Drivers in Dallas were improperly given tickets for not speaking English (i.e., for being a "non-English-speaking driver"). This has happened 38 times in the past three years. At least six officers wrote the citations, including one officer who wrote five of them [someone seems a little overzealous]. The chief of the police department said there is a law requiring drivers of commercial vehicles to speak English, and the law had been misapplied to local drivers of public vehicles. (Full Story)
How did these officers even think this was a legitimate law (well, it is Texas...)? Or at least a law worthy enough of giving someone a citation? If that was a law, you think you wouldn't even bother enforcing it. I would be embarrassed to issue someone a citation like that.
Interesting article about the reluctance of Hollywood to make movies about strong women. (Full Story)
Some highlights:
"If 'Amelia' earns respectable receipts, chances are it will be dismissed as a lucky break. If it fails, it will be cited as yet more proof that strong female protagonists are box office poison."
"Two years ago, when the Jodie Foster vigilante thriller 'The Brave One' failed at the box office, industry blogger Nikki Finke reported that a Warner Brothers production executive announced to staffers that the studio would no longer produce movies featuring female leads."
"Of the top 10 movies of 2009 so far, only one features a woman in a leading role: the romantic comedy "The Proposal," starring Sandra Bullock (ouch!). 'Julie & Julia', which is close to breaking the $100 million barrier, is the only hit film that features a 'serious' female protagonist."
"More than ever, the movie business is geared toward the young men who go to movies most frequently. And by and large that's a comedy audience and an action audience."
"Dramas are dead. Some of the greatest parts for women -- the Academy Awards parts for women -- are often in dramas, and this is the worst time for dramas since I've been in the business for the last 10,000 years...Dramas are still alive in television, which is why we see some of our greatest actresses emigrating to TV, everyone from Mary-Louise Parker to Glenn Close to Holly Hunter."
"One reason why we see fewer strong female leads these days is a changing business model. In the 1970s, 1980s, and into the 1990s -- years when stars like Jane Fonda, Barbara Streisand, Sally Field, and Goldie Hawn were making movies in a diverse number of genres -- studios were not, as they are now, subsidiaries of multi-corporations, responsible for contributing to quarterly bottom lines. With economic pressures greater than ever, studios are looking for movies that are guaranteed to make $100 million their first weekend out. The result: More Paul Blarts, fewer Erin Brockoviches. "
The Reproductive Health and Population Development Act, the bill going before the Philippine Congress, would require governments down to the local level to provide free or low-cost reproductive health services, including birth control pills, condoms, tubal ligation, and vasectomy. It would also mandate sex education in all schools, both public and private, from fifth grade through high school.
This legislation seems badly needed. Research has found that between 2000 and 2006, only half of Filipino women of reproductive age used any form of birth control. In addition, 54% of the 3.4 million pregnancies in the Philippines in 2008 were unintended -- with 92% of those pregnancies resulting from not using birth control. These unintended pregnancies contributed to an estimated half-million abortions that year. As abortion is illegal in the country, most of these abortions are done in crude, unsanitary ways. The article gave the story of a woman trying to terminate unwanted pregnancies by jumping down the stairs; drinking an herbal concoction that was supposed to induce an abortion; taking Cyotec, which is a drug used to treat gastric ulcers and is referred to widely in the Philippines as "abortion pill". Furthermore, maternal deaths in the Philippines is one of the highest in the region. Proponents also say the bill will help control "unbridled population growth". One congressional Representative said the Philippines population is growing more than 2% annually, which is one of the highest rates in Asia, and this fast growth can stunt socioeconomic development and aggravate poverty.
No surprise, the main opposition is from the Roman Catholic Church (the country is very Catholic). They say the law will promote abortion by promoting abortion-inducing drugs. However, proponents of the bill say that the legislation says birth control pills should be available, but these are not abortion-inducing drugs. Proponents of the bill are optimistic, the bill has already won the support of the House health committee. Also, opinion surveys show support for the bill. (Full Story)
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