Archive for October 9th, 2008
Roe V. Wade’s Future Could Be Determined In November
Elders
The future of a woman’s right to an abortion on demand could be cast in November during the presidential election.
The margin of support for Roe v. Wade is down to one U.S. Supreme Court justice with the retirement and replacement of Sandra Day O’Conner by Samuel Alito.
There may be future vacancies on the court, due to retirement or death, that could further tip the balance in favor of anti-abortionists. Justice John Paul Stevens, an abortion rights supporter, for example, is 88-years-old.
Abortion proponents fear that as many as three liberal leaning justices could leave office during the first term of the next president of the United States. Making this election, for those who are strong advocates on one side or the other of this issue, most important.
Joining me on News Talk Online on Paltalk Friday (tomorrow) to discuss the possibility that Roe could be overturned by the Supreme Court will be former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Jones Elders.
Elders briefly served as the surgeon general of the United States under President Bill Clinton. She was confirmed in September 1993 and angered conservatives from the get-go, as she was vocal in her support of sex education, the distribution of condoms in schools, abortion rights, and the medical use of marijuana. It was her December 1994 statement that “masturbation is part of human sexuality and a part of something that perhaps should be taught” that prompted President Clinton to seek and receive her resignation.
Previously, when he was Arkansas governor, Clinton named Elders director of the state’s department of health in. In addition to championing liberal health-related issues, she also sought to provide health care to poor areas and reduce the number of teen pregnancies. She vastly increased the number of children receiving immunizations.
Not all of Elders’s efforts as surgeon general were controversial. She tried to expand the number of certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants to extend health care to poor communities and she also recommended a tax increase on tobacco products. She returned to her teaching position after she resigned as surgeon general.
To talk to Elders at 5 PM New York time Friday October 9 CLICK HERE. There is no charge.
Paltalk is the largest multimedia interactive program on the Internet with more than 4 million unique users.
News Talk Online is also syndicated by CRN Digital Talk Radio to an additional 12 million households.
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Dow Goes Down, People Turn To Sex
Quan
The New York Daily News is reporting that local sex therapists have been treating a lot more patients who find themselves turning to sex at addictive proportions to find relief from the stresses of an economy in crisis.
This implies, of course, that sex isn’t such a good avenue to take when one is uptight about finances. But it sure beats jumping out of a Wall Street window!
Joining us to talk about this “new” phenomenon on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com on Monday October 13 will be a former practitioner of the oldest profession on earth, author and journalist Tracy Quan, who, as of this writing, is preparing a column on this very subject for the Guardian newspaper of London.
Quan, bestselling author of Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl and Diary of a Married Call Girl has just released the third book in the Diary series, Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl. The books are the outgrowth of a popular column Quan authored on Salon.com. Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl is being developed into an HBO comedy series, to be written and produced by Darren Star.
Quan’s books are being published in 14 languages and 15 countries. In addition to the Guardian and Salon, Quan has written for Cosmopolitan, the Financial Times, the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Globe and Mail, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Sun Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the South China Morning Post.
Her Guardian column has looked at sexual themes in the battle over the Statue of Liberty, religious themes in atheism, and the role of pimp chic in the U.S .elections. A member of PONY (Prostitutes of New York), Quan is frequently invited to speak about issues affecting the sex industry.
She has appeared on Larry King Live, The Early Show (CBS), The O’Reilly Factor, The Montel Williams Show, Inside Edition, The Situation with Tucker Carlson, Court TV, and many other local or national shows throughout the U.S., Canada, Sweden and France. Her radio interviews include The Alan Colmes Show, New York & Company, Eye on Books with Bill Thompson, NPR, BBC and CBC.
This will be her second appearance on News Talk Online.
To talk to Quan at 5 PM New York time Monday October 13 CLICK HERE. There is no charge.
Paltalk is the largest multimedia interactive program on the Internet with more than 4 million unique users.
News Talk Online is also syndicated by CRN Digital Talk Radio to an additional 12 million households.
Sheepishly Seeking Cause Of Global Warming
Is the climate change the earth is facing really the fault of humankind?
The coal burning plants that are popping up in China at the rate of one a week are cited by many as a major cause of global warming. So are automobile and plant emissions.
But researchers in Australia are investigating the possibility that the real culprits are … sheep.
That’s right. Sheep.
Sheep belching is, researchers believe, a major contributor to global warming.
So over in Oz, they’re putting masks over the mouths of sheep to record emissions when they belch.
The researchers are trying to measure the amount of methane they release into the atmosphere when they burp.
This is not the first time the gaseous byproduct of sheep has been measured. Scientists previously retrofitted special trousers on sheep in order to record gas emitted on the livestock’s other end.
Can McCain Catch Obama?
McCain needs kyrptonite
Today’s News Talk Online on Paltalk was about the presidential race. And explored whether, given his less-than-overwhelming performance during the second debate, John McCain can catch Barack Obama, if, in fact, the polls that show him lagging are accurate.
Of course, the polls put John Kerry in front of President Bush in the last election. And Al Gore in front of candidate Bush in the one previous. And we see how that played out.
Republican callers to the show expressed optimism that the polling is wrong again this year and that McCain will overtake Obama on Election Day. But Democrats, not surprisingly, suggested that the race is all-but-over and that those who oppose Obama so much had better just get used to the idea that in January, he will occupy the Oval Office.
But it is true that the only poll that really matters is the Election Day vote. And there are some Democrats who fear that the continued reporting of Obama’s lead might cause some from their party to become complacent and not take the time to vote in November.
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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/numberstumper/2925035414/
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The Baumgarten Report 