Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day. It is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some countries like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, IWD is a national holiday (first started in 1911). I do find it interesting how it’s NOT a holiday in the United States.

In honor of this day, I want to celebrate the many women in my life, letting them know how they affect me and celebrateing them for their diversity of strength and character.

Those who influence

My Mom
While we may agree to disagree on so many things I can honestly say that my mom can be amazing. I owe my love of music (and my love of the diversity of music to her. She is charismatic, sarcastic, smart, and snarky, all at the same time.

She managed to raise two kids, on her own. ((NO child support, NO man, NO health insurance.))  I don’t care what day and age you’ve lived in–raising two kids single-handedly is probably the hardest task anyone could ask. Many people try and fail. My mom, she did a pretty good job. ((My brother and me aren’t in jail, are we? ))

Mary
Mary is my mother-in-law. She is one of the most formidable (in a good way) women I’ve ever met. She is strong, smart, and no-nonsense. She raised three pretty remarkable sons under some pretty tough circumstances. She has also overcome many of her own demons to be a successful business owner and a remarkable woman.

Michelle
Another remarkable woman. Michelle is currently raising two toddlers by herself. (At least me and my brother were 10 years apart!). A person with little self-esteem due to things I won’t mention here, she has overcome and has become an amazing mother.

Oh, and she managed to get herself through school, while working full-time and having two small boys. That’s pretty amazing.

KrUsher
Kristen is everything I am not. Easy-going, mellow, and not very materialistic ((I’m really trying to work on my materialism!)).  It is true that opposites attract! I consider her one of my dearest friends, even if I moved 1500 miles away and am lucky to talk to her once a week.

Currently, KrUsher is going through a tough time. She’s having to deal with the reality that our parent’s don’t live forever. I think of her everyday and can’t wait until I hear the news that there will be a mini-KrUsher coming.

Lisa
Another über-amazing woman, Lisa has also faced some tough challenges and has come out ahead. She’s the mother of three beautiful kids and I can only hope my boys turn out as fabulous as hers appear to be.

Lisa is one of those rare women who accepts her faith and like God, understands that people are fallible. She also knows that her tattoos, her love of a good tequila, and her one indiscretion during her life will not overshadow the fact that she is a beautiful, amazing, compassionate and devout chick!

Besides, all she needs to do is show St. Peter the F’ing amazing tattoo of Our Lady of Guadalupe that covers her entire back to get admittance through the pearly gates.

Nicole
Nicole was my first Florida friend. What’s really ironic about that is she moved here from Denver about 6 months after I did! How’s that for a small world?

Her and her husband are raising three beautiful girls with lots of patience ((Okay, some patience and a lot of threatening.))  and even more love. I’m glad I found her here, and not in Denver.

Ivonne
Ivonne is either driven, or nuts. How else would you explain a woman who works full-time as nurse practitioner, has two girls in elementary school, and is going to school to earn her doctorate’s degree? Sure, her husband is a big help, but come on. That’s a lot going on! She is beautiful, smart, driven, and generous, and I’m honored to have her has a sister-in-law.

Those who get me through the day

Working online, from home, can be a lonely endeavor. Thanks goodness I have a great network of eFriends to keep me company!

Miss Caught Up
Her and I became friends after I started following her blog. We started chatting through Blog Catalog, but that is annoying. I invited her to Plurk, and the rest is history.

I hate that she lives SO far away, meaning the odds of us ever meeting in person are pretty slim. What’s ironic is that if a day goes by where I haven’t talked to her, my day doesn’t seem complete. We exchanged Christmas cards, I know her real name and her boyfriend, and I truly consider her a friend.

Miss Caught Up is funny, smart, crazy, and addicted to all things internet-chick-gamey ((Like YoVille on FB, or Season One, or Plurk!))  Which is probably why we get along so well!

Fragile Heart
While I don’t talk to Reggy every day I try to talk to her as much as possible. She’s sensitive, humorous, and like the rest of us, is trying to figure shit out. Reggy, however, is airing it all online. Which also makes her brave!

Lyndi
Not only is Lyndi the WordPress guru she is probably the nicest person, online or offline, that I’ve ever met. Her blog, Nice 2 All, means just that.

CarolineFB
I’m not sure how to describe Caroline. Snarky, sensitive, bitchy, sweet, belligerent ((She’ll understand the reference ))   and funny. I enjoy every one of our conversations. She’s a bit of a mystery still–I haven’t figured out if that is really not her in her blog profile. But every day I love chatting with her and learning more.

There are more–too many to name them here. Great women like Niamh, Sonya, Deana, Jackie, Amber, Trisha, and so on.

Thank you all, for being women. For being wonderful, amazing, great women.

Myth #1: HIV and AIDS are the same thing.

Many people are under the misconception that the terms HIV and AIDS are interchangeable. This can be a deadly mistake—HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. In simplified terms, HIV is the actual infection itself. HIV is not AIDS. AIDS is what happens when the immune system becomes compromised, leading the way to infections that are mainly harmless to the average person. Using a very simple analogy, it’s like a healthy person catching a cold and having it turn into a sinus infection. Except a sinus infection won’t kill you.

If detected early and treated properly, HIV doesn’t escalate to AIDS for years, and in some cases, decades. The best example is, of course, Magic Johnson. He was diagnosed with HIV back in 1991. That’s 17 years ago, and he is still AIDS-free.

Myth #2: You can catch HIV by casual contact.

Again, this is untrue. HIV/AIDS is spread through bodily fluids, and mainly through bodily fluids that are very personal in nature, such as:

• semen;
• vaginal fluid;
• blood;
• other bodily fluids containing blood (for example menses or bloody saliva);
• breast milk.

So unless you consider sex, blood transfusions, or giving birth casual contact, you’re okay talking to someone with HIV and/or AIDS. Hell, you can even shake their hand or give them a hug.

Here’s how you can contract HIV:

• having unprotected sex (of ANY kind) with someone infected;
• sharing needles or syringes with someone infected;
• getting an infected blood transfusion (very rare).

Myth #3: HIV can infect only homosexual men and drug users.

This is the most dangerous of the HIV/AIDS myths out there. HIV/AIDS can infect anyone. HIV does not care if you are white, black, gay, straight, Buddhist or Catholic. If you engage in high-risk sexual practices, are a drug user sharing needles and syringes (or both) HIV may eventually find you.

There are more myths out there, both old and new. (I like the “sex with a virgin will cure HIV. That’s a good one.) Do some research. Be informed.

Learn More

The Center for AIDS Prevention
AIDS, Sex, and Teens
The Body: the Complete HIV/AIDS resource
Ryan White’s Story

Do More

Buy (RED)
ONE
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
International HIV/AIDS Alliance

Owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country.

Intolerance, racism, injustice, persecution—the people of the world have been hurting each other since the dawn of time. While most of us fundamentally believe that no one has the right to take a life (under ordinary circumstances), we have been killing each other throughout history for inane and oftentimes ridiculous reasons. Let’s take a look:

• WWII. Jews fleeing European countries to avoid concentration camps and religious persecution. (Did you know that the Allies lost over 60 million lives defending Democracy and basic human rights during WWII, while the Axis powers only lost 11 million?)
• Darfur. The president is alleged to have “masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups, on account of their ethnicity. His motives were largely political. His alibi was a ‘counterinsurgency.’ His intent was genocide.“¹ As a result, millions were forced to flee their homes.
• Bosnia. Thousands of Bosnians were driven from their homes as a result of “ethnic cleansing” in former Yugoslavia.
• Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Genocide—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction (genocide) of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I.² Hmm. Sound familiar?
• Iraq. Five years into the US military intervention in Iraq, the country is dealing with one of the largest humanitarian and displacement crises in the world.³
• There’s more. Historical and contemporary refugee crises

There is so much going on in the world right now. I will consider this post a success even if all you do after reading it is reflect on what it means to be a refugee and give thanks that you are fortunate enough to live in the United States (warts and all).

Invisible Children

Do Good

• Refugees United—provides refugees with an anonymous forum to reconnect with missing family.
• SOS Children’s Village’s
• Take Action—Tell congress to increase efforts to prevent and reduce statelessness
• Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children
• Invisible Children: The bracelet campaign or Invisible Children: Apparel (I wrote about them in September: Killing for Christianity.)

¹BBC. Q&A: Sudan’s Darfur conflict. July 15, 2008.

²Wikipedia. Armenian Genocide.

³Refugees International. Iraq.