Suggested Sunday reading (1/3/10)

Happy 2010 everyone! I haven't had a lot of time at the computer over the last two holiday weeks, but now that the holidays are over I'll be back to writing more regular blog posts. The Sunday reading link list is the most regular feature here; remember, if you ever want to submit something, whether it's a news story, another blog post or your own writing, send it to me at rosiered23 (at) sparecandy (dot) com.

Starting things off with a number of stories about women around the world:

• The Independent has a must-read story, "Jennipher, the woman thrown to the dogs," about a woman in Uganda who was treated like property/an animal by her husband, including having been made to breast-feed litters of puppies. The report also discusses domestic violence in Uganda and what is being done to try to lessen it, such as doing away with paying for brides.

• From CNN: "Woman maimed by suitor fears more reprisals," about a woman in Pakistan whose nose was cut off by a man after she refused to marry him.

• Eve Ensler writes a column for the Huffington Post, "The Four Months Since Hillary," about women in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

• The Gulf Daily News, out of Bahrain, reports on "Rights push for divorced women."

• From Jewish Times: "Israeli Women Fight Relegation To Back Of Bus." According to the story, "a group of women who filed affidavits as part of a petition to Israel’s Supreme Court to ban gender-based segregation on Israeli public buses" -- a trend that is growing in practice.

• On NPR: "Iraqi Women Taking Aim At Parliament Again," featuring this excellent point: "Women's leadership doesn't always mean women's rights defenders."

• The Latin American Herald Tribune: "Ciudad Juarez Women’s Rights Activist Esther Chavez Dies." She was 76.

• From Vanguard: "The life and times of Maryam Babangida," the former first lady of Nigeria who died recently.

• From the Winnipeg Free Press: "Greed trumps rights for women ski jumpers." Keep these women in mind when the winter Olympics start soon.

In other news:

• The Lawrence Journal-World (Kansas) reports on an important issue: "Advocates seek rape exams closer to home." Some women have to be driven two hours each way to a facility qualified to administer rape exams.

• The New York Times: "A Peril in War Zones: Sexual Abuse by Fellow G.I.’s." A lot has been written about this, and rightfully so. This issue can't be swept aside.

• I enjoyed this post on FWD/Forward: "Subtitles in Assassin’s Creed II and Ubisoft’s Pledge." As a casual gamer, it's nice to hear a developer listen to consumers on an issue like this.

• There's a great post on Comic Book Movie Fansites: "Still No Big Screen Love For Wonder Woman."

• If you can get past the headline and Vanity Fair-ness of this, the interview is actually quite good. Plus I adore Rashida Jones. "Rashida Jones is All About Hot Chicks Kicking Ass!"

• In case you haven't had enough end-of-year stories, check these out: On BlogHer, "Feminism and Gender in the Aughts," by Suzanne Reisman, and on Alternet, "10 Defining Feminist Moments of 2009," by Mikki Halpin. Also, I really like this concept of setting goals for yourself for the new year instead of resolutions.