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girls
Sally Ride on NPR
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-07-27/former-astronaut-sally-ride
What a great woman she is promoting science and math for girls.
Astronaut Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. Today she is on a new mission: to make science cool for kids – especially girls. How she plans to encourage students to prepare for careers in science, technology, engineering...
Listen: thedianerehmshow.org/audio-player
Another WTF moment
It seems a Brit company has given in to protest and removed the Padded bikinis for 7 year old girls. WTF?
High street giant Primark pulled padded bikini tops for seven-year-olds off its shelves this morning after children's protection experts warned that they exploited children.
The store had been selling £4 sets in a low-cut halterneck style with padding in the cups which meant girls from the age of seven looked as if they had breasts.
The tops, which come in candy pink with gold stars or black with white polka dots, were 'withdrawn with immediate effect' after accusations that the high street chain was encouraging the sexualisation of young girls.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1265859/Primark-condemned-sellin...
Girls = 64% of National Honor Society
That doesn't seem like news to me. I always thought the girls were smarter in high school. Maybe now people are just waking up or the statistics are real. Boys are falling behind girls in math and speaking. Or as Kristof says, "they just seem to try harder".
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: March 27, 2010...The latest surveys show that American girls on average have roughly achieved parity with boys in math. Meanwhile, girls are well ahead of boys in verbal skills, and they just seem to try harder.
The National Honor Society says that 64 percent of its members — outstanding high school students — are girls. Some colleges give special help to male applicants — yes, that’s affirmative action for white males — to avoid skewed sex ratios.
Read that last line again. Affirmative action for male white students. We can't let the boys fall behind some uppity girls now can we?
Friday Open thread - Updated
I've been quite absent getting ready for Thanksgiving and the week after.
Pap smears? Not a subject I'm knowledgeable on, but from past experience I know how important they are.
Afghanistan is the most dangerous place in the world to be born, especially if you're a girl.
I just read The Kite Runner which is a total eye opener about what life was like there before, before the Russians and before the Taliban and before, well before the world ended for that country.
I've added the BBC photo of an Afghan girl to illustrate what is at stake if we leave. As much as I hate war and guns, as much as I detest those in charge of Afghanistan, I cannot support us leaving this country. In fact I am strongly in favor of a totally different approach.
Let's plant roots and stay much like we did in Japan, Korea, Germany. Let's stay and give them the time. possibly generations, to change attitudes and join the modern world. nh
Eight Years Later: 'Most Dangerous Place To Be Born'
ABC’s Nick Schifrin files this sad item from Kabul:
In a press conference in Geneva today, the South Asia regional director for UNICEF said this: "Afghanistan today is without a doubt the most dangerous place to be born.”
Dan Toole was speaking about UNICEF’s annual report The State of the World’s Children, which is available here(pdf).
Toole said Afghanistan has the highest infant mortality rate in the world: 257 deaths for every 1,000 live births. He also said a lack of security prevents polio and measles vaccine campaigns and decreases the number of children attending schools, especially girls. 317 schools have been destroyed by the Taliban in the past year, he said, killing 124 people.
Here’s another link(pdf) – to drive the point home. This is the actual list of mortality rates around the world.
Educate a boy, you educate an individual. Educate a girl and you educate a community
ABC News Person of the Week, Greg Mortenson believes in that African proverb and he has made it his life.
So often, if watching ABC I ignore the person of the week segment but this one caught my attention as I was getting up from my chair. His foundation, founded with Dr. Jean Hoerni, sets up schools, mainly for for girls, throughout rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.
His adventure to this point was the basis of a bestseller Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
The Central Asia Institute is his base, here is the welcome.
Peace and Hope Begin With Education: One Child At A Time