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By vater-krieg • 14 years ago

Whoa Canada

Originally posted to the Huffington Post

Canada did its best this week to act like George W. Bush. The government excluded family planning from a new maternal health initiative for developing countries it planned to launch at the G8 meeting in June. Like a minority in our country, their Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon claimed that access to contraception is irrelevant to his goal of saving mothers and infants .  After a quick public backlash , he edited his talking points, but still refused to acknowledge that family planning saves lives.

More than 500,000 women die of pregnancy related causes each year, the majority of whom are from the poorest regions of the world and leave behind children vulnerable to poverty, disease, and early death.  Family planning not only saves women’s lives, but improves the lives of future generations.

In developing countries across the world, 215 million women need contraception but don’t have access. Including family planning in maternal health projects would prevent women dying in childbirth and reduce debilitating complications. Increased access to safe and effective contraception would actually decrease abortions as it already has in countless countries spanning the globe, from Bangladesh to Romania. Family planning also reduces the transmission of mother-to-child HIV and keeps girls in schools for longer. If Canada’s objective is to improve maternal and child survival, an investment ...
By vater-krieg • 14 years ago

The U.N. Men’s Club

*Cross-posted on Grist

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced an important new climate change financing group yesterday but, out of the 19 people named, no women were included. This is unfortunate because women will bear the brunt of the effects of climate change and are key to any mitigation and adaptation efforts. 

The group is tasked with investigating potential sources of revenue to support developing countries in their efforts to cope with the impacts of climate change and shift to low-carbon development pathways. The Copenhagen negotiations in December called for $30 billion in climate financing for 2010-2012, ramping up to $100 billion annually by 2020.

The Secretary General’s choices for the advisory group will bring intellectual energy and political gravitas. The ...

*Cross-posted on Grist

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced an important new climate change financing group yesterday but, out of the 19 people named, no women were included. This is unfortunate because women will bear the brunt ...
By vater-krieg • 14 years ago

Motherhood, It’s Complicated

*Cross-posted on Huffington Post

A colleague on maternity leave recently sent an e-mail saying what an incredible experience pregnancy is and how she can’t help thinking of the millions of women who go through it without the support we take for granted in the U.S. “Here I am focusing on tummy time and music groups; talk about perspective when you consider that more than half a million women die every year during pregnancy and childbirth because they don’t have access to the simplest of health services and supplies.”

I had a similar moment of awareness after the birth of my daughter in 2007. I enjoyed a relatively easy pregnancy until my 32nd week when I was diagnosed with preeclampsia (a dangerous condition related ...

*Cross-posted on Huffington Post

A colleague on maternity leave recently sent an e-mail saying what an incredible experience pregnancy is and how she can’t help thinking of the millions of women who go through it without the support ...
By vater-krieg • 14 years ago

G-Spot Mouse

I’m just going to leave this here:

Full functional mouse very much in a vaginal shape. This is the G-Spot (or G-Point?). Discuss.

I’m just going to leave this here:

Full functional mouse very much in a vaginal shape. This is the G-Spot (or G-Point?). Discuss.
By vater-krieg • 14 years ago

Girl Comics, Marvel Comics’ Comics by Girls for Girls

Marvel Comics announced a special series of comics where all participants in the comics’ creation will be women. According to the article from Publisher’s Weekly’s The Beat , this will be a three part mini-series. The article features an interview with Jeanine Schaefer, the editor of the series.

To be clear, the talent selected for this series is amazing.  All the writers, artists, colorers, and editors are top notch. However, the concern, as brought up in a post at io9.com , is that this could simply be a "token move" by Marvel.

That said, this could be an amazing opportunity to have some better and more developed depictions (both through writing and illustrations) of the female characters ...

Marvel Comics announced a special series of comics where all participants in the comics’ creation will be women. According to the article from Publisher’s Weekly’s The Beat , this will be a three part ...
By vater-krieg • 14 years ago

Don’t Mess Around in Texas

When I graduated from high school in San Antonio, Texas, I can remember at least two dozen girls (out of a class of 600) pregnant or already with babies. It may seem astonishing now, but it was fairly normal in 1991: so normal, in fact, that our high school had responded with an academic track geared toward expectant and young mothers.

Based on this history, I wasn’t totally shocked to learn that President Bush’s abstinence-only program led to a 57 percent rise in student pregnancy in the Lone Star state.

What was truly shocking were the recent headlines that some Texas schools are abandoning abstinence-only education! No kidding, guys, what tipped you off that it wasn’t working?

Abstinence-only programs were big ...

When I graduated from high school in San Antonio, Texas, I can remember at least two dozen girls (out of a class of 600) pregnant or already with babies. It may seem astonishing now, but it was ...
By vater-krieg • 14 years ago

Blog, Video, and Follow up to GLAAD Panel on Homophobia and Virtual Communities Hosted by Electronic Arts

This is a follow up to a post I made a few weeks back regarding the GLAAD panel on homophobia and virtual communities hosted by Electronic Arts.

The GLAAD blog has posted a run down of the event. Not only that, but also video of the panel. I have yet to read through or view the entirety of the article, but I am sure it will be enlightening to read/watch. It does look like some of the concerns raised in the previous post and its comments were addressed.

Here is Kotaku’s run down on it.

I am glad so many prevalent members of the video game industry and the video game press were able to attend.

This is a follow up to a post I made a few weeks back regarding the GLAAD panel on homophobia and virtual communities hosted by Electronic Arts.

The GLAAD blog has posted a run down of the ...
By vater-krieg • 14 years ago

Electronic Arts to Host GLAAD Panel About Homophobia in Gaming

As a gamer and, at the very least, a fan of feminism I found this to be quite an interesting ordeal. It seems that Electronic Arts is hosting a panel for GLAAD. Here is a link to the event on the GLAAD site.

As someone who has gamed for nearly all my life in both casual, hardcore, and even some competitive play, homophobia has always been something I have taken issue with. Various homosexual derogatory names roll off the tongues of so many so easily while gaming and it is ultimately the reason why I mute and never speak to others while playing. This concerns me greatly, as I am being pushed away from gaming by my dedication to ...

As a gamer and, at the very least, a fan of feminism I found this to be quite an interesting ordeal. It seems that Electronic Arts is hosting a panel for GLAAD. Here is a link ...