kpete
kpete's JournalThe NRA NOW has a negative favorability rating
The NRA now has a negative favorability rating, with 42% of voters seeing it positively while 45% have an unfavorable view. That represents a 10 point net decline in the NRA’s favorability from the week before the press conference when a national poll we did found it at 48/41. Its image has taken a hit with both Democrats (from 29/59 to 22/67) and Republicans (71/19 to 66/18).
The NRA’s focus on putting more guns in schools is likely what’s driving the decline in the organization’s image. Only 41% of voters support the organization’s proposal to put armed police officers in schools across the country, with 50% opposed. Democrats (35/57) and independents (38/51) both oppose the push and even among Republicans only a narrow majority (52/39) supports it.
On the broader issue of giving teachers guns, only 27% of voters are supportive with 64% opposed.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/01/images-of-nra-congressional-republicans-on-the-decline.html
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/01/10/veintisiete/
Pat Robertson: "Madam, if I was married to you, I'd start to drink too."
ROBERTSON: It may be your mom isn't as sweet as you think she is. She may be kind of hard-nosed and so he says, my father, he's not paying attention to mom, but is mom ...
WATTS: How are you going to blame the mother?
ROBERTSON: It's easy to blame the mother! You know, a woman came to a preacher that I know—it's so funny—and she was awful looking. I mean her hair was all torn up, and she was overweight and looked terrible, clothes bad, everything. And she said, "Oh, reverend, what can I do? My husband has started to drink." And the preacher looked at her and said, "Madam, if I was married to you, I'd start to drink too."
We need to cultivate romance, darling. And it needs to be the men, have got to be cultivating romance, and the women. You always have to keep that spark of love alive. It just isn't something to just lie there ... Well, I'm married to him so he's got to take me slatternly looking. You've got to fix yourself up, look pretty.
more:
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/robertson-troubled-hard-nosed-slatternly-women-ruining-marriages
Victims in Delhi rape case are to blame, defendants' lawyer says
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
Manohar Lal Sharma said his clients will plead not guilty to all charges tomorrow when they make their next court appearance. His comments come as Indians have reacted with outrage to the opinions of politicians and a religious preacher who have accused westernized women of inviting sexual assaults. Sharma said the male companion of the murdered 23-year-old was "wholly responsible" for the incident as the unmarried couple should not have been on the streets at night.
"Until today I have not seen a single incident or example of rape with a respected lady," Sharma said in an interview at a cafe outside the Supreme Court in India's capital. "Even an underworld don would not like to touch a girl with respect."
Sharma's comments highlight frequently aired attitudes toward women in India. Activists say reporting of sex crimes and police investigations of rape are hindered by a tendency to blame the victim for not following the traditional, conservative social roles ascribed to women.
"This is the mentality which most Indian men are suffering from unfortunately," said Ranjana Kumari, director for the New Delhi-based Centre for Social Research. "That is the mindset that has been perpetrating this crime because they justify it indirectly, you asked for it so it is your responsibility."
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/victims-in-delhi-rape-case-are-to-blame-defendants-lawyer-says-20130110-2ch95.html#ixzz2HUfEBxMH
Barack Obama 'seriously considering' hosting climate summit
Source: Guardian UK
Barack Obama 'seriously considering' hosting climate summit
Campaign groups say US president could use bipartisan summit to launch a national climate strategy
Barack Obama may intervene directly on climate change by hosting a summit at the White House early in his second term, environmental groups say.
They say the White House has given encouraging signals to a proposal for Obama to use the broad-based and bipartisan summit to launch a national climate action strategy.
"What we talked about with the White House is using it as catalyst not just for the development of a national strategy but for mobilising people all over the country at every level," said Bob Doppelt, executive director of the Resource Innovation Group, the Oregon-based thinktank that has been pushing for the high-level meeting. He said it would not be a one-off event.
"What I think has excited the White House is that it does put the president in a leadership role, but it is not aimed at what Congress can do, or what he can do per se, so much as it is aimed at apprising the American public about how they can act."
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jan/09/barack-obama-climate-summit
Walmart refuses to meet VP Biden to talk guns
The White House extended an invitation to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to participate in a meeting Thursday focused on curbing gun violence, but the retailer declined due to a scheduling conflict, a company spokesman said.
The meeting is part of a series of gatherings Vice President Joe Biden is holding this week with a wide range of organizations, including the National Rifle Association and victims’ groups, as he and other administration officials undertake a broad review of gun violence in the wake of the December shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. On Thursday, the vice president is scheduled to sit down with gun owners’ groups, including the NRA, as well as advocates for sportsmen and sportswomen…
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/01/08/wal-mart-declines-a-meeting-with-biden-on-gun-violence/
Why We Hate Congress
WASHINGTON -- Welcome to town, new members of Congress. Now hit the phones.
For an incoming member of Congress still basking in the glow of electoral victory, it's a message that hits those in both parties hard -- the most direct indication that time in the people's chamber will be a bit different from the version taught in civics classes.
For new Democrats, that message was delivered on Nov. 16, barely a week after the election, at an incoming-member orientation held by the House campaign arm.
The amount of time that members of Congress in both parties spend fundraising is widely known to take up an obscene portion of a typical day -- whether it's "call time" spent on the phone with potential donors, or in person at fundraisers in Washington or back home. Seeing it spelled out in black and white, however, can be a jarring experience for a new member, as related by some who attended the November orientation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/call-time-congressional-fundraising_n_2427291.html
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