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A
R T I C L E S* &*
S P E E C H E S
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Resources and Conferences
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The U.S. Department
of Labor has lauched a campaign
to inform women about pension
benefits. A brochure, Women
and Pensions: What Women Need
to Know and Do, is now available.
It includes a checklist and tips
on what women need to learn about
pension plans, Social Security
and personal savings. Call the
Women's Bureau at (202)
219-6611 for information.
Action Alerts
- Now that the conventions are
over and Labor Day is passed, the
political campaigning begins in
ernest. Find out how the candidates'
views - and voting records - match
yours on the issues. Check the papers
for statements on positions; listen
to the news; check voter guides
and responses to questionnaires
distributed by a variety of groups,
including AAUW and League
of Women Voters. Better yet,
go to a candidates' forum to meet
the candidates and ask them, or
call their offices and ask their
staff to tell you how they voted
on specific issus. Be informed and
inform others.
-
Make sure you, all
your family and friends are registered
to vote. Help college students and
others who will be out of their
voting distrincts on November 5
learn how to register for an absentee
ballot, and do it soon. (Call your
Election Bureau for information.)
-
Volunteer to work
on a campaign. People are always
needed to deliver signs and door-hangers,
make calls and get out voters. Your
future is in YOUR HANDS!
CHEERS! and JEERS!
CHEERS!
- The California Assembly approved
a bill requiring chemical castration
of the state's worst child molesters.
This makes California the first
state in the country to mandate
the controversial procedure which
has had a high rate of success at
reducing repeat offenses in Europe.
-
Women represented
50% of the delegates at the Democratic
Convention; 34% at the Republican.
Democratic rules require the delegates
to reflect the race and gender mix
in the overall population. The Republicans
don't have such a requirement.
-
Sweden's Queen
Silvia and the Swedish government
with help from UNICEF and
other organizations organized the
first global conference against
child prostitution and pornography.
The child sex business is a multibillion-dollar
industry that traps more then 1
million children a year. The problem
is worst in Africa, poorer areas
of eastern Europe and Asia, especially
the Philippines and Thailand. Silvia
appealed for a stop to this modern
form of slavery.
and
JEERS!
- A seventeen-year-old single mother,
Amanda Smisek, was given a 30-day
suspended jail sentence for having
sex before marriage under a 1921
Idaho state law. Said she: "I didn't
even know what fornication was."
I'll bet the unprosecuted father
did!
-
Mitsubishi Motors
is still under federal investigation
for sexual harassment against hundreds
of women at its Normal, Illinois,
assembly plant. In response the
company is quietly searching for
a new head of public relations who
must be a woman, reside in Normal,
and pass an interview with the plant's
Japanese manager. Despite a salary
said to be near $200,000, there
have been no takers.
Excerpted from WOMANSWORD, Vol.
1, Issue 9 September, 1996.
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