RedTracker: Loretta Lynch Confirmed As US Attorney General

Loretta Lynch is now the US Attorney General, making her America’s chief law officers. Lynch is the first African American woman to hold the post.

Lynch was confirmed in the Senate 56 to 43. All Democrats voted for her, along with 10 Republicans: Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), Thad Cochran (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), Rob Portman (Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).

Sen Ted Cruz (R-Texas), one of Lynch’s loudest critics, was the only senator to miss the vote. Hours earlier, he railed against Lynch for being “unfit” for the job.

‘Today, the Senate finally confirmed Loretta Lynch to be America’s next Attorney General – and America will be better off for it,” President Barack Obama said in a statement. “Loretta’s confirmation ensures that we are better positioned to keep our communities safe, keep our nation secure, and ensure that every American experiences justice under the law.’

Lynch assumes her post after serving as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

 

'India's Daughter' Documentary Of Jyoti Singh Brutal Rape May Be Banned Worldwide

It was our intention to bring AOC readers the full length documentary ‘India’s Daughter’, previously banned in India and YouTube into India. Yesterday, April 16, India’s Supreme Court refused to lift the ban in India, with the next court date on May 27. 

Installing the BBC full video last night, I see that the documentary is now frozen on the BBC Storyville website. This critically important loss of global free speech rights and artistic freedom is nothing less than astonishing, as this acclaimed documentary is now totally caught up in India’s court system, even though it is owned by the BBC/Storyville.

Further research not reported in the Times of India recap of yesterday’s court appearances explains what happened. One of the defense attorneys (who has his own problems if you read further) alleges that the film is ‘outcome of fraud and conspiracy’ hatched by documentary maker Leslee Udwin, BBC and a private news channel with advocate VK Anand.

Frida Kahlo Photographs By Gisèle Freund

Frida Kahlo Photographs By Gisèle Freund See images from the book. 4-2015

In 1950, photographer Gisèle Freund embarked on a two-week trip to Mexico, but she wouldn’t leave until two years later. There she met the legendary couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Welcomed into their home, she immersed herself in their private lives and the cultural and artistic diversity of the country, taking hundreds of photographs. These powerful photographs, among the last taken before Kahlo’s death, bear poignant witness to Frida’s beauty and talent.

Showcasing more than 100 of these rare images, many of which have never been published before, the book also includes previously unpublished commentary by Gisèle Freund about Frida Kahlo, texts by Kahlo’s biographer Gérard de Cortanze and art historian Lorraine Audric, as well as a link to a previously unreleased color film, shot by Freund, showing Diego Rivera at work.

US Ranks Poor 16th In 2015 Social Progress Index

US Ranks Poor 16th In 2015 Social Progress Index

Writing for the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof cites key measures that matter to AOC readers.

The index ranks the United States 30th in life expectancy, 38th in saving children’s lives, and a humiliating 55th in women surviving childbirth. O.K., we know that we have a high homicide rate, but we’re at risk in other ways as well. We have higher traffic fatality rates than 37 other countries, and higher suicide rates than 80.

We also rank 32nd in preventing early marriage, 38th in the equality of our education system, 49th in high school enrollment rates and 87th in cellphone use.

#KodeWithKarlie Kloss | Girls Only Win 20 Scholarships To NYC Flatiron School In Summer 2015

Flatiron School is partnering with Karlie Kloss to create the Kode with Karlie Scholarship. The scholarship will give 20 girls across the country free tuition to Flatiron Pre-College Academy’s Introduction to Software Engineering course.

Mari Malek & Friends By Cliff Watts Stand For Girls In South Sudan

Mari Malek & Friends By Cliff Watts Stand For Girls In South SudanAOC Sensual Rebel

In this series of images by Cliff Watts, Mari Malek is joined by South Sudan sisters Mari Agory, Grace Bol, Rina Kara, Elizabeth Arjok, Nyamouch Girwath, and Nykhor Paul in a visual exploration of their South Sudanese roots, beauty and traditions. The images support Stand 4 Education, the foundation of Mari Malek, in support of educating girls in South Sudan.

Mari Malek by Cliff Watts

Boys Club | Ben & Jerry's Male-Only Flavors | No Death Threats Yet For Amanda McCall | National Review Likes Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard's Exotic Beauty

At Ben & Jerry’s, Ice Cream Celebrates Men Only

Amanda McCall Illustrates The Ben & Jerry’s Obvious Ice Cream Gender Gap AOC Sensual Rebel

Amanda McCall used Buzzfeed’s community forum to launch a tongue-in-cheek critical observation that Ben & Jerry’s prides itself on being a progressive company except not on the subject of honoring women with its celebrity flavors. About 8% or 2 of Ben & Jerry’s more than 20 special flavors have honored women.

So Amanda McCall decided to give the boys club a hand. Clever as it is, McCall’s ingenuity hasn’t gotten the traction it deserves. Surely the cult-figure, bad-ass reputation that Justice Ginsberg enjoys warrants her being honored with proof that Ben & Jerry’s understands that ‘Mad Men’ happened 50 years ago.

So Far No Death Threats For Amanda McCall

As Michelle Goldberg reminds readers recently, a simple and clever boys club challenge like ideas for ice cream can get a feminist writer death threats in today’s toxic, woman-hating culture. Goldberg wrote Feminist writers are so beseiged by online abuse that some have begun to retire.

On the other hand, while digital media has amplified feminist voices, it has also extracted a steep psychic price. Women, urged to tell their stories, are being ferociously punished when they do. Some — particularly women who have the audacity to criticize sexism in the video-game world — have been driven from their homes or forced to cancel public appearances. Fake ads soliciting rough sex have been placed in their names. And, of course, the Twitter harassment never stops. “Being insulted and threatened online is part of my job,” Lindy West, formerly of Jezebel, recently said on “This American Life.” Adds Jamia Wilson, executive director of the feminist advocacy group Women, Action and the Media, “It really can affect the way that people feel about themselves.”

The intimidation of uppidity women hasn’t changed much in the 50 years since Mad Men. I myself was in police protection for a year after the Roe vs Wade decision. Speaking at a panel after the Roe decision, I was asked if I supported it. In a single sentence ‘Yes, I do’, my life became hell as I was stalked at work and in my home by a deranged man assuring me that he would kill me.

In February 2014, Goldberg wrote an even more in-depth piece for The Nation, Feminism’s Toxic Twitter Wars.

National Review calls Hawaii House member Tulsi Gabbard Hip, Beautiful & Exotic. Ooh La La

A new article in the National Review is supposed to focus on the foreign policy stances of Hawaii House member Tulsi Gabbard. But let’s keep our priorities straight. Both the article and lead sentence focus on Gabbard’s physical looks and charisma.I don’t believe they called her sexy.

The Left’s jump on the article — which is short — is a bit jaded, but I fail to see the relevance of her ‘exotic background — she was born in American Samoa and is Hindu as relating to her foreign policy credentials.

FYI National Review, generally-speaking in the grand scheme of things women of color are high-offended by white male privilege use of the word ‘exotic’ to describe them. It doesn’t matter how you feel about it gentlemen; they are offended by the adjective.

Here, this article might help from Psychology Today. What Is ‘Exotic’ Beauty? Where is the line drawn between admiration and discrimination? by Goal Auzeen Saedi Ph D

Breaking News! Clinton Signs Lease

Politico reports that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign headquarters will be at 1 Pierrepont Plaza in Brooklyn Heights New York. The two full floors of the office building are close to 12 subway lines and a dozen bus lines and will be delivered as is.

Clinton’s chief of staff, Huma Abedin, weeks ago toured the building and took a walking tour of the neighborhood to check out its amenities. The campaign now has 15 days from the date of signing to announce a formal candidacy.
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Angelina Jolie Has Second Surgery | Jolie's Impact On BRCA Screening Is Huge

Angelina Jolie shared one more reason why she is among the world’s most admired women, writing an op ed in The New York Times about her latest preventive surgery. Two years ago the world star had a double mastectomy after learning that she carries the BRCA1 gene. Angelina Jolie Pitt, the name she used in today’s op ed, had an 87% risk of getting breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer and lost her mother, grandmother and aunt to cancer.

Jolie’s recent surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes was always part of her health management plan, but a recent blood test and follow-up medical treatment prompted her to act now.

At the time of her double mastectomy, Jolie wrote: ‘I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.’

In today’s piece, Jolie reached out to women, saying ‘I feel feminine and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family. I know my children will never have to say ‘Mom died of ovarian cancer”.

High Impact on Women’s Health

2. In 2014 Dr. Harold Burstein from the Harvard Medical School shared news of Angelina’s impact on women getting checked for BRCA mutations. Calling her first op-ed ‘a model of medical writing’, Dr. Burstein referred to a study at the University of Toronto that examined both an increase in medical screenings and whether the subjects were medically appropriate candidates or just nervous nellies.

Focusing on their own populations in Toronto, the doctors concluded that the number of BRCA! and BRCA2 screenings doubled as a result of her op ed. The candidates for the screenings were ABSOLUTELY women who should be screened. A secondary effect was a strong increase in physician referrals by doctors influenced by the Jolie effect, health workers who probed more deeply into women’s medical histories.

Shailene Woodley Can Stand For Women's Rights Without Being A Feminist, But Does She?

Shailene Woodley Can Stand For Women’s Rights Without Being A Feminist, But Does She?

Rather than jump on Shailene Woodley words and make headlines of her comments to Elle Magazine that she’s not a ‘feminist’, I want to learn more about her — what are her actions.

Does she do anything to help women, or is the plight of the world’s women and children just not on her radar. Her actions will determine what I say next on this exploding topic of whether a young woman in any country considers herself to be a ‘feminist’. This seems to be the new interview question — which just may be divisive in itself.

American women, in particularly have been notoriously absent from international actions for poor women. We have gotten better since 2009, when we were conspicuously absent from the issue except for then Secretary of State Clinton’s total change out of State Department policies on the plight of women globally.

In the coming months we will be tracking this issue with our original focus on Smart Sensuality women: sexy, smart and with great heart. And we will have two lists of women — those who live with a feminist mindset and who don’t, with both lists inspired more by actions than labels.  ~ Anne

Boys Club | Anonymous Kappa Delta Rho Frat Boy Tells Us All To Grow Up & Get Real -- Men Will Be Men

Member of Penn State’s Kappa Delta Rho Defends Fraternity Philadelphia Magazine

When news broke this week that a Penn State fraternity had allegedly run two private Facebook pages where members posted photographs of nude, unconscious women, hazing and other illicit deeds, we, like everyone else, wondered: How could anyone do this? Who could justify such behavior? …

We found a member of Kappa Delta Rho who was willing to talk anonymously about what happened and how fraternity members are reacting to news coverage of the scandal. His remarks offer a glimpse into the mindset at Kappa Delta Rho.

Writer Caitlin Flanagan shares a timely in-depth article The Dark Power of Fraternities, representing a year-long investigation of America’s Greek fraternities written for The Atlantic.  Flanagan explores the sophisticated system for shifting the blame … a system expressed above, as if orchestrated by the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity member from Penn State to underpin Flanagan’s investigation.

France Debates New Fashion Model BMI Laws & Pro-Ana Websites

France Debates New Fashion Model BMI Laws & Pro-Ana Websites

Takedown Of The Supermodels

What the fashion industry has never explained is the reasons why the world’s top models in the late 80s and into the 90s were size 4-6. AOC has written about the topic of size 0 models for years. The downsizing of supermodels like Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and all the glory girls to today’s size 0 and smaller has never explained.

The closest the industry comes is to acknowledging that their embrace of Kate Moss’ ‘heroin chic’ look, one popularized in the mid-1990s, did make vibrant, healthy-looking girls like Crawford and company suddenly undesirable.

In May 1997 President Bill Clinton accused the US fashion industry of portraying heroin use, coupled with emaciated models, androgynous looks and dark circles under their eyes, as glamorous to sell clothes

The glorification of heroin is not creative, it’s destructive,” Clinton said. “It’s not beautiful, it is ugly. And this is not about art, it’s about life and death.

Clinton’s remarks were prompted by the recent death of DavideSorrenti, brother of Mario, who died of a heroin overdose at the age of 20. In a note of irony, Mario photographed Kate Moss, his girlfriend at the time, in the Calvin Klein ‘heroin chic’ Obsession campaign.

Rachel Ignotofsky Makes Art Of Women Scientists

Rachel Ignotofsky Makes Art Of Women Scientists

Coincidentally, Jane Goodall, the world’s most famous conservationist and voice of chaimpanzees is featured in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine in Jane Goodall Is Still Wild At Heart

The Magazine also explored the issue of why there are no few women in science in October 2013. The reasons are many and strikingly NOT exclusively the result of women’s lack of confidence or an inability to juggle work and family. 

Last summer, researchers at Yale published a study proving that physicists, chemists and biologists are likely to view a young male scientist more favorably than a woman with the same qualifications. Presented with identical summaries of the accomplishments of two imaginary applicants, professors at six major research institutions were significantly more willing to offer the man a job. If they did hire the woman, they set her salary, on average, nearly $4,000 lower than the man’s. Surprisingly, female scientists were as biased as their male counterparts.

Madonna Calls Out Gay Men's Misogyny In Out Magazine April 2015 Interview

Madonna Calls Out Gay Men’s Misogyny In Out Magazine April 2015 Interview

Madonna’s comments echo those of 2015 Academy Awards best supporting actress Patricia Arquette, who was criticised loudly for suggesting that multiple groups — including the LGBT community — must stand for women. The debate became one about intersectionality, political correctness,  and white women high-wage earners and not Arquette’s sound argument that all women are entitled to expect support for women’s rights after so many have stood for LGBT rights.