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I just would like to inform my colleagues at Journal Home and all visitors that I have improved my website with new software. First from Sunlight Labs, I have added Popup Politicians™. You may notice after a politician’s name you will see a sun logo if you bring your cursor over it a small popup with the congressperson's or Senator’s bio and you will have links that will provide a wealth of information on that particular politician mentioned. I just thought it was a useful tool to help my visitors be well informed on political candidates and better able to have valuable information on a particular candidate they plan to vote for.

Here is an example Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama Where you see the Sun Logo Rep. Nancy Pelosi just put your cursor over it.

The second feature I added is from answers.com if you doubleclick on any word it will open a mini popup box and provide spelling, meaning and word etmology, for a proper place or thing or famous person it will provide a bio.

In any event I hope you enjoy the newly added features to make visiting my site a rewarding and pleasant experience. Also I added many interesting interactive features on the right side of my blog site please feel free to enjoy and comment on them if you so choose.

Thank you for your time.

What woman wouldn’t dream about getting a part time gig so she has more time to sleep?

We needed a national study to tell us this?

This from Pew Research:

Among working mothers with minor children (ages 17 and under), just one-in-five (21%) say full-time work is the ideal situation for them, down from the 32% who said this back in 1997, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. Fully six-in-ten (up from 48% in 1997) of today’s working mothers say part-time work would be their ideal, and another one-in-five (19%) say she would prefer not working at all outside the home.

People, it’s hard out there. Life isn’t easy. What do you think overworked women would say when asked such a question? Everyone is coming out of the woodwork, pointing to this study as more proof that women really all want to stay home and have their kids suckling off their teat 24 hours a day.

On the contrary, these studies point to frustrated moms who are sick of banging their heads against the wall of Corporate America. They want the work-life understanding so many HR managers tout but rarely seem to deliver on.

Come on everyone. This should be our battle cry to ask for more from our employers. And I’m talking moms and dads. We won’t get it if we don’t demand it. And we definitely won’t get it, and our daughters and sons won’t get it, if we banish ourselves from the workplace.

The U.S. FDA is likely going to approve Lybrel, a birth control pill that eliminates monthly menstruation entirely, in the near future.

No extra risks are known to be caused by this form of the pill, but many people are uneasy about the idea.

Some doctors have cautioned that little research has been conducted on potential long-term effects. The subject has caused debate within the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, which studies medicine and social science relating to menses.

In 2003, the group issued a position statement that more research was needed before women could make an informed decision. Some members have pointed out that the same hormones that work on the menstrual cycles also act on the brain, bones, and skin.

Lybrel is the next step in a growing trend of pills that alter the 28-day menstrual cycle. The first was 2003's Seasonale, which results in four periods each year.

Call me weird but I just see it as unatural, not to mention unhealthy supressing a womam's period and blood flow.

Some doctors have cautioned that little research has been conducted on potential long-term effects. The subject has caused debate within the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, which studies medicine and social science relating to menses.

In 2003, the group issued a position statement that more research was needed before women could make an informed decision. Some members have pointed out that the same hormones that work on the menstrual cycles also act on the brain, bones, and skin.

Lybrel is the next step in a growing trend of pills that alter the 28-day menstrual cycle. The first was 2003's Seasonale, which results in four periods each year.

The past few months have been punctuated with plenty of news about birth control, from patches to less effective forms of contraception in a pill. Now Lybrel, developed by Wyeth, is set to launch soon, despite reports that oral contraceptives that limit periods aren't performing in the drug marketplace as expected.

However, that hasn't stopped business analysts from making predictions about the market for Lybrel -- $250 million annually [ unfortunately businesses put money before people's health ] -- or Wyeth's announcement last week that nearly two-thirds of the women they surveyed were interested in giving up their periods, I'm sorry but I am just too intelligent to buy that, naturally a businesses sponsor surveys that will be biased in their favor

Of course, the powers that be can't tell you or anyone else how controlling a woman's menstruation with a pill will affect her overall health, due to absolutely no data being available.

So, it is certainly possibly one could use these pills for a few months without major problems -- IF one did not factor in the matter of this manipulation being achieved with ARTIFICIAL hormones that are prescriptions for disaster over the long run.

Oral contraceptives are synthetic hormones that your body is not designed to be exposed to in any way, shape or form. Long-term use will invariably increase the user's risk of developing serious chronic illness, including blood clots and other problems.

Additionally, long-term suppression of periods will minimize blood loss and could contribute to iron overload syndromes that are so pervasive in men. Elevated iron stores are one of the primary risk factors for cancer and heart disease.

Most drugs do have some legitimate purpose on occasion and do provide some benefit in certain situations; but this just isn't the case for lybrel. I really don't believe that there is ever any clinical indication to use it.

Its your best bet is to avoid lybrel like the plague and seek out safer solutions that can be just as effective.

In solidarity to Celtic Lullaby's beautilfully written yet hearbreaking blog motivated me to post my own blog 

Job discrimination. Difficulties with landlords, neighbors. Harassment, up to and including assault and battery. Parents disowning their children; family members turning away. Awkward pauses in conversations. "Why don't you ever come to the office Christmas party?"

Sound familiar? Unfortunately, it does to many people. And each issue listed above is too often faced daily by people of "different" sexual orientations, and "different" religious beliefs.

Like gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered,  Witches and  or Pagans cannot always live their lives openly and honestly because of the fear that surrounds them. Because the issues and goals are similar -- to reduce societal xenophobia until no one needs to hide his or her "difference", whether that be who he loves or who he worships -- when I wanted to start a movement to promote understanding and acceptance of Pagan spiritualities, the phrase "Pagan Pride" came immediately to mind. Far from trying to either steal from or invalidate Gay Pride, Pagan Pride owes a deep debt of gratitude to the Gay Pride movement for its achievements. We hope we can improve attitudes towards earth-based spiritual practices as much as Gay Pride has towards sexual orientations. Through our information resources, public events, and media contacts, we hope to challenge intolerance through education.

We wish not only to reduce discrimination against us, but to present the value that our paths can bring to society, while emphasizing that we do not seek converts but ask that each person honor the Divine in the manner that seems best for him. Major corporations are adding diversity statements and programs to their human resources areas. They aren't just being tolerant - they are learning to value plurality of opinion, background, and viewpoint, especially in an increasingly global community. But there are still people who would never make a racial slur, or discriminate based on gender, but who still discriminate on the basis of religion, because they believe that there is only one valid religion, or because they simply are misinformed about other religion's practices.

All too often I have experienced discrimination, I tend to wear pagan jewelery such as penticles fairies etc.and infrequently I am questioned as to what they are or what they me and I explain honestly and I usually get shocked or dirty looks with the occasional cool. It has cost me at least one job and one promotion but I persevere in despite it all.

Too often valuable contributions are ignored because of misunderstandings - mistaken beliefs that Pagans sacrifice people or animals, that Pagans practice nothing more serious than wild orgies and debauchery, that Pagans are out to steal souls. In fact, members of modern Pagan and NeoPagan religions tend to value ecology as an extension of their view of the Earth as sacred and all life as interconnected; hold a paradigm that embraces plurality, supports civil rights, and advocates personal freedom; hold ethical standards that require personal responsibility; be well-read and interested in learning; focus on self-help, emotional and psychological growth; and be keenly aware of each person's right to believe as he chooses, believing that to impose one's beliefs on another is harmful.

While some people feel that the phrase "Pagan Pride" is too confrontational, the result accomplished through the word "Pride" in the gay/lesbian community states to me that it is an effective phrase to communicate how we feel. We will not hide in the shadows any longer, practicing our spirituality privately because we fear reprisals from members of monotheistic religions. We are not ashamed of the Gods we reverence and the ways we celebrate! We are coming "out of the broom closet". Ours is not a path for everyone; you are encouraged to practice what spirituality you will. But we now claim the right to take pride in what we practice

No men allowed.

That will be the rule on the the entire 19th floor of a new J.W. Marriott hotel being built in Grand Rapids, Mich.

A lounge at the hotel also will be reserved for women only when the hotel opens in September.

Spokeswoman Andrea Groom said more than half of all business travelers are women.

She told The Grand Rapids Press that they want be able to relax over a drink without getting hit on by guys.

The women-only rooms will have distaff-specific amenities such as special hair dryers, bath products, jewelry holders and chenille throws.

But the businesswomen will have to pay for the privilege. Rooms on the women-only floor will be about $30 more than the usual $229 rate.

Aleady men are bitching that its unfair and unconstitutional, I doubt that ploy will work since the Suprreme Court upheld some all male gentleman's club

I like the concept of all female floors yet I cannot understand the added fee, I'd love to hear the Hotel's excuses for the added fee.

I want to thank Fightingfemale and celticlulabye and all my friends for their comments and visits to my blog, I really appreciate you guys taking time out of your busy schedule to visit and comment on my blog as I know and appreciate how valuable people's time is.
I love and appreciate your well stated, always  intelligent comments. I love JH and what makes it extra special is meeting and making beautiful friends here, like Dawnie, Fightingfemale, Celtic,  Serenity, Florent, Tarrot Lady, Yankee, Dutchboy, Caffienedmom and all on my friend list and others that have made it a joy being here and posting here. All of you welcomed me with open hearts and arms, non judgemental and loving and that means so much to me when I first came here especially Soraya that I really miss she was so sweet. Then I met Dawnie who is like family to me and Fightingfemale were among the first of my friends here. Celtic I have I have special understanding with because of some personal things in life we both had similar experiences and well I just think she is a terrific person. All my friends are, each in their own special unique way.

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I love the solidarity we share as sisters and women and the support we have for each other, and that you all can count on my support always.

JH is the best blog on the net in my humble opinion its a great tight knit community that I simply love, I love the way its set up and the Homepage at JH. Special praises go to Florrent who does just a fantastic job maintaining this Blog Hosting Community and so understanding of people's needs and problems they encounter  always with a compassionate sympathetic ear and always eager to help resolve the problem in a prompt professional manner.

Its unfortunate Reggie left but I nor my friends will lose any sleep over it, its too bad that Reggie could not see all the beauty and good in all my friends like I can, I guesss its hard when you are always being judgemental all the time, in any event, I love debating, and I was on my college debate team so I loved exposing Reggie's hypocrisy and allowing visitors to see and judge for themselves just how fucking extreme and hypocritical his views really are. We are no longer going to tolerate extremist neocon Christians to cram THEIR morality or values or THEIR goddamn misogynistic anti woman bullshit, or THEIR interpretations of THEIR scripture down our throats. Christians have no monopoly on virtues and morals its shared by all of us be it Witches, Pagans, Budists Muslims, Agnostics or Atheists, I for one and I know many other women share this view. We are sick of their fucking self righteous arrogance!

I totally 110% agree with Fightingfemale this is a great bloghost I love it and i'm honored to be here and I am blessed to have such great friends, thanks love and blessings to each and every one of them!

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((Hugs and blessings to all and Happy Mother's Day to the women to Dawnie, Fightingfemale, Celticlulabye, Florent, Dutchboy, Serenity, Yankee,  and all my friends))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
I love all you guys with all my heart!
Sincerely, Heather

We all know about the oath our doctors take to "do no harm". But, we also know that doctors are human, and humans make mistakes. What you might not know is; Death due to medical mistakes is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. It is estimated that over 100,000 people die each year from preventable medical errors.

Medical errors account for more deaths in America than breast cancer, AIDS or car accidents annually. -- read full article

This is a lot of people. To put this number into perspective; I just did researching on the HPV vaccine, that hopes to prevent 70% of the 3,670 deaths a year associated with cervical cancer. The problem of deaths due to medical mistakes is twenty times greater than the deaths caused by cervical cancer.

My intent is not to scare anyone with these numbers, but just to make people aware. When we are aware of problems, we are in a position to correct them...or at least increase our odds of correcting them. There is actually a campaign going on right now to help us NOT become part of this staggeringly high statistic, and that's what I want to tell you about. Read more about this national campaign to save lives.

Each year, 100,000 people die from medical mistakes. The causes are medical errors by doctors, nurses, pharmacists and technicians. That's why hospitals here in Orlando have signed up to be part of the 100,000 Lives campaign. -- read full article

In a radical and almost unheard of response; Hospitals are actually publicly volunteering information regarding patient errors, in an attempt to reduce deaths from medical mistakes. Wow! Quite frankly...I never thought I would hear that. Has your hospital joined in this campaign to save lives?

"Hospitals across the country are in the process of being transformed," said Dr. Berwick.

A transformation that may end up saving more lives than pills can.If a hospital is part of the 100,000 Lives campaign, it must post how many infections, mistakes and deaths the hospital is responsible for on its website. -- read full article

However, this campaign is 100% voluntary. So, we (the consumer/patient) need to do our homework when it comes to what hospitals we are going to. And not just for emergencies, but also for elective and outpatient procedures.

Patients should become more involved in their own health care. -- read full article

What can we do? We can make it our business to find out what hospitals in our community are participating in this campaign to save lives. Because, if we can choose to go to a hospital that is participating in this campaign to make public their record of mistakes...we will know that we are at a hospital that is putting our quality of care ahead of their own reputation. When you go to a hospital that is committed to admitting when they have made a mistake, you are also going to a hospital committed to learning from these mistakes.

Nothing is full-proof, but given the choice...you may be able to improve the odds in your favor a bit.

Tips From a Surgeon: What Every Patient Should Know Atul Gawande Reveals What Surgeons Often Don’t Say -- read article

Were you aware of the large number of deaths each year due to medical errors? Is your local hospital a part of the 100,000 Lives campaign?

Have you been touched by the loss of a loved one due to a medical mistake? I fortunately I am blessed not having had a, having had a close relative die of a needless medical oversight. No family should have to suffer this type of loss...but sadly, so many do.

Since having a good doctor is also so important.

Early last week, Elana Centor broke the news that research by American Association of University Women indicates that the pay gap is alive and well and thriving in the U.S. On Tuesday, Nordette Adams wrote about the backlash surrounding Leslie Bennett's book that posits that stay-at-home moms suffer serious economic consequences. These facts coupled together should unite women and encourage us raise our voices loudly when it comes to be treated equally, shouldn't it?

April 24 was actually National Pay Equality Day. Did you know that? I didn't. Odd how it didn't garner that much attention. My friend, however, did get the good word and went to a clever event, The Taste of Disparity, in Worcester, MA organized by her veterinarian, Dr. Karen Fine. My daughter enjoyed the free cookies that had a "bite" taken out of them to represent the 23% difference in pay... She had a fantastic time eating cookies and showing off her hair. I tried to explain the event to her, but she just looked at me blankly. Why would there be a difference in the way men and women are paid mommy? Ahhh...the wisdom of youth. If only everyone thought like!

One might argue that the lack of equality in pay is precisely a good reason for moms to leave the workforce. Why battle with work and juggle child care under those terms? Yesterday I was leaving work (I am a part-time consultant to the government agency that oversees the subsidized child care system in New York City), and the elevator had a little infortainment screen in it. I was taken aback by its announcement that the average stay-at-home mom provides $138,000 worth of services/work every year, up three percent from last year. There was no source or methodology cited, so I have no idea where that number came from, but it floored me. Bennets argues that the long term consequences of leaving the workforce that hurt women and children. Is it better to earn 77 cents to every dollar that men earn or get nothing for your work? No matter what we do women tend to get screwed.

As Nordette argued, we should take information like this and use it to advocate for a better world for all women, not launch personal attacks on one another.

May. Brings to mind May flowers and...Mother's Day. For a large portion of the population, Mother's Day is a great day to either celebrate your Mom or be celebrated as a Mom.

When Mother's Day comes around, there are some women who are not among the celebrating masses. There are some women they just don't make a Hallmark card for. I think about them this time of year...every single year.

Basically, there are many people who are not the traditional Moms that will celebrate in the way the card companies and florists would have you believe. Moms come in all shapes and sizes. Married or single. Old or young. Moms of many children or those longing for just one. Women who have lost children or given them away for a better life. People who have no Mom they can celebrate with. Men who live the role of both Mom and Dad.

In today's world there is no cookie cutter version of a "typical" Mom. But I am more than willing to bet that every one of us can think of a person in their life who has been like a mother to them. (Even the man who has stepped in and been both mother and father to his children.) Whether it is a neighbor, an aunt, a friend, a sister, a grandmother etc. I imagine even if you do fall into the category of the "normal" situation, you, too, can think of someone in your life who has been like a mother to you over the years.

As much as the marketing world would like us all to think that there is a standard version of mothers who celebrate Mother's Day, the truth of the matter is there are way too many women who do not fit into this cookie cutter mold that is so convenient. Here are only a few examples

I have close friends who are struggling with fertility problems. They want more than anything to celebrate Mother's Day with a child of their own. To get one of those Hallmark cards like the "Regular Moms." Mothers Day can be a painful day.

There are moms whose children are grown up and moved away. They hope their children remember them this year. They long for the days when their children were little and driving them crazy. They miss the chaos. They would give anything to be with them on Mother's Day.

I have a dear friend whose two-year old son died just after his second birthday, just a month before Mother's Day. She has two other children, but I imagine the pain of the child that was not with her anymore is more than she knows what to do with on this day.

And of course you have the other group of people whose Mother has died and they are lost as to what to do with this holiday that celebrates their Moms. They want more than anything to just be able to talk to their Mom on this day. Or what about the people whose mother is alive and kicking but the relationship is so strained they cannot imagine speaking to them let alone wishing them a Happy Mother's Day.

So, what is the point of all of this?

Here is what I would like you to do as we approach this Mother's Day. Think of a person that you would like to pay tribute to--someone you would like to share with us and tell us how they have been a blessing in your life. Whether it is a person who was "like a mom to you" or a story about your own mom, we want to hear your tributes to these amazing people who have touched your life.

If you have a blog, post a tribute to this person. Tell the rest of us how they have touched your life in a way that has changed you or helped you. Let us know in the comments if you post a tribute on your blog. Now, if you don't have a blog of your own, share with us your story of this person right here.

I have to give kudos to the person who originally made the statement MOTHER IS A VERB. It is brilliant. "Mother" is not necessarily a person. Tell us about the real person in your life who has been like a mother to you, the person who has demonstrated the "verb" mother to you.

Around Mother's Day I will go through your posts and your comments and create a giant round-up entry. Remember that something you may have to share with the rest of us just might be the one thing that another person needs to read.

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Webkinz pets are lovable plush pets that each come with a unique Secret Code. With it, you enter Webkinz World where you care for your virtual pet, answer trivia, earn KinzCash, and play the best kids games on the net!

Oh no! The dreaded word that people love to hop on and cause fear in the hearts of parents: "On the net!"

Remember when the Tamagotchi craze was the hot thing to do? Tiny electronic pets that kids had to take care of and pay attention to? And then when absolutely every child just had to own a Beanie Baby because they were just so adorable and "Oh, Mom, I will just die if I don't get another one!" phase? Now, combine the two and you have Webkinz.

Webkinz are not the easiest toys to find. (Think Cabbage Patch kids in the 80's.) However, I found one and was interested in learning more about them. This is what the Webkinz site has to say about their product:

What are all the cool things I can do in Webkinz World?

Where do we start? First, you adopt your pet and name it. Then you can custom design a room for it. You can play games in the Arcade, or compete against other players in tournaments. You can answer quizzes in Quizzy's Question Corner and enter contests, too. All of these things earn you KinzCash, which you can use to go shopping for your pet in our W Shop, where you can buy toys, furniture and clothes. There are stories to read and fun daily activities. The best part is that we add things to Webkinz World frequently, so it's always getting bigger and better.

Living in today's home with several computers for families, children became computer savvy rather early. They are familiar with NickJr games, Disney's Toontown and PBSKids. I feel parents should always be around to monitor them and should never have an instance that would cause concern.

I started to search the net to see what others were saying about these Webkinz. It was then that I stumbled upon an article that nearly made my eyes pop out of my head with frustration. The article entitled "Is the Webkinz Craze Bad for Kids?" spoke of how this craze is not good for our children. I was compelled to learn what hidden horrors lay beneath these cute interactive toys. Apparently the biggest complaint is that it causes children to spend too much time in front of a computer. Say what?

Not everyone, however, is caught up in the craze. In Boston, Wessagussett Primary School recently banned the stuffed animals from the premises. And some parents feel conflicted about the newest toy obsession.

"It's one more thing to distract them from going outside or reading a book," Jody Boches said.

Mother Irene Heifetz said her children sit at the computer from the moment they get home from school until she threatens them with restricted computer access if they don't go do their homework.

I could be missing something here, but if a parent is so concerned about how much time their child is on the computer, turn the computer off. It is not the toy or the website that is a problem. The problem comes if a parent does not have the control enough to tell their child NO. The simple solution to all of this worry is setting limits. If you want your child to go outside and play, send them outside to play. If it is time for your child to do his homework, turn off the computer and tell him or her to do their homework. Are the children or the parents in control here?

Now I know that not all parents want their child online at all. Fine. The simple solution: Don't buy these toys. But to say that they are bad for kids is simply ridiculous. What is bad for kids is not setting boundaries where they learn moderation. In my house there are computer rules. Homework first is one of the non-negotiable rules.Parents and children should eat as a family- no computers in the area. There are set time limits when it comes to the computer. I don't have to threaten my daughter to go outside or get off of the computer or toys. She just knows it is expected of her at an early age.

Another concern raised was the community aspect where you can interact with other people. Now, if this was a free type chat, I see the concern. However, these chats are limited to drop down menus with preset phrases. They are called KinzChat Areas.

When using KinzChat, members select pre-constructed messages from chat menus. Members CANNOT type in their own messages. KinzChat is a very safe way to chat, especially for our younger members. Members do not need permission to visit this area.

There is also a KinzChat PLUS Area. This is for more advanced and older users. To enter the KinzChat PLUS area, members need parental permission. If your child requests access to the KinzChat PLUS area, you will receive an email from webkinz.com requesting your consent.

In the KinzChat PLUS area, members may type their own messages. In order to create a safer and more appropriate environment than an open chat room, KinzChat PLUS limits members to using words in our restricted dictionary. In the restricted dictionary, we have eliminated numbers, most common names; many place names and a variety of inappropriate words. If a member tries to use a word that is not in the dictionary, the word will turn red, and the member will not be able to send the message. Also, if words are misspelled, they cannot be sent with KinzChat PLUS.

I have read the FAQ and I have read the concerns and my personal conclusion is basically that like anything your child does, a parent should be involved enough to know what their child is doing, limit their time online and worry less about what he or she is doing on a safe site like this and more on what they are doing on sites that do not have these kinds of safety nets enabled.

The real danger I see in these pets is the horror the parents must endure if they want to actually purchase one of these for their child. Why horror? Because these little boogers are hard to find! Normally they retail at around $12. I saw one online going for $799. Yes, you did read that correctly.

Launched less than two years ago, Webkinz have quietly grown into a phenomenon similar to Cabbage Patch Kids and Beanie Babies in years past "" the type of toy that a parent will drive across the state to snag, or pay four times the selling price for on a Web site such as eBay.

The demand for these toys has sent parents miles from home and separated them from a good amount of cash to obtain them for their children. That is where I see the craze being a problem. Tell me, how many of you know where your Cabbage Patch doll from the 80's is? If you do know, when was the last time you even looked at it? Point made.

So before we worry about whether or not sites like this one (which is causing many other sites to jump into this virtual playground--Hello Barbie and ClubPenguin) are actually a danger to our children, we should be asking ourself if they are worth the danger to our wallets.

The billboard simply states: 'Life's Short. Get a Divorce.' The billboard is sponsored by an all female law firm, Fetman, Garland & Associates, Ltd., that specializes in divorce cases. A lawyer within the firm, Corri Fetman, decided that they would try something different seeing as most divorce advertisements are "boring." This billboard, brainchild of of Corri Fetman, was meant to spice things up and get people to take notice. Oh, it got people to take notice all right. It features the well toned six-pack abs of a male torso (face unseen) and tanned female cleavage nearly bursting out of the barely there black lace bra and barely covered lower "assets" seductively posed.

My personal disgust aside, I am curious as to what the goal here could possibly be. In speaking with ABC News' Law & Justice Unit, creator of the billboard, Corri Fetman states:

"Law firm advertising is boring"¦Everything's always the same. It's lawyers in libraries with a suit on and the law books behind them. They don't say anything. What, I should hire you because you have a law degree? C'mon. So we wanted to try something different."

What am I supposed to walk away from that thinking? "Hey, I should get a divorce because that hunk of beefcake (or half naked woman) will be waiting for me as soon as I do!"

Reactions were not as positive as Ms. Fetman must've hoped for.

"It's grotesque,'' said John Ducanto, past president of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. "It's totally undignified and offensive."

...

Ducanto called on the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Committee of Supreme Court of Illinois to sanction Fetman. "I don't think they'll just let this pass,'' said Ducanto, who seemed genuinely hurt by the ad. "I have been in practice for 52 years, and I've worked my ass off to change the image of this particular area of the legal practice, and to see some punk try and pervert the whole image in the interest of lucre. "¦ Sure, she's got a lot of attention, but it's like a guy who spits on a table "" you got the attention, sure, but what kind of attention is it?"

Though not everyone has harsh words to say about this billboard.

"I wish I'd thought of it first," said attorney Enrico J. Mirabelli. "When your advertisement generates publicity, you've hit a home run."

Disgusting? A perversion of an event in the life of a couple that already has its share of pain? A brilliant PR move?

Did the billboard go too far or was it just good PR marketing to get the firm noticed? Does it trivialize divorce or was it just another way for a firm to get business in a cut throat area of law? If you were dead set on getting a divorce, is this the law firm you would walk to represent you?

NOTE: It was reported on Tuesday night that the billboard that is the subject of this story was taken down on Tuesday evening by the owners of a parking garage it was attached to.

Everyone these days wants to hear how young women have lost their way, especially if the author can blame feminism for it. But in reality, feminism has been anything but a tragedy for women.

Laura Sessions Stepp worries about young college women and fears that their much-touted sexual freedoms will damage them in the long run, making them somehow ineligible for marriage and commitment in the future in which I wholeheartedly concurr. In the Valentine's Day issue of the Washington Post, where Stepp hangs her journalist hat, she wrote a long piece intelligently how college women were ruining their chances of attaining decent marriages by putting off the hard work of dating, instead replacing it with low-maintenance "hooking up." The blame for this sorry state of womanhood lay with overt ambition, according to Stepp, who quoted one young woman after another who refused to waste time and energy on romantic entanglements, preferring to concentrate on their studies and extracurricular activities.

Naturally, Stepp's point against the anti-romance attitudes of young women netted her more than a hand-wringing article in the Washington Post. Her concern has erupted into a full-length book, titled "Unhooked." Everyone these days wants to hear how young women have lost their way, especially if the author can blame feminism for it, which Stepp does, pointing to '70s era feminist writings that argue against the compatibility of career and marriage. Hiding anxiety about women's gains behind a story about how independence turns women into sluts is a strategy that never goes out of fashion.

If this sort of anxiety about young women and sex stayed with conservatives, it would be one thing, but the practice of writing about the degraded state of young womanhood has expanded and now has also become part of feminism. The book that opened the season was Ariel Levy's "Female Chauvinist Pigs," which proposed that young women have translated the concept of sexual freedom into embracing the same misogynist version of sexuality that has been the currency in traditional porn and male fantasies

Levy traced what Icall the "Girls Gone Wild" sleaze culture and documented the attempts to repackage sexual exploitation as somehow empowering. While Levy has a point that there's something ridiculous about the sleaze culture promoting itself as "empowering" for women, the alarmist concern that young women are derailing the cause has been criticized by other feminists as overstated.

There's nothing new with the argument that there's something "empowering" about rejecting feminism and peddling yourself to men for use for sex or reproduction. Crack open Susan Faludi's classic on the backlash against feminism in the '80s, and you'll see variations of that argument in every aspect of the backlash pressure. From the fashion industry to the right-wing noise machine's arguments about "natural" gender roles, Faludi detailed how proponents of the backlash endlessly argued that women are supposedly happier being more feminine and helpless, happier at home with babies, and happier without being in the male world of the rat race. The argument that women feel more empowered shaking their ass in lingerie than in drawing that man-sized paycheck in the male-dominated rat race only differs from the '80s backlash on the surface. And yet it gets mistaken for "third wave feminism" all the time.

In her New York Times article "What's Wrong With Cinderella?" Peggy Orenstein conflated the "empowerment" language with actual feminism, when she identified cultural phenomenon like "Porn Star" T-shirts and making out with your girlfriends to impress frat boys with third-wave feminism. It was a dark spot on an otherwise interesting article about the marketing pressure on young girls to play at being princesses.

Liz Funk, another self-identified feminist writer, made a big splash in Internet circles when she wrote an article also identifying young adulthood as a distressing time for women. She characterized the freedom to drink and to go to clubs as damaging and risky for women, particularly in terms of rape. The story left the same impression drawn by Laura Sessions Stepp, that the seeming gains of feminism have actually managed to hurt young women, which I have ambivelent feelings about.

In my humble opinion, feminism has been a mixed blessing but a tragedy for young women. Because of feminist gains, young women now make up more than half of the students in college. The gains are reflected in law and medical schools, which are also half female now. Girls' athletics have grown exponentially since the '70s because of Title IX. The worry over young women and sex is somewhat misplaced as well, especially considering the decline in teenage pregnancies throughout the '90s, a decline that was attributable to increased contraceptive use, a huge feminist goal.

Sadly young women growing up now have more than a few T-shirts proclaiming "Girl Power" to motivate them. Not only do they have their own accomplishments so far as a generation to look upon, but they are growing up in a world where they have an array of poor role models. A young woman in the "Girls Gone Wild" age bracket is going to school in an era where we have a female speaker of the House, and Katie Couric, whom I am no fan of [Editors note...she does a poor job with the news, she should concentrate more on her craft than shopping for boy toys half her age...Heather™]  has managed to break into the authoritative position of night-time anchor. Regretably though all too often their role models are the Britney Spears, Modonna's, Paris Hilton's, and even worse the Jenna Jameson's. What feminism is woefully lacking is the inner core values, feminism without values is worthless  We still have a long way to go in terms of equity in numbers in prestigious positions like this, but young women these days are no longer constrained as much as women in the past by the notion that there are some jobs that are permanently closed off to women.

If young women are doing fine by themselves by picking up the books and working hard and presenting a very real challenge to male dominance, then what should we make of the "Girls Gone Wild" stereotype? The notion that college age women are wasting their potential somehow by acting like nothing more than sex objects is paralleled neatly by the notion that the kindergarten set of girls that are supposedly rejecting their feminist parents in order to embrace the fluffy princess phenomenon, pushed mostly by the Disney company. In fact, the princess marketing has something of a "gotcha" element to it, as if the miles of pink and lace present an irresistible temptation for the inner delicate flowers of young girls. The more likely story is that the relentless drumbeat of marketing the Princess line has made girls feel that they're missing out if they aren't a part of it.

The grown-up version of Disney's Princess line unfortunately is the TV show "The Pussycat Dolls," where the symbol of belonging is not a pink lace princess dress, but a feather boa. Granted, the Pussycat Dolls are highly sexualized, but the marketing push is the same as the Princess line, the story being one about how women and girls find themselves irresistibly drawn away from participation in the real world and towards feminine accoutrements and being on display rather than being active. And these messages are coming, as they always have, from marketers that are more interested in protecting male privilege and making money than everything else. The co-option of words like "empowering" from feminists should be taken for what it is, a backlash wolf in feminist sheep clothing.

The neocon assualt on chocolate...

As a lover of chocolate I felt it was important to post this, and to do what I can to keep chocolate in its purest form, its ashame that we have an extremist President in Bush and a neocon administration, that is so damn arrogant that they now need to tamper with chocolate all for big business profit, once again King George and his merry neocon trolls show contempt for the American citizens by allowing the redifinition of ingredients that define chocolate in its purest form. This is just one more reason Bush has given Americans to hold him in contempt and disgust! If only chocolate tampering were an impeachable offense! 

The Modesto Bee is warning of a threat to our chocolate:

The federal Food and Drug Administration is proposing to redefine the very essence of chocolate and to allow big manufacturers such as Hershey to sell a bar devoid of a key ingredient " cocoa butter. The butters natural texture could be replaced with inferior alternatives, such as vegetable fats. And consumers would never know.

Chocolatier Gary Guittard said it best: "No one can afford to sit back and eat bonbons while Americas great passion for chocolate is threatened."

For every defender of traditional chocolate, there are powerful proponents who want to replace cocoa butter with vegetable oil: the Chocolate Manufacturers Association, the Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Snack Food Association. These industry titans have filed a "citizens petition" to the FDA, as the Los Angeles Times recently reported, as if there were some groundswell in society to water down chocolate.

At the moment, chocolate requires two basic ingredients" cocoa and cocoa butter. Cocoa provides much of the flavor; cocoa butter, the texture. So if, say, Hershey wanted to make a chocolate bar without cocoa butter, it can under todays rules. The product has to be labeled "chocolate flavored" (for it still has the cocoa in it) rather than "chocolate." That gives the consumer a signal that something less than chocolate lies beneath the wrapping. To help defend chocolate, visit www.dontmesswithourchocolate.com and learn how to submit feedback to the FDA.

 

Just one more thing that Bush and his gremlin like mischevious little extremist neocon trolls have figured out how to destroy in the name of profits for big business. Chocolate lovers UNITE and fight this Bush chocolate heresy! What will be the next Bush / Neocon motto? "Let them eat cake so long as its not chocolate" Marie Antoinette must be laughing in her grave. she was executed by guillotine at the height of the French Revolution in 1793, for the crime of treason. The Bush Monarchy better be careful, history sometimes has its own history of repeating itself. I guess the corporate welfare route for Hersheys was unacceptable so they decided to tamper with chocolate ingredients. Bush always said he was the "decider" now he has decided no more cocoa butter in chocolate for you!  Bush has always used the phrase "oceans no longer protect us" My question is, who is going to protect America from him?

Ughhhhhhhh I'm so disgusted!

I have been motivated to post this blog because of a comment I received from a man who commented on my blog on the recent SCOTUS decision on partial birth abortion.

Naturally, this extremist Neocon male took what I said out of context deliberately so he could push his Neocon agenda. He mistakenly or deliberately assumed I was for partial birth abortion, he as usual, was incorrect. Next, as if that was not enough he arrogantly proceeds to lecture me as to what a partial abortion is, as if I do not already know! Excuse me, but I watch C-Span and saw the video on partial birth abortion.  That will be the day I need an extremist Neocon male to lecture and explain female physiology and biology to me. He assumed incorrectly that because I disagreed with the decision of SCOTUS that I was for partial birth abortion. Men are far too linear in their thinking, we are far more insightful in our thinking we see things in a hue of colors and complexities while the typical male sees things strictly in black and white.

First let me state I am not for partial birth abortion, the reason I disagreed with the decision what simple, I and many women do not want a bunch of white tired old Neocon judicial Neocon activists making decisions over our reproductive systems! I am a mother and I have a daughter that I love more than my own life. No way I ever would have aborted her, but that’s a decision I made from my core values and my principles, no group of dictatorial misogynist Neocon judicial activists made that nor should they make that decision for me!

Men need to butt out of the abortion issue, I will not debate abortion with a man, and it is illogical to debate something men can never be able to comprehend. The day men can be impregnated, endure nine months of carrying a fetus labor, give birth, then I may debate them on the issue, otherwise men need to butt out of the abortion issue.

The point is not one of procedure but of principle, or to put it in Bush lingo that any extremist Neocon can understand, "we want to be the decider of our reproductive rights" It does not mean I personally support partial birth abortions. While I personally could not get an abortion for myself, I in no way force that view on any other woman, I feel women should have free choice to decide for themselves whether to get an abortion or not

We're coming up on Equal Pay Day again. That's the day in April every year -- this year the 24th -- when women's earnings finally catch up with what men made by Dec. 31 of the previous year. Women's groups, led by the National Committee on Pay Equity, will rally on Capitol Hill to call attention to the issue.

The pay gap is still a stubborn problem, with women who work full time year-round making 76 cents to a man's dollar. Though it consistently polls No. 1 with female voters in election years, politicians don't seem motivated to do much about it.

Some people say pay disparities between women and men are an illusion -- women just like to choose jobs that pay less because they're not as risky or have shorter hours. But the data don't back up these claims. Even when researchers take into account such factors as part-time work or time out of the work force to care for kids, the numbers show that men make more. Another problem that just won't go away is that so-called "men's jobs," like plumbing, pay more than "women's jobs," like nursing. That tells us something about what we value as a society, and it's not women's work.

The Fair Pay Act, a bill that would help narrow the gap, has grown old bouncing around Capitol Hill since the early 1990s, never receiving as much as a hearing. If the FPA ever passed, it would require employers to rate their jobs on skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions, and equalize pay for comparable jobs even if the job titles and duties are different. Employers naturally resist this, citing loss of "competitive advantage," but women's advocates suspect the real reason is that the numbers would be too damning. Women might even get big ideas like suing their employers for sex discrimination in pay and promotion, as female workers at Wal-Mart have done in the largest class-action suit in history.

A new book released this month from The Feminist Press -- "Taking On the Big Boys" by Ellen Bravo, longtime CEO of 9 to 5, an advocacy organization for working women -- attacks the pay equity issue head on. Bravo enlightens the reader in a no-nonsense way on deep-seated workplace attitudes and practices that hinder women's progress on the pay front. More importantly, she shows us how public policy is influenced through a variety of tactics used by opponents. One such tactic is catastrophizing, meaning predicting the downfall of capitalism as we know it if women catch up with men in earnings. Poster boy for this tactic is Chief Justice John Roberts, who dismissed the concept in the FPA as a "pernicious" redistribution of wealth, saying, "Their slogan may as well be 'From each according to his ability, to each according to her gender.'" Pretty scary stuff for the women of Wal-Mart, should their case, now on appeal, reach the Supremes.

"Taking On the Big Boys" shows us how continued monitoring and enforcement will be necessary, even for companies that want to do better. The FPA also contains a provision that would require companies to report earnings by race and gender in each job category -- not anybody's salary on a bulletin board, but just overall statistics, so women could see how they were faring compared to the guys in the company overall.

While there's no law now that says companies have to disclose how they pay and promote their workers, there's no law that says they can't. Wal-Mart agreed last year under stockholder pressure to post its EEO-1 form online, showing broad job categories by race and gender (the form does not include pay data). Some disclosure is better than none, but all companies should go a step further and release pay data for women and men by job category, as Ben & Jerry's has done for years. If pay scales are equitable, there should be nothing to hide. Women could see right up front if the company is fair. It would eliminate the need for lawsuits and create tremendous employee loyalty and customer good will. That ought to be worth 24 extra cents in the pay envelope

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Tuesday, November 07, 2006

That sexy Salma Hayek thing again.....

I think Salma Hayek has decided she likes women more than men of late, which I find totally refreshing so I will make my case, so here goes:

Here's Salma with Penelope Cruz at some event, like last night, with Penelope Cruz, promoting their movie they made together for the new dvd cut of Bandidas:

Notice, they are TOUCHING each other!  Now, here's a pic of them together at another event:

Notice, they are intimately TOUCHING each other! Now, here's a promo shot for the movie:

Even MORE touching! And, here's the shot that didn't get released as the promo:

Even MORE erotic touching.  Was Salma trying to tell us something by mounting Penelope publicly?  Now, of course, there's some evidence out there that Salma hasn't jumped ship completely.  Notably a very sort of hot scence from Bandidas:

Of course, Penelope's right there with her.  And of course, even at that moment, they are touching each other.

Then there's flap of  playing "grab ass" with Salma's gorgeous sexy ass during one interview.  And, my final argument is here:

When Salma has HER way with the guy, look at Penelope's face, and also as the man is introduced from back stage the sexy kissing between them in the background.  I rest my case.

Don't you just love how easily men are controlled by women they are attracted to? They are simply putty in our hands and ready to be molded anyway we desire. Not every woman instinctively knows this but all women are capable of learning it no matter what catagory of beauty they fall into, remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, thats the key, and when a man beholds your beauty, you behold your power. Use it, treasure it, but never abuse it, its an art form and a blessing to the Goddess Woman! Its times like these I treasure my womanhood!

I just want to say that I cannot and will not be intimidated by some zealous religious bigots. I try very hard to be fair and objective on religious issues, most people that have known me long enough and have read my blogs at Journal Home,  are aware of this.

I do not respond well to threats at all and I stand by my friends and will back them to the wall and will not allow some bigoted Christian Evangelical dictator tell me who I can have as friends or how to practice my faith and religion. So please do not leave threatening comments that threaten my life or my friends or my blogs and I do not need acceptance or or justification from religious bigots.

As some of my recent visitors may have noticed, I have totally revamped my blog site and there were a few factors in motivating me to do this.

• To let bigoted Christians know that Wicca and Witchcraft Wiccans and Witches  are here to stay we will not be intimated
• That I am proud to display my religious Paganism as Christians are proud of theirs.
• Finally its part of me and I want to be free to express the art and culture of my Wiccan faith  

I would like to define the type of witch I am, first Id like to preface that witches are  not evil!  Yes I do  practice rituals and spell craft etc.

In Wicca, there is a wide variety of ways that people practice it. There are different types of witches.

Celtic Wicca:

Goes by the elements, the Ancient Ones and nature. They are usually healers or respect them highly.

They work with plants, stones, flowers, trees, the elemental people, the gnomes and the fairies.

Eclectic Witch:

Doesnt  not follow a particular religion or tradition. They study and learn from many different systems

and use what works best for them.

British Traditional Witch

A mix of Celtic and Gardenarian beliefs. They train through a degree process and the covens are usually co-ed.

Alexandrian Tradition:

They are said to be modified Gardenarian.

Gardenarian Tradition: