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.

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 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.

Karen and Rick Santorum via Getty Images

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.

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

Karen Garver and Dr Tom Allen

Karen Garver Santorum lived through most of her 20s in a five-six year relationship with Tom Allen, a Pittsburgh obstetrician and abortion provider 40 years older than she.

The young woman’s father was a pediatrician and many of his patients were referred to him by Allen. Karen Garver left Tom Allen after meeting new love Rick Santorum. Karen apparently changed career courses from nursing to pursue her future as a lawyer. Garver met her future husband as an intern at Rick Santorum’s law firm.

Karen Garver Santorum, who left her six-year relationship with Dr Tom Allen after meeting Rick Santorum.Before changing gears, here please note that Rick Santorum said in 1997, that of course he would have chosen to save his wife’s life. Today he condemns her to death and their other children motherless — and Karen agrees.

“The doctors said they were talking about a matter of hours or a day or two before risking sepsis and both of them might die,” Santorum said. “Obviously, if it was a choice of whether both Karen and the child are going to die or just the child is going to die, I mean it’s a pretty easy call.”

Both Rick Santorum and his wife Karen are virulently opposed to any exceptions in the abortion debate, believing that birth control is also form of abortion. Believers in home schooling, it seems fare to say that the Santorums espouse a very traditional view of relations between men and women, even if Karen had a rather progressive beginning.

Karen Santorum Lived for Several Years with National Leader in Safe Abortions

In fact, Dr Allen delivered Mrs. Santorum, born Karen Garver, in 1960. Karen Santorum’s six-year-long May-December affair began when she was 22 and a nursing student at Duquesne University and Allen was 63 and founder of the Magee-Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Dr Allen’s enjoyment of much younger women was well known and the reason for his first divorce. Karen Garver called Allen for advice on an apartment near Duquesne University and moved into a basement apartment close by Allen’s two-floor apartment.

Recalling the day they began their relationship the Daily Mail picks up the story:

‘That first night, as soon as it got dark, she called to say she was scared and asked if she could come up.

‘I figured it was a come-on, but that was OK’.

During her relationship with Dr Allen, Karen Garver saw the world with several European holidays, as well as a trip to Hong Kong. Her partner bought her a grand piano and paid to have her teeth straightened. That’s a pretty sweet situation.

Six Degrees of Separation

By Bro. Solomon

In the history of the Old Testament, prophetic ministry takes on and defines the character of the relationship between Israel and YHWH. We see that prophets are not uniquely part of Israel’s history but also other neighboring cultures and kingdoms, during the ancient period of the Old Testament. In the book of Judges the people of Israel find themselves in a predicament since there was yet no monarchy and they found themselves in a transitional phase from the settlement towards the anointing of Saul, who was to be the first king of Israel (1Sam.10). It is during this period that the judges arose in Israel. The judges were people God chose to deliver the Israelites from their enemies and other foreign rulers. They could be likened to modern day national heroes.

A phenomenon occurs in the book of Judges, which makes a unique contribution to the history of prophecy in Israel. This occurs in the figure of Deborah (Judges 4:4) . Deborah is a woman who is both prophet and judge. She is an unlikely choice to have these roles in a time when women were not considered as having the ability to lead or govern in a male dominated culture.

This paper will be a research study on the prophecy and figure of Deborah. I will attempt to analyze her role and character as portrayed in the book of Judges 4-5. This is no scholarly work by any means, but just a simple fruit of research and hypothesis.  I hope with the help of certain sources to bring about a better understanding of Deborah’s person and the relevance of her feminine prophetism for the people of today.

The Person of Deborah Prophetess and Judge

In the book of Judges, interplay begins in the account of Deborah the prophetess (Judg. 4-6). This interplay involves a shift from male judges to an episode in the epic of Israel’s history to a story, which involves redemption of the chosen people, through the charismatic and resourceful wisdom of women. “The battle of “us versus them,” the equation between battle and sex, and gender related themes are all at play in this passage.” [2]

We have the repetitive theme of sin and rescue in the beginning of the passage of the narrative “the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord”  (Judg. 4:1-2).   The breaking of the covenantal relationship will once again cause the Lord to allow Israel to be handed over to another political and oppressive ruler. This time the Lord hands them over to “Jabin king of Canaan” (Judg. 4:2). The theme continues to play out by Israel “crying out to the Lord for help” (Judg. 4:3).  It is after twenty years of oppression and cruelty that God responds to Israel’s plea by raising up Deborah. It is accounted first that Deborah is a prophetess, “Deborah’s primary affiliation is not a family or a spouse, as would be expected of a married woman, but to her profession, prophecy”,[3] it is fascinating to note that the description of her prophetic role comes before the description of who her husband is “Now Deborah was a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth” (Judg. 4:4).

Artist currently unknownNote from Anne: This informative post by Bro. Solomon on Teresa of Avila, the founder of his and Bro. Dennis’ Carmelite order is an extension of my 2Ps in a Pod blog, written between myself and Bro. Dennis, founder of Carmel Laboratories, maker of Easeamine anti-aging skin care products.

Regular readers at AOC know that my personal relationship with organized religion is tenuous at best except for congregations like the Episcopalian and Presybeterian Churches or reform Judaism. My views in no way dishonor the importance of spirituality and God-driven beliefs in our lives. I have vigorously condemned the negative impacts of fundamentalist theology on women’s lives worldwide.

At the same time, I am a peacemaker seeking to align myself with people where our similarities are many and differences few. This alliance describes my personal relationship with Bros. Dennis and Solomon and the entire Easeamine team.

After careful consideration of how to align the editorial content coming out of my expanding relationship with Easeamine, I believe Bro. Solomon’s post belongs in Women, as an offset to our larger AOC discussion about women and religion.

We will make every effort to highlight the positive stories about religious women without backing down on our criticism of every trend that seeks to declare America a theocracy, which is the goal of social conservatives of every religious persuasion. AOC’s editorial policy supports the concept of individual rights as declared in the US Constitution and outlined more fully in The Bill of Rights. In particular we support the 14th Amendment as it has been interpreted by the US Supreme Court.

Seeking to promote public discourse and education that emphasizes our shared visions with others and not our disagreements, we respect the individual differences and outright rejection in some cases of AOC’s public positions by some of our talented writers and thinkers, such as Bro. Solomon and Bro. Dennis. 

Celebrating Teresa of Avila, Founder of the Carmelite Order

“Thank you, every woman, for the simple fact of being a woman! Through the insight which is so much a part of your womanhood you enrich the world’s understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic.”  ­–Pope John Paul II, Letter to Women, June 29, 1995

In a male dominated Church we often lose fact that in essence the Church is feminine. We call the Church  “Mother”. When someone is baptized we see it as the Church “giving birth”.  The Virgin Mary holds a prominent place in Church life and devotion. Of course this stems from what John Paul called the “feminine genius”.

Bernini’s statue of St Teresa in Ecstacy in Rome.The role of women in the Church has been somewhat overshadowed at times because of an exclusively male clergy, but this does not mean that they have not been leaders, prophets, teachers and even at times hope for all the people of God! We only have to think of great female figures how went against the “status quos”. Being myself a Carmelite I think of our founder Teresa of Avila (March 28, 1515 – October 4, 1582) who reformed a religious order of monks and nuns, which had become lax and deserted it’s founding ideals.

Women in the Church

Fabiana Mayer | Samuli Karala | Gloria Finland October 2011 | Extreme Beauty

Michelle Cameron’s styling of ‘Extreme Beauty’, a romantic, Victorian, ladylike editorial starring Fabiana Mayer and lensed by Samuli Karala prompts us to take a look at the British and American ‘Cult of Domesticity’, a plan developed to insure that women lived their lives with perfect virtue.

This is another of our new women’s history lessons, that I am prompted to write as American women face the prospect of returning to the Dark Ages, far behind the women of Finland in the quality of our lives — which we are already today. (Note: I will clarify what I mean by quality of life for women in the coming weeks.)

The Victorian Cult of Domesticity in America

In America, the good Christian women who embraced and promoted the Cult of Domesticity were educated and living in the Northeast. They are the very women Phyllis Schlafly loves to hate today, calling us educated Eastern liberals living in glass bubbles and working against women’s interests — a thinking, female, anti-home and family mafia.

Let me not digress. Our focus today is the soulful and spiritual beauty of Victorian women.

According to Barbara Welter, author of the influential essay on this topic, “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820–1860” (American Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 2, Part i (Summer 1966), pp. 151–174), True Women were to hold the four cardinal virtues:

Steven Conn, a writer for the History News Service, is an associate professor in the history department at Ohio State University.  He wrote this essay in July 2007 for the History News Service. You can read more about Steven Conn on his web page at Ohio State.

For the last several years, the United States has depicted the battle against terrorism as a contest pitting free societies against those who would impose Islamic rule on the world. But across the globe right now the epochal struggle is not between Islam and the West, but between those societies in which women are free and those in which they are repressed.

Women’s lives are controlled in those nations observing some form of Islamic law. The Taliban first came to the world’s horrified attention with reports of the beatings, stonings and summary executions of women who were held to have violated Islamic law. Throughout the Islamic world women are not permitted to move freely in public, are denied full access to educational and economic life and are barred from voting. In Saudi Arabia — our ally in the fight against terrorism — women are even forbidden to drive cars.

Social and political control over women’s bodies, however, extends well beyond the Islamic world. In many African societies women are forced to have their genitals mutilated. Rape has routinely been used as an instrument of war from Bosnia to Darfur. The trafficking of women in sexual slavery is now endemic across much of Eastern Europe and Asia, but has generated only a tepid response from governments in those regions.

In the developing world, it has been a truism for a generation that the surest indicators of a country’s social and economic progress are the educational levels of its women and women’s ability to limit their pregnancies. Put crudely, as education for women goes up and family size goes down, societies prosper. In the Catholic third world, women are denied access to birth control as a matter of law. In El Salvador, women and doctors are jailed for having illegal abortions. No coincidence that many of these places have stagnating economies.

Images: Adrien Sahores & Bastiaan Van Gaalen | Anthony Maule | Vman Magazine ‘The Evangelist’

Evangelism in America

The Evangelical Rejection of Science NYTimes Op Ed

Anne here, highly recommending this NYT op ed piece by Karl W Giberson & Randall J Stephens. Karl W. Giberson is a former professor of physics, and Randall J. Stephens is an associate professor of history, both at Eastern Nazarene College. They are the authors of “The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age.”

Science is on trial in the Republican presidential field, now a bastion of evangelical anti-intellectualism. Not just parts of scientific research like climate change are under debate. Evolution is not only dismissed as an unproven theory, but all of archaeological discovery about the lives of humans before the Old Testament are ignored — as if the rest of the world is just crazy or launching a deceptive attack against pious Christians.

As an American, I do not recognize the country in which I live. The country that put a man on the moon is today capable of denying the very fact that it happened. Depending on whether or not the Republicans win the next elections, not only will the Republicans continue their relentless war on women.

Next, they will wage war on our minds and all intellect. Speaking for myself, this is the fascism I fear most. Call it tyranny dressed up for a Tea Party.

It’s as if scientific discovery, physics, and mathematics don’t exist. All answers for these extreme evangelicals who dominate the national dialogue lie in Genesis and ‘God’s Word’. As for educating our children with knowledge skills to make them competitive in a global economy, it’s heresy today. And we Americans let these people control our textbooks!!

Their deceptive fingers are in every pot of life today, chipping away at all forms of knowledge.

Fundamentalism appeals to evangelicals who have become convinced that their country has been overrun by a vast secular conspiracy; denial is the simplest and most attractive response to change. They have been scarred by the elimination of prayer in schools; the removal of nativity scenes from public places; the increasing legitimacy of abortion and homosexuality; the persistence of pornography and drug abuse; and acceptance of other religions and of atheism.

Note that on the subject of pornography, the most conservative amongst us — those who scream the loudest about pornography — are MUCH more inclined to be the ones watching it. The nation and the future of our children are held hostage because disproportionate numbers of conservative and evangelical men can’t keep their hands off the digital mouse. These perverted men monitor porn so that the rest of us won’t be contaminated.

This is a pathetic state of affairs for a nation that prides itself on being a leader of the free world.

It’s perfect timing, as the Republicans pass a 7th bill that says pregnant women having a miscarriage — who are already distraught over their health emergencies — can die in the emergency rooms of American hospitals.

Our nation no longer has an obligation to save its women, say the Republicans.

In Utah, miscarriage almost became a felony in 2010 except for the governor’s promised veto.

If a fetus is involved among Republicans, women have no rights 50 years later. I never thought I would see this day in America —  on many levels.

‘Sex, Power and Speaking Truth: Anita Hill 20 Years Later’, will be live broadcast all day today, Saturday Oct. 15.

Live broadcast by Ustream

For all our younger American women who argue that we have all the rights women need, how do you sit calmly, while Republicans attack women from every angle? What would it take to convince our privileged American women like Molly Jong-Fast — who says women have all the rights we need globally (an appalling pov, in my humble opinion)  — that American women are seeing a major erosion of our rights?

For an older generations of feminist women, the handwriting is on the wall regarding women’s rights in America, but the ‘Sex and the City’ girls just don’t read plain English. Too busy shopping or taking yoga classes?

To Our Granddaughters | You Are the Light

NYT Lisa Belkin Moves to Huff Po

NYT writer Lisa Belkin resigned her position to join Huffington Post as a senior columnist. Belkin will write for the recently launched Huff Po parenting vertical.

“In the past three years, I’ve learned to do something new,” said Belkin, referring to writing on the Web. “And I love doing it. And I discovered I’m not bad at it. What it is that I do now is why the Huffington Post exists — the constant interaction with readers, the feedback. It’s not central to what the Times does. It shouldn’t be. That’s not why the Times exists. But since that I love doing it, I’m going to have an adventure at the place that was designed to do it.”

Lisa Belkin has been at the Times since 1982. It seems that her departure was prompted partially by the arrival of new magazine editor Hugo Lindgren who informed Belkin that she wouldn’t be writing as much, says WWD.

Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt are principals of Flynn Heath Holt Leadership.

Five decades after the women’s movement gained momentum, I rebelled today over a NYTimes ‘Room for Debate’ Opinion Blog post asking the question: ‘Ban Fur? Then Why Not Leather?’

My annoyance came from the fact that of six essayists, five were men.

On this question of animal rights and environmental issues, there is a well-established research conclusion that women are more ‘progressive’ on this kind of question.

This story continues below, and I admit to blasting the NYT for having one woman grappling with the ethics of their question, rather than three. I also admit to consulting a man friend before putting the comment out there, given my public personality. He said “You’re right, Anne.”

Simply stated, I’m tired of being a good girl. Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath and Mary Davis Holt, authors of a new book ‘Break Your Own Rules’ agree. In support of our own advancement and that of women generally, women must change our behavior.

Women should also not criticize other women who are playing by these six new rules, recognizing that it’s often women — not men — who hold each other back. It’s women who label each other selfish and too aggressive, when reality is that talented men can be both leaders and team players without criticism for taking care of themselves.

It’s time for a new script, one that fits with goals of the young millenial generation. Yes, they work together well, but there’s plenty of self-recognition and individualism among these talented young people.  Working on teams doesn’t mean that women must be wall flowers, waiting to be asked to dance.

Get out there and tango — just in case you think women can’t lead with female-centric values to make the business world better for all in the 21st century.

Jennifer Lopez & Richard Gere | Shall We Dance?

Women hold just 11 percent of the most senior-level leadership positions in U.S. Corporations—a number that hasn’t changed in over 30 years. How can women break through? Women lost our paltry 17% of Congressional seats in the 2010 elections, moving backwards for the first time in about 30 years in terms of political representation.

‘Break Your Own Rules’ distills the six faulty assumptions (or “rules”) most women follow that get in the way—then delivers the correlating new rules that promise to clear that path.

In June 2011 the US Supreme Court threw out a class-action suit against Walmart, saying that claims of discrimination by Walmart against women in promotions and lower pay for the same job must be filed in court on an individual basis.

Logic suggests that Walmart’s announcement yesterday of a five-plank, multibillion-dollar initiative to promote female workers and women’owned businesses is part of an effort to improve its corporate image with the women who shop there — and those who don’t.

On Wednesday, Walmart said it had developed five goals, designed to “help empower women across its supply chain,” that it aimed to achieve by the end of 2016. Chief Executive Mike Duke issued a statement saying “We went them (women) to be leading suppliers, managers and loyal customers.”

Walmart promises to source $20 billion from women-owned businesses in the US in the next five years and also double its international sourcing from female suppliers.

The company will offer training, market access and career opportunities to 60,000 women working in factories, to help them “develop the skills they need to become more active decision-makers in their jobs and for their families.”