This powerful video, which is called Be That Woman, is based on a simple premise. If you invest in a woman or a girl, the investment benefits all. It’s a premise that exists in the global community, and has been gaining momentum in the U.S, including the Obama administration’s recent development of the White House Council on Women and Girls.

In 2005, the state of Texas adopted an amendment to its Constitution that said marriage in the state could only be between one man and one woman. The amendment also declared: “This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.” Now, Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Houston lawyer and Democratic candidate for attorney general, is saying that the second section effectively “eliminates marriage in Texas”: She calls it a “massive mistake”

Some 100 new militia groups have formed since the election of President Barack Obama, says the Southern Poverty Law Center. In a re-run of the phenomenon seen when President Bill Clinton took office, gun-rights advocates, libertarians, survivalists and others are forming militias as a symbol of their resistance to what they see as an administration that threatens to restrict their right to bear arms and expand government control over the lives of private citizens. "The truth is that these groups are popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain," said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a social-justice group that has been tracking the rise of militias over the past year.

Another state finally coming around! Kentucky Equality Federation applauds legislation pre-filed by Representative Mary Lou Marzian (BR 93) to place the issue of same-sex marriage or civil unions back in the hands of Kentucky citizens. Earlier this year, Kentucky Equality Federation and Marriage Equality Kentucky began collecting signatures to present to lawmakers to repeal the law by giving voters another opportunity to vote on the issue. The "Marriage Declaration," started in July 2009. "I realize some will turn this into a religious debate, but we have separate of church and state; the Kentucky Constitution clearly states 'absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest majority,' and that is exactly what Section 223A of the Constitution has done. The Constitution also states 'the civil rights, privileges or capacities of no person shall be taken away, or in anywise diminished or enlarged, on account of his belief or disbelief of any religious tenet, dogma or teaching.'"

At Tuesday night's Salt Lake City Council meeting, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement showing its support of the city's proposed non-discrimination regulations.

"... Schakowsky’s three day visit from November 10-12 included meetings with family members of victims that have died directly from violence from the coup, media outlets such as Channel 36 and Radio Globo that have been attacked for honestly reporting on the resistance movement, and also a visit to the Brazilian Embassy where ousted President Zelaya and approximately 40 others have taken refuge for the last 53 days. The Chicago Congresswoman commented on her opportunity to hear a recording of some of the sounds bombarded into the Embassy and see the blinding lights set up outside, in addition to the crane set up for the military to spy into the Embassy. ... As to the human rights abuses ... the State Department looks the other way. From that same November 12 State Department press briefing: QUESTION: A follow-up on Honduras. What does the U.S. think about the human rights situation there right now? There have been mass arrests, curfews, an emergency decree, and a ban on protests and media closures for three weeks during the presidential campaign. Does that undermine the electoral process, in the view of the U.S.? MR. KELLY: Regarding the – well, first of all, our real priority here is to see this accord implemented step by step. We’ve only gotten through step one, and we need step two and step three to be implemented. Regarding the – these reports, I’m actually not aware of these reports of any actions to – you say ban rallies and – no, I’m not just aware of those reports. I think that we would need to have more details about it for us to really comment on it. "

By now, most people can admit to the fact that former covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson had a decades long career with the spy agency before high-level officials in the Bush administration leaked her undercover status to reporters six years ago. That is, most people except for Valerie Plame Wilson. On Thursday, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York, ruled that the CIA did not violate Wilson’s First Amendment rights when it refused to allow the former covert CIA operative to reveal that she worked for the agency prior to 2002 in her memoir, “Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House.” The ruling means that a chunk of Wilson's memoir will remain classified and she is still barred from acknowledging that she was employed by the agency prior to January 2002.

In his Washington Post column today, E.J. Dionne claimed that pro-choice lawmakers and advocates are overstating how detrimental the Stupak amendment would be to women’s access to abortion:

A grim reality sits behind the joyful press statements from Washington Democrats. To secure passage of health care legislation in the House, the party chose a course that risks the well-being of millions of women for generations to come.

President Barack Obama is under pressure — and not just from the burden of turning America around from the worst economic recession in this generation but also from gay rights advocates as fight for same-sex marriage, repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell policy" and the possible appointment of a gay Supreme Court Justice heat up.

The United Nations' top human rights official has called for taking punitive measures against Israel over committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the Security Council on Wednesday that Israel was responsible for the killing of more than 1,000 civilians in Gaza and attacks on schools, mosques and UN facilities, Ynet reported. She has also criticized the regime's confiscation of Palestinian lands and the forceful evacuation of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem (Al-Quds).

"In the critical fight to reform our health care system and expand access, we cannot marginalize women by forcing them to pay more for their care or limiting their access to a legal medical procedure. If left as is the health care reform bill would be the largest repeal of anti-choice laws in nearly four decades. It is not a continuation of current law as the proponents claim."

Why Bart Stupak’s last-minute amendment to the health care bill is even more radical than you think.

“It's the biggest restriction on abortion funding since the Hyde Amendment. It's the biggest restriction on abortion access in this country in a generation. And if it took a Democratic president, 60 percent majorities in the House and Senate of Democrats in order to get that, I think you can expect Democratic women to sit on their hands at least if not revolt if that doesn't get taken out in conference.”

Robb Kall, OpEdNews.com: Giving a $1.2 trillion gift to the health insurance industry, betraying women's rights, the house gave the white house what it wanted. The question is, will the Democrats wake up with a hangover in 2010, facing a public enraged that the bill has strengthened the very industry that is causing economic pain to families, death to tens of thousands annually and damage to our nation's industries' ability to compete.

An Italian judge sentenced 23 Americans to up to eight years in prison on Wednesday for the abduction of a Muslim cleric, in a symbolic condemnation of the CIA "rendition" flights used by the former U.S. government.The Americans were all tried in absentia because the United States refused to extradite them but the sentence, the first of its kind, was welcomed by campaigners who have long complained that the renditions policy violated basic human rights."This decision sends a clear message to all governments that even in the fight against terrorism you can't forsake the basic rights of our democracies," said prosecutor Armando Spataro.

Maine voters repealed a state law Tuesday that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a heartbreaking defeat in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.

Most people outside of Israel don't know much about MK member Shaul Mofaz, and it's not surprising. He's one of the few 'non-European' Jews in Israel to have become a Knesset member, and who dared to challenge former presidential candidate Tzipi Livni, and lost. There is an entire dynamic, which is an undercurrent in Israeli society, that Jews from North Africa who emigrated to Israel are grossly misrepresented in government, policy making, negotiations with friends and foes alike. However, here is a perfect example of how 'Arab Jews' can play a pivotal role in the peace making process with the Palestinians.

The US Supreme Court has declined to decide whether the federal statute of limitations bars the prosecution of a former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) member accused of kidnapping and murdering two black teens in 1964. James Ford Seale was tried, convicted, and sentenced to three life prison terms in 2007. His lawyers challenged the prosecution on grounds that a five-year statute of limitations for kidnapping had long since passed. By declining to take up the case, the high court's action leaves in place a decision by Mr. Seale's trial judge allowing his prosecution to go forward and upholding his conviction and life sentences. But the issue remains unresolved in future cases. The statute of limitations issue is significant because it could undermine efforts by the Justice Department to prosecute suspects in as many as 22 other alleged racially-motivated killings and civil rights crimes dating to the 1950s and 1960s. Justices John Paul Stevens and Antonin Scalia issued a statement saying the high court should have agreed to resolve the issue now. "The question is narrow, debatable, and important," Justice Stevens wrote. "I see no benefit and significant cost to postponing the question's resolution. A prompt answer from this court will expedite the termination of this litigation and determine whether other similar cases may be prosecuted," he wrote. A 40-year-old case

The arrival of the Olympic torch today at Victoria International and its touchdown mark the beginning of the most exclusive and non-public games ever held in Canada, with the largest security force ever assembled and the greatest trampling of human rights and the laws of this country ever executed in this free and just society.