I'm baaack.

I'm back in South Dakota for a summertime visit and had drinks with a couple of the other Dakota Women. They talked me into coming back to the blog.

So hey, did any of you see that the difference in SAT math scores between girls and boys no longer exists? Recently, girls have started signing up for math classes at the same rate as boys, and - omg! - it turns out that girls' test scores are about the same when they have the same amount of preparation.

Hopefully this means we can stop with the whole "boys are hardwired to excel at math and science" thing...but I doubt it.

(Incidentally, I got a 720 quantitative score on my GRE. I just want to point that out.)

Oh, and there's another SD feminist blog out there these days. Welcome, welcome!

Somebody's Prayers Are Getting Answered

The anti-choicers over at Vote Yes for A Time Machine Back to 2006 will be sorry to hear that despite their prayers that the pro-choice movement will be thrown into confusion, we actually appear to be getting more organized. Huzzah!

Not only is the SD Campaign for Healthy Families kicking of their campaign, long-time pro-choice activist organization NARAL Pro-Choice South Dakota just launched a fancy new website with lots of great information and resources.

So sorry, Vote Yes for Iranian Laws, I guess God was a little more receptive to my prayer that you guys while away the months leading up to the election posting prayer blogs while we mount a strategic campaign than to yours.

A New Strategy to Save the Lives of Women & Children

World wide, a woman dies due to complications from pregnancy and childbirth every minute. Tonight on PBS, Wide Angle looked at how Mozambique is improving maternal and infant mortality rates by training nurses and midwives to perform Cesareans and hysterectomies. Amazing stuff. Check out the website.

Alive Day Memories: A Great Reminder

Although it came out last year, I finally just saw the HBO documentary and James Gandolfini brainchild, Alive Day Memories: Home From Iraq. If you need additional, heart-wrenching evidence of why exactly war is horrible, this is just the thing for you. I was brought to tears time and time again – so poignantly done!

I’d love to see what all you pro-war sons of bitches would have to say if it was you that had a traumatic brain injury that left you in a permanent state of 6th grade or it was your wife who left you during your tour of duty so when you returned, you had your wedding band diamonds fashioned into your new, glass eye. It’s time this war is over.