""Equal Education/Pay Don't Matter Without Abortion"

What a headline. Unfortunately that is not the headline chosen by the Picket, (for the nine millionth time, the Shepherd U Newspaper), to describe an article in which a "Feminist Majority Foundation Member' Jessica Bearden uttered (almost) those exact words.

I asked to have a 'ventpipe.com' plug put into the Picket, but that failed, so this post is mostly for those who can NOT read the Picket on a regular basis. As such, I shall type the article in its entirety with as few mistakes as I possibly can. Here is the article from the October 19, 2005 issue:

Members of the Feminist Majority Foudnation spoke to shepherd students about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers and her potential effect on women's rights. The Shepherd University liberal Women's Association sponsored the event, which took place on October 13.

Jessica Bearden, a Feminist Majority Foundation member, says that young people have a huge stake in who is nominated to the high court. "We just can't sit back and be happy he [Bush] nominated a women," Bearden said. According to her, Miers could affect abortion rights. IF Roe V. Wadeis overturned it will go back to the state legislators, said Bearden. She feels a state-by-state approach will take longer to regain abortion rights. Bearden said, "The young and very poor will suffer." She feels only upper middle class women will have money to travel to states where abortion is
safe and legal.

One student commented that the women's rights movement is about more than the abortion debate. Bearden agreed, but she added that equal pay and equal educational opportunities don't matter if women can't take advantage of them by determining the timing and spacing of children. "I need to be in control--not the state, the church or my partner," said Bearden.

The Feminist Majority Foundation's official position about Miers is still undecided. Bearded said she is frustrated the the debate as been that Miers is not conservative enough. According to her, the debate should be about whether or not Miers is moderate enough to represent the majority of the American people.

The Feminist Majority Foundation is planning a series of roles that will take place on Capitol Hill on Oct 25-27 and Nov. 1-3 and 8-10. According to Bearden, many conservatives and public officials think young people do not care about issues. She went on to say that those same people think feminism is dead. Her goal is to make them feel otherwise by having thousands of young people attend...

And the article goes on to describe how to attend the rallies.

I am highly disturbed (though some what vindicated) by Bearden's remarks. I've been saying it for years, and I've even published a previous rant about it (January 10, 2005): The feminist movement is about nothing more than abortion rights.

Equal pay and educational opportunities mean nothing if a woman can't decide when to have a child? This might be true, but deciding not to have a child should not be achieved by abortion. Execution of an innocent, unborn child should not be committed simply because it wouldn't fit in with one's career to have a child. That's disgusting, and frankly I am glad I am not a woman as I would not want this person (Bearden) speaking for me.

Another point: "I must be in control." This statement can only make me think of Ann Coulter saying in one of her books that, "the difference between liberals and conservatives is that conservatives believe in and fear God, Liberals believe they are, or should be, God." I MUST BE IN CONTROL (even if that means murdering a child).

One other note: "whether or not Miers is moderate enough to represent the majority of the American people" is a laughable statement. "The majority of American people" oppose abortion and gay marriage, two issues which we know 'liberals' (whether they be in the Liberal Women's Union or just the Typical Dumb Liberal Association) are all gung-ho about.

I'm not Bill O'Reilly, and I cannot use my 'clout' as a 'journalist' (well, just a freelance ranter really) to bring about social change. I realize this. But with what little (if any) audience influence I have I would like to encourage women (it has to be women, if not it will just be man trying to his position of dominance) to stand up to these idiots and tell them that there are more important women's issues than ABORTION...

Surprise Surprise

The UN was honored again, surprise surprise. This time for 'great work' by the AIEA in stopping Nukes from being used for anything but peace.

The following originally appeared in The Picket, Shepherd University's newspaper which, as I pointed out last week, has asked for a bi-weekly submission. This was the first 'Vent-Pipe' associated column to be published...enjoy

Perhaps it’s my ‘Protestant work-ethic’ centered upbringing, or the fact that I was raised in the capitalist society which runs almost exclusively on this work ethic, but I was always taught that hard work and dedication are important. More important still, though, is having something to show for this work and dedication; working all day doesn’t mean much if nothing was accomplished. It is only when results are reached that rewards are reaped.

Recently, however, the Nobel Prize was awarded to Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, who leads an agency which has accomplished little. The International Atomic Energy Agency, whose parent organization, the United Nations, has accomplished even less in the last, oh, fifty years, was awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize for, as quoted by the Nobel website, “their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way.”

This, as noted by the IAEA’s website, is the eighth time the UN, or a partner organization, has been awarded the price, and sends the message to, “keep doing what you’re doing, be impartial, [and] act with integrity.”

I find this to be ludicrous. What about results? What about nukes in Pakistan, India and Iran? What about the fact that it was George W. Bush’s persistent call for six-party talks that seems to have initiated, if not inspired, a possible North Korean disarmament? What about the fact that it was the use of force (rather than the repeated threat of use of force which we heard from the UN) that pushed Libya to begin acting like a some-what civil nation, rather than a band of hoodlums like nearby Syria or the pre-invasion Baathist government in Iraq? And, beyond that, what is this talk of “striving to be impartial?” It is (arguably?) not the Canadians that we (the international community) need to worry about nuking their neighbors. It is rogue nations, particularly the ones outlined by Bush a few years ago, who are always causing the trouble. Impartiality—good grief!

The Nobel Peace Prize has been on a downward spiral since it awarded the prize to ever useless former President Jimmy Carter not long ago, but giving the IAEA, whose attempts, while perhaps noble in intent, have brought no results, is just unacceptable! It seems logical to me that the prize should be awarded to an individual or agency which has made some measurable and/or visual progress in achieving peace, not a group or individual who simply wants peace. If the only requirement to win the award is that we want peace, rather than achieve results which bring us another step closer to peace, I should have received my award years ago.

Here’s hoping that next year the organization awards the Peace Prize to somebody who deserves it…unless, of course, it’s too late to go ahead and give Saddam his go-round with the Prize.

The Picket ran an article this week about the University's Liberal Women's Program. I will rant on that by the end of the week.

Attention K-Mart Shoppers

No, there isn't a Blue-light special, just a quick administrative announcement...

Due to an increasing amount of that toxic canned meat which, along with a cock-roach and Dr. Bergman, will be the only thing to survive a nuclear holocaust (that is, due to an increased amount of spam), I have had to add a 'word verification' aspect to commentary.

For non-blogger members, don't worry, comments will still be posted as long as you follow the onscreen directions (that is, type the word that you see when you try to leave a comment). There is still (at this moment) no need to register with Blogger.com to comment, you may post even if you are not a member.

I apologize for the inconvenience this causes, but this relentless spamming has gotten out of control

Thanks!!

-jeff

Picked Up

The Vent Pipe has officially been picked up by print journalism.

Last week, in a fit of despair, I felt that I had no other choice but to write a (300 word over the limit) letter to the editor in response to the increasingly leftist Picket, the school newspaper at Shepherd University. My letter was published, and the Editor in Chief invited me to meet with him and discuss my concerns.

I'll admit, I was nervous. The letter seemed as if, while he was happy that I was open and honest, Mr. Editor was not so happy with the content of my letter. He hinted that I may be asked to write on a more regular basis, rather than simply writing letters to the floundering newspaper. As I entered the meeting room, I noticed two things 1) the meeting was not just between the Editor and myself and 2) the 'cliques' which I had so much admonished in my brief stint with the Trojaneer (newspaper of Hampshire High) were very much alive and well here at Shepherd U. I ignored the cliques, much as I had in high school, and took my seat at the table. After a short list of announcements from Mr. Editor, he instructed the staffers to 'break into sections.' Not knowing what to do, I introduced myself to Mr. Editor and explained that I wasn't sure exactly why I had been called to the meeting--he interupted me and told me to go talk to (and I'm not making this up) Roy Rogers. Roy informed me that I had been awarded 500 column words biweekly for a conservative topic of my choice if I wanted to accept the offer. I did.

So, my first column is due in less than 24 hours. I have written (about my favorite topic to slam--the United Nations [specifaclly the IAEA]) it and will cross-post it on here after I submit it for publication.

Thanks again to the few loyal readers I have and here is to another step in the right (ok that was corny) direction by expanding our market into print journalism...