I was fortunate to know my grandmothers. What I did not know about them is whether or not they ever voted, as both women were born before women were granted the right to vote on 26 August 1920. My parents were the first generation to live with the fact that women could vote, and my mother and father rarely agree these days on how to cast their votes. So, they just don’t talk about it (which, if you knew my parents, you would agree that this was a fine idea).
Despite this fact, I worry sometimes that my daughter doesn’t realize the importance of her right to vote or how that right was won by a handful of brave and committed (often seen as histrionic) women. I know that I grew up with no clue as to how my rights were won, and I thought very little about my voting privileges until later in life. So, I plan to force my daughter to sit and watch Iron Jawed Angels this summer (I can do this, because I said so). This is an HBO movie that focuses on Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, two women who formed the National Woman’s Party in 1917 and who began a campaign of non-violent protest that resulted in the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920.
Popular history portrayed through television acting is a bit lenient at times with some facts, but HBO usually is faithful to most historic representations, and Iron Jawed Angels is no exception. What history boils down to is this: Women in this country fought for the right to vote since the American Revolution, and it took them almost 150 years to accomplish that goal (behind many other countries).
In 2000, 8.6 million eligible 18 to 24-year-olds voted-but 15 million didn’t. Please, ladies, don’t take your right to vote for granted this year.
Now, you may take this note as a leaning toward Hillary in the Democratic primary. Don’t do that. If you’ve kept up with this blog, you know I’m an Obama supporter and that I’ve had little patience with Hillary. With that said, I was mightily impressed with this article about Hillary, as I agree that she has paved the way for future female presidential candidates. No longer will a woman running for president in this country seem absurd. For that, I will thank you, Mrs. Clinton. And, this possibility happened less than 100 years after a woman’s right to vote in this country!
Posted by ewoman at 1:00 AM PDT
No Comments »
by Dmitri Popov
Using extensions like TwitterFox and TwitBin , you can post messages to Twitter directly from within the Firefox browser. But what if you spend most of your time in OpenOffice.org and want to submit tweets without leaving the convenience of the office suite? A simple OpenOffice.org Basic macro can help you to solve this problem.
Read on, mon cher! »
Posted by FA Editors at 12:54 PM PDT
No Comments »
There’s nothing worse than hearing how an entire school district is switching operating systems from Mac to Windows (or vice versa) because that’s what the “business” world relies on or some other blather. The costs associated with the transition are enormous and the whole ‘to do’ is unnecessary, because features on applications mimic one another. Additionally, it seems one option is Linux, which is open source and free.
The idea in technology (and education for that matter), is to teach concepts so the whole underrated independent thinking mode can kick in when little Johnny is tinkering with different programs. Then true exploring and true creating can occur and the operating system or program is of little consequence. Also, with a little time, most users, especially children, will be able to get around in the program and start creating. Since no one can predict which operating system will have the majority market share in the future it seems pointless to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars solely on that basis alone.
In that vein, below is a round-up of exceptional Linux programs for children which cater to their endless fascination with learning exploration and fun. Please check them out and let us know your favorites. And if you like them, be sure to share them with your friends >>>
Read on, mon cher! »
Posted by FA Editors at 11:54 AM PDT
11 Comments »
We were dumbounded this morning by an article printed in USA Today, where Clinton cited an Associated Press article, “that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states [North Carolina and Indiana] who had not completed college were supporting me.”
“There’s a pattern emerging here,” she said.
Well, it ain’t no quilt pattern, that’s for sure. Hillary just supported an article that stated working (AND hard-working?) uneducated white Americans were her supporters. This was a blunt and shocking statement that hearkens back to the old equation of whiteness = hard work (or that blacks are lazy and don’t work). This is a white ethnic narrative that dates back to the Wallace/Buchanan/Reagan era and it smacks of white supremacies.
But wait - then she added, “These are the people you have to win if you’re a Democrat in sufficient numbers to actually win the election. Everybody knows that.”
WHAT? Now she’s saying that hard-working uneducated white voters are the ones who carry all the weight for the Democratic party? With those statements, Hillary Clinton disenfranchised more than half her voters and disparaged the Democratic Party. Any delegate who remains loyal to Clinton should be ashamed of their affiliation and embarrassed about staying on board a sinking ship.
Posted by FA Editors at 11:00 PM PDT
1 Comment »
