Meet Hillary Clinton in New York City!

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/terminal5/

Hillary Clinton in Iowa: Vol. 3 The Launch

As planned, as soon as the crowds cleared from FDR Four Freedoms Park in New York yesterday, Hillary Clinton left for Iowa where she attended a house party in the evening hosted by Chuck and Linda Smoley in Sioux City.   There were hundreds of similar house parties all over the country and a video-chat was available from the campaign.

Hillary Clinton ‏@HillaryClinton 

Hillary to 650+ house parties nationwide: "It's about you, about us, about all the people who deserve a champion."

Today, at the fair grounds in Des Moines,  Hillary held her first Iowa rally.  On her two previous visits she met with small,  specific special interest groups.  This was her first large-scale event in the state for this cycle.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to supporters during a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton greets supporters following a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Clinton's campaign has signaled Iowa will be the centerpiece of its ground game. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton reacts to a supporter before speaking at a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Clinton's campaign has signaled Iowa will be the centerpiece of its ground game. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton casts a shadow on a flag as she speaks to supporters during a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Clinton's campaign has signaled Iowa will be the centerpiece of its ground game. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Supporters cheer as U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton arrives at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks to supporters during a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Clinton's campaign has signaled Iowa will be the centerpiece of its ground game. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton greets supporters at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reacts after speaking at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young

A supporter shoots a photo as Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton greets audience members after a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Seeking an army of volunteers, Clinton is trying to build an organizational edge in Iowa as some of her lesser-known Democratic rivals clamor for attention in the state that tripped up her first presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton winks at a supporter following a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Seeking an army of volunteers, Clinton is trying to build an organizational edge in Iowa as some of her lesser-known Democratic rivals clamor for attention in the state that tripped up her first presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Hillary Clinton ‏@HillaryClinton 

Packed house waiting to hear Hillary at the Iowa launch party in Des Moines. #Hillary2016

Hillary Clinton ‏@HillaryClinton 

Spotted in Iowa: Talia (and Talia's grandma) think it's about time for "the first girl president."

Hillary for Iowa ‏@HillaryforIA 

"I'm here today because it's important for my daughter to be a part of history." –Kami, Des Moines #Hillary2016

Hillary for Iowa ‏@HillaryforIA 

Thank you for an amazing Launch Party at the fairgrounds, Iowa! #Hillary2016

To accommodate those who could not get close enough  for a photo with the real Hillary, Super Volunteer, John West, offered pics with his life-sized Hillary cut-out.

Caitlin Wilson, of Altoona, Iowa, poses with a cardboard cutout of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton outside a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Seeking an army of volunteers, Clinton is trying to build an organizational edge in Iowa as some of her lesser-known Democratic rivals clamor for attention in the state that tripped up her first presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

John West carries a life-sized cutout of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young

Cadence Pike (L) "high-fives" John West after getting her picture taken with a life-sized cutout of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, United States, June 14, 2015. REUTERS/Jim Young

John West, of Chicago, carries a cardboard cutout of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton outside a rally, Sunday, June 14, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. Seeking an army of volunteers, Clinton is trying to build an organizational edge in Iowa as some of her lesser-known Democratic rivals clamor for attention in the state that tripped up her first presidential campaign. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

 

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In the Sights of the Right: The #BringBackOurGirls Campaign and (of course) @HillaryClinton

Seventeen days ago, and two weeks into the ordeal of what we now know to be nearly 300 young female Nigerian scholars, Al Jazeera America began publicizing the Twitter hashtag campaign #BringBackOurGirls.   I had not seen any other news outlet acknowledge the story at that point.  Plenty of time and money had been spent for weeks on the missing airliner and the sunken ferry, but it seemed at the time that no one was particularly concerned about thugs invading a girls' dormitory on the eve of final exams and abducting them for doing exactly what they were there to do: studying.

First and foremost, at that time,  the story needed publicity - a higher profile - and the hashtag campaign seemed exactly what was needed so I came here, posted about it, and tweeted the post with the hashtag.  Reactions to that post indicated what I had predicted.  A lot of people did not know about this situation.  I continued posting and tweeting and as the days went by the hashtag campaign did what it was meant to do.  It went viral.  Big names picked it up and the media could no longer ignore the story.

The whole point of the campaign was to raise public awareness, and it worked.  Now it is a story.  Now it gets coverage.  People know.  The global hashtag campaign forced the hand of the Nigerian government which had done nothing to help the girls or their families.  Now on the evening news we see the girls, their faces sad and surrounded by veils.  We see the abductors, cocky and jeering.

The girls are not home yet.  We are not even sure where they are.  We have heard the stories of a few who escaped, and at least one says that she cannot return to school.  Mission accomplished, Boko Haram!  At least one young woman will not be studying Darwin, or be looking online at powerful telescopic photos near the moment of the Big Bang, or grow up to find ways to build a greener future for her country - the leading oil producing nation on the continent.

The supremely ironic, crazy attack by right-wing media on the hashtag campaign and on Hillary Clinton (I predicted that here) should come as no surprise and is no coincidence.

Rush Limbaugh Claims Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama 'Sympathize With Boko Haram'

The Gross Hypocrisy Of Conservative Media's Attack On 'Hashtag Bring Back Our Girls'

They live in the same insulated deadpool as the kidnappers.  They are the American Boko Haram who deny scientific evidence of evolution, the Big Bang, and the human influence on the climate.  Like the kidnappers,  many of them hold fundamentalist beliefs. Eschewing education themselves, they are averse to reasoning,  and the last thing on their agenda is the rescue of these girls.  Had it been, they would have joined the campaign rather than attacking it.

There is nothing sillier than aligning Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama with the bullies who are holding these girls.  Nothing. There is nothing more outlandish than the notion that Hillary and Michelle want to bring down the Nigerian government.  Hillary, a longtime advocate for women, girls, and education,  proudly watched her daughter receive a Ph.D. last weekend.  Michelle is the mother of two schoolgirls in the same age group as those kidnapped. They joined a social media campaign the same way the rest of us did in sympathy with those girls and their families.  There is nothing hard to understand about that and certainly no shady hidden agenda.

For her part as a member of the Obama administration, and contrary to what the right-wing media reports, Hillary Clinton followed established protocol in the pursuit of a terrorist designation of Boko Haram.  In fact, in June 2012 she listed the very perpetrator we see in videos taunting everyone who wants these girls released, Abubakar Shekau.

How that, exactly, would be sympathy for this devil defies logic, but then logic has never been the strong suit of the far right.

(Cross-posted at The Department of Homegirl Security)

Clinton Foundation's #NoCeilings on #BringBackOurGirls

Why Education Matters

The kidnapping of over 300 teenage girls at Chibok Government Girls Secondary School in Nigeria has captivated attention and headlines across the world, inspiring outrage, compassion, and calls to action.  The girls were taken by Boko Haram, whose very name declares that education is sinful.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the girls, their families and those working to bring them home safely.
These devastating acts reflect a much larger problem – girls are being targeted and threatened with violence, kidnapping and more just for seeking an education.
That’s why the global community must stay committed to helping protect and promote girls’ education around the world so that every girl has the opportunity to live up to her full potential.
The numbers tell a hopeful story about progress in girls’ access to education over the past two decades.   Here are some important facts and statistics about girls’ education in Nigeria and across the globe, and why protecting schools like Chibok is vital to girls, women, and the world.
FACTS: Why Education Matters

1. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2013 shows that where the gender gap is closest to being closed in a range of areas—including access to education, health survivability, economic participation, and political participation—countries and economies are more competitive and prosperous.
2. Half of the reductions of child mortality between 1970 and 1990 can be attributed to increased education for women of reproductive age.*
3. A 2011 World Bank report found that investing in girls’ education and opportunities in Nigeria and 13 other developing nations could increase a country’s gross domestic product by 1.2% in a single year.
4. A 2002 study on the effect of education on average wages estimates that primary school education increases girls’ earnings by 5 to 15 % over their lifetimes.

FACTS: The Gaps that Remain 

1. Girls and women continue to make up the largest share of the world’s illiterate population (61.3%), and literacy rates in Nigeria hover around 50 to 60%.
2. Gender gaps are especially wide in places like Sub-Saharan Africa, where 40.1 % of girls and 33.1 % of boys are not enrolled in secondary schools like Chibok. This translates into 11.8 million girls in the region not accessing the education they need to attend university, find work, achieve financial independence, and contribute to a growing economy.**
3. Girls also face early marriage as barrier to education, and should the girls from Chibok be sold into slavery or forced marriages, their chances of achieving their dreams will be all but dashed. In a study conducted in Kenya, researchers found that a marriage partner is associated with a 78 % increased risk of termination of secondary schooling.
4. Globally, there are 37.4 million girls not enrolled in lower secondary school compared to 34.2 million boys, a gap of 3.2 million.***

​ It’s an unfortunate reality that it takes an act of courage to seek an education in places like Nigeria. But the girls at Chibok, despite the threats, pursued an education because they and their families understood just how valuable it is. Their resolve will set an example for generations to come and exemplifies the importance of working for the advancement of girls and women across the world so that every girl has a chance to go to school, fulfill her dreams, and break the ceilings and barriers she encounters.
This Mother’s Day, let’s remember the mothers who are missing their daughters, in Nigeria and around the world.

* Emmanuela Gakidou et al., “Increased Educational Attainment and Its Effect on Child Mortality in 175 Countries between 1970 and 2009: A Systematic Analysis,” The Lancet 376, no. 9745 (September 2010): 959–74. Although economic growth was also significantly associated with reductions in child mortality, the magnitude of the association was much smaller than that of increased education. 21 regions, approximately 4 million out of the 8 million children whose lives were saved can be attributed to education for women.

** Shelley Clark and Rohini Mathur, “Dating, Sex, and Schooling in Urban Kenya,” Studies in Family Planning 43, no. 3 (September 2012): 161–74.

*** UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Global Education Digest 2011: Comparing Education Statistics across the World (Montreal, Quebec: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2011).

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