Saturday, April 30, 2016

Disguised as a Boy to Play Sports in Pakistan

No school, no sports, no school, no going outside for girls in Pakistan in the conservative area of Waziristan, .

Maria Toorpakai burns her dresses at age four, and dresses as a boy. She becomes the best squash player in Pakistan, but when the officials discover she is a girl, the Taliban starts threatening her, and she goes inside.

She sends out hundreds of emails across the world hoping someone would sponsor her to leave Pakistan, and heard from one person, Jonathan Power, a world squash champion living in Canada.  He wants to help her become a world champion, and brought her to Canada.

Her story is coming out in a book next week, "A Different Kind of Daughter: The Girl Who Hid From the Taliban in Plain Sight."

 http://abcnews.go.com/International/squash-pro-disguised-boy-play-sports-taliban-controlled/story?id=38772528

Thursday, April 28, 2016

UW Female Cheerleaders – It's All About Your Looks

If skin and body don't count in cheerleading, why don't male cheerleaders show their skin, move their butts to the music, and wear tons of makeup and died hair?

Point taken. University of Washington proves the point that cheerleading was started for the libido of men, and it continues.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/04/28/beachy-glow-false-lashes-hair-down-college-cheerleader-advice-unleashes-outrage/

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Will US Follow Britain's Lead, LGBT Beware of NC, MS?

 The British government has issued a travel advisory for its citizens warning travelers to be aware of controversial new laws in North Carolina and Mississippi before visiting the United States. The concern was directed to members of the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and posted on the Foreign Office's website Tuesday.

We would love to see the United States government issue such a warning about US citizens traveling to North Carolina and Mississippi, and include everyone. People in those states don't have to have proof of gender identity or orientation to discriminate, so everyone should be aware if you plan to set foot there. It could happen to you.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/04/20/britain-issues-warning-for-lgbt-travelers-visiting-north-carolina-and-mississippi/

Republicans – No Accountability?

Republican leaders are starting to abandon ship, saying they will not attend their convention this summer because it may become nasty, even though that may not be their upfront excuse.

The Republican party, the primary supporters of political and social hierarchies, who has created the 1%, legislated the reason people are so fed up with Congress who stalls reasonable bills, and spreads hate to anyone who is not white, male, Christian, able-bodied and hetersexual, now does not want to deal with the fractured party it has created.

No accountability, leave it to someone else. Not my problem. So typical of the top of the hierarchy.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/john-mccain-bows-out-republican-convention?cid=sm_fb_maddow

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

BYU – Back to the Days of Blaming a Rape Victim

Mormon Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, the largest religious university in America, requires its students to adhere to a rigid "Honor Code"that mandates living a “chaste and virtuous life,” “clean language” and abstaining from alcohol and coffee, among other things.

Madi Barney, 20, filed a Title IX complaint against BYU with the Department of Education on Monday alleging that BYU put her on academic hold after they learned that she reported an off-campus rape to the local police in September. Her accused rapist, 39-year-old, Nasir Seidu, has been charged with undressing her and partaking in sexual intercourse without Barney’s consent.

 “Dealing with this hostile environment has been upsetting, re-victimizing, and discouraging, to say the least,” Barney wrote on a petition with more than 87,000 signatures. “It’s clear to me that BYU is not on my side.”

The incident is controversial in Utah, with front page coverage and an editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune critical of the handling of this and other cases. “Without intending to, BYU has given rapists an advantage,” the Salt Lake Tribune said in an editorial.  “If a woman has crossed any of these lines, she faces a different dynamic with a potential assailant, who can essentially say, ‘I’m doing this, and if you tell anybody, we’re both going down.'”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/04/20/brigham-young-university-under-fire-for-disciplining-a-sexual-assault-victim-for-honor-code-breach/

Saturday, April 16, 2016

50 Years After Sneaking Into the Boston Marathon

2016 will celebrate the 50th year that women have run the Boston Marathon. Now they make up almost half of the racers, but in 1966, Bobbi Gibb tucked her hair into her hoodie and sneaked into the race.

A year after Gibb's first run, Kathrine Switzer registered for the race using her first initial, but the race co-director Jock Semple chased her onto the course and tried to pull off her bib number. Men who were racing knocked him out of the way.

Gibb will serve as grand marshal for this year's race — the 120th.

 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/04/16/sports/ap-ath-boston-marathon-50-years-of-women.html?_r=0

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Strong is the New Pretty

Atlanta-based photographer Kate T. Parker has released a new photo series of young girls who are strong, entitled, "Strong is the New Pretty."

"My whole life, I'd believed in this powerful idea that girls should be free to be anything they want. Now, all I had to do was pull together images I'd already taken, and tell the story."

 Check it Out!!!

 http://www.today.com/parents/photographer-teaches-daughters-strong-new-pretty-t13361

The Bible Teaches About Homosexuality and Other Many Important Things

According to US talk show host Dr Laura, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstances. Here is an open letter to that doctor, written by a professor emeritus.

Dear Dr. Laura
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them.
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination, Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I'm confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
Your adoring fan,
James M. Kauffman,
Ed.D. Professor Emeritus,
Dept. Of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education University of Virginia

Saturday, April 9, 2016

The Boss – Knows How to Move

Hats off the Bruce Springsteen for cancelling his concert in Greensboro, North Carolina after the legislature passed a sweeping anti-LGBT law. 

"Some things are more important than a rock show and [the] fight against prejudice and bigotry—which is happening as I write—is one of them. [Canceling the show] is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards."

With every individual hierarchy that is challenged, our country comes closer to ending prejudice against anyone. Springsteen described the law as "an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress."

In other words, hierarchy conservators are clueless, extreme, and refuse to join in the tide that will not be stopped. They cling to their death struggle and won't let go.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/04/bruce-springsteen-north-carolina-lgbt-law

Monday, April 4, 2016

They Grow Sexist Older White Males Big in Texas

Texas Representative Louie Gohmert has told women where they belong, according to him.

"Women were created for one thing and one thing alone. We are insulting the Lord by allowing women to act like men. Women are beautiful creatures, no doubt about that. We marry them, we look after them, we provide for them and we love them, but that does not mean they are the same as us. It is the job of a woman to stay at home, to maintain the household, to bear children and look after them after they’re born. Nowhere in the scriptures does it say that women should be chasing after fancy titles and knowledge. The only knowledge they need is the one we men allow them to have."

We thought older white male types like him would be dying off eventually, but they linger. Who elects these out-of-touch clueless hierarchy supporters?

http://bipartisanreport.com/2016/04/02/republican-demands-women-stay-at-home-opposes-bill-for-funding-girls-education/

Wheaties Box Features Diverse Athletes – Including Louganis

A documentary about the diver Greg Louganis has inspired General Mills to finally put him on a Wheaties Box, belatedly. 

Louganis, 56, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, will begin appearing on Wheaties boxes next month. He will also be joined by hurdler Edwin Moses and the swimmer Janet Evans, two other previously overlooked Olympic champions, who will appear on separate boxes. 

The pressure to put Louganis on the Wheaties box, a symbol of sports achievement for 80 years, began last August with the release of a documentary, “Back on Board: Greg Louganis,” on HBO. Julie Sondgerath, an information technology manager in Chicago, to start a petition on Change.org. 

Louganis believes that homophobia was most likely the reason that Wheaties did not respond after the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics. There were rumors that he was gay during his Olympic career, but he did not come out publicly until the Gay Games in 1994. In his autobiography the next year, he revealed that he had tested positive for H.I.V. before the 1988 Summer Games. Louganis said recently he was at a point in his life where he could better appreciate the Wheaties news.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/sports/greg-louganis-wheaties-box-petition-general-mills.html?_r=0