the creator of a widely viewed attack ad portraying Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton as a Big Brother (er, Sister?) figure stepped forward to claim credit for the ad.

Something seemed achingly familiar about a front-page story in yesterday's Washington Post. The headline screamed, in part, "Despite 'Mommy Guilt,' Time With Kids Increasing." As one who has devoted much of her career to covering stories affecting women, families, and communities of color, I knew I'd heard this before. So I went online and searched for similar stories. Lo and behold, I came across this front-page story (registration required) that ran last October in the New York Times.

What a difference four years makes. Monday marks the start of the fifth year of the war in Iraq. What better time to revisit some pivotal moments in the war's infancy?

Does the term "walking cadaver" mean anything to you?