31 Days of Notable Women- Margaret Heckler, freedom fighter

Margaret Mary O’Shaughnessy Heckler (born June 21, 1931), Republican politician from Massachusetts served in the United States House of Representatives for eight terms, from 1967 until 1983. She became the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Ambassador to Ireland under President Ronald Reagan. She was an ardent advocate of women’s rights and the ERA.

Source: http://womenincongress.house.gov/member-profiles/profile.html?intID=104

31 Days of Notable Women- Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukrainian Prime Minister

Yulia Tymoshenko, the charismatic Orange Revolution heroine, served as prime minister and was running for president of the Ukraine, fell in love with the white tiger, Tigryulia, and made the animal a key image of her campaign. Afterward, Tigryulia was placed in the Yalta zoo and a Tymoshenko ally brought in the Bengal tiger, Patrice, from France to keep her company, but the two didn’t hit it off at first. Tymoshenko lost the 2010 presidential election to her longtime foe, the Orange Revolution nemesis President Viktor Yanukovych, and was sentenced to seven years in prison in October on charges of abuse of office. The trial was condemned by the West as politically motivated.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/11/yulia-tymoshenkos-tigress-cubs_n_1508900.html

31 Days of Notable Women-Carmen Mary Lawrence, Australia’s first Premier

“We all construct world views that give us a sense of meaning. Mostly it is about belonging to a group and having a sense of identity and purpose.” – Carmen Lawrence

Carmen Mary Lawrence (born March 2, 1948) is a retired Australian politician; a former Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Lawrence

We can break the two party system, Vote GREEN!

Did you know that there are 133 Green officeholders as of Thursday, May 10, 2012?

For more information on truly alternative choices for political office visit The Green Party at: http://www.gp.org/index.php

There are two women and a Native American man running for President in 2012, so if you want to support the environment and help break the two party system, consider voting GREEN!

Energetically, Diane Tegarden

31 Days of Notable Women- Janet Napolitano, woman of many firsts

Janet Napolitano is a woman of many “firsts”, as the current Head of Homeland Security, she resides in Washington, DC. Her educational background includes a BA/BS from Santa Clara University; and a JD from the University of Virginia. Her term as governor of Arizona (yes, she was the first woman) gives her special insight into the escalating, gory drug war on the Mexican-U.S. border and the American public’s strident disagreements over immigration reform–most notably the Arizona law aimed at identifying, prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants.

As the country’s first female head of the Department of Homeland Security,  she’s had to deal with several tough, high-profile cases, among them the near-miss bombing on Times Square and a Nigerian national’s Christmas Day effort to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner. 

Source cited: http://www.forbes.com/profile/janet-napolitano

31 Days of Notable Women- The World’s Most Powerful Woman

According to Forbes list of the “World’s Most Powerful Women of 2010”, Angela Merkel, is the most powerful woman on the planet. Angela Merkel is the Chancellor of Germany, who oversees Europe’s largest economy. Renowned free-market champion and favorite of big business, boasts nine public companies with annual sales in excess of $70 billion. In all, there are 57 German companies on the Forbes Global 2000 ranking of the world’s largest public companies, with aggregate sales of $1.7 trillion.

Source cited: http://www.forbes.com/profile/angela-merkel

31 Days of Notable Women- Nancy Pelosi, The first woman Speaker of the House

The first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Pelosi is the highest-ranking female politician in U.S.history, second in line to the presidency. She is preparing to do battle in this fall’s mid-term elections both for the Democratic Party and her own seat, which may be threatened if Democrats lose control of the House. She is under pressure from GOP chairman Michael Steele, who launched the “Fire Pelosi Bus Tour” set for this fall. Pelosi remains confident. “I fully expect to be Speaker” come November, she pronounced last month. Meanwhile the Pelosi juggernaut has managed to pass most of the bills brought by the Obama administration, including the health care overhaul, Wall Street regulations and unemployment benefits extensions. Next up on the economic agenda: tax changes and infrastructure development.

Source cited: http://www.forbes.com/profile/nancy-pelosi

31 Days of Notable Women- Hatshepsut, 1st female Pharaoh!

Here is some information on the first (and one of the only) female Pharaohs of Egypt, Hatshepsut!
Born in the 15th century BC, Hatshepsut, daughter of Tuthmose I and Aahmes, both of royal lineages, was the favorite of their three children. When her two brothers died, she was in the unique position to gain the throne upon the death of her father. To have a female pharaoh was unprecedented and probably most definitely unheard of as well. When Tuthmose I passed away, his son by the commoner Moutnofrit, Tuthmose II, technically ascended the throne. For the few years of his reign, however, Hatshepsut seems to have held the reins. From markings on his mummy, archaeologists believe Tuthmose II had a skin disease, and he died after ruling only three or four years. Hatshepsut, his half sister and wife, had produced no offspring with him (her daughter Nefrure was most likely the daughter of her lover Senmut), although he had sired a son through the commoner Isis. This son, Tuthmose III, was in line for the throne, but due to his age Hatshepsut was allowed to reign as queen dowager.

Source Cited: http://www.bediz.com/hatshep/story.html

31 Days of Notable Women- Dilma Rousseff- famous first Woman President of Brazil

On October 31, 2010 Brazil elected its first woman president according to a statement from the Supreme Electoral Court which oversees elections. Dilma Rousseff, a former Marxist guerrilla who was tortured and imprisoned during Brazil’s long dictatorship was elected president on Halloween of this year. Brazil is a country in the midst of rapid economic and political change and is Latin America’s biggest nation.

Source cited: http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/ex-guerrilla-to-be-brazils-first-female-president/19696856

“31 Days of Notable Women” my special blog is coming for Women’s History Month!

Every March I post one blog per day on notable women and their amazing accomplishments. Come join me to learn about women in science, women inventors, politicians and poets, freedom fighters and artists.

Many of these women have been buried in history, their stories ignored or never told…..meet amazing people whose voices have been silenced, but who are finally being given the credit they deserve!

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Diane Tegarden