Forbes Announces World’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2011

This year it’s all about reach.

The women on this list were chosen not just for being on top but for being smack in the middle of Richter-registering events — and more. Their power derives from money and might, yes, but also (thanks to old, new and social media) reach and influence.

This year’s No. 1 in the ranking, German Chancellor Angela Merkel — recognized as the “undisputed” leader of the EU — is key to curing what ails the euro zone.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel --

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

As the Arab spring turns into the autocrats’ summer, No. 2-ranked U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton provides encouragement to dissidents holding the World together with both hands while Obama is playing golf.

Dilma Rousseff (No. 3) elected president of Brazil. While Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg (No. 5) and Christine Lagarde (No. 9), France’s former finance minister, for example, is now managing director of the I.M.F.

Other famous faces make the list this year because they have exploited their celebrity status to build global businesses or champion humanitarian causes. Lady Gaga (No. 11) raised over $200 million to fight HIV/AIDS. The Power 100 Women are not just newsmakers — they are custodians of the news. Jill Abramson (No. 12) makes her first appearance as new executive editor of the New York Times. Ten percent of the list has bank accounts in the 10 figures, including the self-mades Oprah (No. 14) Susan Wojcicki (No. 16) was upped to SVP at Google. While Georgina Rinehart (No. 19), the richest woman in Australia–and said to be on track as the richest person in the world in 2012–is using her wealth to campaign against national environmental reforms and taxes.

We have lots of business leaders too: women from Silicon Valley and Wall Street and Main Street; entrepreneurs of import, like HTC’s Cher Wang (No. 20), Michele Bachmann (No. 22) is rocking the 2012 presidential race. While Angelina Jolie (No. 29) continues her work as a U.N. ambassador. The United Nations power women in the ranks: Josette Sheeran (No. 30) of the World Food Programme, Media marquise Arianna Huffington (No.31). while Sarah Palin (No. 34) is still playing coy. Other nonprofit leaders include CARE USA’s Helene Gayle (No. 36) Probably best known are the televised journalists: ABC’s Christiane Amanpour (No. 44) and Diane Sawyer (No. 47), Zhang Xin (No. 48), billionaire cofounder of real-estate empire SOHO China,

Helen Clark (No. 50) of the UN Development Programme. BBC News, run by Helen Boaden (No. 51), reaches some 34 million viewers weekly. Twitter’s Katie Jacobs Stanton (No. 56) empower the rebels storming the barricades with an uninterrupted newsfeed — or a way to report in 140 characters or less.
Yingluck Sinawatra (No. 59) and prime minister of Thailand, respectively, now in a club of eight heads of state on the list. J.K. Rowling (No. 61). Ann Curry of TODAY (No. 66) and Judith Rodin (No. 71) president of the 98-year-old Rockefeller Foundation.On The Record’s Greta Van Susteren (No. 75). Denise Morrison (No. 80) was promoted from COO to CEO for Campbell Soup. She’s one of 29 CEOs here.

These fabulous women do more than just eat bonbons: Walmart heiress Alice Walton (No. 85) is opening her preeminent collection of American art to the public with the Crystal Bridge Museum on 11/11/11.

There’s nothing static about the list. Nearly half the women are first-timers or are back after dropping off. Some changed jobs since last year. Most were promoted but some changed tracks altogether or are newly elected to office –all evidence that women are moving up the pipeline.

Our members come from politics, business, technology, media, entertainment and nonprofit and were ranked by three metrics: dollars, a traditional and social media component and power base points. We looked at if they hold sway over multiple spheres of influence rather than have a single source of authority.

This is new to the 2011 FORBES 100 Most Power Women methodology and reflects a more dynamic and diverse power that impacts greater numbers of people.

For a description of our methodology, full bios, slide shows, videos and more visit http://www.forbes.com/power-women

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video: BILL and HILLARY CLINTON take a walkabout in downtown Manhattan..

http://videos.oneindia.in/watch/45938/bill-hillary-clinton-walk-york-city.html

You will have to copy and paste in your web address box.. Vodpod does not accept the link as workable…

Happy 65th Birthday, Bill Clinton!

August 19th, 2011

President Bill Clinton, The Champ! baby pic

The 42nd President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, celebrates his birthday today. The Big Dawg is now 65. Happy birthday, Bubba!

William Jefferson Clinton, the pride of Hope, Ark., remains the only Democrat to win two full White House terms since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

He also presided over the largest peacetime economic expansion in U.S. history, and left office extremely popular despite being impeached.

Hey, no one’s perfect, right?

His wife, Hillary Clinton, is currently U.S. Secretary of State. Their daughter, Chelsea, married Marc Mezvinsky last summer in New York State.

In a political flip-flop of Mitt Romney-esque proportions, Bill Clinton is marking his 65th birthday by going vegan. Seriously. No more burgers!

What a difference a quadruple bypass makes. “I like the vegetables, the fruits, the beans, the stuff I eat now,” the ex-President tells CNN.

After experiencing heart problems leading up to the 2004 surgery, Clinton has now lost 20 lbs.: “I feel good, and I have so much more energy.”

Glad to hear. Have a veggie burger on us tonight, BC!

Clinton: ‘We’re Going To Weather This Crisis’

8/12/11
“I’m confident that we’re going to weather this crisis, and not just our own country, because I think that we have very strong reasons to be confident, but I think also, our partners around the world, most particularly in Europe,” she told CBS Evening News.

QUESTION: Thank you, Madam Secretary. You are in close coordination with all of the European Union countries, and I wonder how much confidence you have that the European nations are going to be able to create a soft landing for their debt crisis that doesn’t wreck the economy here in the United States?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Scott, I think it’s very clear that the global economy has made us even more interdependent, and we’ve seen that in so many ways over the last three years. We are certainly supporting what the Europeans are trying to do. Our Treasury Secretary and other officials are in constant communication with their counterparts. Obviously, the President has spoken with his, and I’ve spoken with mine. And this is a very challenging economic time for many of us, but I believe that we’ll see actions taken that will provide the so-called soft landing that you’re talking about.

And I think we do have to all pay more attention to how we’re going to create jobs in the so-called developed world that are going to be available for the vast majority of middle-income and lower-income men and women, who are being basically marginalized in the way the global economy is growing.

more details at link:

Link
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Hillary Clinton Asks Tougher Sanctions Against Assad Regime-
Urges Further Sanctions as Syrian Violence Continues

Activists and witnesses say Syrian security forces shot and killed at least 19 people across the country on Friday during anti-government protests. The reports say protesters were killed in at least six Syrian cities, including Hama, Homs and Aleppo, as well as the suburbs of Damascus.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have intensified their violent suppression of opposition protests during the past week, despite growing international condemnation.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged countries giving Syria economic and political support to “get on the right side of history.” She also called on countries to stop buying Syrian oil and gas.

Clinton says she is continuing diplomatic talks aimed at putting political pressure on Mr. Assad’s government. She again insisted the Syrian president has “lost the legitimacy to lead,” but still stopped short of calling for Mr. Assad to step down, saying that calls for his removal should be part of an international effort.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Abdullah Gul called on Mr. Assad to implement reforms before it is too “late.” Turkish media reports relayed Mr. Gul’s comments on Friday.

The Syrian government has defended its crackdown, saying it is combating armed gangs and terrorists. On Friday, state-run news reports said “armed groups” with “snipers” had opened fire “randomly” in a Damascus suburb and two other areas, killing three law enforcement officers and two civilians.

Rights groups say more than 1,700 people have been killed in Syria’s crackdown.

Details of events in Syria are difficult to independently verify because the government allows very few foreign news reporters into the country and restricts their movements.
Link

Will Hillary run for 2012? Poll shows 68% approval rating among Americans

YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING patiently… to hear these words… take the poll at the link:

Will Hillary run for 2012? Poll shows 68% approval rating among Americans!

Last updated at 2:10 AM on 6th April 2011

The possibility of a last-minute presidential dash by Hillary Clinton has been raised after it emerged that her popularity among voters has almost reached an all-time high.

The Secretary of State’s favourable rating among Americans has soared to 66 per cent from just 61 per cent in July 2010.
The impressive figures raised hopes among her supporters that Clinton will take advantage Obama’s nose-diving popularity and run for president in 2012.

A stand-out candidate has yet to emerge in the early days of the presidential and the promising figures suggest that Clinton could become the first U.S. female president.

Clinton first became widely known among Americans when her husband was elected president Bill Clinton and she was First Lady.
At this point her popularity was at its highest point. Two further dips in form saw her rating dip to 44 and 45 per cent before jumping to 65 per cent when she was sworn in to the Obama administration.

The role of Secretary of State has traditionally been viewed favourable among voters. Colin Powell, a previous holders of the position, saw his ratings soar to as high as 80 per cent and Madeleine Albright reached 69 percentage points.

But the challenge for Clinton should she run for president will be to retain her popularity during an election campaign that will see her policies scrutinized.

With a 66 per cent rating revealed in a Gallup poll, Clinton is more popular than the president, more popular than the vice president, and more popular than she has ever been for much of her time in the national spotlight since 1993.

Clinton enjoys extraordinary popularity among women with 77 per cent of women over 50 backing her. She also receives support from a solid slice of support from independents and 40 per cent of Republicans.

Even among men across the age spectrum her popularity was found to be 59 per cent.

A second poll from Quinnipiac University released yesterday showed that 48 per cent of voters disapproved the job President Obama is doing and almost half said that he does not deserve to be re-elected in 2012. The figures are all-time lows in the university’s tracking of the president.

A Clinton campaign would see her pitched against her former boss, Obama, who recently announced he will run for a second term term of office in 2012 in what advisers are hoping will be a billion-dollar campaign.

A second term would enable him to cement and expand the policies he has begun at the White House but the fanfare that greeted his success in 2008 has largely diminished.

The announcement to run for president will allow the President to begin raising money in earnest for what advisers hope will be a record-breaking haul of more than $1 billion.

But if he does win re-election, Clinton has signaled her intention to step down as Secretary of State fueling speculation that she could be lining up a run in 2016.

She has reportedly been unhappy with Obama’s failure to show leadership during uprisings in the Middle East.

‘Obviously, she’s not happy with dealing with a president who can’t decide if today is Tuesday or Wednesday, who can’t make his mind up,’ a source told The Daily.

‘If you take a look at what’s on her plate as compared with what’s on the plates of previous Secretaries of State — there’s more going on now at this particular moment, and it’s like playing sports with a bunch of amateurs. And she doesn’t have any power. She’s trying to do what she can to keep things from imploding.’

The other candidates who have declared their intention to stand for president include Randall Terry from the Deomcrats, Newt Gingrich from the Republicans and Sarah Palin.
“Daily Mail Link”

Mea-Culpa— Regrets from a professor who fought Hillary in the Primary to elect Barack (the failure) Obama!

“Hillary for president”

August 05, 2011| By Christopher Sprigman

During the 2008 presidential primaries, Hillary Clinton ran an ad called “3 a.m. phone call.” The ad juxtaposed pictures of sleeping children with the insistent ring of a telephone. A grave voice asked us to consider who we would want in the White House when the phone rang at 3 a.m. with news of trouble. The message was clear: Barack Obama lacked the strength to be president.

I remember how angry that ad made me. I was newly hired as a junior professor, working hard to get tenure. My nonworking hours were, however, devoted almost entirely to getting Obama elected.

Read the rest here:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-08-05/news/ct-oped-0805-hillary-20110805_1_spending-cuts-gop-controls-hillary-clinton