Good morning!

Well, I had it in my calendar to wish FLOTUS, Michelle Obama, a very Happy 50th Birthday, but with all that has been going on with my blog, I got a bit sidetracked and forgot to mention it here this past Friday. However, considering it is her birthday weekend, and no doubt the partying is still going on strong, it is never too late to send good wishes to our fave first lady! Happy Birthday Michelle!! No doubt our beloved president is making your 50th memorable!

Lois: :) When I first heard this, I thought this girl is right on.

Brittany: My pleasure. Thanks so much for your suggestion that I print the text from Fabello’s video. I love the written word because it allow me to pause and ponder at points that I want to think about more deeply.

So for those of you who enjoy that too, here are “the words.”

Jenny: So sorry about your husband, and happy to hear that you have “resolved not to compromise.” Yes, it does only benefit the man when you give in too easily and quickly. Be proud of that pretty, precious, pussy between your legs. It is a coveted gift that should not be given so easily to any man or they will most likely not see the great value that you are. Keep persisting and good luck!

Helen: I agree with ‘Olina- So true. Loved the way you expressed it.

Thanks to all the girls who posted lyrics from your favorite empowerment songs, and shared your stories too. I am familiar with some and some, not so. I really enjoyed your comments.

Victor: Thanks for sharing yours from a guy’s point of view too.

Ellen: Like, you I am in the dating scene myself, and I am really enjoying just dating – whatever happened to the romance of courting? I am loving this part. Before I give myself up to him I want to know all about him…including, is he worthy of me? What qualities does he have that I want in a man? So many questions need to be answered. And…Does he value me or does he just want to get under my skirt like most men?

To me it is a game of discovery, and I love being the woman in this game. Unfortunately I haven’t gotten much past the first date with very many men. But when I do, I get to discover a lot about the man, including if he feels I am worth it to wait? I can tell you one thing, if he doesn’t, it means nothing to me, and I have lost nothing. In my opinion, it is his loss and my gain. Just like if I sleep with him before 90 days, it is my loss and his gain, because most likely, my giving in too early means my value, in his mind,  has just been diminished drastically.

To me the dating process is pretty simple, and can be very illuminating. The words that I said to Jenny, I echo to you. :) I wish you the best of luck in finding your mate.

Shannon: That’s a hard lesson to learn. I wish all women felt the same way. Men would not be able to cheat on their wives if it were not for the women who said yes to them. Please don’t continue to beat yourself up though. Be gentle with yourself. We all make mistakes and it seems you are making up for it in so many ways that are supporting women. Thanks for all you do. And for being here with me for 4 years.

Steffi: :) I don’t have one fave song (see below), but I am certainly learning about a few more that I am liking. Thanks for sharing yours.

Jane: I have no idea who you are but I want to say thanks for all you do in the political world. I wanted to give a special shout out to you for posting your fave. – “Shaking the Tree”  - amazing song –  it is one of my faves too that I had forgotten about till you brought it up. Thank you!

Thana: That’s a good one. I’ve always liked the lyrics.

Social Butterfly:  Thank you! I was in SF yesterday and was loving it!! I HOPE you are enjoying your Sunday as well.

Happy Sunday to everyone else too! I am not a huge football fan but I do want to say to those that are, “GO NINERS!”

Peace out. 

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"

Good morning!

A New Force for America’s Families

Women of Color Strongly Support Workplace Changes and Policies to Address Economic Hardship

In order to better understand public attitudes and beliefs about women and the economy, A Woman’s Nation Foundation, in conjunction with the Center for American Progress and AARP, commissioned a large national survey of 3,500 Americans to accompany the 2014 edition of The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink. The bipartisan poll was designed and conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and TargetPoint Consulting and includes significant oversamples of African Americans and Latinos allowing us to look deeper into the attitudes of these important groups of women, as well as make comparisons across these groups.

Overall, our poll finds that African American and Latina women are among the strongest supporters of new steps by employers and governments to help women better adapt to changing family and workplace structures. Facing more difficult economic realities than many other Americans, women of color overwhelmingly desire increased economic opportunities, more flexibility at work, and back legal changes to ensure that women and workers are able to contribute fully to their families and to the national economy.

The overall survey results are described in detail in the full report. The most important findings from the African American and Latino oversamples include:

Women of color face more serious economic challenges than do white women but express greater optimism about their own futures. The overall economic situation for women of color is quite difficult. Forty-three percent of African American women and 45 percent of Latina women report annual family incomes of less than $40,000 per year, compared to about 3 in 10 white women, or 31 percent. Although women in general are more likely to live in two-income households than in one-income ones—47 percent of women live in two-income households, while 31 percent live in one-income households, with the remainder either retired or otherwise not employed—women of color are far more likely than white women to say that they could not get by without two-incomes: 57 percent of African American women and 59 percent of Latina women say this, compared to 45 percent of white women. Forty-two percent of African American women and 39 percent of Latina women also believe that the statement, “The harder I work, the more I fall behind,” describes them well, compared to only 30 percent of white women and 28 percent of Americans overall. Similarly, African American women are more than twice as likely as white women to report being unsatisfied with their jobs—22 percent versus 9 percent, respectively.

Reflecting the difficult economic prospects facing many women of color, majorities of both African American and Latina women—55 percent and 53 percent, respectively—report having received some form of government benefits in the past year including nutrition assistance, unemployment benefits, Medicaid, state children’s health insurance benefits, or reduced-price school lunches. In contrast, only 19 percent of white women report having received government assistance.

Despite these differences in more objective economic pressures, women of color express greater optimism about their own situations and experience less stress than do white women. For example, 83 percent of African American women and 74 percent of Latina women expect that their financial situation will get better over the next five years compared to only 52 percent of white women. More than 6 in 10 African American women—67 percent—and Latina women—62 percent—say that the statement, “I believe I have the ability to make significant changes in my life to make my life better,” describes them well, compared to only 47 percent of white women. Perhaps as a result of this increased confidence about the future, women of color report lower levels of stress than do white women. A full 50 percent of white women say they are stressed these days compared to majorities of African American women and Latina women that report not feeling that stressed. Fifty-eight percent of each group, respectively, report stress levels below neutral on a 0-to-10 scale.

Women of color overwhelmingly want society to adapt to the realities of contemporary family structures. Nearly 9 in 10 African American women—87 percent—and more than three quarters of Latina women—76 percent—agree with the statement, “Government should set a goal of helping society adapt to the reality of single-parent families and use its resources to help children and mothers succeed regardless of their family status.” Although agreement with this concept is strong across groups—64 percent among Americans overall and 62 percent among white women—women of color show the strongest preferences for government policies designed to help today’s families as they actually exist. Latina women, however, appear more conflicted than other women about how best to deal with these family changes. Sixty-seven percent of Latina women also agree that, “Government should set a goal of reducing the number of children born to single parents and use its resources to encourage marriage and two-parent families,” compared to only 45 percent of African American women and 47 percent of white women.

Women of color are more likely than white women to express regrets about their own decisions regarding family, work, and education. The poll asked respondents whether they had any regrets about a range of decisions in life and whether they would choose to do things differently if they had the chance.  In general, African American and Latina women are more likely than white women to say that they would have delayed family decisions around marriage and kids and focused more on their own education and career choices. Forty percent of married or divorced African American women and 46 percent of Latina women would have “delayed getting married” compared to 32 percent of white women. Likewise, 34 percent of African American women and 46 percent of Latina women would have “delayed having kids or had fewer kids” if they could do it all over again compared to only 20 percent of white women. Fifty-five percent of African women and 49 percent of Latina women say they should have “gotten out of a bad relationship” sooner, compared to 37 percent of white women. Interestingly, African American men express similar attitudes with 51 percent of black men saying they should have delayed marriage and 33 percent saying that they should have delayed having kids or had fewer kids.

What would these women have done instead? Sixty-eight percent of African American women and 75 percent of Latina women say that they should have “put a higher priority on [their] education and career”; 53 percent of white women say the same. Roughly similar proportions of women of color also believe they “should have stayed in school longer”—63 percent of African American women and 74 percent of Latina women.

Women of color strongly believe that employers and governments need to provide greater economic opportunities for workers and more flexible work-life arrangements for families. African American and Latina women are some of the strongest supporters of concrete changes to workplace structures and governmental policies to help women and workers achieve more secure and stable lives. Looking at seven different things businesses have done to improve the lives of their employees, huge majorities of women of color say each of these changes would be very useful to them. For example, 87 percent of African American women and 93 percent of Latina women say that businesses providing up to 10-days of paid sick leave would be very useful to them, compared to 81 percent of white women. Seventy-six percent of African American women and 68 percent of Latina women say it would be very useful for employers to provide more opportunities to work from home and more flexible hours; 56 percent of white women agree. Sixty-one percent of African American women and 56 percent of Latina women would find on-site child care very useful, compared to 40 percent of white women.

Moving to governmental policies, women of color are strongly supportive of measures to ensure equal pay, end pregnancy discrimination, increase the minimum wage, increase child care support and paid leave for care giving, and expanded access to college. Examining the table below, African American women are the strongest supporters of these policy changes with intense support roughly proportionate among white and Latina women. Anywhere from 59 percent to 82 percent of African American women strongly support each of these measures with 46 percent to 79 percent of white women and 44 percent to 81 percent of Latina women strongly supporting these policies.

****

These findings are based on 3,500 total interviews conducted by landline and mobile telephone from August 21 through September 11, 2013. They include 1,097 white women and 665 women of color—specifically, 322 African American women and 252 Latina women. Telephone numbers were chosen randomly and in accordance with Random Digit Dial methodology. The sample was adjusted to Census proportions of sex, race or ethnicity, age, and national region.

The margin of sampling error for adults is plus or minus 1.7 points. For smaller subgroups, the margin of error is higher. Survey results may also be affected by factors such as question wording and the order in which questions were asked. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.

Full survey results by race and gender can be found here.

Read the executive summary for The Shriver Report here.

*****

Blog me.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

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"

Good morning!

Food for thought - 

Party Girl Pop: Empowerment or Sexism?

Published on Sep 18, 2012

It’s Friday…you know what to do. Blog me.

Additionally…

Howie: In the interest of preserving peace and ending war in the galaxy of the Milky Way and beyond, may I suggest that you tell the Wopre that they cannot recover any of their losses by means of aggression. And should they employ means of aggression the same thing that happened before will happen to them again – Their weapons will be rendered defenseless. Thank you.

Peace & Love.

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"

Good morning!

I like the positive tone to my title better…but hey, MSNBC wrote the write, not me.

Women in Politics

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif., front row, center, poses with other female House members on the steps of the House on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 3, 2013, prior to the official opening of the 113th Congress. 

2014: A turning point for women in politics?

By Irin Carmon

“Our young women are forming a new era in female history,” wrote Massachusetts feminist Judith Sargent Murray excitedly. “The Rights of Women begin to be understood; we seem, at length, determined to do justice.” The year was 1798. It would be two hundred and fourteen years until her home state would elect its first female senator, Elizabeth Warren. This year, it might get its first elected female governor, likely Democratic nominee Martha Coakley.

In other words, when it comes to women in public life, the triumphalism has occasionally been premature.  Progress has been too often followed by backlash. The first time we heard “The Year of the Woman,” in 1992, the number of the women in the House and Senate grew exponentially–followed by a flattening when Republicans took over two years later.  Even after last year’s record-breaking election, the one that elected Warren and brought the number of women in the Senate to an unprecedented 20, the United States still ranks 79th in the world in female representation. (That well behind Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, to name two.) The numbers are even bleaker when you look for women who aren’t white.

But America is moving forward. There were those twenty Senate women of 2012, including the first out lesbian Senator in Tammy Baldwin; the first Asian-American female Senator, Mazie Hirono; and Claire McCaskill, who prevailed over Todd “legitimate rape” Akin. In 2013, Janet Yellen became the first female chair of the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, Republicans have been hastily trying to show America that, in the immortal words of Ann Romney at the last Republican National Convention, “I love you, women!”

And 2014 offers even more reason for conditional optimism. Some of the most consequential Senate races of 2014, particularly if you’re rooting for Democrats to keep the Senate, have women at the center: Allison Lundergan Grimes, seeking to topple Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell; Michelle Nunn, raising Democratic hopes in red Georgia; the potential loss of the long Democratic hold on a West Virginia Senate seat, with two women on either side of the aisle running. Two defenders, Senators Mary Landrieu and Kay Hagan, are also pivotal. While Republicans currently have the advantage on female governors, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan, the sole female Democratic governor, might be joined by the women running in Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

And maybe, just maybe, in Texas, where Wendy Davis is running for governor along with lieutenant governor candidate Leticia van de Putte. Conventional wisdom has it that they are too liberal, that Davis is too tarred by the “Abortion Barbie” moniker, that they are running too soon for Texas’s coming demographic shift– especially in an era of barely-restrained voter suppression. But conventional wisdom has been wrong before.

On the night Texas Republicans sandbagged Davis’s historic filibuster of an omnibus abortion bill, van de Putte, who had just left her father’s funeral, struggled to be heard. “At what point,” she asked, “must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues?”

This year, as Davis and van de Putte try to turn Texas blue together, that point may come. We’ll be there.

*****

Readers: As much as I added a positive tone to the title – I have faith – the question does deserve an answer. And my answer is, “Yes, as long as the repubs don’t get in the driver’s seat. Otherwise, women won’t be the only ones who are screwed.” 2014 midterms…here we come.

Howie: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. But of course like many things that we learn, the questions that we ask and are answered, usually inspire more questions. :) However, I will just ask one. You had mentioned that if the TWO were in danger they could combine their strengths. At one time I believe that you(?) told us that the male has his powers and does not know he is one of the TWO, and the female knows she is one of the TWO but does not know how to use her powers yet. Is that correct?

Also, hard not to agree with your sentiments about the Wopre. Thank you for clarifying that the Universe will shrink and life will cease to exist, if not for the TWO getting comfy with each other. I guess it goes without saying that the death of both (if even possible) would give us the same results. It would also seem that their stupid act of bravado by attempting to find and destroy the TWO would warrant aggression toward them from many other Aliens.

Peace out. 

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"

Good morning!

I choose back to basics. In fact, I stopped using antibacterial soap years ago. I didn’t find it necessary to use to clean my hands as long as I washed my hands thoroughly with good ‘ol soap and hot water. And it is bad for the environment which is one of the main reasons I stopped. Now, like many things, we find out that it may not be safe. I for one, am grateful that the FDA is investigating this. If I had my druthers, I would eliminate these products completely.

From Daily News:

FDA Wants To Find Out Whether Antibacterial Soap Is Safe

Are antibacterial soaps and body washes safe and effective for long-term use? The Food and Drug Administration wants to find out.

Under a proposed rule issued Monday, Dec. 16 by the FDA, makers of antibacterial products (not including those used in health-care settings) would have to demonstrate the products are safe and effective with clinical study data.

If they’re not, the makers will have to reformulate or relabel their products in order for them to stay on store shelves.

In addition, the makers of these products would need to show that their antibacterial products are more effective at preventing illness than regular soap and water.

“Antibacterial soaps and body washes are used widely and frequently by consumers in everyday home, work, school, and public settings, where the risk of infection is relatively low,” Dr. Janet Woodcock, M.D., the director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, said in a statement. “Due to consumers’ extensive exposure to the ingredients in antibacterial soaps, we believe there should be a clearly demonstrated benefit from using antibacterial soap to balance any potential risk.”

The FDA is cracking down on consumer antibacterial products due to concerns that some ingredients in the products — such as triclosan, which is found in liquid soap, and triclocarban, which is found in bar soap — could raise the risk of bacterial resistance or affect hormones. Therefore, the FDA is reexamining the data that makes antibacterial products “generally recognized as safe and effective.”

Because this is a proposed rule, it does not mean antibacterial products have to be removed from store shelves. However, upon finalization, the makers of consumer antibacterial products will have to provide the clinical trial data showing the effectiveness and safety of their products, or will have to reformulate or relabel their products. The public is allowed to comment for 180 days on the proposed rule.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hand-washing with soap and water is the best way to clean hands of microbes. However, if you don’t have access to soap and water, hand sanitizer that has at least 60 percent alcohol levels is your next best bet.

Recently, a Journal of Environmental Health study showed that only 5 percent of people correctly wash their hands for 15 to 20 seconds. The average amount of time we spend scrubbing? Six seconds.

*****

Readers: Still questioning whether you should use antibacterial or regular soap and water? A test study was done with E-coli bacteria. People’s hands were doused with the bacteria. Some then washed with antibacterial soap and others washed with regular soap and water. They found that 75% of the bacteria was washed away withe the antibacterial soap. 75% was washed away from the soap and water as well.

On a similar note, if I feel the need to use a hand sanitizer, which I do frequently after I pump gas at the station or if I am touching a lot of public areas, I don’t use those icky gels, but a great product from Clean Well. It is a natural hand sanitizer spray that kills germs. And it contains no Triclosan. (Nor do their hand soaps which also kill germs naturally.) I keep one in my purse and one in my car. I love and use many of their products.

Here’s a few pluses about their soaps and hand sanitizers:

Hand Soap: A Better Way To Clean Hands

Good for you. Good for the environment. (No, I am not getting kickbacks from this company – don’t I wish!)

Blog me. 

Anna of Guam: Thank you for posting that interesting write. I have known a little about Guam but only because a friend of mine lives there.  However, because you, Peter and Lea have been posting interesting writes about Guam here for the past 6 years, I have come to learn so much more. I never knew that there was not very much information about Guam available to the mainlanders. But then I never sought out information past reading here, and from my friend. I think that the lack of books available is sad, because Guam is a part of the U.S…a beautiful and interesting part and more people should have access to all that Guam is and offers. Thank you for all of your efforts to make your part of the U.S. known to me and my readers.

Howie: It was nice to chat with you as well. Thank you for the kind words.

Peace & Love…

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 :)

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