Mutilation for Education?

This is probably one of my favorite TEDs so far. They're all amazing, but this one is truly something. One lesson here is that a girl should not have to sacrifice her body or soul in order to receive an education or other community benefits. Kakenya Ntaiya is a survivor (a strong one, at that!), but so many other young girls still face the pressure of enduring pain, infection, or even death in order to remain an "honorable" and accepted female of the community. If a girl doesn't endure the rite, she is a dishonor to her family and she is shamed, ostracized, or worse.

 Kakenya Ntaiya: A girl who demanded school 

Do you think that this rite of passage should continue or do you think that it is time for girls to say, "No!"? 

SCOTUS Considers Civil Rights Debates

     

     The Huffington Post reports that the Supreme Court is reviewing two key debates in the Civil Rights scope: affirmative action and voting rights, major players in the civil rights movements of just yesteryear. Some of the SCOTUS justices believe that race relations have improved so greatly over the last fifty years that certain federal laws protecting minorities – particularly for those in the South – are no longer needed. Justice Scalia stated that it was “the high court’s responsibility to overturn voting protections overwhelmingly passed by Congress in 2006.”  Scalia scathingly added that these certain “racial entitlements” create difficulties or bottlenecks in the standard political process.

          Reading this article only angered me.  Between all the gerrymandering, voter ID scandals, and other atrocious behaviours that occurred during the last election, I don’t think our country is quite ready to go carte blanche with respect to eliminating racial equality laws. Although black poverty has fallen nearly fifty percent since the 1950s, it is still three times the poverty rate of whites. Affirmative action should remain in place but I can certainly appreciate the frustration that some white students experience. In the case of white student Abigail Fisher, she was rejected and she sued, claiming that her rejection was racially-based. However, SCOTUS advises universities to consider race, in a list of many factors that decide the fate of a student.  Until the margin decreases between whites versus non-whites regarding employment, wealth, education, and racial bias; until ridiculous behavior – reminiscent of post-slavery South regarding poll taxes and literacy tests; until a person sees a person and not a skin colour – until all that happens and more – is when a conversation about eliminating Affirmative Action can take place.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/31/supreme-court-civil-rights-affirmative-action-voting-rights-act_n_2987996.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

Lead Us Break Bread

     The Huffington Post reports some lead-based debauchery happening overseas and the United States is to blame.  This report shows that, although toxic-laden chemicals are banned for purchase in the United States, it does not stop the U.S. from producing these chemicals and shipping them overseas to countries that have lighter restrictions on those particular chemicals.  Perry Gottesfeld and his team, while in Cameroon, discovered that more than forty percent of Seigneurie house paints (manufactured in the U.S.) in the Cameroon market contained high levels of lead.  The article also states that no laws are in place in the U.S. to restrict these toxic shipments, and these lead-based poisons are ending up in developing areas for use in schools, daycare, and homes.  Lead is not the only regulated toxin that is finding its way out of U.S. borders: asbestos and pesticides are also leading culprits in the poison problem. 

          Nothing says “I love you” more than a nice bucket of toxic paint slapped right on the walls where little tykes will play.  I think our country is living in a protective bubble, where we believe that if it is so here, it is so everywhere.  Sadly, this is not the case.  Corporations are yet again finding ways to make a profit for less and they do so by exploiting developing nations that do not know, or cannot afford, to avoid these toxins.  When will corporations stop exploiting the system? I feel so disgusted by the very fact that I live from check to check while some CEO is making millions off exported poison.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/25/lead-paint-exports-pesticides_n_2949694.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

The Everlasting GOPstopper

          The Daily Caller reports some interesting changes occurring in the GOP, where republicans have set themselves up for what they hope will be a more successful campaign for the 2016 presidential election. The article states that the presently divided weakness between the gubernatorial wing and the federal wing in the GOP only increases its chances of failure in future elections.  Some of the major changes that the Republican National Committee’s Growth and Opportunity Project released suggested that the party should learn how to attract “Hispanics, blacks, Asian Americas [sic], women and the youth.” Another element of this proposal is a planned reduction in “televised showdowns,” reducing air time by fifty percent.

          What I picture in my head is something close to the evil Dr. Doofenshmirz from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb, where the evil scientist tries to create things that specifically cater to his needs, and no one else’s.  I guess I find it rather disgusting that the same party that wishes for strict immigration laws wants to draw in those particular people to their side of the court.  It doesn’t make sense!  The GOP wishes to gain the vote from the very people that they marginalize.  I’m not sure I understand this line of reasoning.  

http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/18/how-the-gop-plans-to-win-minorities-find-dirt-on-democrats-and-attract-the-mtv-vote/