All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Speaking To History
Hi, everyone, from Washington, for tonight's State of the Union address, a speech steeped in history.
Video: The Constitution says that the president--quote--"shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend...measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."
The idea came from the tradition of British kings addressing Parliament.
Washington and Adams gave their speeches before Congress, but Jefferson thought the ceremony too much like England's. For the next hundred and twelve years, the State of the Union was given in writing, until Woodrow Wilson chose to deliver it again in a speech.
Which brings us to an interesting tradition: with the most powerful people in America gathered in that chamber, one person is always missing: a cabinet member, who can assume the presidency in case of emergency.
That way, the state of the union can remain solid and intact -- as it has for generations.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Roe v. Wade
Hi, everyone.
Today marks the 34th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court ruling: Roe vs. Wade.
No matter where you stand on abortion, you can't deny that this ruling has had a profound impact on society.
It's a decision that has both defined us, and divided us. It's been a rallying point, and a lightning rod. To some, abortion is a right that demands defending; to others, a moral injustice that should be outlawed. At times, the emotions it evokes have even provoked violence.
Recently, some states have tried to limit access to abortion. South Dakota last year tried unsuccessfully to ban the procedure completely.
This issue is sure to be debated in law school lecture halls, in the halls of congress, and in living rooms across America for years to come.
A generation after some thought the abortion issue was settled...there are still passionate voices on both sides who feel Topic A will always be abortion.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Unmarried Women
Hi, everyone.
For the first time, more American women are unmarried than married.
According to the New York Times, 35 percent of women in the 1950's were single. In 2005, it was 51 percent.
Why the trend in women saying "I DON'T?"
Sociologists say women are marrying later or living with someone instead. And as they age, they often outlive their husbands and decide not to remarry.
Another reason: More independent women have no economic incentive to marry.
The trend could have some pretty big ramifications in terms of social policy and our perception of the family. Government can no longer count on people spending most of their adult lives married.
When I think of my parents about to celebrate their 63rd wedding anniversary, it makes me a little sad. But having more choices is a good thing, too, if women actually have a choice. Maybe it comes back to what Flannery O'Connor wrote "A good man is hard to find."
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Buchwald
Hi, everyone.
Decades before anyone heard of Jon Stewart, a political satirist named Art Buchwald mocked the crazy ways of Washington.
He struggled with depression...but outwardly he was the consummate bon vivant. A college dropout, Buchwald wrote from Paris and then returned to America...and became a Pulitzer Prize winner and THE Washington humorist.
Buchwald said that dying was actually the best time of his life. Faced with dialysis, he checked himself into a hospice last February. Doctors thought he'd live a few weeks. But he kept going...turning his last days into months, and into a vibrant salon of movers and shakers.
He wrote that "the beauty of not dying--but expecting to--is that it gives you a chance to say goodbye to everyone...and you get to eat McDonald's."
Art Buchwald died last night...but showed us that death doesn't have to be isolating and lonely. Sometimes, it can be a celebration...and an opportunity for love and even laughter.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Do It Later
Hi, everyone.
If you're a champion procrastinator like I am, we have a lot of company.
A Canadian psychologist reports procrastination is on the rise. At least twenty five percent of the American public now consider themselves chronic procrastinators...a five hundred percent jump from thirty years ago. Men do it more than women; the young more than the old.
According to this new study, email, the Internet, and video games are distractions that add up to first class time wasters. And procrastination not only makes us less productive. The added stress can actually make us unhealthy, and unhappy.
Procrastination can also cost you -- literally. Doing your shopping--or your taxes--at the last minute often means paying more.
And while some people--journalists, for example--thrive under pressure, all of us could probably do more, and feel better, if we didn't wait until the last minute.
Advice I plan to take. But not until I absolutely have to.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Indebted Youth
Hi, everyone.
If young people aren't counting their spare change, maybe they should be.
A survey of three million 20-somethings found that two out of three are carrying debt -- a lot of debt. Tens of thousands of dollars in college and personal loans. The average debt for people in their 20's is over $16,000. And it's growing.
That can affect a lot more than just your check book. High debt is causing high anxiety, with a lot of 20-somethings complaining of added stress, health troubles, even nightmares.
What's causing all this? Higher tuition, flatter wages and soaring student loans.
In a few years, when these young people start to become homeowners, and parents, and add even more debt, it could turn a financial headache into financial ruin.
In our credit-saturated society, young people have to learn that some things have to be paid in full, right then and there. It just doesn't pay to pay everything over time.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Gitmo
Hi, everyone.
Five years ago this week, the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba opened its doors to "illegal combatants." Then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld called it the "least worst place" to house prisoners from the war in Afghanistan. And since then, Gitmo has been a source of controversy.
Critics say most of the prisoners there are caught in a legal limbo, with the U.S. saying it can hold them indefinitely without bringing them to trial.
The other side of the argument: what other option is there? Does an enemy fighter deserve a jury of his peers? Or the right to a speedy trial?
President Bush has called the prisoners at Gitmo the "worst of the worst," including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of 9-11.
The president has said he hopes for the day when we can close down the prison. If that means finding a better way to deal with our worst enemies, we should all hope that day isn't too far away.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Going Green
Hi, everyone.
According to scientists, 2007 could well be the hottest year ever measured --caused, in part, by record amounts of greenhouse gas pollution.
Britain's Meteorological Office says that this is more evidence that global warming is happening, and that countries need to take action. But what about individuals?
Here are some easy ways that all of us can go green, with some help from climatecrisis.org.
Replace your incandescent bulbs with flourescents, which use 60% less energy.
Lower your thermostat 2 degrees in winter, and raise it 2 degrees in summer, eliminating 2000 pounds of greenhouse gas a year.
Cleaning filters on your air conditioner could save 350 pounds of the CO2 that causes global warming.
It's easy to think we can't make a difference. But all of us can -- even if it's just a matter of degrees.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: The Cost Of War
Hi, everyone.
Tonight, President Bush will present his new strategy for Iraq.
That includes an additional billion dollars for reconstruction. It's hard to keep track of how much this war has cost so far, but it's worth trying.
So far, the price tag is at least 350 billion dollars, about four times the budget of the Department of Education.
Combined with the war in Afghanistan, it's over half a trillion dollars, rapidly approaching the inflation-adjusted 663 billion we spent over two decades in Vietnam.
Last month the Pentagon requested a hundred billion more.
Of course, freedom is not always free. But regardless of your politics, it's important to know exactly what we're spending, and why.
Needless to say, the true cost of war isn't measured in dollars, but in lives. Whether the sacrifice of those who have given theirs is worth America's investment will be debated for years to come.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: A Mormon President?
Hi, everyone.
Is America ready to elect a Mormon as president?
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney may soon find out; he's considering a run for the White House.
But one poll says 43% of Americans would never support a Mormon.
Washington Post reporter Sally Quinn told us that skepticism of Romney is so great, he may face the choice of having to "deny his allegiance to the church and appear to be pandering" or "maintaining that allegiance and jeopardize his chances."
In 1960, John Kennedy made Americans comfortable with Catholicism...which, at the time, raised about as many doubts as Mormonism does now.
But while about a quarter of the American people were Catholic in 1960, Mormons comprise less than two percent of the population today.
Whatever happens, a Romney candidacy might serve to do what Kennedy's did nearly 50 years ago: educate Americans about a faith that is often stereotyped more than understood.
That's a page from my notebook.
