Daughter of No Comment -- March 2002

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Fifty years ago when Sandra Day graduated from law school at Stanford she couldn't get an interview despite all the job notices on the school bulletin board. She complained to a friend who asked her big firm lawyer father. He said he would interview her friend. At the end he asked her, "Miss Day, how well do you type? You could get a job as a legal secretary here but we will never hire a woman lawyer." Her first job was in a District Attorney's office and she did have to share space with a legal secretary. When she was interviewed as a Supreme Court nominee, the interviewer was the former head of that same law firm, who can probably type himself now that the computer has become a basic tool. Daughter is sharing this because she doesn't know where to file it: A college beauty pageant turned ugly when a rehearsal ended in a scuffle between "Miss Congeniality" and a Georgetown (Ky.) College official. Student activities director Kathy Wallace was charged with assault after freshman Keaton Lynch Brown said Wallace grabbed her during a talent rehearsal and dragged her down steps. The scuffle was over Brown's routine in which she roped a stuffed pig. Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., Chairman of the Commerce Committee, when asked whether he had received donations from Enron said "I got $3,500 over ten years, but our friend, Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), she got $99,000. Heck, I'm the chairman of the committee. That wasn't a contribution. That was an insult." We have the best government we can buy. Lori Schafer, head of software company Market Max, was her class valedictorian who was urged by the guidance counselor to step aside for the second ranking graduate, a boy - "who," she was told,"would do more with it." "Today," Lori said, "I am everything I was raised not to be. I was supposed to get married, have children, and not have a job." U. S. Representative John Dingal was required to strip to his underwear during an airport security check (he has a metal hip) and was furious at the indignity and seethed to his wife "Woman, do you realize what they made me do?" At age 75, maybe he forgot his wife's name? Is she a generic? The Miami Herald reports that the winner of the Miss Brazil pageant, Juliana Borges, 22, admitted she had extensive plastic surgery, including breast implants, liposuction and operations to remove birthmarks and to fix her protruding ears. She also had silicone inserted into her cheeks and jaw. "Of course they helped," said Miss Borges. "After all, winning the contest was my plan when I did it," Daughter is waiting for the pageant for bionic humanoids. Dr. Bernadine Healy, who was forced out as president of the American Red Cross says she is "a pre-women's-lib woman" who is being "portrayed as a monster because I'm tough. Tough is a badge of honor for a man, But it is a curse for a woman." Dr. Healy also said "They accused me of screeching. I don't even know how to screech! My voice gets deeper when I'm angry. Have you ever heard anything more sexist?" Now Daughter wants to know what is this pre-womens-lib concept exactly? The Jupiter Elks meet on Wednesdays and the Jupiter Elkettes meet on a Tuesday. Isn't that special? To explain the absence of women on Sunday talk shows, Nancy Nathan, executive producer of Meet The Press said "I don't consider it a problem. Our audience is more than half women. We think they would be insulted if we were not presenting the news makers but were somehow skewing it to present others." Male chauvinism can't be the culprit, since four of the five top shows are produced by women. Most of them say they face a largely white male power structure in booking guests. if you are tired of watching the usual "mature" white male faces, let the producers know. Maybe we should start screeching? Are you supporting your local facialist? These are non medical people who do laser hair removal, chemical peels and microdermabrasion. "A few years ago, we saw complications very infrequently", says Dr. David Mc Daniel, from Eastern Virginia Medical School. "Now the equipment is more powerful, there's less supervision, less training and more people are getting the services, which leads to a fairly dramatic rise in people being injured, sometimes permanently." The bottom line here is the bottom line. There is a lot of money involved and both spa owners and doctors want the dollars. Dr. Patricia Wexler, a New York dermatologist says "A scowl is a totally unnecessary expression." Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues says "I'm sorry, but I am not a liberal. I'm a radical. I cannot believe how insane everything is, ...How many women are raped and killed and beaten every year?" How can we build on her energy to help us find freedom from violence? A study of young adults in Baltimore shows evidence that the number of undetected STD's may exceed the number of officially reported cases. Many cases remain undiagnosed and untreated because doctors are reluctant to inquire about STD exposure. "It's embarrassing. People aren't trained to do this. It's not revenue producing and it takes time." This explanation by Dr. Jonathan Zenilman, professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine is scary if his reasons are the accepted standard for medical practice. Some epidemiologists consider this to be the tip of the iceberg since STDs often predict a rise in HIV diagnosis. Actor Cicely Tyson says "If you don't tell your daughter what life is all about she is going to hear it on the outside and you aren't going to like that." A strong supporter of Roe vs Wade, she said "When the day comes that we are denied what we choose to do and we are denied our rights, then we will have totally forgotten the U. S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights." Go Girl. You've got that right. The U.S. leads the world in the number of unmarried births by women 15 to 19 years old. Canada and Great Britain are tied for second place. Reasons are not using contraceptives and contraceptive failure rates of about 15%. Roughly 2/3rds of these births are unintended. In France, for example nurses in public and parochial high schools dispense the "morning-after pill". This is not done in the puritanical United States. Eva Logan says that abortion foes should test for DNA in order to locate missing fathers who hide so they don't have to pay child support instead of stripping young women of their options. There have been so many complaints about how funding Title IX has harmed men's sports that it was good to see Jocelyn Samuels of the National Women's Law Center taking issue with the nay sayers. She said " It is untrue that schools that expand women's sports opportunities must do so by cutting men's sports. For example, a March 2001 General Accounting Office study found 72% of the colleges and universities that added women's teams did so without cutting any men's teams. The real culprits are bloated budgets for football and men's basketball, which consume nearly 70% of men's athletic budgets." Manager Mark Chandler of the Palm Beach Cool's reminds his players that "education is their primary focus." Katie Veltri, a high school junior, started playing with her brother when she was 6 and now that she is 17 she hopes to get a scholarship for her playing ability. She says "I have no idea where I'll go to college. I just want the best deal I can." Let's make sure that all the Katie's get the best deal they can by ensuring that their playing options are available. This means places to play and people to coach. Kimberly Strauss,who has been a stockbroker, says her main goal now is to educate women because "I don't think anybody can be independent unless they're financially independent ," Women invest differently than men, they are less likely to take financial risks and they tend to analyze investments more. She says "From a very young age, we're trained to avoid risk. Women are care givers." Strong financial planning with a lot of prudence provides one with options. Your money is a tool so make it work for you. Chivalry, RIP. More than 20 Madison County High School (North Florida) football players charged the field after a state semifinal game, knocking over about 30 cheerleaders and injuring at least 6 of them. Two were taken to a local hospital. Cheerleader Rebecca Raciapa who was bruised in the face and jaw, said a player hit her in the face with a helmet. Although the fracas was videotaped, the Sheriff's Office said it was not clear whether any of the players would be charged. They have taken sportsmanship to a new level. There has been some discussion on how much plastic surgery TV lawyer, Greta Van Susteren has had. Florida plastic surgeon Dr. Fredric Barr said "She attained a female appearance. She used to look like a schnauzer." How about a boycott for this mutt? Florida has a "Choose Life" license plate which has raised $500,000 for adoption counseling by agencies that offer no abortion services. Catholic Charities has been a recipient and the whole idea is in court on First Amendment grounds. Stay tuned. Islamic law, as practiced in Nigeria is totally anti-woman and it is a country where the double standard is the standard. The Attorney General, Aliyu Abubakar Sanyinna, says that adultery is the second most serious crime. The most serious is insulting Allah with murder a distant third. The A. G. says "Adultery is more serious than murder, Society is injured by her act. The danger is that it will teach other people to do the same thing." Can you believe this? In this country it is common for married men to boast of their numerous girlfriends. The government lawyers talk about this while standing next to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. The penalty for adultery is being stoned to death which the woman is to welcome because God's will is being carried out. Of course, this is all men talking. Women have not been allowed to speak on the issue. No tax money should support Nigeria or any barbaric nation where women's civil rights are in the tank. And don't give the boys at Enron all the credit. Betty Ann Rubin, President of Lazar Frederick & Co., a Los Angeles broker-dealer was convicted for her role in a $42 million Ponzi scheme that bilked mostly elderly investors who "invested" in oil and gas limited partnerships. She has paid $ 8.2 million in fines and received an 8 year jail sentence.