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Entry bubble International Women's Day

By: Colleen | March 04, 2009 | Category: General

March 8th is International Women's Day (IWD)- a time intended to spread the word and awareness on women's issues across the globe.female

This day has been observed since the early 1900's and is an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzebekistan, and Vietnam. Traditionally in these places men honor their mothers, wives, and girlfriends etc. with flowers and small gifts. In some places it is the equivalent of Mother's Day. In the U.S., Women's History Month was chosen to be in March to coincide with IWD.

While there is no one overall theme for IWD, each year organizations, governments, and women's groups choose different themes to reflect global and local gender issues. This year the United Nation theme is: Women and men unite to end violence against women and girls.

For a list of IWD events, click HERE.

What women's issues do you think are most important? What do you do to celebrate IWD?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   international_women's_day   iwd   march   women's_history_month   women's_issues  

 

Entry bubble Save Your Vision Week

By: Joanne | March 03, 2009 | Category: Health

eye chart and eye glassesI know that good vision is something I take for granted, but it really is a precious gift. This week is Save Your Vision Week, a time to think about what you need to do to protect your vision.

I recently had my annual eye exam along with a glaucoma test. I always have a glaucoma test because my dad had glaucoma, so I’m thought to be at a higher risk. The bad thing about glaucoma is that it makes you blind – the good news is that there are medications that can stall its progression, so the sooner you catch it the better.

For the test, the doctor used drops to dilate my eyes, which made everything look blurry for the rest of the afternoon. The tricky thing was that I needed to get back to work and when I sat down, I realized that I couldn’t see the words on my computer screen. “Hmmmm,” I thought to myself, “now I’m in the shoes of our visitors with low vision.” At USA.gov we’ve got tools that allow our visitors to change the font size and once I made it bigger I was able to see the site. I was also able to use my browser tools to enlarge the text on other websites. I’m glad that these kinds of tricks and tools are available and that we design so that people with low or no vision can access the site. My temporary disability reinforced the importance of doing that.

So remember that conditions like macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, and glaucoma can creep up on you and regular eye exams will help to protect your vision. Other advice is to eat a healthy diet, wear sunglasses with UV (ultraviolet) protection, and use protective eyewear when your eyes are at risk for injury.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: doctor   eye   joanne   vision  

 

Entry bubble What Happens to Recovery.gov Email?

By: Jake | March 02, 2009 | Category: General

American FlagLast week I mentioned that the White House had created a website to get feedback on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. One commenter asked if someone would actually read your email or if it would go into a "black hole." If you send an email to Recovery.gov you will be redirected to a web page that says:

"Thanks for contacting us. As we work towards economic recovery, we're counting on you to stay involved. Over the next few weeks and months, we'll be adding more and more information to Recovery.gov, so please check back often."

I asked someone who works on Recovery.gov what happens to the email people send. My contact there said people are reading the email submitted and it's their goal to respond to email submissions in the future. By the way, the White House website allows you to comment on other legislation like the DTV Delay Act of 2009 and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Have you noticed the White House blog? I've been watching and it's updated multiple times a day, and White House personnel have even live blogged during the first Middle Class Task Force meeting and the President's trip to Canada (which included photos). There is no comment feature on the blog. I know from personal experience that comment maintenance can be time-consuming, but most blogs have this function. The White House may have plans to add a comment section and perhaps they don't have the personnel for maintenance yet. It will be interesting to see what they do.

If you send an email to the White House do you expect a response? Would you like to see the White House allow comments on the blog? Tell us what you want.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: jake   recovery.gov   white_house_blog  

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