CBS News anchor Katie Couric's interview with Gov. Sarah Palin is the best interview with the Republican vice-presidential nominee that has taken place so far: substantive, specific and with great follow-up questions.

At the post, "Sarah is the Fresh Air," on Blogher, I found this comment today: When can she be interviewed by reporters - I find it disturbing that the McCain campaign isn't allowing Ms. Palin to be interviewed by reporters. What are they hiding? According to Nicole Wallace of the McCain campaign, possibly never:

He's too sexy. According to new rules on advertising created by the EU's women's right committee and approved by the EU parliament,regulatory bodies in charge of monitoring advertising are being asked to establish a "zero-tolerance" policy" against "sexist insults or degrading images." Haven't these folks heard about YouTube?

My plan was not to write about politics today, as much ink has already been spilled on the topic and there is ever more to come. However, last night, after watching Gov. Sarah Palin's well delivered speech at the Republican convention, one of the many talking heads looked right at me through my new HDTV asked why feminists are not defending Gov. Palin against sexist attacks by the (mythical) "liberal media" that is out to destroy her. This is one of the few times I've laughed my head off because we are right here.

Buried in Susan Faludi's New York Times sprawling op-ed regarding the anger many women are expressing that Hillary Clinton did not win the Democratic nomination, how women are covered in the press, and the history of the white suffragette movement, there is a crucial paragraph with vital facts about our current political state. Faludi notes:

I was sitting at a table sipping tea when I heard a man say to another, “You know he’s a little b**tch, right?” Um, gee what was he trying to say? That the man was gay? That the man expressed feelings? Perhaps the person in question was on the rag, metaphorically speaking. Not the first time I’ve heard men using the B-word to refer to another man in such a manner. Dyslogistic speech is a word or group of words used to express disapproval or intended as an insult. Now any word could be a pejorative term so context is extremely important. Here is an example:

There's a lot going on in the mediaverse these days, and bloggers have a lot to say about all of it. Here's a cooks' tour of some of the issues and stories attracting comment from blogging women (and some men):

Saturday's New York Times print edition prominently featured an op-ed by Lindsey O'Rourke titled, "Behind the Woman Behind the Bomb." It caught my eye for two reasons. First, the graphic was huge (6.5 inches high and 6 inches wide, which is a lot of space to take up on the op-ed page) and an interesting portrayal of what I construed to be a dangerous vamp.

Perhaps after the sexism in media coverage of Hillary Clinton's campaign or the nasty attacks on Michelle Obama, my ears perked up more eagerly this morning at the BBC Radio interview of Cherie Blair, wife of Great Britain's former Prime Minister Tony Blair. She considers herself an advocate of women's rights and didn't realize until she became a member of the Bar in Great Britain that being a woman could hold her back.

I think it started with Junie B. Jones, the star of a book series by Barbara Park. A person (who shall remain nameless to protect the guilty) gave my then four-year-old daughter a copy of Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business, a story about a girl who was my daughter's age who was about to gain a new sibling, just as my child was at the time. Junie B. is brash and unstoppable, and is far from perfect, which I thought was a good thing for my daughter to see. My daughter greatly enjoyed the series, but after a few of the books, I began to absolutely HATE Junie B.

I am a feminist. I have been a feminist for as long as I can remember. If there is anything that I want in this world, it is equality for all (i.e. - feminism = equality.) When I say equality, I mean that every person has the opportunity to become the best person he/she can possibly be. That gender, race, class, and the other human-erected barriers we place on people are eradicated.

I admit it: I am a yogurt freak. My mother developed osteoporosis at a relatively young age, so I am vigilant about meeting my Recommended Daily Allowance for calcium. At my age, my friends at the National Institute for Health tell me I should be sucking in 1,000 mg per day. Fortunately, I love diary products, and although I could definitely up my intake of the leafy greens, I do OK.