In The News . . .

Here are some news stories that have peaked my interest today.

Nurses' union: Care does not include sex

Thu Mar 11, 4:21 pm ET
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – A union representing Dutch nurses will launch a national campaign Friday against demands for sexual services by patients who claim it should be part of their standard care.

The union, NU'91, is calling the campaign "I Draw The Line Here," with an advert that features a young woman covering her face with crossed hands.

The union said in a statement Thursday that the campaign follows a complaint it had received in the last week from a 24-year-old woman who said a 42-year-old disabled man asked her to provide sexual services as part of his care at home.

The young woman witnessed some of the man's other nurses offering him sexual gratification, the union said. When she refused to do the same, he tried to dismiss her on the grounds that she was unfit to provide care.

"This type of action is not part of the job responsibilities of carers and nurses," NU'91 said.
The case has been reported to police, the union added.
(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz, editing by Paul Taylor)

Okay, you know what really pisses me off about this situation, aside from the obvious ridiculousness of thinking that the same person that changes one's diapers is going to suck one's dick? The fact that there are women out there who actually did. I swear there is always one woman (and in most cases - more than one) who . . . in the middle of your fighting to raise the standard . . . will knock you out of the way and stoop to levels so low that you can totally understand why men will ask - demand even - that every woman stoop a little (or a lot) lower. I swear we do it to ourselves. (And I don't care if prostitution is legal in Amsterdam, we've got to do better ladies. Good grief!!!)

Okay, next story . . .

"Women of all races bring home less income and own fewer assets, on average, than men of the same race, but for single black women the disparities are so overwhelmingly great that even in their prime working years their median wealth amounts to only $5.

In a groundbreaking report released Monday by a leading economic research group, social scientists turned a spotlight on the grave financial challenges facing an often overlooked group of women, many of whom could not take an unpaid sick day or repair a major appliance without going into debt.

"It's rather shocking," said Meizhu Lui, director of the Closing the Gap Initiative based in Oakland, Calif., who contributed to the report "Lifting as We Climb: Women of Color, Wealth and America's Future. Among the most startling revelations in the wealth data is that while single white women in the prime of their working years (ages 36 to 49) have a median wealth of $42,600 (still only 61 percent of their single white male counterparts), the median wealth for single black women is only $5.

Read more here

Gaaaah! There's too many factors involved for me to judge anybody. Those stats are sobering, though.

That is all.