As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
recruiting rankings san onofre paula deen birth control recall nick carter leslie carter aaron carter sister
DENVER (AP) ? Sara Stevenson spends her working hours surrounded by Republicans, namely the married men who work alongside her in a Denver oil and gas firm company. But after hours and on weekends, she usually spends her time with other single women, and there's not a Republican in sight among the bunch.
"There was just no way I could have supported any Republican this year," said Stevenson, 31. "They skew so much to the religious right. ... They focused so much on taxes. It's not something that women in my demographic really care about. I've never heard my friends lament their taxes."
As Republicans dust off their Election Day drubbing last month, their party must confront the reality that the ranks of unmarried women are growing rapidly, and these voters overwhelmingly have backed Democrats for decades.
Women increasingly are graduating from college and joining the workforce, and postponing marriage. From 2000 to 2010, the number of unmarried women increased 18 percent, according to census data.
Republicans have spent the past month tallying up all their demographic weak spots, including with Hispanics and Asian-Americans. But some warn that single women, already one-quarter of the electorate, represent the most serious threat to the party's viability.
"It's a faster-growing demographic than most others," said Kellyanne Conway, a Republican pollster. "That's a cultural zeitgeist that demands a political response."
In 1960, the average American woman married at age 20. Now it's 27. That reflects, and is partly the cause of, a boom in solo living, with nearly one-third of all U.S. households comprised of single people living alone, according to Eric Klinenberg, a New York University sociologist and author of a book on the subject. In 1950, it was 9 percent.
Around the world, as women gain more education and earn more money, they increasingly are delaying marriage, said Stephanie Coontz, who teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and is director of research for the Council on Contemporary Families. "Nowadays, women don't feel so driven to get married because they can support themselves," she said. "A lot of this is driven by women and a combination of lowering payoffs to just marrying any man and rising expectations" of what marriage will bring, she added.
For decades, Conway said, Democrats targeted unmarried women while the GOP dismissed them.
In the Nov. 6 election, President Barack Obama's campaign targeted this group in a series of direct mail and email pieces featuring the singer Beyonce and activist Lily Ledbetter, whose name was on the first bill Obama signed, making it easier for women to sue over unequal pay. The campaign also released an online video by actor and writer Lena Dunham that compared a woman's first time voting to losing her virginity.
Now, Conway said, "the Republicans have to decide if they want a one-party response or a two-party response."
In a presidential election dominated by debates over women's health and abortion, unmarried women backed Obama over Republican Mitt Romney by a 67-31 margin. Since 1992, when exit polls began identifying single voters, unmarried women have favored Democrats by similar margins.
Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who wrote a book with Conway on the women's vote, said unmarried women are a tough group for the GOP to crack.
"Any way you cut it, this demographic is much more on their own and much more precarious and much more interested in a safety net," Lake said. "If you're married, you're much more likely to be a churchgoer and have your church as a community. If you're married, you're much more likely to have owned your home for a while and have that community to rely on. If you're married, you're more likely to have your spouse to depend on."
Single men are also significantly more likely to back Democrats than Republicans, but that is largely a function of their age, because they are largely younger. Unmarried women, however, are more evenly spread across all age groups and consistently lean Democratic, said Page S. Gardner, president of the Voter Participation Center, which tries to increase voting by single women. They also are much more likely to support abortion rights.
In Colorado, Democrats have assiduously focused on abortion and other health issues to win support from both married and single women. In 2010, Sen. Michael Bennet defied the Republican wave by hammering his tea party challenger on his opposition to abortion rights. This year, Obama campaigned in the state with activist Sandra Fluke, an unmarried law student branded a "slut" by commentator Rush Limbaugh for testifying before Congress in support of requiring that employer-provided health insurance covers contraception.
The Obama campaign attacked Romney on the airwaves over his refusal to support the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, his opposition to federal dollars for Planned Parenthood and his opposition to abortion rights.
Katy Atkinson, a GOP consultant in Denver, said that two elections in a row should be a warning sign for the GOP.
"That whole fighting social issues with economic issues just doesn't work," she said. Atkinson noted that both Romney, as well as Bennet's opponent, Ken Buck, contended that women really cared about pocketbook issues rather than reproductive issues. "While women care about pocketbook issues, they don't want to elect an extremist."
Conway said the GOP can win over unmarried women on economic matters. "What do women, married or unmarried, do every week?" Conway asked. "Do they fill up the gas tank or get an abortion?"
Lauren Koebcke, 32, is a glimmer of hope for Republicans. She is single, favors gay marriage and abortion rights but sides with the GOP on economic issues. The bad news for the GOP is that she's the only one of her single friends who votes Republican.
"Most people I know are Democrats and most Democrats I know are single," said Koebcke, a project manager in Austin, almost 300 miles west of Denver. "Most Republicans want home and hearth. They want babies and that family life."
Stevenson isn't sure whether she wants a family. "Most of us didn't make any money until we were 26 year old and we want to enjoy ourselves," she said. She logs 11 hour days analyzing legal issues for her energy company. "I can't imagine coming home and having to cook dinner and deal with someone else's problems," she said. "I'm not there yet."
She also knows that Republicans won't be getting her vote anytime soon.
Republican Senate candidates in Missouri and Indiana infuriated her when they tried to explain why they think rape victims shouldn't be allowed to have abortions. Stevenson stayed up late on election night just to confirm that they both lost.
The women's issues that Obama emphasized, such as equal pay for women and contraception coverage, are pocketbook issues to Stevenson. The fact that GOP candidates denigrated them as social issues just shows how out of touch the GOP is, she said.
"There are just so many off-putting comments from the Republican party," Stevenson said. "It's crazy to me that they're still acting as if women are a niche market."
___
Associated Press Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta in Washington contributed to this report.
___
Follow Nicholas Riccardi on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/nickriccardi
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/many-single-women-key-bloc-avoiding-gop-133003626--election.html
elite eight stephon marbury the lion king suzanne collins cherry blossom festival nc state erika van pelt
Thanks to Arbitron, I was honored to do a joint presentation at their Client Conference yesterday devoted to ?the digital dash.?? Valerie Shuman was a ?great get? for this session?(credit due to Dr.?Ed Cohen who envisioned this session).? She?s the VP of Industry Programs for the Connected Vehicle Trade Association and had some great insights about this rapidly growing and changing space.
As Valerie pointed out, the average age of a car in the U.S. is now 11 years old ? and that means that in the next year or so, many Americans will be in the market for a new vehicle.? And many of these consumers will purchase one that is equipped with a system like Ford?s SYNC and Toyota?s Entune.
This is significant because as we learned in Techsurvey8, a majority of our 57,300 respondents say the lion?s share of the broadcast radio listening takes place behind the wheel.? We also learned that half our sample is already able to connect a smartphone to their cars (yup, that AUX IN jack).
This means new options, connectivity, and a different experience that those pushbuttons that we?ve all grown to know and love.
I played a serious of videos shot at CES and also SAE?s Convergence show this fall in Detroit.? I?ve been waiting nearly a year to show them to broadcasters, and I was thrilled about the reception they received at the conference.
Radio needs to understand what the automakers ? and aftermarket companies ? are thinking, and how it will impact the?listening experience ? or should I say ? the audio consumption experience.
Here?s a clip from a demo of Cadillac?s CUE, where you?ll?see and hear?the story behind the platform as well as a demo of how the system works.
>EMAIL RECIPIENTS: CLICK HERE TO WATCH CADILLAC CUE DEMO<
So what can the average radio programmer, manager, or owner do about the oncoming connected car revolution?
Jacobs Media will continue to be at the forefront of this revolution.? Our commitment to mobile as researchers, consultants ? and of course app development ? is our ?center stack.?? We will be back at CES next month, as will a growing number of broadcasters who are beginning to understand that the consumer electronics and automotive industries are integral to radio?s future.
Drive on.
Source: http://jacobsmediablog.com/2012/12/07/the-connected-car/
MC Chris Colorado shooting suspect accuweather Finding Nemo 2 Provigil denver post dez bryant
Source: http://curbed.com/archives/2012/12/06/celebrity-real-estate-146.php
Jack Taylor Apple Pie Recipe black friday green bean casserole How long to cook a turkey Turkey Cooking Time red dawn
The Galaxy is at peace, once and for all, though not all is like it seems. Join a band of elite team members who rise up to take on a new challenge, or become the Sith and destroy them.
Owner:
Game Masters:
This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Star Wars: The Guilded Age?. Anything posted here will also show up there.Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.You may edit this first post as you see fit.
RolePlayGateway is a site built by a couple roleplayers who wanted to give a little something back to the roleplay community. The site has no intention of earning any profit, and is paid for out of their own pockets.
If you appreciate what they do, feel free to donate your spare change to help feed them on the weekends. After selecting the amount you want to donate from the menu, you can continue by clicking on PayPal logo.
Registered users: Addrinvan*, AdmireAtStuff*, Akantha*, Alexa [Bot], Alexander_Right*, AlyssAsylum, Annalee2010, aodhstormeyes*, Arcayne, Aryutsuki*, Asher MstrImmortalis*, Ashes-6695*, AthenaUndying, bandgeek*, BBClock*, Beach-Born-Boy, Blackbird26*, BleedingLover*, BrienaSkysong*, Brock10, Bugbuster, BumbleDrop*, Caelus, Canibelle*, Carlos_Joaquin, ceh12, Celaira*, CharlotteV*, Chocolate~Pyrus*, ChristyLovesYou, Chynacat32*, claw*, Cloasse*, cmpuncle*, Colonel_Masters*, conor*, coricidinForte, Crimbro*, Curtsive*, D.Angel*, danm36*, dealing with it, Deallo*, delfiler, Dementedness*, DemonDante*, dig17, Digital_Muse*, dinah41*, draketemple*, DreamerOnTheStars*, EKRonnie, Elliegum, Elrith Eldwind, Erik7622*, EspressoJunkie, Everscale, Exabot [Bot], Eyliel, Fabricator*, FamishedPants*, fauxtruth, Firewind, Flexar*, FollowerOfDarkPaths, Forensic_Anthro, Forget~Me~Not*, freemixer25*, FreeRunner*, Gamer_Templar*, Google [Bot], Google Adsense [Bot], Google Feedfetcher, HadoukenLSD*, HereMeNow, holothewisewolf*, HOLYCRAPAGHOST, Horseygirl*, Hyperiant, Jag*, jukuma, Kai, Kaida, kiwimango, KnightOfRage*, Kuroe*, Lady Inali*, LadyValentine*, Lainpinky131*, legacy14*, Lenyx*, Leon21*, Lifecharacter*, Little Fox, Loxley*, Lufia*, Lukethewolf1*, LunaSpirit, MaliceInWonderland*, Marcus*, MaxwellH, Mela*, Melophone_Master, Merchant, Messiah, Miss_Dreamer*, mistsong99*, Monroe, MSNbot Media, Nami L'Chi, Negative Bowser*, Nekohina, Nevan*, nightwolf, No-one-special*, noonshine, Noxize, Odinson, OurLadyofSorrows*, OurStars*, PeaceEntropy, pieluver*, PinkyPromise~*, PsychoticChrono*, Qaida*, qbsuperstar03, RacoonMoon()*, Raidose*, RawkFist*, Reaper2707, RedPinkCyanOrange*, RedRaine, Rem?us*, RichterGotz*, Romaneck, Rougeshadow*, Rulke*, S1mon*, Saika*, Saviarre*, Scarlet Loup*, Script*, shadereen*, Shadetree76, ShadowWake*, silver0lilly, SilverAngelWings, SkullsandSlippers*, Snickerdoodle*, Snow, Sora112112, StandardFiend, Starlight77*, Stella11, Sweet Angel Jocelyn, Sweeti Hart, SylphofSpace*, SynapticError*, Tainted Twinkee, Talisman*, teegaroo, Tejas*, Temperance, The Great Thundorz*, Thundergod1020*, Tonks*, tornadofan2*, twi-twi, UniqueYetUnoriginal, Valor, Vestiline*, Vinn*, WaltJRimmer, wolfoftheage*, YellowGrand*, YokoKitsune, Yolo*, Zenia*, ZoeyAutopsyx*, Zonethehedgehog*
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RolePlayGateway/~3/V1HQNiyUKOc/viewtopic.php
joy division norco rand paul detained asexual jim carrey san francisco chronicle kourtney kardashian pregnant
(CNN) ? He was antisocial and difficult to work with at first. He?d clearly been abused by his father as evidenced by the deep, round scab near his shoulder. He hadn?t been eating well.
And he was so skittish that the slightest noise or motion set him off. But Army veteran Jeff Wilson needed a new dog, and this pound puppy ? a border collie-German shepherd mix ? was it.
He named him Lobo, and it wasn?t long before Wilson, 44, realized they had the same issues.
?We were kind of kindred spirits,? he said. ?I think it really helped deepen our connection because he wasn?t just helping me; I was helping him. I was helping him get past the same obstacles that I had. I had to recognize it in myself and get past that to help him.?
Wilson is a former tank commander and flight engineer who isn?t at liberty to speak about his time in Iraq other than to say he manned a machine gun while hanging out of the door of a helicopter. He can also say that he was often ?exposed to very dangerous situations? during his 14 years in the service.
He has been diagnosed with depression and anxiety from post-traumatic stress disorder, and he?s not alone. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 11% to 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans are suffering from PTSD.
Wilson said his depression turned him into a hermit. He would ?curl up and not talk to anybody,? and his anxiety made it difficult to go into public.
If he did leave the house, he was hypervigilant. If someone walked up behind him or dropped something that emitted a clatter, it triggered the ?fight or flight? mechanism he?d groomed in the military.
The anxiety was so bad that before he was diagnosed with PTSD, he went to the emergency room four times because he thought he was having a heart attack. He ?self-medicated? so heavily with booze that it strained the relationship between him and his now-wife of two years.
?I was having to drink to numb all my senses and be quasi-normal,? he said.
But today, with Lobo by his side, Wilson is finding it easier to cope.
The two have been working with Operation Freedom Paws, a nonprofit in Gilroy, California, that helps veterans train their own service dogs. It is run by Mary Cortani, a veteran and one of the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2012.
When veterans train ?their own service dog, there are immediate benefits right off the bat,? Cortani said. ?They have a mission and a purpose again. It gives them something to focus on and to complete. It gives them a sense of security and safety. ? They know they?re not alone. They?ve always got their buddy at the end of the leash.?
Now Wilson tells Lobo, ?Watch my back,? and his four-legged friend stands behind him and gives him a nudge if anyone approaches. When something stokes Wilson?s anxiety, Lobo senses it, jumps up and puts his paws on Wilson?s chest so he can redirect his focus.
?Knowing he?s there makes me comfortable,? Wilson said. ?I?m not worried about the attacks. I still think about them, but I?m not hampered by them. I can go to the movies.?
A study on hold
The Veterans Affairs Department recently put a study on hold that would determine the effectiveness of canine therapy for troops suffering from PTSD. Until that study is complete, the VA will continue providing dogs for a variety of ailments, but not PTSD.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, co-sponsored the 2009 legislation that kicked off the study. He was inspired by the strides that dogs helped his mother make from 1995 to 1998 after she was stricken with Alzheimer?s.
?She wasn?t very fond of dogs at all, but when she developed Alzheimer?s, they became a key part of her therapy,? the senator said. ?She was unable to really communicate at that time, but you could easily tell, emotionally, the calming effect the service dogs had.?
Isakson said the VA is rewriting the parameters of the study to take into account the dogs? temperaments and the importance of matching the trainers, not just the dogs, with the patients.
Yet not everyone is convinced ?the VA has the right stuff? to conduct the necessary experiments, said Corey Hudson, CEO of Canine Companions for Independence and president of the North American chapter of the umbrella organization, Assistance Dogs International.
Hudson said he hopes the study will be large enough to consider the broad gamut of symptoms associated with PTSD, as well as the anecdotal evidence suggesting canine companions can help tug the disorder?s sufferers from their shells.
?There?s something mystical and magical about dogs and people and placing them together,? said Hudson, who has ?worked with and against the VA? during his 22 years of experience with assistance dogs. Canine Companions for Independence has more than 900 puppy raisers and works to pair veterans with dogs regardless of whether the VA shells out for it.
Hudson doesn?t cite scientific studies, such as the one that says canine interaction increases a human?s level of oxytocin, a hormone that reduces anxiety and blood pressure.
Instead, he speaks about how dogs love unconditionally and don?t judge. He explains how they naturally spark social interaction ? ?Cool dog; can I pet her?? ? and how ownership precludes people from locking themselves in their homes, away from society.
?You can also use them as an excuse to get out of things or leave early,? Hudson said.
Case in point
Shadow is one pooch accustomed to being used for such occasions.
The 2-year-old Labrador-Burmese mountain dog mix is the inseparable pal of Jennifer Haeffner, a seven-year Army veteran who had been housebound for about five years before meeting Shadow in the summer.
?He?s a very active dog. It makes me do things. I don?t have the option of hiding in the house. I have to go out,? said the 41-year-old Ripon, California, resident.
During Operation Desert Storm, where she served for about nine months between 1991 and 1992, she was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions by other service members, she said. It?s a fairly common occurrence that befalls about one in four women in the military, according to the VA.
It left her feeling alone in the world. She wanted to disappear. She forgot how to deal with people and eventually became a recluse, considering it a ?good month? if she got out just once to shop for groceries.
She didn?t attend any of her large family?s gatherings. Too many people and too much noise, she said. It terrified her.
?For years after that, I would go out and wander the streets late at night, just hoping someone would kill me because I wasn?t brave enough to kill myself,? she said.
About five months ago, her therapist recommended that she meet Cortani.
Cortani recalls Haeffner wouldn?t look her in the eye when they met. Her leg bounced when she spoke, and she pressed her fingernails into her arm. Her boyfriend was constantly by her side.
?You could just tell the pain and the anguish that even meeting me for the first time was causing,? said Cortani, an Army veteran herself.
Operation Freedom Paws teaches participants to train their own dogs, to customize their behavior. First, the dogs learn to sit, then heel ? the basic stuff.
Shadow now knows how to pick things up for Haeffner so she doesn?t put stress on her bad back and hips. He acts as a barrier, physically putting himself between her and any new people she meets.
When she wakes up feeling gloomy, he lets her stay in bed and pet him until she?s ready to face the day. If she hears a sound during the night, he stays by her side as she checks it out, and Shadow is quick to snap her out of nightmares.
?He?ll breathe on me or lay his head across mine to wake me up,? she said of her 55-pound companion. ?If I?m in a bad mood, he?ll come over and insist I play with his toy or lay his lead in my lap or lick my feet ? cheer me up.?
Cortani said the difference between the Haeffner of five months ago and the Haeffner of today is like ?night and day.?
She builds friendships. She?s been to the aquarium. She?s gone horseback riding. She goes places without her boyfriend.
?She?s creating her own new normal,? Cortani said.
Added Haeffner: ?I?m much better now. I?m happier.?
??
By Eliott C. McLaughlin and Christie O?Reilly contributed to this report.
CNN
?? & ? 2012 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
?
Source: http://fox2now.com/2012/11/09/war-vets-find-solace-in-four-legged-friends/
yule log ham recipes darlene love free kindle books roasted potatoes turkey recipes turkey recipes
