OMG | Bible Opposed To Higher Teachers Salaries | No Pink Ribbons for Planned Parenthood

Don’t Worry | Be Happy

Package Design & Unintended Pregnancy

In the second major recall of contraception in less than six months, Pfizer has recalled about 1 million packets of birth control pills because confusion in packaging has caused a misalignment of the pill order, increasing the likelihood of pregnancy. TIMELAND writes:

The affected pills include 14 lots of Lo/Ovral-28 tablets and 14 lots of generic Norgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol tablets. All the pills were marketed by Akrimax Rx Products and have expiration dates ranging from July 31, 2013, to March 31, 2014. They were distributed to warehouses, clinics and pharmacies throughout the U.S.

Pfizer notified pharmacies and distributors on Dec. 28 that it was recalling the pills, writes the Wall Street Journal. The company believed, based on the “low defect rate and our health-hazard assessment,” that providing public notice wasn’t necessary. Late Tues. Pfizer changed its mind, deciding that perhaps women who were taking the pills and might become pregnant deserved to be notified.

Typically missing one pill or taking the wrong pill doesn’t result in an unintended pregnancy. The reality is that on their own, women are known to miss taking their contraceptive pill, thus increasing the possibility of pregnancy.

Is Bible Against Higher Pay for Teachers?

He said what??? Alabama state Sen. Shadrack McGill said that increasing pay for teachers is against ‘a biblical principle’ because it might attract people who otherwise wouldn’t do the job.

“Teachers need to make the money that they need to make,” McGill said, according to the Times-Journal. “If you double a teacher’s pay scale, you’ll attract people who aren’t called to teach … and these teachers that are called to teach, regardless of the pay scale, they would teach. It’s just in them to do. It’s the ability that God give ‘em.”

Alabama is leading the nation in beginning pay for teachers but lags significantly behind in average pay, writes Huff Po. In real terms, teacher pay has declined for 30 years, with an average starting salary of $39,000. The average ending salary is $67,000 says the New York Times.

Imagine a novice teacher, thrown into an urban school, told to teach five classes a day, with up to 40 students each. At the year’s end, if test scores haven’t risen enough, he or she is called a bad teacher. For college graduates who have other options, this kind of pressure, for such low pay, doesn’t make much sense. So every year 20 percent of teachers in urban districts quit. Nationwide, 46 percent of teachers quit before their fifth year. The turnover costs the United States $7.34 billion yearly. The effect within schools — especially those in urban communities where turnover is highest — is devastating.

Back to state Sen. Shadrack McGill, (R) Alabama, he didn’t find that the Bible prevented him from getting a pay raise. In 2007, McGill voted for a 67 percent pay increase, increasing the salaries of Alabama’s part-time legislators from $30.710 to $49,500 writes Think Progress. McGill argued that it would help stop corruption. The pay increase means that McGill and his part-time colleagues make a higher salary in Alabama than a full-time teacher with a Master’s degree and 15 years of experience.

In 2006 Alabama had the 4th lowest percentage of women legislators at a state level, reports the Decatur Daily.  The state had 5.7 percent or eight women legislators. Electing more women to office would balance the mostly male outlook that dominates the Statehouse and likely bring more attention to health care, education and children’s issues, several of Alabama’s female legislators told The Birmingham News.

Komen Foundation Stops Funding Cancer Screenings At Planned Parenthood

Conservatives are thrilled that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation has broken its ties with Planned Parenthood. Anti-choice activists have targeted Komen’s women’s health initiatives with Planned Parenthood since 2005.  The New York Post headlined the news: Pro-Lifers win big against Planned Parenthood.

The official reason for the break is because Planned Parenthood is under Congressional investigation and Komen won’t fund any organization being investigated, based on a recently-passed amendment to the foundation’s funding rules. But according to the Los Angeles Times, Planned Parenthood suspects the decision is based on lobbying by anti-abortion activists.

Karen Handel, who was endorsed by Sarah Palin during her unsuccessful 2010 run for governor of Georgia has been the Foundation’s Senior Vice President for Public Policy at Komen since April 2011. During her gubernatorial candidacy, Handel made it clear that she ran on an anti-choice platform, vowing to defund Planned Parenthood if elected.

AOC covered the issue in depth last night, in a special article on our front page.

M&S | Anne Sinclair @ Huff Po France | Macy's Sues Martha Stewart | Rosalind Brewer @ Sam's Club

Movers and Shakers

Evelyn Lauder Memorial

More than 2,000 family, friends and civic leaders honored Evelyn H. Lauder at a Monday morning memorial at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. Members of the Lauder family, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Hurley and Dr. Larry Norton shared memories of Evelyn Lauder’s life during the service.

Husband Leonard Lauder noted that he has received more than 2,700 letters of condolences since his wife’s death on Nov. 12. “I cherish and embrace each of them,” he said. “Evelyn wasn’t a head of state, but reading those letters, it made me feel that she was.” writes WWD

Evelyn Lauder was born Evelyn Hausner in Vienna during World War II and emigrated with her parents to New York City to escape the Nazis, noted Bloomberg. “No one showed this city more passion than Evelyn,” he said. “It is fitting that we are at Lincoln Center, one of the city’s most cultural landmarks, to celebrate Evelyn Lauder, one of the city’s great cultural icons. Because if anyone’s life is worthy of celebration on a great stage like this, it is Evelyn’s. She taught for years in an elementary school in Harlem. She gave back to her family and helped build a business with just five products into the powerhouse it is today. She was a fiercely devoted mother and adoring grandmother and a Jewish grandmother to countless honorary Lauders. She had a warmness, a kindness, a generousness that put everyone at ease, whether you were a supermodel or an average Joe. She also knew life had the bitter and the sweet, and the challenge was to find the right balance.

Anne Sinclair @ Huff Po France

Anne Sinclair, right, and Arianna Huffington at a news conference on Monday in Paris. Thibault Camus/Associated PressAnne Sinclair returned to public life yesterday, speaking to more than 250 journalists in her new role as editorial director for the French edition of The Huffington Post website, which debuted yesterday.

The former TV anchor and heiress to an art fortune said there would be no conflict of interest in carrying out her editorial duties as scandal continues to surround her husband Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Arianna Huffington, sitting by Ms. Sinclair’s side, defended her as a gifted journalist and a role model for other women.

Asked why she had picked Ms. Sinclair, Ms. Huffington reeled off a list of her qualifications, and then added: “Every woman in her private life — if not in her public life — has been through setbacks, ordeals and problems. When we see a woman enter the arena again, and get engaged with what is happening in the world, it gives hope and courage to every other woman.” via NYTimes

Macy’s Inc and JC Penney Duel Over Martha Stewart

Martha Stewart by Steve EichnerIn an opening salvo from former Apple executive Ron Johnson, now committed to reinventing JC Penney, the company bought a stake in Omnimedia last month, with plans to sell a wide range of Martha Stewart-branded products, starting in 2013. Yesterday Macy’s sued Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. for breach of contract.

“We can confirm that today, Macy’s notified us of its intention to renew and extend its commercial agreement with MSLO to feature and promote the Martha Stewart Collection — its number-one home brand — in Macy’s stores,” said a Martha Stewart spokeswoman. “J.C. Penney’s investment in Martha Stewart has closed and our commercial agreement with them remains in effect.”

Gabrielle Gifford Gives Up Seat

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords leads the Pledge of Allegiance in Tucson. AP photoRep. Gabrielle Giffords will resign from her Congress to focus on recovery from her gunshot wounds.

Giffords was shot in the head in January 2011 as she was meeting with constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz. Six people died in the shooting, with Giffords and 12 others being injured. Giffords has made amazing progress, to the point that she was able to walk into the House chamber last August to cast a vote.

She will attend President Obama’s State of the Union message tonight in Washington.

Rosalind Brewer @ Sam’s Club

Rosalind Brewer by Bryan Bedder/GettyWalmart has named Rosalind Brewer president and CEO of its Sam’s Club unit. Brewer is the first woman and first African-American to run one of Walmart’s three operating divisions. Brewer’s previous assignment was president of the Walmart east business unity, where she was responsible for $100 billion in revenue and 500,000 associates.

Also announced, Gisel Ruiz becomes executive vice president and chief operating officer of Walmart US. Ruiz was previously executive vice president of people for Walmart US and will oversee operations in more than 3,800 U.S. stores across all formats.

Bonnie Brooks @ L&T

Bonnie Brooks By Steve EichnerCanadian retailer Hudson’s Bay Co. has named Bonnie Brooks to president of the $4 billion company. She will oversee the merchandise, marketing and store operations of Lord & Taylor and The Bay

Brooks was previously president of the Lane Crawford Joyce Group based in Hong Kong, where she supervised four divisions in nine Asian countries — the Lane Crawford department stores, Joyce Boutiques, Pedder Specialty Group and the LCJG Distribution Co. Before Lane Crawford, Brooks was Holt Renfrew’s executive vice president and general merchandise manager and, earlier, served as editor in chief of Flare, Canada’s largest fashion and lifestyle magazine. via WWD

Laura Dekker Teaches Wall Street To Invest for the Long Haul

Laura Dekker Youngest Sailor to Sail Around the World | Her’s to Girl Power and Following Big Dreams! AOC FP

(Note: our extensive, reader-friendly front page coverage of Laura’s story links back to all the key stories in her journey.)

Laura Dekker’s completion of her around the world sailing journey is not only AOC’s top story today — after all Laura does dominate our front page. Her triumph is our biggest story ever — including beating out Lea T on Oprah and the Andre Pejic interview. (OK, we are an eclectic mix on AOC.)

In total page views, we’ll see over time, but we adore the interest in Laura’s determined journey, a fight and triumph we’ve followed from the beginning.

Fighting the System Yes, But Womanly Justice Prevailed

Yes, Laura broke rules; yes, she and her father fought the Dutch authorities childcare system when they tried to stop the young, very well-trained sailor.

But it was also a panel of three women judges and one man who set Laura free to follow her dream, when many other authorities said she was not only of sound mind and emotional maturity, but capable of making the journey.

For all the frustration with the Dutch childcare authorities, many other Dutch officials helped Laura accomplish this tremendous voyage that will now shape her life. Along the way, we must ask ourselves what is the meaning of education, because I think Laura has received one of the most amazing educations ever in life.

Laura Dekker Sailed Like a Wise Tortoise

Laura Dekker sailed around the world the sane way. She didn’t hit the high seas and barrel headstrong around the world. In the classic fable of the tortoise and the hare, Laura sailed like a tortoise. She stopped along the way to repair her boat, meet with family and work on her education studies.

In a major decision that added miles to her course, Laura Dekker avoided Somalia by dropping further south on the longer but safer route.

We find that Laura sailed as women are inclined to invest. Indeed, AOC is a crazy, intellectual place and I am connecting the dots, believing that Laura Dekker has something to teach the Wall Street boys about investing for the long haul.

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Are Kids of Gay Parents Better Off With Mom & Imprisoned Dad?

Karen and Rick Santorum via Getty ImagesRepublican presidential candidate Rick Santorum pontificated pre-primary in New Hampshire about the evils of gay marriage and even worse, gay parenthood. Santorum quoted an unnamed ‘anti-poverty expert’ (let’s hope it’s not George Rekers) who allegedly claims that children are better off having a parent in prison who has abandoned them than having two same-sex parents.

This assertion came as crushing news to three of the children in his boarding school audience who had gay parents.The LA Times reported then:

Allowing gays to marry and raise children, Santorum said, amounts to “robbing children of something they need, they deserve, they have a right to. You may rationalize that that isn’t true, but in your own life and in your own heart, you know it’s true.”

Rick Santorum’s views on gay marriage are well known, post his 2003 interview with the Associated Press in which the Republican candidate for president described gay marriage as no different from “man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be.”

While we wait for Santorum to cough up his sources for a ‘research position’ undocumented to professionals who track research studies on homosexuals, the Washington Post refers us to a study published in this month’s Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

“Quality of Life of Adolescents Raised From Birth by Lesbian Mothers,” is part of a long-term study of American lesbian families called the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study, which is supported by The Williams Institute at UCLA Law, a research center specializing in sexual orientation law and public policy.

This study had a completely different conclusion than Santorum’s unnamed research guru.

In 2006, the LA Times concluded that there was no research that confirmed any negatives to the children of gay parents, while also stressing that the research field is still young.

In 2001, Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz, then sociologists at the University of Southern California, published a review of 21 previous studies of the children of homosexual parents (most of them lesbians). Almost uniformly, they wrote, the research found no systematic differences between children reared by a mother and father and those raised by same-sex parents.

The researchers expressed an observation that “The boys may be less aggressive. There’s some indication the girls will have a wider array of career aspirations.” The duo also concluded — not that the children are more likely to become lifestyle choice homosexuals themselves — but that they are inclined to be more experimental sexually.

In 2010, still at New York University, Stacey and her research partner Biblarz at the University of Southern California revisited the research, again finding no differences between children raised in homes with two heterosexual parents and children raised with lesbian parents.

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OMG | Santorum Question for Bob Marshall | Lawmaker Kip Smith Fails Post-Breakfast Alchohol Test

More Ultimate Hypocrisy!

Morning Libations

State Rep. Kip Smith charged with DUI in Buckhead Atlanta Journal Constitution

Georgia State Rep. Kip Smith (R) wants all welfare recipients to be subjected to drug testing, even though the same law in Florida is regarded as a farce, based on test results and costs to the taxpayers.

Smith, who likes racy cars, drove his 1998 gold four-door Jaguar XJ8 (Anne’s favorite) through a red light last Friday morning, leaving Hal’s restaurant on Old Ivy Road, with a police car trailing him. Smelling alcohol on Smith’s morning breakfast breath after pulling him over, the officer reports that John Andrew Smith initially denied that he had been drinking.

“I asked him again, and he stated he had consumed a single beer at Hal’s. I noticed also that Mr. Smith’s eyes were watery, and I asked him to exit the vehicle, which he did,” Kramer said in the report.

Smith told the officer he’d had the beer 45 minutes earlier, and the officer asked him to blow into a hand-held “intoximeter”. The officer said the lawmaker refused, stating he would prefer to go to a clinic or the hospital to get tested.

After finally agreeing to blow into the ‘intoximeter’, the police report stated that the breakfast-lovin’ legislator blew a .091, which is above the legal Georgia limit of .08. Smith allegedly failed a “walk-and-turn” test and a “one-leg stand” test also. At this point the unhappy Hal’s breakfast customer was arrested.

No Place for a Woman

Nine reasons Michele Bachmann’s campaign fizzled Des Moines Register

Bachmann looks at hanging beef carcasses during a plant tour at Amend Packing Co. in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)AOC has written plenty about Michele Bachmann’s relationship with God. In fact all the Republican candidates are riding a golden chariot on behalf of God over America’s current belief in separation of church and state. Most of us thought it was part of the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, but the Republicans say “no”.  Unquestionably, the Republicans seek a Christian theocracy for America.

In analyzing why Bachmann’s campaign bit the dust with a nine-point list, chief politics writer Jennifer Jacobs writes:

#5. Sexism among some conservatives

Rival presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s Iowa coalitions director, Jamie Johnson, sent out an email saying that children’s lives would be harmed if the nation had a female president. He wrote it in June, but it surfaced on the campaign trail in the fall.

“The question then comes, ‘Is it God’s highest desire, that is, his biblically expressed will, … to have a woman rule the institutions of the family, the church, and the state?’ ” Johnson’s email said.

Johnson said the email was meant to be a private message to a friend, that he sent it from his personal email account, not his campaign account, and that he hadn’t intended it to be read by anyone else.

Peter Waldron, Bachmann’s faith outreach coordinator, said:

Three influential pastors called for her to bow out of the race, and numerous others said “that a female could not be a civil magistrate,” said Waldron, who lives in Florida and has worked six presidential campaigns dating to Ronald Reagan’s in 1980.

God’s Punishment for Abortion

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