Free Republic

There were over 20,000 competitors in Sunday's Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. And 24-year-old Arien O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher from New York City, ran the fastest time of any of the women. But she didn't win. It doesn't get much simpler than a footrace. All it takes is a starting line, a finish line and a clock. You fire the gun and the first person to the end of the course is the winner. However, as the marathon officials said to O'Connell - not so fast. While O'Connell had the greatest run of her life and covered the course...

Second Lt. Cynthia Peters, 8th Cavalry Regiment’s women’s affairs representative, speaks with a curious participant during the first-ever Hawr Rajab Women’s Committee meeting Feb. 7. Photo by Sgt. Luis Delgadillo. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Leaders of the newly-formed group sat before colleagues, government officials, community and Coalition leaders, but the audience they addressed was much larger; what some would even consider the backbone of their community. The first meeting of Hawr Rajab’s Women’s Committee began Feb. 7 with a press conference at the Hawr Rajab boy’s school and a discussion of topics vital to the community’s welfare.If the orators...

WASHINGTON, July 16, 2007 – The Women’s National Basketball Association showed its support for the military by giving out 2,000 free tickets for U.S. servicemembers and military family members to attend this year’s All-Star Game held yesterday at the Verizon Center here. Air Force Brig. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson (center), director of U.S. Air Force Public Affairs, participates in a pre-game ceremony with players at the Women’s National Basketball Association’s annual All-Star Game held at the Verizon Center, Washington, D.C., July 15. Defense Dept. photo by Gerry J. Gilmore  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. To further honor women...

Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore thinks TV is worse than it used to be - because the BBC is run by women. The presenter of The Sky At Night also belittled female newsreaders in an interview with the Radio Times, describing them as "these jokey women". Sir Patrick, 84, criticised the BBC for showing interesting programmes late at night, especially the 650th edition of The Sky At Night, which went out at 2am Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas , March 28, 2007 – The topic of women came up in my office the other day. We were trying to figure out the best way to highlight Women’s History Month in the post newspaper, and we decided to ask a few outstanding women, “If you could be any other woman, who would you be and why?” We received some thought-provoking responses. Acting Army Surgeon General Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock said she would choose Abigail Adams, because she was “an original thinker” who advised against the discrimination of women. Army Col. Patricia Hastings, director, Department...

FORT LEE, Va., Feb. 5, 2007 – The first woman to win the Silver Star Medal for direct actions against an enemy force turned out for the opening of the Global War on Terrorism exhibit Feb. 3 at the U.S. Army Women’s Museum here. U.S. Army Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, left, reads about the Global War on Terrorism exhibit featuring her actions as a member of the Kentucky Army National Guard’s 617th Military Police Company at the Army Women's Museum at Fort Lee, Va., during the exhibition's opening, Feb. 3. Hester is the first woman to earn the Silver...

Iraqi Village Builds Women’s Center Individuals from all sects work together to make clothing for children. By Norris Jones Gulf Region Central District BAGHDAD, Jan. 30, 2007 -- A small town in north Baghdad Province provides a positive glimpse of Iraq’s future. Assriya Village, located outside Camp Taji, has about 4,600 residents representing all sects.“Assriya” in Arabic means “modern” and its name exemplifies the way residents treat each other. They worked together to build a Women’s Center that officially opened in August and today that facility is producing apparel for children.The $230,000, 400-square-meter facility includes 12 sewing machines and...

Cola Raises Women's Osteoporosis Risk 10.06.06, 12:00 AM ET FRIDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Cola may not be so sweet for women's bones, according to new research that suggests the beverage boosts osteoporosis risk. "Among women, cola beverages were associated with lower bone mineral density," said lead researcher Katherine Tucker, director of the Epidemiology and Dietary Assessment Program at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. There was a pretty clear dose-response, Tucker added. "Women who drink cola daily had lower bone mineral density than those who drink it only once a week,"...

It's déjà vu all over again. The Tour's great debate this year -- whether to sell itself with sex -- has been a recurring theme in women's sports since the 1950's. But the real question is: Why are we even talking about it? It's late winter in Sacramento, California, and the sexiest woman on the LPGA Tour is dribbling cornbread down the front of her shirt in the elevator of the Marriott Residence Inn. While this isn't what the average person would consider a seductive moment, Carin Koch -- with her long blond ponytail, striking blue eyes and world-class smile...

In the leak scandal that led to five indictments for a top-level White House official, reports this week cite that former US Central Intelligence Agency employee Valerie Plame was allegedly following Iran's nuclear activities before her identity was revealed. Democrat Party Senator Frank Lautenberg, in a letter to CIA Director Porter Goss, asked for an evaluation of the harm outing Plame has caused. In the letter, the Senator reminds Director Goss of recent news stories which report that before Plame was outed, she participated in intelligence works on the Iranian nuclear dossier, and her subsequent outing gravely jeopardized the US’...

ARLINGTON, Va., April 17, 2006 – "Faces of the Fallen," a compelling exhibit featuring more than 1,300 portraits honoring America's servicemen and women who died fighting the war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, will stay on display at the Women's Memorial here until May 31, officials said. Annette Polan, founder of the "Faces of the Fallen" exhibit on display at the Women in Military Service to America Memorial in Arlington, Va., takes time to read a note left by a portrait of a fallen servicemember. Photo by Rudi Williams  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. More than 230,000...

Peru, Mexico Finds Hint At Women's RolesBy CARL HARTMAN Associated Press Writer March 3, 2006, 2:33 PM EST (In a March 2 story about an archaeological exhibit on pre-Columbian women, The Associated Press erroneously reported where it's on view. The exhibit is at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, not the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. A corrected version of the story appears below.) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Archaeological finds from Mexico and Peru show that, long before Europeans arrived, women served as warriors, governors and priestesses. An exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts...

Inmate Killed at Chowchilla Women's Prison Death investigated as a homicide Charles McCarthy THE FRESNO BEE Last Updated: December 21, 2005, 07:10:00 AM PST MADERA ? The death of a Valley State Prison for Women inmate Tuesday morning is being investigated by Madera County sheriff?s detectives as a homicide. Sheriff?s Department spokeswoman Erica Smith said the inmate?s name wouldn?t be released until next of kin is notified. The woman was pronounced dead at Madera Community Hospital. Prison officials wouldn?t give her age but they said more information would be released today. Smith said Madera County homicide investigators were called to...

MOH MOOD RAQI, Afghanistan (Army News Service, Nov. 3, 2005) – Various women from Combined Joint Task Force 76 met with the director of the Kapisa Provincial Women’s Center in the village of Moh Mood Raqi, Oct. 25. “We wanted to discuss ways that the Coalition could help the center,” said Col. Joyce Stevens, base operations commander, 111th Area Support Group, Texas National Guard. “The Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team helped them build the center and supply them with some items, but more is needed.” After introductions, the women discussed the daily activities offered by the center and major needs with...

FRANKFURT AN DER ODER, GERMANY - In a bizarre case that has shocked Germany, police said Tuesday that a woman gave birth to nine babies over a period of 16 years - and is suspected of killing each of them immediately after childbirth. The 39-year-old woman confessed to having delivered the infants herself, the public prosecutor's office said at a news conference. Investigators said the woman, who also has four other children, gave conflicting accounts as to just how many children she has given birth to between 1988 and 2004. Fearing the toll might actually be higher, investigators with sniffer...

Michael Liccione at Pontifications has written a right-on-the-mark critique of Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB and hed continued agitation for the ordination of women. These are the two paragraphs that struck me most:The case [against the ordination of women] has been laid out in such magisterial documents as Inter Insigniores and supported by others before and since. The great theologians of high scholasticism—Aquinas, Bonaventura, Durandus, Duns Scotus—each considered and rejected the idea of women’s ordination, as did the now-fashionable medieval feminist Hildegard of Bingen. St. Edith Stein, a sharp philosopher and Carmelite who had studied under Edmund Husserl and was murdered...

Rojda was 13 when she was raped two years ago by a neighbor in this hardscrabble Kurdish province. In order to "cleanse" her honor, she was forced to marry her attacker in an unofficial Islamic-style ceremony. He later was convicted of raping a 7-year-old boy and has been imprisoned. But Rojda's troubles were far from over, according to an account of her ordeal provided by her family and attorneys. She allegedly was raped again in March by her father-in-law, who she said demanded she prostitute herself to earn her keep. When Rojda refused, the relatives and attorneys charge, a group...

NEW YORK - Saudi Arabia ranked last in a study of women's rights in Middle Eastern and North African countries and was the only one of 16 nations surveyed that had no constitutional guarantees of equal protection for females, according to a report released Saturday. Despite gains in educational and employment opportunities and the recent decision by Kuwait's parliament to grant women the right to vote, there was a lack of legal protections for women in all 16 nations and one territory studied, said Freedom House, the nonpartisan, Washington-based organization that released the report at the World Economic Forum. The...

It's not enough that the leftist judiciary is contravening many of our constitutional rights, nor that they continue to hand down rulings that further erode the quality of citizenship for the individual in the United States. Not only have so-called "landmark" court decisions infringed on virtually every one of our fundamental rights, the upshot of many of them is that even our right to be angry is being challenged, or at least redefined. OK, I know that the Constitution doesn't guarantee us the right to be angry. But I would point out that anger has been the signature emotion of...

It was an offer she could refuse – but Wellington kebab shop worker Ahlam Riyad was sacked soon after she said she wouldn't marry her boss' friend. Her boss, Ilhan Ramadan, had been harassing her, swearing at her and belittling her in front of other staff and customers for weeks. ...