Poll: 53% Support Women in Combat Roles

CBS) Women in the U.S. military currently are prohibited from joining combat units and only a slim majority of Americans support their participation in ground fighting, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll.

Just 53 percent support women in combat roles, while an overwhelming majority of Americans (83 percent) are in favor of women serving as support for ground troops in such capacities as military police, medics and Humvee drivers.

Views on Women in the Military

Both men (53 percent) and women (53 percent) favor an expanded role for women in the military, but just 44 percent of women age 45 and older support it, compared to 62 percent of younger women.

Most Democrats, independents, liberals and moderates favor military women being directly involved in ground fighting. Republicans and conservatives oppose the idea.

Age matters as well. Just 37 percent of Americans age 65 and older support the idea of women joining combat units - the lowest of any age group.

Also, 60 percent of those living in the northeast favor women being directly involved in combat - the highest of any geographical region.

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This poll was conducted among a random sample of 1050 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone July 24-28, 2009. Phone numbers were dialed from random digit dial samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher.

This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.


I have mixed feelings on the issue of woman in a combat role, as much as a woman can pull the trigger of a gun as quickly and as accurate as a man, can she fight a man in hand to hand combat and win? Not that hand to hand combat happens often, but it does exist. So like most men they would surely step in to help...Is that the way it should be? What if he dies trying to save her. Nothing in life is guaranteed and it could be a fluke that a woman could pull 10 men out of a burning building or kill 10 men with her bare hands. Although lets keep it real as long as men have more physical stature the ability to dominate women is always going to exist. Women can go as far as they want, but lets keep it real. I think that I would rather have a group of men rangers coming to rescue me than a group of woman rangers.

Michael Vick for got who he was

Michael Vick was one of the most electrifying players in American football. As quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, he was the highest paid player in the league, and he pulled in tens of millions of dollars in endorsements.

But it all came to an abrupt end two years ago when police raided a farm Vick owned in Virginia and uncovered an illegal dog fighting operation. He eventually pled guilty to bankrolling the enterprise and participating in every aspect of it, including killing dogs that refused to fight. He was sentenced to two years in prison, and eventually declared bankruptcy.

Last month he was released and conditionally reinstated into the NFL.

Friday, at a press conference in Philadelphia, it was announced he'd be playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, after signing a two-year contract, with the possibility of earning nearly $7 million.

In his first interview since going to prison, Michael Vick explains what he did, why he did it, and how he says he has changed.

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"The first day I walked into prison, and he slammed that door, I knew the magnitude of the decision that I made, and the poor judgment, and what I allowed to happen to the animals. And, you know, it's no way of explaining the hurt and the guilt that I felt. And that was the reason I cried so many nights. And that put it all into perspective," Vick told CBS Sports anchor James Brown.

Asked what he cried about, Vick said, "What I did, you know, being away from my family, letting so many people down. I let myself down, not being out on the football field, being in a prison bed, in a prison bunk, writing letters home, you know. That wasn't my life. That wasn't the way that things was supposed to be. And all because the so-called culture that I thought was right, that I thought it was cool. and I thought it was fun, and it was exciting at the time. It all led to me laying in a prison bunk by myself with no one to talk to but myself."

"Who do you blame for all of this?" Brown asked.

"I blame me," Vick replied.

I suppose nothing is more heart wrenching than to see a individual who has taken his life to another level and he is still hanging with people who are not where he is. Michael Vick sure you can blame you, but at some point in time when were you going to smell the coffee? Now you have jail time and a conviction, but at least you say you can see the light! unfortunately its never to late to make a change. I only hope that you surround your self with a group of people who can help push you to another level. Football is going to end sooner than you think and without any plans for the future, you will see the people you saw going up, except now you will see them when you are going down!

Memphis Teen Dies After Being Arrested

( Memphis 08/16/2009) Two Memphis teens are arrested while driving through Middle Tennessee, but only one lives to tell what happened the night they were jailed. Andron Reed died after being booked on charges of DUI and evading arrest at the Rutherford County Detention Center. Reed's brother, Octavius, was separated from his brother at the center but says he could hear his brother's cries for help.

There are many questions surrounding the death of 18-year-old Andron Reed. His family and friends are still trying to come to terms with how the Overton High school graduate ended up dying while in police custody.

"He was a good guy. There aren't too many good guys out here. He had a good heart. He died too early," said Andron's friend Corey Coleman.

Reed was driving through Murfreesboro with his older brother when the Highway Patrol says they tried to stop him for speeding. They say a chase started and ended with Reed hitting another car. He was arrested on DUI and evading arrest charges and brought to the Rutherford County Jail for booking where police say he was combative and had to be restrained. Hours later a nurse found him unresponsive in his cell. He died at the hospital.

"He didn't deserve to die. I don't care what he did. He didn't deserve to die, being in jail 12 hours and now he dead," said Coleman

Andron's family says he was beaten while in custody. His older brother, who was in another jail cell, says he heard Andron screaming before he died. Friends say the teen had never been in any trouble, was looking forward to going to college in the fall and encouraged others to do the same.

"There were times I wanted to give up but he told me to stay strong. Go to school just like him. He graduated. He can't even see me graduate now," said Sherman Carter.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now looking into the case. Meanwhile, Andron's family and friends say his life ended just as it was beginning.

"We don't know what Dron would have became but we know he had a lot of potential and he had a good head on his shoulders," said Coleman.

"I want to see justice prevail, that's all I want," said Carter.

Reed's family says they plan on getting an attorney. The TBI is waiting on autopsy results. When their investigation is complete, they will turn it over to the district attorney who will decide if charges will be made.

Missing Boy Found With Sex Offender

(Memphis 08/15/2001) - A 14-year-old boy is found safe after he disappears with a known sex offender. The disappearance set off an Amber Alert this morning. The boy and the suspect were found Saturday afternoon walking in Bartlett. News Channel 3 was the only station there when his family got the good news.

"There are no words to express how I feel right now. It's been one heck of a week. One heck of a morning. It's been one heck of a week but hopefully it's going to come to a good end and not a sad end," said Barbara Hartjen, the teen's grandmother.

The 14-year-old disappeared sometime after 10 o'clock Friday night. Memphis police issued a West Tennessee Amber Alert with a full description of the brown-haired, blue-eyed teen. He was with 37-year-old Mark Tyre, a registered sex offender in Tennessee, when they found him.

Both Tyre and the boy live in the Kingsbury area. They were found walking together in Bartlett around 11 o'clock Saturday morning. Two Bartlett police officers recognized them from the Amber Alert that was issued.

"I feel very very relieved that my son is coming home. Thank ya'll for helping us and thank God he is coming home," said Gloria James, the teen's mother.

The family says Tyre had befriended the 14-year-old. They suspected something was wrong with the teen's new adult friend. So, they looked him up on the internet and found Tyre was a registered sex offender classified as violent. They took the information to Memphis police this past Monday but Tyre remained free until this incident. The family hopes now he is finally going back to jail.

Hartjen said, "That was a relief to me to know the man is going to be off the streets. He does not need to be on the streets of Memphis. Any child can be attacked by this man."

Mark Tyre was transported to the Memphis police department sex crimes for questioning. Officers told the boy's family Tyre is expected to be charged. No word yet on what those charges will be.

Video Released of 72 year old Grandmother Being Tased

What is this beat up on old women month? I would like to believe that she did something to deserve

80 Year Old Black Woman slammed to the ground

This is to much, to slam this old lady with a walking cane goes beyond belief. Grant you she is wrong for walking around with a knife talking about cutting someone. What is in this cops head that he had to be so ruff with the slam that he would do it so malicious? There is such a thing as reasonable force but when does it go over the edge?

NFL Star Donte Stallworth Suspended Without Pay After DUI Manslaughter Plea

NEW YORK — Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth was suspended without pay for this season Thursday after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter in June. He cannot participate in any team activities until he is reinstated after the Super Bowl.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Stallworth placed a "stain" on the reputation of the league and all its players.

Stallworth, who played for Tennessee in college, struck and killed a pedestrian while driving under the influence of alcohol March 14 in Miami. He pleaded guilty to the second-degree felony June 16 and was suspended indefinitely by Goodell two days later.

Stallworth was given a 30-day jail sentence and reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the family of Mario Reyes, a 59-year-old construction worker who was leaving his job as a crane operator.

In a letter to Stallworth released by the NFL, Goodell wrote that he didn't take into account the sentence in determining the 28-year-old player violated the league's substances of abuse and personal conduct policies.

"Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man," Goodell wrote. "The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations."

Police said Stallworth had spent the night drinking at a Miami Beach club and had a blood-alcohol level of .126, above Florida's .08 legal limit.

I feel sad that Donte is going to get off cheap considering that the homicide was created by him. Why is it with a little money, the worse that you get is a slap on the wrist. The ideal of sentencing him before he goes to court is unfair in one sense. I think that the one thing that should have happened is after he was sentenced then suspend him from the league. Goodell Created an arbitrary action by getting involved in something that does not concern him. In my mind itd grounds for a law suit...