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My mother’s Day card from my son Samuel
Yesterday, moms in America were honored by the celebration of Mother’s Day, a holiday established by Anna Jarvis in 1912. What I love about this holiday is that it celebrates the significance of mothers and their contribution to a strong family unit. Women all over the country were celebrated and honored by their families. On different days, women in Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and UK are also exalted for their contribution to the family.
At the same time, I read a news story in The Hindu, which reported on a new law being proposed in Egypt, called the “Farewell Law”. The law states that a man will be allowed to engage in martial relations with his wife, up to six hours after her death. In addition, the minimum age of marriage for women will be reduced to the age of fourteen. The lack of respect and basic human consideration for women as reflected by this proposed law is unconscionable. Once the story broke, there was a public outcry from women’s groups. Dr. Mervat al-Talawi, who is the head of Egypt’s National Council for Women, expressed her concern, “marginalizing and undermining the status of women in future development plans would undoubtedly negatively affect the country’s human development.” (1) The media coverage prompted a strong reaction from inside the Egyptian Embassy in London, who said the claims were “completely false” and “forbidden in Islam” and “could never imagine it happening”.
Although the validity of this legislation remains in question, the issue of women’s rights has been a growing concern in Egypt since the election of the country’s new parliament, which took place in February. The parliament does not even come close to representing women fairly. There are only eight women, in the 508 member Egyptian Parliament—less than two percent.(2) . One of the major grievances against Mubarak’s regime was the lack of freedom of speech. With the woeful lack of female representation in the present parliament it does not appear that the voice of Egyptian women will be heard by Egyptian lawmakers and more laws such as the despicable “Farewell Law” cannot be too distant.
A society that marginalizes and dehumanizes women, cannot hope to survive. I am not a die hard women’s rights activist, but this blatant disregard for half the population of Egypt, can only result in a damaged and broken community. Any country that does not see the value of a woman is unable to recognize that women are essential to the foundation of the family—and the family is the basic building block of any thriving community.
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1. http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/04/25/210198.html
2. http://www.npr.org/2012/01/19/145468365/in-egypts-new-parliament-women-will-be-scarce
mamanista.com
There’s a reason I’ve been so quiet—I’ve been getting ready for an adventure. I’m leaving this week for a 35 day trip to India. While I have been to India before, I’ve never been on a trip such as this one. I’ll begin with a few days in Mumbai, then south to Pune for four days with my friends Arti and Murali. After this I meet my cousins Aruna, Vimal and Primal in Delhi and then I take a car ride five hours north to the mountains of Nainital. For eight days I’ll be in this quiet mountain town, working on a rewrite of my book (hopefully, the last re-write!). Then I return to Delhi where I’ll meet six of my friends, who will join me to see some of the best sights in North India.
First Mamuna arrives from UK in the early morning hours. Then, Nikema arrives from New Jersey in the early afternoon. In the early evening Tally arrives from Minnesota and Arti joins her from Pune. Last but certainly not least, my two oldest friends join our group late that night—Annette flies in from North Carolina and Carol from Minnesota. After a good night’s sleep we set out to see India.
Together we’ll see Delhi, Agra, Amristar, Chandigarh, Udaipur and Mumbai. I’m so blessed to be able to begin the celebration of my birthday with such wonderful friends. I’m looking forward to not only seeing India together, but enriching my friendship with each and every one!
Tune into this blog for updated posts as we travel around India. I’ll do my best to post one of my favorite photos every few days along with the post.
Lydia Leith Copyright © 2011
In just about six days, the world will experience a royally induced economic blip, because every television channel will be tuned into the royal wedding. The sponsors of channels that will not be carrying the wedding will shell out millions for unwatched television ads. Shoppers will not be spending money in malls or grocery stores. Lack of productivity in the workplace will cause millions of dollars of waste. Royal wedding viewers who are madly snacking on Doritos, ice cream and heavy fried foods will add to the health care crisis when their arteries suddenly clog and they are rushed to the emergency room to await clot buster treatments. Perhaps the only business that will make more money than usual will be pizza delivery and take out—or as our UK friends say “take away.”
Not be too rude, but the whole royal family reminds me of high school. The royals are The Popular Group and the thousands of Hanger-On-ers (the royal bread maker, the royal toe clipper, the royal garbage bag changer, the royal dog bowl washer…) are all the kids who are hoping against hope that if they hang out with the Popular Group, they might just magically also be accepted. The Popular Group does nothing to earn their status—they just fall upon their status, or happen to have older brothers and sisters who were also in the group. Occasionally, one member of this high caste turns their eyes to one of the members of the undesirables and finds that person somehow worthy, and Lo and Behold! that undesirable miraculously becomes a member of the Popular Group.
Supposedly, Ms. Middleton is a commoner and as the British say, “one of us.” I’m not sure what the British consider a commoner, but usually when someone is from a multimillion dollar family, attends an elite and affluent school and lives in a £1.2 million apartment in Chelsea, I wouldn’t consider that person “one of us.” I’m not sure what separates the commoner from a non-commoner, but this is one of the problems I have with the British elite. There is an attitude of disrespect for humble and honest hard work. For some reason, a middle class hard worker is seen as less than desirable. Money and a false sense of gentry take precedence over talent and hard work. To me, the British royal family, represents the epitome of a society which promotes a snobbish and elitist class system.
A few interesting facts: The royals do not bring in the most tourist dollars. Visiting one of the royal sites barely makes the top tourist attractions in UK. Buckingham Palace is not even listed on the most profitable tourist attractions, “The Tower of London is revealed as the most popular paid for attraction in 2007 with over 2 million visits, followed by St Paul’s Cathedral (1.6 million visitors) and Pleasure Beach in Great Yarmouth (1.4 million visitors). Xscape Milton Keynes becomes the country’s most visited free attraction with 6.9 million visits in 2007, followed by Blackpool Pleasure Beach (5.5 million visitors) and the British Museum (5.4 million visitors)”[1].
While the Queen employs three chauffeurs to drive her one body around (how she could possibly be in three places at once is beyond me) and Prince Charles has a team of four valets to “to squeeze his toothpaste on to his brush, and another who once held the specimen bottle while he gave a urine sample”[2], at a cost of £38.2 million or $631 million, the citizens of the UK are experiencing a 10% unemployment rate and a national debt that has risen above 70% of GDP[3]. In the midst of this, Will is spending £30 million or about $48 million on his wedding. Because the day is an official holiday, forecasters predict it will cost another whopping $9.84 billion in lost productivity[4]!
I, for one will be doing my part to keep our global economy moving forward. My television will not be tuned to the “wedding of the century.” I will be contributing to growing the economy while shopping for dinner ingredients at Shop Rite and going to work as usual. As a rule I love weddings—the idea of two people coming together surrounded by family and friends while they express their love for each other, always brings tears to my eyes. But this is not a wedding; it’s a production, complete with script, set, directors and a producer. Oh sure, supposedly this wedding is somehow more genuine because Welfare Will dared to fall in love with a…(gasp!) Commoner! (Oh, the wonder of it all!) But to me—it’s just another silly and expensive event that is even more ludicrous, in light of all the challenging global events with which we; the commoners, must cope.
1] “Top UK Tourist Attractions,” Visitbritian, 16 November 2008, <http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_nshw.php?mwi=5197>.
[2] “Spoiled Prince has a flunkey to squeeze his toothpaste.” The Sun Herald, Stuart Millar and Jamie Wilson, 7 November 2002, <http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/16/1037080965729.html>.
[3] “UK Economy: UK Economy 2010, UK Economic Forecast.” Economy Watch, <http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/united-kingdom/uk-economy-2010-forecast.html>.
[4] “Royal Wedding to Cost UK Economy $7.9 Billion.” Newser, Rob Quinn, 24 November 2010, <http://www.newser.com/story/106064/royal-wedding-to-cost-uk-economy-79-billion.html>.
Veggie Barn, 2010
My mother did much of her schooling in the UK and taught me excellent etiquette. Good manners are disappearing faster than Ted Danson’s hairline, but even so I have taught my sons to write (not email!) but—write-using-pen-and-paper-envelope-with-address-and-stamp, thank you cards for each and every present, bring a hostess gift when going to a dinner or party, offer a small token of appreciation to those who write recommendations or referral letters, take a house gift when staying the night, and to always write a thank you note after a dinner out.
A host or hostess must abide by certain manners as well. Simple rules—for instance, a good hostess should make sure she has prepared food when giving a dinner party or she should remember the names of the people she has invited. Nothing very complicated. Or so it would seem.
A friend of mine recently asked me to her home for dinner. After I accepted she proudly exclaimed, “I can’t wait—I love throwing vegan dinner parties!” While I appreciated her enthusiasm, my eagerness to attend her party quickly waned. Vegan? No meat, no cheese? Really, why even bother with dinner? Better to just “throw” that dinner party right out the door. I checked off all the items that would not be included on the menu—meat, eggs, seafood, fish, dairy products, chicken, butter…what would she serve?
Tofu prepared Three Ways! Lentil Patties! Grass Shakes! Soy and Broccoli Ice!
Because I knew she was also a No Carb girl, before heading out I ate a bowl of Cheerios, wrapped up a couple of vegan candles, donned my vegan shoes, 100% cotton drawstring pants, and decided to make the most of the evening. The most interesting thing about eating a vegan or vegetarian meal are the absurd comparisons that are made between “real” food and vegetables. “This is Buddha’s Delight. It’s a wonderful seafood flavored tofu. It tastes just like shrimp!” Shrimp? It looks like a maggot. No wonder you swore off seafood, this smells like chum! “Uhhh, thanks. Looks interesting, but I think I’ll just stick to these delicious BBQ veggie dogs on millet chips.” Most of the energy in preparing a vegan meal is spent trying to get a particular vegan item to resemble it’s much more flavorful and genuine two and three times removed cousin—salami, brie, salmon or chicken curry. If you want these, why not just have the real deal?
I wonder what my mother would think if I invited one of my vegetarian friends to dinner, and served only a huge rib roast, simply because I like to eat meat. Isn’t the main point of having people over to share a meal to make the guests feel at home? When I have dinner parties and I know vegans or vegetarians are attending, I always make sure to have plenty of dishes that accommodate their dietary restrictions. Why don’t vegetarians or vegans do the same when they invite those of us who consider meat, fish or poultry essential to a meal? It seems a bit selfish and frankly rather rude, to force a guest to comply with meal preferences that are not their own, but are based on the host’s personal choices.
Last year I was invited to a vegan wedding. The invitation informed me that the entire wedding would be vegan, so the menu had already been preselected for me. The bride also felt that flowers should not be needlessly cut for something as mundane as a wedding, so she had chosen to carry a huge battery lit torch in place of a bridal bouquet. Apparently leaking chemical toxins into the earth and looking like an albino Statue of Liberty did not cause her concern. I wanted to send this bride packing, straight to my mother’s school of etiquette. The bride and groom hosted a wedding, invited guests, registered for gifts and then completely decided to disregard the comfort of their guests. For them their wedding day was not a day of love and commitment shared with family and friends, but a day to send a message about their oh-so-healthy-and-moral lifestyle. I declined the invitation and sent gift—but I never got a thank you note.
obeygiant.com, 2011
When President Obama made his tour of Europe soon after his election, he was greeted with open arms, cheers, welcoming placards, parades and smiling children. For many Americans it was a relief to gain favor in the eyes of our European neighbors.
The election of President Obama, agree or disagree with his political agenda, was an amazing moment in American history. It took America almost 90 years to abolish slavery, 188 years to pass the Civil Rights Act and over 230 years to elect a black president.
Since the 1720 establishment of Sir Robert Walpole as the United Kingdom’s first prime minister, to the election of Gordon Brown, over 285 years have passed. The UK is yet to elect a minority to the most powerful position of prime minister.
The first modern chancellor of Germany in 1867 was Otto von Bismark. Of the 34 individuals who have served as the elected head of state in Germany, each one has been from the racial majority.
Since 1848, France has had various titles for the elected head of state and for 161 years, all the French presidents have been caucasian.
Italy is no different. Italians have elected 81 prime ministers! Not one of them has been from a racial minority.
While President Obama has enjoys immense popularity with our EU neighbors, one point is clear—While the Europeans claim to love and respect Obama…
They would have never elected him as president in their own countries!
Obama loves the Europeans and they say they love him—but not enough to elect him or someone like him. If Obama was running for president or prime minister in Europe, it is quite doubtful he would have won the election.
No matter what the citizens of the EU try to “teach” Americans about being open minded, or morally upright—it is Americans who are leading the way to correct racial inequality. All Americans can be proud to be a part of a nation that elected Obama.
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