I have a new hero, and she is a 14 year old Pakistani girl named Malala Yousafzai.
Since the age of 11, she has been actively exposing the ban on education for girls and closing of girl's schools set in place by the Taliban in her region, the Swat valley, to the BBC and New York Times.
Earlier today, The Taliban sought out this young and courageous activist by name while she was riding home in a school bus. They proceeded to shoot her in the head, and wounded
two other girls in the brutal attack.
She survived the bullet wound, and her surgery was just reported to be a success.
The bullet has been removed and she is in stable condition!
What kind of coward do you have to be to find a teenage girl who values her education
so threatening that it becomes necessary to shoot her, unarmed, riding home on a school bus
filled only with other teenage girls?
That's some extremely cowardly terrorism if you ask me.
This video sheds some light on the dark issues that had been plaguing Swat's past,
and the adversity that this family and many others have been challenged with:
A young lady of high ambitions, she's changed her course of study since the filming of this video, and now says she wants to study law and enter politics when she grows up. "I dreamt of a country where education would prevail," she said.
Even though the Taliban was driven out of the Swat Valley in 2009,
there have been Isolated Militant attacks in Swat, though the region has seen a
bit more stability in the recent past.
Today's events show that the risks are anything but absent for women who
fearlessly speak out to preserve there common rights and continue their studies regardless of the alarming obstacles.
One can only hope this gets enough attention for special precautionary measures
to be taken to ensure the safety of the young and wise girls of Pakistan.
Malala is an inspiration to all women, and proves that even one teenage girl can make a massive impact in the fight to change the world. She has proven herself the fearless one.
Enjoy the Luxury of Educating yourself further on the topic, and visit these sites for the full story and updates as they occur:
I'm in the midst of preparing for a move overseas,
which means I have the excitement of travel and the reality of relocation on the brain.
On that note, I'm going to attempt the difficult:
To provide a variety of unconventional ways to spend your holiday season,
and a real life perspective of what living conditions are like for Women the world over,
in one fell swoop!
I don't know about you, but almost every location I've vacationed in has romanced me to the point of contemplating a permanent stay.
To find out how good an idea it is to pack up your possessions and
transplant yourself in another country, you can skip all the fun stuff and go straight to the bottom,
or you can just read my recommendations for having a
blast until you're sure you've avoided any chance of an awkward family gathering altogether.
For the whole story, it's top to bottom, baby!
Of course it depends on what kind of person you happen to be:
Optimist, Pessimist, or Realist.
Let's start with the fun stuff, shall we? If your usual Holiday consists of tolerating your Mama's opinions of what you should change to meet Mr. Right and choking down Aunt Gertrude's ambrosia salad while random, hardly known distant relatives get plastered and fight over who it was that screwed up your family the most,
there are better options awaiting you in the great wide world!!!
Something unconventional to do this Holiday Season?
As the official site says, "Junkanoo is an energetic, colorful parade of brightly costumed people gyrating and dancing to the rhythmic accompaniment of cowbells, drums and whistles."
They had me at brightly colored costumes, gyrating, and cowbells!!
Hailed as Europe's Largest Fire Festival, leave it to the Scottish to come up with the best fire show on their continent! See ya there on the 29th of January ;)
One of my most favorite, Holi celebrates the coming of Spring.
People throw naturally obtained (and believe it or not, beauty-enhancing?!)
color in each other's faces as an expression of love! March 27th, 2013.
I wish I could pull off this form of P.D.A. on a daily basis!!
Last but certainly not least, celebrate like never before from February 8th-12th.
Well, that's it for now. This is plenty for you to think about 'til the dawn of the New Year.
Tell me when you've visited them all, and then I'll post more amazing festivals from
around the world.
There are too many for one post, seriously.
Every single one of these destinations is sure to charm the pants off any girl, but what is it really like to live in any of these places, after the party's over?
Now that I've WOW'd you with colors and lights,
here's the real deal about living conditions for women internationally,
from worst to best:
While I find India to be one of the most romantic places to visit, it's living conditions for women would be unbearable to most!! From intergenerational prostitution to arranged child-marriage, the truth is a hard pill to swallow.
And would you have guessed these countries are in lead of best places for women to live:
Canada and Iceland?!
To check out the global stats of life for women, visit these sites and you'll be surprised:
caught my eye a lil' while back. The plus to posting after the fact: It's become quit the controversy!
Is it chic or creepy? I'll let you decide... my opinion comes later.
And any eye puns that may come of this are completely involuntary, just for the record.
Apparently, the sky is the limit for bedazzling oneself, and this certainly proves it!
As a performer, I'm intrigued.
I might even really like the more subtle variety,
but stage lights are already a pain. What they are like refracted through a diamond, I probably don't want to find out.
I do still like the subtlety of the ones on the right. At night, maybe.
Now, this I find a bit over the top, but I could totally picture this in a movie! They're unique and eye-catching! And maybe a tad creepy...
Still not quite sure what to think? Check these out...
They bring up some interesting thoughts if you were to consider tracking down a pair:
This vid from the Huffington Post has perhaps too much information...
but if you do want a pair, it's good to really be informed!
If that title just went *whoosh* over your head, or if you think I'm talking about beer, let me bring it back to front and center. Women have what chromosomes? There it is!
Some very fun topics have been circulating around the media lately, and the ones focused on Women's rights have been borderline comical.... OK, I lied, they've been outright hilarious!! If you're asking yourself if I'm a feminist right now, don't bother. I am a Woman, maybe I'm a feminist man-lover, whatever. Either way, I don't like labels,
unless it's something that needs to be removed from one's personality (such as "ignorant a**hole"),
or it tells me how to use something (such as "this may cause cancer if...").
Being labeled female has a pretty broad spectrum to it, so that's probably the only one I wear with
great pride.
Don't ever ask if I'm left or right,
'cause I'm ambidextrous.
Anyway, Here are some things that tickled me pink over the last few months...
I'm sure we've all heard about this by now. The back-lash was humiliating for this poor dude. I love men in politics that really do their homework. Unfortunately, that is a very rare occurrence...
As the next article shows, he shoulda read a book, or asked a doctor:
Okey Dokey, then what they're saying is every pregnancy is immaculate. Awesome!! But wait, doesn't that take the bang out of the buck for one very special immaculate conception??!
And then, if every pregnancy is in fact immaculate, is sex just for recreation after all??!!! Well, YAY that's good news! Oh wait, that's not what they're saying.
Are they saying this applies to eggs now?:
That seems like the only plausible explanation I can draw from this theory. But these guys were actually just joking... apparently Arizona is not.
I really hope the next move does not classify a woman's period an abortion because she could have potentially been pregnant, and therefore she is heartlessly and recklessly wasting an egg.
Clasp those hands and pray to the Sky Gods!!
Now, while I am smart enough to know what they're trying to prove here, ya know "a women may not know she is pregnant for the first two weeks of pregnancy", by the time she does know, they can tell the gestation age. Oh, Holy Magical Science!!
I've only got one point to prove here, and then I'll be on my merry way...
Brain Cells Are Such A Wonderful Gift!
If you have some, be grateful. There appears to be a draught upon us.
Let me start with the Women who inspired this blog. India is rated "The Worst Place for Women to Live in the World" and these female vigilantes are fighting against domestic violence, arranged child marriage, poverty, and dowry demands against all odds! Their Founder/Leader Sampat Pal Devi says, “We are not a gang in the usual sense of the term, we are a gang for justice.” And these gals make house calls: to wife-beaters! Guess what those bamboo batons are for? Not twirling in a parade. Talk about eye-for-an-eye: more like beat-down for a beat-down!
I am impressed and inspired! Lead by example Ladies! And Rock that Pink!
Pink sari gang fights against India's oppressors - The National
