Girls Speaking Out = Change

Posted by random olio

Speaking your mind and putting yourself out there can make a difference. It can make a change in the world. I am all for it. Change.org is a website that allows individuals to start petitions. Three sixteen year old girls learned in their civics class that it had been 20 years since the last female moderated the presidential debate. They proceeded to start a petition to push for a female to moderate the debate this election and received over 180,000 signatures. This article from New York Daily News shares more details and also states:

“The commission did not immediately respond to requests for further information. But an official downplayed the teens’ role in the selection of moderators, noting the process has been in the works for nearly two years.”

Regardless of whether that is true or not, I am in awe of the perseverance and passion of these three teenagers to speak their minds and put their beliefs into action. A woman will be moderating one of three of this year’s presidential debates. Candy Crowley will be moderating one presidential debate, and Martha Raddatz the Vice Presidential debate.

I love the quote from one of the teenagers in this Christian Science Monitor article:

“It’s really important for young women and boys to see women as role models, in position of power,” Tsemberis says. “It’s about getting women to be visible in society, and not being discouraged because they’re being judged by what they look like.”

I agree. 2012 continues to be the year of the woman!

You go girls!

A Message to Todd Akin

Posted by random olio

I do not even know where to start on this debate. If I were in a cartoon I would have fire coming out my ears, and fireworks coming out of my mouth. I would be censored left and right. I just am flabbergasted by this politician’s comments. Seriously? There must not be a woman in his life that has ever been raped. Either that or he just has no respect for women. If he did he would eat his words.

What I am talking about pertains to Republican Senate Nominee, Todd Akin. Akin discussed his opposition to abortion rights “even in case of rape with a claim that victims of ‘legitimate rape’ have unnamed biological defenses that prevent pregnancy.” This quote was from this article about the TV interview with Akin on Sunday. In his interview, Akin said the following:

“First of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.

OMG. I am speechless. But only speechless because all of the words I want to say just are not nice. I am working on speaking up with clear, direct words, that are not @#$#%#$@$. The article states that rape is not “rare” and that “32,101 pregnancies result from rape each year.” Maybe Akin should go through a simulation of what it is like for a woman to be raped, and then tell him he has to carry the baby he is now pregnant with – oh yeah, and Akin, remember you never consented to the sex you have just been forced into.

Why do men and politicians feel that they have any say in what a woman does with her body? What woman should ever be forced to have a baby, after being raped? Then be reminded that they must have that man’s baby in their body for 9 months and then raise it? How is that bringing a child into this world with all the love, happiness, and consensual desire to raise a child? Maybe Akin would think differently if he had to grow a baby in his belly after nine months, and then raise it. BY. HIMSELF.

I would love for someone, anyone to tell me how to look at this from another view, because right now I am just livid. I cannot seem to find any silver lining in this debate at all. I really do not like to talk about politics at all, but this is more than politics. This a woman who has been forced to have sex against her will. Oh yeah, and in Akin’s words: “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” Seriously? Akin, what part of the female body has a way to shut the whole damn thing down?

Please tell me.

Misty, Usain, Missy, And a Bit Of Spice

Posted by random olio

The Olympics are over and I am sad. Although I am grateful that I will be getting back to my normal sleep routine. I did not sleep as much these past few weeks because we kept staying up to watch more of the Olympics.

I wanted to share my favorite observances of the Olympics, in no particular order. Misty May Treanor is hilarious when she wins. She gets her face into the camera and spouts off random words of gratitude to people in her life. What I love most is that she always shares gratitude for the military and troops. She rocked the Olympics again and finished her career in golden style.

I also really enjoyed Missy Franklin and her natural and real happiness. Only 17 years old. She is my hero of this Olympics. For her real joy, excitement, and humility. Did you see the music video with her and the other USA Swimming teammates? If not, you can see it here:

Usain Bolt. I am in awe of his killer running abilities. I was, however, appalled at his attitude and overly exuberant confidence that he is a legend. When you watched many of the other runners you saw humility. Those that won medals, or broke records, and some that finished were grateful to be at the Olympics. Not Usain. He even said in an interview about Carl Lewis: “Everybody’s forgotten about him.” You can read more in this USA Today article. You have lost my respect Usain. You may be a runner that has broken many world records, but you need to work on humility. It goes a long way.

The Spice Girls performing in the Closing Ceremonies. I had to laugh, and do some online searching to remember their “Spice Girl” names, and the songs they sang back in the nineties. Other than the song “Wannabe” no other songs rang a bell for me. Now I cannot get the “If you wanna be my lover” lyrics out of my head. (That and “Call Me Maybe” from the Missy Franklin video.) By the way, what did you think of the bikers with the strange shaped helmets during the Pet Shop Boys singing “West End Boys?” I will miss watching Track & Field, Beach Volleyball, Gymnastics, and Swimming. Now back to more sleep this week.

What were your favorite Olympic moments?

Bump to Pay App

Posted by random olio

How many times are you out with a friend and they say I am covering this, and you say I will pay next time. When the next time comes you realize you do not have your credit card and about enough cash for a small coffee. Your friend covers to pay for your dinner, but you are adamant that you are paying her back. Now you can, right away! No need to send her a check in the mail, wait until you see her next, or send her a check through your checking account.

You can now use the Bump to Pay app on your phone (iOS devices). The app uses PayPal for the transaction, so you need to have a PayPal account set up that will take money out of your checking account. You can then select the amount you want to share with a friend and Bump your phones to make the money transfer.

As long as it is truly secure, then it is definitely an app individuals will use. Hopefully they will expand to other smart phones. For now, anyone with an iPhone has no excuse for not covering their own tab.

Has anyone tried it? I always like to hear what others think before I use apps that require connecting to my credit card or checking account, but it does sound convenient. What else will they think of?! What apps have you thought of that do not yet exist?

Honesty and Integrity = Respect and Credibility

Posted by random olio

It’s Friday! It’s Friday!

Last summer I went to the IABC Conference that took place in San Diego, California. For those of you that might not know what the IABC Conference stands for – it is the International Association of Business Communicators. The keynote address was by Jonah Leher. I had recently read one of his books and enjoyed it, while also being very intrigued by his keynote address.

A few months Jonah released his next book: Imagine and I checked it out from the library. Once I received it and tried to start reading it, I was turned off. For the most part, the pages I read served to debunk the idea that brainstorming and creativity are effective ways to come up with new ideas. So I stopped reading and decided his new book was not one I was going to finish. Then tonight I came across this NPR article about the Bob Dylan quotes Jonah made up. What has come of our world? With all the information on the Internet, why would you ever even think about lying or fibbing about quotes, data, experience, etc? It does not make any sense to me!

It also opens up a lot of questions for me. What makes authors knowingly lie or make up content? Have folks not remembered the James Frey drama? Why is honesty and integrity such a hard thing to follow through on? How can we continue to trust authors and writers if we constantly have to wonder if they are telling the truth or not? It is interesting to me that the content of his book made me return it to the library and move on with my life. And…now they are pulling his book for inaccuracies.

Reminder to all writers: TELL THE TRUTH. Otherwise, you lose all respect and credibility.