Clinton Authors Billboard Essay

On Thursday, an essay by Hillary Clinton was published by Billboard magazine. In the essay, Clinton pays tribute to this year’s Women in Music honorees and the hard work it has taken for them to achieve success in the music world. She specifically mentions how female artists have set many industry records including Lady Gaga being the first artist to reach one billion view on YouTube and Loretta Lynn more than 50 top 10 hits. The full text of Clinton’s essay is below.

The great Loretta Lynn once said that to make it in the music business, “You either have to be first, best or different.”

That’s true for all of this year’s Women in Music honorees, Ms. Lynn included. They’re different from anyone else out there. They’ve racked up many “firsts” — like first artist to get more than 1 billion views on YouTube (Lady Gaga) and first woman to chart more than 50 top 10 hits (Lynn). And they’re the best at what they do, whether that’s fronting a raucous soul band, ­writing ­hypnotic dance anthems, unspooling intricate rap lyrics about female empowerment or crooning ballads about heartbreak and young love.

I’ve been listening to some of these women for years. Others I recently discovered. Now I’m a fan of them all. Their talent is dazzling. So is their work ethic. None of these women had success handed to her. They all had to keep at it, even in the face of failure and discouragement — they kept ­singing, kept writing, kept getting better and better. They did it because they knew they had something ­special to offer the world. They knew their stories and points of view were worth ­sharing. And they were absolutely right about that.

Wonderfully, many of these women are ­channeling their success in thoughtful and ­generous ways. They’re starting foundations, mentoring girls and enthusiastically ­advocating for causes close to their hearts — everything from improving mental health care to ­registering ­people to vote. They know how lucky they are to be doing what they love, and they’re making it count in the best of ways. To me, that’s worth honoring just as much as their music.

Their success was made possible by people throughout the music industry who believed in them and worked hard to get their music out into the world. The trailblazing women executives who are celebrated in these pages aren’t just leading the music industry — they’re transforming it.

My hope is that women and girls around the world will hear these artists’ songs, learn their stories and feel a greater sense of ­possibility for their own lives. Maybe they’ll recognize ­themselves in these women. Maybe they’ll be inspired to reach toward their own dreams with greater urgency. Maybe they’ll stand a little straighter or speak a little louder because that’s what Gaga and Missy and Brittany and Tori and Selena and Demi and Kelsea and Lana and Ally and Normani and Lauren and Camilla and Dinah and Loretta would do.

And if none of that happens, who knows — maybe they’ll just dance.

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News Source: Billboard

Clinton Voices Support for Paris Climate Talks

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson fundraising dinner, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

In an op-ed published in Time, Hillary Clinton voiced her support for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change which began today in Paris. Clinton called climate change a threat to the United States because it affects our economy and health. She criticized those who have denied climate change is occurring and the affect humans have had on it. The full text of Clinton’s op-ed is below.

Climate change threatens every corner of our country, every sector of our economy and the health and future of every child. We are already seeing its impacts and we know the poorest and most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world will suffer most of all.

Despite the seriousness of the threat, the world has not always rallied to respond. For years, international negotiations were stymied by deep divisions between developed and developing nations, and by resistance on the part of the Chinese and others to taking responsibility for curbing carbon pollution. While President Obama has made strong progress cutting pollution and deploying more clean energy in the United States, he faces a Republican Party that alternates between denial of the reality of climate change, defeatism about our ability to do anything about it, and outright obstruction of the tools and programs we need to solve the problem.

But President Obama remains committed to making the United States the global leader in the fight against climate change—and so do I. In Paris this week, world leaders have the best chance in years to forge a new, durable, ambitious international climate agreement. I believe they must be guided by three principles. First, all countries must take responsibility for combating this global crisis, and put forward commitments to curb their own greenhouse gas emissions. Second, the agreement should galvanize financial assistance for, and spur private investment in, developing countries to help them adapt and achieve sustainable economic growth.

And finally, it must be an agreement that can be strengthened over time. Countries should agree to come together regularly to raise their collective ambition. In the years ahead, technology will improve and become even cheaper; more companies and investors will put skin in the game; and city and state leaders will take actions that outstrip the ambitions of their capitals. Solving the climate challenge for the long term will take more than the solutions we have in 2015—it will require the new tools we build together.

In Copenhagen in 2009, President Obama and I had to burst into a secret meeting of leaders from China, India, Brazil, and South Africa to break a deadlock and deliver the first international climate agreement in which all major economies, not just the developed world, pledged to take action.

We’ve come so far since then. Over the past year, 164 countries accounting for 90 percent of global emissions have announced national targets and measures to reduce pollution that they are ready to codify in Paris, recognizing that cutting emissions and investing in clean energy isn’t just good for the planet—it’s good economic sense. The United States and China led the way with ambitious goals to cut carbon pollution and deploy more clean energy, and have already begun taking action to achieve them.

Still, getting the job done in Paris will require skillful diplomacy and robust American leadership — I know that from personal experience. As Secretary of State, I put combating climate change on the agenda for my first trip to Beijing and kept it there over the next four years. I appointed the first high-level special envoy for climate change and led an international effort to launch the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to reduce so-called “super pollutants” that make up just a fraction of emissions, but drive a disproportionate share of warming.

As President, I will protect and build on the progress President Obama has made at home. I will set ambitious goals—to see 500 million solar panels installed within four years and enough renewable electricity to power every home in America within 10 years. I’ll also pursue a new North American Climate Compact, because the United States, Canada and Mexico should work together to build a clean energy future for our continent.

And the Republican deniers, defeatists and obstructionists should know—their cynical efforts will fail. Not only are they on the wrong side of science and of history, they are increasingly on the wrong side of their own voters, as a majority of Republicans accept the science of climate change, and support solutions like clean energy.

We must reject the false choice between combating climate change and fostering strong economic growth. If any country can prove that, it’s the United States. Under President Obama, we’re leading the world in the fight against climate change. I won’t let anyone to take us backward, deny our economy the benefits of harnessing a clean energy future, or force our children to endure the catastrophe that would result from unchecked climate change.

Once again, the world looks to Paris—this time in hope. Global challenges demand global solutions. The fight against climate change will be long. It will take the efforts of every country, every industry, and every community. It will take the leadership of every President. But at last—in Paris—the framework of a lasting solution is within reach. We must seize this moment.

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News Source: Time

Clinton Pens Time 100 Profile for Elizabeth Warren

Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a profile for Senator Elizabeth Warren that will appear in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People issue. Warren is the strong Democrat who currently resides in the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat in Congress. She has been heralded by many for her strong stance on Wall Street bankers and her criticism of the current political climate. Warren is a strong force in the party, and Clinton recognizes that. There are members of her own party who would prefer Warren run for president in Clinton’s place. However, Clinton praises Warren in the profile for Time and her role as a “champion of working families and scourge of special interests.” A copy of the profile is below:

Progressive champion

It was always going to take a special kind of leader to pick up Ted Kennedy’s mantle as senior Senator from Massachusetts—champion of working families and scourge of special interests. Elizabeth Warren never lets us forget that the work of taming Wall Street’s irresponsible risk taking and reforming our financial system is far from finished. And she never hesitates to hold powerful people’s feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants.

Elizabeth Warren’s journey from janitor’s daughter to Harvard professor to public watchdog to U.S. Senator has been driven by an unflagging determination to level the playing field for hardworking American families like the one she grew up with in Oklahoma. She fights so hard for others to share in the American Dream because she lived it herself.

Source: Time

Clinton Featured in People Magazine

This weeks issue of People Magazine features Hillary Rodham Clinton on the cover and in their feature story. In the article Clinton discusses becoming a grandmother, her feelings about Monica Lewinsky, Hard Choices, House of Cards, and (of course) 2016. The issue of People Magazine is on newsstands now.

News Source: New York Times