Wonderful “Girls” of the World
Posted by Michelle Moquin on October 13th, 2013
Good morning!
Zen Lill: Yes, you are correct that I usually post something about women and girls. I missed out yesterday, and since I just discovered it was “International Day of the Girl” yesterday, I missed out again. Darn. So…since I didn’t honor and celebrate girls here on their day, I will extend my blessings today…and tomorrow…and the following day…
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL 2013
In December 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring October 11th as the International Day of the Girl Child.
The day was established to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face around the world. The action follows a multi-year campaign by activists in Canada and the United States. This year’s theme, “Innovating for Girls’ Education” provides an a platform to inform others about the status of girls’ education and the positive results that can be obtained by investing in them.
Today there are over 850 million girls in the world. If you want to change the world, invest in a girl. An adolescent girl stands at the doorway of adulthood. If she stays in school, remains healthy, and gains real skills, she will marry later, have fewer and healthier children, and earn an income she will invest in her family–breaking the cycle of poverty.
I dont believe that I even knew this day existed until now. I know I didn’t blog about this last year which is when it launched. How did I miss that one?
Here’s a write:
Day of the Girl
Day of the Girl:
October 11th
Help us prioritise all girls’ rights on this special day.
Plan was the first major organisation to call for an international day of recognition for girls and achieving it was one of the earliest goals of the campaign.
Plan led the global effort to build a coalition of support behind the Day of the Girl, securing critical support from the Canadian government which took our call all the way to the United Nations. In December 2011, the UN General assembly voted to establish the Day of the Girl. This was before our campaign had even launched!
Join in the celebrations across the world for Day of the Girl 2013
Why a day for girls?
Firstly, we listened to girls themselves, who truly believed that an international day could be a launch pad for global action on girls’ rights:
“The Day of the Girl would definitely spark discussions throughout the world about girls’ rights, how girls are impacted by policies, the challenges that girls face… I would use the Day of the Girl as another way in which I can bring up the issue of girls rights with my peers, in my community and to my leaders.” Rachel, 17, from Canada.
Girls themselves were crucial in the global movement to establish the Day of the Girl, and through their stories, ideas and views we came to believe that a day for girls would:
- bring global focus to the widespread denial of basic rights to girls, and the ‘invisibility’ of girls in the global development agenda; while there has long been an International Women’s Day and an International Day of the Child, neither of these days recognise the unique challenges for girls as the most marginalised and discriminated group.
- help to make girls and their rights more visible. Girls can bring about social change that benefits not only themselves, but their families, communities and entire societies as well. Ensuring girls feel respected and valued in society is the first step to breaking down discriminatory barriers.
- help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Gender equality must begin with girls. It is fundamental to reducing poverty and to prevent suffering in developing economies and to create a just world.
- enable girls to gain an equal position in society; this is not only the right of girls and a moral duty, but essential to breaking poverty.
Celebrate Day of the Girl!
Globally, 65 million girls are out of school – held back from accessing their right to education by poverty, violence and discrimination. Not only is this unjust, it’s a huge waste of potential with serious global consequences.
As the big day gets underway, Plan’s Because I am a Girl campaign will be lighting up some of the worlds’ most famous landmarks in pink to highlight the call for girls’ education.
In New York, a Plan delegation of girls from Burkina Faso, Egypt and Nepal joined our global campaign ambassador, actress Freida Pinto , to illuminate the Empire State Building.
Erase it for girls
Giant Plan eraseable billboards are now surfacing across the world for Day of the Girl – displaying the plight of girls being forced to work in a factory instead of going to school. We are inviting everyone to ‘erase it for girls’ and to help transform their future.
Look out for our eraseable billboard events taking place in New York, London, Amsterdam, Bern and Melbourne . If you’re not near one of these locations, don’t worry – you can join in right now:
Take action on Plan’s digital Erasable Wall
Raise your hand
We have smashed our target of getting over 1 million raised hands in support of girls’ education. Now we need 4 million raised hands to show the United Nations that the world believes educating girls should be a priority.
Please join us and Raise Your Hand right now
State of the World’s Girls report
Plan has released the 2013 edition of its State of the World’s Girls report series on the International Day of the Girl. This year’s report focuses on adolescent girls and their experiences in disasters.
Read our previous State of the World’s Girls reports
Follow all the Day of the Girl action at twitter.com/planglobal andfacebook.com/planinternational
♥♥♥♥♥♥
Readers: I may be a couple of days late, but it is never too late to celebrate and support our Wonderful Girls of the World!
Blog me.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)
Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:
Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129
Thank you for your loyal support!
All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2012
“Though she be but little, she be fierce.” – William Shakespeare Midsummer Night’s Dream
" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"
October 13th, 2013 at 6:34 pm
Me, I just love girls.
October 13th, 2013 at 8:02 pm
Me, I love girls too.
October 13th, 2013 at 8:20 pm
Thanks Michelle for this remembrance of Girls. I want to thank anonymous also for giving me the idea to post this poem to my grandMa. She is in a senior citizen’s home, but she reads your blog every day Michelle. She turned me on to it. So here’s to you Grandma.
You, Dear Grandma, whose day now
is so different from what it used to be,
working on the farm doing jobs
that are now done by ones like me.
Cooking, sewing, gardening and all
even seeing that the cows are milked
and in their proper stall.
Working the land – preparing for the seed
in order for out family to clothe and feed.
What’s it all worth if we don’ come to grips
with the the thought that people like you
ought to be commended, for going on before
taking the bad with the good-
living life to the fullest – as God intended.
In your twilight years – you must I know
shed a tear as you reflect on days gone by.
I want you to know the seeds you did sow
didn’t whither away and die.
They live in our hearts, are built into our very being.
Some things that don’t show, are there even so
we can’t wear for all to see.
So when you dispair and think we don’t care
please read this tribute to you – form me!
October 13th, 2013 at 8:32 pm
I used to hate being a girl. I grew up watching all the neat things boys get to do. I didn’t want that for my girls.
You, Michelle, Social Butterfly, Zen Lill, Prism and other inspiring women you have exposed me and my girls to Michelle has insured that they will grow up without limitations despite the roadblocks men may manufacture for them.
October 16th, 2013 at 8:43 pm
The Common Sense Guide to Avoiding Breast Cancer
Newport Natural Health Reader,
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which means we are awash in products bearing pink ribbons. Even the NFL has gotten into the act with football players and coaches wearing pink. This annual event is intended to raise public awareness of breast cancer and provide some much-needed funding for research.
As a practicing physician, I can tell you that breast cancer awareness is already very high. Too many women live in the shadow of this disease, including millions who are perfectly healthy yet still terrified that one day they will hear the words, “You have breast cancer.”
I don’t blame women for being concerned. Breast cancer is increasingly common, with experts estimating that one in every eight women will be diagnosed with the disease at some point.
What I worry about are the misconceptions that are floating around, doing a great deal of harm. One of the most disconcerting myths made it into the news recently, when actress Angelina Jolie revealed that – due to results of genetic testing – she had had a preventive double mastectomy.
In other words, she did not have breast cancer. But since her genetic tests revealed that it might happen one day, she decided to skip the diagnosis and go straight to the “remedy.”
Ms. Jolie might have had personal reasons for her decision, since she had watched her mother and aunt struggle with – and ultimately lose – battles with cancer.
But, since this issue has gone public, I believe it’s important for those of us with real-world experience in this area to weigh in. And my take on it is that this is not something I would ever encourage a patient to do.
Here are five areas that are often misunderstood or ignored when it comes to cancer. I encourage everyone – women and men alike – to take these factors seriously.
1.) Don’t Blame Your Genes: If you have a genetic predisposition to cancer – something that’s relatively easy to determine with genetic testing – your risk of cancer may be elevated.
But it’s important to understand how statistics like this work before using faulty reasoning to jump to conclusions. So let’s do some simple math.
For example, let’s say the average person has a 10 percent chance of developing cancer. If this individual has genetic testing done, she may learn that her risk of cancer is 40 percent higher than the average individual. Most people would hear that and panic, thinking that it means a 50 percent risk (the original 10 percent added to the 40 percent).
That’s a big mistake, but a very common one, so don’t blame yourself for getting it wrong. Most people haven’t taken classes in statistics, so it’s only natural to assume that the figures would be added together.
However, here is the correct way to calculate her odds – the genetic component increases her original 10 percent risk by just 4 points (40% of 10 = 4). Now we’re talking about a 14 percent risk, which is not nearly as frightening as 50 percent.
Before moving on, I want to make two more points. Experts estimate that only about 5 percent of all cancer cases are due to genetics. To clarify, that means 95 percent of all cancers are due to lifestyle and/or environmental factors.
So before spending hundreds – or even thousands – of dollars on genetic testing, please understand that you, not your genes, primarily control the development of this disease.
As the emerging science of epigenetics is proving, genes do not have absolute authority in determining our destiny, and there are many ways to manipulate them to improve your health, starting with a healthy lifestyle. (I’ll talk about epigenetics more in a future newsletter.)
Furthermore, removing a body part does not mean you will be cancer free forever after. The disease can still occur in other areas of the body. And with breast cancer, there’s even a slight chance that some of the residual breast tissue that’s left behind could contain cancer cells.
So, there’s no guarantee that you’ll never develop breast cancer or another form of the disease. Plus, there are literally hundreds of other types of cancer, so the disease can still occur in other areas of the body.
A better solution: Live a healthy lifestyle and follow my recommendations for diet, exercise, sleep, stress management, and nutritional supplements.
2.) Choose screenings carefully: We are repeatedly told that, when it comes to breast cancer, mammograms are the screening method of choice and that having an annual mammogram can save your life. The truth is far different.
Mammograms can actually be harmful to your health. They expose delicate breast tissue to a huge dose of ionizing radiation, which is known to cause cancer, while missing some 20 percent of pathologies. In addition, the pressure involved in the mammogram process can spread cancerous cells to new regions of the breast, something that is also true of biopsies.
Yet millions of women dutifully have yearly mammograms without even considering the options. And some even make the mistake of assuming that mammograms prevent cancer. That is a complete falsehood.
Finally, although mammograms are sold as life-saving procedures, studies have repeatedly shown that women who avoid mammograms and use self-examination instead have nearly identical results – and survival rates! – as those who have annual mammograms.
This is why I recommend self-examination to all of my patients as a first step, followed by thermography as a second step.
Thermography simply measures infrared heat produced by your body and converts this information into images that a doctor can use for diagnosis. Thermography does not require breast compression or radiation, so it eliminates two of the most harmful aspects of mammograms.
Here’s another reason why I prefer thermography: It can detect precancerous changes in breast tissue as much as ten years before other screening methods.
Although thermography is an excellent screening tool, you don’t have to stop there. I offer my patients a menu of breast cancer screening options, including comprehensive genetic testing that goes beyond the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer genes.
There are also tests for toxic estrogen, a cancer profile (a blood test that looks for changes at the molecular level to spot problems early in their development), and a cancer cascade test to identify details about any malignancy that may be found.
3.) Stay informed: Many of my patients are well-educated, intelligent women. But, too often, I find that they believe the myths mentioned above, or they fail to stay current on treatment options and recommendations because they’d rather just not deal with the issue of breast cancer. As a result, they miss crucial information.
Case in point: In 2009, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) reviewed research and changed their recommendation from annual mammograms to once every two years for women between the ages of 50 and 74. So, if you still choose to go with a mammogram, at least you’ll be getting less radiation – but only if you know about this new recommendation.
I realize breast cancer is a topic that we all would like to avoid, but it is very important to stay current with news in the field. That doesn’t mean subscribing to medical journals.
But advances are occurring continually, and, if your head is stuck in the sand, you won’t know that there could be better choices for prevention and treatment available. Check back here often for new developments, so your choices aren’t limited by outdated information.
4.) Arm your immune system: Cancer cells are quite common in the body, but your immune system is designed to remove these damaged cells before they can multiply out of control and spread to other areas.
If your immune system is overwhelmed with bad food and beverage choices, toxins, and a sedentary lifestyle, it might not be up to the task of tracking down and eliminating rogue cancer cells.
You can help your immune system win this battle by keeping it strong. Probiotics, the friendly bacteria that set up shop in the intestinal tract, are your body’s first responders when it comes to identifying toxins and damaged cells and showing them the door. Taking advantage of various methods of detoxification helps, too.
And, of course, don’t overlook the importance of getting five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is loaded with foods that interfere with proper immune functions, things like sugar, refined flour, pesticides, preservatives, antibiotics, and hormones.
On the other hand, organic fruits and veggies supply health-enhancing antioxidants and plenty of other substances that Mother Nature designed to keep us well. On days when it’s difficult to get the necessary nutrients from food, don’t forget that a greens supplement can help make up the nutrition gap.
5.) Combat inflammation: When your body is hurt, it has the capacity to heal. The red, warm, swollen area surrounding a simple wound is inflammation created by your body to prevent potentially dangerous microorganisms or other enemies from gaining a foothold. The healing process is a miraculous, life-saving event. But it can go wrong.
Uncontrolled, systemic inflammation is all too common these days. When damage to the body exceeds its ability to heal, the result is painful, inflammatory chronic conditions, such as arthritis, heart disease, allergies, and even cancer.
The typical physician recommends non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin or acetaminophen to relieve the pain. But pain is a symptom, so as soon as the drugs wear off, it returns. You need to treat the cause – inflammation – but pain-relieving medication doesn’t do that.
For better pain relief and less inflammation, which translates into a reduced risk of cancer, I recommend taking advantage of natural substances, such as green tea, ginger, and curcumin.
An extract of the spice turmeric, curcumin, is a super star in this area, with hundreds of studies demonstrating how powerful it is at quelling inflammation and inhibiting growth of cancer cells. In fact, research has shown that curcumin slows or stops the growth of breast cancer, as well as cancer of the stomach, ovaries, colon, liver, and brain.
To my knowledge, nothing else performs as well as curcumin, and that includes synthetic substances used in chemotherapy that were developed specifically to kill cancer cells.
I understand that cancer is a concern for most people, and with good reason. But if worrying about the disease is keeping you up at night, please be aware that there are steps you can take, starting right now, to reduce your risk – and that applies to most forms of the disease, not just breast cancer.
Review my advice for healthy living in earlier newsletters, and I think you’ll discover that the recommendations are not as challenging or as difficult as they might seem.
Thrive in Health & Wellness,
Leigh Erin Connealy, M.D.
Brown Rice and Barley Risotto with Oyster Mushrooms
Serves 4
Prep time: Less than one hour
Food plays a huge role in wellness, including cancer prevention. The combination of barley and brown rice means this dish is loaded with fiber, which is known to reduce estrogen, a good idea for anyone hoping to avoid breast cancer. Just as importantly, studies have shown that many types of mushrooms slow or prevent cancer cell growth. If you can’t find oyster mushrooms, try shiitake or white or brown button mushrooms instead, as these all have been shown to provide similar benefits.
Ingredients
6 cups fresh, filtered water
2/3 cup organic brown rice, rinsed and drained
2/3 cup pearl barley, rinsed and drained
2 teaspoons olive or grapeseed oil
1 pound oyster mushrooms, wiped clean, ends trimmed, and sliced into quarters
½ cup Asiago cheese, grated
Sea salt and ground pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add rice and barley, bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring as needed, until water is absorbed.
2. While rice and barley are cooking, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are just beginning to soften (usually about 6 to 8 minutes).
3. Combine the cooked barley and rice mixture with the mushrooms and mix well. Season with salt, pepper, and sprinkle cheese over the top before serving.