Teenage Pregnancies

The NIH has issued a report stating that teen pregnancies have risen for the first time in 15 years.
I'm not sure what to make of this. The article states some theories, such as that youth organizations are struggling for funds. But what troubles me is the articles statements that teens who get pregnant "are less likely to get prenatal care and gain appropriate weight." Why is this? My theory #1: The social stigma and lack of information in abstinence-only programs causes teens to either not know how to, or be afraid of, receiving prenatal care. As for the weight, let's have a Paris Hilton (and other ridiculously skinny models) blame-fest!
Of course, there could be other reasons. For example, it may be that teens are less willing to get abortions, so the actual rate hasn't changed as much as the rate of cases actually being reported. And of course, it could simply be a statistical "blip."

On Respect in Relationships, or, No Means No

Just the other day, I was thinking about the idea of the governmental "Social Contract" where the people willingly give up some rights so as to ensure that their other rights are safeguarded. From there, I moved on to forms of direct social interaction, where people give up certain actions in order to gain certain other actions. From there, it brought me to relationships.
Relationships, as the TV heads tell us, are supposed to be built upon trust and respect. So how come there are so many with very little of either? For example, it bugs me when I read that 41% of teen girls having sex say they have been pressured into it
Guys, why can't you all figure out that these girls have feelings too? These is a world outside your genitals. On a similar note, a tip of my hat to all of us who have already figured that out.
Sorry to any of my readers (do I even have any???) who haven't seen anything decent in over a month. Like I said when I posted my November prediction, my muse is missing, and I think I'm only just now finding it again (which is why this post came out so sucky). Hopefully soon I can return to regular postings, not to mention continue with Things I'll Never Understand.
P.S. If anyone is reading this, please comment. It doesn't have to be anything much, just so I know someone is actually reading this thing and I'm not typing to a brick wall.

Electoral College prediction

I have created a predection for the 2008 general election! take a look at the map below:

By the way, sorry for not updating in like a month. My muse has abandoned me (i.e. I've had no inspiration).

I feel ill

I have decided that extreme conservative blogs rank in the bottom, gunky crust of the internet, right above porn sites. Actually, they're more insidious than porn sites, because at least from the few times I've stumbled into the bad part of the Internet by mistake, these sites tend to have warning pages that have an "escape" button to Google or something. No such thing with extreme conservative blogs. You can waltz right in and think you're fine, until you're mentally mugged by support of the KKK and segregation, and raped by calls to pray for the death of Ted Kennedy (btw, whatever happened to love your neighbor?) I think I may now be scarred for life.
Okay, I was exaggerating, but still, stay away from blogs like "Shelly the Republican" if you value your health and sanity.

The new G. I. bill

In short, we need a new one. It doesn't matter whether you support the war fanatically, or think the absolute best thing to do would be to get the hell out now, you cannot deny that we as a nation have an obligation to do all we can to honor those who put their lives on the line to defend those of us who were too afraid, too physically weak, or too against the war to go and fight.
I laugh when I hear McCain talk about how we can't afford the bill's $5 billion budget. what is the cost of the war now... $175 billion per month? or year? I can't remember exactly, but either way a new GI bill is a drop in the bucket compared to the war. And this coming from a war veteran... very disappointed in you, McCain. Very disappointed.

Things I'll Never Understand Part 1: One Night Stands

All right. This will the first in a series of things that, for reasons of logic, personal distaste, or sheer lack of ability, I don't think I will ever be able to understand. This does not necessarily imply that I think the items covered here are bad (Though I do for some, such as this one. These will usually be the logic-based ones).
Anyway, part one: The concept of the one-night stand. I don't know about you, but I think "private parts" are called that for a reason. I'm not some puritanical prude who faints and/or vomits at the sheer idea of anyone having sex outside of a monogamous marriage, but let's use a bit of common sense here. This is not 1908. There are a lot more venereal diseases out there than there were 100 years ago. Personally, I am not all that attracted to the idea of sticking my genitals into the genitals of anyone I don't already have a deep emotional relationship with, and I trust to not be carrying something that at best could make my life a lot more miserable than it has to be, and at worst could kill me.
Plus, why is sex such a damn big deal anyway? Granted it's supposed to feel nice, but there's plenty of things to do in a relationship without jumping straight to sex. Maybe if the media could find money in showing the less physical sides of relationships, we could control our hormones a little more. On the other hand, maybe we should just try harder.

No Child Left Behind.

You know, for all the Republicans going on about the Democrats having a defeatist attitude about Iraq, they seem to have a really strong defeatist attitude about public schools.
Take the No Child Left Behind act. While boosting our public education is without a doubt a good thing, the way they go about it is all wrong. Why take away money from schools that are doing poorly? Sanctions I can understand. Penalties I can understand. But money–when money may be one of the things the schools need to pull themselves out of the hole–is one of the worst penalties to inflict.
Of course, Republicans have this nice little attachment to private schools, so maybe they don't care so much. Then there are also the libertarians like Ron Paul and Bob Barr that honestly don't care too much and that the Feds shouldn't get involved.
More on this after I get the chance to do some research on the topic.