Saturday: She isn’t Fly, She is Levitation

Morning news junkies!

Story behind this Saturday’s post title, in a nutshell: I can’t get enough of “Fly,” the new Nicki Minaj track featuring Rihanna on the chorus.

Here’s a youtube of the song with the entire lyrics for anyone who’s interested, but for the purpose of this post I’ll just highlight a couple excerpts.

Rihanna’s chorus goes like this:

I came to win, to fight, to conquer, to thrive
I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise
To fly (x2)

The second verse of Nicki rapping starts off like this:

Everybody wanna try to box me in
Suffocating everytime it locks me in
Paint they own pictures then they crop me in
But I will remain where the top begins
Cause I am not a word, I am not a line
I am not a girl that can every be defined
I am not fly, I am levitation

Suffice it to say that “Fly” reminds me of sheroes everywhere…

…including our gal Hillary and the woman standing with her in the photo up top (taken yesterday at the State Department). That would be Yemeni Nobel Prize laureate Tawakkul Karman.

More photos here. If you click over, be sure to scroll all the way through to the last pic where Hillary and Tawakkul embrace each other. It’s worth it.

Speaking of ssheroes across the globe, if you haven’t checked out Vicki Markham’s report at RH Reality Check–the Significance of 7 Billion World Population for Women and the Environment–please make some time for it this weekend. Two quck snippets:

Women and girls are also disproportionately vulnerable to climate change-related natural disasters and face a significant risk of disaster-related fatalities. Following the 2004 Asian tsunami, three-quarters of the fatalities in eight Indonesian villages were women and girls. In the second most affected district in India, Cuddalore, the proportion of female fatalities was nearly 90 percent due to lack of preparedness which is focused more on men and boys.

I was shocked when I read these stats, even though I shouldn’t be by now.

On the flip side, women can also be powerful agents for leadership and change on these issues, not only in their own communities, but also in the international arena if given the opportunity.

• For example: Local grassroots women worldwide are implementing effective programs in their villages to address local environment and public health issues. Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka of Uganda does just that with the innovative NGO she founded, “Conservation Through Public Health”, where she integrates the needs of local villagers to co-exist successfully with the nearby native gorilla population. She helps villagers to not only protect the species and its habitat, but also realize the linked benefits of their own public and reproductive health, education, and livelihoods.

Here at home, Kirsten Gillibrand is showing elected Democrats how it’s Done. Via Good as You:

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) continues to show that backing equality is a great way to earn positive attention. Attention like this truly pro-family article from the New York Daily News:

New York’s junior senator is pushing federal legislation to lift the ban on gay couples and individuals adopting children.
Between New York’s same-sex marriage act and the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the momentum is there for the needed reform, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said.

“This legislation would open thousands of new foster and adoptive homes to children ensuring they are raised in loving families,” Gillibrand said of her “Every Child Deserves a Family Act.”
KEEP READING: Gillibrand: Open Adoption To Gays, Lesbians [NYDN]

Even closer to home for me is the “Great Mosquito Plague of 2011” that has been ravaging Houston. I’m still recovering from several bites myself, and I swear, you couldn’t go anywhere in this town without having a discussion about the darned mosquitoes last week.

Thankfully a cold front has settled in since yesterday and is bringing some relief. At least so far.

Anyhow, I mention the mosquitoes because I thought y’all might enjoy this bit of local coverage on Occupy Houston, via Culturemap — Occupy Houston endures the mosquitos, no-clapping rules and a slow-flow water fountain:

At the urging of Houston City Council Member Jolanda Jones, Occupy Houston protestors have begun to actively participate in local politics by attending Houston City Council meetings.

Occupiers made up most of the audience during one session this week. They chiefly addressed concerns about continuing their occupation of Tranquility Park in comfort, but also weighed in on prevalent, city-wide problems and hot-button issues on the council’s agenda — including the Kroger 380 Agreement.

Protestors made their voices heard in a nearly two-and-a-half hours long public speaking segment. Many council members were absent during the session. Most elected officials who were in attendance spouted platitudes that seemed geared toward reelection rather than action. The video is somewhat agonizing, but extremely entertaining.

Click over to Culturemap for some highlights of what was said.

Quote of the Week

“You can’t be a perfectly lubricated weather vane on the important issues of the day. Romney has been missing in action in terms of showing any kind of leadership.”

— Jon Huntsman, on CNN

This Week in Women’s History (October 23-29)

Happy Birthday Hillary Clinton! Hillary turned 64 on Wednesday:

We here at The Cable would like to send out our warmest birthday wishes to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is 64 years young today.

So how will the secretary be spending her special day? She did two interviews this morning on Iran: an interview on social media with BBC Persia and then an interview VOA Parazit, VOA’s Persian-language station. Clinton then met with Bahraini Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa and joined Deputy Secretary Tom Nides‘ meeting with Iraqi National Security Advisor Faleh al-Fayyad.

“They don’t make hallmark cards for that,” one State Department official told us.

Seemingly in honor of Hillary’s birthday, Samantha Gowen at the OC Register did a slideshow on
“Powerful Women Worldwide”:

Who says it’s a man’s world anymore? Probably not Hillary Clinton, who turns 64 Wednesday, or any of the other women on our list of powerful women.

Today we celebrate Girl Power with a look at other powerful women in the world, from business to politics, news and entertainment.

From Gowen’s write-up on Hillary:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton: In her 64 years, she has made remarkable strides, both for herself and women. The Wellesley College and Yale School of Law graduate was born in Chicago and got an early start in politics at age 13: Raised in a conservative household, she helped canvass in South Side Chicago looking for electoral fraud against presidential candidate Richard Nixon.
…
She married Bill Clinton in 1975 and was first lady of Arkansas during his 10-year stint as governor, then became the first first lady of the U.S. to hold a postgraduate degree. After her husband’s two terms in the White House, she wasn’t done with politics and ran for U.S. Senate in New York in 2000, another first for a first lady.
…
In 2008 she ran for president and despite a strong showing, fell second to Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination. After he was elected, Obama asked Clinton to serve as his secretary of state. Rumors abound for the 2012 election year: Will she move into place as Obama’s vice presidential running mate?

I’ll close with this blurb via Passport magazine, in case you didn’t hear it through the grapewine already:

Could the child of former President Bill Clinton and current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton be considering a run for Congress? Many are reporting that Chelsea has been approached by “the right people” from the New York Democratic Party this year and that the recently married 31-year-old is “actively considering” a run for Congress. Chelsea was involved in her mother’s campaign for President and won over key demographics with her winning personality and knowledge of the issues.

We think today would be a great time for her to announce her run, especially since it’s her mom’s birthday!

Is it too early to start chanting Chelsea 2016? A wonk can dream… *wink*

Well that’s it for me… what’s on your reading list this Saturday?