Friday, April 30, 2010

Ah, the wisdom of the UN...


The United Nations just elected Iran to the Commission on the Status of women.
Why am I not surprised?

Here are just a few reasons why this is pure insanity.
Although par for the course for the UN.



"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes," said the respected cleric, Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi.

Suntanned women are defying Islamic values and will be arrested, an Iranian police chief said, according to The Telegraph.

Under Iranian law, women must be covered from head to toe.

Article 49 (Iranian penal code)exempts children from punishment. Addendum 1 to this article defines a child as someone before puberty. But in the civil law puberty for boys is 15 and for girls 9 lunar years (article 1210, addendum 1). So girls come of age for punishments six years before boys. This is particularly striking since in everything else such as inheritance, custody over children, marriage, divorce, ownership, travel, giving witness etc women are considered delicate creatures in need of protection by men. But when it comes to being punished, suddenly they are more mature and responsible for their actions. Less rights, more punishment. One can imagine a situation where a boy of 14 and a girl of 9 steal. According to the law she would lose four fingers of her right hand for first offence (article 201), her left foot for the second offence, prison for third and execution for the fourth! He would go scott free.

The husband is designated the head of the household by law.23 A woman is legally obliged to be obedient to her husband.24 A woman cannot leave the country without her husband’s approval.25 A man may take more than one wife.26 A man may prohibit his wife from employment.27 A man has undisputed and unequivocal rights to divorce his wife.28 In cases of divorce, the legal custody of the child is with the mother up to the age of seven, and thereafter is determined by the court.29 The management and supervision of the affairs of children below the age of 18 is by their father or paternal grandfather, and the mother has no legal say in the matter.30 Should the father pass away, the guardianship lies with the paternal grandfather, not with the mother.31 A daughter’s inheritance is only half that of a son’s.32 Departure from the country for children below the age of 18 is possible only with the approval of the father or the paternal grandfather—the mother has no legal say in the matter.33 Citizenship of the children is that of the child’s father.34 A Muslim man can marry a non-Muslim woman in Iran, and the children of such marriage are considered Muslim. But a non-Muslim man does not have the right to marry a Muslim woman unless he has converted to Islam before his marriage.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Spring....finally!!!

Sitting on the front porch. Every little breeze brings the scent of blossoms. Little bit of heaven right here on earth.


Bede is out doing dandelion duty, so I'm not sure he agrees with me.



Thursday, April 15, 2010

Wedding: 2 months and counting.


This week we got to do some fun wedding stuff. Monday Joanna asked me to go with her to her dress fitting. Beautiful dress, beautiful girl...what can I say. Even if I am her mother...Objectively speaking, she is going to be THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BRIDE...EVER!!!!
Then yesterday she asked me to go with her and Andy to the caterer to test wedding cakes. Chocolate, mint chocolate, white, butter cream icing. My kind of test. Give me an A+ ! Actually give the caterer an A+ as all the samples were truly delicious and made choosing difficult.
Joanna and Andy finalized the menu and we were done.
So far this whole wedding planning business has gone rather smoothly. We have just about 2 months to go. Getting down to the wire.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

I guess now it's ok to speak well of George Bush...


Watch CBS News Videos Online

As President, George W. Bush did something momentous that few of you may know about, something so momentous that it is saving millions of lives and generating goodwill for America around the world. Millions of Africans who`d been dying of AIDS are now living with AIDS, thanks to the Bush program. The U.S. is providing pills to more than two million people with HIV/AIDS, people who could never afford them and who were condemned to die. The medicine not only saves their lives, it permits them to live full lives. We went to Uganda, where AIDS has ravaged the country, killing more than a million people. And where Doctor Peter Mugyenyi, a pioneer against AIDS, told us how grateful he is to Americans for saving his fellow Ugandans.

Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2010/04/08/60-minutes-bush-did-something-momentous-few-you-may-know-about#ixzz0kXgoGXuP

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter!!!

This is the day the Lord has made...let us be glad and rejoice in it.

Hope you all had a wonderful, blessed Easter.

Now the hard part is to take all we have learned during Lent and Holy week and practice it for the rest of the year.

Every Monday morning I vow to greet the new week with a good attitude. To be gracious and kind to everyone who walks in the front door at work. I'm pretty good at it too...until about 10:00am! Sometimes I even last until Tuesday. Tomorrow is another Monday, another beginning.

I'll let ya know how it goes...

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Holy Thursday


Today we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist.
Jesus knew his time on earth was very short, and was also aware that one of his own would soon kiss his cheek and turn him over to the Romans. He celebrated the 1st mass and gave himself to us in a most mysterious and wonderful way.
Take time to pray and open your heart to the wonders of Holy week.