Newsday Tuesday: August 11 Edition

Hello fellow feminists! It's Tuesday again which means in it time for another round up of Newsday Tuesday. Our numbers are dwindling in the office as more and more of my fellow interns head back home. Soon I'll be the only one left if I don't melt from the heat and humidity we are currently experiencing. Talk about a heat wave!

Nonetheless, news still is happening! This week was filled with many sad and happy events. The most recent was unfortunately a sad one. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics and championed the rights of the mentally disabled, died early this morning.

Along with her passing, another sad news story from this past week was the hate crime against women Tuesday night in Pennsylvania. George Sodini shot and killed three women and injured 11 more before killing himself. Sodini entered an aerobics class at a gym in the Pittsburgh area intending to take revenge on women, who he saw as rejecting him as a whole.

Now on to happier news! Judge Sonia Sotomayor was officially sworn in as an associate justice of the Supreme Court on Saturday. This is after her confirmation Thursday from the Senate by a 68-31 vote. She will be the 111th justice, the third woman, and first Hispanic to serve on the Supreme Court.

Also, a judge in Oakland, California ruled Wednesday that an ordinance prohibiting protesters from approaching women entering abortion clinics is constitutional. The bubble ordinance bars protesters from coming within eight feet of women seeking access to a reproductive health clinic. The plaintiff in the case was Walter Hoye, who claimed that the bubble ordinance was vague and unfairly applied to opponents of abortion.

There were also several important reports released last week. Chair of the Joint Economic Committee, Representative Carolyn Maloney, and her colleagues released a report Thursday stating that more than 1.4 million women are adversely affected by the recession because they are losing their health insurance through their own or their spouse's job loss. In addition, there is an increase in uninsured children due to an increase in unemployment among single mothers.

Along with that, the American Psychological Association (APA) announced Wednesday that psychologists should not advise gay clients that therapy can help them become straight. Of 83 studies of sexual orientation conducted since 1960, no evidence could be found that therapy can change an individual's sexual orientation.

Some other important news in the world of feminism includes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton trip to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to denounce atrocities against women in the war-ravaged country. Clinton is visiting for two days to raise awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault and the use of rape as a weapon of war. Since the war in the Congo began in 1998, tens of thousands of women and girls have been raped.

Also, Fox News commentator Glenn Beck joked about poisoning House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's wine on his show last week. Beck's statements came just three days after he decried violence and disrespect in political commentary.

Photo courtesy of keithpr on flikr.com