Happy 8th of March!

How fitting that the 8th of March falls right in the middle of the Ultimate Blog Party! Something to celebrate!

The Soviet regime coined the 8th of March as "International Women's Day" to honor (and propagandize) the image of the Working Woman (working due to compulsion, no less). The poster above (from 1932) highlights the Noble Work women around the world (Soviet world, that is) in the service of Stalin. Praise the working woman! And in thanks for their support of the regime of terror, the working women got the 8th of March dedicated in their honor, for the honorable work they did.

And now without (as much of) the sarcasm... Okay, for those of you unschooled in Soviet (and Communist in general) customs, the 8th of March is a holiday that celebrates women (working women, that is)! Also called "International Women's Day" in some places, it's a holiday that was actually created to inspire and motivate the female workers of the world (and when I say 'worker', I'm referring to the working class of communist societies - card-carrying members of the communist party). It was also meant in a way to balance out February 23rd - Army Day (which basically celebrates the Soviet Man).


This lovely poster is an illustration of the message of the day (again, from 1932) - "The 8th of March: The day working women revolt against the slavery of the kitchen." Note the Noble, Honorable, Flag-toting Working Woman, rescuing the poor, enslaved homemaker from the rubble consisting of a samovar, dishes, pot, tea kettle, etc. Stay tuned in the future for some more humorous Soviet posters 'educating us' about the proper role of women...

But today, the historical significance has been mostly shoved aside, and in most Eastern European countries March 8th is a day to honor the women in your midst. So, in light of that, give a flower, send a card, remember the women who have touched your lives. So happy 8th of March ladies!

All hail the BBC!

Okay, maybe that's an overstatement. But, I'm so excited about this story published by the BBC - it's taking on one of the issues closest to my heart, and takes its example from NightLight, who I've been advocating for since last summer, in partnership with Trade As One. Take a few minutes and read the story. It glosses over it a bit, but a lot of what this article is talking about deals with very young children. It's heartbreaking, but the hope that NightLight provides is uplifting. And, the more jewelry they sell through Trade As One, the more young girls they can rescue.

The War on Terror and other such things

After a 2 week blog hiatus here I am writing 3 posts in one day. I feel the need to comment though on this whole war thing though. It hits home. The day after the state of the union address I found an unwelcome message in my inbox. My brother (who I always welcome emails from) was notifying us that his deployment to Afghanistan (he's in his 11th month there with the 10th Mtn., and he already served a year in Iraq with the 101st when troops first went in) had been extended until June-ish.

Now, his unit is doing some amazing things that no one else in the army is doing, or has ever done to my knowledge. They're out, not on a base, living in a river valley doing some really inventive stuff - from winning the hearts and minds of Afghani civilians by building schools and giving them protection, to searching for Taliban forces and providing security to contractors in the region. What he and his soldiers are doing is pretty amazing, but also highly dangerous.

We were told weeks ago not to send any more mail - he'd be coming home soon. Then wham, a week later, we get this email from him that he's there longer. My first instinct was to lash out at our Commander In Chief. Thank you, El Presidente, for deciding to further risk my brother's life. But, after actually using my head and looking into the issues a bit further, and after hearing Rob's take on it, I think we need to stay the course. Yes, our troops are stretched. Yes, they're underpaid and undersupported. But pulling them out of the hot zones will not make our country or the world a safer place to live. Here's an excerpt from Rob's email:

I just want to say up front that we all believe this to be the right decision on the part of the President and the SECDEF. We have known for awhile that this was being considered, and in an effort to hold on to the peace that we have been fighting for over the past 11 months this is the right choice. We know the area, we will stay in place while our follow on unit, the 82nd, will move somewhere else. So for now, things will stay as they are.

In the mean time, keep all of our soldiers in your prayers. This will be a difficult time for our soldiers, but their strength of will and sense of duty is truly an amazing thing to behold on a daily basis. At the end of the day, we will be fine. As a matter fact, we will do very well over here and the company will continue to bond and get stronger through our continued deployment.

Thanks to all of you for your support up to this point and I look forward to it continuing over the next few months! Take care.

While most of us here stateside have varied opinions about the war and how soon our troops should come home, support for the war is decreasing. There are so many people who give monologues on what we should do. But talk to the troops. Talk to the ones who have come home or the ones who are still on the ground, and see what they have to say about the situation. Every soldier I've talked to who's served in Iraq says that sending more troops is 100% the right thing to do. They're not talking out of selfish motives. More troops in Iraq (or Afghanistan) means more time away from their families, more missed birthdays and Christmases, more missed births, and frankly they put their lives on the line every day they spend in combat. And they're the ones saying, yes, let us do our jobs.

In our day to day lives, that means a couple things. One, perhaps we (we consisting of those of us who have not been to Iraq or Afghanistan in recent months) should stop pretending we know what to do. And two, let's show a little more support for the men and women who put their lives on the line daily and sacrifice time with their families for our greater safety.

Immigrants & indignation

I received an ignorant mass email this morning about immigrants and the language issue here in the states. The subject of the email was "Hip hip hooray! Go USA!" and left me awaiting something upbeat, announcing how Americans had come together to do something great. Something proclaiming the positive impact Americans were having somewhere. But instead, the email did the opposite - it berated the Hispanic population for wanting to sing the national anthem in Spanish, dividing rather than building up our nation.

This country was built by immigrants, and we wouldn't be where we are today without the immigrant work force. The vast majority of immigrants in this country do the jobs Americans don't want to do, they're peaceable, and with a handful of exceptions, they do learn our language. If they want to express pride in our country (their adopted country) in their native language, why is that a bad thing? As this email says, this is a country where freedom of choice reigns. Why shouldn't they have freedom of choice as well? They contribute to the economy, they bring diversification of ideas and they enrich this country's history and culture. Furthermore, thousands of them serve next to 'our' boys and girls to defend this country, putting their lives on the line daily to serve and protect.

As a US citizen, I am in this country now for much the same reason as the immigrants. When my husband and I got pregnant overseas, I wanted exactly what the immigrants want - something better for my children. I didn't want to give birth in a country where the infant mortality rate is higher than that in my home country. Can you blame me? If not, can you blame them? If anything, we should be thankful that the Hispanic population loves this country enough that they have a desire to sing our national anthem in the language closest to their heart. Who are we to criticize their dedication to our (our being inclusive of immigrants) country?

This country was founded by immigrants - more specifically, by conquistadors and colonialists that came in and pillaged the Native Americans. To point a finger at the immigrants is to point a finger at our own ancestors (who do, in fact deserve judgment for much of what they did). Not one of us (other than Native Americans) can claim to be different from the immigrants - we all descend from people who immigrated to this country and worked hard to make a better life. To turn against the immigrant population (who, by the way, work their fingers to the bone daily to contribute to our economy) is to turn against the very values our nation was founded on.

When ignorant Americans who think of this country as the center of the universe make claims that immigrants are ruining this country, it reflects poorly on all of us, drives a wedge between us and does a disservice to the nation.

National identity

Identities are funny things. It seems that the more secure we are in our identity, the less need we have to display it. Think about it, the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons would not paste Falcons memorabilia over his car - but a fan would, trying to identify with the Falcons. The more secure we are in our identities, the less need we feel to advertise for them. The understanding is that those who are close to us already know our identity, and theirs are the opinions that are important. Our identity is central to how we see ourselves, but everyone places different importance on different aspects of their identity.

Nationalities are a funny thing too - they're part of our identity, but function differently to different people. My husband just became a US citizen. That means that he's now an American. At the same time, if I were to become a Moldovan citizen (his nationality), I would probably never be considered a "Moldovan" - just like if I were to become a Russian citizen or a French citizen I would never be considered Russian or French. And I think that's because I didn't take part in their shared history. It is the shared history that solidifies a culture, and most nationalities are protective of their shared history - they take pride in their national struggles and triumphs. America is different because the nation's cultural identity is that of a melting pot - all are welcome, all can call it home, and the countries' identity lies purely in its diversity. How I wish some days that I could be a Moldovan... (with, of course, all the privileges of an American...) They hold a type of pride in what they've survived, and what they've triumphed over, and I cannot share in that. I'll always be an outsider there, even if I were to live out the rest of my days there.