Thursday, February 01, 2007

Four totally unrelated things

1. First the good part. Iyyar took his first ride in the top of a shopping cart this morning. He was favorably impressed by the experience.

2. This article, by the AP... ah, where to even begin? With this?

"Notably, it says the U.S. is one of only five countries out of 173 in the survey that does not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave; the others are Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland and Papua New Guinea."

Or this gem, at the end?

"Traditionally, many conservatives have opposed moves for paid family leave, but there are signs of some shifts. A prominent anti-abortion leader, the Rev. Paul Schenck of the National Pro-Life Action Center, recently said he would support paid maternity leave on the premise that it might dissuade some pregnant women from having abortions."

Ya think?

3. That was just depressing and enraging because of the idiocy. This report on anti-Semitism in England--it's just depressing. And if you look at the full report, you'll see that most of the perpetrators aren't Arabs. They're white. And this is England, not mainland Europe, which traditionally and currently is much worse. When you can't go daven without having to think about this, well... it's not going to be so good for your kavanna.

4. All of which might make us remember why this is a good thing. And wonder what people like this think will happen if they get what they're asking for.

1 comment:

Penny said...

Went to a talk at Barnard (sponsered by CFRW) last Thurs (1 Feb) ... about the Balance of Women & Motherhood and work and lack of health care and we didn't even get near paid (or unpaid) leave. *SIGH* won't even talk how friend is currently flipping out due to upcoming birth and her unpaid time off.