Happy International Women's Day!

International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements. The first national Women's Day was observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Links: http://www.internationalwomensday.com/; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Women%27s_Day

Fascinating article on "The Case for Girls"

There is a terrific article in Fast Company magazine this month showing there is a really awful preference for male babies in the world (link below): "It may not be surprising that there's a lingering preference for baby boys over baby girls worldwide. What's alarming, however, is that this global inclination is manifesting more strongly than ever." It's not just unfortunate but for a society, in can be dangerously lopsided. It's not healthy for the growth of a nation. More than that, it goes against nature in other ways, too: "In the 21st century, there's a compelling case for girls as the equal--and in some cases, optimal--gender for roles in leadership, innovation, and economic growth. Women excel in education, the most crucial factor in tomorrow's workforce; we are 56% of undergraduates in the U.S. and approaching parity in China and India. Our socialization is geared toward the right stuff for the changing requirements of success in the 21st century: Women are likely to have a more balanced, empathetic leadership style, better communication skills, a knack for fostering innovation through collaboration." Anyway, as I said, fascinating. You may want to look into it: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/161/branding-for-girls-advertising-for-women

Quote of the day

"Real men--and women--ride motorcycles." 

--me

International Women's Day 2011

In celebration of International Women's Day 2011, I want to be sure to mention this event at minimum, as I think women, in the first place, don't get enough credit for the central and hugely significant, positive roles they play in our societies--I think they largely help hold societies together--and secondly, because they are all too often treated from badly to horribly, in too many countries of the world:

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women's Day is a national holiday.


So here's to International Women's Day and women around the world.  May we all one day be equal.

Links:  http://www.internationalwomensday.com/
http://www.christianmission-un.org/resource-center/manuscripts/pdf/maximizing-the-contribution-of-women-to-society.pdf

What's really needed in Iraq, Afghanistan and the whole world

Plato had it right, of course:  "Ignorance, the root and the stem of every evil."

Whether the topic is Iraq or Iran or Afghanistan or Christine O'Donnell or Sarah Palin or the Tea Party or the Democrats or Republicans or whatever or whomever, what we need is awareness and information.  And I'm not talking Western indoctrination or influence.  I'm talking broad, intelligent, non-biased information and hard data.

Instead, we get this, today:

Iran has imposed new restrictions on 12 university social sciences deemed to be based on Western schools of thought and therefore incompatible with Islamic teachings, state radio reported Sunday.

The list includes law, philosophy, management, psychology, political science and the two subjects that appear to cause the most concern among Iran's conservative leadership — women's studies and human rights.

So this is what our American soldiers have died for and what our money is paying for--ignorance in Iran.  Terrific.