Tonight's Show: Condi Takes on Calgary

Sorry for the late post everyone! This evening, Geea and I had a chat with Joanne Costello, a local activist, feminist and grad student who has started a petition asking the University of Calgary to rescind its invitation to former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. The U of C's new school of public policy will be opening shortly and to celebrate this event, the school has invited Dr. Rice to speak at the opening gala. The Bush Administration was a tumultuous one as several of you know and as the Secretary of State, it is said that Condoleezza Rice played a large role in much of the instigation of what is called an illegal war by many.

For this reason, Joanne is collecting signatures in protest of Dr. Rice's visit since having her speak at the event would in some ways condone her involvement in the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. In support of the efforts made by Joanne and fellow anti-war citizens, you can sign the petition and/or attend a protest that will take place on the 13th of May outside of the Hyatt Regency Calgary where the gala will take place.

If you missed tonight's program you can listen to it by clicking the link to the right of this post.

Disclaimer: Please excuse the brief technical difficulties! We had some issues getting Joanne on the air but we sorted it out and the discussion was very engaging.

Spinster Aunt: Gag rule bagged for 4 years

The blogosphere's favorite Spinster Aunt and writer behind "I Blame The Patriarchy" is exercising a little dissidence and is doing it in an interesting way as she tends to. Check out what she had to say about US President Barack Obama' s recent repeal on the global abortion gag rule a.k.a "The New Mexico Policy" , initially instilled by the Reagan Administration in 1984, repealed by Clinton in 1993 and revived again by G.Dub back in 2001.

I have to say, I appreciate her ability to strip away all the glitz and get straight to the facts... as subversive and far from straight-forward as they may be. See for yourself here. Below are a couple of links to articles on the New Mexico Policy from the past and the present.

Center for Reproductive Rights:
Obama Rescinds Global Gag Rule

Archive, from The New York Times (1987):
Abortions Abroad Are New Focus of Widening Battle Over Reagan's Policy


Thoughts...?

A Must-Watch Video for All Prop. 8 Supporters

This video is amazing - the lyrics are very touching.
"Created Equal" by MC Flow - visit her MySpace page here.

Finally, Harper Does Something We Agree With!

From CBC News:
Abortion Debate Will Not Be Reopened
The Prime Minister's Office has reaffirmed its position that the government has no intention of reopening the abortion debate following a Conservative MP's comments that the issue needs to be addressed.

"Throughout his political career, the prime minister has been clear on this issue," Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the prime minister, told the National Post. "We will not introduce or support legislation on abortion."

Although the issue has come up during election campaigns, Harper has insisted that it will not part of a Conservative government agenda. While he has not been specific about his own views, Harper has said they fall somewhere "between the two extremes."

Click here to read the full article.

Prostitution - to legalize or not?

Tonight on Yeah, What She Said we will have our first interactive show! We will be discussing the issue of prostitution - in particular, to legalize it or not?

New Zealand and the Netherlands are two Western countries where prostitution is currently legal. Should we follow in their footsteps?

Listeners are able to call in and share their thoughts tonight. The number to call is 403-220-3991.

Tune in on CJSW 90.9 FM (or stream it live from cjsw.com) from 8:30 to 9:00pm MST.