Aaron Worthing (who purports to be a lawyer) at Patterico's Pontifications, on the subject of Herman Cain: Or did he do the full quid pro quo (“something for something”) and say, “sleep with me or you are fired/won’t get that promotion, etc.?” Now I want to be careful to say that we are not nearly there, yet, but if that … Read More
Michelle Bachmann Kills Little Girls
I poke fun at her a lot, but her stupidity has an evil streak. To explain, I'll have to put in some background. HPV is an acronym for human papillomavirus, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls “the most common sexually transmitted infection.” Some twenty million Americans carry the virus and there are about six million new cases … Read More
Birth Control: Free For All Women
The Obama Administration does something right: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced sweeping new guidelines for women's health care which will change everything from distribution of birth control pills to administration of breast exams — and will mean insured women will no longer pay anything out of their own pocket. Beginning Aug. 1, 2012, all private … Read More
Kyl’s Big Lie
I was going to make fun of Senator Kyl last week during the budget debate, when he said on the Senate floor that 90% of Planned Parenthood's business was performing abortions. In truth, it is only 3% of their business. And after the error was pointed out, Kyl's office released a statement saying "I apologize for being wrong" that the … Read More
Rep. Jackie Speier’s Inspiring Speech
Yesterday's House debate on stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding (aka the Pence Amendment) included a few bright spots, notably this moving, impassioned and dead-on speech from California Representative Jackie Speier. She didn't plan to talk about this, but after listening to Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, who read aloud from a book passage describing how a second-trimester … Read More
Today in Middle America
(1) A bill moving through the South Dakota legislature would make it legal to murder abortion providers: A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of “justifiable homicide” to include killings that are intended to prevent harm to a fetus—a move that could make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions. The Republican-backed legislation, House Bill 1171, … Read More
The Social Psychology of Facebook, or, Why Social Networking Makes You Feel Like Sh*t
Everybody is happier than you, you loser. That's what a Stanford study, published in this month's Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, reports. As most people (and certainly those like me with social psych degrees) know, people always tend to think that others are happier than they are. "The grass is always greener…." and all that. But the Stanford … Read More
The GOP Attempt To Redefine Rape
After a meaningless attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans set their sites on something else: passing a law which makes sure that no federal money goes to funding abortions. It was cleverly called the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act." Why do this? After all, existing law already restricts public funds for abortions. Weren't they voting on something that … Read More
Fifth Circuit Fines Cheerleader For Not Cheering For Her Sexual Harassers
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, one of the most right-wing courts in the country, sanctioned a former high school cheerleader because she brought a lawsuit claiming that she shouldn’t be required to cheer for her alleged rapist: The former cheerleader and her family are appealing the ruling by the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which … Read More
Sucks To Be Clarence Thomas
Imagine what it must be like to be Clarence Thomas right now. As opposed to 19 years ago. Nineteen years ago, Anita Hill, an employee of yours, testifies at your Senate confirmation hearings that you would make all kinds of off-color remarks when you were head of the EEOC. Stuff like public hairs on Coke cans. And obsession with porno. … Read More
Eat Pray Love And Send Me A 2.5 Hour-Long Postcard
I guess there's some chick flick coming out today. And while men will be going to see something else, women will be watching some self-indulgent woman take a year-long journey of self-discovery and navel-contemplating, which, I'm guessing, is probably much more fun to actually do than it is to watch someone else do it for two-and-a-half-hours. Now, in all honesty, it's not fair … Read More
Too Hot For The Bank
Busy day today, and much going on in the world, but I choose to write about (well, point to) this: This is Debrahlee Lorenzana who was fired from Citibank in Midtown Manhattan for (according to her lawsuit) being too hot: Her bosses told her they couldn't concentrate on their work because her appearance was too distracting. They ordered her … Read More
Women Might Finally Be Able To Wear Pants In Paris
Believe it or not, thanks to a law passed in 1799, women are forbidden to wear pants in Paris. The law was amended in 1892, allowing women to wear pants if they were holding the reins of a horse, and again in 1909, if they were riding a bicycle. Interestingly, female policemen (gendarmes, if my French is correct) wear pants … Read More