April Reign

Speak your mind even if your voice shakes

Debra

Lessons from 1984

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Status of Women Minister Bev Oda says the Conservative government has removed “equality” from the mandate of the status of women program because it wants to instil the belief in equality in every government department, agency and office.

That’s right we want to take away the concept of equality to ensure equality. Now if you aren’t understanding that logic you likely belong to one of those special interests groups.

A lot of issues are not women’s issues, they’re Canadian issues,” Oda said, explaining the government philosophy behind a series of moves that have provoked a week of Opposition criticism and protests by women’s groups.

snip

“If you want to advocate for more opportunities for women to enter the workforce, you should be talking to the minister of human resources and social development,” Oda said. “If it’s aboriginal women, it’s the responsibility of the minister of aboriginal affairs.

“We believe as a government that every part of the federal government has to be founded in the belief of equality,” Oda said.

Not actual equality mind you, the belief of equality.

Now if you want to see a demonstration of such belief, look to the south where they have cured hunger! Though there are still some who are food insecure. But hey we all have insecurities!

Oda said the term feminist “doesn’t bother me. It’s not pro or con. All I know is that I stand for what’s right and what’s wrong

Exactly! She stands for the right and as usual they are wrong.

We can take heart though that the other members of the conservative cabinet are already brushing up on women’s issues.

Stockwell Day, Conservative MP for Okanagan Coquihalla, disagrees with that assertion and noted there will be no cuts to services. He added that he doesn’t know anything about the word equality being stripped.

“Status of Women was established in 1976, and there are going to be no cuts in service, the women’s program will continue to receive all of its funding,” Day said.

Er…maybe not.

Book Tagged

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I got tagged.

The instructions:
Find the nearest book.
Turn to page 123.
Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
Name the book and the author.

It turned out, however, that Douglas had been just slightly ahead of his time. This was the era of the common front; in Europe especially, socialists and Communists united to fight the fascist threat. THere were no declared fascists in Saskatchewan politics, and few Communists, but CCF supporters set out to find allies to overthrow the Liberals, whom they regarded as the worst of all possible ruling parties.

Tommy Douglas
The Road to Jerusalem

Thomas H. McLeod
Ian McLeod

Consider yourself tagged

Domestic Dispute

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Dispute: to debate, question, to argue.

Sounds so innocuous doesn’t it?

In this story three people including the one doing the “disputing” died.

Mayor Scott Lang said the shooter died of a self-inflicted wound. Police said there was an exchange of gunfire with officers and would not confirm the shooter killed himself.

The club’s owner, Tom Tsoumas of Easton, told WBZ-AM his nephew Tory Marandos, 30, who was managing the club, and a floor host, Bobby Carreira, were killed by the man, who had been told to stay away after a failed relationship with a bartender.

Tsoumas identifed the shooter as Scott Medeiros. He said the club had hired him about two years ago to install a security system.

Tsoumas said Medeiros had dated a bartender at the club, and she feared him. He went to the club about two weeks ago and Carreira told him to stay away.

‘‘He said, ‘This isn’t the place for you. She doesn’t want to see you. It’s only going to cause problems.’ And he went away, but he evidently came in last night,’’ Tsoumas said.

[Read more…] about Domestic Dispute

It’s hard out there for a pimp..er priest

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So a Romanian priest has decided that unless you are as pure as the driven snow, you can’t wear white.

Bucharest, Romania (AHN) – A Romanian priest has introduced a “white dress fine” against non-virgins brides who will wear white dress on their wedding day. The 37-year-old Father Petrica Bratu from Valea Sarii, Romania said the aim of the fine is to prevent couples from living in sin.

The fines will range between $20 to $118 in a nation where the average monthly salary is just $196.

Why the wide range in fines (I pretend) I hear you ask?

Because Father Bratu wants to get his rocks off hearing just how much of dirty girl you’ve been.

“The fine depends on how intimate a couple have been before they get married.”

Under the priest’s white dress fine scheme, couples who had recently moved in together would be fined $20 but brides who were pregnant or had children would pay $118.

Wonder if Father Bratu will be using the money to buy bridal porn?

A woman’s right to life

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The center will appeal to the Nicaraguan human rights council and the Supreme Court, arguing that the law violates a women’s right to life.

Think about that sentence for a minute…..

Has it sunk in?

A woman’s right to life

Who would ever have imagined in the year 2006 almost 2007 that we would be debating whether or not a woman’s life was worth saving.

Nicaragua has decided to enter the debate. Resolved that a fetus, even a dead one, takes precedence over a woman.

The public prosecutor for crimes against women is investigating whether doctors fearful of punishment even before the newly-passed abortion law had gone into effect stood by while Jazmina del Carmen Bojorge, 18, died from complications to her pregnancy.

Bojorge was awaiting her second child when she and her 5-month-old fetus died this month in a public hospital in Managua. Bojorge’s family says they took her to a hospital when she complained of limb pains and weakness. When her condition worsened, doctors say they determined her fetus was dead, but Bojorge went into shock before they could save her.

and

Ana Isela Vega, who was three months pregnant when she suffered a miscarriage this month, was refused the necessary procedure to evacuate her uterus in a public hospital in the city of León, said Marta María Blandón, Central America director of Ipas. According to Blandón, the doctors worried they could not operate for legal reasons. Under pressure from women’s groups who explained that the law did not forbid removing an already-deceased fetus, the doctors finally operated.

Of course we know that anti choice types only create these types of laws because of their great love of children.

Um…maybe not

Asked in an interview this month about the case of an 8-year-old Nicaraguan who was raped in 2002 and whose family fought successfully to get her a legal abortion the following year, Navarro replied, “If a 9-year-old is raped, she should have the baby, because that child has rights.”

I’m guessing he wasn’t talking about the 8 year old child.

[article here, you need to register (it’s free) to read the last page]

Feel good gifting

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Came across this story today.

Amamanta, Spanish for breastfeeding, is a blend of two words that mean love and protection.

It is also the name of a doll family whose members may appeal to holiday shoppers looking beyond the latest Barbie or Bratz doll for a present that’s non-hazardous to body image and can also educate about how babies are made, born and nurtured.

Each 16-inch cloth adult Amamanta doll has genitals and pubic hair, and the mother doll features breasts that can be snapped onto the baby doll’s mouth to help reinforce the importance of breastfeeding.

“I wish children to be happy and grow with the idea that sexuality is important and is part of our lives,” says Margarita Maria Mesa Leal, owner of the company that makes the dolls. Leal hand sews dolls herself, in addition to employing 27 local women in Medellin, Colombia, all of them mothers.

Dolls aren’t cheap; an individual can be purchased for $39 or a family for up to $199. Leal didn’t go into the particulars of what she pays her workers, but she says these prices allow her to pay a living wage and use only high quality materials.

Fantastic too that they show proper birthing, breastfeeding and come in multi racial/cultural varieties.

Giving a great gift, supporting small business, supporting ethical business, now that says christmas! [Read more…] about Feel good gifting