A Message From The Creator

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.
– Maya Angelou

Inspirational Woman Of The Day

Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany. The daughter of a pastor and teacher, she grew up in a rural area north of Berlin. In 1990 she joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party and soon after was appointed to Helmut Kohl‘s cabinet as minister for women and youth. In the 2005 election she narrowly defeated Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, winning by just three seats.

German stateswoman and chancellor (2005– ). Born July 17, 1954 in Hamburg, Germany. The daughter of a Lutheran pastor and teacher, Merkel grew up in a rural area north of Berlin in the then German Democratic Republic. She studied physics at the University of Leipzig, earning a doctorate in 1978, and later worked as a chemist at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences (1978–1990).

In 1990 she joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) political party and soon after was appointed to Helmut Kohl‘s cabinet as minister for women and youth. Following his defeat in the 1998 general election, she was named Secretary-General of the CDU. She was chosen party leader in 2000 and ran unsuccessfully for chancellor in 2002. In the 2005 election she narrowly defeated Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, winning by just three seats, and after the CDU agreed a coalition deal with the Social Democrats (SPD), she was declared Germany’s first female chancellor. Merkel is also the first former citizen of the German Democratic Republic to lead the reunited Germany and the first woman to lead Germany since it became a modern nation-state in 1871.

Women In The News

By Bob Barnard, @bobbybbarnard

Servicewomen honored at Women’s Memorial ceremony

ARLINGTON, Va. –

Of the many Memorial Day ceremonies in our nation’s capital this solemn holiday weekend, the last official one honored women who have served our country in time of war.

The Women In Military Service For America Memorial is located inside the stone facade at the west end of Memorial Drive at Arlington, Va. – which was part of the original national cemetery built to honor the Civil War dead.

Monday’s ceremony was moved indoors because of the oppressive heat outside.

After presentation of the colors, there were speeches from veterans of each of the military branches.

“I am here today to represent and remember all of the women and men of the Marine Corps who have served this great nation so proudly and well,” said Col. Koreen Parry, a Marine and Iraq War veteran.

Part of the Memorial Day tradition there is the placing of rose petals into a silver bowl honoring the war dead.

“Indeed today, we remember those who’ve lost their lives for their country,” said Vice Adm. Michelle Howard of the U.S. Navy. “And we thank them. And we hope they hear us.”

Women served as nurses in the American Revolution and the war in Korea. They are veterans of the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan.

“You know, finally they’ve been recognized,” said Wilma Vaught, the Memorial Foundation Board president. “Finally, their story of service is being told. And that’s what this memorial is about.”

Vaught is a retired Air Force brigadier general and a veteran of the Vietnam War. 

“And as a career military person,” Vaught told us, “I felt that I wanted to be a part of the war that was going on during my time in the service.”

The Women’s Memorial is just 15 years old. It honors the sacrifices of Americans who have always served our country voluntarily.

Online:

http://www.womensmemorial.org/

Inspiration Of Motherhood

By David W Freeman

Do working moms put their kids at risk? What new study says

(CBS) The kids are alright. The children of mothers who work outside the home are no more likely to experience social or emotional problems during their early years than kids of stay-at-home moms, according to a new study by English researchers.

“No detrimental effects of maternal employment in the early years were seen,” concluded the authors of the study of 12,000 children, which was published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.

Study author Dr. Anne McMunn, a researcher at University College London, said in a written statement, “Some studies have suggested that whether or not mothers work in the first year of a child’s life can be particularly important for later outcomes. In this study we did not see any evidence for a longer-term detrimental influence on child behavior of mothers working during the child’s first year of life.”

The ideal scenario for boys and girls, the researchers concluded, is when both parents live at home and both are working.

Previous research has shown that kids of single mothers and those in households where neither parents work are more likely to have behavioral problems, according to the statement.

The study echoed findings from another recent study, by scientists at the National Bureau of Economic Research. It showed that mothers’ “quality of parenting” was not related to whether mom worked outside the home.

 What do pediatricians have to say about working moms? The American Academy of Pediatrics says there is “no scientific evidence” to suggest that children suffer when their mothers work. “A child’s development is influenced more by the emotional health of the family, how the family feels about the mother’s working, and the quality of child care. A child who is emotionally well adjusted, well loved, and well cared for will thrive regardless of whether the mother works outside the home.”

What do you think? Do kids suffer when mom works?