Call for Submissions
The New Agenda needs fresh content for the blog. If you’d like to submit a piece of your writing for publication, please forward it to us at thenewagendapress@yahoo.com.
Help out on The New Agenda Blog
We need several extra pairs of hands to help keep the blog running smoothly. Tasks include moderating comments, editing posts, and assisting authors with posting, if necessary. If you are interested in joining the blog team, email thenewagendapress@yahoo.com
Join our Blog Network
If you are a feminist blogger whose interests and goals align with The New Agenda’s, …

Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics writes a follow-up on Amy’s piece on The Daily Beast about the murder of Aasiya Hassan. In Apples & Oranges?, Bevan relates a news story about another domestic violence homicide, and draws parallels and distinctions between the two incidents:
The two cases are not that far apart in the details: both involved a husband/boyfriend who brutally murdered his wife/girlfriend.  And Suskind’s point is surely true: if a man is intent upon committing violence against a woman – up to and including murder – there is precious …

The Onion made the spoof below about a woman dictator in East Timor being just as bloodthirsty as her male predecessors.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the argument that women wouldn’t behave any better than men once they were in power. “Women are just as vulnerable to corruption and foolhardiness as men,” the refrain seems to go, “and so what would putting more women in power achieve?”
The response that immediately pops to mind is, Well, duh!—it means there will be more women in power.
Because so what if women …

Last Sunday, Canada’s public broadcasting network, the CBC, aired a segment on the radio examining the recession’s effects on women in Canada. Not surprisingly, the effects are quite similar to those women will experience in the U.S.
Listen to the podcast: CBC Radio One — The Sunday Edition February 15th, 2009
Host: Karen Wells
Guests: Kathleen Lahey – Professor of Law at Queens University, founding editor of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, and author of report: Budget 2009, Designed to Leave Women Behind Again.
Ann Decter – Director of Advocacy …

Yesterday, commenter Kathleen left the following response on Violet’s post about the murder of Aasiya Hassan:
Can we stop calling it an “honor” killing? There’s nothing honorable about it. I propose we change it to vanity killing or some other term that more accurately describes the male arrogance behind these kinds of murders.
There’s the rub: culturally-specific details aside, crimes of violence against women are almost invariably crimes of vanity — for what are passion and despair and rage and jealousy but vanity?
As The New Agenda embarks on an initiative to have …

Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, Iceland's Prime Minister
Iceland’s economy has been shattered by the world economic crisis. Its banks’ debts amount to approximately six times the country’s annual GDP. In October, the Icelandic parliament passed legislation to mitigate the crisis and nationalize the country’s three largest banks. It acquired a $2.1 billion loan from the IMF, and raised interest rates to 18% in order to comply with the terms of the loan. By then, Iceland’s currency had tumbled to one third of its previous value.
On January 26, with inflation rising, the economy shrinking, …

New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg (R) – Obama's 17th man
Last Friday we reported speculation that New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg would be Obama’s 16th man, and that Obama would appoint him as Secretary of Commerce in hopes of getting a Democrat appointed to fill his seat in the Senate, thereby giving the Dems the 60-seat majority needed to halt a filibuster.
Today we learned from Jonathan Martin of Politico that Gregg has stated as a condition of his acceptance that a Republican be appointed to replace him:
A source familiar with the …

We hate to seem ungrateful, so let’s begin with this:
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama after he took office. Women everywhere are glad to have those legal rights restored to them that were removed when the Supreme Court decided Ledbetter v. Goodyear in 2007.
So, score one for women, for Obama, and for those early champions of the bill, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Hillary Clinton, among others.
Paycheck Fairness Act
The Ledbetter Act restores rights to women that were stripped …

Andrew Malcolm reports in the L.A. Times “Top of the Ticket” blog that Obama may be preparing to appoint New Hampshire GOP Senator Judd Gregg as Secretary of Commerce in order to open up his seat in Congress, which will allow NH Dem. Governor John Lynch to appoint a Dem. to replace Gregg, giving the Dems the magic number for their Senate majority.
If Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell can’t keep Gregg from leaving, that creates a Senate vacancy, right? And that means the replacement would be named by New Hampshire’s …

Tomorrow morning, Amy Siskind will be interviewed live at 7:15 am EST on how effective she thinks President Obama’s plan will be in creating jobs for women.
We’ll let you know if other air times are added, and we’ll have a clip for you later, if you don’t manage to see it live.
UPDATE: We just heard from CNN that they’re having issues with live interviews in the morning. They’ve postponed Amy’s spot until further notice. We’ll keep you posted.