demmiblue
demmiblue's JournalOur Laws Period-Shame Women So I'm Going to Change Them
Source: Marie Claire
This week I introduced the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2017, the first legislation in Congress to deal with menstrual hygiene product access. It has five different parts aimed at addressing all of these issues.
You would not believe what female inmates go through to access menstrual hygiene products. The ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of 8 female prisoners at Muskegon County Jail because (among other things) the prison denied inmates access to menstrual hygiene products, a condition considered inhumane and degrading. Female inmates in Connecticut only get five pads per week to split with their bunkmate, which means they may have to use a single pad for multiple days. I cannot imagine how humiliating that must feel. My bill would require each state to give female inmates and detainees as many tampons or pads as they need, whenever they need them—at no cost. If Congress has to deny states certain federal funds to get their prisons to change their current horrendous practices, then so be it.
Homeless women also face serious problems when on their period. A report issued in 2014 said that homeless women experience the "degrading condition of not having access to adequate facilities during their menstrual cycles to be able to use hygiene products and change them on a regular basis." Some homeless women resort to using rags or...nothing. Congress should be outraged by these conditions. Shelters should be able to use federal grant money to purchase tampons or pads—that is exactly what my bill ensures.
Once I started learning about all of the ways women and girls struggle to access menstrual hygiene products during their periods, I realized how much I took my own circumstances for granted. I am grateful to be in a position to advocate on this issue and effect change. My bill may be the first effort at addressing menstrual equity on the national stage, but it won't be the last. Especially not if passionate and talented women like you run for office and promote issues like these when you get there.
Read more: http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/news/a25464/congresswoman-grace-meng-menstrual-equity-bill/?platform=hootsuite
I think another thing that should be considered is providing non-disposable items as a choice (such as the Diva Cup). In the long run, it is cheaper and better for the environment.
Giphy launches library of more than 2,000 GIFs to teach you sign language
http://giphy.com/signwithrobert/expressions/idiomsVia: http://mashable.com/2017/02/16/giphy-american-sign-language-gifs/#2U8oDEVrP05E
Trump makes me so
.
When I look at his face, I feel like I am going to
.
Trump admin to rescind trans student protections: source
Source: Washington Blade
Despite pleas from parents of transgender children and LGBT employees, the Trump administration is set Tuesday to rescind Obama-era guidance to schools barring discrimination against transgender students and ensuring they have access to the restroom consistent with their gender identity.
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, told the Washington Blade on Monday she’s heard from “reliable sources” President Trump has green-lighted the plan for the Justice Department and Education Department to send a “Dear Colleague” letter to schools rescinding the guidance.
“This is the first day of the president’s second month in office and he is now fully coming after LGBT people,” Keisling said. “I’m angry; I’m outraged. This is about kids who just want to go to school who just want to be themselves, and to hear the president a week or two ago talk about how supportive he is of LGBT people, it’s just outrageous that he go after trans kids this way.”
Removal of the guidance would fulfill a campaign promise from Trump, who pledged to rescind the guidance after it was issued, but still “protect everybody,” amid outcry from conservative-leaning states. The Trump administration would be moving to rescind the guidance shortly after the confirmation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Read more: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2017/02/20/trump-administration-rescind-obama-era-trans-students-protections/
Someone put stickers on milk jugs of "missing" US Rep. (GOP, Calif 8th)
Someone put stickers on milk jugs of "missing" US Rep. (GOP, Calif 8th) who refuses to hold town meetings. @WhereIsPaulCook @bittersweetdb
Clever!
IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF?
George Takei on the Japanese internment camps during WWII
Gene Huber: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know (cardboard cutout dude)
Source: Heavy
The man invited on stage by Donald Trump at his Melbourne rally is a married car salesman from Boynton Beach, Florida whose social media pages are practically shrines to Trump.
Gene Huber’s Twitter profile photo shows him standing with a life-size cardboard cutout of Trump. On CNN after the rally, Huber said, “I’ve been with Mr. President Trump for over two years…” He said that Trump saw him on TV, and Huber said he “loved” Trump “with all his heart.” He said of the cardboard cutout: “I salute that every single day.”
He’s constantly advanced the president’s narratives against the news media and on other topics. Some people think Huber was a staged plant because he wrote on Facebook on February 14 about receiving a call from Trump and has checked in from various Trump properties and the White House on social media.
That all wouldn’t mean, if true, that he’s not really a Trump supporter (or super fan, as it appears), though, just that the moment was perhaps not as spontaneous as it appeared.
Read more: http://heavy.com/news/2017/02/gene-huber-donald-trump-rally-melbourne-florida-star-is-born-supporter-video-facebook-twitter-plant/
I don't do Facebook... what is the check in function? Do you actually have to be at the place you check in, or can you just say that you were there (i.e. is it tied to some sort of GPS function)?
Report: Milo Yiannopoulos tapped to keynote CPAC
Source: Politico
Controversial author and Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos will be the keynote speaker at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, which first reported the news, Yiannopoulos will focus his address on his "experiences in America battling feminists, Black Lives Matter, the media, professors and the entertainment industry."
The provocative right-wing writer has been in the news spotlight recently after many stops in his college tour were met with protests.
CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp told the Hollywood Reporter that the protests are one reason why they chose Yiannopoulos as the keynote speaker.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/milo-yiannopoulos-cpac-keynote-report-235173
Milo Yiannopoulos Tapped as Keynote Speaker at Conservative Political Action Conference (Exclusive)
The controversial figure, known as a harsh critic of Hollywood liberalism, will get more stage time at the conservative event than any other speaker, inlcuding VP Mike Pence and Sen. Ted Cruz.Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Milo Yiannopoulos is about to go mainstream Republican, sort of, grabbing himself a keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference next month.
The Washington gathering, known as CPAC, is the premiere event for established conservatives. This year’s speakers include Vice President Mike Pence, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, as well as media personalities like Lou Dobbs and Mark Levin.
None of the 60 or so confirmed speakers, though, will have more stage time than Yianoppoulos at this year’s event, which runs Feb. 22-25 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. The speeches will be broadcast live on C-SPAN.
<snip>
Yiannopoulos told The Hollywood Reporter his CPAC presentation will focus on his "experiences in America battling feminists, Black Lives Matter, the media, professors and the entertainment industry.”
Read More: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/milo-yiannopoulos-tapped-as-keynote-speaker-at-conservative-political-action-conference-977591?utm_source=twitter&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=referral
Figures.
Teacher placed on leave after her Facebook post urges reporting illegal residents
Source: Sacramento Bee
Cheriese Rhode, a first-grade teacher in Prosser, reportedly posted a message Wednesday night on her personal Facebook page urging people to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement in connection with the A Day Without Immigrants Boycott.
People closed businesses around the nation Thursday and kept children home from school to demonstrate how crucial immigrants are to the U.S. economy.
<snip>
The message generated a flurry of phone calls and emails to the Prosser School District, where nearly 62 percent of the students are Hispanic.
<snip>
Rhode is in her second year of teaching in the Prosser district. According to her Facebook page, she graduated from Columbia Basin College and Heritage University with degrees in elementary education and an endorsement to teach English as a second language.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article133574239.html
Profile Information
Member since: Thu Feb 14, 2008, 11:58 AMNumber of posts: 36,898
