His wounds were not caused by his enemies, but the inexperience of his friends.
While watching a short video about the technical skills and sometimes follies of the Libyan rebel forces, I was reminded that our inexperience is often the reason for both our success and our failure. Our success, in that inexperience is what gives us the courage to even try (hello Libyan rebels). If we knew initially how difficult our goals were to accomplish, I am not convinced we would even try. Our failure, because inexperience requires that we are often approaching each hurdle blind, without the hindsight to anticipate what might happen and how we ought to counteract any negatives. Read the rest of this entry
Uber Religious
I’ve been lightly following the growing campaigns of the latest round of presidential hopefuls. Among the many topics – the economy, jobs, foreign policy or lack thereof – one theme seems to be developing … uber religiousness.
What is the deal? Why are so many candidates taking a religious tone (read: Christian tone) when representing their campaign? First of all, this country is home to many people of many different backgrounds, religions and belief systems. Defining yourself largely by your strict Christian beliefs and then holding events that explicitly target citizens of a similar flavor alienates the rest of the country. Major turn off. Read the rest of this entry
Forget Women’s Jobs and Needs, the New Debt Ceiling is Here!
Just a quick note. I am disgusted that the debt ceiling talks and potential new US budget include cut without revenue increases. The US has been living beyond its means for decades. Simply tightening the belt will not do enough. We must tighten our spending, raise revenues and then provide recovery services where desperately needed.
A cut in public spending means two things for women and their families. First, public sector jobs, predominately held by women, will be lost. Thus, more unemployed women. Second, public services, used by single mothers and newly unemployed women, will be cut. Thus giving the proverbial kick while they’re down to women and their families.
In all, cuts in the public sector will cripple women in this economy. Placing the burden of recovery on the reduction of services used and jobs held by women, while allowing the wealthiest American’s to experience no change at all – it is like salt in the wound.
How dare we place our collective struggle on the backs of poor women and their children? Have we learned nothing from the past.
For more information on how public sector cuts hurt women, see the work of The Women’s Budget Group, the Feminist Economics journal, or any of the countless sister organizations thereof.
Women & War
Today I had the great pleasure of attending a panel discussion centered around the topics presented in this book, Women and War: Power and Protection in the 21st Century.
As the book’s title might suggest, the panel discussion focused on the gendered aspects of war. One note: War is inherently gendered. If you take anything away from this blog it should be that everything is gendered. Why? Because gender, and the way we interact with gender, is part of the function that informs our personal identity. What defines our beliefs, our behaviors, and, most importantly, our value set is often rooted in gender. Gender is everything, baby.
Back to what I was saying. Read the rest of this entry
Sex Education: A Human Right?
Have you seen this film?
If not, you should and it’s on Netflix for your viewing pleasure. If you have seen the film, what did you think? Read the rest of this entry
