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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Women in combat: Will they have to register for the draft?

Now that the Pentagon is lifting its ban on women in combat, does this mean that women could potentially be drafted, too?

And as a practical matter: When women turn 18, will they now need to register, as men do, so that they can be conscripted in the event of a World War III, or any military emergency where the US government decides it needs troops quickly?

It?s a thorny question, raising what may be a difficult prospect societally. But the legal implications are obvious, analysts argue.

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?The answer to that question is clearly yes,? says Anne Coughlin, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville. ?The legal argument is clear: If it comes to that kind of wrenching emergency where we have to press young people into service, there is no legal justification for saying that men alone need to shoulder that burden.?

The wars of the past decade in Iraq and Afghanistan have been fought by an all-volunteer force, since the US military discontinued the draft in 1973. Males between the ages of 18 and 25, however, are still required to register for the Selective Service.

Once the combat exclusion policy is lifted, ?My belief is that if we open up combat arms to women, even on a voluntary basis, if there is a draft, we should be able to force women into those positions,? says retired Col. Peter Mansoor, a professor of military history at the Ohio State University in Columbus and a former US Army brigade commander who served two tours in Iraq.

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?If women are acceptable to serve in combat, they are acceptable to serve whether they volunteer or not. You can?t have the frosting on the cake and not the cake underneath,? he says.

Legal precedent backs this up, adds Professor Coughlin, who has advised plaintiffs in lawsuits to overturn the Pentagon?s combat exclusion policy ? in particular a US Supreme Court case in 1981, Rostker v. Goldberg. In that suit, men argued that the draft is unconstitutional because only men are required by law to register. The Supreme Court rejected the premise of lawsuit.

?The court ruled that the Selective Service process is designed to assemble combat-ready people, and right now women are excluded from combat arms,? Coughlin says. ?Therefore they can?t participate in the very thing that the draft is for. Hence, it?s appropriate and constitutional to continue to exclude women from the draft.?

Yet in overturning combat exclusion for women, ?The male-only draft falls as well, no question about it,? she adds.

Critics of women in combat argue that culturally, the prospect of women being drafted might make the country reluctant to go to war.

To that, Professor Mansoor says, ?It should be: That?s exactly the debate the country needs to have.?

But while the notion of women being drafted ?may add some measure of hesitancy to the decision, I don?t see it as swinging the decision,? he says.

Even so, ?Congress and the president should agonize over going to war. Questions of war should be difficult,? Mansoor adds. ?They should not be as easy as they?ve been in the past 10 years.?

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40 years after Roe v. Wade, abortion foes march on

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) ? Abortion opponents marked the 40th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision Tuesday with workshops, prayers and calls for more limits on the rights established by the Supreme Court in the landmark ruling that still defines one of the nation's most intractable debates.

Many in the anti-abortion movement looked to Kansas, where Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed a series of tough anti-abortion measures during his first two years in office. Other states with GOP governors and Republican-controlled legislatures have taken similar steps.

"There's joy in what you're doing and keep it up," Brownback urged hundreds of fellow abortion opponents at a rally outside the Kansas Statehouse. "Keep marching. Keep moving."

Abortion-rights groups observed a quieter anniversary ? a possible reflection of the reality that it's far rarer for lawmakers to expand access to abortion. The National Organization for Women planned a candlelight vigil at the Supreme Court to commemorate the 1973 decision, which created a constitutional right to abortions in some circumstances and prevented states from banning the practice.

The ruling "should be honored," said Rep. Emily Perry, a lawyer and Democrat from the Kansas City suburb of Mission who supports abortion rights. "I wish the amount of energy put into narrowing Roe v. Wade would be put into school funding or our budget."

In Topeka, at least 1,000 people rallied with Brownback and anti-abortion legislators. The Kansas governor has called on state lawmakers to create "a culture of life." He is expected to support whatever further restrictions they approve.

Kansans for Life, the most influential of the state's anti-abortion groups, plans to ask lawmakers to enact legislation ensuring that the state doesn't finance abortions even indirectly, such as through tax breaks or by allowing doctors-in-training at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., to perform them on the center's time.

The group also wants to strengthen a state law dictating what information must be provided to abortion patients, banning abortions because of the fetus' gender and allowing wrongful-death lawsuits when a fetus dies because of an accident.

Comparable proposals are gaining ground elsewhere, too. Republican lawmakers in North Dakota are pursuing a measure to ban "sex selection" abortions. Alabama's GOP legislative majorities are looking to impose new health and safety regulations for abortion providers. And Republicans in Arkansas want to ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy.

"I think more of America is becoming more pro-life," said Dr. Melissa Colbern, who started a crisis pregnancy center in Topeka near the state Capitol last year. "I think maybe the culture is changing."

But Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro Choice America, said most citizens are not demanding their elected officials push for new abortion restrictions.

"A lot of these anti-choice politicians don't run on the issue," Keenan said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. "They run on jobs, or they run on the economy. And then they show up in these state legislatures, and they begin to advance very anti-choice legislation."

In the four decades since Roe v. Wade, a series of court decisions have narrowed its scope. With each decision, lawmakers in multiple states have followed up by making abortions more difficult to obtain or imposing restrictions on providers.

According to the New York-based Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive-rights think tank, 135 laws aimed in some way at restricting access to abortion were enacted in 30 states ? most of them with Republican-controlled legislatures ? in 2011 and 2012. More such measures already have been proposed in several states this year.

In Wyoming, for example, a pending bill would prohibit abortions after a fetal heartbeat is audible. A similar "heartbeat" bill is pending in Mississippi, and one was debated but later sidetracked in Ohio last year.

In Texas, Republican Gov. Rick Perry has told lawmakers that he expects to make progress during the 2013 session toward his goal of making abortion "at any stage a thing of the past." Anti-abortion activists have pledged to use every legal means possible to make obtaining abortions difficult, if not impossible.

But Kansans for Life, the most influential abortion group lobbying state lawmakers in Topeka, eschews proposals designed to set up a head-on legal challenge to the Roe v. Wade decision, fearing the Supreme Court might wipe out some of the gains achieved by abortion opponents in recent years.

"We'd like to continue on our successful strategy," Kathy Ostrowski, the group's legislative director, said during a pre-rally news conference. "We feel that we're making better strides that way."

Tuesday's events won't be the only anniversary observances. The annual March for Life, which traditionally draws several hundred thousand abortion opponents to Washington, is scheduled for Friday.

Although bills to strengthen access to abortion are rare, there are some pending proposals in New York and Washington state.

In their state of the state speeches this month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo endorsed a bill that would further entrench the right to abortion, while Washington's new governor, Jay Inslee, said he wants to enact a measure that would require insurers who cover maternity care ? which Washington insurers are mandated to provide ? to also pay for abortions.

Both Cuomo and Inslee are Democrats.

"Forty years ago, the United States stood as an example to the rest of the world in recognizing a woman's right to a safe and legal abortion as a constitutionally protected right," said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights. "But the women in this country shouldn't have to rely on the courts to right the wrongs of their elected officials."

___

Follow John Hanna on Twitter at www.twitter.com/apjdhanna

___

Associated Press writers David Crary and Warren Levinson in New York, Bob Johnson in Montgomery, Ala., and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/40-years-roe-v-wade-abortion-foes-march-141534615.html

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Creative Writing Prompts to Alleviate Writer's Block ... - Mega Store

Writing creatively is a good way to communicate yourself and get in touch with fictional characters and events. Numerous people have the wish to write creatively for either fun or profit, but how can we improve at being creative? Sometimes we open up to the blank page and instantly suffer writer?s block.

The next time this happens to you, think about how much easier things would be if you had an inventory of creative writing prompts to get you through? an effective list of things that can trigger your imagination, and generate ideas when you most need them.

Imaginative writing prompts are used anywhere and anytime. They could be used repeatedly, or they might be adapted and modified to prompt new ideas. The most effective aspect of creative writing prompts is that they might be as crazy or as sensible as you like, they are just a way of opening your creative mind to more possibilities.

Take the sentence and finish it off, then go on with writing for 200 words without putting thought into it. Just write the very first things that enter your mind and see where it takes you. So, save these creative writing prompts to your desktop, or print them out and put them up at your writing desk, so you have no more excuses not to write! These are prompts which function as story starters.

1. When I bent down to pick up the money from the floor, the sound of ripping made me stop in my tracks?

2. The noise of the siren approaching was overbearing. I checked my rear vision mirror and saw?

3. The traffic jam brought me eye to eye with the man in the car next to mine, and I started to laugh when I noticed?

4. Three or four children ran towards the water without looking, so I yelled?

5. The weather forecast was clearly wrong that day. I stared up to the clouds to discover ?

6. The three inch burn mark on my arm was caused when I was a child ?

7. Once I?d turned the water off in the shower, I realised there were no towels in the bathroom?

8. Entering the dark room, I switched on my torch, but nothing happened?

9. When I?d entered the corner store that morning, in the clothes I?d worn since the day before, I never knew I?d be stuck there for 4 hours?

10. I looked up after hearing a sound above me, just to realise that was a bad idea?

11. The wind blew the hat off my head. As I turned to chase it I noticed a gray haired man had caught it ?

12. When I ?d booked to have a removalist come take my piano, I assumed they would deliver it to my new house. Little did I know ?

13. I had thought that the smell was coming from his feet. That was until I noticed?

14. Arriving home I was shocked to see that the police had surrounded my house?

15. Driving in the dark I barely saw the dog that jumped out in front of my car?

If you?d like more information about Alleviating Writers Block , or Creative Writing visit www.howtowriteabookadvice.net. This article, Creative Writing Prompts to Alleviate Writer?s Block has free reprint rights.

Source: http://boyajianmarc.com/writing/2013/01/22/creative-writing-prompts-to-alleviate-writers-block/

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NRA criticizes Obama's reference to 'absolutism' - NewsOn6.com ...

RENO, Nev. (AP) - A top National Rifle Association official on Tuesday accused President Barack Obama of seeking to redefine the rights of gun owners, telling a hunting and wildlife conservation group that the president's use of the word "absolutism" in his inauguration speech was an attack on law-abiding citizens who own firearms.

Obama said in his speech Monday that Americans shouldn't "mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate."

The remark was interpreted by the NRA as a reference to the organization's steadfast opposition to any new gun regulations.

NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told a Weatherby Foundation awards ceremony that the Second Amendment gives Americans the unfettered right to own a firearm, but the president wants to redefine that freedom.

"Absolutes do exist, words do have specific meaning in language and in law," he said.

The president wants Americans to believe that "putting the federal government in the middle of every gun transaction" will make them safer, LaPierre said. But the NRA believes people have the right to defend themselves and their families with semi-automatic firearms technology, he said.

"No government gave them to us and no government can take them away."

Obama last week unveiled a set of legislative proposals and executive actions on firearms that were formulated in the wake of last month's Connecticut school shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead.

The NRA responded to the proposals by posting a Web video that labeled Obama an "elitist hypocrite" for allowing his daughters to be protected by armed guards while not embracing a proposal - supported by the NRA - that would place armed guards at all schools. The organization has also planned an aggressive lobbying push to thwart new gun regulations and has been raising money in response to the outcry for new gun laws.

LaPierre's speech on Tuesday was billed as a response to Obama's inaugural address.

Source: http://www.newson6.com/story/20654184/nra-criticizes-obamas-reference-to-absolutism

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Obama to fete staffers at final inaugural ball

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is getting one last chance to celebrate his re-election before settling in for his second term.

A day after his public swearing-in, Obama is celebrating at a staff ball Tuesday night intended to thank campaign, White House and inaugural staffers for their efforts. Pop diva Lady Gaga, who campaigned for Obama, will perform.

The staff ball is a private affair. On Monday, tens of thousands attending the two official inaugural balls watched the president and first lady share a dance as Jennifer Hudson crooned "Let's Stay Together."

Staffers paid $10 per ticket to attend the staff ball. Proceeds will support a memorial fund for Alex Okrent, a campaign worker who collapsed and died at Obama's campaign headquarters in July.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-fete-staffers-final-inaugural-ball-012345797--politics.html

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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Kaepernick rallies 49ers past Falcons, into SB

QB leads 4 touchdown drives and Gore runs for 2 scores as Atlanta blows big lead again

By Paul Newberry

updated 10:45 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2013

ATLANTA - The clutch quarterback. The genius coach. The big-play defense.

The San Francisco 49ers are ready to start a new dynasty with a familiar formula. Next stop, the Big Easy.

Colin Kaepernick and Frank Gore led San Francisco to a record comeback in the NFC championship game Sunday, overcoming an early 17-0 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons 28-24 and send the 49ers to their first Super Bowl since 1995.

Gore scored a pair of touchdowns, including the winner with 8:23 remaining for San Francisco's first lead of the day, and the 49ers defense made it stand up. A fourth-down stop at the 10-yard line denied Atlanta another stirring comeback after blowing a big lead.

"Everybody does a little," 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said, "and it adds up to be a lot."

San Francisco (13-4-1) moves on to face Baltimore at New Orleans in two weeks, looking to join Pittsburgh as the only franchises with six Super Bowl titles. It'll be a brother-vs.-brother matchup, too, since John Harbaugh coaches the Ravens.

Joe Montana led the 49ers to four Super Bowl wins and Steve Young took them to No. 5. It's up to Kaepernick and Co. to get No. 6.

"He just competes like a maniac all the time," said Harbaugh, whose much-debated decision to bench Alex Smith at midseason now looks like the best move of the year.

Harbaugh was hoppin' mad when a disputed call went against the 49ers on Atlanta's potential winning drive. He leaped in the air, screamed at the officials and had to be restrained by his staff from charging the field.

No complaints when it was over.

"We rose up there at the end," Harbaugh said.

His second-year quarterback, who runs like a track star, didn't get a chance to show off his touchdown celebration - flexing his right arm and kissing his bicep, a move that quickly became a social media sensation known as Kaepernicking.

But he shredded the Falcons through the air by completing 16 of 21 for 233 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown to Vernon Davis, and had them so worried about his running ability out of the spread option that Gore and LaMichael James had plenty of room.

Gore scored a pair of touchdowns, including the game winner with 8:23 remaining for San Francisco's first lead of the day. Davis scored the first TD for the 49ers on a 15-yard run.

"I take my hat off to Atlanta. They played hard. They've got a great team," Gore said. "But we fought, man. We fought and we deserved it."

The 49ers pulled off the biggest comeback victory in an NFC championship game, according to STATS. The previous NFC record was 13 points - Atlanta's victory over Minnesota in the 1999 title game, which sent the Falcons to what remains the only Super Bowl in franchise history.

The AFC championship game record is 18 points, when Indianapolis rallied past New England in 2007.

Harbaugh is hardly cool and collected like the 49ers' first Super Bowl-winning coach, Bill Walsh, but has pulled off a similar turnaround in San Francisco. The 49ers had eight straight years without a winning record before their new coach arrived from Stanford in 2011.

He immediately led San Francisco to the cusp of the Super Bowl, losing to the eventual champion New York Giants in overtime in last year's NFC title game, a bitter defeat at home set up by a fumbled return.

This time, the 49ers were the ones winning on the road to set up another celebration in the city by the bay, which is rapidly becoming the new Titletown USA. They'll try to follow the lead of the baseball Giants, who won the World Series in October.

"We've come full circle," said Denise DeBartolo York, part of the family that has owned the 49ers since their championship days, "and the dynasty will prevail."

Kaepernick guided San Francisco on a pair of second-half scoring drives that wiped out Atlanta's 24-14 lead at the break. Gore scored on a 5-yard run early in the third quarter, then sprinted in from 9 yards out for the winning score with 8:23 remaining after each team made crucial mistakes to ruin potential scoring drives.

On both of Gore's TDs, the Falcons had to worry about Kaepernick running it in himself. They barely even touched the running back on either play, and James scored pretty much the same way.

"I kind of figured that coming in and they showed that on film, so I assumed Frank and LaMichael were going to have a big day," Kaepernick said. "Frank ran hard today, and I can't say enough about him."

The top-seeded Falcons (14-4), in what appeared to be the final game for Hall of Famer-to-be Tony Gonzalez, tried to pull off another season-extending drive. But, unlike the week before against Seattle, they needed a touchdown this time.

They came up 10 yards short.

On fourth down, Matt Ryan attempted a pass over the middle to Roddy White that would have been enough to keep the drive going. But linebacker NaVorro Bowman stuck a hand in to knock it away with 1:13 remaining.

The 49ers ran off all but the final 6 seconds, not nearly enough time for Ryan to pull off his greatest comeback yet.

In the divisional playoffs, the Falcons blew a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 31 seconds remaining. But Ryan completed two long passes, setting up Matt Bryant's 49-yard field goal for 30-28 victory.

The Falcons came up short of their second Super Bowl, leaving the 1995 Braves as the city's only major sports champions. This one figures to hurt for a while.

"We didn't make the plays when we had the opportunity," Falcons coach Mike Smith said. "There were five or six plays, like in most hard-fought games, that make a difference. There were ebbs and flows and changes in momentum, and they made more plays than we did."

Kaepernick, who ran for 181 yards against the Packers the week before to set an NFL playoff record for a quarterback, didn't have much chance to use his legs against the Falcons. He broke off a 23-yard gain, but was thrown for a 2-yard loss the only other time he carried the ball.

But Kaepernick showed he's more than a runner. His favorite receiver was Davis, who hauled in five passes for 106 yards.

Gore carried 21 times for 90 yards, while James added 34 yards on five carries.

Ryan finished 30 of 42 for 396 yards, by far the best performance of his playoff career. But his postseason record dropped to 1-4, done in by two big miscues - an interception and a fumble - in the second half.

Julio Jones was Ryan's leading target most of the day, finishing with 11 catches for 182 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He hauled in a 46-yarder less than 4 minutes into the game, then made a dazzling grab in the left corner of the end zone for a 20-yard score. He got his left foot down, then planted his right foot about an inch inside the line - while cornerback Tarell Brown was all over him.

Ryan threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez with 25 seconds remaining in the first half after the 49ers had cut the deficit to 17-14. It seemed the home team had reclaimed the momentum heading to the locker room, but, amazingly, that would be its final score of the day. The 49ers quickly seized control on the opening possession of the second half, driving 82 yards in just seven plays for Gore's first TD.

After a nearly perfect first half, in which Ryan was 18 of 24 for 271 yards and those three TDs, the quarterback known as Matty Ice made a couple of crucial blunders.

First, he tossed a pass that was picked off by Chris Culliver, halting a drive in 49ers territory. Ryan ripped off his chinstrap in disgust.

Then, with the Falcons in scoring range for at least a field goal, Ryan failed to grab a shotgun snap, appearing to take his eyes off the ball before he caught it. The ball squirted away and Aldon Smith recovered for the 49ers at their own 37.

"Against a good team, you can't have those kind of mistakes," Ryan said.

San Francisco also squandered some chances. Struggling kicker David Akers clanked a 38-yard field goal try off the upright, and Michael Crabtree fumbled just short of the goal line, the ball stripped away by Dunta Robinson and recovered by Stephen Nicholas. But, after that big defensive stop with 13 1-2 minutes remaining, the Falcons went three-and-out.

The 49ers drove for the winning touchdown.

Atlanta took the ensuing kickoff and used up nearly all the clock while going 70 yards. The Falcons might have reclaimed the lead if Harry Douglas had been able to stay on his feet while hauling in a 22-yard pass.

The defender slipped, and so did Douglas, but he held on to the ball. Harbaugh thought it touched the turf and challenged the call, then launched into his tirade when the officials let it stand. It all worked out, though.

As for the 36-year-old Gonzalez, who said all year he was all but certain this would be his final season, it sure sounded like the end.

"I've had such a great life," he said. "I wish it would've culminated with the Super Bowl, but it didn't."

Jim Rogash / Getty Images

Ravens throttle Pats, set up 'Harbaugh Bowl'

Joe Flacco outdueled Tom Brady, throwing three touchdown passes in the second half and leading the Baltimore Ravens to their first Super Bowl in 12 years with a 28-13 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday for the AFC championship.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/50528580/ns/sports-nfl/

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Find Out About US College Entrance Exams And ACT Test Dates ...

SAT and ACT tests are standardized tests in the US for high school students, especially these hoping to go to college or university. SAT and ACT (originally American College Testing) are similar in that they assist colleges and universities to compare the abilities of students from schools in various states and school districts, which might have significant differences in funding and curriculum. The SAT test tends to be favored in Eastern and Western states, the ACT in Midwestern and Southern states, though the ACT has noticed current growth in Eastern states. ACT test dates take place up to six occasions per year, typically on Saturdays.

In other components of the globe (such as European nations) there can be a strongly centralized national curriculum for schools, and government sponsored (or government regulated) national university admission tests. The circumstance differs in the US, nonetheless, and there are many nearby variations in education requirements and curriculum across the nation.

National schooling standards do not exist in the US simply because of the federal system, with neighborhood control of schools leading to a lot variation in curriculum, in requirements, and in funding. There are also many residence schooled pupils, and private schools, whose students also seek college and university admission.

US colleges and universities have consequently observed a want to implement national tests. These compare applicants from schools in distinct states and cities. The national tests administered by ACT and SAT have been performing this comparison function for numerous decades (given that 1959 for ACT). ACT tests originally integrated English, Math, Reading and Science. Writing has been added in more recent years (as an choice).

ACT and/or SAT scores permit college admissions staff to apply a national perspective to the results from person schools. Typically the ACT or SAT score is regarded as with each other with many other elements of the applicants school record: class rank, GPA, course and added curricular perform and so forth. Students ought to check directly with their selected college about admission specifications.

In some states all students undergo ACT testing, and the state makes use of the final results to compare the high quality of education in different schools. States with this method include Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, Wyoming.

The actual ACT test dates can differ from state to state, but there will be in between four and six dates per year in every state. Tests are held on Saturdays (exceptions can be created on religious grounds). Tests will be in the following months: February, April, June, September, October and December.

Source: http://www.bnr.co/reference-and-education/college-university/find-out-about-us-college-entrance-exams-and-act-test-dates/

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