Chris Brown On Larry King Live: I Beat Up Rihanna? (Video)

In this video clip from Chris Brown's interview by Larry King, set to air this Wednesday, Brown says he doesn't remember beating the crap out of Rihanna. Now we know why his apology was so late and so lame.

"I'm like, it's crazy to me. I'm like, wow. . I just look at it like, wow. I'm in shock, because that's not who I am as a person…I don't know what to think. It's just like, wow."

When asked about the photo of Rihanna's beaten face:

"When I look at it now, it's just like, wow. I can't believe that that actually happened."


Brown's mom sits by her son's side and tells us that Chris has never been a violent person. Perhaps she also has a memory problem:

However, reports have come out that Brown and Rihanna's relationship was plagued with violence. The couple got in a shoving match in Europe three months prior to the February incident. Also, in January 2009, the couple got into an argument in a car in Barbados, during which Brown exited the vehicle and smashed the driver and passenger side windows.

Brown was sentenced to 5 years of probation and 6 months of community labor, and all for a crime he can't remember.

Misogyny Chris Brown Hate Crime Feminist Politics Gender Terrorism Violence Against Women News

Mad as Hell Doctors to Tour Across the US for Single Payer

The Mad As Hell Doctors begin their cross country campaign for single payer universal health care on September 8, 2009. The doctors are asking people to join their caravan.

The Oregon physicians will stop at numerous cities and towns on their way to D.C. They'll be in Nashville on September 20. See their schedule here.

Obama refuses to meet with the doctors, but they continue to try to change his mind. Help the Mad as Hell Doctors get a meeting with President Obama to discuss single payer (go to the 'Letter to Obama' page).

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Single Payer

Anthony Weiner (D-NY) Discusses Public Option on Fox and Friends (Video)

Anthony Weiner is definitely a rising progressive star.

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Single Payer

Tell Your Rep. to Vote for Anthony Weiner's Single Payer Amendment (HR676)

Finally it's almost time for the vote on Anthony Weiner's Single-Payer Amendment (HR 676) to HR 3200. The last month of debate over health care reform was so idiotic as to be unfit for coverage by the National Inquirer, but, hey, welcome to America. As I recall we had the same moronic Jerry Springer kind of debate last decade, but on the subject of welfare reform. If we get the same kind of health care reform that poor moms and children got with welfare reform, well, empires always fall. At any rate, those who haven't yet thrown up their hands in despair and given up the fight might want to urge their Congress members to vote for the Weiner Single-Payer Amendment in the name of a little hope for saving the health of a very sick nation.

Physicians for a National Health Program offer the letter:

Dear Representative,

I write to urge your support for the Weiner Single-Payer Amendment to HR 3200, which will receive a floor vote in September. The Weiner amendment would replace Division A of HR 3200 with the text of HR 676, the “U.S. National Health Care Act,” sponsored by Rep. John Conyers. This would effectively transform HR 3200 into single-payer legislation. Single-payer is a superior reform to HR 3200 in many ways: * Single payer would provide universal and comprehensive coverage for all medically necessary services. . .

"Come, come, my conservative friend, wipe the dew off your spectacles, and see that the world is moving."

-Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Single Payer U.S. National Health Care Act

Bill Moyers on Progressive Dems and 'the Problem' of the Democratic Party (Video)

On a recent episode of Bill Maher's Real Time, Bill Moyers analyzes "the problem" of the Democratic Party. Moyers notes that progressive Dems are the exception to "the problem." To date, contributions to the progressive Democrats -- who are standing firm for core Democratic values with their commitment to a public option -- are at $407,418. When enough of us support progressive Dems, we will have more of them.


MOYERS: I don’t think the problem is the Republicans . . . .The problem is the Democratic Party. This is a party that has told its progressives -- who are the most outspoken champions of health care reform -- to sit down and shut up. That’s what Rahm Emanuel, the Chief of Staff at the White House, in effect told progressives who stood up as a unit in Congress and said: "no public insurance option, no health care reform."

And I think the reason for that is -- in the time since I was there, 40 years ago, the Democratic Part has become like the Republican Party, deeply influenced by corporate money. I think Rahm Emanuel, who is a clever politician, understands that the money for Obama’s re-election will come from the health care industry, from the drug industry, from Wall Street. And so he’s a corporate Democrat who is determined that there won’t be something in this legislation that will turn off these interests. . . .

You really have essentially -- except for the progressives on the left of the Democratic Party – you really have two corporate parties who in their own way and their own time are serving the interests of basically a narrow set of economic interests in the country -- who, as Glenn Greenwald, who is a great analyst and journalist, wrote just this week: these narrow interests seem to win, determine the outcomes, no matter how many Democrats are elected, no matter who has their hands on the levers of powers, these narrow interests determine the outcomes in Washington, even when they have to run roughshod over the interests of ordinary Americans. I’m sad to say that has happened to the Democratic Party. . .

There’s this fear that Barack Obama will become the Grover Cleveland of this era – Grover Cleveland was a good man, but he became a conservative Democratic President because he didn’t fight the powerful interests – people say Obama should be FDR – I’d much rather see him be Theodore Roosevelt --– Teddy Roosevelt loved to fight – … I think if Obama fought instead of really finessed it so much . . . I think it would change the atmosphere.

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Public Option Democrats

Bill Clinton & Al Gore Push Health Care Reform at Dem Fundraiser in Nashville (Video)

After attending Ted Kennedy's funeral early in the day, Bill Clinton and Al Gore appeared together at the Jackson Day Democratic fundraiser here in Nashvillle on the evening of August 29. Ticket sales for the event were through the roof and the Tennessee Democratic Party raised $600,000.

Clinton and Gore urged the crowd of some 3,000 Democrats to honor the legacy of Ted Kennedy and do whatever it takes to pass health care reform this year.

Thanks to Christian Grantham for the video clip below of Bill Clinton and Al Gore making the case for health care reform to a crowd of enthusiastic Tennessee Democrats. You can see Bill Clinton's entire speech here.

“We need to pass a bill this year. Doing nothing is not only the worst thing we can do for the economy, it’s the worst thing we can do for the country. It’s also the worst thing we can do for the Democrats. Democrats, you stay in there with your congressmen and you get this done.”

-- Bill Clinton

“We have a lot of talk about liberal and conservative, and left and right, but when there are tens of millions of people in our country who can’t get access to health care, we need to pass health care reform this year. Build support for it. Let's give President Obama the victory our country needs.”

-- Al Gore

[The country has] “a moral duty to pass health care reform. This year.”

-- Al Gore

Tennessee Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Public Option

Ted Kennedy's Slow Funeral Procession to Thank Trumpet Player (Video)

Progressive Politics Liberal News Ted Kennedy Funeral

Teddy Kennedy Jr.'s Loving Tribute to His Dad - Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Video)

You would have to have a heart of stone to be unmoved by the many loving tributes paid to Teddy Kennedy. Never mind that the Democratic senator, for nearly half a century, was a liberal hero and champion of civil and human rights for women, blacks, Hispanics, the sick, the poor, the disabled, immigrants, children, and other vulnerable and marginalized groups.

It was the stories from the children that moved me the most. Ted Kennedy lost two siblings by age of 16 and then he lost his two remaining brothers to assassination. Two of his children had cancer and one lost a leg at age 12. As the sole surviving brother, Ted Kennedy served as dad to the orphaned children of his brothers. All told, Teddy Kennedy was dad to almost twenty children. In the video below, Teddy Kennedy Jr. talks about the kind of dad his beloved father was. A box of tissues is highly recommended.


Boston Globe: But today I'm simply compelled to remember Ted Kennedy as my father and my best friend. When I was 12 years old I was diagnosed with bone cancer and a few months after I lost my leg, there was a heavy snowfall over my childhood home outside of Washington D.C. My father went to the garage to get the old Flexible Flyer and asked me if I wanted to go sledding down the steep driveway. And I was trying to get used to my new artificial leg and the hill was covered with ice and snow and it wasn't easy for me to walk. And the hill was very slick and as I struggled to walk, I slipped and I fell on the ice and I started to cry and I said "I can't do this." I said, "I'll never be able to climb that hill." And he lifted me in his strong, gentle arms and said something I'll never forget. He said "I know you'll do it, there is nothing you can't do. We're going to climb that hill together, even if it takes us all day."

Sure enough, he held me around my waist and we slowly made it to the top, and, you know, at age 12 losing a leg pretty much seems like the end of the world, but as I climbed onto his back and we flew down the hill that day I knew he was right. I knew I was going to be OK. You see, my father taught me that even our most profound losses are survivable and it is what we do with that loss, our ability to transform it into a positive event, that is one of my father's greatest lessons. He taught me that nothing is impossible.

Part 2 Teddy Kennedy, Jr. video
President Obama’s Eulogy for Ted Kennedy

Progressive Politics Liberal News Ted Kennedy Funeral

She Plays Ball Like A Girl, In the Little League World Series

Katie Reyes is being hailed as "the first girl game-winner" in a Little League World Series game. Katie became the hero with a two-run single that won the game for Canada!

Obviously, precious few girls have been permitted to play. Since 1984, that would be all of 15 girls playing in the Little League World Series. This year, there were all of 2 girls.

As far as we know, the first girl to play in the LLWS was Kathryn Johnston. Back in 1950, she passed as a boy by tucking her hair under her hat and using the nickname "Tubby."

''They didn't know I was a girl, and my brother didn't say anything,'' she said. ''If I had told them my real name, they wouldn't have let me play. So I told them my name was Tubby, from the male character in the cartoon strip 'Little Lulu.'

''I played a couple of weeks and then I talked to my coach. I said: 'I really need to tell you something. I'm not a boy. I'm a girl.' He said, 'That's O.K., you're a darned good player.' So I ended up playing the whole season at first base and became sort of a drawing card, because everybody wanted to see a girl play.''


Feminist Politics Gender News Misogyny

AHIP Mobilizes 50,000 Employees to Defeat Public Option

With the added expense of waging war against Tedicare, aka the public option, and all meaningful health care reform, those among us who have health insurance can surely expect premiums to soar. Think Progress reports:

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal reported that AHIP — the multimillion dollar lobbying juggernaut for the health insurance industry — has mobilized 50,000 employees to lobby Congress to defeat the public option.

On a related note, columnist Froma Harrop tells the painful story of her personal experience with a "death panel" run by her private insurer.

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Public Option

Another Blue Dog That Democrats Can Live Without: Rep. Parker Griffith (D-Ala.)

Parker Griffith is yet another Blue Dog Democrat who is doing some outstanding work for the Republican Party. Thank you, Rahm!

Besides "voting against the stimulus, the budget, the climate change bill, cramdown and, in only a little while, health care" this Alabama DINO says he won't support the Democratic Speaker of the House. Sounding just like a chest-beating Republican, Parker Griffith thrills his heavily Republican district by throwing a personal and juvenile insult at Nancy Pelosi:

"I would not vote for her. Someone that divisive and that polarizing cannot bring us together. If she doesn't like it, I've got a gift certificate to the mental health center."

The pity is the Democratic Party actually spent time and money electing this fool. Great plan, Rahm!

Progressive Politics Liberal News BlueDog Nancy Pelosi Alabama

Name The Public Option After Kennedy: Tedicare for All!

I like Kagro's excellent idea of naming the public option after Teddy Kennedy, rather than attaching the liberal lion's name to a mere bill in progress:

Put Kennedy's name on a weakened bill, and you'll likely be able to break the progressive bloc in the House in two seconds flat when "the Kennedy bill" comes out of conference with the individual mandate but no public option, and progressives are faced with having to oppose "the Kennedy bill." As strong as they've been on holding firm in their demands, putting the Kennedy name on a weak bill -- and remember, nothing at all prevents this -- can only drain their resolve. . . [I]t serves us and the Senator's memory better if our essential element -- a strong public option -- carries his name instead. . .

With the Kennedy Health Care Plan intact in the bill, there's no reason the legislative vehicle that creates it cannot also bear his name. But while there's still a fight ahead about just what will be in this bill, if we're going to lend Ted Kennedy's name to something, let it be done in a way that keeps him in the fight to fulfill his vision right to the last, and which keeps his name on people's lips when they are finally able to take their families to the doctor without fear of financial ruin, saying, "We're covered by the Kennedy Plan."

And in the hands of Phoenix Woman, the cold and ambiguous public option becomes a warm teddy:

As both David "Kagro X" Waldman and Jane Hamsher point out, naming a bad bill after Teddy is an insult to his memory. It's better to name the key thing he wanted, the one thing that was non-negotiable to him, after him: The public option. In that spirit, I decided to break out the graphics program and create a little Teddy for Teddy, and call it "Tedicare".

Progressive Politics Liberal News Ted Kennedy Health Care Public Option

Remembering Teddy Kennedy: A Moment of Zen (Video)

Here's a Moment of Zen that remembers liberal Teddy Kennedy and the days when we on the left were beautifully united. This quick Moment of Zen from Bush's State of the Union in 2004 is via Jon Stewart.



Progressive Politics Liberal News Ted Kennedy

A Liberal Plot to Deny Health Care to Republicans, RNC Health Care Survey Says

Just when you think you've heard every possible piece of dirty twisted propaganda about the Democcrats' proposed health care reform plans, comes this gem from the RNC's Health Care Survey Propaganda:

Health Care Public Option Progressive Politics Liberal News

Right-wing Fear Over Nashville's Coming Ban of Discrimination Against Gays

Nashville's non-discrimination ordinance is coming up for a 3rd and final reading by the Metro Council on September 15. The ordinance, which would ban discrimination on account of "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" for Metro employees, has lots of support in the community. It reads:

It is unlawful for the metropolitan government to fail or refuse to hire or promote, or to discharge any individual, because of such individual’s race, religion, creed, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, color, age, and/or disability.

The Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) and their friends over at Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum are beating the bushes and sending out e-mails urging folks to show up at the September 15th council meeting and express opposition. FACT is a state chapter of James Dobson's Family Action Council. From their e-mail (some of it is here):

IT IS CRITICAL THAT CHRISTIANS AND BELIEVERS IN THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY SHOW UP ON THIS ISSUE! The church I mentioned created lapel stickers that had a red heart saying “God knows best” and “Vote No on BL-2009-502.” We will bring stickers on the 15th that have a simple stick figure of a man + a woman if you would like to wear one of those. We do not have the staff to call all the churches in Metro-Davidson County, so it is incumbent upon all of you to help us spread the word.

This is not the first time that Nashville has tried to join the 21st century by banning some of the discrimination against gays and lesbians. This time it looks like we are going to succeed, but one should never underestimate right-wingers. Sane people need to contact their Council members and also show up and make their support for the anti discrimination ordinance visible on September 15. For more info, see Tennessee Equality Project.

Gay Politics Liberal News Tennessee

Ted Kennedy On Health Care, 1978 (Video)

Here's Ted Kennedy in 1978 -- with the passion and fire we are so lacking on health care reform in 2009.

Progressive Politics Liberal News Ted Kennedy Health Care Public Option

Women’s Equality Day

Thanks to Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY) and the women known as second-wave feminists, today is Women's Equality Day. In 1971, the U.S. Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day.

Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971
Designating August 26 of each year as Women’s Equality Day

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex; and

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights: and

WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as Women’s Equality Day, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place.

Take the Women's History Quiz

Take the Women's Equality Day Quiz

Feminist Politics Gender Misogyny Patriarchy News

The Liberal Lion, Ted Kennedy Passes

Senator Edward Kennedy passed late last night. Known as the liberal lion of the Senate, Kennedy could always be counted on to champion and fight for progressive causes. For most of his 47 years in the senate, universal health care was Kennedy's most cherished issue.

Democrats should honor Senator Kennedy by passing his health care bill and naming it the Edward M. Kennedy Universal Health Care Act of 2009.

He was the last of the three famously liberal Kennedy brothers. He was the only one who was not assassinated. Ted Kennedy's passing will no doubt be remembered as the mark of the end of an era.

"We've lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever," the Kennedy family said in a statement. "He loved this country and devoted his life to serving it."

Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy, the youngest Kennedy brother who was left to head the family's political dynasty after his brothers President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated.

And the Dream Shall Never Die

Progressive Politics Liberal News Ted Kennedy

Using Children to Demonize Political Opponents (Photo)

The children pictured here are wearing t-shirts with the word "fascism" printed underneath the famed photo-shopped image of President Obama as Heath Ledger's version of Batman's evil Joker.

The photo of 3 children, who are being used as pawns to send a grown-up political message, was taken on Friday, August 21, 2009 in El Segundo, California, at the office of Congresswoman Jane Harman.

Anything and everything seems to go in politics these days, even using children for the purpose of demonizing political opponents. This is not okay.

Progressive Politics Obama News

Blue Dog John Tanner (Tenn) Disses Public Option

Yet another Tennessee Blue Dog gets some well-deserved attention from the national liberal blogosphere. Rep. John Tanner doesn't think a public option is going to happen. The Blue Dog says there "is not current mass support for the public option."

Survey USA reports that 77 percent of Americans support a public option.

Since 1989 John Tanner has pulled in almost a million bucks from the health care industry.

Blue Texan at Firedoglake has more.

Related: The Denver Post comes out for the public option

Baucus Declares That He Wants "A Public Option, Too"

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Public Option BlueDog Tennessee

Sen. Coburn Tells Woman Crying for Health Care that Gov Is Not the Solution (Video)

The insurance company won't cover the treatment for her husband's traumatic brain injury. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) tells the crying woman that government is not the solution. Senator Coburn also tells the woman that his office will help.


Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care

Harper’s Index: Change

Percentage change since 2002 in average premiums paid to large US health-insurance companies: +87%

Percentage change in the profits of the top ten insurance companies: +428%

Chances that an American bankrupted by medical bills has health insurance: 7 in 10

—Harper’s Index, September 2009

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care

Ralph Nader: Mr. Obama Better Wake Up & Pay Attention to His Base

I missed Bob Herbert's column this week. Ralph Nader did not:

Once again, Bob Herbert senses the disturbing trend: “More and more the president is being seen by his own supporters as someone who would like to please everybody, who is naïve about the prospects for bipartisanship, who believes that his strongest supporters will stay with him because they have nowhere else to go, and who will retreat whenever the Republicans and the corporate crowd come after him.”

Mr. Herbert can speak from authority. He has written many columns over the past 18 months reflecting that “nowhere else to go” attitude. If he is going off the bandwagon, more will follow. Mr. Obama better wake up and pay attention to his base before they either have somewhere else to go or simply stay home. It happened to Clinton in 1994.

Progressive Politics Liberal News

LAPD: Michael Jackson's Death A Homicide

TMZ and MSNBC are reporting that the LAPD just announced that Michael Jackson's death was a homicide. According to MSNBC, the word is that Jackson was given "lethal" doses of various drugs which did cause his death. By all accounts, Dr. Conrad Murray administered those lethal doses. It looks like we are about to have another trial of the century.

Update: AP: Coroner rules Jackson's death homicide

Michael Jackson Politics News

Censoring Lesbian Vampire Killers

From Sociological Images we learn that some stores (Borders!) in the UK are censoring the DVD cover of Lesbian Vampire Killers via a sticker over the word "lesbian."

Killing is fine, sucking blood is okay, just don't mention the vampire's sexual orientation, please. Gawd.

Lesbian Vampire Killers Review

Feminist Politics Gender News Misogyny

Lowe's Pays Out 1.7 Million for Sexual Harassment

Traditionally-male or male-dominated workplaces continue to be the worst offenders in the sexual harassment department. Lowe's is currently paying out 1.7 million to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. If you are being harassed at work, talk to the EEOC.

Feminist Politics Gender Patriarchy News

Daily Kos Poll: Get Ready for a Tough Primary, Jim Cooper

A Daily Kos poll confirms that Congressman Jim Cooper (D-TN) has got to go. The poll finds that 60% of Cooper's constituents disapprove of the Blue Dog's position on health care. Among Democrats, that's 77%. And if the election were held today, a pittance of 36% say they would definitely vote to re-elect the corporate tool.

In the words of kos:

Seriously, cue up a primary challenger. . Cooper is doing the GOP's bidding. Republicans love his work, Democrats and independents don't. And everyone in his district is well aware of the fact. . There is certainly an opening for a strong primary challenge. . . Cooper has two options. He can stop obstructing and get aboard the public option, or he should start gearing up for a tough primary in 2010.

And where is Jim Cooper today? Why, the Blue Dog is having a secret meeting with the Davidson County Republicans!

"How the hell does the killer of the Clinton plan get away surviving in a district like this?" -- salsa0000

Update via firedoglake: Jim Cooper: 16% Approval On Health Care Among Democrats-- A whopping 80% of Democrats in his district favor creating a public option -- which Cooper opposes.
Down with Tyranny: Jim Cooper Redux-- Get Ready For A Nashville Primary
SquareState: Blue Dogs sealing their (losing) fate
Think Progress: 60 percent of Blue Dog Jim Cooper’s constituents disapprove of his actions on health care.
Americablog: Whose side are Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN) on in the health insurance reform debate? Not their constituents.

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Public Option BlueDog Tennessee

Jim Cooper (D-TN) to Meet Privately With GOP on Health Care Reform, But No Town Halls for Constituents

Rep. Jim Cooper, the Blue Dog who worked so hard to destroy the Clinton health care plan is seriously at it again. Cooper now favors a fake public option, aka co-ops.

I just spent an hour trying to find out what kind of meeting Jim Cooper is having in downtown Nashville at the Wild Horse Saloon on August 24th. Red State and DU list it as a Town Hall, but Cooper the Coward has stated that he will have no Town Halls. DU adds that Cooper's staff claim that it's not a Town Hall, but they have no idea what it is! The top secret meeting is not listed on Cooper's website.

Want to discuss health care with Rep. Jim Cooper? If you're a Democrat, you'll have to make an appointment and meet with him behind the closed door of his office. If you're a Republican, the Blue Dog will meet with you and your buddies behind the closed doors of the Wild Horse Saloon at noon on the 24th:

Cooper To Meet Privately With Davidson County GOP On Health Care Reform

While I'm not a fan of the kind of crazed health care Town Halls we've been seeing, they sure beat secretive behind-closed-doors meetings between Blue Dogs and Republicans. Jim Cooper is my Congressperson, and it's worse than having no Congressperson at all. Nashville can do so much better than this. Who is going to step forward and primary this corporate tool?

Protest at Jim Cooper's Nashville Office, 8/22/09

dkos: Jim Cooper Strikes Again

Who is Jim Cooper and Why is he Trying to Kill Health Care Reform?

NashScene: Cooper Under Liberal Attack Again

Ezra Klein: Remembering Jim Cooper

Progressive Politics Liberal News Health Care Public Option BlueDog Nashville

Pray The Devil Back To Hell: About Liberia's Sex Strike (Trailer)

Men were the perpetrators of violence . . The husbands prayed for the end of the war because the end of the war meant the women would end the sex strike.


Feminist Politics Gender Terrorism Patriarchy News

Saving the World’s Women

The New York Times Magazine is a must-read this week. The special issue -- Saving the World’s Women -- is chock full of stories devoted to gender equality. The stories I've read so far:

A New Gender Agenda, an interview with Hillary Clinton: "I happen to believe that the transformation of women’s roles is the last great impediment to universal progress — that we have made progress on many other aspects of human nature that used to be discriminatory bars to people’s full participation. But in too many places and too many ways, the oppression of women stands as a stark reminder of how difficult it is to realize people’s full human potential."

Questions for Madame President: People didn’t think it would happen in Liberia because we are a poor, war-torn country that they thought required a man and a macho person — but the women showed differently, and I must say that I hope we’re proving them wrong.

The Daughter Deficit: It is rarely good to be female anywhere in the developing world today, but in India and China the situation is dire: in those countries, more than 1.5 million fewer girls are born each year than demographics would predict, and more girls die before they turn 5 than would be expected. . Millions more grow up stunted, physically and intellectually, because they are denied the health care and the education that their brothers receive.

The Power of the Purse: Remember the concept of “sisterhood”? That quaint relic of an idea that women owed it to other women to crash through ceilings and navigate a male world? It just might be taking new root in a most unexpected place — among women with money. . these givers are more likely to use their wealth deliberately and systematically to aid women in need. . Behind all this giving lies the theory that helping women and children is the way to change the planet.

And the awesome cover story is by the authors of Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn -- The Women’s Crusade: IN THE 19TH CENTURY, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape. . . The world is awakening to a powerful truth: Women and girls aren’t the problem; they’re the solution. . .

It has long been known that a risk factor for turbulence and violence is the share of a country’s population made up of young people. Now it is emerging that male domination of society is also a risk factor; the reasons aren’t fully understood, but it may be that when women are marginalized the nation takes on the testosterone-laden culture of a military camp or a high-school boys’ locker room. . Indeed, some scholars say they believe the reason Muslim countries have been disproportionately afflicted by terrorism is not Islamic teachings about infidels or violence but rather the low levels of female education and participation in the labor force.

Feminist Politics Gender Terrorism Patriarchy News Misogyny Hillary Clinton

Hillary Vows to 'Banish Sexual Violence'

In an effort to compensate for the woefully inadequate and embarrassing frat boy media coverage of Hillary Rodham Clinton's trip to Africa, the Secretary of State has written an Op-ed over at People.com.

She describes her visit to the rape capital of the world and the efforts she is making to rescue the women and girls of Goma from the unspeakable brutality. I am proud to say that our feminist Secretary of State vows to "banish sexual violence into the dark past, where it belongs."

I visited a hospital run by the organization Heal Africa and met a woman who told me that she was eight months' pregnant when she was attacked. She was at home when a group of men broke in. They took her husband and two of their children and shot them in the front yard, before returning into the house to shoot her other two children. Then they beat and gang-raped her and left her for dead. But she wasn't dead. She fought for life and her neighbors managed to get her to the hospital – 85 kilometers away. . .

There is an old Congolese proverb that says, "No matter how long the night, the day is sure to come." The day must come when the women of the eastern Congo can walk freely again, to tend their fields, play with their children and collect firewood and water without fear.

Feminist Politics Gender Terrorism Patriarchy News Misogyny Africa Hillary Clinton