Neville Brothers: "Yellow Moon"
The Virtual Pub Is Open
[Explanations: lol your fat. pathetic anger bread. hey your gay.]
TFIF, Shakers!
Belly up to the bar,
and name your poison!
Daily Dose of Cute
Ms. Matilda, who is quite genuinely one of the sweetest creatures I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. She is equal parts affectionate, awkward, and silly—and if there is such a think as cat dorks, she is their queen.
Case of the Sads
I has one. For America's millionaires who don't feel rich.
Of the 1000 respondents in a survey by Fidelity Investments, all with at least $1 million in investable assets, 42% said they do not feel rich.I guess the one thing money can't buy is feeling awesome about having money. Or something.
...The group, on average, was valued at $3.5 million.
Photo of the Day
James Franco showers in his tux, because James Franco.
What—did you think that James Franco doesn't wear a tuxedo in the shower? You're so weird.
[Picture via Andy, from a shoot for Vogue Hommes International. H/T to Shaker bgk.]
Number of the Day
[Trigger warning for sexual violence.]
18.9: The percentage of female airmen (nice term, btw) who report having been sexually assaulted since joining the Air Force.
It is one of the most comprehensive studies undertaken by the US military to assess sexual assaults within its ranks, and could become a model for how the military as a whole begins to address the problem, defense officials say.For that reason, among others (e.g. it was a superior officer who committed the crime), there may be statistically significant under-reportage, which means the actual percentage of women who have been sexually assaulted in the Air Force is even higher. (See also.)
While the data suggest the sexual-assault rate in the Air Force is roughly equal to what it is in the broader civilian population, the survey – obtained exclusively by the Monitor – points to unique challenges presented by the culture of the service. The vast majority of crimes are committed by male arimen on female airmen, and nearly half of rape victims said they did not report the crime because they "did not want to cause trouble in their unit."
[Previously on rape in the US military.]
Friday Blogaround
This blogaround brought to you by Shaxco, proudly not profiting from war since 2004.
Recommended Reading:
Lisa: [TW for transphobia, homophobia, and violence] URGENT: Help Stop LGBT Murders in Brazil
noir180: [TW for sexual violence] My Sister's Keeper: A "B" Side for Cleveland, TX
Fannie: [TW for homophobia and violence] Sally Kern Takes Christian Persecution Complex Up a Notch
Brian: [TW for fat hatred and eating discussion] A Radical Idea
David: Bachmann accuses Weiner of trading in 'fiction' on budget. His retort: 'I don't think you want to go there.'
Stephanie: Seriously? These Are the 100 Greatest Female Characters?
Leave your links in comments...
Same Victims; Different Government Failure
[Trigger warning for police corruption; multiple institutional prejudices; rape culture.]
Shaker Anitanola emailed me a heads-up about the report issued by federal investigators following a nearly year-long Justice Department investigation of the New Orleans police department. The Times-Picayune describes the report (viewable here) as "blistering."
Federal investigators who have spent the past 10 months delving into the New Orleans Police Department found routine constitutional violations in several areas of policing in the city, according to a blistering report released this morning by the U.S. Department of Justice.And, much like the neglected levees ensured the most vulnerable population in the city were most effected by Hurricane Katrina, the police department's multiple failures have disproportionately affected marginalized populations:
Officers were too quick to use excessive force on the streets and, too often, neglected to document such use of force after the fact. The investigations that followed were inadequate, even in the most serious cases, when an officer fired his gun, the Justice Department found.
New Orleans police also routinely stop people without any legal basis for doing so, often conducting "pat-down" searches that don't meet the requirements of federal law, investigators concluded.
The patterns of policing in New Orleans are biased against several demographic groups, including black residents, people who don't speak English fluently, gay and transgendered people and women, the report says.Swell.
Additionally, the sex-crimes unit was singled out for criticism after investigators found "the unit's deficiencies are deep."
In many cases, detectives conducted victim interviews with the seeming aim of categorizing the allegations as false, according to the review. The report suggests many more complaints might need to be reinvestigated.Also singled out: The domestic violence unit, which is staffed with only three officers in total, which "means investigators too often don't interview witnesses, according to the report."
Until recently, the NOPD had an "unofficial" policy of not interviewing sexual assault suspects, even if the suspect was identified by a victim, which meant cases were built almost exclusively around the victim's testimony. However, the new commander of the unit has changed this de facto policy -- which is not typical of American police departments -- and he has purchased video equipment for an interrogation room.
...The authors found disconcerting patterns in a series of sexual assault complaints categorized as "Signal 21s," or "miscellaneous incidents." Detectives often emphasized inconsistent statements by victims or gaps in memory, while expressing doubt about their credibility or motives for fabricating an attack, the report said. Detectives seemed to believe many stereotypes about how victims of sexual assault behave.
The neglect of the sex crimes and domestic violence units were so severe that, because the crimes disproportionately affect women, the units' collective failure was "the basis for the Justice Department's findings that the NOPD violates the constitutional rights of women by not properly investigating allegations of violence against them."
The New Orleans police department says it's instituting changes. How reassuring.
I hope for the sake of my sisters and brothers in New Orleans, that promise actually means something. And that, if it doesn't, the Justice Department makes sure changes happen anyway.
A Thought
by Shaker and Shakesville Moderator Aphra_Behn
The difficulty of getting reliable news on Japan's crisis has made me think about why, frankly, everything feels so fucked in the US right now.
Thanks to the GOP, quite simply, USians, whether left or right, have no one we can trust.
The GOP has spent years accusing the media of having liberal bias, whilst simultaneously voting in policies that favored increasing conglomeration and corporate control. They have deregulated it to the point that it is now perfectly legal to knowingly report false news. And this week, they had an "emergency" meeting to attempt to finally dismantle public broadcasting. The result? We can't trust the media.
The GOP has spent years dismantling the New Deal-era protections that held Wall Street in check, that forced honest financial accountings from banks and other lenders. They have stripped labor, environmental, and other regulations that once limited the ill effects of industry. They have granted corporations all the rights of persons with none of the responsibilities. They have stripped consumer protections down to "caveat emptor." The result? We can't trust business.
The GOP has spent years claiming that "government isn't the solution" whenever the Democrats are in office, and claiming to be a leaner, more responsible government when they are in office. In practice, this has meant constant obstructionism under Democrats and thinly-disguised corporate giveaways under Republicans. Under Rove, the GOP took the old art of government cover-up to new heights, proclaiming that disastrous failures were "mission accomplished" and a "heckuva job," never backing down from these assertions, EVER, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The result? We can't trust government.
The GOP has spent years meddling with election laws and political funding regulations, while its corporate donors set up think tanks and astroturf organizations. On everything from gay rights to environmental policy, on political campaigns from local to presidential, they deployed these supposed "experts," "neutral parties," and "concerned citizens." With names invoking research councils, veterans organizations, or serious policy experts, these shadowy organziations choke out the voices of those with genuine knowledge as well as true grassroots movements. The result? We can't trust either "grassroots" or "professional" organizations.
The GOP has spent years belittling colleges and universities as little better than Marxist training camps, full of traitors actively plotting to overthrow the nation. Meanwhile, they have pursued educational policies that have slowly siphoned away public funding for education, particularly targeting aid programs for economically disadvantaged students, as well as research funding. Students end up deep in debt, and universities are forced to turn to more private donors and corporations for funding, eroding their appearance of objectivity. The result? We can't trust academe.
So as Japan shakes and its nuclear reactors face a potential disaster that most of us can't begin to understand clearly, we literally have no one, no body, no entity, that we can turn to, and generally agree, "this entity can be trusted."
On both the right and the left, we feel doubt about every "expert." All opinions have become equal, in part because there are no referees, no cops, no one to step above the fray and guide us. And while I'm a big fan of "question Authority," that doesn't mean much where there is no authority left to question.
I'm not so naive as to romanticize the past, but for much of the 20th century, U.S. political society had enough checks and balances built in that despite the Gulf of Tonkin, despite Watergate, despite all the crap and scandals, we had enough trust in at least some institutions that an environmental crisis did not also provoke an existential crisis as we argued over whether "up" actually did mean "down."
It seems as if today, there are not just two sides to every story, there are six, twelve, an infinite number of sides are represented...all but one.
Ours.
The Best Thing You'll Read All Day
Byron Hurt's "Why I Am a Male Feminist." An excerpt:
I had internalized what I had seen in my home and was slowly becoming what I had disdained as a young boy. Although my mother attempted to teach me better, I, like a lot of boys and men, felt entitled to mistreat the female gender when it benefited me to do so.Go read the whole thing.
After graduating from college, I needed a job. I learned about a new outreach program that was set to launch. It was called the Mentors in Violence Prevention Project. As a student-athlete, I had done community outreach, and the MVP Project seemed like a good gig until I got a real job in my field: journalism.
Founded by Jackson Katz, the MVP Project was designed to use the status of athletes to make gender violence socially unacceptable. When I met with Katz, I didn't realize that the project was a domestic violence prevention program. Had I known that, I wouldn't have gone in for the job interview.
So when Katz explained that they were looking to hire a man to help institutionalize curricula about preventing gender violence at high schools and colleges around the country, I almost walked out the door. But during my interview, Katz asked me an interesting question. "Byron, how does African-American men's violence against African-American women uplift the African-American community?"
No one had ever asked me that question before. As an African-American man who was deeply concerned about race issues, I had never given much thought about how emotional abuse, battering, sexual assault, street harassment and rape could affect an entire community, just as racism does.
...I read books and essays by bell hooks, Patricia Hill Collins, Angela Davis and other feminist writers.
Like most guys, I had bought into the stereotype that all feminists were white, lesbian, unattractive male bashers who hated all men. But after reading the work of these black feminists, I realized that this was far from the truth. After digging into their work, I came to really respect the intelligence, courage and honesty of these women.
Feminists did not hate men. In fact, they loved men. But just as my father had silenced my mother during their arguments to avoid hearing her gripes, men silenced feminists by belittling them in order to dodge hearing the truth about who we are.
...Not only does feminism give woman a voice, but it also clears the way for men to free themselves from the stranglehold of traditional masculinity. When we hurt the women in our lives, we hurt ourselves, and we hurt our community, too.
Quote of the Day
"Unemployment has become a trap, one that's very difficult to escape. There are almost five times as many unemployed workers as there are job openings; the average unemployed worker has been jobless for 37 weeks, a post-World War II record. In short, we're well on the way to creating a permanent underclass of the jobless."—Paul Krugman, who then wonders, "Why doesn't Washington care?"
Which of course is rhetorical, and Krug's got some ideas about that you should definitely read. But, ultimately, I think the broader answer to that question is something I mentioned earlier today already: "That the GOP isn't even pretending to be remotely reasonable anymore underscores how utterly confident they are that they don't need to persuade voters now that they can just buy elections." And much of the Democratic Party, especially the Obama-triangulist-Third Way-Blue Dog-bipartipoop wing, has bought into that paradigm, too.
They don't care because they don't believe they have to anymore.
News from Wisconsin
A Madison judge has issued a restraining order blocking the enforcement of the recently passed anti-union bill.
UPDATE 1: The ruling judge is Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi.
UPDATE 2: The judge says she's not ruling on the merits of the legislation, but on the "not minor detail" of the GOP's failure to issue a meeting notice. (Via @news3jessica.)
It's Delightful, It's Delicious, It's De-Lovely...
...it's De-lurk Day! We haven't had one of these since last July (!), so all you Shaker lurkers who rarely or never pipe up, don't be shy; say hi!
Cheeky devils!
Abortion Audits, Care of the GOP
[Trigger warning for hostility to agency and bodily autonomy.]
The Republican Party is absolutely out of control. As if further evidence was needed that the corporate takeover of the US government was complete, the fact that the GOP isn't even pretending to be remotely reasonable anymore underscores how utterly confident they are that they don't need to persuade voters now that they can just buy elections.
The latest complication in their unfettered onslaught against people with uteri? Abortion audits.
Under a GOP-backed bill expected to sail through the House of Representatives, the Internal Revenue Service would be forced to police how Americans have paid for their abortions. To ensure that taxpayers complied with the law, IRS agents would have to investigate whether certain terminated pregnancies were the result of rape or incest. And one tax expert says that the measure could even lead to questions on tax forms: Have you had an abortion? Did you keep your receipt?Apart from the obvious breach of privacy this would create for women/trans men who had abortions, compelling IRS agents to discuss sexual violence with taxpayers quite evidently risks exposing survivors to potentially triggering work, at a job where such an expectation is wildly inappropriate.
In testimony to a House taxation subcommittee on Wednesday, Thomas Barthold, the chief of staff of the nonpartisan Joint Tax Committee, confirmed that one consequence of the Republicans' "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" would be to turn IRS agents into abortion cops—that is, during an audit, they'd have to determine, from evidence provided by the taxpayer, whether any tax benefit had been inappropriately used to pay for an abortion.
The proposed law, also known as H.R. 3, extends the reach of the Hyde Amendment—which bans federal funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is at stake—into many parts of the federal tax code. In some cases, the law would forbid using tax benefits—like credits or deductions—to pay for abortions or health insurance that covers abortion. If an American who used such a benefit were to be audited, Barthold said, the burden of proof would lie with the taxpayer to provide documentation, for example, that her abortion fell under the rape/incest/life-of-the-mother exception, or that the health insurance she had purchased did not cover abortions.
"Were this to become law, people could end up in an audit, the subject of which could be abortion, rape, and incest," says Christopher Bergin, the head of Tax Analysts, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit tax policy group. "If you pass the law like this, the IRS would be required to enforce it."
There is so much wrong with this single bill, it's almost incomprehensible.
I know the president has a lot on his plate right now, but he really needs to find the time to be the ally to half the population of this country that we were promised he would be. We need loud and prominent opposition, and we need it now.
The GOP Goes After Haywood Jabuzoff
The House of Representatives held an emergency session to debate job creation ending funding for NPR. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) dishes out the snark.
Nevertheless, the House voted to defund NPR. It's basically meaningless since the Senate won't pass it and the president won't sign it, but it does amaze me that the Republicans are willing to go along with a right-wing scam perpetrated by fraudster James O'Keefe. (Actually it doesn't amaze me at all.)
What we're seeing here is a great example of what Digby calls Cokie's Law: It doesn't matter if it's true or not; it's what everyone is talking about.
Transcript, via C&L, below the fold.
Crisis averted, ladies and gentlemen. What a relief. What a relief. I'm glad we got the economy back going, I'm glad we've secured our nuclear power plants, I'm so glad the Americans are back to work. We finally found out our problem. We discovered a target that we can all agree upon.
It's these guys. This is the problem, it's Click & Clack, the Tappet Brothers. We're finally getting rid of them. Thank God we solved this problem for the country. Now let's look at them. Let's look at the record here.
For one, they talk in that Boston accent. Cah tawk? It's a car. It's a car, ladies and gentlemen. I need to call Congresswoman [sic] Capuano whenever they're on the air.
Secondly, they talk about master cylinders and slave cylinders. It's kinky! And so I am glad my Republican friends are finally getting to the bottom of this.
And then with all the giggling and snorting they do every week on their show, it's got to be some kind of a code. They're clearly talking to the Russians or the Chinese or something with all that giggling and snorting.
It is why I'm so relieved that we had this emergency session that we waived the rules of the House to require 72 hours so we finally get these guys off my radio. Click & Clack the Tappet Brothers on Car Talk. I know it. Because these guys clearly are political. Well, I don't know if they're political, they make no sense about most of what they say. But you know, I'm glad we're finally not going to have to listen to them. I'm glad the Republican party finally said enough of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers.
That clearly was what the American people said in campaign 2010, clearly it's in their Contract with America or something, right? Get rid of Click and Clack? It's about time. I have to tell you something, because the last thing we want is informative solutions to how we fix our cars and the Car Talk puzzler. And think about the people we're finally going to put out of work. You know, their customer care rep, Heywouldjoobuzzoff? [sic] (I'll tell you how to spell that later, I say to the stenographer) And the director of ethics, Youlyinsack. All of these guys that are finally going to be taken off the public payroll.
The Republican Party. No one can say they're not in touch. They get it. They understand where the American people are. The American people are not concerned about jobs and the economy, what's going on around the world.
They're staring at their radio, saying get rid of Click and Clack. Finally my Republican friends are doing it. Kudos to you.
Open Thread & News Round-Up: Libya
Here's some of what I've been reading this morning...
CNN—UN Security Council approves no-fly zone in Libya: "Jubilant Libyan rebels in Benghazi erupted with fireworks and gunfire after the U.N. Security Council voted Thursday evening to impose a no-fly zone and permit 'all necessary measures' to protect civilians. The opposition, with devoted but largely untrained and under-equipped units, has suffered military setbacks this week. It has said such international action was necessary for it to have any chance of thwarting Moammar Gadhafi's imminent assault on the rebel stronghold."
New York Times—As UN Backs Military Action in Libya, US Role Is Unclear:
Diplomats said the resolution — which passed with 10 votes, including the United States, and abstentions from Russia, China, Germany, Brazil and India — was written in sweeping terms to allow for a wide range of actions, including strikes on air-defense systems and missile attacks from ships. Military activity could get under way within a matter of hours, they said.Guardian—War in Libya: A Scramble to Action: "If this had been a Bush-era 'coalition of the willing' operation, it could have been put into action quite rapidly. The US would have done all the fighting with a few token British and French planes along for company. But the Obama administration, which tried very hard to avoid this moment, is insistent that the Arabs and Europeans must at least be seen to take the lead, and that will take more time. There is a trade-off between speed and making it look right."
Benghazi erupted in celebration at news of the resolution's passage. "We are embracing each other," said Imam Bugaighis, spokeswoman for the rebel council in Benghazi. "The people are euphoric. Although a bit late, the international society did not let us down."
The vote, which came after rising calls for help from the Arab world and anguished debate in Washington, left unanswered many critical questions about who would take charge, what role the United States would play and whether there was still enough time to stop Colonel Qaddafi from recapturing Benghazi and crushing a rebellion that had once seemed likely to drive him from power.
Foreign Policy—Inside classified Hill briefing, administration spells out war plan for Libya: "Several administration officials held a classified briefing for all senators on Thursday afternoon in the bowels of the Capitol building, leaving lawmakers convinced President Barack Obama is ready to attack Libya but wondering if it isn't too late to help the rebels there."
Politico—Clinton Warns No-Fly Zone Could Require Bombing:
"A no-fly zone requires certain actions taken to protect the planes and the pilots, including bombing targets like the Libyan defense systems," Clinton said in Tunis, her last stop on a trip that also took her to Cairo and Paris.Foreign Policy—Lugar: No-fly zone requires declaration of war: "The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee argued against implementing a no-fly zone over Libya on Thursday, and also said that Congress must pass a formal declaration of war if the Obama administration decides to take that step." Lugar also "opposes military intervention in Libya on the grounds that the nation can't afford it at a time of deep fiscal debt and called on Obama to explain why attacking Libya is in America's national interest. The humanitarian argument just isn't enough, he said."
In all her stops, Clinton's done a mix of stressing the need for democracy in post-revolution Tunisia and Egypt, and pushing for international cooperation in responding to the crisis in Libya. On Thursday, her only full day in Tunisia, Clinton promised that the United States "will stand with you as you make the transition to democracy, prosperity and a better future."
The United States, she said, would support U.N. actions that gain a "broad base of participation, including from Arab nations." Military action might be needed, she said, but ground intervention is not being considered.
Glenn Greenwald—Obama on presidential war-making powers: "The dangers from unilateral, presidential-decreed wars are highlighted in the Libya situation. There has been very little public discussion (and even less explanation from the President) about the reasons we should do this, what the costs would be on any level, what the end goal would be, how mission creep would be avoided, whether the 'Pottery Barn' rule will apply, or virtually anything else. Public opinion is at best divided on the question if not opposed. Even if you're someone who favors this intervention, what's the rationale for not requiring a debate and vote in Congress over whether the President should be able to commit the nation to a new military conflict?"
Washington Post—Libya declares-cease fire after UN approves intervention: "The Libyan government declared a cease-fire Friday in its battle against rebels seeking to oust longtime leader Moammar Gaddafi, saying it was acting to protect civilians in the wake of a U.N. Security Council resolution that opened the door to military action."
Mother Jones—What Will Happen When the US Attacks Qaddafi?: "The Obama administration—already overstretched occupying two Islamic nations, responding to the Japan crisis, combating a sluggish economy, and battling conservatives at home—has received criticism for its lack of a forceful response to Qaddafi. But there are good reasons to be skeptical of a military intervention: Can another heavy-handed regime change in the Arab world really be to America's, and the world's benefit? Will it work? Is it morally justified?"
Open Thread & News Round-Up: Japan
Here's some of what I've been reading this morning...
BBC—Japan holds minute silence one week on from quake: "Japan has paused for a minute [of] silence one week on from the earthquake and tsunami that has devastated the country."
CNN—Japan's death toll climbs to nearly 7,000: "Japan documented more deaths Friday as Prime Minister Naoto Kan sought to reassure a nation reeling from disaster, saying that he is committed to taking firm control of a 'grave' situation. Japanese paused at the one-week mark following the monster earthquake and ensuing tsunami as the death toll continued its steady climb to 6,911, the National Police Agency reported. Another 10,316 people are missing."
Guardian—Japanese earthquake takes heavy toll on aging population:
The devastating impact of the Japanese earthquake on the country's ageing population was exposed on Thursday as dozens of elderly people were confirmed dead in hospitals and residential homes as heating fuel and medicine ran out.National Geographic—Japan Needs Our Help: "Thousands of people are dead or missing after a deadly earthquake and tsunami shattered much of Japan last Friday. Families have been torn apart, homes and settlements have been destroyed—and now a nuclear disaster threatens the survivors. Governments and international institutions are sending relief aid, rescue teams, and nuclear experts to help Japan in its hour of need. But individuals can also help. Here are some ways to do something for the people of Japan."
In one particularly shocking incident, Japan's self-defence force discovered 128 elderly people abandoned by medical staff at a hospital six miles from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant. Most of them were comatose and 14 died shortly afterwards. Eleven others were reported dead at a retirement home in Kesennuma because of freezing temperatures, six days after 47 of their fellow residents were killed in the tsunami. The surviving residents of the retirement home in Kesennuma were described by its owner, Morimitsu Inawashida, as "alone and under high stress". He said fuel for their kerosene heaters was running out.
Almost a quarter of Japan's population are 65 or over, and hypothermia, dehydration and respiratory diseases are taking hold among the elderly in shelters, many of whom lost their medication when the wave struck, according to Eric Ouannes, general director of Doctors Without Borders' Japan affiliate.
This comes after Japan's elderly people bore the brunt of the initial impact of the quake and tsunami, with many of them unable to flee to higher ground.
CNN—Agency: Japanese nuclear crisis on par with 3 Mile Island: "Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency raised the level for the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Friday from a 4 to 5—putting it on par with the 1979 incident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island. ... Despite the more serious assessment, no expansion of the 12.4-mile (20 kilometer) evacuation zone was necessary, Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy head of the nuclear agency, said at a briefing Friday."
National Geographic—Japan Reactors, Seen From Space: "Satellite pictures reveal damage."
New York Times—Radiation Spread Seen; Frantic Repairs Go On: "The first readings from American data-collection flights over the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan show that the worst contamination has not spread beyond the 19-mile range of highest concern established by Japanese authorities."
CNN—West Coast officials, Obama: Don't worry about radiation risk in US:
Radiation from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan will dissipate over the more than 5,000 miles separating it from California, but eventually it may be detected in small, non-harmful amounts, said Dr. Howard Backer, interim director of the state Department of Public Health.WSBT—Flight from Tokyo sets off O'Hare radiation detectors: "In the last 24 hours, several radiation alarms went off in airports in Chicago, Dallas and Seattle. But according to the Dept of Homeland Security, it was because of the cargo, not any of the passengers or their luggage. A spokesman for American Airlines says it was medical equipment that tripped radiation alarms in Dallas and Chicago."
"We do not anticipate any amounts of radiation that will cause any health effects," Backer said Thursday.
In Washington, President Barack Obama went further in telling Americans not to worry.
"Whether it's the West Coast, Hawaii, Alaska or U.S. territories in the Pacific, we do not expect harmful levels of radiation," Obama said. "That's the judgment of our Nuclear Regulatory Commission and many other experts."
Yes, Please
Tucked into this Politico story about Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's disinterest in a second term in President Obama's cabinet is this intriguing passage:
In private, Clinton often tells friends she's looking forward to a new, lower-stress life, which might include writing another autobiography – this one covering her epic 2008 primary campaign loss to Obama and tumultuous tenure as the nation's top diplomat – teaching, and possibly starting her own foundation which might be focused on promoting international women's rights.The Hillary Clinton Foundation for International Women's Rights? *drools*
