In a petition circulated online, Change.org minces no words: “NAACP: Hire the First Woman President in the NAACP’s 104 year History.” Seventy percent of the respondents agreed it is time that NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) elect the first permanent woman president in its history. The petition and the clamor for a woman to lead the organization came almost within moments after current NAACP President Ben Jealous announced he was stepping down at the end of the year. 

A new environmental scorecard of California legislators reveals an emerging trend – an uptick in the scores for Republicans, bolstered by a new crop of moderates. The scorecard, released last Wednesday, shows that average scores for Republicans have steadily grown in the last few years. The average score for GOP Assembly members nearly doubled to 15 percent, while that of Senate Republicans more than tripled to 10 percent, compared to the previous year. Still, average scores for GOP legislators were far below that of their Democratic counterparts, which ranged from 87 to 90 percent.

A new report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a U.K.-based think tank, identifies Kenya as one of 11 countries most at risk for disaster-induced poverty. The report, entitled “The geography of poverty, disasters and climate extremes in 2030”, warns that the international community has yet to properly address the threats disasters pose to the poorest parts of the world. The report includes locations where both poverty and natural disasters will likely be concentrated in 2030; and in many instances, these locations overlap. 

Here is a bold and risky conclusion:  the Republican Party, as now constructed, knows it cannot win the White House.  It probably cannot get a majority in the Senate.  But it can continue its hold on the House of Representatives and thus continue its strategy of blocking legislation rather than acting on the needs of the nation. Looking at current polling numbers, the GOP is at a historic low in public opinion.  

The devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy a year ago today thrust the issue of climate change into the center of the presidential campaign and to the top of the national political agenda. And yet in the mayoral race for New York City, one of the epicenters of the tragedy, talk of climate is practically nowhere to be heard. In nearly all of the mayoral debates and forums held this year, the issues of global warming and Superstorm Sandy have not come up. 

The Heat, a team made up of three of the league’s stars (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh -- the latter players, however, have certainly shined brighter in past seasons), one of the better shooters in the league (Ray Allen), and interchangeable spare parts, are again odds-on favorites to win the NBA finals for a third year in a row. The prediction is appropriate. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying that James is the best player in the world. 

This month, the Pew Research Journalism Project reported how Americans get their news at home.  If you think it’s from the Internet, you’ll be surprised that the 38 percent of us who access news at home on a desktop or laptop spend an average of only 90 seconds a day getting news online.  America’s dominant news source is television, and the disparity between heavy viewers of TV news and everyone else is as startling as the gap between the plutocrats and the people.

Part of the appeal of burlesque and neo-burlesque is its promotion of female empowerment, sexuality and acceptance of women of all shapes and sizes. The average woman is not the same size as the models we see on billboards and in magazines; there’s a thrill and appreciation at seeing these performers comfortable in their own skin. Burlesque performer Grace Gotham says in an interview with Scott Schuman that burlesque allows her to celebrate and explore her sensuality in a safe space. 

Belay is among some 120,000 Blue Shield customers -- which represent about 60 percent of its individual market -- who received such a letter in recent weeks. Other insurance companies have cancelled policies, telling their customers that their existing policies fall short of the 10 “essential health benefits” the ACA requires all plans to include beginning Jan.1, 2014, the day the health care law is fully implemented. 

The Republican Party emerged from the partial government shutdown with record low approval ratings. Now, some analysts say the key to their survival could be their leadership on immigration reform. The strategy House Republicans decide to take on this issue could determine their viability in the next election. But while it’s unclear what their next move will be, news reports indicate they may be less at a standstill than we thought.