Citizen?

Can you guess who the two men are?

Man #1:

Born in Hawaii

Mom is U.S. citizen

Father is Kenyan citizen

Man #2

Born in Calgary, Canada

Mom is U.S. citizen

Father is Canadian citizen

Remember the "birther movement"? This movement had to be convinced that President Obama could legally run for president. It seemed that no matter what President Obama did or said or paperwork he produced, those from the birther movement believed that President Obama was not legally a citizen and therefore could not be in the presidential race.

One of the forerunners of the birther movement, Ted Cruz, has thrown his hat into the ring. Low and behold, Mr. Cruze birth history is very similar to President Obama's history. However, there is one very important difference ..... Mr. Cruz was not born in the U.S. or in a U.S. territory. 

It is also pretty remarkable that we have heard nothing about the issue from the Republican party or from the Tea Party. 

Man #1 is President Obama

Man #2 is Ted Cruz

Wow! Amazing!

Imagine the changes this woman has seen?!
From USA Today Oldest American woman veteran dies at 108 http://usat.ly/1MOME16

Thank you, Starbucks

I don't buy Starbucks simply because I don't drink coffee. I'm a tea drinker and I prefer not to pay $5 for a cup that I can brew for a few cents. But, that's kind of the point for this thank you.

In all of our discussion of race, it is the wealthy (if you spend $5+ on your cup of coffee, I'd consider you wealthy) in this country that often shy away from the discussion. Race is a tricky subject to talk about. It brings up other equally tricky topics, like privilege. Often, those least affected, at least outwardly affected, do not engage in the conversation.

So, kudos to Starbucks for putting the discussion front and center. This is a non-threatening way to start a conversation. However, I'm not sure the typical Starbucks drinker will enter into it. It will be interesting to see three reaction to the slogan.

I also hope that with this new initiative will come with training on how to deal with the inevitable negativity and how to have a constructive conversation on race,

From USA Today #racetogether recasts Starbucks summit http://9fv

Rise in Civil Rights Complaints

Recently we have heard many complaints about the requirement of colleges and universities to report sexual assault cases on campus to federal departments. My Facebook news feed blew up with criticism about Governor Walker's choice to not track campus sexual assaults through state agencies; rather let federal authorities deal with. It seems that there is a lot of confusion all the way around.

What is surprising, to me, is one line of the whole article. Complaints regarding actions associated with disability have risen 34%. The largest category increase. Yet, that but of news only received one line. It has been illegal to discriminate based on disability since the 1970's, yet it apparently looks like the U.S. educational system still has a problem abiding by the law.

I don't have any suggests, this was just an observation. It will be interesting to see how this works out in the next year.

Civil rights complaints to U.S. Department of Education reach a record high http://wapo.st/192ZGJ5

Gender Pay Gap

It is infuriating - you know you can do the job, you know you have the skills, and you know that you have the support from co-workers. Yet a man has been picked for the position. How many times has this happened to you? Me - more than I want to count.

In my case, the man picked is usually less competent, has less education, and doesn't have the people skills (without more training). What he does have is commonality among the rank and file hiring him.

From the stats in this article it will be a very long time before this changes. When are we, women, going to demand more? When are we, women, going to unite and make the change happen?

At this rate, American women won’t see equal pay until 2058 http://wapo.st/18TwUuc

With all the anti-muslim sentiment in the U.S. I again ask, if the view of ISIS is the view of Muslims, as a whole, why are these women fighting ISIS?

Stereotypes can be a dangerous way to categorize people. It creates a wall that prevents understanding of commonalities, not too mention the total lack of personal growth.

The Kurdish women fighting ISIS http://www.cnn.com//2015/03/12/world/cnnphotos-female-peshmerga-fighters/index.html