August 2007
Reclaiming the Inner Bitch? A Meditation on the B-Word
In her recent column “Bitch und Bastard” (08/12/07) LFP writes about the heavy association of the word “bitch” with Hillary Clinton, who currently leads the (dog)pack of US presidential candidates among Democrats. “She seems to have a monopoly on this label,” suggests Luise, who provides statistics showing almost two million Google-hits for “Hillary” and “bitch,” compared to a mere 379,000 for “Obama” and the male epithet “bastard.” She also notes, however, that the more (in)famous Bush did rate over 2 million hits when paired with “bastard,” while the…
June 2006
A web of democracy and freedom? Not for long….
As a newcomer to the world of blogging and as a co-worker on the expanding FemBio website I’m especially troubled by news that the internet may soon lose its protected freedom in the USA. Unless Congress votes to incorporate a provision calling for “Net Neutrality” in its upcoming major revision of the Telecommunications Act (COPE), the big phone and cable companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner and Comcast will be able to dictate which sites on the world-wide web have privileged status and hence, speed in opening and downloading. Thousands of bloggers, news, information and…
May 2006
Post Partum Blues
Here’s an unsentimental postscript to my Mother’s Day blog, one you probably won’t find in the Washington Post or the New York Times. I heard about it from friends, but you can also find it in the online edition of the Mittelbayerische Zeitung (Middle Bavarian Newspaper) for May 23, 2006.
A 92-year-old mother from Hildesheim put in a call to the local Jugendamt (Department of Youth Services), having reached the end of her rope over the intolerable behavior of her daughter, 68; the younger woman was allegedly “fooling around with men.” The two had come to blows over the issue.…
Iran: A Narrow Escape
Scanning the New York Times “International” section this morning I came across the following item:
Iran: Lawmakers Debate Women's ClothingParliament is debating a bill that would discourage women from wearing Western clothing, increase taxes on imported clothes and finance an advertising campaign to encourage citizens to wear Islamic-style garments. The measure provoked concern outside Iran after a Canadian newspaper, National Post, quoting "Iranian expatriates living in Canada," reported yesterday that it included provisions that would require Jews, Christians and other…
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Oprah Winfrey
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Oprah Winfrey
One of the online resources I try to check regularly ever since visiting South Africa with Luise and daughter Sarah in 2004 is allAfrica.com, a roundup of news from the entire continent. This morning, ahead of more desperate and gloomy reports from Darfur, Congo and Zimbabwe, the "Top Headline" concerns Liberia's recently elected, Harvard-educated president and the first female leader of an African nation:
"Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on Oprah's Wednesday Broadcast, Continues Push for Investment and Rebuilding Assistance."
Wow, I think--two impressive…
