Has Eminem found a way to exploit Rihanna's experiences?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
The Best Defense is.....
For all the lack of hoopla out there you might have easily missed the story of Allee Bautsch, a twenty-five year old campaign aide to Governor Jindal and her boyfriend, Joe Brown being beaten outside a Republican fundraiser on Friday, April 9. Maybe it got my attention because I have a twenty-five year old daughter. The story is very well covered at The Hayride. Link in Bubba Post by BJ@freeusnow. I don't seem to be able to publish links.
Hayride offers up this quote as the story was picked up by Yahoo
" Of course, even if Bautsch and Brown's recollection is correct and the attackers did come from the group protesting the event, they can't know for sure what their motives were.Their account of the non-political nature of the verbal assault matches the one Brown gave police and the homophobic, misogynistic nature of the insults would be unusual coming from the kind of person one might expect to protest a Republican fundraiser."
My first thought on hearing about this led me to fear it was a racial incident as the MSM has been telling anyone who will listen that Tea Party People are not only all Republican but racists to boot. It has made me think back to my September '08 adventure into Obama's website and his link to The Black Snob where I found this picture of the other first black president.
Then I started thinking of Bill Clinton's need to remind us about it being a right- winger that blew up the federal building in Oklahoma. We have also heard about Sarah Palin's perceived attempts to incite violence by 'targeting' certain Democrats in 2010. Again I was reminded of my visit to Obama's website and this picture.
And we all know how the Democrats are the only party that treats women with respect. You'll never guess where I found this picture.
While there seems little doubt that the attack had a political motive I find reading the original police report informative.(Link in Hayride article)
"As they neared the intersection, Mr. Brown stated he heard subjects state such things as, "Little blonde bitch," "You're a f-----g faggot," and You think you're f-----g special."
Political? Probably under the circumstances. Misogynistic and homophobic? No doubt. Hate speech? No. It would be hate speech if Mr. Brown was gay and received a broken nose and jaw and a concussion. It would be hate speech if Ms. Bautsch had been called a little black bitch and not a blonde one and then had her leg stomped on and broken in 4 places. Could "You think you're something special" have anything to do with the "blame the rich for everything" mentality that is being used to push for wealth re-distribution?
I have little doubt that this crime was perpetrated by those at the protest. Democratic protesters of a better ilk that were duped into this need to come forward. Those who might object to the methods used by Obama to advance his candidacy need to speak up.
Those that were only too happy to see Obama take advantage of sexism, racism and misogyny if that's what it took to win, need to stop thinking of themselves as the 'good' ones. You and the instigator-in-chief gave these guys permission. No, Yahoo it is not at all unusual.
Hayride offers up this quote as the story was picked up by Yahoo
" Of course, even if Bautsch and Brown's recollection is correct and the attackers did come from the group protesting the event, they can't know for sure what their motives were.Their account of the non-political nature of the verbal assault matches the one Brown gave police and the homophobic, misogynistic nature of the insults would be unusual coming from the kind of person one might expect to protest a Republican fundraiser."
My first thought on hearing about this led me to fear it was a racial incident as the MSM has been telling anyone who will listen that Tea Party People are not only all Republican but racists to boot. It has made me think back to my September '08 adventure into Obama's website and his link to The Black Snob where I found this picture of the other first black president.
Then I started thinking of Bill Clinton's need to remind us about it being a right- winger that blew up the federal building in Oklahoma. We have also heard about Sarah Palin's perceived attempts to incite violence by 'targeting' certain Democrats in 2010. Again I was reminded of my visit to Obama's website and this picture.
And we all know how the Democrats are the only party that treats women with respect. You'll never guess where I found this picture.
While there seems little doubt that the attack had a political motive I find reading the original police report informative.(Link in Hayride article)
"As they neared the intersection, Mr. Brown stated he heard subjects state such things as, "Little blonde bitch," "You're a f-----g faggot," and You think you're f-----g special."
Political? Probably under the circumstances. Misogynistic and homophobic? No doubt. Hate speech? No. It would be hate speech if Mr. Brown was gay and received a broken nose and jaw and a concussion. It would be hate speech if Ms. Bautsch had been called a little black bitch and not a blonde one and then had her leg stomped on and broken in 4 places. Could "You think you're something special" have anything to do with the "blame the rich for everything" mentality that is being used to push for wealth re-distribution?
I have little doubt that this crime was perpetrated by those at the protest. Democratic protesters of a better ilk that were duped into this need to come forward. Those who might object to the methods used by Obama to advance his candidacy need to speak up.
Those that were only too happy to see Obama take advantage of sexism, racism and misogyny if that's what it took to win, need to stop thinking of themselves as the 'good' ones. You and the instigator-in-chief gave these guys permission. No, Yahoo it is not at all unusual.
Women's Rights Not Worth Mentioning?
NEWS From Yesterday's Washington Post
The undaunted Dorothy Height
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
UPON HER DEATH Tuesday, Dorothy I. Height was hailed a hero, the grande dame of the civil rights movement, an icon. She was all of those things. Yet somehow words fail to capture what was so remarkable about this woman who fought for so long, and with such tenacity, dignity and resolve, for racial justice and gender equality. Because she lived such a full life, an entire generation grew up knowing her without fully understanding the entrenched unfairness she fought against and helped to lessen. To appreciate Dorothy Height is to understand the slights she endured and the obstacles she encountered both as an African American and as a woman, and how they only spurred her life-long campaign for justice.
Ms. Height died at the age of 98 on Tuesday morning at Howard University Hospital. President Obama eulogized her as "the godmother of the Civil Rights Movement and a hero to so many Americans." Her activism dates to the 1930s, and she played an influential, if largely unsung role, in the civil rights movement that transformed America in the 1950s and 1960s. Even though she presided over the National Council of Negro Women, a group she would head for 40 years until 1997, Ms. Height and her work often went unnoticed and unpraised. She was seated on the platform with Martin Luther King Jr. when he delivered his "I have a dream speech" at the Lincoln Memorial, but she would later express dismay that no one gave voice to women's rights.
Such experiences enabled her to see the injustices against women and African Americans as part of the same set of American problems that needed to be addressed jointly, and not as separate -- or even conflicting -- concerns. And, just as she had to fight against being marginalized in the civil rights movement because of her gender, so she had to push back against being marginalized in the feminist movement because of her race. She did so not with anger or bitterness but with determined grace. She spoke of this during a book signing at the Library of Congress in 2004: "I have been in the proximity of, and threatened by, the Klan; I have been called everything people of color are called; I have been denied admission because of a quota. I've had all of that, but I've also learned that getting bitter is not the way
Ms. Height never gave up the fight. Even as her age advanced, she continued to advocate for black families, preach self-reliance and despair over the lack of voting rights for the District. Recently, when she thought a worthy tennis program for children was threatened, she put her prestige on the line. Just as words can't fully capture her, so they fail to describe the void left by her death.
The undaunted Dorothy Height
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
UPON HER DEATH Tuesday, Dorothy I. Height was hailed a hero, the grande dame of the civil rights movement, an icon. She was all of those things. Yet somehow words fail to capture what was so remarkable about this woman who fought for so long, and with such tenacity, dignity and resolve, for racial justice and gender equality. Because she lived such a full life, an entire generation grew up knowing her without fully understanding the entrenched unfairness she fought against and helped to lessen. To appreciate Dorothy Height is to understand the slights she endured and the obstacles she encountered both as an African American and as a woman, and how they only spurred her life-long campaign for justice.
Ms. Height died at the age of 98 on Tuesday morning at Howard University Hospital. President Obama eulogized her as "the godmother of the Civil Rights Movement and a hero to so many Americans." Her activism dates to the 1930s, and she played an influential, if largely unsung role, in the civil rights movement that transformed America in the 1950s and 1960s. Even though she presided over the National Council of Negro Women, a group she would head for 40 years until 1997, Ms. Height and her work often went unnoticed and unpraised. She was seated on the platform with Martin Luther King Jr. when he delivered his "I have a dream speech" at the Lincoln Memorial, but she would later express dismay that no one gave voice to women's rights.
Such experiences enabled her to see the injustices against women and African Americans as part of the same set of American problems that needed to be addressed jointly, and not as separate -- or even conflicting -- concerns. And, just as she had to fight against being marginalized in the civil rights movement because of her gender, so she had to push back against being marginalized in the feminist movement because of her race. She did so not with anger or bitterness but with determined grace. She spoke of this during a book signing at the Library of Congress in 2004: "I have been in the proximity of, and threatened by, the Klan; I have been called everything people of color are called; I have been denied admission because of a quota. I've had all of that, but I've also learned that getting bitter is not the way
Ms. Height never gave up the fight. Even as her age advanced, she continued to advocate for black families, preach self-reliance and despair over the lack of voting rights for the District. Recently, when she thought a worthy tennis program for children was threatened, she put her prestige on the line. Just as words can't fully capture her, so they fail to describe the void left by her death.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Why a Woman Might Lie in Court
An update on Aasiya Zubair Hassan from No Quarter:
I find this especially disturbing because this story minus the beheading is not unlike that of a young woman that went to school with one of my daughters. She was college educated and non-Muslim. Who knows what would have happened if her parents were not made aware of her strange behavior because a friend of hers cared enough to get and stay involved.
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2010/03/16/how-does-this-happen-in-the-us/#more-43109
I find this especially disturbing because this story minus the beheading is not unlike that of a young woman that went to school with one of my daughters. She was college educated and non-Muslim. Who knows what would have happened if her parents were not made aware of her strange behavior because a friend of hers cared enough to get and stay involved.
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2010/03/16/how-does-this-happen-in-the-us/#more-43109
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Don't Get Fooled Again
Obama reloads his message. I guess dismissing the Tea Party movement as an irrational Republican mob didn't work, so now we have the Coffee Party, a supposedly Independent movement founded to bring civility to political discussions.
It appears the only grass in this "grass roots" movement is in their bongs.
Not to hold a grudge or anything but aren't these the same ones who were hired by Obama to be as nasty as possible on our blogs. Isn't this the man who planted a little girls to ask a question at his New Hampshire health care town hall? Isn't this the man whose hired thugs intimidated people at the caucuses?
http://wewillnotbesilenced2008.com/.
Isn't it through Obama's website that we saw the Sarah Palin is a cunt tee-shirt?
Here is it founder, Annabel Park an activist film-maker speaking about Obama during the primaries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIxIRdDdvZA
Ms. Behaved
It appears the only grass in this "grass roots" movement is in their bongs.
Not to hold a grudge or anything but aren't these the same ones who were hired by Obama to be as nasty as possible on our blogs. Isn't this the man who planted a little girls to ask a question at his New Hampshire health care town hall? Isn't this the man whose hired thugs intimidated people at the caucuses?
http://wewillnotbesilenced2008.com/.
Isn't it through Obama's website that we saw the Sarah Palin is a cunt tee-shirt?
Here is it founder, Annabel Park an activist film-maker speaking about Obama during the primaries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIxIRdDdvZA
Ms. Behaved
Monday, January 18, 2010
Women's Rights are Human Rights
Quotes of Martin Luther King Jr. as they might apply to women, the forgotten ones in the March for Civil Rights (my words in bold)
A right delayed is a right denied.
All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.
Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes (women) in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
(S)He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. (S)He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin (or their genitals), but by the content of their character.
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching (beating and raping) me, and I think that's pretty important.
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
We must learn to live together as brothers (sisters) or perish together as fools.
A right delayed is a right denied.
All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.
Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes (women) in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
(S)He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. (S)He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin (or their genitals), but by the content of their character.
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching (beating and raping) me, and I think that's pretty important.
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
We must learn to live together as brothers (sisters) or perish together as fools.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Are You Kidding Me?
Actual function of superdelegates:
http://people.howstuffworks.com/superdelegate.htm
The Democratic Change Commission is recommending that we do away with superdelegates.
Change Commission Members:
http://my.democrats.org/page/content/changecommissionmembers
How it was reported then:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/02/AR2008030202434.html
Here is how it is being reported now.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/30/AR2009123002624.html
Anybody want to take a bet on how Ms. Brazile and the rest of the Rules and By-Law Committee will vote on this? Guess Obama and his cronies aren't even going to consider ACORN, caucus fraud or voter intimidation.
http://freemenow.wordpress.com/caucus-fraud/ and http://wewillnotbesilenced2008.com/
I've got news for you Democrats, the "MOB" is within you.
http://people.howstuffworks.com/superdelegate.htm
The Democratic Change Commission is recommending that we do away with superdelegates.
Change Commission Members:
http://my.democrats.org/page/content/changecommissionmembers
How it was reported then:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/02/AR2008030202434.html
Here is how it is being reported now.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/30/AR2009123002624.html
Anybody want to take a bet on how Ms. Brazile and the rest of the Rules and By-Law Committee will vote on this? Guess Obama and his cronies aren't even going to consider ACORN, caucus fraud or voter intimidation.
http://freemenow.wordpress.com/caucus-fraud/ and http://wewillnotbesilenced2008.com/
I've got news for you Democrats, the "MOB" is within you.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Did You Think Our Work Was Done?
New Years Resolution:
Resolved that in 2010 no woman running for office will be subjected to the sexism and misogyny that brought down Hillary and Sarah.
Food for thought:
The little rift between the sexes is astonishingly widened by simply teaching one set of catchwords to the girls and another to the boys. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths. ~Lois Wyse
The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl." ~Shirley Chisholm
We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters. ~Gloria Steinem
One of the things about equality is not just that you be treated equally to a man, but that you treat yourself equally to the way you treat a man. ~Marlo Thomas
Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge. ~Author Unknown
Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don't have what it takes." ~Clare Boothe Luce
[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson
Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. ~Timothy Leary
The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. ~Lucretia Mott
Resolved, that the women of this nation in 1876, have greater cause for discontent, rebellion and revolution than the men of 1776. ~Susan B. Anthony ( and still so in 2010 msbehaved)
It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less. ~Susan B. Anthony
I asked a Burmese why women, after centuries of following their men, now walk ahead. He said there were many unexploded land mines since the war. ~Robert Mueller
I am working for the time when unqualified blacks, browns, and women join the unqualified men in running our government. ~Cissy Farenthold
I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting for boobs long enough. ~Clarie Sargent, Arizona senatorial candidate
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute. ~Rebecca West, "Mr Chesterton in Hysterics: A Study in Prejudice," The Clarion, 14 Nov 1913, reprinted in The Young Rebecca, 1982
Add your own quotes and get ready for battle.
Resolved that in 2010 no woman running for office will be subjected to the sexism and misogyny that brought down Hillary and Sarah.
Food for thought:
The little rift between the sexes is astonishingly widened by simply teaching one set of catchwords to the girls and another to the boys. ~Robert Louis Stevenson
Men are taught to apologize for their weaknesses, women for their strengths. ~Lois Wyse
The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl." ~Shirley Chisholm
We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters. ~Gloria Steinem
One of the things about equality is not just that you be treated equally to a man, but that you treat yourself equally to the way you treat a man. ~Marlo Thomas
Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge. ~Author Unknown
Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don't have what it takes." ~Clare Boothe Luce
[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. ~Pat Robertson
Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. ~Timothy Leary
The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source. ~Lucretia Mott
Resolved, that the women of this nation in 1876, have greater cause for discontent, rebellion and revolution than the men of 1776. ~Susan B. Anthony ( and still so in 2010 msbehaved)
It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less. ~Susan B. Anthony
I asked a Burmese why women, after centuries of following their men, now walk ahead. He said there were many unexploded land mines since the war. ~Robert Mueller
I am working for the time when unqualified blacks, browns, and women join the unqualified men in running our government. ~Cissy Farenthold
I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting for boobs long enough. ~Clarie Sargent, Arizona senatorial candidate
I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute. ~Rebecca West, "Mr Chesterton in Hysterics: A Study in Prejudice," The Clarion, 14 Nov 1913, reprinted in The Young Rebecca, 1982
Add your own quotes and get ready for battle.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Goodbye to All That #3, Ms. Morgan?
I wonder if Robin Morgan is among those who are feeling buyer's regret?
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-6572-NY-Obama-Administration-Examiner~y2009m12d17-Are-Hillary-Clinton-supporters-murmuring-I-told-you-so
Ms. Morgan's Goodbye to All That #2 as posted on the Majority Post last year:
http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/020108.html
Ms. Morgan's post from the Majority Post calling for support of Obama.
http://womensmediacenter.com/wordpress/2008/10/robin-morgan-when-sisterhood-is-suicide-and-other-late-night-thoughts/
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-6572-NY-Obama-Administration-Examiner~y2009m12d17-Are-Hillary-Clinton-supporters-murmuring-I-told-you-so
Ms. Morgan's Goodbye to All That #2 as posted on the Majority Post last year:
http://www.womensmediacenter.com/ex/020108.html
Ms. Morgan's post from the Majority Post calling for support of Obama.
http://womensmediacenter.com/wordpress/2008/10/robin-morgan-when-sisterhood-is-suicide-and-other-late-night-thoughts/
Undomesticated Violence and Political Asylum
There is nothing "tame" about the violence women suffer at the hands of their intimate partners.
http://www.examiner.com/a-2378753~Domestic_violence_victim_granted_asylum_in_US.html
http://www.examiner.com/a-2378753~Domestic_violence_victim_granted_asylum_in_US.html
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Another Day, Another Skirmish
From: The Baltimore Sun
November 24, 2009
Council passes pregnancy center bill
As expected, the Baltimore City Council on Monday approved a first-in-the-nation law that would require faith-based crisis pregnancy centers to display signs telling prospective clients that they do not provide or refer for abortion or birth control. Sun colleague Julie Scharper has a story in Tuesday's newspaper.
The legislation now awaits the signature of Mayor Sheila Dixon. Dixon, an abortion rights supporter, has not said whether she will sign it. Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien has hinted at a legal challenge should the bill become law.
Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who sponsored the legislation, called the vote "a step towards making sure that women have the information they need to make the right decision for their health and their future."
But abortion opponents say the bill unfairly targets centers that they say provide much-needed assistance to poor women.
"The thing that's most disappointing about it is not the particular signs that are put up or the particular bill itself, but the message that it sends," said Jeffrey D. Meister, the chief lobbyist for Maryland Right to Life.
"This is the first time in the United States that any elected body has chosen to vote to condemn pregnancy centers. Baltimore City has just said, 'We recognize you do great work, but politically we're going to regulate you anyway.' "
November 24, 2009
Council passes pregnancy center bill
As expected, the Baltimore City Council on Monday approved a first-in-the-nation law that would require faith-based crisis pregnancy centers to display signs telling prospective clients that they do not provide or refer for abortion or birth control. Sun colleague Julie Scharper has a story in Tuesday's newspaper.
The legislation now awaits the signature of Mayor Sheila Dixon. Dixon, an abortion rights supporter, has not said whether she will sign it. Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien has hinted at a legal challenge should the bill become law.
Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who sponsored the legislation, called the vote "a step towards making sure that women have the information they need to make the right decision for their health and their future."
But abortion opponents say the bill unfairly targets centers that they say provide much-needed assistance to poor women.
"The thing that's most disappointing about it is not the particular signs that are put up or the particular bill itself, but the message that it sends," said Jeffrey D. Meister, the chief lobbyist for Maryland Right to Life.
"This is the first time in the United States that any elected body has chosen to vote to condemn pregnancy centers. Baltimore City has just said, 'We recognize you do great work, but politically we're going to regulate you anyway.' "
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Is the First Black President a President Mostly for Blacks?
The Professor Gates Incident may have opened some eyes. It would be interesting to know how the proportion of people of color in this administration compares to that of the general population. Just Asking.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/124484/Obama-Approval-Slide-Finds-Whites-Down-39.aspx
http://www.gallup.com/poll/124484/Obama-Approval-Slide-Finds-Whites-Down-39.aspx
Sunday, November 29, 2009
A Bigger Epidemic than H1N1..Let's panic
UN fact sheet on Violence Against Women
http://www.unifem.org/campaigns/sayno/docs/SayNOunite_FactSheet_VAWworldwide.pdf
The network of men involved in working to end the violence. I doubt if they will be afaid af being labeled culturally or religiously insensitive.
http://www.un.org/en/women/endviolence/network.shtml
http://www.unifem.org/campaigns/sayno/docs/SayNOunite_FactSheet_VAWworldwide.pdf
The network of men involved in working to end the violence. I doubt if they will be afaid af being labeled culturally or religiously insensitive.
http://www.un.org/en/women/endviolence/network.shtml
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Mammogram Poke-Her: Gambling With Women's Lives?
Dr. Love is the founder of The Army of Women (armyofwomen.org).
I have been a part of her Army since its inception and it is well-worth considering. The women in the Army are able to volunteer for research studies and even have a say in what research should be done.
It gets my:
WOMEN HELPING WOMEN Seal of Approval
From: The LA Times
By Susan Love
November 23, 2009
Although we all would like to think that public health pronouncements are the unmitigated truth about any issue, rarely is that the case. We can only give our best guess, based on the current available data and our current understanding of the disease. Luckily, research continues, hypotheses are reformulated and new recommendations are made.
The path to the truth in science and medicine is nonlinear. Sometimes clinical practice gets ahead of the data and has to be pulled back. This is what happened with post-menopausal hormone therapy when the large Women's Health Initiative trial demonstrated that the then-common practice of giving women hormones at menopause was causing more harm than good. How big was the harm? We know that after the report came out, many women abruptly stopped taking their hormones, and that year, the incidence of breast cancer went down 15%.
We saw a similar shift in women's health when highly touted and extensively used high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue as treatment for aggressive breast cancer was found to not only be no better than the regular-dose chemotherapy we had been using, but to have significantly higher side effects.
I present these examples in an attempt to put the controversy regarding the new mammography guidelines into perspective. The shift in guidelines is not a conspiracy of the insurance companies or the government. It is pure coincidence that they came out while we are in the throes of the healthcare reform debate.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force was formed to periodically review the available data and come up with the best recommendation. A lot has changed since its last recommendations in 2002.
One key shift has been in our understanding of the biology of breast cancer. We used to think there was just one kind of cancer that grew at a steady pace; that when it reached a certain size, it spread to the rest of the body. As a result, it seemed to make sense that we could save lives if a screening test could identify the cancer while it was still "early," before it had spread. That's how we developed the notion of early detection. And it works, sometimes.
In the best of hands, mammographic screening in women over 50 will reduce a woman's risk of dying from breast cancer by 30%. That is a lot, but it is not 100%. Why? It turns out that breast cancers are not all the same. There are at least five kinds, with different growth rates and levels of aggression. Some are so aggressive that they will have spread before they are visible on a mammogram or form a lump. Some are very slow growing or may not even have the ability to spread, so there is no benefit from finding them early. This is because of the biology of the disease, not the limitations of screening.
One of the reasons that mammography is a less effective tool in young women is that they have a higher rate of these aggressive tumors. Younger women also have breast tissue that is more sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of low-dose radiation. Calculations by a research team in Britain published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2005 suggest that it is possible for women to develop cancer because of the cumulative radiation from yearly mammograms starting at 40 or younger. Finally, mammograms are generally less accurate in younger women who have dense breast tissue, which can mask a cancer. Thus the balance of risk versus benefit is not as clear.
Since the 2002 task force guidelines were released, there has been new data from Britain, which was the first study to look at whether there was any benefit to having women start mammography at age 40. The researchers have followed women in this study for more than 10 years, which means they are now over age 50. To date, they have not shown a statistically significant decrease in mortality. This means if there is a benefit, it must be very small.
The new guidelines are based on this information. They do not say that no women under 50 should get mammograms, but that we should not routinely screen women under 50. Less noted by the media, the guidelines also recommend that we not routinely screen women over 75, where the benefits are dependent on the woman's life expectancy. In both cases, a woman will need to review her situation with her physician.
This has left many young women confused and asking how will we find our cancers if we don't have mammograms. The alternative to mammographic detection of cancer is not death. The alternative is that a woman will find a cancer herself or her physician will find it. The normal "poking around" that women do has been found to be just as good at finding breast cancer as a monthly self-exam.
That's why the task force recommended that doctors encourage women to be familiar with the look and feel of their breasts but to stop teaching formal breast self-exam.
Many of the young women we have heard from in the media this last week had mammograms that in fact missed their cancers, and yet they were adequately treated and often cured. All women should become familiar with their breasts and report any change they see or feel to their doctor.
The public anger at these recommendations is understandable. But it should not be directed at an honest effort to evaluate the benefit of mammography, but at the fact that we still don't know the cause of breast cancer or how to prevent it. Early detection is not our best prevention -- it's not even prevention. It just finds cancers that are already there.
The guidelines are not ignoring the fact that young women get breast cancer; they are confirming that regular mammographic screening has risks and benefits and should be an individual decision. Our recent success with a vaccine for cancer of the cervix demonstrates that the goal of identifying the cause and prevention of a common cancer is not beyond reach. Let's redirect our energy from protesting these guideline changes to finding the answers so that no woman ever has to hear the words, "You have breast cancer."
Susan Love is the founder and president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, dedicated to eradicating breast cancer
I have been a part of her Army since its inception and it is well-worth considering. The women in the Army are able to volunteer for research studies and even have a say in what research should be done.
It gets my:
WOMEN HELPING WOMEN Seal of Approval
From: The LA Times
By Susan Love
November 23, 2009
Although we all would like to think that public health pronouncements are the unmitigated truth about any issue, rarely is that the case. We can only give our best guess, based on the current available data and our current understanding of the disease. Luckily, research continues, hypotheses are reformulated and new recommendations are made.
The path to the truth in science and medicine is nonlinear. Sometimes clinical practice gets ahead of the data and has to be pulled back. This is what happened with post-menopausal hormone therapy when the large Women's Health Initiative trial demonstrated that the then-common practice of giving women hormones at menopause was causing more harm than good. How big was the harm? We know that after the report came out, many women abruptly stopped taking their hormones, and that year, the incidence of breast cancer went down 15%.
We saw a similar shift in women's health when highly touted and extensively used high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell rescue as treatment for aggressive breast cancer was found to not only be no better than the regular-dose chemotherapy we had been using, but to have significantly higher side effects.
I present these examples in an attempt to put the controversy regarding the new mammography guidelines into perspective. The shift in guidelines is not a conspiracy of the insurance companies or the government. It is pure coincidence that they came out while we are in the throes of the healthcare reform debate.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force was formed to periodically review the available data and come up with the best recommendation. A lot has changed since its last recommendations in 2002.
One key shift has been in our understanding of the biology of breast cancer. We used to think there was just one kind of cancer that grew at a steady pace; that when it reached a certain size, it spread to the rest of the body. As a result, it seemed to make sense that we could save lives if a screening test could identify the cancer while it was still "early," before it had spread. That's how we developed the notion of early detection. And it works, sometimes.
In the best of hands, mammographic screening in women over 50 will reduce a woman's risk of dying from breast cancer by 30%. That is a lot, but it is not 100%. Why? It turns out that breast cancers are not all the same. There are at least five kinds, with different growth rates and levels of aggression. Some are so aggressive that they will have spread before they are visible on a mammogram or form a lump. Some are very slow growing or may not even have the ability to spread, so there is no benefit from finding them early. This is because of the biology of the disease, not the limitations of screening.
One of the reasons that mammography is a less effective tool in young women is that they have a higher rate of these aggressive tumors. Younger women also have breast tissue that is more sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of low-dose radiation. Calculations by a research team in Britain published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2005 suggest that it is possible for women to develop cancer because of the cumulative radiation from yearly mammograms starting at 40 or younger. Finally, mammograms are generally less accurate in younger women who have dense breast tissue, which can mask a cancer. Thus the balance of risk versus benefit is not as clear.
Since the 2002 task force guidelines were released, there has been new data from Britain, which was the first study to look at whether there was any benefit to having women start mammography at age 40. The researchers have followed women in this study for more than 10 years, which means they are now over age 50. To date, they have not shown a statistically significant decrease in mortality. This means if there is a benefit, it must be very small.
The new guidelines are based on this information. They do not say that no women under 50 should get mammograms, but that we should not routinely screen women under 50. Less noted by the media, the guidelines also recommend that we not routinely screen women over 75, where the benefits are dependent on the woman's life expectancy. In both cases, a woman will need to review her situation with her physician.
This has left many young women confused and asking how will we find our cancers if we don't have mammograms. The alternative to mammographic detection of cancer is not death. The alternative is that a woman will find a cancer herself or her physician will find it. The normal "poking around" that women do has been found to be just as good at finding breast cancer as a monthly self-exam.
That's why the task force recommended that doctors encourage women to be familiar with the look and feel of their breasts but to stop teaching formal breast self-exam.
Many of the young women we have heard from in the media this last week had mammograms that in fact missed their cancers, and yet they were adequately treated and often cured. All women should become familiar with their breasts and report any change they see or feel to their doctor.
The public anger at these recommendations is understandable. But it should not be directed at an honest effort to evaluate the benefit of mammography, but at the fact that we still don't know the cause of breast cancer or how to prevent it. Early detection is not our best prevention -- it's not even prevention. It just finds cancers that are already there.
The guidelines are not ignoring the fact that young women get breast cancer; they are confirming that regular mammographic screening has risks and benefits and should be an individual decision. Our recent success with a vaccine for cancer of the cervix demonstrates that the goal of identifying the cause and prevention of a common cancer is not beyond reach. Let's redirect our energy from protesting these guideline changes to finding the answers so that no woman ever has to hear the words, "You have breast cancer."
Susan Love is the founder and president of the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation, dedicated to eradicating breast cancer
Say You're Sorry and It's OK
From: theage.com.au
PM hails attitude shift on violence
DAN HARRISON
November 26, 2009
ALMOST all Australians now acknowledge that domestic violence is a crime, but a quarter of the nation believe women make false claims about being raped, and one in five think violence is OK if the perpetrator later regrets their actions.
The findings come from a survey of more than 10,000 Australians commissioned by the Federal Government and released yesterday by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to mark White Ribbon Day.
The proportion of respondents that acknowledged domestic violence was a crime was 98 per cent, up 5 percentage points from when such a survey was last taken, in 1995. The proportion of people who believe that victims of sexual assault ''ask for it'' dropped from one in seven in 1995 to one in 20 today.
Mr Rudd said he was pleased to see ''a significant shift in the attitudes and beliefs Australians hold'' about domestic violence.
But he added: ''Disappointingly, the survey shows that some Australians still hold attitudes which excuse or trivialise violence against women.''
One quarter of respondents disagreed with the statement that women rarely make false claims of being raped, while one in five believed that violence could be excused if the perpetrator later genuinely regretted what they had done.
The proportion of people who think that women are as likely as men to commit domestic violence has more than doubled. But Mr Rudd said the statistics did not bear this out.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, almost a third of women who experienced physical assault were attacked by a current or former male partner. Only 4 per cent of men who had been physically assaulted in the same period were attacked by a current or former female partner. Almost two-thirds were attacked by male strangers.
Mr Rudd said the survey findings would inform a $17 million social marketing campaign to reduce violence that would be launched early next year.
Over their lifetimes, one in five Australian women will be sexually assaulted, and one in three will be physically assaulted. One in four Australian children will witness violence against their mother or stepmother. Less than a third of victims will report the crime.
Mr Rudd, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull and other MPs yesterday swore an oath to never commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women.
PM hails attitude shift on violence
DAN HARRISON
November 26, 2009
ALMOST all Australians now acknowledge that domestic violence is a crime, but a quarter of the nation believe women make false claims about being raped, and one in five think violence is OK if the perpetrator later regrets their actions.
The findings come from a survey of more than 10,000 Australians commissioned by the Federal Government and released yesterday by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to mark White Ribbon Day.
The proportion of respondents that acknowledged domestic violence was a crime was 98 per cent, up 5 percentage points from when such a survey was last taken, in 1995. The proportion of people who believe that victims of sexual assault ''ask for it'' dropped from one in seven in 1995 to one in 20 today.
Mr Rudd said he was pleased to see ''a significant shift in the attitudes and beliefs Australians hold'' about domestic violence.
But he added: ''Disappointingly, the survey shows that some Australians still hold attitudes which excuse or trivialise violence against women.''
One quarter of respondents disagreed with the statement that women rarely make false claims of being raped, while one in five believed that violence could be excused if the perpetrator later genuinely regretted what they had done.
The proportion of people who think that women are as likely as men to commit domestic violence has more than doubled. But Mr Rudd said the statistics did not bear this out.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, almost a third of women who experienced physical assault were attacked by a current or former male partner. Only 4 per cent of men who had been physically assaulted in the same period were attacked by a current or former female partner. Almost two-thirds were attacked by male strangers.
Mr Rudd said the survey findings would inform a $17 million social marketing campaign to reduce violence that would be launched early next year.
Over their lifetimes, one in five Australian women will be sexually assaulted, and one in three will be physically assaulted. One in four Australian children will witness violence against their mother or stepmother. Less than a third of victims will report the crime.
Mr Rudd, Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull and other MPs yesterday swore an oath to never commit, excuse or remain silent about violence against women.
Come to an Abortion Fundraiser Near You
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/health/policy/24abortion.html
Why donate to politicians when you can Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
http://ms-behaved.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-women-might-reach-cease-fire-over.html
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1294091006424690772&postID=1239499098781697193
Why donate to politicians when you can Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
http://ms-behaved.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-women-might-reach-cease-fire-over.html
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1294091006424690772&postID=1239499098781697193
Something to Cheer About
From the BBC
UN unveils Network of Men to fight abuse of women
Ban Ki-moon said men's attitudes to women needed to change
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has unveiled a Network of Men Leaders to act as male role models in a campaign opposing violence against women.
He urged all men to join the campaign, saying about 70% of women experience some form of physical or sexual violence from men.
The 14 men currently in the network include Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Wednesday is the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women.
This is the 10th anniversary of the founding of the day.
'Global chorus'
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho and Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget are also among those chosen for the new list.
They had all demonstrated a commitment to oppose violence against women, said Mr Ban, adding that the group was expected to grow.
"These men will add their voices to the growing global chorus for action," he said.
Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York, the secretary-general called on men and boys around the world to join the campaign.
Women are most at risk from violent partners or a man they know
"Break the silence," he said. "When you witness violence against women and girls, do not sit back. Act. Advocate. Unite to change the practices and attitudes that incite, perpetrate and condone this violence."
He said it was unacceptable that so many women experienced some form of physical or sexual violence from men - mostly from their husbands, intimate partners, or someone they knew.
He said men must teach each other that real men do not violate or oppress women - and that a woman's place is not just in the home or in the fields but in schools, offices and boardrooms.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African Nobel Peace Laureate, said: "You are a weak man if you use your physical superiority to assault and brutalise women.
"I will continue fighting until the end of my days for the right of women and girls to live a life free from violence and abuse."
UN unveils Network of Men to fight abuse of women
Ban Ki-moon said men's attitudes to women needed to change
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has unveiled a Network of Men Leaders to act as male role models in a campaign opposing violence against women.
He urged all men to join the campaign, saying about 70% of women experience some form of physical or sexual violence from men.
The 14 men currently in the network include Spanish PM Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Wednesday is the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women.
This is the 10th anniversary of the founding of the day.
'Global chorus'
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho and Norwegian Justice Minister Knut Storberget are also among those chosen for the new list.
They had all demonstrated a commitment to oppose violence against women, said Mr Ban, adding that the group was expected to grow.
"These men will add their voices to the growing global chorus for action," he said.
Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York, the secretary-general called on men and boys around the world to join the campaign.
Women are most at risk from violent partners or a man they know
"Break the silence," he said. "When you witness violence against women and girls, do not sit back. Act. Advocate. Unite to change the practices and attitudes that incite, perpetrate and condone this violence."
He said it was unacceptable that so many women experienced some form of physical or sexual violence from men - mostly from their husbands, intimate partners, or someone they knew.
He said men must teach each other that real men do not violate or oppress women - and that a woman's place is not just in the home or in the fields but in schools, offices and boardrooms.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African Nobel Peace Laureate, said: "You are a weak man if you use your physical superiority to assault and brutalise women.
"I will continue fighting until the end of my days for the right of women and girls to live a life free from violence and abuse."
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