Thursday, October 16, 2008

Two Birds One Stone


If you are someone who has a "to do" list, I can only hope that somewhere on that list are:

-Donate to a good cause
-Stick it to Sarah Palin

Well my friends, you are in luck!
I received this in my email the other day :

Dear Friends:

We may have thought we wanted a woman on a national political ticket, but the joke has really been on us, hasn't it? Are you as sick in your stomach as I am at the thought of Sarah Palin as Vice President of the United States ?

Since Palin gave her speech accepting the Republican nomination for the Vice Presidency, Barack Obama's campaign has raised over $10 million dollars. Some of you may already be supporting the Obama campaign financially; others of you may still be a little honked off over the primaries. None of you, however, can be happy with Palin's selection, especially on her positions on women's issues. So, if you feel you can't support the Obama campaign financially, may I suggest the following fiendishly brilliant alternative?

Make a donation to Planned Parenthood. In Sarah Palin's name. And here's the good part: when you make a donation to PP in her name, they'll send her a card telling her that the donation has been made in her honor. Here's the link to the Planned Parenthood website:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org



You'll need to fill in the address to let PP know where to send the "in Sarah Palin's honor" card. I suggest you use the address for the McCain campaign headquarters, which is:

McCain for President
1235 S. Clark Street
1st Floor
Arlington , VA 22202

Send this along to all your friends and urge them to do the same.

Do it.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Eagle Scouts Feel Up the Challenge

If any of you ladies need help with your breast exam, these boys are willing to help.


12-Year-Old Boy Scouts Volunteer To Give Women Breast Exams

Sarah Palin debate flow chart


This amazing Sarah Palin flow chart was sent to me from a good friend of mine involved in public policy here in the UK. Ms.Palin's inability to answer any real question that was posed to her at the VP debates was totally obvious to anyone watching but this flow chart might make it easier for those that missed it/couldn't bear to watch it. (ps- nothing Sarah Palin does is cute)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Is Beauty Quantifiable?


The New York Times posted an extremely interesting article that explores a new computer program that has been able to mathematically calculate what makes a person beautiful. Researchers showed a variety of people different pictures of people to help them determine the qualities that, in general, people find attractive. They then created a computer program that could take an image of a person, apply these qualities in a mathematical equation that would correct the distance between eyes, hair line, mouth and nose, etc. to create a "more attractive" image. The article explores the opposing concept that beauty, cannot in fact, be calculated, but that it is changing with our social constructs daily. Lois B. Warner, a historian who has studied beauty stated, "They are never going to locate it on a gene. They are never going to get away from the cultural influence.”
The most depressing idea in the article comes from Dr. Etcoff; “We have always had a huge industry to make people look better. Everyone wants to look better. And we keep taking it further and further to all these images that have been doctored. There is a whole generation of girls growing up who think it’s normal not to look the way they really look.”

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Another One Bites the Dust...




Both Jezebel and Blogher have brought to my attention a new film, Who Does She Think She Is? The film focuses on female artists and how they are often called selfish, awful mothers for dedicating a significant amount of their time to art. When you go to the film's website the introduction asks; "Every woman is expected to chose between a career or her family...but what if you didn't?
This reminds me of that one time I watched Dr. Phil and a mother and her daughter were the guests. Dr. Phil, ever so politely, pushed the mother to tears calling her a bad mother for devoting too much time to ice skating. She had tried to share her passion with her daughter, but her daughter was uninterested. The child had to watch the mother ice skate after school because the mother had to chose between child-care and some new skates. And you know what that selfish hag did? She chose the skates.....the nerve! The mother pleaded that her father had ran off and so she was raising this child all by herself. Dr. Phil told her in his condescending twang that "sometimes that's just the way it is."
Rather than helping our nation's mothers raise their children, or simply promoting equality of children-rearing responsibility, people time and time again shun mothers for allotting "too much time" to their passions. Sadly, women are marginalized in the art world because of such criticisms.
I hate Dr. Phil.
On the bright side, this film looks very interesting.