HavenWorks.com/women !Search A-Z News by Date NewsStand

;-) Women's News, Female News, Girl News, Woman News CALENDAR

HavenWorks -  Abortion Fashion Mother's Day A-Z Accounting Art / Museums Books+ BusinessNews Censorship Comics / Links ComputerNews Consumer Dictionaries Directories Education Energy Entertainment Environment FIND Free-Speech Genealogy  Government.gov Guides Health Medical History Humor I.P. Intellectual Property Intelligence Labor Language Law / Legal >Law Enforcement Library Links Linux Maps Media Military Music & MP3s NET / WEB NEWS-STAND NoteWorthy Nuclear Opinion Parents People Politics Privacy Radio/ Online Reference Science & Tech Search/Engines >SpecialEngines Seniors Space Sports Terrorism Travel TV /Channels US America Vocabulary Weather World	~~~~~~~~~~~ (Links to larger photos were good at the time the picture was posted.) WOMEN'S News: Abortion News 20090202 Barack Obama - Judd Gregg - Female - Employees - Pay - Legislation - Politics - History - Race - New Hampshire "Kudos to Congress for equal pay vote." ... "The Lilly Ledbetter case is pretty straightforward. Ledbetter, an employee of Goodyear Tire and Rubber for nearly 20 years, was paid significantly less than her male co-workers for doing the same job." ... "Ledbetter filed a lawsuit against Goodyear after someone left an anonymous note in her mailbox telling her about the disparity." ... "The case wended its way to the United States Supreme Court, which found that employers are protected from lawsuits over race or gender pay discrimination if the claims are based on decisions made by the employer 180 days ago or more." ... "Seeing the inherent injustice in the letter of the law, Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act last week. The act, which represented [Democratic] President Barack Obama's first bill signing, changes the law to begin a new 180-day statute of limitations with every paycheck." ... "New Hampshire [Republican Senator] Sen. Judd Gregg, however, voted against it, saying that while all Americans deserve "equal and fair treatment at the workplace," the bill "is really a boon for trial lawyers which dramatically broadens their ability to file lawsuits, regardless of how frivolous or whether their clients even personally experienced discrimination."" ... "That's disappointing." ... "Anytime politicians want to stand up for corporate America by opposing legislation that protects workers, they play the frivolous lawsuit card." ... "Sure, there are egregious cases where wayward juries give people ridiculous amounts of money for doing something they should have known better not to do (although those cases are often later settled for less or overturned on appeal)." ... "However, this isn't such a case, and Sen. Gregg should be able to come up with a better rationale for voting to deny thousands of Americans the opportunity to pursue equal pay for equal work." -NashuaTelegraph.com 20090126 John Boehner - Government - Economic - Legislation - Politics - History - Poor - Family - Women's - Medical - Abortion - AL. - FL - MS - SC - CA - LA - MN - RI - MO - Ohio - Wisconsin "Republicans Irate Over Expansion of Republican-Approved Program." ... "[T]he family-planning program that [California Democratic Representative and House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi supports expanding in the stimulus bill was created in 1972 under the leadership of Republican president Richard Nixon." ... "What's being proposed is an expansion in the number of states that can use Medicaid money, with a federal match, to help low-income women prevent unwanted pregnancies. Of the 26 states that already have Medicaid waivers for family planning, eight are led by Republican governors (AL [Alabama], FL [Florida], MS [Mississippi], SC [South Carolina], CA [California], LA [Louisiana], MN [Minnesota] and RI [Rhode Island] -- a ninth, MO [Missouri], had a GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] governor until this past November). If this policy is truly a taxpayer gift to "the abortion industry," as [Ohio Republican Representative] John Boehner and House Republicans claim, where are the GOP governors promising to end the program in their states?" ... "Additionally, the process of obtaining a waiver for Medicaid family-planning coverage is extremely cumbersome. A letter written by Wisconsin health regulators in 2007 noted that some states have had to wait for as long as two years before their request was approved. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that eliminating the waiver requirement would save states $400 million over 10 years." -By Elana Schor -TPMDC .TalkingPointsMemo 20090108 Women - Jobs - Money - Civil Rights - Law - Politics - California "Courts using Ledbetter decision to ‘undermine civil rights principles across the board.’." ... "Tomorrow, the House is set to take up the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would overturn a Supreme Court decision that restricted a woman’s right to bring pay discrimination lawsuits. The House handily passed the bill last year, but Senate conservatives blocked it after [Republican] President Bush threatened to veto it. On a conference call organized by [California Democratic Representative] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today, Marcia Greenberger, co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, explained that the faulty Supreme Court decision has been stretched to cripple all kinds of anti-discrimination laws:" "GREENBERGER: So now we’ve got these judges taking the Ledbetter decision to absurd lengths and saying that the most entrenched and invidious discrimination — now that those who have the courage and the knowledge and the ability, for the first time to combat are out of time. It is an outrageous approach, an undermining of civil rights principles across the board. It’s now causing real misery, as was described not only for women and their families in pay…but for all victims of discrimination." "Check out the Center for American Progress’s Fair Pay Calculator, and learn more about the fight for fair pay, here. Firedoglake has more." -By Ali Frick -ThinkProgress.org 20081218 Barack Obama - Gay - Politics - Religion - Book - People - Children - Girls - Schools - US - Pakistan - Palestine - British - Soviet - Military- History "Three Cups of Tea for Rick Warren." ... "Rick Warren is providing the invocation for the [Democratic President Elect Barack Obama's] presidential inauguration. As a pastor whose books have been read by tens of millions of Americans and whose voice is respected by an equal or larger number, he has tremendous influence and power. And as an open homophobe who aggressively works to wound gay people in this country (as well as pretty much anybody else who doesn’t believe with his own particular and peculiar recently-invented version of Christian theology) he should be the guy with the bull’s-eye on his back for the progressive movement." ... "But consider that metaphor for a moment. In Pakistan there are entire regions filled with people who not only hate gays but hate Americans as well, regardless of religion. We've tried bombing them (as the Soviets did, and the British before them). Three consecutive Western empires have tried threatening them, starving them, poisoning them, infiltrating them, and overpowering them - all without success." ... "And then Greg Mortenson came to one of their villages, had three cups of tea with them (a metaphor for hospitality - they nursed him back to health after a mountain climbing injury - and the title of his best-selling book), and now in dozens of these formerly Taliban-controlled villages the people are rejecting the Taliban, embracing modernity, and openly proclaiming themselves as our friends." ... "His "weapon" for this conversion? He built schools for their children, particularly their previously-banned-from-school girls." ... "We pushed the Palestinians on the West Bank to have open and democratic elections, assuming that because they were using the tool of our culture (the secret ballot) they’d vote in people reflecting the values of our culture. Instead, they voted in Hamas, a group that is openly hostile to us and our allies. Hamas’ “weapon” for winning the hearts and minds of the Palestinians? They supported schools, hospitals, and fed and clothed people." ... "You’d think that we’d have learned from these experiences - particularly those of us who call ourselves “progressives” - that you get your desired results faster when you embrace, engage, and nurture your “enemies” than when you physically or rhetorically bomb them." ... "Barack Obama has learned that lesson, and is applying it in inviting Rick Warren to perform the invocation for his inauguration. In doing so, he is reaching out a hand to those who today are - out of fear and ignorance - pushing away gays the same way their intellectual ancestors pushed away African Americans when anti-miscegenation laws were supported by most of these same “fundamentalist” Christian churches in the 1950s and 1960s." -By Thom Hartmann -ThomHartmann.com 20081020 Barack Obama - Madelyn Dunham - Business - Woman - Grandmother - Hawaii - Illinois - Politics - 2008 Election "Obama's Grandmother Described As 'Strong Willed': Senator Leaves Campaign Trail To Make Visit." ... "Those who know Madelyn Dunham said throughout her life she has been "strong willed" and ambitious." ... "Dunham's health has slowly deteriorated and during his recent visit to Hawaii [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama spoke about his grandmother's condition." ... ""Her body is not in great shape she has osteoporosis which means she can't travel. She can't sit for a long periods of time on the plane so that's why it is so important for me to take these trips back to Hawaii," Obama said." ... "Barack Obama since he was 10." ... "Dunham turns 86 on Sunday." ... "University of Hawaii professor Alice Dewey is a longtime friend of the Obamas and remembers Dunham's tenacity." ... ""She was a very determined person as you began to get to know her she knew her mind and followed her principles," Dewey said." ... "Dunham was one of the first women vice presidents at the Bank of Hawaii. Co-workers said she was a well respected business woman." -KITV.com 20081008 John McCain - Terrorism -Women - Abortion - Clinics - Federal - Law - Politics - History - Arizona - Oregon - 2008 Election "Woman's rights advocate: McCain sides with 'sympathizers and enablers of domestic terrorism'." ... "The Arizona Senator [and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain] may not have directly consorted with any clinic bombers, but his legislative record was certainly favorable to them, and critics are hammering his association with sympathizers of domestic terrorists who target abortion providers." ... "People For the American Way encouraged McCain to "look in the mirror" after a RAW STORY report revealed McCain's connection with Marylin Shannon, a Republican official in Oregon who was a McCain delegate at this year's GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican (2008 election)] convention. The two appeared together at a 1993 fundraiser for an ultra-conservative organization where Shannon praised a woman who was later convicted of attempted murder in the shooting of an abortion clinic doctor." ... "“When anti-choice extremists were terrorizing American women and their doctors, John McCain had multiple opportunities to make what should have been an easy choice,” PFAW president Kathryn Kolbert said Tuesday. “But he chose political expediency over law and order." ... ""He didn’t say a word when Marylin Shannon sympathized with an attempted killer. He voted against the clinic access bill even as everyday Americans were being assaulted and besieged by domestic terrorists," continued Kolbert, a longtime women’s rights advocate who successfully argued a crucial abortion rights case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992. "As someone who faced repeated threats for work on behalf of reproductive rights, I am deeply disturbed by John McCain’s willingness to stand with and side with sympathizers and enablers of domestic terrorism.”" ... "McCain and Shannon appeared together at a fundraiser for the Oregon Citizens Alliance in 1993, a gathring of Christian right extremists that even fellow Republicans advised McCain not to attend because the group was so far outside the mainstream." ... "Speaking before McCain, Shannon offered some kind words for Shelley Shannon, who was accused and later convicted of shooting an abortion doctor: "I'm not related to Shelly Shannon, but I think she's a fine lady," the vice chairwoman of the state Republican Party said. McCain apparently said nothing to contradict that judgement, and less than three months later he voted against a bill that would make abortion clinic bombings a federal crime." -By Nick Juliano -RawStory.com 20081006 John McCain - Terrorism - Politics - Women's - Medical - Abortion - Rights - Federal - Law - Enforcement - Colorado - 2008 Election "McCain Voted To Protect Domestic Terrorists Who Carry Out Violence At Abortion Clinics." ... "Referencing a recent New York Times article, [spokesperson for 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain, Nancy] Pfotenhauer claimed that if McCain “hung out with somebody who had bombed abortion clinics” it would be a legitimate topic of discussion." ... "Pfotenhauer’s invocation of abortion clinic bombers in defense of McCain is ironic given that McCain has repeatedly voted against protecting Americans from domestic terrorists in the anti-choice movement. On multiple occasions throughout his career, McCain sought to limit the government’s ability to punish violent anti-choice fanatics by:" "– Voting against making anti-choice violence a federal crime. As the Jed Report notes, McCain voted in 1993 and 1994 against making “bombings, arson and blockades at abortion clinics, and shootings and threats of violence against doctors and nurses who perform abortions” federal crimes." "– Opposing Colorado’s “Bubble Law.” McCain said he opposed Colorado’s “Bubble Law,” which prohibited abortion protesters from getting within 8 feet of women entering clinics [Denver Post, 2/27/00]. The law was later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court." "– Voting to allow those fined for violence at clinics to avoid penalties by declaring bankruptcy. NARAL Pro-Chioce America notes that McCain “voted to allow perpetrators of violence or harassment at reproductive-health clinics to avoid paying the fines assessed against them for their illegal acts by declaring bankruptcy.””  -ThinkProgress.org 20080923 John McCain - Sarah Palin - Media - Politics - Commentary - Alaska - 2008 Election "Campbell Brown Rips McCain Camp's "Sexist" Treatment Of Palin." ... "A prominent female news anchor chastised the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain campaign Tuesday evening for engaging in sexism and insulting behavior in its attempt to shield [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin from members of the press." ... "In a fiery commentary, Campbell Brown laid into John McCain for casting a "chauvinistic chain" that ran over his running mate. Punctuated by a call to "Free Sarah Palin," the CNN anchor highlighted the attempt Tuesday by the McCain campaign to ban editorial reporters from covering Palin's visit with world leaders at the UN, as yet another gender-demeaning move in a campaign highlighted by sexist behavior." ... ""[Campbell Brown:] "Tonight I call on the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like she is a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment," said Brown. "This woman is from Alaska for crying out loud. She is strong. She is tough. She is confident. And you claim she is ready to be one heart beat away form the presidency. If that is the case, then end this chauvinistic treatment of her now. Allow her to show her stuff. Allow her to face down those pesky reporters... Let her have a real news conference with real questions. By treating Sarah Palin different from the other candidates in this race, you are not showing her the respect she deserves. Free Sarah Palin. Free her from the chauvinistic chain you are binding her with. Sexism in this campaign must come to an end. Sarah Palin has just as much a right to be a real candidate in this race as the men do. So let her act like one."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com WATCH: Female news anchor tell Republican McCain camp to end its "sexist" treatment of Republican Sarah Palin and "Free Sarah Palin" 20080921 Sarah Palin - Crime - Women - Medical - DNA - Law - Politics - Alaska - 2008 Election "Palin's town charged women for rape exams." ... "[2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of] Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's hometown required women to pay for their own rape examinations while she was mayor, a practice her police chief fought to keep as late as 2000." ... "Former state [Alaska State Democratic Representative] Rep. Eric Croft, a Democrat, sponsored a state law requiring cities to provide the examinations free of charge to victims. He said the only ongoing resistance he met was from Wasilla [Alaska], where Palin was mayor from 1996 to 2002." ... ""It was one of those things everyone could agree on except Wasilla," Croft told CNN. "We couldn't convince the chief of police to stop charging them."" ... "Alaska's Legislature in 2000 banned the practice of charging women for rape exam kits -- which experts said could cost up to $1,000." ... "For years, Alaska has had the worst record of any state in rape and in murder of women by men. The rape rate in Alaska is 2.5 times the national average." ... "The bill, HB270, was before the legislature for six months. In testimony, one expert called the practice of billing the victim "incomprehensible." Others compared it to "dust[ing] for fingerprints" after a burglary, only "the victim's body is the crime scene."" ... "During a rape exam, the victim removes her clothing and a medical professional gathers DNA evidence from her body. There is also a medical component to assess her injuries." ... "[Tara] Henry, the forensic nurse, said charging victims "retraumatizes them."" ... ""Asking them to pay for something law enforcement needs in order to investigate their case, it's almost like blaming them for getting sexually assaulted," she said." -By Jessica Yellin -CNN 20080916 Sarah Palin - Criminal -Money - Politics - Women - Children - Law - Federal - Alaska - 2008 Election "Source: Sex Assault Program Cited in Monegan Firing Targeted Child Abusers." ... "So [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor] Sarah Palin's latest explanation for why she fired Walt Monegan is that he had gone over her head in seeking federal money for an initiative to combat sexual assault crimes, before she had approved the program." ... "But it now appears that the program in question is one that most elected officials would be wary of admitting they hadn't strongly backed. According to Peggy Brown, who heads the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, Monegan wanted to use the federal money to hire retired troopers and law enforcement officials, and assign them to investigate the most egregious cases of sexual assault -- including those against children." ... "In other words, if Palin's new story is true, she fired Monegan for being too aggressive in going after child molesters." ... "ABC News reported yesterday that, although Alaska leads the nation in reported rapes per capita, Palin hasn't made the issue a priority as governor." ... "Monegan, however, appeared eager to change that. "He seemed to get the issue and really took it seriously," Brown told TPMmuckraker." ... "According to the Palin camp, too seriously." -By Zachary Roth -TPMMuckracker .TalkingPointsMemo 20080915 Sarah Palin - John McCain - Criminal - Politics - Women - Children - Safety - Law - Money - Religion - Alaska - 2008 Election "Critics Question Palin's Record on "Epidemic" Rape, Domestic Violence in Alaska: Effort to Tackle Sex Violence Stalled by [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah] Palin's Office, Sources Say." ... "Evangelicals and social conservatives have embraced [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's vice presidential pick for what they call her "pro-family," "pro-woman" values. But in Alaska, critics say [Alaska Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin has not addressed the rampant sexual abuse, rape, domestic violence and murder that make her state one of the most dangerous places in the country for women and children." ... "Alaska leads the nation in reported forcible rapes per capita, according to the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation], with a rate two and a half times the national average – a ranking it has held for many years. Children are no safer: Public safety experts believe that the prevalence of rape and sexual assault of minors in Alaska makes the state's record one of the worst in the U.S. [United States] And while solid statistics on domestic violence are hard to come by, most – including Gov. Palin – agree it is an "epidemic."" ... "Despite the governor's pro-family image, public safety experts and advocates for women and children struggled when asked to explain how Palin's leadership has helped address the crisis. And current and former officials from Palin's administration confirmed that an ambitious plan to tackle the crisis has apparently sunk into doldrums after arriving at the governor's office." ... ""She's really done a lot of work on oil and gas, but when it comes to violence against women and children. . . we haven't been on her radar as a priority," said Peggy Brown, executive director of the Alaska Network on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. The Juneau[Alaska's capital]-based group is an umbrella organization for shelters and anti-violence programs around the state." ... "State troopers respond to most domestic violence calls outside of Alaska's major cities, but they're too short-staffed and under-funded to do it well, according to Robert Claus, a recently retired trooper." (1, 2, 3) -By Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com 20080911 Sarah Palin - Criminal - Money - Politics - Medical - Law - Alaska - 2008 Election "New Evidence: Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams." ... "Despite denials by the [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah] Palin campaign, new evidence proves that as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin had a direct hand in imposing fees to pay for post-sexual assault medical exams conducted by the city to gather evidence." ... "Palin's role is now confirmed by Wasilla City budget documents available online." ... "Under Sarah Palin's administration, Wasilla cut funds that had previously paid for the medical exams and began charging victims or their health insurers the $500 to $1200 fees. Although Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella wrote USA Today earlier this week that the GOP vice presidential nominee "does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test...To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice," Palin, as mayor, fired police chief Irl Stambaugh and replaced him with Charlie Fannon, who with Palin's knowledge, slashed the budget for the exams and began charging the city's victims of sexual assault. The city budget documents demonstrate Palin read and signed off on the new budget. A year later, alarmed Alaska lawmakers passed legislation outlawing the practice." ... "News of the controversial policy has leaked slowly into the press this week as the presidential campaign has heated up and Palin's record has been subject to increasing scrutiny. The practice of charging rape victims has called into question Palin's stated commitment to women's issues, her judgment as an executive and her honesty about her record. " -By Jacob Alperin-Sheriff -HuffingtonPost.com 20080903 Sarah Palin - Karl Rove - Woman - Politics - 2008 Election Watch - "Sarah Palin Gender Card: We should not even be talking about [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin because it's sexist." [Jon Stewart on Republican's woman politics: Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, Dick Morris, and Nancy Pfotenhauer] -TheDailyShow.com 20080829 Sarah Palin - John McCain - Hillary Clinton - Women - Politics - Alaska - Los Angeles -California - Arizona - New York  -2008 Election "Palin: Hillary Clinton's "Whining" Turned Me Off." ... "When Alaska [Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin arrived backstage for our NEWSWEEK Women & Leadership Event in Los Angeles [California] last March, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain had just wrapped up the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] nomination. Palin had yet to endorse McCain--she liked [former 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Mitt Romney--and as we waited in the green room, I urged her to "feel free" to make some news on stage. She grinned broadly--looking back, I guess it was a grin of the Cheshire Cat variety--and thanked me for the offer." ... "Once onstage, together with Arizona [Democratic Governor] Gov. Janet Napolitano, Palin talked about what women expect from women leaders; how she took charge in Alaska during a political scandal that threatened to unseat the state's entire Republican power structure, and her feelings about [former 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton. (She said she felt kind of bad she couldn't support a woman, but she didn't like Clinton's "whining.")" -By Karen Breslau -Newsweek /article via -HuffingtonPost.com 20080728 Jim Adkisson - Jobless - Politics - Police - Tennessee - Church - Gays - Women's - Rights - Desegregation- History "US church 'killer' wrote of hate: A man accused of shooting dead two people in a Tennessee church was motivated by hatred of liberals and anger at being jobless, US police say." ... "The Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church describes itself on its website as working for social change since the 1950s, including desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women's rights and gay rights." -BBC/News Jim Adkisson - Political - Terrorism - Tennessee - Out-of-Work- Homeless - Food - Gay - Churchgoers - Women's - Rights - Children "Police: Man shot churchgoers over liberal views." ... "An out-of-work truck driver accused of opening fire at a Unitarian church [in Knoxville, Tennessee], killing two people, left behind a note suggesting that he targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays, authorities said Monday." ... "[Jim] Adkisson, a 58-year-old truck driver on the verge of losing his food stamps, had 76 rounds with him when he entered the church and pulled a shotgun from a guitar case during a children's performance of the musical "Annie."" ... "The Unitarian-Universalist church advocates for women's rights and gay rights and has provided sanctuary for political refugees. It also has fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, according to its Web site." -By Duncan Mansfield -AP via -Yahoo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	Women's Websites - 4Woman.gov Abortion JAMA Women's Health Information Center Women's History Month, Biographies  Women's Rights on Trial  Timeline  accessed -20050308 -GaleGroup /Thomson.com Women- Abortion Abortion Clinic Violence -MSNBC.com WomenWatch "International Women's Day." March 8th, 2005, 2004, 2003 -UN.org Search Google: <International Women's Day-[News]> - Iowa pregnancy privacy challenge. Sandra Day O'Connor Arizona News California News Illinois News Iowa News Marland News Minnesota News Oregon News Pennsylvania News Texas News Washington News UN NEWS Afghanistan News Australia News Canada News China News Colombia News Cuba News Djibouti News East Timor News France News Germany News India News Indonesia News Iraq News Iran News Israel News Italy News Ivory Coast News Japan News Jordan News Korea News:  _North & South Kuwait News Liberia News Libya News Mexico News Pakistan News Poland News Russia News Rwanda News Saudi Arabia News Senegal News Sierra Leone News Spain News Sudan News Syria News Taiwan News Turkey News United Kingdom  _News UK News United States News Vietnam News Yemen News Zimbabwe News	Women News Sources: MsMagazine.com WomensEnews.org CSMonitor: "Women's issues: Women Making History Today."  Search Women News: News Search <Women> in: <AllTheWeb-[News]> <AltaVista-[News]> <Google-[News]> Specialty search: <Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil> News Search <Woman> in: <AllTheWeb-[News]> <AltaVista-[News]> <Google-[News]> Specialty search: <Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil> News Search <Women's> in: <AllTheWeb-[News]> <AltaVista-[News]> <Google-[News]> Specialty search: <Google's U.S. "Uncle Sam," .gov and .mil> Search: <Women's News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search: <Woman's News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search: <Women News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search: <Woman News> in: <Google> <MSN> <Yahoo> Search Google: <"International Women's Day" -[News]> <Womans News> <News Women> <News Woman> Women Brought to you by the alphabet letter W W ;-)
..

20080718
Hillary Clinton - Women's - Medical - Science - Abortion - Language - Politics - Family - Federal - Money - New York
"Clinton vows to fight "insulting" abortion plan." ... "A [Republican President] Bush administration plan to define several widely used contraception methods as abortion is a "gratuitous, unnecessary insult" to women and faces tough opposition, [New York Democratic Senator] Sen. Hillary Clinton said on Friday." ... "The former Democratic presidential candidate joined family planning groups to condemn the proposal that defines abortion to include contraception such as birth control pills and intrauterine devices." ... "It would cut off federal funds to hospitals and states where medical providers are obligated to offer legal abortion and contraception to women." ... ""We will not put up with this radical, ideological agenda to turn the clock back on women's rights," the New York senator told a joint news conference with New York [Democratic Representative] Rep. Nita Lowey, also a Democrat, at Bellevue Hospital." ... ""Women would watch their contraceptive coverage disappear overnight," said Clinton." (1, 2) -By Michelle Nichols with contributions by Ellen Wulfhorst and Eric Beech -Reuters

---

20080623
Abortion - Money - Medical - Law - 2008 Election - Portland - Oregon - Woman
"Oregon City woman details abortion, relationship with Mike Erickson: Now a "pro-life" congressional candidate, he gave her $300 and took her to the clinic in Northeast Portland, Tawnya says." ... "An Oregon City [Oregon] woman who dated [Republican] congressional candidate Mike Erickson seven years ago said she asked him directly whether he wanted to have a baby. He shook his head no, she said, and paid for her abortion." ... "In interviews with The Oregonian, the woman said she met Erickson in September 2000, and she had the abortion in January 2001. They saw each other afterward, she said, even going on a trip to Mexico in March, before the relationship ended. She spoke on the condition that only her first name, Tawnya, be used." ... "Her story is backed up by medical and other records, and the accounts of two friends, one of whom was with her at the abortion. Their story conflicts directly with Erickson's version." ... "He agrees that he gave Tawnya $300 for medical help, and a ride to a doctor's office near Lloyd Center [in Portland, Oregon], but said he didn't know she was pregnant or planned to get an abortion. He said he doesn't think he saw her again after that day." ... "Erickson, a Lake Oswego [Oregon] businessman, is the Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District and is running on a "pro-life" platform. The charge that he provided money to Tawnya nearly derailed his campaign for the May 20 primary and could hobble his chances in the [2008 Election November] Nov. 4 general election against state [Oregon Democratic Senator] Sen. Kurt Schrader, D[Democratic]-Canby [Oregon]." ... "Erickson has campaigned on a strict anti-abortion platform that favors abstinence education and adoption over abortion." (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) -By Janie Har and Steve Mayes -Oregonian

---

20080617
Obama - 2008 Election - Internet - Media - Cable Networks - Politics - Religion - Women - "Jon Stewart Mocks Media For Peddling Insane Obama Rumors." ... "On Monday night's "Daily Show," Jon Stewart mocked the media's willingness to peddle insane rumors about [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama — and their tendency to blame the rumor-mongering on internet sites. Calling it "Baracknophobia," Stewart showed clips of anchor and pundits from all three cable networks repeating baseless rumors (Muslim, plagiarist, sexist, etc.) about Barack Obama (and his wife Michelle)." -HuffingtonPost.com

---

WATCH!-) Jon Stewart on "Baracknophobia" ... "The irrational fear of hope." 

---

20080616
Kevin Jeffrey Martin - Corporate - Government - Politics - Satellite - Spectrum - History - Communications - Media - Minorities - Women- Lawmakers - Md
"Radio Merger Under Fire From Black Lawmakers: Caucus, FCC [Federal Communications Commission] Chair Differ On Setting Aside XM, Sirius Channels for Minorities." ... "Senior members of the Congressional Black Caucus yesterday criticized a compromise plan for the proposed merger of the XM and Sirius satellite radio companies, saying the deal does not provide enough opportunities for minority-owned programming." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin said over the weekend that he would support the merger after XM Satellite Radio Holdings and Sirius Satellite Radio voluntarily agreed, among a series of other concessions, to lease 4 percent of their radio spectrums, or 12 channels, for programming run by minorities and women." ... "Members of the black caucus on Capitol Hill have been arguing for the merged company to lease five times that amount of spectrum to companies owned by racial minorities." ... "[Maryland Democratic Representative Elijah E. Cummings:] "It's shocking to the conscience in this day and age, where the minority populations comprise a significant part of the satellite radio audience, that Mr. Martin would settle for what I deem to be crumbs that have fallen off the table," Cummings said." ... "If the merger is approved, it would be a major reversal of FCC rules. The agency distributed licenses to XM and Sirius in 1997 on the condition the two companies never combine." -By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum -WashingtonPost

---

20080615
John McCain - Clayton Williams - Women - Politics - Texas - Ariz - 2008 Election
"McCain Texas Fundraiser Back On, Sans Oilman." ... "[2008 Elecition Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz [Republican-Arizona]) has decided to hold a fundraiser initially sponsored by a controversial Texas oilman later in the summer at a different venue, according to an aide who asked not to be identified." ... "McCain had planned to hold a joint fundraiser with the Republican National Committee on Monday at the Midland, Tex., home of Clayton Williams, who ran for governor of his state in 1990. But after reporters from The Washington Post and ABC inquired Friday about a remark Williams made comparing rape to bad weather -- "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it" -- the campaign cancelled the fundraiser. Williams has apologized for the remarks" -By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

---


John McCain - Clayton Williams - Money - Politics - Texas - 2008 Election
"McCain Cancels Event Over Texan's 1990 Rape Joke: Clayton Williams Made Comments While Running Against [then Texas Democratic Candidate for Governor] Ann Richards." ... "Questions from the media prompted Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain to cancel a fundraiser at the home of a Texas oilman who once joked that women should give in while being raped." ... "The Texan, Republican Clayton "Claytie" Williams, made the joke during his failed 1990 campaign for governor against Democrat Ann Richards. Williams compared rape to the weather, saying, "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it." He also compared Richards to the cattle on his ranch, saying he would "head her and hoof her and drag her through the dirt."" ... "Williams told his hometown newspaper, the Midland Reporter-Telegram, that he had raised more than $300,000 for McCain." -AP via -cbs2chicago.com

---


John McCain - Hillary Clinton - Women - Health - Abortion - Money - Law
"Angry Clinton Women [HEART] McCain?" ... "Ten years ago [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain had to apologize for regaling a Republican audience with a crude sexual joke about Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Janet Reno. Last year he had to explain why he didn’t so much as flinch when a supporter asked him on camera, “How do we beat the bitch?” But these days Mr. McCain just loves the women." ... "You’d never guess that Mr. McCain is a fierce foe of abortion rights or that he voted to terminate the federal family-planning program that provides breast-cancer screenings. You’d never know that his [McCain's] new campaign blogger, recruited from The Weekly Standard, had shown his genuine affection for Mrs. Clinton earlier this year by portraying her as a liar and whiner and by piling on with a locker-room jeer after she’d been called a monster. “Tell us something we don’t know,” he wrote." ... "But while the McCain campaign apparently believes that women are easy marks for its latent feminist cross-dressing, a reality check suggests that most women can instantly identify any man who’s hitting on them for selfish ends. New polls show Mr. Obama opening up a huge lead among female voters — beating Mr. McCain by 13 percentage points in the Gallup and Rasmussen polls and by 19 points in the latest Wall Street Journal-NBC News survey." ... "... the notion that all female Clinton supporters became “angry white women” once their candidate lost — to the hysterical extreme where even lifelong Democrats would desert their own party en masse — is itself a sexist stereotype. That’s why some of the same talking heads and Republican operatives who gleefully insulted Mrs. Clinton are now peddling this fable on such flimsy anecdotal evidence." -By Frank Rich -NYTimes

---

20080614
John McCain - Clayton Williams - Money - Politics - Texas - History - 2008 Election
"McCain fundraiser's joke about rape resurfaces: GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] candidate postpones event in Midland [Texas] after questions emerge." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's campaign late Friday said it had pulled the plug on a fundraising event scheduled for Monday at Williams' Midland home after reporters contacted the campaign asking about remarks made by the Texas Republican during his 1990 race against Democrat Ann Richards." ... "But Saturday afternoon, the McCain campaign told the Houston Chronicle that the Midland event had been postponed until this summer and would be held in a public venue." ... "Late Saturday afternoon, a McCain aide confirmed to the Chronicle that the Midland event had been postponed but had not been taken off the calendar. The compromise allowed McCain to say he had not held a fundraiser at Williams' house; it gave Williams an opportunity to say that the event he organized had not been canceled." ... ""Clayton Williams' totally inappropriate remarks about women are well-known," [daughter of Ann Richards, Cecile] Richards told the Chronicle. "Planning to host a fundraiser at his house is just another example of how out of touch John McCain is when it comes to women's issues. This is a major misstep for the McCain campaign, who is having a hard time getting support from women."" -By Richard S. Dunham with contributions by Alan Bernstein and Bennett Roth -Chron

---

20080613
John McCain - Clayton Williams - Money - Politics - Family -Abortion - Law - Texas - 2008 Election
"McCain Cancels Fundraiser with Oilman Who Joked About Rape." ... "Clayton Williams, who ran unsuccessfully against the late Texas [Governor] Gov. Ann Richards (D [Democratic]), sparked controversy nearly two decades ago when he joked women should give in while being raped. "As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it," the oilman remarked at the time." ... "The Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which has sharply criticized [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain for his opposition to abortion rights and other family planning programs, first contacted the Post about Williams' remarks. The group's president, Cecile Richards, is the daughter of the late Texas governor." ... ""It's shocking that John McCain would choose to fundraise with Clayton Williams, who made his political career saying completely inappropriate and disrespectful remarks about women," Richards wrote in an e-mail. "This is a real misstep for the McCain campaign, who is having a hard time getting support from women."" -By Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost

---

John McCain's contributor Clayton Williams "in His Own Words".

---

20080611
Racist - Media - Politics - 2008 Election - Obama - Family - Mom
"Fox News calls Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama"." ... "An alert reader wrote in just a little while ago to let us know about something he'd spotted on Fox News Wednesday afternoon. During a segment discussing conservative attacks against Michelle Obama, the wife of [2008 Election] presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, the network described the former as "Obama's baby mama."" ... "I checked, and sure enough, as you can see below, our e-mailer was right. In fact, that description was displayed on-screen several times during the segment, which featured anchor Megyn Kelly and conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, an FNC contributor. " -By Alex Koppelman -Salon

---

20080609
John McCain - Racism - Homophobia - Sexism - Language - Politics - Internet - Media - Obama - 2008 Election
"McCain's Web site talks about the anti-Christ being 'a Jew,' Hillary being a 'bitch,' Obama being a 'Muslim fag,' and America bringing 9/11 on itself." ... "UPDATE: Jed finds more on other McCain sites, including a reference to Obama as a n*gger." ... "Some folks on the right thought they'd pull an "I gotcha" on Obama by trying to find kooky things visitors have written on [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama's blog. So, I thought I'd take a look at [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's campaign Web site and do a search for words like "fag," "bitch," and "Jew," for starters. What I found wasn't pretty. It's interesting to note that each comment has a "flag as offensive" button next to it, so that readers can inform the moderator that the comments are offensive. Either McCain's readers don't find any of this offensive, or McCain's staff was informed and didn't care." -By John Aravosis -AmericaBlog.com

---

20080603
Abortion - Law - History - Politics - Women's - Health - Science - New York
"Repairing the Damage, Before Roe." ... "I am a retired gynecologist, in my mid-80s. My early formal training in my specialty was spent in New York City [New York], from 1948 to 1953, in two of the city’s large municipal hospitals." ... "There I saw and treated almost every complication of illegal abortion that one could conjure, done either by the patient herself or by an abortionist — often unknowing, unskilled and probably uncaring. Yet the patient never told us who did the work, or where and under what conditions it was performed. She was in dire need of our help to complete the process or, as frequently was the case, to correct what damage might have been done." ... "The patient also did not explain why she had attempted the abortion, and we did not ask. This was a decision she made for herself, and the reasons were hers alone. Yet this much was clear: The woman had put herself at total risk, and literally did not know whether she would live or die." ... "This, too, was clear: Her desperate need to terminate a pregnancy was the driving force behind the selection of any method available." ... "The familiar symbol of illegal abortion is the infamous “coat hanger” — which may be the symbol, but is in no way a myth. In my years in New York, several women arrived with a hanger still in place. Whoever put it in — perhaps the patient herself — found it trapped in the cervix and could not remove it. " -By Waldo L. Fielding, M.D. [Doctor of Medicine] -NYTimes

---

20080519
• Entertainment - Political - Humor - Corporate - Government - Military - Halliburton - Blackwater - Foreign - Law - Noteworthy - Women - Journalists - Writers - US - Iraq - "John Cusack: Outsourced Warfare Represents a "Radical, Dangerous, Disgusting Ideology": An interview with Cusack about his latest film, War Inc., which takes the outsourcing of military operations to the absurd." ...
"Joshua Holland: Tell me a little bit about your new project." ... "John Cusack: Well, we thought of it as an incendiary political cartoon that would hopefully put America's current imperial adventures in Iraq into a kind of a larger context. And maybe put a different lens on what privatization means; what this plan has been and what it's been like when people try to privatize the very core things it means to be a state. And what it means to spread an ideology like that across the globe." ... "There are 180,000 contractors in Iraq and about 160,000 troops, right? And if one just takes that trend to its logical conclusion, well that's where "War, Inc." is set. It takes place at a time in the near future when warfare us an entirely corporate affair." ... "Holland: As a political nerd, it struck me as a highly referential film. I felt like your character, to some extent, was loosely patterned maybe on John Perkins, who wrote Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." ... "Cusack: You know, that book came out when we were already making the film, I believe. And I know we were writing it when Naomi Klein's groundbreaking piece called "Baghdad Year Zero" came out in Harper's. She's a journalist I've always greatly admired and respected. And then as we were making the movie, she was writing the Shock Doctrine. I remember being aware of it while we were writing it. And I remember talking about it. But you know, this character was also based on [former U.S. Envoy to Iraq] Paul Bremer flying in while Baghdad [Iraq's capital] was still burning and literally ruling by Fiat. Sitting down in Saddam's old palace and banging out 50 or 60 new laws that would allow 100 percent foreign ownership of previously state-owned industry by these outside corporations. And he was running around in those Brooks Brothers suits and the military boots when he did it." ... "Holland: I thought that I saw a lot of Naomi Klein in Marisa Tomei's character." ... "Cusack: Yeah, I think it wasn't Naomi straight up, but I think it was Katrina Vanden Huevel. It was Lara Logan and it was Naomi. It was, you know, any of the great journalists out there who are women ... Christiane Amanpour." ... "Holland: Now, the film presents kind of a dystopian vision of where we're at or where we're heading -- tell me a little bit more about this central theme, this idea of outsourcing warfare to this kind of Halliburton-like mega corporation." ... "Cusack: Well, it was an ideological viral disaster -- that's what this war was. It wasn't Paul Bremer, although a lot of people would like to paint him as the fall guy. It's the entire system of thinking that is insane. The Shock doctrine does a great job chronicling what's essentially been a 35-year campaign to destroy the New Deal and privatize everything, and the use of disasters and wars to justify "shock therapy" -- to pass legislation that would never get passed in any country that wasn't reeling from trying to bury their dead or stop from being tortured or killed or trying to get water or food." ... "So I think it's really about the entire system and that entire ideology. There seems to be these companies that helped create a new market by creating a war, and then they bar the competitors from entering into the clean up. In the meantime, they've privatized the entire country, which is basically strip mining it. Basically, it's a land-grab. So not only are we looking at a murder scene, but it's the scene of an armed robbery." ... "And that's the version of democracy ... the version of a free market that we're not only supposed to worship, but into which we're also supposed to keep feeding bodies. We have to kill to feed this kind of twisted version of their free market. And [American political leaders] seem entirely unconcerned that Halliburton and Bechtel -- and Parsons and KPMG and Blackwater and the rest -- are kind of madly gorging off of this protectionist racket." ... "If you really think about outsourcing all the essential things it means to be a state, like armies, disaster relief, interrogation, border patrol -- all of these functions -- then I don't really know what's left in terms of the sovereignty of a country. I don't really know what's left." ... "So it's not even about free markets. I mean, if these [corporations] want to just go invade a country and take it over, and take their chances on the open market, that's one thing. But to use the U.S. military and our Treasury Department as their ATM to do it -- that's ... that's cause for revolt." (1, 2, 3, 4) -By Joshua Holland -AlterNet.org

---

WATCH Movie Trailer: "WAR, INC."

---

20080511
• Mother's-Day - Museum - West Virginia - Woman - Mother - People - Consumer - Marketing - Industry - "For the mother of Mother's Day, it's just never been right." ... "Anna Jarvis never had children, but she became the mother of Mother's Day, giving birth to the holiday during a serene church ceremony in her hometown [Grafton, West Virginia] 100 years ago." ... "At first, her creation was perfect and pure. People honored their mothers the way she envisioned it -- with a white carnation, a symbol of maternal purity, a handwritten note or a day off." ... "But then her holiday started acting like a rebellious teenager, selling out to the flower and card industry, leaving Miss Jarvis bitter and disillusioned. She ended her life in a mental asylum." ... "The story of Miss Jarvis and the holiday that she couldn't control come to life in two exhibits more than 20 miles south of Morgantown [West Virginia]. The International Mother's Day Shrine memorializes the first Mother's Day service on May 10, 1908, the anniversary of the death of Miss Jarvis' mother, Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis." ... "Four miles away from Grafton in Webster [West Virginia] is the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum, a lovingly restored wooden Civil War-era house." ... "Miss Jarvis likely would cringe if she could see Mother's Day today." ... "The simple white carnation handed out to mothers in the former Andrews Methodist Church 100 years ago has given way to modern marketing -- crowded department store Mother's Day sales, restaurant pitches for elaborate brunches and dinners, ornate floral bouquets and rows upon rows of Mother's Day cards, instead of the handwritten note she urged. On average, Americans are expected to spend $138 each on mom this Mother's Day, ringing up $15.8 billion in sales." ... "In her day, Anna Jarvis was a public figure and irresistible newspaper copy as she crashed confectioners' conferences, broke up a War Mothers' rally and threatened lawsuits -- all in the name of saving her beloved Mother's Day from encroachers." -By Cristina Rouvalis -Post-Gazette.com 

  ---

20080509
• Mother's-Day - Politics - Women - Parents - Legislation - Kan - Fla - "Republicans Vote Against Moms; No Word Yet on Puppies, Kittens." ... "It was already shaping up to be a difficult year for congressional Republicans. Now, on the cusp of Mother's Day, comes this: A majority of the House GOP has voted against motherhood." ... "On Wednesday afternoon, the House had just voted, 412 to 0, to pass H. Res. 1113, "Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day," when [Kansas Republican Representative] Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), rose in protest." ... ""Mr. Speaker, I move to reconsider the vote," he announced." ... "[Florida Democratic Representative] Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), who has two young daughters, moved to table Tiahrt's request, setting up a revote. This time, 178 Republicans cast their votes against mothers." ... "It has long been the custom to compare a popular piece of legislation to motherhood and apple pie. Evidently, that is no longer the standard. Worse, Republicans are now confronted with a John Kerry-esque predicament: They actually voted for motherhood before they voted against it. " (1, 2) -By Dana Milbank -WashingtonPost

  ---

20080501
• John McCain - Politics - Book - 2008 Election - Woman - "McCain fields audience question on whether he called wife an expletive." ... "A member of the audience, identified as Marty Parrish of Clive [Iowa], asked [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain during the event at the [Iowa] Polk County Convention Complex about a rumor that McCain had once used a profane word referencing female genitalia to describe his wife." ... "A book, “The Real McCain” by Cliff Schecter, accuses McCain of using the word in an exchange with his wife, Cindy, in 1992." ... "Audience member: This question goes to mental health and mental health care. Previously, I've been married to a woman that was verbally abusive to me. Is it true that you called your wife a (expletive)?" ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain: Now, now. You don't want to... Um, you know that's the great thing about town hall meetings, sir, but we really don't, there's people here who don't respect that kind of language. So I'll move on to the next questioner in the back." ... "Parrish, a 45-year-old Baptist minister and technology business owner, said he attended the event specifically to confront McCain about the rumor." ... "“This is about character,” Parrish said, when reached by telephone afterward. “And in a moment of intemperance, he called his wife the most despicable name a person can call a woman." -DesMoinesRegister

  ---

20080423
• John McCain - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Working - Women - Families - Poverty - Homes - Gasoline - Groceries - Corporate - Politics - Arizona - Nev - Illinois - New York - New Orleans - Louisiana - 2008 Election - "McCain opposes equal pay bill in Senate." ... "Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate and Arizona] Sen. John McCain, campaigning through poverty-stricken cities and towns, said Wednesday he opposes a Senate bill that seeks equal pay for women because it would lead to more lawsuits." ... "Senate Republicans killed the bill Wednesday night on a 56-42 vote that denied the measure the 60 votes needed to advance it to full debate and a vote. [Nevada Democratic Representative and] Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.[Democratic-Nevada], had delayed the vote to give McCain's Democratic rivals, [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Senators of New York and Illinois] Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, time to return to Washington to support the measure, which would make it easier for women to sue their employers for pay discrimination." ... "McCain skipped the vote to campaign in New Orleans [Louisiana]." ... ""Senator McCain has yet again fallen in line with President Bush while middle-class families are falling by the wayside," Clinton said in a statement following the vote. "Women are earning less, but Senator McCain is offering more of the same."" ... "Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Karen Finney said: "At a time when American families are struggling to keep their homes and jobs while paying more for everything from gasoline to groceries, how on Earth would anyone who thinks they can lead our country also think it's acceptable to oppose equal pay for America's mothers, wives and daughters?"" -By Libby Quaid -AP via -SeattlePI 

  ---

  
• Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - Workers - Pay - Legislation - Women - Minorities - 2008 Election - "Republicans block pay discrimination bill." ... "U.S. [United States] Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation to reverse a Supreme Court ruling that makes it tougher for workers to sue for pay discrimination." ... "[2008 Election] Democratic presidential rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton interrupted their campaigns to return to the Senate to vote for the bill. The measure would lift tight time restraints to file claims that could expire before workers realize they were treated unfairly." ... "It is opposed by the [Republican President Bush] White House and business groups, which warn it would trigger an explosion of lawsuits and allow suits to be filed years and even decades after alleged offenses." ... "On average in the United States, women are paid about 23 percent less than men, while minorities receive even less -- despite laws that mandate equal pay for equal work." (1, 2) -By Thomas Ferraro with contributions by Richard Cowan and Peter Cooney -Reuters 

  ---

  
• Mitch McConnell - Corporate - Politicians - Woman - Workers - Law - Kentucky - "Republicans Kill Fair Pay Bill." ... "[Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell and company managed to torpedo a bill that would have undone the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision last year in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, which held that workers can't sue for ongoing pay discrimination if the statute of limitations has passed since their first discriminatory paycheck (even if, as in most cases, workers don't know at the time that they're being discriminated against). This demonstrates a rather breathtaking lack of empathy on the part of Senate Republicans, even by their usual standards: They're defending on the merits a situation in which if your company continually docks your pay because you're a woman, and you don't find out about it for several years, you can't sue to get your lost wages back." ... "Finally, this seems to me like a pretty clear abuse of the filibuster." -By Josh Patashnik -TNR.com 

  ---

20080422
• Women's - Health - Science - Life-Expectancy - Washington - "Life Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women: Historic Reversal, Found in 1,000 Counties, May Be Result of Smoking and Obesity." ... "For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women." ... "In nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today." ... ""I think this is a harbinger. This is not going to be isolated to this set of counties, is my guess," said Christopher J.L. Murray, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Washington who led the study. It is being published in PLoS Medicine [PDF], an open-access journal of the Public Library of Science." ... "The study found a smaller decline, in far fewer places, in the life expectancy of men in this country. In all, longevity is declining for about 4 percent of males." ... "The phenomenon appears to be not only new but distinctly American." ... "Life expectancy is not a direct measure of how long people live. Instead, it is a prediction of how long the average person would live if the death rates at the time of his or her birth lasted a lifetime." ... "About 33 percent of women are now obese, compared with 31 percent of men. Extreme obesity is twice as common in women (7 percent) as in men (3 percent)." (1, 2) -By David Brown -WashingtonPost

  ---

  
• Corporate - Health Care - California - Woman - "Judge Awards Canceled Cancer Patient $9 Million." ... "A woman who had her medical coverage canceled as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer has been awarded more than $9 million in a case against one of California's largest health insurers." ... "Patsy Bates, 52, a hairdresser from Gardena [California], had been left with more than $129,000 in unpaid medical bills when Health Net Inc. canceled her policy in 2004." ... "In fact, she was in the hospital getting prepped for surgery when she first learned Health Net was dropping her." ... "Some of the documents Health Net was forced to hand over revealed that senior analyst, Barbara Fowler, single-handedly dropped hundreds of policy holders like Bates from the rolls every year." ... "The shocker: the company awarded her bonuses based on how many policy holders she dropped." ... "The company called 2003 - the year Fowler dropped Patsy Bates - "a banner year" for her, for saving the company $6 million in what they call "unnecessary health care expenses."" -CBS4.com

  ---

20080421
• Elizabeth Edwards - John McCain - Government - Health Care - Politics - Drugs - Market - Occupations - Firefighting - Telecom - Arizona - 2008 Election - "Elizabeth Edwards On Health Care: ‘This Is Not A Cheap Shot; It Is Potentially Life And Death’." ... [By Elizabeth Edwards:] "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain accused me of taking a “cheap shot” on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” yesterday for noting that people with preexisting conditions, such as he and I have, would not be able to get health care under his plan –- and that he perhaps was not as sensitive to this problem as he should be since he has been in government health care his whole life." ... "[Arizona Senator] Sen. McCain noted that he was not receiving government health care for the six years he was in captivity. That is true. But it has nothing to do with my point — which is that the problem with Sen. McCain’s health care plan is not how it affects us –- but how it affects the tens of millions of Americans with preexisting conditions who, unlike Sen. McCain and myself, do not have the resources to pay for quality health care." ... "That is not a cheap shot, it is a potentially life and death question for tens of million of Americans. And it is a question Sen. McCain must address." ... "McCain’s health care plan is centered around the idea that we’d be better off if more Americans bought health coverage on their own, rather than receiving it through a job or government program. But maybe since he has never purchased insurance in the individual market, he does not know the challenge it presents for Americans with preexisting conditions." ... "A recent study showed that nearly nine out of every ten people seeking individual coverage on the private insurance market never got it. Insurers will disqualify you for just taking certain medicines because of the possibility of future costs, including common drugs as Lipitor, Zocor, Nexium, and Advair. People who have had cancer are denied coverage and those who get cancer run the risk of simply being dropped by their insurer for any excuse that can be found. And insurers make it a practice to deny coverage to individuals in high risk occupations, such as firefighting, lumber work, telecom installation, and pretty much anything more risky than working in an office." -By Elizabeth Edwards -ThinkProgress.org /Wonk Room 

  ---

20080420
• Don Young - Abramoff - Bob Schaffer - Money - Politics - Mariana Islands - Chinese - Garment - Factory - Industry - Labor - Women - Abortion - Human Rights - Investigations - Government - Immigration - Law- History - US - Colorado - Alaska - "Records expose Young-Abramoff ties: MARIANA ISLANDS." ... "[Alaska Republican Represenative] Rep. Don Young has said he never allowed convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to be an influential force over him in Congress." ... "But now a trove of old billing records from two of Abramoff's firms show that his team of lobbyists had more than 120 contacts with Young's personal and committee staffs over 25 months, including at least 10 with Young himself." ... "The available records cover a single Abramoff client, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. [United States] territory in the Pacific that Young oversaw when he chaired the House Resources Committee from 1995 to 2001." ... "The records show that one of the looming concerns of Abramoff and his fellow lobbyists at the time was a bill introduced by Young's fellow Alaskan, [Republican Senator] Sen. Frank Murkowski, to reform labor and immigration practices feeding the island's notorious Chinese-owned sweatshops. In 2000, Murkowski's bill passed the Senate unanimously, but Young stopped it cold in his committee, refusing to hold even a hearing." ... "Investigations by the government, media and human rights groups uncovered widespread abuses in the garment industry and among sex workers there starting in the mid-1990s, but Young asserted those investigations were bogus." ... "As a member of Young's Resources Committee, [Colorado Republican Representative and 2008 Election Colorado Senator Candidate Bob] Schaffer took a free trip to the Mariana Islands arranged by Abramoff's law firm, then played a central role in a 1989 committee hearing investigating Interior department officials in the [Democratic President Bill] Clinton administration who were trying to rein in the Saipan government [Saipan is the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' capital]." ... "A growing number of reports spoke of near slave-labor conditions, with workers kept in sealed compounds, required to work seven days a week without overtime, and sometimes getting no paycheck at all. There were widespread reports of women coerced into getting abortions to keep their jobs. Some women hired abroad found themselves working not in garment factories at all, but sex clubs." -By Richard Mauer -ADN.com

  ---

20080414
• John McCain - Criminal - Abortion - Women - Medical - Law - Parent - Federal - Money - Gay - US - Iraq - Military - 2008 Election - "McCain: More Conservative Than His Image." ... "The likely Republican presidential nominee is much more conservative than voters appear to realize. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain leans to the right on issue after issue, not just on the Iraq war but also on abortion, gay rights, gun control and other issues that matter to his party's social conservatives." ... "_Abortion. McCain promises to appoint judges who, in the mold of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, are likely to limit the reach of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. McCain's record is not spotless on abortion: He said once, in 1999, that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned." ... "But that was an aberration in an otherwise unbroken record of opposing abortion rights for women. McCain voted repeatedly to ban federal funding for abortion; he once voted against Medicaid funds for abortion even in cases of rape or incest." ... "He voted to require parental consent for abortion and voted to criminalize anyone but a parent crossing state lines with a minor to help get an abortion. McCain also supported a ban preventing women in the military from getting abortions with their own money at overseas military hospitals." ... ""I am pro-life and an advocate for the rights of man everywhere in the world," McCain told the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. "Because to be denied liberty is an offense to nature and nature's Creator."" (1, 2) -By Libby Quaid -AP via -WTOPnews.com

  ---

20080410
• American - Women - KBR - Corporate - Government - Criminal - Politics - Military - Iraq - Afghanistan - Florida - Ohio - Texas - "U.S. fails to move on Iraq sexual assault complaints." ... "While working in Iraq as a ''morale coordinator'' for a U.S. [United States] government contractor, a Tampa [Florida] woman says, she was raped by a drunken colleague who secured a key to her apartment from an unlocked storage box." ... "That was in December 2005, and her attorney said he's unaware of any criminal charges in the case." ... "The U.S. Justice Department has the authority to prosecute, but she and at least three other women who say they were assaulted complain of being trapped in legal limbo between a military system that doesn't oversee the private contractors and a justice system that appears unwilling to do so." ... "''American women are vulnerable not only to assault, but to achieving justice,'' said [Florida Democratic Senator] Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat who since December has been pressing the [Republican President] Bush administration for answers over the treatment of U.S. citizens sexually assaulted by contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan." ... "''I'm in a war zone, and I have to worry about my co-workers,'' said Mary Beth Kineston, an Ohio woman who drove a truck in Iraq for Houston[Texas]-based military contractor KBR and said she was raped by another driver." -By Lesley Clark-MiamiHerald via -McClatchyDC.com

  ---

  
• John McCain - Health - History - Senior - Politics - Parents - Women - Education - Science - Money - 2008 Election - WVa - "Dean: McCain's Age Worries Voters: DNC Chair Cites Health, 'Old-Fashioned' Views." ... "Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said Thursday that swing voters participating in focus groups commissioned by the D.N.C. [Democratic National Committee] bring up [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's age unprompted." ... ""We didn't bring it up, but they volunteered it," said Dean who explained that voters have two concerns about McCain's age. "One was a health concern, the other was, and this is really interesting . . . that his views are old-fashioned."" ... "At the age of 72, McCain would be the oldest newly elected president in U.S. [United States] history if inaugurated in 2009." ... "Referring to what Dean characterized as the party's most conservative focus group in Charleston, W. Va. [West Virginia], the DNC chairman said "the women in that group were shocked that [McCain] believed health insurance shouldn't cover birth control pills and they were shocked about his belief in abstinence only education."" (1, 2) -By Teddy Davis and Mike Elmore -ABCNEWS.com 

  ---

20080409
• Bob Schaffer - Jack Abramoff - Criminal - Money - Politician - Abortion - Child - Labor - Female - Textile - Factory - Immigration - Human Rights - Law - History - US - Mariana Islands - 2008 Election - Colorado - Vacation - "Fashhhionating." ... "Earlier today we noted that the [2008 Election] Republican Senate candidate from Colorado, Bob Schaffer, told the Denver Post that America should adopt an immigration and guest labor policy modeled on that of the Mariana Islands (aka the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) -- whose guest worker program is notorious around the world for forced abortion, slavery, child prostitution, sex trafficking, beatings, female workers kept in shacks with no plumbing surrounded by barbed wire and other fun stuff [sarcasm]." ... "TPM Reader AK points out that the folks at ProgressNowAction have done a little digging. And it seems that that back in 1999, when Schaffer was serving in Congress, he went on one of those junkets to the Islands put together by none other than disgraced lobbyist and now-federal inmate Jack Abramoff." ... "Those of you with a clear recollection of the details of the Abramoff scandal will remember that one of Jack's biggest clients was the group of sharks who ran the Marianas sweat shops." ... "They had a great thing going because they were able to slap Made In The USA labels on clothes and other items made in Saipan [Northern Mariana Islands capital] by female guest workers imported from other parts of East Asia to work in sub-Third World labor conditions. That is, when the guest workers weren't busy getting beaten, raped or coerced into having abortions. Jack's job was to find politicians willing to travel with him on junkets to the Marianas, hang out at the casinos and come back to the states and say how well the labor conditions actually there seemed to be." ... "In any case, it was just one of these junkets with Abramoff that then US Rep. Bob Schaffer took back in 1999, which, as it happens, was a year after the release of the Department of Labor report that confirmed the 15 year old sex slave's account." -By Josh Marshall -TalkingPointsMemo.com

  ---

  Watch TPMtv Video update: "... Colorado senate candidate Bob Schaffer (R) says we should remodel our national immigration policy on that of the Mariana Islands -- a program notorious for child prostitution, forced abortions, beatings, slavery, twelve hour days and sex trafficking. Now it turns out he went on a Jack Abramoff junket to the islands and came back saying it was A-OK!" -By Josh Marshall -Veracifier

  ---

20080401
• Girls - Fashion - Politics - Companies- North Carolina - Students - Faith - "Modesty is the new black for girls tired of racy clothes: Teen groups teach the value of covering up." ... "In Charlotte [North Carolina] and across the country, young girls, their mothers and even clothing companies are covering up." ... "Teens and parents fighting over what is appropriate is nothing new. But now, girl-centric groups are working to arm girls with the awareness and self-confidence to say no to the sexy." ... "And in Charlotte, more than 65 high-school students are participating in Pure Fashion, an international faith-based program that recognizes "true beauty."" ... "It was started in 1999 by a lay Catholic group, and has chapters in more than 25 cities, including Raleigh [North Carolina's capital]." -By Rachel Sutherland -Charlotte.com

  ---

20080330
• John McCain - Edwards - Consumer - Laws - Politics - Arizona - Women - 2008 Election - "McCain's health plan fails her test: Neither Elizabeth Edwards, whose cancer is incurable, nor the presumptive Republican presidential nominee would be covered by his policy, she asserts." ... "Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of former [2008 Election] Democratic presidential contender John Edwards, said she and [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain have one thing in common: "Neither one of us would be covered by his health policy."" ... "Edwards lodged her criticism of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee's proposal Saturday at the annual meeting of the Assn. [Association] of Health Care Journalists." ... "Under McCain's plan, insurance companies "wouldn't have to cover preexisting conditions like melanoma and breast cancer," she said." ... "McCain has been treated for melanoma, the most serious type of skin malignancy. Edwards in 2004 was diagnosed with breast cancer, and announced a year ago that it had returned and spread into her bones, meaning it no longer could be cured." ... "His [McCain's health] plan would make it difficult for people with preexisting conditions, but who aren't covered by a government- or job-sponsored plan, to buy individual coverage, Edwards said." ... "Cancer survivors are routinely denied insurance when they try to purchase it as individuals, health experts say." ... "Edwards also criticized McCain's proposal because it would allow companies to sell health insurance across state lines." ... ""... Edwards said the plan would allow insurers to move their headquarters to states in which consumer protection laws are weak." -By Rong-Gong Lin II -LAtimes 

  ---

20080321
• John McCain - Rod Parsley - Racist - Politics - Government - Abortion - Law - Women - Parents - Health - Arizona - Ohio - 2008 Election - "McCain Spiritual Guide Accused Gov't Of Enabling 'Black Genocide'." ... "Reverend Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio -- whom [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain hails as a spiritual adviser -- has suggested on several occasions that the U.S. [United States] government was complicit in facilitating black genocide." ... "In speeches that have gone largely unnoticed, Parsley (who is white) compares Planned Parenthood, the reproductive care and family planning group, to the Klu Klux Klan and Nazis, and describes the American government as enablers of murder for supporting the organization." ... ""If I were call for the sterilization or the elimination of an entire segment of society, I'd be labeled a racists or a murderer, or at very best a Nazi," says Parsley. "That every single year, millions of our tax dollars are funding a national organization built upon that very goal -- their target: African Americans. That's right, the death toll: nearly fifteen hundred African Americans a day. The shocking truth of black genocide."" ... "He goes on." ... ""Right now our own government is allowing organizations like Planned Parenthood to legally take the innocent lives of precious baby girls and baby boys and even footing the bill for it all with our tax dollars, turning every single one of us into accessories to murder," he says. "You know who their biggest fans must be, that must be the Klu Klux Klan, because the woman who founded this organization detested black people.... African Americans were number one on Margaret Sanger's list. So this 'Lady MacDeath,' as I like to call her, studied the works of Englishman Thomas Robert Malthus, and embraced his plan of eugenics."" ... "However, there are issues with Parsley's stats. While black populations in America do have higher abortion rates than white populations, there are far more abortions among white mothers than among blacks." -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

  ---

20080303
• Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John Hagee - Religious - Homosexual - Woman - Politics - 2008 Election - Arizona - Illinois - Texas - "After repeatedly asking Obama about Farrakhan during debate, Russert ignored guest's reference to Hagee's endorsement of McCain on Meet the Press." ... "Summary: On Meet the Press, host Tim Russert ignored Republican strategist Mike Murphy's reference to [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's acceptance of an endorsement by evangelist John Hagee. Russert did not identify Hagee by name or mention Hagee's statements denouncing or disparaging homosexuality, Islam, Catholics, and women. By contrast, during the last Democratic debate, Russert persisted with questions to [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama about Louis Farrakhan's support of Obama, despite Obama's repeated denunciations of Farrakhan's statements." ... "During the March 2 edition of NBC's Meet the Press, host Tim Russert ignored a reference by guest commentator and Republican strategist Mike Murphy to Sen. John McCain's acceptance of an endorsement by evangelist John Hagee, founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas." ... "Nor did he [Tim Russert] mention Hagee's endorsement of McCain, the Catholic League's Bill Donohue's criticism of McCain over the endorsement, or Hagee's controversial statements about, among other topics, homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism, and women. Rather, Russert moved on to a different subject after Murphy finished speaking. By contrast, during the February 26 Democratic primary debate in which he was a moderator, Russert repeatedly asked Sen. Barack Obama about comments made by Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan despite Obama's saying in answer to Russert's first question on the topic: "I have been very clear in my denunciation of Minister Farrakhan's anti-Semitic comments. I think that they are unacceptable and reprehensible" and despite repeating his "denunciation" in response to follow-up questions. Obama had also previously_denouncedFarrakhan's statements." ... "On February 27, Hagee endorsed McCain at a press conference in which the two appeared together. Following Hagee's endorsement, McCain said, "All I can tell you is I'm very proud to have pastor Hagee's support." Subsequently, Donohue_criticized McCain for his failure to repudiate Hagee's support, issuing a statement in which he called Hagee "anti-Catholic" and a "bigot" and stated: "Senator Obama has repudiated the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, another bigot. McCain should follow suit and retract his embrace of Hagee."" -MediaMatters.org

  ---

20080302
• John McCain - John Hagee - Religious - Politician - Terrorism - Women - Arizona - Texas - North Carolina - John Edwards - 2008 Election - Media - "NY Times' standards for Catholic League's Donohue: Three articles for criticism of Edwards, two paragraphs for criticism of McCain." ... "Summary: The New York Times has devoted only two paragraphs and 102 words thus far to Catholic League president Bill Donohue's criticism of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain for his failure to repudiate the support of evangelist John Hagee, who has made statements Donohue considers anti-Catholic, and McCain's ensuing response. By comparison, the Times published three separate articles on Donohue's criticism of former [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and North Carolina Senator] Sen. John Edwards' presidential campaign for hiring two bloggers who Donohue contended were "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots," and the Edwards campaign's subsequent reaction." ... "In its March 1 article on a new Clinton campaign ad, the Times reported:"
"On the Republican side, Mr. McCain defended his endorsement from the Rev. John C. Hagee, an evangelical pastor in Texas. On Thursday, the president of the Catholic League, Bill Donohue, released a statement calling on Mr. McCain to repudiate the endorsement for what Mr. Donohue said was Mr. Hagee's war on the Catholic Church in calling it the "anti-Christ" and "a false cult system."" ... "Mr. McCain responded that he was proud of Mr. Hagee's spiritual leadership and his commitment to Israel, and that "when he endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for or believes in.""
"In addition to the comments about Catholicism highlighted by the Times, Hagee has also made controversial statements about homosexuality, Islam, and women. For instance, investigative journalist Sarah Posner reported in God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters (PoliPointPress, January 2008) that in his book What Every Man Wants in a Woman (Charisma House, 2005), Hagee wrote: "Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist." -MediaMatters.org

---

20080228
• Barack Obama - Tim Russert - John McCain - John Hagee - Religious - Homosexual - Woman - Racist - Book - History - Media - Politics -  - 2008 Election - Illinois - Arizona - Arkansas - Texas - US - Israel - Germany - "Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?" ... "Summary: On February 27, MSNBC devoted significant coverage to an exchange from the most recent Democratic presidential debate in which NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert repeatedly questioned [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama about praise he received from controversial minister Louis Farrakhan, whose statements Obama has denounced. The same day, Pastor John Hagee -- who has made controversial comments about homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism, and women -- endorsed [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain, who embraced Hagee's support. Hagee's endorsement and McCain's response to it raise the question of whether MSNBC will report on them as extensively as it did on Farrakhan's praise." ... "A March 7, 1996, article (accessed via the Nexis database) in the San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:"
"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church [in Texas], last week had announced a "slave sale" to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, "The Cluster."" ... "The item was introduced with the sentence "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave.""
"A July 27, 2006, Wall Street Journal article about Hagee noted the incident:"

"To help students seeking odd jobs, his church newsletter, The Cluster, advertised a "slave" sale. "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone," it said. "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." Mr. Hagee apologized but, in a radio interview, protested about pressure to be "politically correct" and joked that perhaps his pet dog should be called a "canine American.""

"A December 23, 2007, Reuters news article on former Arkansas [Republican Governor and 2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Gov. Mike Huckabee's (R) visit to Hagee's church reported that "some Catholics were angry about the visit." The article noted:"

"In his recent book "Jerusalem Countdown," Hagee wrote: "Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.""

... "Investigative journalist Sara] Posner also noted that in another Hagee text, "Bible Positions on Political Issues," (John Hagee Ministries, 1992) Hagee wrote, "[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family."" -MediaMatters.org

---


• Prison - History - Race - Women - People - Money - Politics - "1 in 100 U.S. Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says." ... "For the first time in the nation’s history, more than one in 100 American adults is behind bars, according to a new report." ... "Nationwide, the prison population grew by 25,000 last year, bringing it to almost 1.6 million. Another 723,000 people are in local jails. The number of American adults is about 230 million, meaning that one in every 99.1 adults is behind bars." ... "Incarceration rates are even higher for some groups. One in 36 Hispanic adults is behind bars, based on Justice Department figures for 2006. One in 15 black adults is, too, as is one in nine black men between the ages of 20 and 34." ... "The report, from the Pew Center on the States, also found that only one in 355 white women between the ages of 35 and 39 are behind bars but that one in 100 black women are." ... "With money from bonds and the federal government included, total state spending on corrections last year was $49 billion." -By Adam Liptak -NYTimes 

  ---

20080208
• Secretive - Iraqi - Religious - Law - Terrorism - Women - Torture - Executions -  - Human Rights - Police - Politics - "Violations of 'Islamic teachings' take deadly toll on Iraqi women." ... "The images in the Basra [Iraq] police file are nauseating: Page after page of women killed in brutal fashion -- some strangled to death, their faces disfigured; others beheaded. All bear signs of torture." ... "The women are killed, police say, because they failed to wear a headscarf or because they ignored other "rules" that secretive fundamentalist groups want to enforce." ... ""Fear, fear is always there," says 30-year-old Safana, an artist and university professor. "We don't know who to be afraid of. Maybe it's a friend or a student you teach. There is no break, no security. I don't know who to be afraid of."" ... "Her fear is justified. Iraq's second-largest city, Basra, is a stronghold of conservative Shia groups. As many as 133 women were killed in Basra last year -- 79 for violation of "Islamic teachings" and 47 for so-called honor killings, according to IRIN [Integrated Regional Information Networks], the news branch of the U.N.'s [United Nation's] Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs." ... "Amnesty International has raised concern about the increasing violence toward women in Iraq, saying abductions, rapes and "honor killings" are on the rise." ... ""Politically active women, those who did not follow a strict dress code, and women [who are] human rights defenders were increasingly at risk of abuses, including by armed groups and religious extremists," Amnesty said in a 2007 report." -By Arwa Damon -CNN 

  ---

20080206
• Secretive - Corporate - Government - Enforcement - Woman - Employee - Safety - Iraq - US - Texas - "Sex Assault Suit Vs. Halliburton Killed: Alleged Sexual Assault Victim's Case Forced Into Secretive Arbitration." ... "A mother of five who says she was sexually harassed and assaulted while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq is headed for a secretive arbitration process rather than being able to present her case in open court." ... "A judge in Texas [District Judge Gray Miller] has ruled that Tracy Barker's case will be heard in arbitration, according to the terms of her initial employment contract." ... "Barker says that while in Iraq she was constantly propositioned by her superior, threatened and isolated after she reported an incident of sexual assault." ... ""When I arrived in Basra [Iraq], there were about five men that worked on the camp for the company I worked for and they were waiting for me," Barker told ABC News in an exclusive interview that aired last December." ... ""I was told they wanted to see what I look like," she said, "to make sure I was decent looking before they approved my transfer."" ... "Tracy says her KBR boss in Basra repeatedly propositioned her and threatened her." ... ""The manager of the camp kept making gestures of how if I wanted my safety to exist on the camp, that I needed to sleep with him, and that's all he kept saying to me," said Barker." ... "In arbitration, there is no public record or transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Tracy's claims will not be heard before a judge and jury." (1, 2, 3) -By Maddy Sauer and Justin Rood -ABCNEWS.com

  ---

20080205
• John McCain - Pat Robertson - Money - Religion- Immigrant - Workers - Women - Abortions - Illegal - Iowa - Ethanol - Air - Environment - US - Global - Climate - History - 2008 Election - "Top McCain Flip-Flops." ... "1. Taxes. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain was one of two Republican senators to vote against [Republican] President Bush's tax cuts of 2001, saying that he could not support cuts that benefited the rich rather than the middle class. He now favors making the tax cuts permanent." ... "2. The religious right. During the 2000 presidential campaign, he attacked [Republican televangelists] Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as "agents of intolerance." He withdrew that remark in a 2006 interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," saying that the Christian right has a "major role to play in the Republican Party."" ... "3. Immigration. Last year, he sponsored a bill that would combine a temporary-worker program and a path to citizenship for many illegal immigrants while also increasing border security. He now emphasizes securing the borders first." ... "4. Roe v. Wade. In August 1999, he told the San Francisco Chronicle that he would "not support repeal of Roe v. Wade" because it would force women to have illegal abortions. He has subsequently said that he was speaking about the need to change the "culture of America" and that he supports the repeal of Roe, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide." ... "5. Ethanol. In 2003, he said that ethanol "does nothing to reduce fuel consumption, nothing to increase our energy independence, nothing to improve air quality." Campaigning in Iowa in August 2006, he described ethanol as a "vital alternative energy source, not only because of our dependency on foreign oil, but its greenhouse-reduction effects."" -WashingtonPost

  ---

20080107
• US Immigrant - Women - Children - Politics - Sacramento - California - US - Mexico - "Abused immigrant spouses may face deportation: U.S. [United States] rethinks its policy of letting them remain here in certain cases." ... "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is re-examining a longtime policy [Violence Against Women Act visas] to let immigrant spouses remain here when their abusive U.S. citizen or permanent-resident spouses refuse to help them obtain legal status." ... "Ana Bertha Arellano, who runs her own Sacramento [California's capital] restaurant and cleans offices all night as a janitor, fears a change in that policy would destroy the safe life she's been struggling to build for herself and her children." ... "Without that protection, Arellano could end up deported by the same U.S. officials who agreed to shelter her from abuse six years ago and legally stay here on a special provisional visa." ... ""I have my own health insurance. I don't take any aid for anything. I don't want anything else but a chance to have some stability for my family," said Arellano, 37, one of the thousands of immigrants, many mothers of U.S.-born children, who could be affected if the policy shifts." ... "Arellano's story, like many, begins with marriage to a husband she loved and with whom she had two children, both born here. But her husband, a permanent resident of the United States, never filed papers to sponsor her for permanent residency, she said." ... "After they were married, she said he told her to cross the border from Mexico illegally in 1997, saying he would submit their application once she got here." ... "Instead, she said, he used her undocumented status to prevent her from complaining about his subsequent beatings and verbal taunts." ... "Beth Hassett, executive director of Women Escaping a Violent Environment, which counsels battered women in Sacramento County, predicted that a hard-line policy will cause immigrant women to remain in violent relationships if coming forward leaves them vulnerable to deportation." (1, 2) -By Susan Ferriss -SacBee.com 

  ---

---

Women's News, Woman News, Women News, Female News, Womens News, Womans News, Women, News, Reference, Source, Woman, issues, female, woman's, women's, womans, womens, issue, issues, womensissues, search, find, herstory, Woman's Symbol, Women's Weblog, Woman's Weblog,

---

Women Weblog: Women's Weblog: Woman Blog:

Abortion Clinic Violence - http://www.msnbc.com/modules/clinics/

• Habitat.org/wb

•  http://witcombe.sbc.edu/eve-women/
• http://witcombe.sbc.edu

 Wired News: Women in Tech - http://www.wired.com/news/women/

 InformationWeek > News > Women In Technology > Leaders Among Leaders > October 9, 2000 - http://www.informationweek.com/807/women.htm

Google Search: women gubernatorial-[News-by date]

 SBA - Women's Business Ownership - http://www.SBA.gov/womeninbusiness

 JAMA Women's Health Information Center - http://www.AMA-Assn.org/special/womh

 The National Women's Health Information Center (NWHIC) - http://www.4Woman.gov

•  Women's Human Rights Resources - [WHRR] - http://www.law-lib.UToronto.ca/diana
•  http://www.law-lib.UToronto.ca/diana/afghanwomen.htm - "Background and Resources: Women in Afghanistan."
• "Women's Human Rights Resources Database." <- citations & annotations
•  Search Full-Text Material Only

 NOW.org - "National Organization for Women."

RAWA.org - "The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)."

 World Wide Web Virtual Library: Women's History: Homepage - http://www.iisg.nl/~womhist/vivalink.html

 Women of the Century - DiscoverySchool.com - http://school.discovery.com/schooladventures/womenofthecentury

---

News Reference Facts Information Sources Intelligence Haven Works !-)

---

Support your local library.

---

Website Web Design: Web Design by Hermit ;-)

---

---

HavenWorks.com content Copyright 1998-2009 Works
HavenWorks.com © Works - All rights reserved.

---

Women News
HavenWorks.com/women