Many companies attract employees by offering benefits and packages such as bonus sign-on, paid leave, health benefits etc. There is one that is quite popular in the States - sick leave. Such days could be used when employees are prevented from performing duties because of sickness, injury, or pregnancy and confinement. Sick leave may also be taken if an employee needs to care for a member of his or her immediate family who is actually ill. So when you qualify for this description you "call out" (make a phone call to employer to nofity them that you will not be coming to work). A couple of weeks ago I used one of those. The 8 hours that I pulled back included infomania. I found an interesting piece on MSN lifestyle describing women in the world. Here is a recap of the article if you don't have the time to read it entirely.
The article lists 10 women who make us cringe, I picked 7:
- Paris Hilton - an heir to the Hilton Hotel fortune, has cultivated a persona that revolves solely around her jet-setter lifestyle. Hilton further cultivates this portrait of herself through comments like, “Wal-Mart—like, do they make walls there?" Unfortunately, all the attention Hilton gets attracts tweens and teens like a bee to honey, giving parents pause about the influence she has as a role model to young girls.
- Linda Hirshman: Retired professor of philosophy and women’s studies at Brandeis University. Hirshman argued that women who leave the work force to stay home with children basically are turning their backs on other women. Forget about making choices based on what works best for one’s family—Hirshman suggests that women will never wield true power unless they return to the office immediately after maternity leave. She also contends that today’s women prefer reading People magazine and asking their husbands who they ought to vote for on Election Day rather than formulate their own opinions.
- Lindsay Lohan: Actress. How does a girl go from playing sweet, impish twins in The Parent Trap to a wan 20-year-old in need of rehab? In recent years, Lohan has found herself in the spotlight for car accidents, run-ins with the paparazzi and purported drug and alcohol problems, not her latest movie role. This likely gives parents of her fans reason to wonder whether Lohan’s good role model material.
- Ann Coulter: Ultra-conservative right-wing commentator and author Ann Coulter seems to think it’s her birthright to criticize and lambaste whoever she wants, regardless of the facts or the impact of her vitriol. In her book Godless: The Church of Liberalism, she discusses some of the 9/11 widows who became politically active following their husbands’ deaths. She writes that she’s “never seen people enjoying their husbands’ deaths,” as much as the so-called “Jersey Girls.” As part of her mean-spirited critique, Coulter, who has refused to express any sympathy for the widows’, muses, “[H]ow do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies?” Nice, eh?
- Britney Spears: Pop star. Britney Spears is another good girl turned bad. She started out as a girl other young girls wanted to emulate: But somewhere along the way, Spears has made some questionable choices—in husbands, about child-rearing and with her wardrobe (or lack thereof). Now, with rumors swirling about rehab, Spears has turned up in the tabloids, tattooed and head shaven à la Jesse Ventura.
- Phyllis Schlafly: Conservative activist. Self-described leader of the “pro-family” movement since the early 1970s, Phyllis Schlafly heads the Eagle Forum, a conservative organization that advocates for the protection of what it calls “traditional values,” like the role of wife as homemaker rather than as a professional. Ironically, she also holds three degrees, including a master’s in political science and a law degree.
- Sheila Jeffreys: Author, professor of political science at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Are women harming their daughters if they let play dress up? Are women being controlled by men if they put on make-up before heading out on the town? Yes, according Sheila Jeffreys. Jeffreys has written a variety books that focus on ways in which she believes men control women. Jeffreys believes that women allow themselves to be controlled by buying into the male-dominated beauty business.
My word to these women (if they will ever listen): Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion - Prov 11:22
The article also lists 10 Amazing Women You’ve Never Heard Of. I picked 1 (am biased)
- Dr. Wangari Maathai: 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner. An environmental and political activist, Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to receive the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize, which she was awarded in 2004 for her “contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” In addition to her environmental activism, Maathai also was active in opposing the oppressive government of Daniel arap Moi. She was eventually elected to the Kenyan Parliament in 2002. According to one news report, her former husband was said to have remarked at one time that they divorced because Maathai was “too educated, too strong, too successful, too stubborn and too hard to control.”
Compare the last statement to: 1 Sam 25:3 "His name was Nabal and his wife's name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was surly and mean in his dealings."
