32 Metrobus, Toward Friendship Heights

Prejudice remains alive and well in this country, but apparently so does honor and courage. Today, I was enjoying a fun last weekday before joining the real world of full-time employment on Monday. My entertainment of choice: check out a few museums I’d been meaning to investigate. At the end of the day, I hopped on a 32 and happily headed home through Georgetown. Sitting near the back, I noticed a cute young man, clad in a light blue t-shirt, auburn curls adorning his head. Ten feet away, a heavy-set, middle-aged, crew-cut white man noticed this fellow as well, but in a different light.

“Hey, how many deustche marks d’ya have in your pocket, son,” the prejudiced man belted out. The boy and his apparent father, mother and young brother weren’t speaking German. They were speaking French. Little matter apparently. They, along with the rest of the bus, tried to ignore the man.

Unsatisfied, he tried again. “You think we can’t understand you, but we can. Especially those of us from the military.” I was starting to get concerned. “This is an American bus!” the man went on. “You better hope I don’t come back there and poke a pin hole in your butt.”

People on the bus were starting to take notice, shifting uncomfortably in their seats. I wanted to tell the man that in America, we have freedom of speech and diversity is what we’re all about…or should be. And I wanted to tell him that no one uses deustch marks ANYWHERE any more, especially not in France. But I sat in my seat silent.

The man made his way toward the back doors, toward the French family. “You better be glad that girl is standing between us, or I’d poke a pin hole in your butt,” the man threatened. “That girl” appeared to be the boy’s mother. Frightened, she sat down to avoid the man. As she did, a hispanic man rose to stand in front of the boy, clearly blocking the old man’s way. He didn’t say a thing, didn’t confront him at all. He just stood there, a human wall of courage.

“I’m going to introduce you to the Klan!” the prejudiced man said, in a final utterance of a threat. The hispanic man stood strong. He didn’t know the family from Adam. He simply knew right from wrong, and he acted upon it.

A few minutes later, the old man thankfully got off the bus without acting on his words. The bus riders heaved a collective sigh of relief and the hispanic man sat down again. I don’t know his name, but some might call him “angel.” Whoever he is, the world can sure use a whole lot more folks like him.

Barack Obama

This is a little too extreme.  Don’t you agree?  I am kind of awestruck that this is possible though.  Considering a haircut, which is how I came upon this photo.  This is definitely NOT my style, though. Never fear!

Behavioral Benefits to Breastfeeding

Babies who are breastfed are far less likely to become children with behaviour problems by the time they reach the age of five than those who receive formula milk, according to research by a team that included University of York academics.

Click here to read more.

“Virgins” of Egypt

What does being a virgin have to do with being sexually assaulted? Just because these men could show that the women arrested were not virgins does not in any way negate their likelihood of victimization. Just sayin…

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/30/egypt.virginity.tests/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

Women’s Shoes…

It is no revelation that women often pay more for basic needs such as clothing and toiletries.  A prominent book on the subject came out in the early 1990s, Why Women Pay More by New York Times reporter Frances Cerra Whittelsey and consumer advocate Ralph Nader. This problem is made worse by the continuing wage gap.  Read more about the consumer gender gap here.

What surprised me recently though, was the high price we are all paying for our footwear–nearly 40 percent more than the actual cost in some cases.  High duties on imported shoes have been driving up the shoe bill for everyone. And here I thought Nike was just being greedy.

This month, Sen. Maria Cantwell, a well-known champion for the outdoors industry, introduced a bill to do something about this growing problem. She re-introduced The Affordable Footwear Act. S. 1069. The Act would put a four-year suspension on duties for certain outdoor footwear. Information about this bill on THOMAS was incomplete as of 6/2/2011, but click here to learn more about this proposed piece of legislation.

State Flexibility Would Hurt Children’s Access to Healthcare

Today, the First Focus Campaign for Children urged Members of Congress to reject the State Flexibility Act (H.R. 1583/S. 868), legislation that will put at risk the health coverage of an estimated 14 million children and fundamentally reverse the enormous progress our nation has made in reducing the number of uninsured children.

Click here to read more.

Women’s Reproductive Health is not a Political Pawn

While this mentions organizations like Planned Parenthood and AAUW, all opinions below are my own and do not represent the actual views of any organizations or people but myself. This was written for a class at American University, where it was intended to be a mock version of an actual op-ed that Linda Hallman, Executive Director of AAUW might actually write in the current legislative climate.

Women’s Reproductive Health is not a Political Pawn

Women’s reproductive health is not something to be bargained away for votes, but you would not know that from the way Republican congressmen have been acting. Under the guise of reducing the budget deficit, a number of measures have gained traction recently to seriously undermine federal support for women’s vital health care services. The future of women’s reproductive health in America now rests with the Senate’s willingness to block assaults on the exercise of constitutionally protected rights.

Most pressing, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved the Pence Amendment. This amendment was attached to HR1, the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act 2011, which was passed by the House on a vote of 235-189 this month, and would prevent any federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortion care. This benevolent organization has previously been able to separate money for legal abortions from federal funds for other necessary reproductive health care for women at affordable costs.

Planned Parenthood has been a vital provider of such services as HIV testing and other STI tests and treatments, cancer screenings and birth control for 95 years. According to a statement by Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, one-fifth of American women have sought its resources at some point. In 2010, three million women were served at Planned Parenthood’s more than 800 centers nationwide. The amendment would prevent Planned Parenthood from even accepting Medicaid, essentially shutting out millions of women who need this support the most from access to life-saving treatment and preventative care.

Whether the measure actually becomes law is now up to the Senate, which is under increasing pressure to act as current government funding is set to run out this week, shutting down the government on March 4. Earlier this month, Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MI), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) held a press conference vowing to block House assaults on women from passing in the Senate. In the coming week, it will be vital for constituents across the nation to pressure their senators to join these five by refusing to let the Pence Amendment pass to President Obama’s desk.

The practice of lawmakers seeking to restrict women’s constitutionally protected freedom has become a growing trend across the nation. A Guttmacher Institute report released this month on statel reproductive health legislation revealed a broad, multilevel attempt to restrict women’s access to comprehensive health care. Since the Roe decision state governments have passed almost 400 laws curtailing women’s access to reproductive health care.

In 2010 alone, 950 bills related to reproductive health were introduced in 44 states and the District of Columbia. The vast majority of those introduced and the 89 new laws passed sought to restrict women’s control over their own bodies. One notable bright spot was a law to reinstate public funding for abortion in D.C. for the first time in nearly thirty years.

What legislators across the nation and Republicans in the House have been doing has nothing to do with cutting the budget deficit and everything to do with scoring political points by attacking women’s right to choice, a choice constitutionally upheld by the Supreme Court since 1973. All socially-minded citizens of this nation must stand up to prevent this dramatic turning back of the clock on the control women have over their own bodies.

Socially minded organizations like the American Association of University Women believe that all people are entitled to affordable, accessible and high-quality health care. In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama recognized that tough budgetary tradeoffs would have to be made in the coming months, but he implored Congress not to make cuts “on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens.” Recent attempts by the House to limit federal support of women’s reproductive health, such as the Pence Amendment, would do exactly that, while doing exactly nothing to address actual budgetary shortfalls.