This Is What I Am Talking About

A woman has become Chancellor of Germany and suddenly a lot of career women in Germany are coming forth with gender specific workplace questions.

A few days back I talked of going beyond foetus talk. This is what I am talking about. The pro-choice stand is all good, but that is not the only issue women face. Infact, for most women, that is more symbolic than a choice they personally hope to face.

So expand the agenda. Talk more broadly. Dig up many more issues in gender relations. Issues to do with relationships and marriages, issues in the home, at the workplace, issues out in the streets, issues where big money and big power come into play.

The same applies to race relations, and cultural diversity issues. Too often worshipping Martin Luther King is used as an excuse to make no further progress on race relations. Education, health and economic growth cut across all racial lines, but there are a host of issues that are race specific, and those have to be talked about openly.

Digging up issues, and putting them on the table, and engaging in productive dialogue might be the best way to make progress on both race and gender.

Only I wish the women in Germany talked these issues up also before.

• Woman on top Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
• Merkel Becomes First Female German Chancellor Zaman Online, Turkey
• Let the Merkel era begin International Herald Tribune, France
• German Press Names Merkel 'Miss Germany!' Zaman Online, Turkey
• 'Merkel smashes stereotypes' Independent Online, South Africa
• 'The girl' who surprised the old boys in Berlin politics San Francisco Chronicle, United States
• Deal gives Germany 1st female chancellor San Francisco Chronicle, United States
• Merkel emerges as new face of Germany Globe and Mail, Canada
• Merkel to lead Germany as first female chancellor Detroit Free Press, United States
• Merkel to Be Germany's First Woman Chancellor Los Angeles Times, CA
• Chirac invites Germany's Angela Merkel to France People's Daily Online, China
• Merkel reaches deal to become Germany's first female chancellor Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription), MN
• First female chancellor plays it cool Financial Times, UK

My Photo At ABCNews.com

It is from this event: Dean Was In Town Yesterday. I am in the top right corner.

Howard Dean Backs Bloomberg Challenger
ABC News Sep 27, 2005

The Bloomberg Machine

Poll: Bloomberg Extends Lead in NYC Race Two new polls indicate the mayor's response to the terror threat helped him nearly double his lead over Fernando Ferrer. And an overwhelming majority of voters said they believe Bloomberg is stronger on security than his opponent....... Bloomberg with a 28-point lead over Ferrer, 60 percent to 32 percent, among likely voters....... the mayor appeared with the police commissioner and FBI officials to announce the potential al-Qaida attack and a tightening of subway security........ A Quinnipiac poll released three weeks earlier found the incumbent leading by 14 points...... CNN and the New York Post, citing unidentified sources, reported that an informant in Iraq who had told U.S. authorities about the plot later admitted he made it up. Bloomberg and police officials questioned those reports Tuesday........ The billionaire incumbent, who is financing his campaign with his fortune, led among both black voters and Democrats in the Quinnipiac poll. Ferrer, who is of Puerto Rican descent, had a slight edge over the mayor among Hispanic voters...... More than three-fourths of those surveyed gave Bloomberg high marks on security and favored him over Ferrer for keeping the city safe.......

Ferrer Attack: Ferrer's chief complaints about Bloomberg's security record are that he has failed to fight for federal counterterrorism funds, and should hire more officers to the city's police force of nearly 37,000.

Bloomberg Attack: Bloomberg's opposition grumbled about whether last week's threat announcement was a political ploy, but Bloomberg said Monday that he and his police commissioner were not playing politics....... "The implication that Ray Kelly or I would try to scare people for some sort of petty political gain is pretty cynical," the mayor said. "You can't stop and worry about politics when you're talking about keeping people safe in this city."

Looks like Bloomberg did get a major security boost.

Bloomberg: No Mr. Security

And compare the Ferrer attack to the Bloomberg attack. Bloomberg's is sharper. Sharpness works.

Bloomberg's online ads the past few days have been more message focused. The beauty ads are gone. I wonder if people on the Bloomberg campaign have been reading my blog. Maybe not. But I did criticize the beauty ads a few days back.

Ferrer could get more aggressive. But then if Bloomberg is getting most of the black vote, something is cooking up.

The self-made billionaire perhaps has limitless supplies of money and a political instinct or two to top that.

Ferrer Can