Comments | kvarko: (без темы)

kvarko

(Untitled)

Apr 21, 2008 19:29

Hello from New Zealand! I've wanted to post something for a while, but I haven't had anything much to say. Then this came into the news and I thought it was a reasonable excuse to post. Is this in the US media at all? In NZ, it warranted a 30-second blurb on the TV news and a few inches of ink in the newspaper.Saluton el Nov-Zelando! Mi volis ( Read more... )

new zealand

Comments 6

kvarko April 22 2008, 00:56:12 UTC

Here is the Newsweek article in question. The context was about the emails she receives and the question was whether, among the emails, has she received any good jokes.

kvarko April 22 2008, 03:19:17 UTC

I also realize that it's possible that Newsweek inserted the word "former". It would hardly be the first time that someone was misquoted in the media. (Is there a way to find out? Email Newsweek to ask that they check their quote? Email Clinton for a statement ( ... )

kvarko April 22 2008, 04:25:03 UTC

Also, I hope it was clear that I wasn't exempting Obama from having any responsibility. If one thinks that a candidate has to take active steps (whatever that might mean) to show commitment to improving women's rights, then it follows that a voter should ask all the candidates what active steps they are taking and from that judge the voter can judge which candidate is actually going to result in improved conditions for women ( ... )

mollishka April 22 2008, 16:07:04 UTC

I knew 2 of the current female heads of state! Well, actually, I knew Merkel + president of Chile, who is not only female but also openly agnostic in an offcially Catholic country. The US is so confused.

kvarko April 22 2008, 22:50:32 UTC

Oh! I didn't know that she was agnostic. That's very cool, indeed.

I feel bad not being aware enough of what's going on in the rest of the Americas, but I just read yesterday that Paraguay had presidential elections, in which a woman was running against a man. It was the first time that a woman has run for president in Paraguay, but she was running for the conservative party which has been in power for 61 years. Voters, I guess, expressed that they'd rather have change (he represented a centre-left party of "leftist unions, indigenous people and poor farmers" in coalition with the main opposition party).

kvarko April 22 2008, 23:18:31 UTC

According to Wikipedia, there is a difference between "head of state" and "head of government" -- although that seems like an arbitrary use of language; in ordinary speech, I'm sure that most people would take "head of state" to mean what is meant by "head of government". According to Wikipedia, the phrase "head of government" is meant to imply that the person actually has power over the ruling of the country, where a "head of state" can be a purely ceremonial, powerless position ( ... )