Surfette

"Body Confidence 2.0: How Technology Is Changing Women's Body Image"

Well played, Fitness magazine.

Kudos for this well-researched article by Julia Savacool. Savacool not only quoted me right, she did her research, including:

• Sarah R. Bloom's gorgeous naked photo of self as a Walt Whitman billboard ("I celebrate myself...)
• Judith Donath from the MIT Media Lab and Berkman
• Bonnie Crowder and readers from theshapeofamother.com
• Laurie Toby Edison of Body Impolitic
• BlogHer Contributing Editor Suzanne Reisman, who also writes CUSS
• Kathy O'Brien, a marketing director from Dove's Real Beauty

Ode to Maybelle for the Mother's Day Blog Carnival: "Mother Knows Best"

Shannon Lowe of Rocks In My Dryer has thrown down a mighty challenge: A Mother's Day blog carnival called "Mother Knows Best." I doubt I can match Shannon's lovely, spare prose about the lessons she most prizes from her mother; instead I pass the hat to my sister's post, Angels R Us. But it's my mother's inner political fighter that I'd like to talk about, as I did with Nordette Adams earlier this month in her series I Remember Mama Voting.

I come from a long line of women for whom the ballot box is a sacred duty. A self-described yellow-dog Democrat, my mother was born on Nov. 4, a date that is regularly Election Day in the United States. Perfect karma.

Lord, how she loves politics -- and how her politics have deepened my love for her. Mom was born to it -- one of my favorite memories is of her fortieth birthday, an Election Day, when my parents' friends stretched her name on a husting between two maple trees.

"Did your mother win?" the neighbors asked later. I laughed. She sure would have, had her name ever appeared on a ballot. But rather than be a politician, my mother was all voter, all the time. Some of my earliest political memories are of my mother and father talking about experiencing race riots in the late 1960s in Baltimore, Nixon's resignation and the sacred duty they both consider voting to be. 

"Your vote is private," Mom told me, in the wake of Nixon's resignation as gangs of kids roamed the neighborhood, asking whose parents voted for whom. "Don't ever forget to do it, but you don't have to tell anyone what you decided," she assured me.

My favorite political memory is the event that sent her over the edge....the Anita Hill | Clarence Thomas hearings. Every day during the Hill|Thomas hearings, I'd pick up the phone from the California newsroom where I was working and hear an iron slapping cotton to the rhythm of a Georgia accent. Mom.

My mother was a teacher first, and then later a principal, but she always did my father's shirts. I think she had two motivations: One was love. The other, when she was furious, was anger.

Dad looked good during the hearings, I'll tell you that.

"Strom Thurmond cannot die soon ENOUGH!" she'd rage, working through the day's insults to Anita Hill and ironing his button-downs to a fare-thee-well.

"I cannot believe what they are putting her through, these men. Listen to them! All of them...." I cannot further re-print her parody of Joe Biden or Strom Thurmond without (a) further permission or (b) nearly peeing my pants. It was that good.

And to think that she was shipped north to private school during de-segregation. You'd never know from her politics. My mother's deep concern for other women, her love for other people, has always tinged her approach to public policy. She probably wouldn't always call it politics -- she'd just say she was doing what's right.

That's why, all these years, the little lady -- now a grandma many times over -- who can put herself in the shoes of other people has been such a terrific example for me. And why Election Day will always feel like a celebration.

Okay, blog carnivalists -- tag, you're it! And if you are interested in more stories across the generations, don't miss I Remember Mama Voting at ACORN.

Photo thanks: Caribbeanfreephoto

Send in your questions for Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP, now campaigning for GOP's John McCain

BlogHer has the honor of interviewing Carly Fiorina this Friday, when I'll sit down to record a podcast with the former CEO/Chair of Hewlett Packard, the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company and, as of March 8, leading surrogate and fundraising chair for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-AZ).

Here's a recent YouTube video recorded by techRepublican where Ms. Fiorina talks about her support of John McCain's presidency, what her candidate needs to win, and why being listed by Fortune as the most powerful woman in business for six years in a row is a little like...playing golf:

Join us! I invite you to tell me what you would like me to ask Carly Fiorina on your behalf. Please leave your question in the comments on this post and be sure to include your name and blog as you would like me to attribute your question.

The interview will be available soon afterwards as a podcast on BlogHer.com, which I'll link from here too.

Thanks in advance for posting your questions before 5pm PST Thursday, May 8. I look forward to reading them.

Katie Couric, media literacy and the First Amendment's slippery slope

Well played Katie Couric. Today Couric ventures outside CBS.com into the momosphere. In a guest post on NYC Moms Blog, Couric writes about the dark side of the Internet and its affect on children:

Katie Couric on Mean Girls (And Boys) Online

"Is the genie out of the bottle?  Are parents today simply oblivious to the anonymous hate speech that’s so pervasive?   I think our jobs as Moms have gotten a lot harder, and it seems to me we need to have some kind of concerted effort, along with our schools and other leaders, to communicate to our kids that freedom of expression is a protected right in this country--but are we expressing ourselves too freely?"

My opinion? The facts of life for children, teens and their parents now include cyberspace. That's why our family computer is in the kitchen, so I can stir spaghetti while making sure I know exactly the surfing habits of our eight- and 12-year-old.

Every parent I know -- myself included -- grapples with cyberliteracy. At what age should my 12-year-old son be allowed to open a Facebook or Bebo profile? (Answer: 13, with careful guidelines.) Should my eight-year-old be allowed to play online games with a community "chat" function? (No way.) 

This is the era where parents do need an entirely new guidebook. At the same time, I love this brave new world.

Couric's question, "Are we expressing ourselves too freely?" invokes the First Amendment (um, see the top of this page) that has been sacred to me for 20 years as a journalist. "Too freely" by what measure? By whose? I respect my senators and congressional representatives enormously -- but I need to make those choices for myself and for my kids.

As in the case of religion, every person -- and every family -- must make their own choices. And that's one of the reasons I love Couric's post. An educated choice requires the kind of terrific conversation, the very real questions I see on NYC Moms blog -- hashing out the issues, sharing the difficulty of ushering our little babies through the awful adolescent years, which just got, well, a google harder.

I'm a big believer that children of every age (me included) do need now to learn how to ignore the trolls and take care of herself online. Is Juicyc*mpus, the new f*ckedcompany.com of the college world for veterans like myself, the new bathroom wall? Fine. I will say to my boys, ignore them too, honey. 

For now the Internet and all multimedia -- mobile phones in particular -- are included in the realm of my children's world. And I want them to be safe in that world. As my own mother told me, God gave you one self; treat that self with the same respect you believe other people should be treated. And follow the Golden Rule.

Or you will be sorry.

Mommyblogging as 'a radical act' disappearing in 'a cloud of free baby powder?' Doesn't have to.

Have you read this?

Suburban Turmoil:

"Back in 2005, advertisements were few and far between on mommy blogs. Bloggers ran Google ads for pennies a day and BlogAds made us a little more money. But that was lagniappe- an unexpected gift. We weren't blogging for the money (*snort*. What money?), we were blogging because we loved to write. We were blogging for the sense of community it gave us.

"And then things changed. "PR companies started e-mailing me and sending me books and baby products and later, iPods and stereos and DVDs to review. BlogHer started an ad network, inviting mommybloggers to be its founding members. Large corporations began offering us free getaways and perks in hopes that we'd promote their new cars or their TV shows or their shampoo. At BlogHer last year, we were courted by publishers and magazines and automakers and parenting websites. Mommybloggers began turning up in major magazines, newspapers, and on television. Over the last year, I think we've really gotten a sense of our own power. We are the target demo. Hear us roar!

"I love getting packages in the mail to review. I love bringing in a little extra cash from my ad revenue. I love being interviewed and feeling like my opinions matter. I love having the opportunity to go on free vacations.

"But I'm realizing that all of these cool things are changing the whole nature of mommyblogging, and I worry that the sense of solidarity and revolution I felt two years ago is disappearing in a cloud of free baby powder..." More in The State of the Mommyblog

My answer? No, it doesn't have to. Women should be able to be compensated for their writing if they choose to be and not forced to write for money if they don't. Advertising is an option, and writing is an art. 

Here's a story for you: Once upon a time, I found a blogger named Suburban Turmoil who, over the years, made me tear up AND laugh when she described her life as a step-mom (which I am) and her experiences living in a community who knew the first wife (which I also am). And, lo, I developed a life-long blog crush, I linked her and I invited her to join the little group of brave bloggers who helped found the BlogHer Ad Network in 2006.

Whither advertising anyway? We started BlogHer's ad network at the request of a few members of our community back in 2006. But we were also inspired -- inspired by the writing we found that just doesn't end up on television screens or newspaper pages. We wanted to support that writing. Our goal has always been to add "economic empowerment" to the rest of BlogHer's mission -- to create opportunities for women (and our friends, natch, BD ;) to gain additional exposure, education and community for our blogs. More here. I agree with Michelle, when she comments on Suburban Turmoil that, as a reader, she supports advertising as an option for supporting blogs she enjoys:

"It seems fair - we expect high-quality, frequent content, you should get something back for your time."

Amen. Like anything worth publishing, however, excellent writing and community must come first -- the advertising follows. That's how it is with quality writing. And for folks who prefer not to run ads, it's wonderful that the Internets don't require ads on free hosted blogs.

While I know many people think BlogHer is hopelessly old-fashioned with our editorial guidelines that ask review blogs to be separate, we find that this policy checks an important box for readers and with top-tier advertisers.  And I personally think it helps separate editorial from advertorial, which as a reader I prefer. But don't get me wrong: There's a great role for reviews, too, as excellent review blogs like Lindsay's shows. I just gotta keep my chocolate/opinion-editorial faaar away from my bread-and-butter/classfieds.

What do you think?

P.S. Don't recognize the 'radical act' comment in the headline? Tsk! Bone up on your herstory here.

Pro-life? Pro-choice? Pro-Saving women's lives? Here's how we can work together

Have I told you lately how much I love how smart the BlogHer community is?

Here's what I'm on about: Over the weekend, BlogHer community member Valiens of A Brain Like Mine blogged great questions about the BlogHers Act fundraiser to save women's lives:

"I'm wondering whether the women's health care available in any given country is able to provide birth control in any meaningful way, and I'm wondering what the general attitude and practice is among the providers in the various countries about abortion....I'm also wondering if any of the organizations being supported are specifically political in nature, or in support of, or being supported by, political organizations, and which ones they are, and what their mission statements propose. Again, this could be an important factor regarding donations. Transparency is most desirable.On top of that, I'm willing to say I have some potential donors who would have questions about vaccinations, AIDS treatments, religious involvements...more"

I love Valiens' questions because it gives me an opening to talk more about BlogHer's philosophy for our BlogHers Act fundraiser, and why we chose to work with GlobalGiving to support five projects we deliberately selected with an eye to exactly the issues she raises. Here goes...

First, a quick overview of BlogHer: As you may be aware, BlogHer is a non-partisan organization. Our mission is the same one we wrote at a kitchen table in 2005: To create opportunities for women who write and comment on blogs to gain greater exposure for their writings, opinions and beliefs -- and we find, as Valiens does, that our membership embraces the entire political spectrum. We have pro-life members. We have pro-choice members. We have every permutation of politics under the sun and we love that. This is why we partnered with GlobalGiving on BlogHers Act, our community's initiative to improve the world by harnessing the power of women online (more here).  GlobalGiving is key because:

1.  GlobalGiving investigates every project to make sure that:    
* Their work has significant social impact.    
* They have a track record for delivering on promises.    
* They are not listed in any terrorist databases.    
* Their projects are eligible for international philanthropic donations — so donors in the US receive full tax benefits.

Read more about GlobalGiving's due diligence here: http://www.globalgiving.com/dd.html

2. GlobalGiving offers us donors a money-back guarantee that our money will go to helping people via specific projects, not paying for administrative overhead. Read the guarantee here: http://www.globalgiving.com/guaranteed/index.html

Now, on to the five projects we selected as alternatives for donors to pick, using GlobalGiving's (incredibly, may I say thankfully?!) easy-to-use widget. We selected five different projects that we thought would offer all members of the BlogHer community at least one personally comfortable alternative to make a donation that will save women's lives. I can confirm that:

- Each project's organization is independent, not affiliated with a political or religious organization superstructure. I should note, however, that by virtue of placing a priority on the health of women, girls and female infants should be, de facto, considered "political in nature" because of the second-class status women have in these countries. Which is why these women need our help so badly! :) Also, political and religious organizations and organization members are not prohibited from giving to these causes.

- We chose these five projects because of their primary focus on saving women's lives -- including saving the lives of new mothers, their infants and their other children via clinical care and/or education -- as well as their endorsement by GlobalGiving as an organization that is working effectively within these five cultures to empower women with the information they need to survive.

- We recommend that people who do not support contraception in any way shape or form donate to the first project below, a school lunch program for girls in Burkina Faso, where education is equipping women to participate in the developing economy. Where the reproductive health programs listed below mention contraception and sexually transmitted diseases (Afghanistan, Nepal South African), these projects focus on education about using condoms safely, and distributing condoms. Note: While abortion is not a focus of any of these projects, I suspect that this is an alternative some clinics may use to save the life of the mother; This is why I also recommend the first project below for pro-life donors.

In addition to GlobalGiving's comprehensive and clickable list of resources on each project, here's my guided tour:

(1) Noon Meal Improves Girls' Learning in Burkina Faso The Friends of Burkina Faso (FBF) supports NEEED, a Burkinabe grantmakers organization that enrolls young rural girls in village schools, using funds to purchase a lamb and school materials for students’ first year of schooling. The family assumes responsibility for their children’s education for 5 years of primary school, and 4 years of middle school for those who qualify. Each spring, parents sell the fattened lamb. Proceeds are used to buy school materials and a new lamb for the next year.

Activities

Students walk 6 km to attend school from the local village. They have nothing to eat throughout the day. The project will provide a noon meal to students, enhancing their capacity to learn. Also, locally prepared meals will generate local employment.

Potential Long Term Impact

Education is one of the most important means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate fully in the development process. Access to food will increase students' ability to succeed in their studies.

For more information provided directly by the project and a local contact, click here.

(2) Empower Women to End HIV/AIDS Stigma, South Africa
South Africa has the unfortunate distinction of the country with the highest HIV-prevalence in the world. Stigma, lack of knowledge about accessing treatment, and gender inequity has left positive women in a precarious position. It’s estimated that of the five million people living with HIV in South Africa, 60% are women. The first step in turning the AIDS crisis around is to educate and empower women in the townships and rural areas through a network of support groups and treatment access.

Activities

Positive Women’s Network provides for HIV-positive women by creating support groups in townships; providing counseling; conducting workshops on treatment literacy, reproductive health and nutrition; and creating income generating projects for women.

Potential Long Term Impact

PWN currently manages 15 support groups. Due to their success, urban and rural communities want to start their own groups. Because of PWN, hundreds of women accessed treatment and manage their HIV while learning skills to support their families.

For more information provided directly by the project and a local contact, click here.

(3) Ensure Healthcare for 40,000+ Displaced Darfurians The ongoing conflict in Darfur has forced families to flee their villages. Everyday it becomes harder for them to reach already scarce health facilities when roads and entire regions are cut off. In 2006, the crisis escalated, forcing a rush of new families to seek safety in Zam Zam, a refugee camp in North Darfur. When the camp residents faced imminent closure of their health services, Relief International (non-political, non-sectarian), stepped in to build a permanent clinic run by local medical staff, now serving more than 50,000.

Activities

The clinic serves more than 800 patients a week with basic curative and preventive care. RI trains local medical staff and village midwives, distributes essential relief commodities, and immunizes children against diseases.

Potential Long Term Impact

Trained doctors and health workers will be enabled to treat isolated and nomadic populations long after Relief International leaves. Permanent village health facilities will support the people of North Darfur both in crisis and in peace.

For more information provided directly by the project and a local contact, click here

(4) Mother & Child Health Clinic in Rural Nepal Prior to KFK’s Clinic it was difficult to find a mother who had not lost a child and impossible to find a household without a sick person. Child and Maternal Mortality rates of these communities have been almost two-to-three times higher than the national average. KFK's Mother and Child Health Clinic provides critical medical services to the 7,000 residents of Rasuwa district. In 2006 the Clinic provided over 1,200 patient visits, training sessions, and traveling health care services.

Activities

Operating costs of $15,000/yr ($5/day) provides critical care to 7,000 people ($2 per person) * Management of childhood illnesses * Immunications * Antenatal/post natal care * Treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, etc. *

Potential Long Term Impact

The project will provide critical health care to 7,000 villagers in Goljung, Chilime, and Gatlang. These communities suffer from health problems associated with crippling poverty including diarrhea, malnutrition, and acute respiratory illnesses.

For more information provided directly by the project and a local contact,  click here.

(5) Help Afghan Women Deliver Healthy Babies Safely An alarming percentage of Afghan women and babies die during pregnancy and delivery. Most women deliver babies at home without the assistance of trained medical staff. CHI/AIL offer lifesaving health services and medical interventions to pregnant women and babies through three rural clinics in Afghanistan, including on-site baby delivery for high-risk cases. CHI/AIL also educate women about their reproductive health so that they can make healthy choices during pregnancy and delivery.

Activities

12,000 Afghan women will receive pre- and post-natal care, midwifery, family planning services, education on women’s reproductive health, delivery kits for home delivery, and assessment and intervention for high-risk pregnancies.

Potential Long Term Impact

Thousands of women who would have lost their lives or the lives of their babies during pregnancy and delivery will be saved. Women will learn how to prevent complications during pregnancy and delivery and protect their long-term reproductive health.

For more information provided directly by the project and a local contact, click here

I hope this round-up helps!

Already BlogHer has raised more than $1,600 to support these programs, thanks to the blogging efforts of these amazing women:

1. Denise 2. Erin 3. mamikaze 4. kari 5. sparks and butterflies 6. vered 7. karoli 8. Elisa 9. Donna at Global Giving 10. Learn to Duck 11. Notions of Identity 12. Whymommy 13. Catherine 14. SoCalMom 15. Elisa's Green Scene 16. Lisa Stone 17. Writes For Chocolate 18. Christian Feminist 19. Broad-Sheet 20. Because I have to... 21. Colleen 22. Nickie 23...YOU! You're next! Denise Tanton has made it easy. Here's how:

Take Action Now:
1) See the cool counter in the top right column on Surfette? Grab the widget to place on your blog.

2) Share this information with your readers by blogging about maternal health, or this BlogHers Act initiative, or the individual project you're supporting.

3) Leave your link at the bottom of this post, using Mr Linky, so others can hear your thoughts on these issues.  (We'll also be featuring many of you on BlogHer.com and in our newsletters.)

4) Donate to save women's lives, today.

So...what else? What do you think of the information I've provided? What else should we do to raise blogger awareness of this campaign at a time when the tax man cometh and the Wall Street Journal is using the R word (recession)?

I welcome your feedback and any other questions and suggestions. And if you've read this far, thank you for caring about helping as many women as possible, around the world.

Will you help me raise money to save women's lives in five countries?

 
This week, as BlogHer launched a special campaign with GlobalGiving to raise money for lifesaving programs for women around the world, I watched three members of BlogHer's community show extraordinary leadership:

Jen Lemen launched an amazing effort to help her friend Odette bring her children home from Rwanda and has raised more than $5,000!

Bonggamom reminded everyone that Jill Asher is holding a bone marrow drive April 19 inspired by her mother's ongoing battle with cancer. Join me there - especially if you have a rare blood type?

Raquita gave her baby's car seat away to a young couple who drove up in front of her house holding a ten-month old on the front seat. Her only desire? That she'd had two car seats to give. Because they had a baby on the way.

Don't these stories just make you want to pump your fist in the air and hug your neighbor and donate your time and money to help them? Me, it does. Which is why I'm inviting you to join our final phase of BlogHers Act, the BlogHer community's year-long initiative to save women's lives via improved maternal health.
 

Our goal is to find out how many women's lives we can save by blogging to raise small donations -- $10, $15, $25, $50 --for critical clinics and educational programs for women, children and girls specifically in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Darfur, Nepal and South Africa. Denise Tanton and Erin Kotecki Vest have done a terrific job choosing these programs in partnership with the great team at GlobalGiving. We're really excited about GlobalGiving because they guarantee that your money will get where they say it's going.  They research their programs carefully, and send your money to a well-defined project instead of to funding general operating expenses. And -- this is my favorite part -- if you're not happy, you can get your money back. More here.

As a team, we also really like the diversity of their programs in the developing world -- from feeding hungry children to maternal health. As Denise wrote in her announcement:

Over the weekend, I bought a domain name for $10.  I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with it yet.

* $10 covers the costs of a clinic in Nepal for two days.  2 days.

This morning, we spend $15 at Starbucks.  We bought 2 Quad Grande Non-Fat Caramel Macchiatos and 1 Triple Grande Cinnamon Dulce w/whip.

* $15 also buys lunch for 50 girls in a West African village
* $15 can fund healthcare for medicine for 100 refugees in Darfur

We need to fill up the gas tank today, which will cost about $25.

* $25 also aids 20 Afghanistan women with reproductive health care and education

I was thinking about dinner at Satchel’s which costs about $50.

* $50 will provide AIDS counseling for 2 women in South Africa.

My money can make a difference - so can yours.

So far, this enormous BlogHer community has donated $1,280. I cannot wait to see what we can accomplish togther by Mother's Day, May 11, not to mention July's BlogHer 08! I believe that when you click through on this page to see these incredible programs, you'll agree. Denise and Erin have worked to make it easy, using a great little widget developed by GlobalGiving.com. If you will download this widget today and encourage your readers to donate, we can find out just how many women we can help. Won't you join us?

Get the widget here: http://www.clearspring.com/widgets/47f4f6fb77077b5d

Take Action Now:

1) Grab a button or donation widget to place on your blog.

2) Share this information with your readers by blogging about maternal health, or this BlogHers Act initiative, or the individual project you're supporting.

3) Leave your link at the bottom of this post, using Mr Linky, so others can hear your thoughts on these issues. (We'll also be featuring many of you on BlogHer.com and in our newsletters.)

4) Donate to save women's lives, today.

As someone who is like a broken record about the extraordinary power of women who read and write blogs, I'm excited to see what the BlogHer community can do together. I invite you to join us  -- I encourage you to blog this now.

Will you join us?

Photocredits: GlobalGiving.com

ABC News focusing on women who blog

I'm happy to report that ABCNews.com has focused some daytime programming on women who blog. Earlier this week, Tory Johnson of Women for Hire taped two segments with me and the amazing Susan Wagner (Friday Playdate, Friday Style, BlogHer Contributing Editor).

For once, I love these segments. Despite the fact that Susan is on her deathbed with the worst flu ever, she proved yet again that she is one amazing, articulate woman. Bravo Susan! Tory definitely did her research. And while I look like I've had a glass of wine before hitting the air, I promise it was the blinky, half-lidded effect of that much eye makeup. Blink. Yeeeeow. Blink.

But don't take my word for it -- here are the links:

Susan Wagner: http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4187069&affil=kgo

Me:   http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4187036&affil=kgo

Now what BlogHer really needs is our own show so that we can show off the incredible diversity (by topic and by every measure) of women who blog. Starting with these editors.

Off to the drawing board...

Hillary Clinton is no Pat Schroeder: "This is one of the most important elections Americans have ever faced"

Full disclosure: I'm an undecided voter who is still disappointed in President Bill Clinton for four main reasons (China, Bosnia, Haiti, Monica), but I have to weigh in because I just reviewed this clip after reading all the commentary on Morra Aarons-Mele's BlogHer post and every where else.

My two lira: Bravo Hillary. More please, whether I vote for you or not.

This video captures a master debater at the height of her game. She's stretched just thin enough to say something real and heartfelt -- and then she does a deft job of sticking it to her opponent(s). What a surprise to watch this moment of truth in the same day I heard her allow NPR's Renee Montagne turn a Morning Edition interview  into a discussion of Sen. Barack Obama and how important it is that Clinton not lose to her primary opponent, Sen. Barack Obama. 

Finally, we see Candidate Hillary saying something that sounds remarkably unscripted. Goodbye, floral couch from which the Stepford candidate announced her candidacy, hello, woman who understands me.   As for her other commentary, hell, it's a cold winter and there's not a woman alive who isn't worrying about working out and that extra piece of pizza, girl, whether we need to or it's just in our heads.

For the VERY first time I found myself thinking, wow, she might get my vote. Followed by: Wow, if she doesn't earn the nomination, somebody should give this woman Brownie's old job heading up FEMA, and then we can work her way up to Secretary of State.

One parting thought: For anyone who hasn't ever watched a presidential candidate in the heat of a campaign, I recommend you re-watch the video and look at only the background: See the flashbulbs? There was a media mob assembled to watch these voters watch Hillary that probably wasn't the size of an inky dinky press pool.

How the senator managed not to burst out with, "Could you PLEASE get those klieg lights OUT of my EYES and hand me a BEER" is beyond me.

So you'll know if I ever run for office. I'll be the one with the port-a-keg.

Okay, done ranting. You may now watch the candidate for yourself, in peace:

Dying to know your opinion: Do you agree with me or not?
 

With one phone call you can help stop infanticide, child abuse and suicide: Support the MOTHERS ACT today

Please stop what you're doing and pick up your keyboard and your phone today to help change the course of maternal history for thousands of women and children.

I'm excited to announce the first official blogging initiative of BlogHers Act ! As part of our commitment to make a difference on the issue of maternal Health in 2007-2008 we are urging you to join us and the incredible team at Postpartum Support International as we pick up our keyboards and our telephones to help support legislation aimed at saving women who suffer from postpartum depression in the Blog Day for the Mothers Act -- TODAY.

You may wonder why you should care -- especially, to be blunt, if you don't have children yourself and/or don't plan to? Because this disease is a silent killer that touches hundreds of thousands of women and their vulnerable children. Nobody tells the story better than Katherine Stone (no relation):

"With all we know and as smart as we are, only 15% of 800,000 women will get diagnosed and treated.  That is so wrong on so many levels.  Women are not being diagnosed because they're not being educated and they're not being screened.  Untreated, the consequences of maternal mood disorders range from chronic, disabling depression to death.  The impact of untreated maternal depression on infants/children ranges from behavioral and learning disabilities to depression and, in the worst case scenarios, death from infanticide." (More from Katherine here here: Help Mothers Everywhere: Join Blog Day for the MOTHERS Act on October 24th)

What is the MOTHERS Act?  The Moms Opportunity to Access Help, Education, Research and Support for Postpartum Depression Act, or MOTHERS Act (S. 3529), will ensure that new mothers and their families are educated about postpartum depression, screened for symptoms and provided with essential services.  In addition, it will increase research into the causes, diagnoses and treatments for postpartum depression.  The bill is sponsored by Senators Menendez and Durbin. Specifically, the MOTHERS Act will help new moms by:

• Providing important education and screening on postpartum depression (PPD) that can lead to early identification and treatment.  The legislation includes two grants to help healthcare providers educate, identify and treat PPD.
• Expanding important research to improve and discover new treatments, diagnostic tools and educational materials for providers.  Since the exact cause of PPD isn't known, research continues to be the key to unlocking the mystery of this condition.

Here's what we -- BlogHer, Postpartum Support International and Postpartum Progress are joining you to do TODAY: 

• CALL YOUR SENATOR: Visit the Postpartum Support International website and click the Welcome Bloggers button at the top to get all the information you need about the bill, how your readers can call their Senators, what to say, etc.
• IF YOU'RE A BLOGGER: Publish your post on postpartum depression and the MOTHERS Act on Wednesday, October 24th and don't forget to tag your post with: Blog Day for the MOTHERS Act, BlogHers Act, BlogHer, Postpartum Progress, Postpartum Support International, postpartum depression
• Once you've blogged, be sure to go back to BlogHer and leave your URL so others can link to you.

Please blog it and encourage your readers to help save women's lives. Please pick up the phone and call your senator. Together, we can make a huge difference for a very desperate group of women and their families.

And if we don't do it, nobody will.