Doctors have voted to remain on
strike, Joy News can confirm.
It follows an emergency meeting held
at the Ghana Medical Association offices in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital.
They have however agreed not to
resign en masse as threatened by their leadership two weeks ago over an
absence of improved conditions of service..
213 doctors voted for the status
quo, while 148 voted to resume duty. That is by a margin of 65 votes, the
doctors voted to continue the strike that is set to enter its third week.
The repurcusions of this decision
will be very grim for the health sector already reeling under the strike action
by more than 2,000 members.
This week, an article on a brand for larger breasts
caused a ruckus among commenters for suggesting that cup sizes C to DD
are considered ‘bigger’. One writer explains what it’s like getting
dressed when you’re ‘bigger breasted’ – and why fashion ignores boobs
Kate Upton on the catwalk in 2012
Photograph: Keystone USA/Zuma/Rex Shutterstock
The average bra size in Britain is 36D.
That’s not small – 36D is a lifetime of painful stair-running and
unavoidable cleavage away from the aspirins-on-an-ironing-board chests
many catwalk models have. But it’s not huge, either.
The word “average” is generally synonymous with “normal”, which makes it interesting when brands such as Reformation
start designing clothes with “larger busts” in mind, for the many of us
with anything larger than a pair of apricots up top who sometimes find
shopping a pain.
Obviously, this is a great thing. But Reformation’s “larger busts”
are between a C cup and a DD cup. To me (a 34D) – and some of you,
judging by the comments
– a DD doesn’t exactly scream “larger”. It says, at most, “a bit
bigger”. GG is large. But, the advent of a fashion company that begins
at a C cup tells us a lot about how fashion treats tits generally.
Daisy Lowe models the I’m Up Here Collection by Reformation. The clothes
have been designed for women with bigger breasts Photograph: Guy
Lowndes/Reformation
In fashion, being anything above a C cup is novel. Model-wise, Lara
Stone, Kate Upton and Gisele “the boobs from Brazil” Bündchen’s bouncy
décolletés make them anomalies. And despite there being signs of change
throughout the industry, namely in Victoria’s Secrets’ employment of
Doutzen Kroes, Miranda Kerr and Adriana Lima in their “Angels” cast,
they didn’t hire Upton for it, saying she was “too obvious”. That she has the biggest of them all seemed significant.
Broadly speaking, boobs and fashion are like oil and water: with
enough shaking up, they’ll blend for a minute, but naturally they repel.
Because breasts are difficult to dress, apparently. During couture week
in 2013, Jourdan Dunn was left out of the Dior show because of her
size. “Ahahahahahaha I just got cancelled from Dior because of my
boobs!” she said on Twitter,
before adding that she was “normally told I’m cancelled because I’m
‘coloured’, so being cancelled because of my boobs is a minor”, before
ending with a smiley face that possibly speaks of massive frustration.
Kim Kardashian on the cover of LOVE Magazine Photograph: LOVE
Speaking from experience, as a non-model, it can be difficult to
dress and shop if you are bigger than a C cup. In fact, I’ve struggled
in almost every high-street store to find tops that flatter my size –
usually somewhere around a 12, depending on the store – and what I have
in my bra. This isn’t something I’ve really talked to anyone about,
either, and I’m not sure why. It feels like breasts are a subject often
left out of body-image discussions, especially when it comes to clothes.
I wonder if this is because we’re worried about cup size being equated
with weight.
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I
have a friend with very large breasts and an astounding, 5ft 8in
athletic body. She often has to buy size 16 or 18 women’s tops to fit
them in properly without being constricted and cleavagey. For this
reason, she only ever shops alone, and told me that she had never owed a
designer item of clothing, because nothing she had tried on had fitted
properly. What a shame that, because of the way most high-street stores
have designed their womenswear – the result of filtering catwalk looks
into something wearable – she ends up having to buy three sizes bigger
than she actually is.
It would be easy to say, “Oh, why does it matter, it’s only a label,”
but labels matter to a lot of women. They matter to me, whether I enjoy
admitting it or not. I don’t want to buy a nice top in a size 16 just
because my boobs won’t fit the 10 or 12.
Unless I stick to my uniform of slouchy, crew-neck T-shirts (often
from Topman, rather than Topshop), it can be hard to avoid them looking …
weird. Anything with a high neck makes me look boxy and uncomfortable,
and squashes them down in a way that makes the nipples go really close
together – not great when it’s cold and you don’t like padded bras. If
you’re someone who likes their bras on the lacy, plunging side, though, a
high-necked top can give you a four-boob appearance, with a highly
visible, panna cotta-like jiggle up there when you walk around.
The 2012 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in New York Photograph: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
Generally speaking, women’s tops seem to be either high-necked or
plunging, which just makes me feel shut out. That’s why I like men’s
T-shirts from Gap, Cos and Uniqlo – they’re loose in the right places
and don’t cling to the bits of back flesh that are gently separated by
my bra. I don’t want my back to look like a shar pei’s face, but I don’t
want to drown in something that masks my figure and femininity
entirely. It’s tricky.
Designer-wise, I’m not really a dress person, so I’ve never gone down
the Vivienne Westwood route (apart from splashing out on the notorious
tits T-shirt, actually), although she’s known for designing with a
curvier female shape in mind and is a stalwart for many women I know.
When I have the money and fancy introducing something other than a white
T-shirt or stripy breton into my wardrobe (last count: 21), I veer
towards the more drapey, less gender-specific clothes of Margaret
Howell, Acne and Comme des Garçons’ Play collections, because I don’t
like tight stuff. Not being fond of having a cleavage can be a real
issue if you’re an ample-busted woman buying designer wares –
particularly dresses. I wish I had the confidence to absolutely smash it
in the way Amy Schumer did
at a premiere of Trainwreck, her chest a palace of luxury, but I don’t.
Probably because my boobs have always made me feel intimidated whenever
I’ve been able to afford a smart designer thing.
Amy Schumer at the Berlin premiere of Trainwreck Photograph: Willi Schneider/REX Shutterstock
It’s hard to see how the situation will change when sample sizes are
still the axis on which the fashion industry spins. Fashion designers
still – despite the negative press, the inquiries and the genuine
enthusiasm of some editors for doing their bit to try and instigate
change – design for miniature, thin-hipped, tiny-busted girls with
child-like bodies, because they believe the clothes hang better on them.
It’s sample sizes that are loaned out for fashion shoots and, while
designers might make exceptions and make something bespoke (see Kim
Kardashian’s custom Prada on the cover of Love magazine),
if a model struggles to wear sample size well because of her boobs,
chances are she won’t be used. Jamie Ellis, a model manager at the
agency IMG (which represents Upton, Stone and Bündchen), told Vogue last year
that he had been seeing “designers more willing to change samples to
fit a special girl” – but the emphasis there is on “special”. Being an
exception to the rule.
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I
might feel a million miles away from the world of sample sizes, but I’m
not. That’s where the entire fashion cycle begins, and sample sizes
just don’t accommodate big(ger) boobs. We don’t need to get too The-Devil-Wears-Prada-blue-sweater-monologue
about it, but Gucci’s original design and cut of something, say, is
what will percolate through to Topshop’s floor. That is the blueprint,
and it ignores things like a 36D average bra size.
So, while it’s great that companies are popping up to cater to the
larger-breasted woman, perhaps it’s worth considering that a) the vast
majority of bras go up to a DD anyway and b) not every woman wants to
buy from a “plus-size” collection – even if that “plus” only relates to
their boobs. These collections may claim to be affordable, too, but
their limited production lines make them unaffordable for some people.
Most women just want to shop and find things within their budget that
look nice and fit well. If only it were that simple.
A homing pigeon was intercepted by
police at a prison near San Jose, Costa Rica, after it was seen by a guard
landing in the jail’s courtyard with a bag tied to its body.
On inspection, the black zipper bag
was found to contain 14g of cocaine and the same amount of marijuana.
Authorities suspect the bird was
looked after and fed by an inmate in the medium-security wing of La Reforma
prison, Costa Rica’s biggest penitentiary, before someone smuggled it out of
the prison only to load it with illicit cargo ahead of its return route.
The director of Costa Rica’s prison
police force told the media after the ruse had been exposed last Tuesday that
the pigeon was able to fly perfectly well despite the drug-stuffed pouch
strapped against its breast.
Pablo Bertozzi, who said he had seen
cases of cats being used to transport drugs strapped to their tails, added that
the homing pigeon incident would lead to a redoubling of efforts to clean the
jail of controlled substances.
“The real problem is that there is a
lot of consumption. If there weren’t consumers, the drugs wouldn’t be
arriving”, Mr Bertozzi said.
The bird, which has affectionately
been nicknamed “narcopigeon” (narcopaloma) by Costa Ricans, has been handed
over by the authorities to a zoo, where it is being kept under observation
before being housed in a larger enclosure.
“Because of the way it came to us,
it can never be freed,” a zoo worker told local media, adding that the bird was
reluctant to eat, probably because it had become used to being hand-fed by one
person.
In 2011, prison guards in
Bucaramanga, Colombia, found a pigeon attempting without success to fly over
the wall into the jail laden with 45g of marijuana.
Two years ago, police in Buenos
Aires smashed a marijuana-trafficking ring which used pigeons as a risk-free
manner to transport the drug to their home base.
Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana
(CCT-G) has hinted of embarking on strike action over what they describe as
government’s refusal to renew their conditions of service, transfer grants and
incremental credits.
National President for the
Coalition, Ernest Opoku on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen Thursday, said conditions of
service for teachers has expired and several calls on government to renew the
conditions of service have fallen on deaf ears.
Ernest Opoku could not fathom why
government has taken teachers for granted when in fact their demand is in
accordance with a ruling by the National Labour Commission.
“The ruling from the National Labour
Commission was that the issue of incremental credit is supposed to be paid and
we are sure that 2015 budget has some portions of salary arrears that is due
teachers and therefore we think that the money has to be paid,” he stated.
He continued that “we have written
petitions on several occasions but still nothing has been done. As I speak to
you teachers in this country don’t have conditions of service and also have not
been paid our outstanding arrears for the past two years.
Ernest Opoku indicated that most
schools in the country lacks logistics such as chalk and assessment books which
he said impedes teaching and learning.
He therefore sent a strong signal to
government to as a matter of urgency take into consideration their demands
before September 17 when school resumes or face their wrath.
“We are tired of always being taken
for granted for long and so from now till 17th September we will
have no option than to strike if our demands are not met” he insisted.
Source: Ghana/Adomonline.com/Dorcas Abedu-Kennedy/dorcas.kennedy@adomonline.com/Twitter: @KendraAbedu
- See more at:
http://www.ghana-news.adomonline.com/news/2015/August-13th/coalition-of-concern-teachers-hint-of-strike-over-conditions-of-service.php#sthash.dZLIzVvw.dpuf
Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana (CCT-G) has hinted of
embarking on strike action over what they describe as government’s
refusal to renew their conditions of service, transfer grants and
incremental credits.
National President for the Coalition, Ernest Opoku on Asempa FM’s
Ekosii Sen Thursday, said conditions of service for teachers has expired
and several calls on government to renew the conditions of service have
fallen on deaf ears.
Ernest Opoku could not fathom why government has taken teachers for
granted when in fact their demand is in accordance with a ruling by the
National Labour Commission.
“The ruling from the National Labour Commission was that the issue of
incremental credit is supposed to be paid and we are sure that 2015
budget has some portions of salary arrears that is due teachers and
therefore we think that the money has to be paid,” he stated.
He continued that “we have written petitions on several occasions but
still nothing has been done. As I speak to you teachers in this country
don’t have conditions of service and also have not been paid our
outstanding arrears for the past two years.
Ernest Opoku indicated that most schools in the country lacks
logistics such as chalk and assessment books which he said impedes
teaching and learning.
He therefore sent a strong signal to government to as a matter of
urgency take into consideration their demands before September 17 when
school resumes or face their wrath.
“We are tired of always being taken for granted for long and so from now till 17th September we will have no option than to strike if our demands are not met” he insisted.
- See more at:
http://www.ghana-news.adomonline.com/news/2015/August-13th/coalition-of-concern-teachers-hint-of-strike-over-conditions-of-service.php#sthash.dZLIzVvw.dpuf
