ProWomanProLife

Watch here. Interesting concept, having live women sit in windows for sale to prove a point. Almost graphic, isn’t it. Shocking. Unless and until it’s made legal, in which case, it’s all apparently dandy and fine. Nothing to see here, move along, folks!

Anyhoo. I like the quote from the former prostitute. If you don’t get a chance to watch, the news story basically says she got into the business at 12 and she is emphatic that no one ever chooses to have whatever someone else wants done to her body. (And yes, the link between prostitution and human trafficking is very real.)

An interesting article on marketing from Forbes:

Of course, niche marketing is nothing new. Focusing on specific demographics – women between the ages of 20 and 30, say, or gray-haired men who play baseball – is an enormous part of how marketing is done.  But the latest such trend has some people seriously worried – and for good reason.

On October 30, marketing executives from companies like Pepsico, Ogilvy & Mather, and Best Buy will convene to absorb the wisdom of speakers like Safaa Zarzour, Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an organization withknown affiliations to terror groups like Hamas. The goal: to raise awareness of the buying power of the Muslim market, and to encourage sharia-compliant branding through the creation of halal products–products which conform to the tenets of sharia (Islamic) law.  (Though usually understood to refer to meat, “halal-compliance” can include other foods, as well as bath products and even clothing.)

Is this smart?

Ogilvy & Mather think so, as do many corporate giants: KFC has introduced halal chicken in many of its U.K. franchises, and Campbell’s recently introduced a halal-compliant soup (are you listening, Andy Warhol?).  Other companies on the halal bandwagon include Nestlé (one of the pioneers in the market), Domino’s, and Subway. According to the Web site for the October 30 American Muslim Consumers Conference(AMCC), “the consumer preferences of the world’s nearly 1.5 billion Muslims are faith-based, and largely non-negotiable.”

[...]

* Jews who follow kosher laws may not consume halal foods, which are blessed with a prayer to Allah. Sharia-compliant Muslims, however (despite the AMCC claims that they can eat nothing that is not halal), are in fact permitted to consume kosher foods, providing that they otherwise conform to halal rules, such as being all-natural and alcohol-free.

It just goes to show that when we’re talking about marketing, whether it’s chicken or sexual health, providers care very little about the social impacts so long as it doesn’t effect their bottom line.

As you may be aware, Tuesday is election day in the United States of America. I don’t claim to be an expert on US politics but I’ll be watching the California race keenly. Carly Fiorina, accomplished HP executive (Republican and pro-life) is challenging Barbara Boxer, the Democrat incumbent, who is pro-abortion. I’ll let you guess who I hope wins.

Here’s the secret to postponing motherhood successfully. Have part of your ovary removed and frozen in your teen years, so that you can have fresh (so to speak) eggs when you’re old. It’s so simple!

Dr Sherman Silber told the American Society for Reproductive Medicine meeting in Denver a woman could freeze her ovary at 19 to use when she was 40.

Dr Silber, who says the procedure would work better than egg freezing, did the first full ovary transplant in 2007.

But UK experts warned ovary freezing had not been sufficiently tested.

No sh*it, Sherlock. (Pardon my French.) Think there might be some slight problem with this “solution” to what isn’t a problem? Having trouble conceiving in your 40s in not abnormal, people. Get a grip!

[h/t]

Someone please tell me why Iran is about to be a part of the board of the UN agency promoting equality for women?

It would be great if Iran was actually interested in promoting equality for women, but their track record says otherwise.

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Brigitte, of course, has a smarty-pants answer ready: Easy. That’s because the UN is upside-down.

Behold the contraceptive gel.

Those are the words of an abortionist, Dr. Elizabeth Newhall. She has a vision for a day when the fact that women have abortions becomes totally invisible. Right now we are aware of the injustice, because we have private clinics. If only all doctors would just provide abortions as part of the regular checkup… Listen for yourself.

Talk about strong women: Last night I saw this documentary about Irena Sendler and her friends who saved Polish Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto.

To say it left a strong impact on me would be an understatement. If you watch the trailer, one of the women describes how Polish Christians caught with a Polish Jew would be killed on the spot. This is the same woman who describes in the film how, as part of the Polish resistance, she would kill traiterous Poles, those who were collaborating with the Nazis. These traiterous Poles would keep lists of hidden Polish Jews and when she killed them, she had to find that list–it was the key to safety for those families who were hiding children.

Irena Sendler, all of these women, seemed to have little idea that they were  heroes. Irena referred only to the fact that she couldn’t do it without the help of her friends (one of whom was tortured and executed). She said she remembered only what her father taught her: When you see a drowing man, reach out your hand.

Irena Sendler was up for the Nobel Peace Prize but Al Gore won instead.

I highly recommend this film.

So this is what marriage is coming to?

Americans are taking a cautious approach to marriage and are seeking more prenuptial agreements before walking down the aisle.

[. . .]

More women and middle-class couples are opting for prenups, which can also include adultery clauses, protection of retirement benefits and even custody of the dog, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), which represents more than 1600 lawyers.

“It’s a planning tool. Given that half of marriages end in divorce it makes sense to plan,” said Marlene Eskind Moses, the president of the AAML.

Sure, I can understand that a pre-nup makes sense from a legal standpoint, but from a relational standpoint? I don’t think beginning your marriage with, “Hey, I love you but I don’t think I can ever fully trust you” is a good way to start.

It’s also worth pointing out that the “half of marriages end in divorce” statement isn’t true. No wonder they’re so cynical, they’re getting bad facts. Not that it should matter, everybody else’s divorce rate holds no bearing on your own marriage.

And now these pre-nups include requirements for date nights, nights per week a spouse can go out without the other, and who gets the puppies if their dog gives birth (somebody please tell me when a divorce is really going to coincide with a litter of puppies being born?). Sounds like a recipe for a legalistic marriage if it’s just full of rules as to who can do what and when.

But I’m a traditional girl, my vows included, “I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honour you all the days of my life . . . to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poor, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” If that’s not good enough for people, then I don’t know what is!

Why oh why oh why OH WHY does anyone ever go with the “it’s always existed” or “it’s entirely natural” argument in defending his or her cause?

Goodness me. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times. Abortion has always existed, and therefore, it’s necessary and right, say abortion supporters. Prostitution, ditto.

This letter defending how natural prostitution is, is the impetus for today’s rant:

Prostitution is a natural phenomenon. Slamming and condemning governments and politicians for not doing anything about it is no solution, and shows a misunderstanding of the attitudes of many Canadians.

I find these arguments embarrassing because they are so easily refuted. Just because something is longstanding does not make it right. I read in today’s Post that in Albania, the family members of murderers have to go into permanent hiding because of a cultural tradition whereby the wounded family is allowed to knock off one of the murderer’s family. Ah, blood feud, vigilante justice. Been around for centuries–and therefore it must be good! On what planet does this pass for logic?

The other thing is that what is natural is often not right. Social liberals don’t understand this because they view human nature as being essentially good. Social conservatives do (or, ahem, should) because they think that evil is found in every human heart and therefore, just because it may feel natural to be drawn to porn, to use a woman for sex or even to kill someone–doesn’t make it right.  (We (ok, I) almost enjoy my personal struggle against some of my evil, yet natural, tendencies, and we (ok, I) generally go to the person concerned to apologize and to God for forgiveness when we (I) fail. But I’m digressing now.)

“It’s natural” isn’t a great argument, except where there are other substantive arguments to be made. Otherwise it should be reserved for moments such as my defence of moving to deodorant instead of anti-perspirant.

Here ends the rant.

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Brigitte adds: I believe I read somewhere that murder was a pretty old thing, too. Cain, I believe, invented it. Or maybe it was Brutus. Not sure. So, can I go out and murder those who stand in my way?

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Andrea adds: Go to town, Brigitte. People have been doing it for a long while so it’s AOK.

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Véronique adds: Ah the “natural” argument… I’ve heard it from every side: abortion is natural, working mothers are against nature, the list goes on.

It’s like “progress”, which is usually a good thing –pro-choice people think themselves as “progressive” – until it isn’t: abortion has happened throughout the ages, why fight it?

Or like “animals”: pro-lifers – anti-choice – view women as breeding stock … until you get to sterilization and euthanasia. Then treating people like animals is the dignified thing to do.

Antibiotics, vaccines and c-sections are not natural. Unlike abortion.