Not all WOmen are worth looking up to, it's something they have to earn.

When Sarah Palin was first nominated for Vice President on the GOP ticket It upset me. She was obviously trying to fill the space Hilary Clinton hadn't been able to. It bothered me that she didn't seem to understand that JUST because she is a woman, like Clinton, does not at all mean that women will look up to her.

This also works on a smaller scale. My mother seems to think that just because she is my mother, and gave birth to me, and all that jazz, that I should look up to her. In reality I don't even respect her as a woman. She wasted most of her potential, has no interest in any of her four children's lives, has no job, has not looked for a job, and revolves her entire life around a deadbeat boyfriend. What is there to look up to?

I can't understand why some women, and also people in general, feel entitled to be looked up to. You have to earn respect from others, you have to prove you're worth looking up to. I bet if i asked my mother how she would feel if I began revolving my life around a guy she would be furious. So why does she expect me to look up to her?

A Radical New Political Party

I previously mentioned that the time was ripe for a new political party. Here are just a few things that need to be on the platform of this hypothetical party:

Legalization of Marijuana - studies have already proven that this taboo drug does less damage than legal drugs like alcohol and cigarettes. If the United States legalized this substance, and not just for medical purposes, it would help boost our currently struggling economy. Oregon already has plans for this in action. They plan on selling the drug at liquor stores and requiring that buyers be 21 years old. They also plan to tax it like there's no tomorrow. This will help states make money that can be used for things such as jobs or going green. 

Lowering the Drinking Age to 18 - the argument has been made for ages, if you are old enough to vote, go to war, drive a car, and smoke cigarettes, why can't you drink? The biggest temptation to drink for young adults is that they aren't supposed to. If it was introduced to them earlier in life they could learn how not to abuse it. Take away the taboo and there goes half the appeal. This is also another substance that can earn states money through tax, the more people buying it the more the state makes. 

Reforming the ridiculous personal regulations the military has to deal with - going to school in DC exposed me to the Marine Barracks at 8th and I st. My friends and I got to know the men there who would be defending our country. We also learned about the rules they are subjected to by the military that apply yo their personal lives. It wasn't bad enough for the military to force them to wake up at 4:30am daily, or take turns being on duty for 36 hour spans without sleep, not to mention the whole being shipped off to war. Nope, the military also imposes rules about visitors and women. Being openly gay in the military is against the law, yet when joining the army, men have to sign a piece of paper agreeing to not close the door when he has a female visitor, that he will not have a female sleep over, and that he will not engage in sexual actions in the barracks. Most join the military at a young age, around 18. Why would anyone think it's a good idea to cut off most contact with the opposite sex? They are already sexually frustrated because of their age, and their circumstances. The people who fight for our country deserve to have a little freedom and fun. 

HIgher Education Benefits - with today's economy many young people are skipping college either because it's too expensive or because they realized they can make more money by going to a trade school. If the United States wants to be able to compete globally it needs to come up with something that makes students want to further their education. There is already a Federal Work Study program that helps students make money while in school. Maybe if the government applied this program to internships that would actually help a student in the long run it would be more successful. Internships in college are often unpaid, and not many can afford to take them. Those who qualify for a FWS job obviously need the money, and could not take an unpaid internship even if it applied to what they plan on doing after school. Combine the two and you get students making money while gaining experience they will need in the job world they want to enter. 

There is more I would like to ad but time prevents me from doing this at the moment. More to come. 

The Time is Ripe

The political atmosphere of the country right now is rocky. Obama is in office and people are waiting to baited breath to see how he is going to handle it. Meanwhile, the Republican party lacks leadership and unity. There is no single Republican who the party can really call the leader at the moment. McCain, while trying to lead, is too old for the party to gamble their future on; Schwarzenegger cannot legally be President so him leading the party would make no sense; Palin is just Dan Quayle with a ponytail and has likely already tanked her hopes of entering politics on a federal level. With a fractured party in need of some major healing, the time is ripe for a new, viable, third party to enter the arena. 

A professor of mine mentioned that previous third party hopefuls went about gaining viability and power in the wrong way. In the past Presidential candidates such as Ross Perot and Ralph Nader began at the top and ran for President. In order for another party to be successful in the American political system they need to start at the bottom and move up. The party would need to get representatives in congress long before hoping to get one in the White House. Electoral College votes are based on representatives in Congress, so logically, in order to get elected to the Presidency a new party would first need to be represented in Congress. 

Stay tuned for the political party I would like to see introduced, or even introduce myself!

The Lost Children of Nepal

Next Generation Nepal is the nonprofit that currently has my interest. It organizes orphanages to take care of children who were sold into slavery or the Nepalese army during the civil war and now have nowhere and no one to turn to. It also works to reunite these children with their families. After the horrific experiences these kids were subjected to, being separated from their families at ages as young as 5 to being forced to participate in a civil war, these kids needs safety and stability. NGN is working to achieve that by providing shelter, food, hygiene, medical attention, and education. 

For more information visit nextgenerationnepal.org  

sex might not sell everything

As American society has become increasingly sexualized, American government and politics still has a sore spot for anything that promotes sexuality. The most controversial issues all center around sex in one form or another: gay marriage, abortion, a woman being commander in chief. (To be continued...)

since when is accomplishment a bad thing?

Hilary Clinton in the White House is looking less likely lately with Obama's 10 consecutive wins, but it is far from impossible. She won New York, California and the majority of the Northeast. These states are the traditional Democratic states. The fact that Obama could not pull through there shows that traditional Democrats can see through his empty promises of change because he has no real plan to back it up. His campaign has been based purely on motivation and inspiration, both good qualities to have in a president, but when that's all you have there is a problem. If inspiration and motivation are his specialty he should be a motivational speaker and go help troubles teens. Hilary may indeed be a bitch, but to quote Tina Fey "bitches get shit done!" Having an efficient bitch in office is much more appealing than a man who can only get people to scream for him. No matter how many people scream the economy still isn't going to be fixed. Hilary knows how to accomplish things making her the obvious choice for President.

Sex should only matter in the bedroom

Affirmative action claims to give women and minorities an opportunity to things such as acceptance to college, and the police force without race or gender discrimination. The fact that race and gender is taken into consideration at all is discriminatory. Acceptance should be based on merit, and that's all. I want to be judged by the same standards as men, THAT is what will give me an equal, non-discriminatory opportunity. If a male deserves to be at American University more than I do, then I accept that. Affirmative action helps women and minorities just as much as inflated GPAs in high school does for students once they get to college. I don't appreciate the "special treatment," I'd rather earn my place. Judge me as a PERSON, not just a woman. I have just as much to offer.
A better solution to the problem would be eliminating the questions on resumes and applications that inquire about race and gender. People can be accepted according to what they have to offer, and not what sex they are. Obviously this information will be necessary to the institutions , but they could ask for it after determining who deserves to be there.