RSS. Every blog has it (or, should). But should you publish partial feeds, or full feeds?

My suggestion? Full. Absolutely.

Why? A full feed allows an individual to read your entire post in their feed reader. That way, they can read your blog and never have to visit the page, unless they want to post a comment. The thing is, often times people will read part of the article and then click through to read the rest.

Plus, with full feeds - if you have enough feed readers - you can place ads in your RSS (although RSS ads - as a general rule - do not perform well).

How about a trial. Once you get to a decent readership (20 - 30 feed readers), keep track of your blog visits for two weeks. Then, go to partial feeds (tell your reader base). If you’re using Feedburner (and you should be), then you can track how many readers you have. Keep tabs to see if your feed readers decrease. Also, keep tabs on your website traffic, or feed click-throughs. I’ll pretty much guarentee that you’ll lose feed readers, and you’ll probably not notice a significant increase in your web traffic.

Go for it, with full feeds!

Thanks for understanding, folks. I hope to be back to full speed, soon, but for the next few days I may not manage much.

The history behind this layout: I sat down one night, loaded my blog, and realized I was tired of looking at something so generic, with no feeling. So, I grabbed a notepad, a piece or two of drawing paper, and headed to my local IHOP to figure out a new layout. This is what I came up with.

Inspiration: I drew inspiration from several different blogs, and many, many themes. Ultimately, I drew most of my inspiration from the color scheme of MindSpeak, my political blog. Using the orange in that layout, I - eventually - figured out other colors that would work well with each other. Of course, I have to thank problogger.net, as Darren’s layout is the one that made me realize the validity of static content/menus above the blog entries.

Why don’t I take you on a tour…

First and foremost, things that are missing, or not where they should be:
1) The right-hand sidebar. That’s gone, and will likely stay gone.
2) The blogads advertisements have been moved to individual post pages, only. On the main index/archive pages, you’ll see a Google sidebar. On the individual pages, the BlogAds sidebar.
3) Asides. I am no longer using the Asides section, until I find a decent implementation into my current theme. Consequently, all past asides entries will display as regular posts.
4) The subscribe buttons have been moved to the bottom of the side bar. The main RSS feed is on the top nav header area.

How about some new things:
1) Category list, on the sidebar. Not only do I list the categories, but I also have links to the category RSS.
2) The oveall width of the blog has changed. It’s locked in around 750 pixels, so it isn’t fluid, but it does display centered. For some reason, in IE, it doesn’t center.

The Top Nav:
The MindBlog section contains the old menu, as well as the search box and RSS feed.
The “Series” section contains links to each series that has appeared on this blog.
The “Top Posts” section currently contains a list of the most viewed posts, although this will eventually be changing to specific posts that I want to highlight.
The Recent Posts section is, just that, recent posts.

Feedback:
If there’s something about this layout you don’t like, please let me know.
If there’s something you think I should add, please let me know.

Personally, I love this layout. I think it’s functional, colorful, and has brought quite a bit more of my personality into it, than the generic “Gila” theme I was using.

What do you think?

UPDATE:  It’s back online, 8:29pm[CST -0600]

As you well know, my dear readers, I am a big fan of series (serieses? seriees? bah!). I think Jennifer’s series is one that should be read by each and every person on the face of the planet. Perhaps then, when I go back to working customer service (err, if I go back), I’ll not have to ask obvious questions six times. Pop over to Geeks Make Me Hot, and check out the How to be a Customer series.

Reuters reports that in August, a flock of pigeons - fitted with mobile phone backpacks - will be released over San Jose, California.

The birds will be used to monitor air quality/pollution, according to New Scientist Magazine (from the Reuter’s article). Each bird will carry a GPS tracking device, air pollution sensors, and a basic mobile phone (what do you want to bet, it’ll be a Nokia). The pollution sensor, in combination with the mobile phone, will send text messages back - in real time - to a special “pigeon blog” that will be publically accessible on the Internet.

The best part (and this is from the “I s–t you not” category)? “Miniature cameras slung around the pigeons’ necks will also post aerial pictures.”

This is truly the most unusual use of electronics - or birds - I’ve ever heard of. Even Google’s pigeon ranking system made more sense than this (on first read).

The Texas Progressive Alliance features seventeen of the best blogs in the Lone Star State, and its mission is to advance the cause of progressive issues and candidates. It also features an advertising network for those who wish to deliver their message to over a quarter of a million Texas progressive, weekly — the readers of the following blogs:

The Agonist, Annatopia, Brains & Eggs, Burnt Orange Report, Common Sense, Capitol Annex, District Sixer, Eye on Williamson County, In The Pink Texas, Just Another Blog, The Jeffersonian, MindFyre, The People’s Republic of Seabrook, Pink Dome, The Red State, Rhetoric & Rhythym,
Truth Serum Blog, Wyld Card.

The latest ad to show is the ad to support Glen Maxey for Texas Democratic Party Chair.

Glen Maxey is a leader amongst Texas Democrats. In the eighties, Glen Maxey fought for the rights of those individuals affected with HIV. In 1991, Maxey became the first openly gay representative in the State of Texas. Serving six terms in office, Maxey drafted a lot of progressive legislation that passed, often with the help of the most unlikely allies.

Maxey has since retired from office, and is now working as a political consultant, running the Travis County Democratir Party’s successful 2004 Co-ordinated Campaign. Currently, Glen Maxey is serving as the political director of Democracy for Texas.

Want some more information? Read the announcement of his retirement in the Austin Chronicle, from December of 2001. It contains a lot of information, as well as background. You can also check out the DraftMaxey website, by clicking on the ad, to the left.

Want another vote of confidence? The position Maxey is seeking, is unpaid. Completely unpaid. Not to mention, Matt over at Just Another Blog has given Maxey his vote of confidence. Matt states:

After working with Maxey on two separate campaigns, he brings insight, vision and practical experience to the position. His ability to understand targeting and his appreciation on the importance of data collection has made him a force in local, state and national campaigns.

Click the ad, folks (I don’t get paid by the click, it’s a flat fee ad), or go to http://draftmaxey.com and voice your support of Glen Maxey for Texas Democratic Party Chair.

You may remember that recently, the United States Justice Department subpoenad Google, MSN, Yahoo, and AOL to release user search data. All but Google complied in some form or fashion. Boing-Boing has requested that MSN, Yahoo and AOL publically release the data submitted to the Justice Department. EFF (Electronic Fronteir Foundation) co-founder John Gilmore has stated:

If Yahoo, MSN, and AOL didn’t reveal any personal info to DoJ, let’s see them publicly post the results that they sent back to the DoJ.

They sent “a generic list of aggregate and anonymous search terms, and not results, from a roughly one day period” (AOL)? Let’s see it. The public can decide whether there are privacy violations in there.

They sent “a random collection of page URLs that we had web-crawled”? Let’s see them.

No need for barrels of ink to speculate with, let’s just look at them. There can’t be a problem with looking, if there’s no personal privacy issues involved. There’s no trade secrets here — these are queries typed by end users, and web pages set up by end users. Right?

Just like Boing-Boing, I cannot issue subpoenas; but just like Boing-Boing, I would like to know.

I hereby issue a request to America Online, Microsoft, and Yahoo! to release the data submitted to the DoJ, publicly, or to show us where such data already exists online. This way, everyone who uses those services can look for themselves and decide whether or not their privacy was violated by said information. (Although one couldn’t do much, as it was legally subpoenaed. No lawsuits could legitimately come of this, as the DoJ legally obtained the data, whether it was privacy-violating, or not. (This is, of course, assuming there was a legitimate legal reason for obtaining said data. If such a reason was not found to exist, then certainly, one may sue for a violation of inherent privacy.))

I also encourage each of you to post a call like this in your own blogs. Let’s get the message out. The more this appears online, the more likely the companies will reveal the data.

Their suggestions? Place ads where your readers will notice (duh).
On the main page, they suggest an ad after each post, and a link unit on the lower right (sidebar).

On the individual entries page(s), they suggest placing ads near the content. For longer entries, a blended medium rectangle within the post, and a banner at the end. For shorter entries, forget one of those units. If there’s a comment section, place a banner or horizontal link unit, just above the comment box. Then, rather than the traditional skyscraper in the sidebar, use a link unit.

They also highly suggest using section targetting, which is something I highly suggest, as well. Using section targetting has dramatically improved my ad relevancy - especially on individual entry pages.

For coloring, Google suggests blending the ad units into the background of the blog (using the same background color as your blog, and no border), while using a bold color for the title (that does not match the link color of your blog) to help draw attention to the ads, while keeping readers from confusing them for content.

Google also provides the following heat map (click for full-size image):

This map illustrates the best places to have Google ad units, link units, and search units.

Remember, you can ahve up to three ad units, one link unit, and a search box on every page. Thousands of layout options are availible with that method!

How have you found success in the AdSense layout of your blog?

SpongeCell is an ajax interface, intuitive calendar that can export via both ical, and RSS. Not only do you have excellent exporting abilities, you can import ical as well.

Here’s a list of the features I’ve used, so far:

• Create an event by clicking and dragging over the times you need to block
• Create an event by clicking on a time
• Create an eveny by simply typing something like “Doctor thursday at 2pm” or “Dinner friday from 7pm to 9pm”. The even it automatically set up
• Mouse over an event in the calendar to get a pop up with all of the information
• Export your calendar in ical format for any desktop application to use
• Import your calendar from your PC in ical format, to spongecell
• RSS feeds of your calendar in “Today, Tomorrow, Yesterday, This Week, Last Week, Next Week, 2 Weeks, 3 Weeks, 4 Weeks, 2 Days, 7 Days, 14 Days, 21 Days, 28 Days, This Month, Next Month, 2 Months” varieties
• Share your calendar with other Spongecell users, friends, or the public, with a simple URL of spongecell.com/username.
• Set up reminder alerts (minutes, hours, or days in advance), that can be e-mailed to you, or sent to your mobile phone via text message
• Create multiple calendars
• Navigate using mouse, or keyboard
• Add events from your cellphone by sending a text message to sponge@spongecell.com
• Receive events on your calendar via text message by texting words like “Today,” “tomorrow to Friday”, “Wedensday to Sunday,” or “Next” (for the next item).

Whoa! That’s a lot of features. I’m extremely impressed with SpongeCell, and I highly recommend it for anyone needing an online calendar.

Do you Sponge, already?

Milton Riser is a political operative. He has long and well known ties to the Craddick and Dewhurst political way of doing business. His appointment to the Lege council is the shot heard round Texas today. Why? Because the Lege Council is a traditionally ‘non-partisan’ position. It handles volumes of things from setting up the Legislators’ computers to drafting the legislation on behalf of representatives. The fact that a partisan person is being put into this position is a foot on the neck of bi-partisanship in the state of Texas.

So what can we do? Work fast. The confirmations are tomorrow. My suggestions are to call Craddick and Dewhurst (in their office) and voice your outrage that hiring through cronyism is still alive in the State of Texas, when our country’s government is falling to hell in a handbasket over the same issue.

Call Tom Craddick’s Offices at the State Capitol:
Room CAP 2W.13
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, TX 78768
(512) 463-1000
(512) 463-7722 (fax)

Or, his district office:
500 West Texas, Ste. 880
Midland, TX 79701
(432) 682-3000
(432) 684-4864 (Fax)

Unfortunately, I am unable to find Dewhurst’s number, but it shouldn’t be too difficult for an astute person to track down.

Senfronia Thompson has long been the voice of reason in the state. We often look to her as she speaks her mind, and take in what she has to say. As one of the few people that truly know the rules in the House, her voice is one that we should look to for guidance.

If you click through, you can read her entire letter. As time goes by, more may be added to this post, along with the outcome of the confirmations, tomorrow. Some are saying that this puts Texas in its very own Alito confirmation situation.

Remember, it’s never too late to act.

31 January, 2006

The Honorable Tom Craddick
The Honorable David Dewhurst

To the Honorable Members of the Legislative Council:

It has come to my attention that the Council is scheduled to approve a new Council director Wednesday morning, Milton Rister, a political operative, who has worked against sitting members of both Houses. Mr. Rister will more than likely work with some of these members in his capacity as the Executive Director of the Legislative Council. Mr. Rister’s devisive presence may create a perceived erosion of the confidentiality, independence, discretion, and credibility of the non-partisan Legislative Council.

As one of the most senior legislators and a former member of the Legislative Council, I urge your reconsideration of this ill-considered and ill-timed appointment. Texas Legislators must be able to depend on the Legislative Council to draft potential legislation according to the members request and for those requests to remain confidential. This has always been the policy of the Legislative Council. Having an Executive Director, with such a well-documented political agenda could stifle many legislators’ willingness to make use of the such a valuable legislative asset.

The bipartisan traditions of the Texas Legislature have been honored by such diverse persons as George W. Bush and Ann Richards. At the core of this tradition, is an independent and dependable Legislative Council. I pray a more suitable candidate can be found to fill the shoes of true non-partisan Texas heroes like Bob Johnson and Bob Kelly.
Yours for a better Texas,

Senfronia ThompsonState Representative
cc: Members of the Legislative Council

God grant you rest, Coretta Scott King. Your will, zeal, and fire will be missed.  Tell your husband, when you see him, that millions upon millions say “thank you.”

RIP Coretta Scott King (wife to Martin Luther King, Jr.).  1927 - 2006 (78 years)

However, if you look further down his page (what would normally be “below the fold” for most people (I run at a rediculously high resolution), you see ads that look very much like AdSense. They aren’t, however, as the “Ads by Yahoo!” statement, clearly points out. The image below shows what I’m talking about:

I just find it amusing that you would use a Google referral banner on a website that has Yahoo ads. In fact, wouldn’t that somehow be against the terms of service for one of the companies (if not both)?

Just one of those amusing things.

(Before anyone accusses me of using two seperate images, here’s the full page with only minor modifications (I’ve dimmed the page, except for the apporpriate areas, and drawn a little arrow. Since the image is so large, you can click here to see it, and it will open in a new window/tab. Alternatively, you can go to http://elliottback.com and take a look.)

Cowboy, over at Jack of All Blogs, has re-defined Web 2.0.  Web 6.0 certainly seems a more viable term.

Cowboy lists the generations of Web in the following manner (This is paraphrased from his blog.  All comments after the first sentence, on each bullet, are my own):

• Web 1.0: Local BBSes and information sharing.  Normally amongst people in a small town.  Web 1.0, in my opinion, really began with the invention of the message networks like FidoNet, DuckNet, etc…
• Web 2.0: The arrival of Web 2.0 was heralded by names like Prodigy, GEnie, AOL.  The powerhouse closed system apporach to BBSes helped break down the national and international barriers, without the neccesity of slow-moving packet mail networks.
• Web 3.0: Pornography arrives online.  Not only does pornography arrive online, but it becomes an industry.  Like it or not, pornography showed us the true power of the Web/Internet, as both an information exchange, and a profitable venture.
• Web 4.0: Search engine wars and the burst of the dot com bubble.  When the search engine wars became huge news, the collapse of the dot com boom wasn’t far behind.  This caused us to move into a new web.  One primarily concerned with complete freedom of information sharing.  One that was ran by those of us who originally remained underground.  One where information was king, you can come and get it at your leisure.
• Web 5.0: The second coming of the “Great Internet Company” (so to speak).  Truthfully, I agree with Cowboy.  Web 5.0 is what we believe web 2.0 to be.  In essence, Web 5.0 is the ajaxified, new dot com boom.  The problem is, we’re already moving out of Web 5.0.
• Web 6.0:  The second falling of the dot com boom.  This is the fallout and collapse of the Tim O’Reilly Web 2.0 -type companies.

I said, before, that we’re already moving out of Web 5.0.  I fully believe this to be the truth.  We’re standing around, smoking our fat-cat cigars, with one foot in Web 5.0, and the other firmly in fallout-land.  With the move of technology from the United States and the East (China, Taiwan, Japan, etc…), down south to Australia (no joke, I think we’re moving in that direction), the generation of Web 6.0 will be upon us.  We’ll see either a lot of failures, or a lot of buyouts.  In short, either a lot of websites will shut down, or they’ll be bought up and integrated into the big boys (I do think there will be another Big Player emerge.  Perhaps 37 Signals?  Who knows.  The new player will <em>not</em> be a search engine company, though).

How will this fallout affect the online world?  Who knows.  Personally, I think we’ll move in two directions.  Two directions that are diametrically opposed to each other.  With the majority of information services residing within the United States (the servers, not neccisarily the people), the USA has a stranglehold over much of the Internet.  I predict that the fallout of Web 6.0 will result in the following.

• A good portion of the Internet will cowboy up and attempt to circle the wagons.  Those sites will work within themselves in an attempt to better not only their product, but “the internet as a whole.”  Those companies will, ultimately, fail.
• Another good-sized chunk of the Internet will take the emergent technologies and use them to enhance the free information exchange we had in Web 4.0.  With that, you’ll see more and more talk of “piracy,” and “information hackers,” and, my personal favorite term, “infoexchangerz” (so named after “warez” groups that handle information, rather than warez).  It’ll be back to the information age.  (Software piracy has never gone by the wayside, folks.  It’s only become more hidden. heh.)
• Finally, the government - in an attempt to control the rampant spread of information, and the “fringe” online groups associated with it - will implement stricter laws and control of the Internet, resulting in an all-out online war between those who yearn to be “free,” and those who seek to control.  Needless to say, the world will be caught up in it, and even more technology and online companies will move offshore.

It’s a big Internet, folks.  It’ll be truly interesting to see where it goes.

Today, however, I was thoroughly amused. Some automated spam system got stuck on one of my entries and generated 201 moderated spam comments on a single entry. What made me splort diet coke out of my nose was the fact that it was the Entry about the Lesbian Cheerleaders, which is - by far - my single most successful entry, short of the Christmas deals one (that everyone looking for an LCD TV by RLisense tends to check out). For you bloggers who are interested in monetization, that second link (the Christmas deals) is a good one to check out. About a month after I wrote the entry, I noticed it was doing staggeringly well at bringing in traffic. Previously there were no advertisements on it, so I went back and added two through Adgenta, and I’m considering adding one through Chitika (after removing an Adgenta ad). It’s called making the most of your archives, folks.

I just find it amusing that out of all of my entries (270 of them), the comment spammer got hung up on the Lesbian Cheerleaders entry. Perhaps if there were pictures of the cheerleaders, then I could understand. I mean, even a machine has urges.

So, here’s what you need to do to pull in as little traffic as possible to your blog.

1. Create typical, disposable content.

Spend your time each day writing about the most trivial things you can think of. If you see a news story worthy of being blogged, take the time to pull out the little nit-picky things, and write about them. After all, someone has to pick apart the news, right?

Beyond that, make certain you only write topics of interest to a small segment of the population. Forget writing for mid-twenties technogeeks. Forget writing for baby boomers looking to feel secure as they edge toward retirement. Write for the elderly, former nazi supporters. Write for the Young African American Greater United States Chess Foundation*. Oh, and before I forget, make certain your posts offend as many people as humanly possible. (*organization does not actually exist.)

2. Aggregate existing content.

Don’t even think about originality. Keep your original thoughts to yourself. Noone wants to read another original blog. Fill your feed reader with two hundred blogs, and make certain you blog about the hot things they’re blogging about. Don’t ever voice your own opinion, though. Simply quote what they said, and state that you agree. If you’re not quoting someone else’s article, news item, or blog entry in everything that you write, you’re not doing your job.

3. Write about insta-news events.

Forget writing about timeless events. Write only about the things that are on peoples’ minds, right now. Political blogs are great doers of this. Except political blogs are already played out. There’s too many of them, you don’t need to create another. Write a blog that features news from your local area. Talk about the fact that the mayor wants to repave a street, instead of spending the money lowering property taxes. Write about how they finally nabbed a burglar that had hit all of the Taco Bells, nearby. Write about Google, even. Write about how Google has unleashed adsense ads that change depending on the holiday. Make certain you only write one short entry on each thing, though. Oh, and if your entry will be valuable to future generations, why bother writing it? Chances are your blog won’t even be around, that long.

4. Write for search engines and computers.

Human writing? Puh-lease. We all know it’s more important to score high in search engine rankings. People coming to your website will be able to read your website well. They’ll even thank your web hosting provider for providing you with web hosting. Make certain you use keywords everywhere in your entries. If you don’t have at least three keywords per sentence (or twelve per paragraph), you’re not writing for the search engines. Search engine optimization is one of the most important things any website or web hosting provider can do, so make certain your keyword density is extremely dense in keywords. People will figure out what you mean.

5. Start your blog without knowing why.

When you go to start a blog, do it without knowing why you want to start it. There’s no reason to start another targetted, niche-oriented, well thought out blog. There’s millions of those, already. Blog for a few entries about your cat, then about starting your blog, then maybe about that tornado that came through last week. Spend time finding your niche and voice. Your readers will help you out. Just check your stats.

6. Fake yourself.

When you start your blog, spend a few minutes coming up with a “persona” to write as. Maybe you’ve decided to go by the name “Julio Montavani” and you’re going to be an amalgemation of your uncle Richard and your talkative grandmother. Then, start making up a history and life. Maybe “Julio” lives in France, as a German exchange student. He’s writing about things in the USA because he’s secretly a spy for the CIA, tracking down terrorists working in Lyons. Never, under any circumstances, let people see the real you. If you get confused, and someone catches you in a lie, go back and edit old blog entries. After all, we were always at war with Eurasia.

7. Bullshit your way through everything.

Your opinions don’t matter one iota. If you think your opinions aren’t what the rest of the world wants to hear, then - by god - don’t write them down. Tailor each and every thing you say to fit with the status quo. Make certain that you’re sucking up to people that won’t even know you exist. People like the President, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and that cheerleader in fourth period.

8. Your visitors are just numbers.

Your visitors are just numbers. Forget about trying to write to them. Forget they even exist. After all, this is your blog, it should be about you, right? Right. When you write your posts, don’t ask questions, don’t try to encourage those idiots to think and respond. In fact, turn off comments completely. Oh, and don’t ever, ever include contact information in an easy-to-find location.

9. Monetize, Monetize, Monetize!

You’re allowed three Google Adsense ads, and one link unit, per page. Make the most of it. Put ‘em all above the fold, in the three hottest locations on the Google heat map. Oh, you’re also allowed all of the Amazon links, Chitika ads, and CJ ads you want on a single page. Put a Chitika ad at the beginning of your entry, in the middle of it (wrapping around the text), at the end (before the comments), and - if you’ve left them turned on - after the first comment. Then, for the love of god, talk about every single thing you read, use, or look at on a daily basis. Find it on Amazon.com, or Comission Junction, and link to it in your entries. At the end of each and every entry, put some random links from Amazon under the heading of “Things I think you’d enjoy.” If you don’t have at least fifteen to twenty ad units per page, you’re not making money!

10. If you forget the above…

If you forget the above, just remember that it’s your blog, you’re king, and those people out there? They’re nothing but a number. Their opinions aren’t your opinions, and they’ll never be able to change your opinions. Make em pay for trying!

That, my fine, feathered friends, is how you build a low-traffic blog. See you in the slime of the ecosystem!

((Author’s Note: Yes, I’ve been guilty of a couple of things, above, a time or two. Hopetully, though, I’ve never forgotten you folks exist, and that your opinions are what counts on this blog. Sure I have my opinions, but that’s why I have a comments section… Because I want to hear what you think about things, and I value your comments. Here’s hoping I don’t repeat the mistakes I’ve made.))

Abstinence education teaches children and teens that the only method of safe sexual encounters is abstinence. Additionally, the program stresses waiting until marriage for psychological reasons, as well. The program - depending on the program administrator/speaker - also usually mentions that sex before marriage often leads to physical and psychological issues⁴.

Safe-sex and family planning programs teach children and teens that, while the social norms and mores state that individuals should abstain from sex until marriage, it is generally understood that many young people will not. The program goes on to stress that the decision to enter into a sexual relationship, prior to marriage, should not be taken lightly; however, should a couple enter into a sexual relationship, they should utilize the appropriate protections from both disease and unwanted pregnancy. The safe-sex/family planning programs take a hard line against sexual activity prior to marriage - and especially prior to the age of majority. Although these hard lines are stressed, the program facilitators also explain the methods of protection availible should an individual choose to engage in sexual activity. In short, children and teens are taught how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases, and unwanted pregnancies. Planning, preparedness, and safety are stressed, and stressed hard, in the safety/planning programs⁵.

It has been shown in several studies that abstinence education simply does not work. Although the number of young people and teens pledging abstinence until marriage (through either verbal contracts, or “promise” pledges at schools and/or churches) is on the rise, studies are showing that around 86% of individuals still have sexual intercourse before marriage, with a staggering 73% of teens having intercourse before the age of majority⁶.

Now is the time that we segway from the facts and figures, and enter into the domain of personal ideology and personal opinion. During middle and high school, I sat through no fewer than five safe-sex/family planning series (whether in health class, or in special all-grade lectures), and no fewer than three abstinence education series (in both high school and church groups). In the abstinence education series, only one speaker brought up safe sex practices. Those were brought up as a family planning possibility, should a married couple not want children. In all cases, abstinence - and only abstinence was stressed for teens. During these series, teens were given absolutely no options outside of simply not. having. sex.

Tell me. When you were a teen, and someone berated you over, and over, and over again about not doing something, how long did you wait before you finally did it? Exactly. While I doubt this leads to most pre-marriage sexual interludes, I would say it does cause the rebellion idea to pop into teens’ minds, occasionally.

It works like this, folks. I’m twenty-eight years old. I have only recently (about a year ago) met the woman I intend to marry. Obviously, since we are intending to marry (to the point of discussing dates, details, etc…), it should be okay for us to have (safe)_sex, even before the actual ceremony (even according to most abstinence educators). Do you think she was the first woman I ever slept with? Don’t fool yourself by thinking “yes.” Although I have not been with many women, my fiance was definately not the first. Did the abstinence education work? Obviously not.

The safe-sex education did, though. I have never had unprotected sex - whether that protection be for disease issue, or pregnancy issue, I have always made certain to discuss safety with my partner before engaging in sexual activity.

Look, what I’m getting at is this. The government is slowly taking money away from the programs that work (safe-sex/family planning), and putting it toward programs that are proven not to work. Let’s get our heads on straight, here, people. This is not the 1940’s. Hell, this isn’t even the 1960’s. Teens - at least the majority of them - are going to have sex before marriage, regardless of what you say. Is it right? Who cares. We should forget about passing judgement, and start passing along safety tips.

Go out there, and help spread the word about safer sex. Don’t forget to explain that it really is best to wait until marriage, but if a teen chooses not to, they have options to protect themselves.

Oh, and while we’re at it, send an e-mail, fax, or phone call to your senator and congressperson and ask them to support safe sex education, and to lower their support for abstinence-only education.

¹The Spending Bill: What’s Inside? - Dec 07, 2004. ²“Teen Sex,” The Discovery Channel, 2005. ³Medical Accuracy Debate: Act Now to Protect Children, Linda Klepacki, Mar 09, 2005. ^{4 - 5}Personal experience throughout author’s educational years. ⁶“Teen Sex,” The Discovery Channel, 2005.

1) Bush stated “We are at war, with an enemy, who wants to hit us again.” In short, Mr. President… Duh. When have we ever been at war with an enemy that did not want to hit us, again?

2) Bush stated that “[questioning his advisors] would set a chilling precedent” for future advisors if Bush questioned their advice. In other words, he is stating that he should accept what they say at face value, as they are his advisors.

Mr. President, I have to be honest, here. You’re running a country. If Iwas running a country - especially during a time of war - I would check out, at least, the big things that my advisors state. Even if you don’t check out the minor advice, it’s a good idea to at least check out the major advice before you carry through with it. Remember, if those advisors screw up, it’s your ass, not their’s.