Archive for July, 2010

A comScore study has resulted in the conclusion that women are more involved in and engaged with the Internet than men.  We already knew that women are the decision makers in how their family spends their money and this is true of the internet shopping as well.  Read this great article by Mashable that covers the report.

The City of Bell, CA is now up in arms over 3 city employees who held a special election which gave the city’s chief administrative officer salary of $787,637, his assistant $376,288 and the police chief $457,000.  Rizzo, who resigned yesterday from his post, was the HIGHEST PAID city manager in the nation. The police chief of this tiny town makes more than the police chief in LA.

How could this have happened?  No one spoke up!  The election was basically ignored, allowing a less than 400-person vote, to decide a financial move that smashed the city budget.  But where were the voices from the city employees who watched this happen?  Why did they not holler to their neighbors, to the press, to whomever would listen about this maneuver? Of course, it also shows how the public must take every election seriously rather than for granted. But I am stunned by the deafening silence that surrounded these three greedy officials.  Leadership requires courage. It appears that there were no leaders in any other part of that city.

“The moment a woman comes home to herself, the moment she knows she has become a person of influence, an artist of her life, a sculptor of her universe, a person with rights and responsibilities who is respected and recognized, the resurrection of the world begins.”
-Joan Chittister, OSB

This August marks the 90th anniversary of  U.S. women getting the right to vote. By getting that vote, women could begin to really shape the world. When you read the story of how  suffragettes were beaten, jailed, and even tortured by police who thought women should NEVER have the vote– you realize the price that was paid for the precious freedom to cast a ballot… to allow our voices to be heard.

How dare anyone– particularly a woman–  run for public office who didn’t even registered to vote until the age of 46. I live in California. It matters not the political party. What matters is the nonchalant dismissal of voting.  To me, it makes my voice even more significant. You can check out the candidates for yourself.