- India Launches Moon Orbiter:
India has launched its first unmanned spacecraft on a mission to the moon, in an effort to assert its power in space. The mission is set to last two years and will prepare a three-dimensional atlas of the moon as well as survey the lunar surface for usable natural resources like uranium, a coveted fuel for nuclear power plants. - Palin Gives Speech Advocating Women:
At a rally in Nevada yesterday, Sarah Palin gave a speech advocating for women's rights the world over. She said, "there are still places where women are subjugated and persecuted as they were in Afghanistan, places we’re they’re bullied and brutalized and murdered in honor killings. . . if I am elected, these women, too, will have an advocate and a defender in the 47th vice president of the United States. She also gave her first interview to CNN. - EU Protests US Death Sentence:
The European parliament is protesting the execution of a prisoner in the US after seven of the nine key witnesses recanted their testimony against him. The head of the EU parliament says that all executions are a violation of human rights and that the prisoner symbolizes all death row inmates. He says he "will fight against the death penalty under any circumstances everywhere in the world."
RED Valentino
Donna Karan
Nicoli
Yes, if I were a woman being persecuted in Afghanistan, I'd look to Sarah Palin as my inspiration for helping me attain more rights.
1Was she advocating for women to have the right to pay for their own rape kits?
2No, Woop, she was advocating impregnated rape victims to carry their children to term, and *then* pay for their rape kits. You gotta get your facts straight.
3She was advocating for more shopping sprees....
4http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/10/palin-wardrobe.html
Ah yes, thanks for clearing that up em.
5I do what I can, Woop.
You've also inspired me to go Christian with my avatar.
There needs to be more hotness around here with all of the ugliness going on in the world.
6It's nice that there's a woman on a National ticket, but I really need her to stop saying she's going to "break the final glass ceiling." The Secret Service is going to have to start looking into it...
7I love it, em! The more Christians (not the religious ones) the better!
8" if I am elected, these women, too, will have an idiot and moron in the 47th vice president of the United States."
9I also had a burning desire to re-watch "3:10 to Yuma" the other day. Love him in that, but it makes me sad.
10Oh, I loved 3:10 to Yuma! LOL, Christian agenda. We should go out and convert the nonbelievers.
11The EU thing- eh, a little embarrassing for us?
12wow... i literally have no comment on the incredible irony of palin as women's advocate.
13No where has she said rape victims can't get an abortion.
It was proven she had no part in the rape kit debacle.
If you are going to hate this woman and spread things on the internet, make sure they are valid at least.
And yeah, because she thinks abortion should be used as bc she wants women to die in honor killings. Sheesh people. Even though I don't support Obama I can appreciate the good he has done and that he isn't a bad person. Come on people, this is getting out of control.
14I agree on all points Great Sommelier. And while we're at it: I have yet to see a professed Christian on here bash the aetheists. This is no way to get undecideds behind your cause, ladies.
I was just signing in to respond to this:
"wow... i literally have no comment on the incredible irony of palin as women's advocate."
I guess it depends on what you consider the definition of 'woman's advocate' to be. If you are pro-choice, fine. But, I would hope that we could all agree that there are more issues facing women today than ONLY abortion.
15GS, I didn't care for Palin before, and even though I'm not a McCain fan, I was pulling for McCain to pick a better running mate (Romney or Hutchinson come to mind). I was at least somewhat willing to say "OK, well maybe McCain knows something else about her that we don't", but the fact that she's STILL spouting off some crazy divisive statements, even with McCain trying to rein her in last week...it's just sad.
...and I'm not going to go through the trouble of posting links about what I've read about her and her stances, since I'm not going to change anyone's mind about her. That's just how my big-city, fake American mind works.
16...and obviously she's going to be anti-honor killing. I don't think anyone who, you know, isn't doing the actual honor killing is pro-honor killing.
17...oh, and you also know she (and the Repubs?) have gone overboard when your bf's staunchly conservative mother is now considering an Obama or independent vote. I think her words were: "OK, so I live in Kansas City, which is a big city in Missouri. Isn't it also a swing state? Doesn't she realize that tons of people who can vote live in KC and St. Louis, which happen to be big cities? I'll be damned if anyone tells me I'm not pro-American."
18The Troy Davis case in Georgia is so horrible - Jimmy Carter and South Africa Archbishop Desmond Tutu have spoken out about it as well, yet at this point, Davis is set to die on October 27th.
19It seems a bit manipulative for her to speak about the women in Afghanistan when she's not exactly a great crusader for women here at home.
20Look at it this way, if Sarah Palin is elected it will be huge for womens equality. She will prove that women can be just as incompetent as male leaders.
21abortion is not the only women's rights issue. It isn't in my top three for world wide women's issues.
22abortion is not the only women's rights issue. It isn't in my top three for world wide women's issues.
23Sorry for the double post. Finger spasm.
24No problem, Fingers of Doom.
What women's issues do you believe Palin is an effective advocate for? I'm curious (not snarkily, sincerely).
25Fair enough A of D!
I think she said it in this statement. Honor killings, oppression, unequal rights.
26Gotcha.
What's her record, as far as things done while in office, to combat our version of those issues, such as domestic violence, unequal pay for equal work, sexual harassment, and sexual assault? I haven't heard much, but I'll be the first to admit that I may simply be wrong.
27I don't give a rip what the EU thinks of our judicial system. Let them cry outrage over whatever they want. If the defendant's lawyers can't get a stay based on this change in evidence, then there must be more to the story.
28This is braod, but these are some of the women's rights Palin is for and has championed:
Women have the right to determine how and where their children will be educated.
Women have the right to determine which doctor and where their children will get healthcare.
Women have a right to be free of oppressive tax burdens which force them into or out of the workplace.
Women have a right to be free of death taxes so they can share the fruits of their labors with their children and/or enjoy the fruits of the labors of their parents.
Women have a right to worship.
Women have a right to bear arms to protect themselves and their family.
Women have a right to speak their minds without fear.
Women have a right to own property and that right should be respected.
Women have a right to vote.
Women have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness just like any man.
Woman have the right to be who they want without fear of retribution from a male family member or neighbor.
And she wants to share these rights with the rest of the women of the world.
29Palin, like a lot of conservative women, don't want special treatment of laws in their favor that basically say they aren't equal and need extra help or backing. Some of these proposed laws will not only not help women, but will actually set them back in the work place.
30I see your points, GS, but I suppose what I'm getting at is that our domestic versions of the horrors she speaks of in Afghanistan are things like domestic violence, sexual abuse, and sexual assault, and besides "Woman have the right to be who they want without fear of retribution from a male family member or neighbor," I don't really see anything in what you've said that shows that she works against such things here.
I don't expect that all female politicians should be crusaders for women's rights specifically, or women's rights as I see them, but when the rape rate in Alaska is so high, I would like to see a bit more action.
31Alaska passed quite a few bits of legislation over the past three years in regards to rape and domestic violence. Palin supported these, but as governor, all she could do was endorse them. I will post a link in a seperate post in case it takes a while to show.
32http://www.andvsa.org/policy/legislation.htm
33Interesting. I'll take a look.
I was doing some reading on the same subject, and here's what I came up with:
"Alaska leads the nation in reported forcible rapes per capita, according to the FBI, 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.
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-based group is an umbrella organization for shelters and anti-violence programs around the state.
Some members of Palin's administration were focused on the issue of sexual violence. Officials in the Department of Public Safety were devising an ambitious, multi-million-dollar initiative to seriously tackle sex crimes in the state, but Palin's office put the plan on hold in July.
Days later, Palin fired its chief proponent, Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.
...
The status of the plan, which would have "fast-tracked" sex crime cases via a dedicated group that included specially-trained investigators, judges and prosecutors, is unknown. "I'd ask the governor," said one official with knowledge of the plan. Numerous inquiries to Palin's campaign spokeswoman went unreturned."
Source: abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5804581&page=1
34Sorry that was so long!
Look, I applaud anyone speaking out, and endorsing the appropriate legislation, but there was more she could do, such as work to significantly increase funding for the prevention and prosecution of sex crimes in her state. We'll have to agree to disagree on this, though, I think.
35Blaming it all on Palin is like the blaming of everything on Bush. Should the federal, state and local Alaskan representatives not be held just as accountable. The disproportionate ratio of women to men compared to other states? The list goes on. Pinning it all on Palin is like saying baby farts were solely responsible for global warming.
p.s. I thought you would enjoy any post with the words "baby farts" in it.
36I'm not pinning it all on Palin, GS. I'm not pinning anything on her besides asking what she's done as governor to reduce the sex crimes. I absolutely wasn't trying to say that Alaska's rape rate was her fault at all.
My sole point was a question of what she has done, appropriate to her job position as first a mayor and then governor, to combat the problem, and whether that was enough. She's not to blame; we just disagree on the significance of what she's done to change it.
Oh, and baby farts?
37Just to follow up... I had to work. For the request for specifics:
Palin did increase funding for WIC and unwed mothers... I'm trying to look for other things. I'll try to get more if I have time.
38Here's more on what was happening in the CDVSA (Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault) in Palin's first year:
www.dps.state.ak.us/CDVSA/docs/AnnualReport2007.pdf
I skimmed the article, and I did see increased funding, etc. for the issues. Admittedly, funding for government programs is not my area of expertise, but it does seem that improvements were made in this area during her first term.
39"Should the federal, state and local Alaskan representatives not be held just as accountable."
They aren't the ones pointing out the world's misdeeds against women and saying with her in office they will have an advocate on their side. Where is the evidence to back up her statements? When has she been a true advocate for women's rights in her previous capacities as mayor and governor?
40Some were pointed out in the previous posts.
41That's nice for Sarah Palin. Meanwhile, she's busy making divisive statements about women here at home, "Our opponents think they have the women’s vote all locked up, which is a little presumptuous since only our side has a woman on the ticket." Really Palin? Women only vote for women? She's actually been very helpful to Obama in the "locking up" the lady vote department:
The new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll: "Women, especially women under age 50, have become increasingly critical of Palin: 60% now express an unfavorable view of Palin, up from 36% in mid-September. Notably, opinions of Palin have a greater impact on voting intentions than do opinions of Joe Biden, Obama's running mate."
WOOT WOOT! Keep it up Palin!
42" She's actually been very helpful to Obama in the "locking up" the lady vote department:"
This statement is just as divisive as you claim hers to be. Both are wrong in my opinion. And again, I will say, I haven't been polled nor any of the women around me. I don't trust polls as far as I can throw them. When it is showing that over 10% more dems are being polled as a whole, none of these are accurate. Also, when you have most of the polls calling it a close race and a few random ones that have it as a blow out, how can you believe any of it?
43Polls are just fancy ways of systematically predictin' what's gonna happen.
44So the debate about Palin being an advocate for women really comes down to a poll? In no way do the results you quoted above support the idea that Palin's tenure as governor was dismissive of women's issues.
And - what has she said that is SPECIFICALLY divisive against women? Not being rude, but I must have missed it.
45I still don't see any substance to the examples above that prove Palin is an advocate for womens rights. The funding for CDVSA mostly comes from the US Treasury and are programs all states have access too. And she said she is an advocate for special needs rights but slashed the budget for funding to those programs in Alaska. I am not sold.
46Palin's running with a guy who openly sneers at the idea that a motner's health is an important consideration in reproduction rights - better for us that she turn her attention to women in other countries.
47How would a governor - who ran on a platform to decrease taxes - pay for programs otherwise?
It is COMPLETELY untrue that she cut funding for people with special needs, (how that is a women's-realted issue, I'm not exactly sure...). True, she did cut the proposed amount from something like 400% to 350%, but that is still considered increased funding.
Sounds like you don't like her fiscal policies - with is totally fine. What is not fine is perpetuating untruths to make a point. I am not a big fan of Palin, but at least I'm basing my decision on facts.
48"Palin's running with a guy who openly sneers at the idea that a motner's health is an important consideration in reproduction rights - better for us that she turn her attention to women in other countries."
So we are back to a women's advocare being someone who is pro-choice. All other issues affecting women are non-issues? I'm a woman, and I disagree.
And you are wrong: Palin and McCain both support abortion in the event that the mother's life is in danger.
Again, I have no problem with not liking a candidate, but please make that decision based on facts.
49Third debate: he sneered very publicly about the mother's health issue. They may claim they support abortion in the event the mother's life is in danger, the question is how would they evaluate the danger? Does she have to be on death's door?
50A woman's advocate does need to respect the woman's right to determine what is best for herself and her child - we don't need an administration taking more of our right to choose for ourselves and redistributing it based on their priorities.
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