Saving the World's Women

The NY Times Magazine today had a cover story, "Saving the World's Women: How changing the lives of
women and girls in the developing world can change everything" by Nicholas Kristoff and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn.  Research has shown that giving monetary aid to women rather than men results in improvement in children's health and education.  According to the studies, when men are given the money, the households' spending on prostitution, alcohol, sugar and candy rises. 

I was in Africa a year and a half ago.  My safari guide and interpreter took me to see the Hadzabe, an almost extinct tribe who live in the bush.  I hunted with them and then they sang and danced for and with me.  At the end of visiting with people, it is customary to give them a small amount of money (about $20 my safari guide told me).  He said, "We have to make sure we give it to the women."  When I asked why, he said, "If you give it to the men, they will spend it on mara-joo-wana.  If you give it to the women, they will spend it on food."  I asked my guide and my interpreter why the men wouldn't spend it on food when they knew people were hungry.  They laughed, uncomfortably and shrugged.

Very interesting:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Women-t.html#

There are some other articles as well, incuding the sad story of, "Truck-Stop Girls" about girls in Swazilland between 14 and 24 years old who have sex with truckers.  1 in 3 people are HIV positive in Swaziland:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23lives-t.html?ref=magazine

Hot off the Press: Scottish Leader Defends Release

As a follow-up to yesterday's post, the NY Times just filed this article about 45 minutes ago re the Scottish government's decision to release Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber. Scotland denies that their decision was connected to British oil interests. What do you think?

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/23/world/AP-EU-Britain-Lockerbie.html?hp

FBI Director, Mueller, Writes Scathing Letter to Scottish Secretary of Justice

FBI Director, Robert Mueller wrote a scathing letter, yesterday, to Kenny MacAskill, Scotland's Cabinet Secretary of Justice regarding his decision to release Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, who is terminally ill. Mueller was the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the investigation and indictment of Megrahi in 1991.

The bombing killed 270 people (mostly Americans) in retaliation for the U.S. bombing of Muammar Qaddafi's personal home. He mentions the grief of the families of the victims and personal effects of the victims such as a single sneaker of a teenager and the toys in a businessman's briefcase going home to spend Christmas with his family.

I've never seen a letter like this with all of its outrage from someone so high up in the federal government. I'm curious if he had to get Obama's personal okay or just his boss, the Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis C. Blair. Maybe Obama asked him to write something as both he and Hillary Clinton have expressed strong disapproval for releasing al-Megrahi.

Here's the letter. You can feel Mueller's anger, disgust and pain.

http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel09/mueller082209.htm

Man Carries Assault Rifle to Obama Gathering/Protest

I'm sure a lot of you saw this story this week. An African-American man showed up at an Obama event with an AR-15 slung on his shoulder:

Man Carries Assault Rifle To Obama Protest - and it's Legal: http://bit.ly/1m3i16

I think if someone wants to own a gun to go hunting or to protect themselves in their home, that's fine. However, I don't know that I want people walking the streets of the United States with automatic weapons on their shoulders. This is especially true as I live in NYC and, as those of you who live here know, every day in NYC brings constant irritating challenges. You don't want someone going off because someone elbowed them in the subway. Thankfully, NY does not allow "open carry" as it's called (openly carrying a visible gun).

What are your thoughts on this issue (and where are you from)?

Hillary's "Bad Hair" Day

I've been trying to decide what kind of tone I want to take in my new blog. I would like to balance fashion and politics, dining out and relationships. So here is me starting out with a BANG.

The news cycle was all about Hillary's response to a Congolese student's question about "What Mr. Clinton thinks". One of the blogs I read is by The Three tomatoes and they comment that Meredith Vieira asks Andrea Mitchell if Hillary Clinton was having a "bad hair day" and Andrea Mitchell agrees. They say that Colin Powell would never have been accused of having a bad hair day and I would have to agree:
http://www.thethreetomatoes.com/thethreetomates/2009archives/081309.html

Would love your comments on my inaugural post!