The wait (and excessive media coverage- but that’s another post) is over. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina has been elected pope. This BBC profile of the new pope describes him as “orthodox on sexual matters but strong on social justice”. I see that as a big contradiction. Women’s economic status, especially in poor countries, is affected by the lack of access to contraceptives and their position in society.
Category: politics
No sequester pain for Congress
Washington Post: Congress won’t face pay cut in sequester.
Do I need to add anything more?
Jeb Bush: ‘History will be kind to my brother’
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush made the Sunday morning news show rounds yesterday and suggested that his brother’s presidency will be remembered in a favorable light. I certainly hope our memories aren’t that short.
March 8th is International Women’s Day
Senator Rand Paul’s 13 hour filibuster against drone policy
Republican Senator Rand Paul spoke out against the Obama administration’s drone policy during a 13 hour filibuster yesterday. He was joined by several other republicans but only one democrat, Senator Ron Wyden.
The Oscars and women
I considered just letting this go. There’s so much other important news happening and frankly I’d rather concentrate on my next animation. However, after listening and reading some of my regular morning news sources I felt I had to spend a few minutes to address last night’s Oscars. Yes, there were funny and memorable moments; I laughed out loud at the clever Christopher Plummer Von Trapp intro and cheered Shirley Bassey’s Goldfinger performance– but really, we’re still doing boob jokes? Yes, I know Seth MacFarlane was brought in to attract younger audiences but the obnoxious references to women’s body parts and female tendencies really set my teeth on edge. As some of you may know, MacFarlane’s fame comes from animation and since I began my career there, I wasn’t surprised at the sophomoric humor. But what was a surprise was that it hasn’t changed since the 1980’s.
But maybe I’m not reading the tea leaves here. Perhaps this is the way to look at the situation; let’s hope so.