Playdate

When life gives you lemons...

...rob a lemonade stand.

Lemonade is good.  But is it jail time good? 

Hey, you! Look at my ASS! I'm a virgin!

OK, thank Mother Jones for pointing me in the direction of, yes, you guessed it: Abstinence Pants!

For just $16.99 you too can head to your nearest K-Mart and buy these comfy, cropped sweats that proclaim in big bold letters -- right next to your crotch and across your butt -- "True Love Waits."

Because, of course, if you want to remain chaste, what you want to do is draw the attention of teen boys right to your butt ... you know, to let them know, once and for all, that they won't be gettin' in your pants!

Notice there are no "his and hers" outfits. Just hers.

Had to get gas last night ...

HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT.

Who trusts Homeland Security not the F this up?

Seriously? I can't think of anything much more frightening than the scenario laid out in this Fox news article:  Dangerous Animal Virus on U.S. Mainland?

Homeland Security took over Foot and Mouth Disease research from the Department of Agriculture because bio-hazard risks now fall under their domain due to the potential terrorist threats. So Homeland Security and the White House want to move the research off the secluded island where it has been housed for more than 50 years and put it somewhere like Kansas or Georgia? What?

From the article:

Foot-and-mouth virus can be carried on a worker's breath or clothes, or vehicles leaving a lab, and is so contagious it has been confined to Plum Island, N.Y., for more than a half-century — far from commercial livestock. The existing lab is 100 miles northeast of New York City in the Long Island Sound, accessible only by ferry or helicopter. Researchers there who work with the live virus are not permitted to own animals at home that would be susceptible, and they must wait at least a week before attending outside events where such animals might perform, such as a circus.

Homeland Security and the White House say it will be safe because "containment procedures have improved." Exactly how have they improved if it can be carried on workers' breath? Why do we think we'd be better at containment than the British?

How many brain cells do these people have?

Ugh. Dear Lord, please let the Democrats win in November so we can be sure we get Bush's cronies out of these positions.

Booing Bush

Could you do it? I just don't know that I could.

I mean, I'd want to. Hell, I'd want to throw rotten tomatoes ...

I remember being in third grade and saying something about "Carter." Mom corrected me, and said, "President Carter." And that's was the first thing I thought about when I saw this video: the inherent respect you are supposed to want to show your President, whether you agree with him or not.

Did you catch his face at about 55 seconds? And the way he just hit the mound, threw the ball, and turned tail out of there?

I can't tell if he's pissed or stunned. He spends so little time in front of unvetted crowds ... is it possible that he just doesn't know how people feel about him?

And did the announcer have somebody in his hear yelling, "Keep talking! Keep talking! Do NOT acknowledge the boos!"

I posted this video because it mashed the 2008 pitch with the pitch in New York after September 11. I'm not one of those people that was particularly impressed with President Bush's response to the attacks -- I mean, isn't that what a president, any president, is supposed to do? -- but I do find it stunning how much he has squandered in seven years.

I guess in the end I'm just bitterly sad that the country is in such a state that half a stadium -- half a country -- full of people feel so angry and hopeless and bereft and betrayed that they actually booed the President of the United States.

My favorite new blog

(that I don't contribute to, of course!)

I've mentioned this blog to a few of you already, but I haven't laughed so much in ages.  And yes, let's be clear -- it should really be called "Stuff _Liberal_ People Like" but I guess that didn't sound as controversial.  But hi, I'm guilty of about half of these things, and I can laugh about it, so... here you go.  (Wes Anderson movies, check!  David Sedaris, check! Indie music, Netflix, check and check!  Irony!  omg, check!)

And the Whole Foods one really made me laugh, because I'm pretty sure all of you know how much I dislike that store (too expensive, too pretentious, yadda yadda).  However, I must confess publicly that I've gone 100% VEGAN in my facial products.  You have no idea how much it pains me to admit it, but it's working.  Sigh.  Honestly.  Who AM I?

Spring forward!

But don't expect it to cost you less....

"Men who do housework may get more sex"

Anybody else see this article on the AP?

May? What do they mean may?

Duh. I mean, we all know what's sexy about this picture:

That's why photographer Susan Anderson's book has been selling like hotcakes.

But the again, I'm guessing this article wasn't really aimed at women.

The article was actually written based on a study of studies done by the Council on Contemporary Families that haled the increasing roll men are playing on the domestic front. Of course, the AP pulled out what they thought made the best headline and ignored some other interesting  -- and sadly, not surprising -- findings included at the bottom of the study under the title "Other perspectives":

For example, Pamela J. Smock, Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan, looked at "invisible" housework:

When it comes to responsibility for less "visible" aspects of housework than chores or child care, the gender divide remains large in most families. Women still tend to do the "emotional labor," noticing when things need to be discussed or resolved. They also do most of the "household management" planning, buying presents for birthday parties a child will be attending, scheduling doctor appointments, and marking things that must be done on the calendar on the refrigerator door. Finally, women still tend to do the "kin work," calling relatives, arranging for holiday gatherings, sending holiday cards and so on. Until men begin to take responsibility for invisible household work, women will continue to shoulder more family work, and therefore to face more constraints in their freedom to engage in paid work.

And Sanjiv Gupta, Assoc. Prof. of Sociology, Univ. of Massachusetts-Amherst, concluded that often when women are "released" from household responsibilities it is because they have "[bought] their way out":

I agree that men's participation in housework and child care has increased significantly, but a 1999 study showed that when couples married, men tended to reduce their time spent on housework, while women increased their housework time. Furthermore, among married women employed full time, only their own earnings (not their husbands') are associated with reductions in time spent on the most common household chores, such as cooking and cleaning. This may be because they use their money to purchase substitutes for housework, suggesting that families still feel it is women's responsibility to either do -- or arrange for someone else to do -- the bulk of household chores.

So, how far have we really come?

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Golden Auspicious

The McZen is here!

Damn.  Maybe franchise work isn't so bad?

Best sound bites of the week

"Global warming is a total crock of shit."
    -- GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, speaking to reporters about why he is behind development of a plug in hybrid.  Turns out he's more interested in lessening dependence on foreign oil than in "saving the planet."

"Lipitor makes women stupid."
    -- Vice Chairman of Medicine at NY Presbyterian Hospital, Orli Etingin, at a recent luncheon discussing gender issues and the brain.  This is all anecdotal, of course.  We need more studies.

In other news, enjoy the snow!