By Bob Parks

Every year, people come out with their "New Year’s Resolutions"; their wish lists of things they hope to either accomplish or see accomplished during the coming year.

As we all know, many of these wishes, or "pledges", are broken within days, so I don’t hold much optimism that these will hold, but there’s nothing wrong with hoping….

The End Of Campaign 2008

Because of the "early" start, many of us are already sick of this campaign season. There are political ads flooding our markets with presidential candidates making promises they know they can’t keep, as they don’t know what the political make up of the Congress will be.

Yet, they’re all over our television sets making promises (and threats), and in the coming months, we’ll "meet" their wives, husbands, and homely kids. They’ll tell us how great we are as Americans, and how much better everything will be if we just trust them with our vote.

Let’s not forget, as we go down this road every four years.

Presidents, outside of during a time of war, have very little to do with our day-to-day lives. The president doesn’t hire all of us. The president doesn’t feed us or pay our rents or mortgages. The president doesn’t heat our homes.

Usually, it’s the Congress that forces us to do things we don’t want to do, and thanks us by taking money directly from our paychecks before we even see them.

But here’s something to watch for.

In the coming months, your local congressional candidates will attempt to show us all their softer sides. However, have you noticed how down right arrogant and mean they can get when while on committees to testifying citizens? These candidates are acting for us now. Too bad they think so little of us they have to "act" in order to get elected.

Hire More Male News Directors

While there’s nothing wrong with having what could be a glut of females at the helm of many news broadcasts, there are many "takes" on news items that are getting real old, especially when "the children" are constantly interjected into the stories.

When a bridge collapses, how will it affect the children? When an assassination occurs overseas, how will it affect the children? When a new bill is introduced on Capitol Hill, how will it affect the children? When Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House, she surrounded herself with children, and it became apparent that all legislation would have them in mind.

Now while there’s nothing wrong with children (that is, until you have some of your own), some of us are getting tired of hearing about the effect some news item will have on "the children". Some of us just want to get the news. Whether or not it will affect the children or not will be up to people who have them.

Maybe if we place less public emphasis on them, they won’t act as if it’s all about them. If a news director or anchor is pregnant, that doesn’t mean we’ll all see a story through the prism of "How will it affect my child."

Just a suggestion.

Less Public Advertisements of ED

Ever notice how you can find more commercials, during primetime, about male member enhancement? Besides the fact that Elvis is probably rolling over in his grave due to the misuse of the song "Viva Las Vegas, I’m growing tired of all the ads during sporting events and early evening viewing for things that make you get bigger.

Seeing imagery of horny old people is kind of gross.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Walt in Entertainment, Feminism, Presidential Race, Social Issues categories at 12:14 AM EST

No Comments »

by Carey Roberts

The greatest controversy during the upcoming political campaign will not be Republican vs. Democrat or conservative against liberal. Rather, the most riveting debate is likely to revolve around the question of whether a female president can better lead the nation than a man. It will be the ultimate Battle of the Sexes, played out in endless bedroom discussions, backyard debates, and newspaper headlines.

Three years ago Marie Wilson wrote a book called Closing the Leadership Gap in which she wrote (somewhat ungrammatically) that the United States "has been steered by male leadership who tend to lead from a self-centered, self-preservation perspective," whereas, "Women…are inclined to lead, their families and nations, from an other-centered perspective."

Hillary Rodham Clinton soon picked up on that theme and began to brag that female officials are more truthful than their male counterparts. At the 2005 Women’s Global Leadership Summit, HRC claimed that "Research shows the presence of women raises the standards of ethical behavior and lowers corruption."

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Walt in Feminism, Politics, Presidential Race categories at 6:26 AM EST

No Comments »

by Carey Roberts

It was one of those claims that only a feminist could dream up: "A 2005 U.N. Population Fund report found that 70% of married women in India were victims of beatings or rape." Despite the lack of credibility of anything that comes from the United Nations, this straight-faced claim actually made its way into a front-page article last week in the Washington Times.

That, despite the fact that the research shows Indian women are the gender more likely to abuse. Plus, no one could track down the UN report that supposedly made the claim. [www.mediaradar.org/alert20061113.php]

The Washington Times is certainly no feminist rag. So what’s going on here?

In the wake of the November 7 electoral debacle, conservatives are doing a lot of soul-searching. Maybe it’s time to assess whether the feminist ideology has been allowed to invidiously dilute the conservative message.

There was a time, of course, when the women’s movement held the moral high ground. Susan B. Anthony not only championed women’s right to vote, but also took a principled stand against abortion.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Walt in Feminism categories at 7:08 AM EST

No Comments »