April Reign

Speak your mind even if your voice shakes

Politics

8th Circuit US Court of Appeals uses Anatole France as precedent!

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The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
Anatole France

The 8th Circuit US Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that Union Pacific Railroad’s exclusion of birth control from its health plan does not constitute discrimination against women under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In a 2-1 ruling, the majority wrote that “Union Pacific’s health plans do not cover any contraception used by women such as birth control, sponges, diaphragms, intrauterine devices or tubal ligations or any contraception used by men such as condoms and vasectomies… Therefore, the coverage provided to women is not less favorable than that provided to men.”

The court obviously believes the exclusions to be far as it prevents both women and men equally from obtaining through their healthcare plan medications that would keep them from becoming pregnant.

Though just as the rich are unlikely to be found sleeping under bridges, men are unlikely to be found looking like this Male Pregnancy

There was at least one sensible judge who opined:

Because men cannot become pregnant, it makes sense that the health care plan does not cover pregnancy prevention for men. Therefore, Judge Bye found that while the policy might be “officially gender neutral,” it is still discriminatory

To further the discriminatory nature of this ruling medications such as Rogaine and Viagra are covered.

Of course we all know preventing baldness is far more important that preventing pregnancy.

“Microcredit”=What the IMF offers women

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Women’s ENews has a very informative commentary on the IMF and it’s value to women.

(WOMENSENEWS)–Earlier this month President Bush, in a speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, opined that microcredit has “been very successful.”

Bush went on to say, “If you’re a rural farmer scratching out a subsistence living, would you want to be able to sell your goods to new markets overseas?” Don’t you “want to be able to sell into a larger universe?”

Apparently Bush and others believe that rural farmers will successfully exit subsistence agriculture and start competing for market share side by side with multinational powerhouses like ConAgra, General Foods and Nestle.

This equates the activities of the world’s largest corporations with the activities of peasants–mostly women–bartering in rural fairs. Yeah, right.

One expects Bush to endorse policies popular at the World Bank. But when the Nobel Prize Committee, the United Nations and hundreds of international development agencies join the celebration of microcredit as the key to reducing female poverty via women’s economic empowerment we have an obligation to probe their underlying premises.

Powerful policy makers–at the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Federal Reserve and the White House–share the view that markets (specifically the individual exchanges that occur in markets) will save the world’s poor.

This view is an article of faith for neo-liberals since they adhere to the economic philosophy that holds that capitalism and unfettered markets will cure the world’s ills. It assumes that poverty is a problem of individual behavior.

In this article the authors contrasts the IMF approach with SEWA (SELF EMPLOYED WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION) approach. [Read more…] about “Microcredit”=What the IMF offers women

Enquiring minds sorta want to know

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There has been alot of talk about the NDP being dead, no longer with us, nailed to the perch….

So why then the constant flapping of silly gums about various ads, who said what to whom about dirty dancing…er merging with what party et bloody boring cetra.

If the NPD is dead and no threat why bother with the Minister Ministry of Silly Walk Talk about them?

Seems to me time would be better spent finding a way to get Harper de-elected.

Once more with feeling

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Psychols has a post today wondering if PB members are willing to put the progressive where their mouth is, so to speak.

I’ve been wondering the same thing.

PB membership is well over 300. I’ve posted about the petition to save the Community Access Program and currently sigs stand at 73. This is from a wide range of places.

So do people like to talk about progressive more than they like to act upon it?

Perhaps you need a reason to vote. Well if you are a social democratic (philosophy not party) you can go to the site and read about the success stories of various CAPS centers. Then vote so there can be more.

If you are a partisan of any party other than the conservatives you can consider it a vote against Harper.

If you are a partisan Liberal consider it a vote to save a Liberal program from the ravages of Harper government.

I’m putting my faith in you to act upon your progressive values and help save a low cost, extremely important program.

Website here

Petition here

Please pass this link on to all your contacts!

Lets build upon the momentum of success through perseverance that Verbena and liberal catnip have shown us.

International Women’s Day

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IWD

I struggled with what to write today. Which subject seemed to have the greatest importance.

In the end I felt there was no subject that had greater importance. They represented different cultures, different concerns, different areas (work, school, motherhood, reproductive rights) different focus (success stories and stories that show how much work is still required) and I realized that I couldn’t anymore choose a topic of greater importance than I could choose a woman of greater importance. [Read more…] about International Women’s Day

Doris Anderson

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Doris Anderson

On March 2nd 2007 Canada lost a brave and noble woman.

Doris Anderson gave voice to those who were afraid to speak, didn’t know what to say or had no one to listen.

She did not sit back and imagine that so called nuanced responses were the way to achieve equality for women. She said what needed to be said, did what needed to be done and encouraged others to do the same.

In 1981 Doris was instrumental in ensuring that women’s equality would be enshrined in the Charter.

Anderson vs. Axworthy

1981: Canada is gripped by an identity crisis after Prime Minister Trudeau says he will add a charter of rights to the country’s constitution.

Women were worried about the Charter, says Anderson: the leaders behind it were all men, and men had a dismal record of defending women’s rights. As chair of the independent federal advisory committee on the status of women, she had already planned a conference that February so women’s groups could collaborate to critique the Charter.

But in January, then Employment Minister Axworthy pressed the committee to delay the conference until June. As reported at the time in the Toronto Star, he said a February conference could embarrass the government since it would be holding its last debate on the Charter at the same time.

Anderson was outraged. She said the committee would lose all credibility as an independent body if the government could manipulate it like this. Also, women had been waiting for months for this chance to influence the debate on the Charter. Delaying the conference until after that debate was finished would make it pointless.

Anderson and five other committee members decided to resign in protest. The conference was cancelled.

[Read more…] about Doris Anderson