Homosexuality, a crime in Uganda

Those that choose alternative lifestyles face dangerous consequences for those lifestyles. Proposed legislation in Uganda would penalize homosexuality with execution, and lesbians in South Africa face corrective rape. The concept of corrective rape against lesbians seems both troubling and ineffective, but what I gathered from the Sky news clip is that it is rooted in sexist ideology. This ideology does not seem completely different from those promoted in the U.S. through media and other cultural images. Perceived gender roles and legislative limitations that support those roles can become violently harmful.

Honduran election controversy

The Honduran election that positioned Porfirio Lobo to become the new leader caused much controversy, most of centered around a shaky political system. Pressure from the West to form these Democracies in third world countries seems to be damaging more than helping. When legislation and proper systematic changes have not been made to ensure votes are taken accurately and that other elements play out democratically, they will have another political process that lacks planning and fuels corruption. Even when processes do play out democratically; the people will doubt that because of the lack of a proper period of adjustment and planning, which may or may not have been the case in Honduras.

New recommendation to hold off on mammograms

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that women wait until age 50 to begin getting biennial mammograms as opposed to yearly testing. This has the violently acerbic taste of insurance companies tightening down on covering mammograms for women under age 50. Surely, this recommendation does not claim to protect the women who would be dead if they had waited until age 50 to get a mammogram, but let's just see how far this recommendation goes.

Hair-pulling soccer match

Elizabeth Lambert, a defender on the University of New Mexico's women's soccer team, pulled an opponent to the ground by her hair, an act that resulted in her indefinite suspension. The New York Times highlighted the fact that women's soccer is largely ignored in its headline For All the Wrong Reasons, Women’s Soccer Is Noticed. This is representative of women's sports in general. They simply are not received as well as men's sports. There are clearly countless feminists arguments as to why, but what's interesting is the way female athletes make front-page news. Call me overly-sensitive, but it just seems that we only care about the world of female athletics when those athletes behave in a way that has been deemed unfitting behavior for a lady.
http://www.newsy.com/videos/soccer_violence_from_head_butts_to_hair_pulls

Beyonce in Egypt

Not everyone is exactly enthusiastic to see Beyonce perform in her yearlong world tour, CNN reports. Islamist Egyptian Member of Parliament Hamdi Hassan claims the government would be breaking Sharia law in letting the singer perform having been photographed naked before. He said it would be encouraging sin.

I don't know if I'd take it quite that far, but I could see how the singer's risque attire could strike a cord with the conservative nation. But fully clothed or not, she's still a $400 dollar ticket!

Catholic church targets Anglican converts

The Vatican released its plan to use cannon law to create a separate sector of the church targeting Anglican converts. Allowing Anglican converts to keep some of their traditions, the law was directed toward those who fell on a more traditional side of Anglican worship. It doesn't sound like the Catholic church is doing this to inspire a oneness in faith at all. It simply seems conjured up to capitalize off the split within the Anglican church and is almost too accommodating for my taste. This makes me wonder just how far the Catholic church is willing to retreat from its own doctrines to get more converts.
Newsy.com

Five Generations

Is this simply newsworthy because she is African American? Let's be honest the same connection to slavery's not so distant past could have been drawn with any past US first ladies- be it as a descendant of slave owners or one of slaves. The truth is that the history of slavery is not as black and white as portrayed.

Newsy.com covers the many perspectives.
http://www.newsy.com/videos/michelle_obama_s_slave_roots