U.S. Government: Where are the Women?

I can't help but post this recent story by a friend too. Caitlin Johnson wrote a great story for ABC about America's gender politics and Hillary's uphill battle for president. She interviewed Pat Schroeder, Carol Moseley Braun and Geraldine Ferraro, and really did her homework.

For instance, did you know that according to the Inter-parliamentary Union, the United States ranks 67th in female representation in government? According to Moseley Braun, we are behind Rwanda, Sierra Leone and all of Latin America. I had no idea we were so low down and dirty. Why is the national mindset so set against women leaders? Or are there simply far fewer women than men running for office? I'm sure the nuanced reason for the disparity includes our patriarchal past, some male voters' distate for strong women, and the fact that people can't picture an American president fixing her lipstick.

I bet if Hillary were elected, we'd see Reuters and AP photos of her primping before big talks. But to see a male president put on makeup, you have to watch a Michael Moore movie like Fahrenheit 9/11.

Cyrus on my radio

I was annoyed at 3 p.m. today. Because I was working on a story, I couldn't listen to my friend Cyrus Farivar's radio piece, which aired today on the PRI show The World. Then at the ungodly hour of 8:50 p.m., as I was nearing the tail end of my drive home from work, I heard Cyrus's story. My 3 p.m. glum turned into 9 p.m. delight. You can listen to it here - it's a great informative four minutes about audio books read by everyday people and then uploaded to the Internet so everyday people can enjoy them.

In searching for the Web site of The World on Google, I did what I sometimes do when scanning a globe or thumbing through the dictionary. I browsed around. I found the CIA World Factbook, the World Health Organization and Volcano World, "the Web's premiere source of Volcano info." But check this one out, from Wikipedia:

The World is an archipelago of artificial islands, shaped like the continents of the Earth, being constructed off the coast of Dubai. The project is inspired by the artificial Palm Islands also being built in Dubai. The World will consist of 250 to 300 smaller private artificial islands divided into four categories - private homes, estate homes, dream resorts and community islands. The entire project is slated for completion in 2008.

Each island will range from 250,000 to 900,000 square feet (5.74 to 20.66 acres; 23 226m² to 83 613m²) in size, with 50 to 100 metres of water between each island. The development will cover an area of 9 kilometers in length and 6 kilometers in width, surrounded by an oval breakwater. The only means of transportation between the islands will be by boat and helicopter. Each island will cost an estimated average of $25 million USD.