Roundup of Mother’s Day Missives

Read here about the poignant anguish of mothers separated from their children along the Mexico/U.S. border, where “a modest opening here and there, just wide enough to slip a hand or a homemade taco through” allows families their only physical contact.
And kudos to Ellen Bravo for her fabulous op-ed about what mothers really need (hint:  […]

Arise Then Women Of This Day!

MOTHER’S DAY PROCLAMATION
Julia Ward Howe Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of fears!
Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
“Our husbands shall not come […]

Would Banning Penthouse And Playboy Hurt Military Morale?

Hey guess what–Playboy and Penthouse aren’t pornographic, at least according to the military:
“U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., has introduced legislation that would close a loophole in the current law that allows the sale of some sexually explicit material on military bases by lowering the threshold required to deem material “sexually explicit.”
A Department of Defense committee […]

Is Our Children Being Brainwashed

Yes I know, the title to this post is grammatically challenged, merely a nod to W’s “Is our children learning” line. But seriously, whatever happened to teaching reading, writing and ‘rithmatic???
“The first high school dedicated to preparing students for the front lines in the Nation’s homeland security has gone from theory to planning […]

Murder Attempt Against Puntland’s Last Woman TV Presenter

Murder Attempt Against Puntland’s Last Woman TV Presenter
Reporters sans Frontières
PRESS RELEASE
7 May 2008
Reporters Without Borders said today it was disgusted by a murder attempt against Bisharo Mohammed Waeys, celebrated presenter on the privately-owned Eastern Television Network (ETN), on 4 May, the last woman working openly as a journalist in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, north-eastern […]

Laura Bush: So Close And Yet So Far Away…

There is an AP story in my local paper this morning that says this about Mrs. Bush, and I quote:
“She  blistered military leaders…as being “very inept” for repressing citizens and decimating an economy.”
Unfortunately she was referring to Mynamar, not the U.S.

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The It’s About Time List Latest Update

Our list of influential women leaders is growing, here is the updated list, please note that if a submitted name is already on the Time list, then I didn’t include it here:

Barbara Brenner–Breast Cancer Action
Jennifer Drew–English activist working to highlight misogynist media portrayals of sexual assault.
Cathy Webster–1000 Grandmothers
Geena Davis
Leuren Moret and Helen Caldicott for raising […]

Giving Aid To Women And Children In Myanmar

As is always the case in discussing aid in the aftermath of natural disasters, the first concern that we have is getting the aid to those who need it most, and that is almost always women and children.  We will post  information on efforts directed specifically for that purpose in Myanmar as we become aware […]

Anna Greer on the Media Use Of Passive Voice In Describing Gender-Motivated Violence

Anna Greer has a very thought-provoking piece in Wo! Magazine about the use of the passive voice in describing gender-based violence. She writes:
“One of the first things journalism students learn is to avoid the passive voice. So, you have to wonder why journalists are drawn to using passive voice when the subject of their […]

It’s About Time–Influential Women That Time Forgot

Well here it is, the opening salvo of the “It’s About Time” list of influential women that Time should have included in their list of 100 influential leaders.  We need more names!  Let’s make it clear that far more than 25% of the influential people on this planet happen to be women.  By perpetuating the […]