Palin talks abortion and homosexuality with Couric
couric/palin/ohioThe second part of Katie Couric's interview this week on the campaign with Sarah Palin covered the Republican vice presidential candidate's thoughts on homosexuality, feminism, abortion, evolution, global warming and Joe Biden's age.
Most of the answers involved considerable tap dancing by Palin while Couric steadfastly used follow-up questions to try and get straightforward answers.
Representative of the conversation was Palin's response when Couric asked her a hypothetical question aimed at getting her views on abortion: "If a 15-year-old girl is raped by her father," Couric asked, "do you believe it should be illegal for her to get an abortion -- and why?"
"I am pro-life," Palin said. "And I am unapologetic in my position that I am pro-life. ...Now I would counsel to choose life...."
"But ideally," Couric persisted, "you think it should be illegal for a girl who was raped or the victim of incest to get an abortion?"
"I'm saying that, personally, I would counsel the person to choose life despite horrific, horrific circumstances that this person would find themselves in. ..."
But then she added that she wouldn't want to see anyone sent to jail for having an abortion.
Couric had to ask three times before Palin gave anything approaching a straight answer on whether she condones or condemns the use of the morning-after pill.
"Personally, I would not choose to participate in that kind of contraception," Palin finally said.
When asked if she considered herself a feminist, Palin said, "I do. I'm a feminist who, uh, believes in equal rights and I believe that women certainly have every opportunity that a man has to succeed, and to try and do it all, anyway."
Palin herself brought up the issue of homosexuality as part of a discussion about what kind of church she belongs to in Alaska. She told Couric she belongs to no church but attends several. She tried to knock down published reports that one of them, the Wasilla Bible Church, held a conference which included gays attempting to be made straight through prayer.
"But what you're talking about, I think, (is) my position on homosexuality and (whether) you can pray it away," Palin said. "And you know, I don't know what prayers are worthy of being prayed.... But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my 'gay friend,' she is one of my best friends who happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice I would have made. But I am not going to judge people."
And here's the segment that will probably have Palin supporters complaining about "gotcha journalism" again.
Couric showed a clip of Palin on the campiagn trail getting a laugh at the expense of her opponent Joe Biden's age -- 65.
"You have a 72-year-old running mate, is that kind of a risky thing to say, insinuating that Joe Biden's been around for a while," Couric asked.
"Oh no, it's nothing negative at all," Palin responded. "He's got a alot of experience and (I'm) just stating the fact there. ...I'm the new energy, the new face, the new ideas, and he's got the experience based on many, many years in the Senate ..."
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Palin Gets Escorted to Interviews Now...
Notice that this time she brings McCain with her to Couric?
The Sarah Palin Disney Movie
Remember when Matt Damon said that Sarah Palin's bid for VP was like a Disney movie gone wrong?:
US Economy Crash Felt Internationally
 MSNBC.com |
Asian markets fall sharply at opening
Earlier, Wall Street shook after House rejects $700 billion bailout
The Associated Press
updated 11:16 p.m. ET, Mon., Sept. 29, 2008
TOKYO - The historic carnage on Wall Street spread to Asia Tuesday, with stocks across the region plunging after Congress rejected a rescue plan that investors had hoped would bolster volatile financial markets.
All major stock markets in the region tumbled sharply, succumbing to heightened fears of a broader global credit crisis.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed more than 544 points, or 4.6 percent, to 11,199.07 after losing 1.3 percent Monday.
Key indices in Australia and New Zealand were both down about 4 percent, Seoul's Kospi lost 3.5 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 5.5 percent.
The weighted price index of the Taiwan Stock market, which was closed Monday due to a typhoon, fell 6.1 percent, even after Taiwanese Vice Premier Paul Chiu urged investors to have confidence in the island's export-driven economy and its financial markets.
The selling in Asia came after world stock markets tumbled Monday amid a flurry of government bank rescues in Europe that had investors on edge even before the House voted to reject the Bush administration's rescue plan.
The House of Representatives on Monday defeated a $700 billion emergency bailout package for the U.S. financial system, shocking capital and stock markets around the world. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 777 points, its biggest single-day fall, topping the 684 points it lost on the first day of trading after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The downturn sapped the dollar overnight. The greenback was trading at 103.90 yen Tuesday morning in Asia from above 106 yen a day earlier, adding further pressure on major exporters.
Latin American markets were still open when news that lawmakers on Capitol Hill had rejected the bailout sent investors running for the exits from Mexico City to Buenos Aires.
Stocks in Europe had earlier ended lower, although less dramatically, as market players fretted about the health of the world's financial system, even with a U.S. bailout.
In Latin America, Brazil's main index took the hardest hit, shedding 9.4 percent to end at 46,028, after falling almost 14 percent during the session.
Buenos Aires' Merval index, meanwhile, dropped 8.7 percent to close at 1,545, while Mexico's IPC index slipped 6.4 percent to close at 23,956. Chile's Ipsa index closed down 5.5 percent to 2,631.
The Toronto Stock Exchange, meanwhile, closed down 840 points, or 7 percent to 11,285. It had been down 955 points Monday in the initial reaction to the vote in the House.
Even before the vote in Washington, markets in Europe and Asia were bleak, as a flurry of developments around the world appeared to confirm fears that the global financial contagion is likely to spread further before any recovery.
"There's an increasing realization that the cleanup and the mending of all that's gone wrong is going to take an extended period to work through, and we're going to see an extended recovery period," said Jamie Spiteri, senior dealer at Shaw Stockbroking in Sydney.
The London Stock Exchange FTSE 100 fell 5.3 percent to 4,819, while Germany's DAX dropped 4.2 percent to 5,807 and France's CAC 40 fell 5.0 percent to 3,953.
In Dublin, the Irish Stock Exchange plummeted 13 percent to 3,292 points.
The markets were responding in part to news that Dutch-Belgian banking giant Fortis NV was partially nationalized with a 11.2 billion euros ($16.4 billion) rescue from the governments of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, after investor confidence in the bank disappeared last week.
In other activity across Europe, the British government nationalized mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, taking over the bank's 50 billion pound ($91 billion) mortgage and loan books. In a similar move, the Icelandic government bought a 75 percent stake in Glitnir, the country's third largest bank, for 600 million euros ($878 million) to ensure broader market stability after it suffered liquidity issues.
In Germany, the country's second biggest commercial property lender, Hypo Real Estate Holding AG, said it had secured a multibillion euro line of credit from several banks.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26949764/
Watching America Vote: To Iraqis, it's all the same.
I would be extremely surprised if, for at least the next few decades, Iraq will find a way to break out of the colonial type of government for which the United States has crippled them with. We take away their leader, we take away their way of governance, place them with a faulty democracy that they are unable to manage and expect them to do well? Please.... no wonder they are perhaps the one country that, as a whole, doesn't give a fuck who the US people vote into office this November.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Donate Now: Aid to Haitian Survivor of Hurricanes Ike &Gustav
For the three of you that read this, I would like to let you know about chances to give back. This first example is for my friend Lora, who has made Haiti her passion over the years. to give back, please visit:
Direct Relief: Medical Assistance for Survivors of Hurricane Ike and Gustav
Direct Relief: Medical Assistance for Survivors of Hurricane Ike and Gustav
US House of Rep. Contradicts Itself: India Provided with Nuclear Weapons Material by the US
"Hey Iran, your use of nuclear weapons is WRONG. BAD. IRAN. NAUGHTY. Hey, India, here make some more nuclear weapons. And we trust, that with your volatile history with neighbor Pakistan, that these will NEVER be used to do any harm."
This is essentially it. Read below:
India nuke pact approved in House
This is essentially it. Read below:
India nuke pact approved in House
Critics say this will lead to South Asia arms race; deal goes to Senate
The Associated Press
updated 5:22 p.m. ET, Sat., Sept. 27, 2008
WASHINGTON - The House voted overwhelmingly Saturday to approve a landmark pact that would allow the U.S. to provide nuclear materials to India.
The deal still faces major obstacles in the Senate, making prospects uncertain for passage before President Bush leaves office in January. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the Senate would vote on the accord in the week ahead, possibly Monday.
The House approved the measure by 298-117 without debate in an unusual Saturday session. The accord reverses three decades of U.S. policy by shipping atomic fuel to India in return for international inspections of India's civilian reactors.
Supporters say it would bring India's atomic program under closer scrutiny. Critics say it would boost India's nuclear arsenal and spark an arms race in South Asia.
The accord enjoys strong support from senior lawmakers in both parties. But it has stalled in the Senate because at least one lawmaker has anonymously blocked it from coming to a vote, according to congressional aides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Supporters warn that while Congress argues over the deal, American businesses are losing opportunities as France, Russia and other countries eyed India's multibillion-dollar nuclear market.
Critics say the initiative sends the wrong message to countries like Iran as they pursue atomic programs. India built its bombs outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which provides civilian nuclear trade in exchange for a pledge from nations not to pursue nuclear weapons.
India has refused to sign nonproliferation agreements and has faced a nuclear trade ban since its first atomic test in 1974.
The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group of countries that supply nuclear material and technology agreed this month to lift the ban on civilian nuclear trade with India after contentious talks and some concessions to countries fearful it could set a dangerous precedent.
© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Terrorism and Gender: Afghan Women Victims of Many Taliban Attacks
Afghan woman police director gunned down
The violence occurs the same day as a suicide bomber kills 6
The Associated Press
updated 11:42 a.m. ET, Sun., Sept. 28, 2008
KABUL, Afghanistan - Two gunmen on a motorbike shot and killed a high-ranking woman police official in Afghanistan's largest southern city Sunday, while a suicide bomber killed three police and three civilians in the same region.
Malalai Kakar was traveling from her home in Kandahar city to the office Sunday when she was shot, said Zalmai Ayubi, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor. Her son, 18, was wounded in the attack, he said.
Kakar, 41, was the head of the department of crimes against women in Kandahar city, Ayubi said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility.
Militants frequently attack projects, schools and businesses run by women. The hard-line Taliban regime, which was ousted in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, did not allow women outside the home without a male escort.
President condemns assassination
President Hamid Karzai condemned the assassination, as did the European Union, which said it was "appalled by the brutal targeting" of Kakar.
"Any murder of a police officer is to be condemned, but the killing of a female officer whose service was not only to her country, but to Afghan women, to whom Ms. Kakar served as an example, is particularly abhorrent," the EU said in a statement.
Elsewhere in Kandahar province, a suicide bomber on a motorbike attacked a border police convoy in Spin Boldak district, killing three policemen and three civilians, said the regional border police chief, Abdul Razzaq.
The blast wounded 17 others — all but of them civilians, Razzaq said.
Taliban militants use suicide attacks in their campaign against Afghan and foreign troops in the country. The majority of the victims in such bombings are civilians.
In other violence, an Afghan police official said a U.S.-led coalition killed three civilians in an operation apparently targeting a suicide bomb cell in eastern Afghanistan. That claim was disputed by the coalition, which said its troops killed two al-Qaida militants.
Gen. Abdul Jalal Jalal, the provincial police chief in the eastern province of Kunar, said airstrikes hit a compound in the province's Asmar district, killing three civilians.
The U.S.-led coalition said its troops targeted an al-Qaida cell responsible for a number of bomb attacks in Kunar province.
Civilian deaths a source of tension
The coalition said two militants were killed after a firefight in one of the compounds. It said no civilians were killed. Capt. Scott Miller, a U.S. spokesman, said artillery strikes were used in the fight but no airstrikes.
It was impossible to independently verify either report, due to the remoteness of the area.
Civilian deaths are a highly sensitive topic in Afghanistan. Karzai has long pleaded with international troops to avoid civilian deaths in its operations.
The Afghan government and U.N. say that an Aug. 22 U.S. operation killed some 90 civilians in the western province of Herat, a strike that strained U.S.-Afghan relations.
An original U.S. investigation found that up to 35 militants and seven civilians were killed in that strike. However, a new investigation was opened — and is now under way — after video images emerged appearing to show many more dead than the U.S. had acknowledged.
The coalition said separately that it killed six militants and detained eight in two operations on Saturday.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26927780/
VP Sarah Palin's Position on Pakistan
What is with the VP candidates this election? First Biden admitted that he didn't like an Obama ad and now Sarah Palin says that she supports using military force against Al Queda in Pakistan, which by the way, is the opposite of what McCain wants. Instead, it is Obama's plan.
Now both VP's disagreeing publically with their Pres. pre election is stupid, but at least Biden's disagreement isn't as serious, as, say foreign policy and military action.:
Sarah Palin, quizzed at a cheesesteak place in South Philly ( I think I was at this place a couple of weekends ago. Not a cheesesteak fan so I didn't partake. My friends John and Sasha liked theirs though). Look at what she says, and now look at the BS McCain's camp put out the day after.
Here is a video of her discussing what she would do in Pakistan:
Here is an article about it if you would rather read it. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/28/mccain-retracts-palins-pakistan-comments/
Now, one day later, I have copied below what McCain has said about her statements:
Now both VP's disagreeing publically with their Pres. pre election is stupid, but at least Biden's disagreement isn't as serious, as, say foreign policy and military action.:
Sarah Palin, quizzed at a cheesesteak place in South Philly ( I think I was at this place a couple of weekends ago. Not a cheesesteak fan so I didn't partake. My friends John and Sasha liked theirs though). Look at what she says, and now look at the BS McCain's camp put out the day after.
Here is a video of her discussing what she would do in Pakistan:
Here is an article about it if you would rather read it. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/28/mccain-retracts-palins-pakistan-comments/
Now, one day later, I have copied below what McCain has said about her statements:
WASHINGTON (CNN)— Sen. John McCain retracted Sarah Palin's stance on Pakistan Sunday morning, after the Alaska governor appeared to back Sen. Barack Obama's support for unilateral strikes inside Pakistan against terrorists
"She would not…she understands and has stated repeatedly that we're not going to do anything except in America's national security interest," McCain told ABC's George Stephanopoulos of Palin. "In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's—that's a person's position… This is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitve policy statement made by Governor Palin."
Saturday night, while on a stop for cheesesteaks in South Philadelphia, Palin was questioned by a Temple graduate student about whether the U.S. should cross the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan.
"If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should," Palin said.
During Friday night's presidential debate in Mississippi, Obama took a similar stance and condemned the Bush administration for failing to act on the possibility terrorists are in Pakistan.
"Nobody talked about attacking Pakistan," Obama said after McCain accused the Illinois senator of wanting to announce an invasion. "If the United States has al Qaeda, bin Laden, top-level lieutenants in our sights, and Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act, then we should take them out."
McCain emphasized Sunday, Palin "shares" his view on the matter.
Is it not obvious by now that only do McCain and Palin not know each other, they didn't even take time to make sure they're on the same page? Palin has been criticized by liberals and conservatives alike as not being ready for the job. She is charming and has charisma for days, but does she know ANYTHING about foreign policy?
The Economy Affects Women The Most
| Wall Street Takes Welfare It Begrudges to Women |
| Run Date: 09/24/08 |
| By Mimi Abramovitz WeNews commentator |
The bailout of Wall Street is particularly galling for women on the lower rungs of the economic ladder, says Mimi Abramovitz. They've already spent the past 30 years steadily losing ground without anyone seeming to notice or care. Editor's Note: The following is a commentary. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily the views of Women's eNews. |
|
(WOMENSENEWS)--Today we sit and watch as the high-rolling gamblers and critics of "big government" take welfare. These are many of the same people who thought it was just fine to deprive millions of women of critical resources and let them fend for themselves. Even before the catastrophic news out of Wall Street in recent days, women have been worried about their economic security. Last March a Gallup poll found that in the past two years more women than men said that they worry about the economy (64 percent versus 57 percent). The same holds for health care, crime, the environment, drug use, unemployment, hunger and homelessness. More men are employed by Wall Street and more men have money invested there. That means the male anxiety meter is probably much higher now that they risk losing their jobs, pensions, portfolios and homes. But women's worries have probably shot up even more. Women are likely to lead in the economic-anxiety gap because distressing economic events fall harder on people with less. "I don't play the stock market, but it does affect us. It affects me personally. It affects the little guy," a female dispatch supervisor of a limo company that serves investment bank employees recently told the New York Times. The same holds for all the secretaries and housekeepers who keep investment houses clean and running. Decades of Lost GroundBut what makes the bailout of the fat tomcats so galling is that women at the bottom of the economic ladder have lost ground during the last 30 years, with very few seeming to notice or care. From F.D.R.'s New Deal in the 1930s to L.B.J.'s Great Society in the 1970s, the expansion of government programs for the middle class and the poor--Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, public assistance, as well as health and social services--provided a modest economic backup for women who predominate among recipients. Great Depression leaders who saw government as the solution to that economic crisis bailed out banks in exchange for tighter regulations to curb speculation. But they also created cash-assistance programs that increased women's purchasing power and protected them against economic hardship. Those programs redistributed income downward and expanded the capacity of the federal government to kick-start the economy while cushioning consumers and workers from the vagaries of the market. Beginning with President Carter in the mid 1970s, our leaders changed their tune, blaming economic woes on "big government." Successive administrations relaxed the rules on financial markets and cut funding for the safety net. Benefits Didn't Trickle DownAdvocates of "less government" promised that benefits would "trickle down" to the rest of us. Instead their laissez-faire strategy weakened government benefits, one of the three interlocking pillars of economic support counted on by thousands of women from all walks of life. The Congressional Budget Office recently reported that government spending for domestic discretionary programs fell from a high of 4.8 percent of national output, or gross domestic product, in 1978 to 3.4 percent in 2007. That equals billions of dollars in cuts. Except for rising health care costs, spending on entitlement programs--such as Social Security, unemployment insurance and public assistance--also fell from 8.5 percent of the gross domestic product in 1983 to 7 percent in 2007. During the past eight years, war spending zoomed ahead, bringing us to the present spectacle, where we see U.S. military spending exceeding that of the rest of the world combined. Meanwhile, Bush tax policies diverted dollars from public services and boosted corporate profits to a record high of almost 14 percent of national income while the share going to wages dropped to its lowest level since 1929. Combined with relaxed government oversight and rampant speculation the way was paved for abusive mortgage practices that turned Wall Street into one big profit bubble waiting to pop. With these excesses as a backdrop, women saw their other two pillars of economic security weaken as well: marriage to a wage-earner and paid employment. Falling marriage rates combined with three decades of sagging male breadwinner wages have undercut the capacity of matrimony to provide women with the financial security it once offered. Wobbling Wages and WorkFrom 1979 to 2006, the real value of the median weekly wage of men 25 years and older fell steadily to $797 from $807. The massive entry of women into the work force since World War II--one of the most significant social trends in modern U.S. history--gave them a third pillar of support. But this too is now wobbling. As male wages stagnated many women went to work--not as a matter of choice, as headlines about women opting in and out might suggest--but just to make ends meet. Between 1970 and 2005 the proportion of married couples with two earners jumped to 62 percent from about 46 percent, Labor Department data show. The U.S Women's Bureau finds wives' contribution to family income rose to 35 percent from 26 percent. But many of today's 68 million wage-earning women have recently suffered more job losses than men and a larger drop in wages than the general population, according to the Women's Bureau. In 2006 full-time female workers earned an average of $627 week or about $32,000 a year. While we watch the spectacle of the government channeling untold billions of taxpayer dollars into failing Wall Street giants the three pillars of economic support for women--the safety net, marriage and wages--continue to crumble. The public bailout of corporate America may be necessary given the risks of a collapse to the global economy. But why is it that the rich and reckless accept "welfare" for themselves while steadfastly rejecting the same for women in need? It's time to take a billion here and there to assist the women raising families on too little income to keep a roof over their heads. Mimi Abramovitz, the Bertha Capen Reynolds Professor of Social Policy at Hunter College School of Social Work, is the author of "Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Policy From Colonial Times to the Present," the award-winning "Under Attack, Fighting Back: Women and Welfare in the U.S." and co-author of "Taxes Are A Women's Issue: Reframing the Debate." She is currently writing "Gender Obligations: The History of Low-Income Women's Activism Since 1900." Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org. |
Britney Spears: New Single "Womanizer"
On a completely shallow note..MY Miss Britney is back and better than ever. I always gauged my ability as a social worker with my determination to stick with her no matter how many mistakes she makes.
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