<big>Also: women battle the gender gap in Lebanonâs parliament, meet Madame VicePresident Elect Francia MĂĄrquez of Colombia, undies from Texas for youngsters in dire poverty, abusive boyfriends getting coddled, </big>
and...
From Sicangu REDCO Community Development email,
...Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen became the first person in her role to visit a Native Nation ⊠accompanied by [Mohegan lifetime] Chief Marilynn âLynnâ Malerba, who had been named as the next US Treasurer just hours earlier by President Biden. The visit also coincided with the Treasuryâs announcement of the establishment of a new Office of Tribal and Native Affairs, which will report to the Treasurer and coordinate Tribal relations throughout the Department.
"With this announcement, we are making an even deeper commitment to Indian Country," said Secretary Yellen, in remarks delivered at Sinte Gleska University [a public, tribal, land-grant university in Mission, South Dakota, on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, Brulé Lakota Indian Reservation home to the Sicangu.
Yellen] went on to acknowledge the âcenturies-long injusticesâ that Native Nations are working to overcome, and committed to expanding the âunique relationship with Tribal nations, continuing our joint efforts to support the development of Tribal economies and economic opportunities for Tribal citizensâŠ.
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thatâs among the widest in the world, ranking 145 out of 153 countries, with all the resultant impacts upon women, children, civil society, and human rights for which female under-representation in govt is notorious. In an historic highwater mark, <big>eight women were elected to parliament</big> in the 2022 vote âtwo more than in 2018, and six more than the first two ever in 2005â but itâs only 6.25% of the 128 seat total.
The [2020] Beirut port explosion propelled Najat Saliba into politics by conscience:
...âI felt like I had to step out of my ivory tower in academia and start actually pushing for a new way of living forward,â the atmospheric chemistry specialist told Al-MonitorâŠ.
...âIt is not easy to implement a gender agenda in a sexist parliament, but I will fight for it,â said Halime el-Kaakour... "My expertise and my beliefs in gender equality have been one of the main reasons for attacks [on] my campaign, and it still continues,ââŠ.
Half of [the eight, including Saliba and el-Kaakour,] come from the protest movement [of the 17 October 2019 revolution]. "It is a great victory for us women to show that we treat each other on an equal basis,â Saliba said.
âIt was a feminist revolution⊠You can't talk about rights without ... a feminist agenda ⊠gender rights and gender issues [normalized for addressing] in public spaces,â said Myriam Sfeir, director of the Arab Institute for Women.
But almost two years later, the economic crisis and the critical social context exacerbated by the [port blast felt as far away as Europe and Turkey] are used as an argument [claiming] now it is not the time to work for women's rightsâŠ.
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A CNN Hero in Texas brings âUndies for Everyoneâ, something so simple yet essential to youngsters in dire need.
Her nonprofit partners with local Child Protective Services, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Pediatric Mobile Units, relying on to distribute âthe goodsâ anonymously, Rabbi Weiss says âyou don't have to show pictures of everybody and make it a big deal. It can just be because it's the right thing to do, and you want to help people feel good and be successful." (Edited)
Houston (CNN) It's not every day you meet a rabbi from Texas with a thing for underwear. But [for] Rabbi Amy Weiss. It's her mission and her organization's moniker. By the end of this year, Weiss said Undies for Everyone will have distributed nearly 5 million pairs to children and victims of natural disasters in 16 cities across the US.
It started small about 15 years ago when Weiss learned of the need from a social worker. By 2017, her one-woman operation had established relationships with about 30 schools, on track to distribute more than 200,000 pairs in that year alone.
But in August 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas and Louisiana [with] catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths, leaving people without food, shelter and clothing.
"The world turned upside down," Weiss said. "I was holding my shorts up with a phone cord." She and her husband, Rabbi Kenny Weiss, lost their home but, living in his office, and with help from Houston area friends and family, they quickly pivoted to support those in total disaster. "It's a sign of dignity for anyone who has lost everything ⊠to have underwear makes you feel better, and it makes you feel a little normal. So we were anxious to help out."
When scholar/author Brené Brown, a neighbor and supporter of the organization, posted a video asking people to send underwear, it was a game-changer.
"My computer started dinging like I had won I don't know what ... a slot machine ⊠1.5 million pairs of underwear from around the world at my husband's office, People were coming to volunteer and asking if we could help more communities."
.."We want to increase these kids' dignity, self-esteem, and confidence," Weiss said. "And keep them in school. It will help them become more successful in social situations, in academic situations. When they've got underwear, they're just feeling better and more confident. And it's just easier to be a kid."
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TASW: There's an appalling cover story at New York Magazine about <big><big>a high school boy who non-consensually shared a nude picture of his girlfriend.</big></big> The story paints him as a victim of "cancel culture." Jessica Valenti argues otherwise:
"The truth is that there is a really interesting piece to be written about girls who do things like post a list of boysâ names in a bathroom, or share their rapistsâ names on TikTok or Twitter. These are young women who know theyâve been completely and utterly failed by institutions, and want to have some measure of protection and power. Their stories are far more interesting than a boy who doesnât like facing the consequences of his own actions.
âI donât doubt that Diego, and other boys who have been outed as abusers, have lost friends or had a hard time.
âBut hereâs the thing: Thatâs good. People who hurt others should face social repercussions. And if high schoolers are going to be over-the-top or mean, better that they aim their teenage ire at abusers rather than victims."
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Meet Francia MĂĄrquez in these DK posts, Columbiaâs Vice-President elect â the first woman and first black person in that office.
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Expert links from TheConversation:
by Morgan Marietta, UMass Lowell | A Supreme Court scholar untangles the ideas that undergird the historic ruling overturning the Constitutional right to an abortion.
<big>...a revolutionary ruling ⊠for the ongoing debates over the nature of rights under the Constitution...â </big>
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and some states still have laws on the books from before 1973.
by Stefanie Lindquist, Arizona State University | State supreme courts have a relatively low profile in the US. Thatâs going to change now that they will be under political pressure to decide whether abortion is protected in state constitutions.
by Katherine Drabiak, Univ of South Florida | Many states have laws regulating abortion already in place, other states are moving to expand or restrict abortions, and some cities are taking legal steps to either limit or allow abortions. E.g., In Austin, TX, lawmakers are working to pass a law decriminalizing abortion within city limits. Itâs key to keep in mind that the legal process at the state level can involve not only the legislature, but courts and state governors, creating complex and sometimes unpredictable outcomes that may take months or years to resolve.
by Linda C. McClain, Boston University; Nicole Huberfeld, Boston University | By a 6 to 3 majority, the Supreme Court decided to overrule the landmark Roe decision and end almost 50 years of access to abortion being a constitution right.
Nora McDonald, University of Cincinnati | Data privacy is an abstract issue for most people, even though virtually everyone is at risk. Now that abortion may become illegal in some states, digital surveillance could take an even darker turn.
by Luis JosuĂ© SalĂ©s, Scripps College | challenges to abortion in the United States are often fueled by the belief of many Christians that abortion and Christianity are incompatible. For example, the catechism of the Catholic Church states: âSince the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion.â It is true that Christian leaders, virtually all male, have largely condemned abortion. Nonetheless, we should remain aware of the messier realities that this statement conceals.
by Susan M. Shaw, Oregon State University
The earliest anti-abortion laws were intended to protect women from complications and deaths at the hands of untrained abortionists.
by Gretchen E. Ely, Professor of Social Work and Ph.D. Program Director, Univ of Tennessee
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NPR The Supreme Court's majority and dissent opinions on Dobbs reveal a massive schism
Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan wrote a searing dissent to the court's decision to end Roe v. Wade and overturn the constitutional right to an abortionâŠ
..."The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and
Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives," the court stated in a syllabus included with its lengthy Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision.
The dissent vehemently disagrees â and it warns that other Supreme Court precedents securing "settled freedoms involving bodily integrity, familial relationships, and procreation" may now be in danger, such as rulings backing contraception rights and same-sex marriageâŠ
...Justices in the majority [egregiously*] compared the situation to the court's historic overruling of its Plessy v. Ferguson, which backed the racist "separate but equal" doctrine until it was undone by Brown v. Board of EducationâŠ.
The dissent accuses the court of betraying its guiding principles while relegating women to second-class citizenship. It also questions the majority's reasoning, saying the Dobbs decision will place an extreme burden on low-income pregnant people.
"Whatever the exact scope of the coming laws, one result of today's decision is certain: the curtailment of women's rights, and of their status as free and equal citizens," the dissent states.
Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan say the court's ruling discards a balance set by past abortion decisions. "It says that from the very moment of fertilization, a woman has no rights to speak of..."
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TheConversation Abortion and bioethics: Principles to guide U.S. abortion debates by Nancy S. Jecker, Professor of Bioethics and Humanities, School of Medicine, University of Washington
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established the nationwide right to choose an abortion.
For decades, rancorous debate about the ruling has often been dominated by politics. Ethics garners less attention, although it lies at the heart of the legal controversy. As a philosopher and bioethicist, I study moral problems in medicine and health policy, including abortion.
Bioethical approaches to abortion often appeal to four principles: respect patientsâ autonomy; nonmaleficence, or âdo no harmâ; beneficence, or provide beneficial care; and justice. These principles were first developed during the 1970s to guide research involving human subjects. Today, they are essential guides for many doctors and ethicists in challenging medical casesâŠ.
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