Oh wow, just look at this picture, and marvel at this extremely rare historical event.


That's George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.

Seeing them stand side-by-side makes me even happier that we broke the monotony of the standard elderly White man with the election of Obama. John McCain would've blended right in.

This is interesting, and definitely says something about our culture. Facebook recently cracked down on female users who were - GASP! - posting pictures of them breastfeeding their babies. Now, personally I would never post pictures of myself breastfeeding, but women do it in public all the time - so why is Facebook so threatened by displays of motherhood?

This is a video of a man who challenged Facebook's moves by posting his own nipples on his profile and seeing their response.



Hm.

Sad news. Studies show that in the past couple years, rates of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence have increased significantly. From Feminist Daily News:

The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), a biannual report from the DOJ's Office of Justice Programs, estimated at least 248,300 rapes and sexual assaults occurred in 2007, a 25 percent increase from 2005 levels. Estimates of domestic violence incidents rose by 42 percent between 2005 and 2007.

Incidence of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence increased the most of all violent crimes since 2005, while reported rates of most violent crimes, including robbery and aggravated assault, decreased.

The only thing to do is to use this as a wake-up call. It kills me when people argue that feminism isn't relevant today, because it is up to dedicated feminists to work to reduce these numbers. These sexual assault and domestic violence rates are just not acceptable.

Air India has so tastefully fired 10 women flight attendants who were grounded last year for being overweight. Originally, the women received a mere warning, were given sufficient time to lose weight, and were offered alternative ground assignments. How kind. Last year, Delhi High Court upheld Air India's right to reassign overweight attendants. A lawyer who is representing the "overweight" crew is taking the case to the Supreme Court.

A new campaign is utilizing technology to spread the message of safe sex by developing short soap opera-esque videos to send to cell phones. The videos feature sexually active couples who learn about the perils of unprotected sex. The episodes mainly target young Black and Latina women, and aim to normalize condom use.

The pilot video has been put online, and a large study is being conducted to test the response of young women to the video. It is equally the responsibility of the male partner to obtain and use a condom, but I understand their attempts to target women because I think too many sexually active females rely solely on men to provide the condom, and that just isn't a safe bet.

Additionally, the campaign focuses on only heterosexual couples, which I don't particularly like. Safe sex is as important with gay and lesbian couples as it is with male-female couples. It would be cool to encourage talking about safe sex amongst same-sex couples in the Black and Latina communities, since those cultures tend to be prominent in homophobia.

Watch the pilot and decide for yourself. I watched most of it, and was indifferent. It tends to focus more on the "drama" between the couples than how and why to practice safe sex. It also implies that you have to cheat on a significant other to put yourself at risk, when the reality is that someone can experience a pregnancy or contract an STI even when in a fully monogamous relationship.

Thoughts?

If I needed another reason to dislike Ann Coulter, it's the fact that her new book, Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and their Assault on America, is 320 pages of pure ignorance. The text on the book's jacket says it all:

"When it comes to bullying, no one outdoes the Left. Citing case after case, ranging from the hilariously absurd to the shockingly vicious, Coulter dissects so-called victims who are invariably the oppressors. For instance: While B. Hussein Obama piously condemned attacks on candidates' families, his media and campaign surrogates ripped open the court-sealed divorce records of his two principal opponents in his Senate race in Illinois."

Just the mere fact that she and every other conservative Obama-hater just happen to choose to call him "Barack Hussein Obama" shows that this book is going to dripping with hypocrisy. I bet she doesn't even mention the sexism hurled at Hillary Clinton, but provides an entire chapter on the "sexist" attacks the Left shot at Sarah Palin. Stay classy, Ann Coulter.

There's also a special section of the book for her to attack Michelle Obama's style, because I'll be damned if I have a First Lady who's a bad dresser. She, not surprisingly, also praises Cindy McCain's style. From The Daily News:

Coulter wrote, "Her obvious imitation of Jackie O's style - the flipped-under hair, the sleeveless A-line dresses, the short strands of fake pearls - would have been laughable if done by anyone other than a media-designated saint."

Coulter said Cindy McCain, the wife of vanquished GOP nominee John McCain, "dressed well without freakishly imitating famous First Ladies in history."

Coulter facetiously and snidely refers to Michelle Obama as a "saint" and "Mother Teresa" and suggests that her public service career "advanced in lockstep with the political advancement of her husband."

Funny how she blatantly attacks politicians on the Left, all while trying to "prove" that the liberals are the ones throwing all the bombs. Forgive me if I don't put this book on my birthday wishlist.

Officials are now saying that the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, will be Hillary Clinton's choice to fill her vacant New York Senate seat. As far as her political views go, she:


She doesn't have much experience, so many people are nervous that she can't do the job, but let's see if she proves them wrong.

Once again, Fox News has succeeded in appalling me. Watch the bottom of the screen.

But not so happy for this woman reporter who was harassed by drunken morons.

Happy Holidays from... George Bush? He left same-sex couples a nice parting gift by signing a bill called the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008 (WRERA) two days before Christmas. This makes it mandatory for businesses to roll over retirement benefits to a same-sex partner in the event of the employee’s death.

Thanks, Georgie!