By RP Staff, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET Kim Kardashian explains what happened to her marriage with Kris Humphries. Why did they only last 72 days? [Huffington Post]
Rose Marie Belforti wins reelection as a New York town clerk after refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Belforti claims same-sex marriage is against her Christian beliefs. [Waterdown Daily Times]
Is your partner suddenly interested in fitness? A recent study shows that this is a way for individuals in relationships to prepare to reenter the dating game. Is he or she looking to break up? [ABC News]
By Lisa Miller, on Wed Nov 9, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET “I am what they call me, a pirate, she mused. And several other things too, for have I not lived many lives in one? And known more than one man… her lips curled into a smile, remembering. I’ve taken what I wanted, but I’ve also done the best I could for those who depended on me. Some call me an ally and some think me a traitor because they do not understand that.”
(Grania: She King of the Irish Seas, Morgan Llywelyn)
 I devoured all of those 792 pages about the legendary Grace O’Malley this summer, because I needed to find my inner lady pirate.
Did it help?
Yup.
Dr. Deepak, founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing, says that the need for archetypal role models are key in uncovering one’s hidden potential. Because archetypes offer profound wisdom across the ages, they typically represent strength and endurance in the face of struggle; define character traits in which we long to aspire; and they demonstrate the potential to live with a little more oomph.
A lot more oomph.
While I’m very happy in my marriage and don’t need more than one man (one is great, thanks), I was (am) exploring what it means to be, what my beloved female mentor, Rosalyn Bruyere, calls a “Goddess”, and what my young adult girlfriends call, “kick-ass.”
 Grace O'Malley And Grace O’Malley (Grania, in Ireland) delivers. She was a big specimen of female apparently–tall and strong with big thick hair, trousers, a hearty laugh and an appetite to match.
She learned to swim in order to avoid drowning at the hands of obnoxious village boys, and she learned to sail the world at the knee of her sea faring father. With work to be done on every expedition, she pulled her weight, literally, with hands raw and bloody along side every single sailor on every single voyage.
And years later, on her own ship when fire broke out on deck and relentless flames threatened to take her ship along with the lives of her crew, she beat back the firey rage over and over again with the only thing available in close proximity, her jerkin.
That’s old timey talk for “shirt off her backside.” Errr, frontside. So basically waist-up naked, she saved 40 men serving under her. That doesn’t sound right.
OR maybe it does.
Read the rest of…
Lisa Miller — Sisters: Empower Your Inner Pirate
By Krystal Ball, on Tue Nov 8, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET I have never held political office.
Like most young women of my generation, running for office was something I never pictured myself doing. I tended to think of politicians as coming from two different-and unappealing groups-extreme partisans and opportunists.
But when I decided to run for US Congress in early 2009, shortly after my daughter was born and in the throws of the idealism and hope that President Obama’s inauguration represented, I realized that things are the way they are in this country in large part because people like me, young mothers, young women struggling to make careers and find their way in the world, don’t participate very much in the political process.
We tend not to run for office. We feel in fact virtually excluded from the national political conversation. And I felt, and still feel, that the absence of the voices of women generally, and young women in particular, was hurting us as a country.
So, even though I felt absolutely 100% terrified about the whole process, I threw my hat in the ring and ran for US Congress. I thought that if I could overcome my shyness and insecurities and run for office, perhaps that would serve as an example for a few more young women to run and that those few more could serve as an example for more still until eventually thousands of young women, from all over the country, decided to participate in the political process and run for office at every level, and the higher the better. There’s no question in my mind that if this were to happen things in this country would really change.
Read the rest of…
Krystal Ball: Why We Need More Young Women in Politics
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Nov 7, 2011 at 8:25 AM ET Welcome to a special episode/week at The Recovering Politician.
With a brilliant wife, mom, sister, and two daughters (and A not-so brilliant female dog), I’m surrounded by strong, empowered women. The adults in that group have been powerful spokeswomen for femal empowerment, the teens are well on their way.
So this week, we are dedicating the site to he issue. You will hear from some outstanding women writers, and all of our Weekly Web Gems will focus on the female side of our everyday issues.
So put away your y chromosomes, it’s time to celebrate the better sex.
By RP Nation, on Thu Nov 3, 2011 at 12:00 PM ET The RP strongly supports efforts to protect all of our children from bullying. Accordingly, he is highlighting his anti-bullying efforts this month at The Recovering Politician through the ad banner to the right and a series of articles. Our first piece below comes from the leader of the RP’s hometown fairness organization. Links to local and national anti-bullying campaigns are posted below.
If you’d like to share your thoughts and/or personal stories for publication this month, please send them (500-1500 words) to staff@therecoveringpolitician.com- RP Staff
With hard decisions to be made in each of our lives, the ability to provide support to others becomes difficult. Our nonprofit organizations are suffering due to reductions in philanthropic giving. However, the need of those who depend on their services continues to increase. There are few nonprofits basking in the glow of unlimited donations; my organization, Lexington Fairness, is no different.
Our outreach involves a commitment to preventing bullying in our schools. It has become clear youth bullying is directly affecting not only the ability to learn, but the emotional and physical well being of our students. Although this problem is not new, recent media coverage exposes the impact school bullying has on children. Too many students, especially lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students, live in fear of taunt, harassment, and physical harm while attending school.
According to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) 2009 National Climate Survey, the prevalence of bullying is clear.
- 85% of students were verbally harassed at school because of their sexual orientation
- 89% of students heard “gay” used in a negative way frequently or often at school
- 72% of students heard homophobic remarks frequently or often at school
- 61% of students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation
When bullying becomes too much to handle, tragic results can occur. According to a 2002 US Secret Service Report, harassment and bullying were linked to 75 percent of school shooting incidents. When bullying becomes too much, some students feel they must end their lives. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, LGBT students are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide. It is not acceptable to have students turning to suicide as the escape from pain of harassment and abuse by peers.
Read the rest of…
Craig Cammack: Support Project Speak Out
By RP Staff, on Wed Nov 2, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET How long was their wedding special advertised on television? Likely longer than their actual marriage lasted. Here’s a list of things that lasted longer than Kim Kardashian’s marriage. [The Daily Beast]
Ever wondered whether men or women are funnier? Here’s a study that examines humor preferences in men and women. Is it possible that both genders prefer male humor? [Science Daily]
We all know Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is conservative, but just how conservative? Apparently he is supporting efforts to repeal same-sex marriage laws and defund Planned Parenthood programs. How will this affect his campaign? [Huffington Post]
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Oct 24, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET In this week’s column for The Huffington Post, the RP comments on a fascinating personal story within an otherwise boring Kentucky Governor’s race: the relationship between GOP nominee and State Senate President David Williams and his father-in-law, Terry Stephens, who has pumped in nearly $2.5 million of his own fortune — some through dubious means — to help his son-in-law. Here’s an excerpt:
As the proud papa of two extraordinary teenage girls, I know that there is nothing more unshakable, pure, and enduring than a father’s love for his daughter. Where that unqualified adoration extends to her husband as well, I imagine that such a family is truly blessed.
But as the Kentucky governor’s race approaches its inexorable denouement this November, it seems apparent that a father-in-law can love a bit too much.
The father-in-law at issue is Terry Stephens, a highly successful businessman in rural southern Kentucky. And his son-in-law, Kentucky Senate President and GOP gubernatorial nominee David Williams, is having a very, very bad year.
Indeed, during the first decade of the new millennium, David Williams was the most powerful and influential figure in the Kentucky Capitol. While never offering a discernible policy agenda of his own, Williams was a master of statehouse politics, successfully thwarting the grand legislative ambitions of three consecutive governors, of both parties.
Williams, however, failed to comprehend that his insider influence would not necessarily translate into statewide electoral success. And after eking out a GOP primary victory against two dramatically underfunded opponents, his general election bid — marred by a Keystone-Cops, revolving-door campaign team and the seemingly weekly release of new allegations about the misuse of taxpayer funds by Williams and his running-mate — has been nothing short of a disaster. The most recent polls show Williams running around 30 points behind the incumbent Governor, Steve Beshear. Even Trey Grayson, the former GOP Secretary of State and current Director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics — and, like Williams, a protegée of U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell — has publicly declared the race over, predicting an electoral “blowout.”
Perhaps Williams’ overwhelming popular rebuke can be attributed to the recent media exposure of the many hypocrisies of his candidacy and career: The steadfast opponent of expanded gaming who incurred tens of thousands of dollars in losses at riverboat casinos in neighboring states. The leading advocate of cutting public pensions who has voted to double his own legislative pension while in office. The self-defined fiscal conservative (proclaiming, a la JFK in Berlin, “I am a Tea Partier“) who has emerged as the very symbol of government waste by spending more than $50,000 to renovate his Senate office with items such as a big-screen, plasma TV.
But the most popular theory blames Williams’ precipitous decline on the Senate President’s dislikable personality. While for years in Frankfort circles and on editorial pages, Williams has been widely and consistently portrayed as a “bully,” it was only through the spotlight of a statewide campaign that many of Williams’ critics have felt empowered to come forward and give public testimony. (In one powerful example, state Senator Tim Shaughnessy, who described himself as once close to Williams, declared: “He is just not a very nice person.”) Even Williams himself admits that his disesteemed personal image has damaged his candidacy.
Still, to Williams’ credit, those closest around seem to really love him. His wife, Robyn, has forcefully defended her husband against political attacks, and her beautiful visage graces much of Williams’ campaign propaganda.
And Robyn’s father, Terry Stephens has been — by leaps and bounds — Williams’ largest financial supporter. Stephens gave the Williams campaign the maximum financial contribution provided under state law, and then held a fundraiser at his home that generated around $50,000 in contributions. In June, Stephens contributed $1 million to the Republican Governors’ Association, which in July ran about $1 million of television ads supporting Williams’ candidacy.
Click here to read the rest of the article in The Huffington Post.
By John Y. Brown III, on Wed Oct 19, 2011 at 1:35 PM ET  Looking back on our lives, we are usually proudest of things we’ve done.
I’m perhaps proudest of something I stopped doing.
Although I rarely mention it, today is 26 years since I had my last drink of alcohol. It was an awfully good decision.
And I mention today because maybe some young person who is where I was 26 years ago will reach out for help. I’m glad I did. And grateful help was there….and more help is available today than ever before.
I won’t comment more on this but if anyone wants to message me personally, I’m happy to try to help.
(To send a confidential message to John, you can send an email to JYB3@TheRecoveringPolitician.com. That will go directly to John’s personal account.)
By RP Staff, on Wed Oct 19, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET Could our culture of instant gratification, high expectations and economic stress be to blame for the high divorce rate? A recent study shows that what was once known as the seven year hump is coming earlier than ever. In fact, researchers suggest that the honeymoon period for relationships is wearing off around three years. [CBS News]
State Representative Joel Kleefisch of Wisconsin has proposed a bill that would make prenuptial agreements ironclad. While opponents argue that this would make it easier than ever for an individual to get victimized by their spouse, Kleefisch reported that the individuals that fall victim to their spouse get what they deserve. [The Capital Times]
A study done at Brigham Young University showed that couples that have more money have more problems with their relationships. A survey asked partners to report how much they value particular aspects of their lives. Individuals who reported that having money was not important to them scored 10%-15% better on their marriage stability. [Science Daily]
Educating our children in single sex classrooms could be reinforcing sexism. While advocates for single sex classrooms argue that they promote leadership, independence and academic success for young women, opponents suggest that these differences have simply been a result of better teachers. [Science Magazine]
By RP Staff, on Wed Oct 12, 2011 at 1:53 PM ET Has divorce become a reason to celebrate? Instead of mourning what was once considered a tragedy, individuals have started throwing parties to celebrate separating from their spouse. Check out this new trend, divorce parties. [Digital Journal]
Recent research shows that love has the potential to act as a pain killer. Individuals who were shown a picture of their lover reported a 45% reduction in their perception of pain compared to those who were shown a photo of a stranger. [CBS News]
According to a study done by a researcher at TAU’s Bob Shapell School of Social work, LGB teens are becoming more open with their sexuality. In 1991, the average age of coming out was 25, but a recent survey showed that age has decreased to 16. Researchers contribute this decrease to societal progress and cultural changes. [Science News]
A survey of teens’ sexual habits showed that fewer of today’s teens are having intercourse. The survey found that 42% of young women and 43% of young men have had intercourse, down from 51% and 60% respectively in 1988. Teens that had reported engaging in intercourse also reported higher condom usage than in the previous study. [USA Today]
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