FHP

I recently did a presentation on persuading my audience as to why feminine hygiene products should be tax free. Because periods are not a luxury, so why are they taxed like one?

At the end of my presentation, it was my goal to give my audience a better understanding as to why feminine hygiene products should be tax free.

So every 28 days, a woman's body sheds the lining of their uterus, which is also known as "the sloughing of the uterine lining." For those who are not aware of how menstrual cycles work, it is when the blood flows from the uterus through an opening in the cervix and leaves the body through the vagina. Additional symptoms can include bloating, food cravings, mood swings, lower back pain, and abdominal cramping.

Recently, there have been many protests regarding the issue of women paying thousands of dollars, in their lifetime, for these essentials. One of the most popular protests, "Tampon Tax," is a well known term to call attention to the fact that tampons, as well as other feminine hygiene products are subject to value-added tax or sales tax.

There is a tax exemption for treating erectile dysfunction with Viagra in Wisconsin, yet I cannot say the same for feminine hygiene products. Condoms, chapstick, newspapers, and even DONUTS are not taxed because they are "necessities". Tampons are still taxed as a luxury item... Products that allow women to go to work, school, or to simply not bleed into her clothing while she is eating lunch, are taxed in the United States as a luxury good.

I believe that we should make it more common to talk about menstruation, periods, etc., because half of the world has periods... There are many petitions online to abolish the "tampon tax" in the United States, or you could contact you state legislative body by showing your body. This tax on feminine hygiene products, has taken a major toll on women, especially low-income women...

Change.org is one of the many petitions online to end this tax on feminine hygiene products. If you are interested in changing this burden on women, please sign any of the petitions.

Privacy Please

Do you think the government is watching us?

Have you ever been shopping on a website, or even talking about it with a friend, as soon you see an advertisement about that specific site/item?

From a previous blog I've posted, by definition, privacy is "the state or condition of being free from being observed or disturbed by other people." I wrote a bit on how celebrities may define privacy as the "state of being free from public attention."

I grew up with my mom reminding me that once I post something online, even if I delete it, it will still be out there forever. Now, to me that is skeptical, like why would something still be online if I deleted it? It's because the internet is forever ... According to The Guardian, when a user grants an app access to their camera and microphone, the app could do the following: take pictures and videos without telling you, run real-time face recognition to detect facial features or expressions, and upload random frames of the video stream to your web service and run a proper face recognition software which can find existing photos of you on the internet and create a 3D model based on your face.

Hackers can also gain access to your device without a problem, whether its through apps, PDF files, multimedia messages and even emojis. Once a user opens a PDF file, the hacker is able to install anything they want, find all their passwords, and even steal documents.

I've read many articles like Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Oil Price, and why they believe the government is spying on us, as well as evidence proving that they do. HRW had a news release about new documents revealing "a US Defense Department policy that appears to authorize warrantless monitoring of US citizens and green-card holders whom the executive branch regards as "homegrown violent extremists," referred to as HVE's."