From WeNews: Last year while pregnant with our second child, I learned that my husband had accrued six weeks of vacation leave and a stunning eight months of paid sick leave. I suggested (and was prepared to insist) that he use it after the birth of our son and he enthusiastically agreed–and actually made it…
Archives for September 2010
The News—Midwest Loses Clout, Outsourcing Continues, Protests in Europe, and Marriage Drops
Likely Losses of House Seats in Midwest Stir Partisan Feuds In December, seats in Congress will be reappointed based on each state’s population. Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, and possibly Minnesota and Missouri are set to lose a number of seats. This re-districting has become an important campaign issue in a number of these states. Based…
Man of the Day: Jimmy Carter
He had us worried for a second, but the 39th President is just fine. Jimmy Carter went straight to a Cleveland hospital after landing in Ohio for the next stop on his book tour. Initial reports suggested the condition was serious, but it turned out to be nothing more than a bout of airsickness. We’re…
Picture of the Day
As part of his “Bodies in Urban Spaces” performance art piece, choreographer Willi Dorner arranged dancers into unusual positions all over New York City’s Financial District. Photographer Bryan Derballa took the photos for The Wall Street Journal, and you can see the rest of them here.
Men Through the Ages: An Infographic of an Infographic
The evolution of man revisited: How most 13-year-old boys see history.
What Image of Masculinity Are They Trying to Sell?
Are we the Vagina Monologues for Men? The Scrotum Soliloquies? Over at Metafilter.com they’re trying to figure us out.
What’s Pumpkin Ale-ing You?
Pumpkin ales have always perplexed me. Not because they’re an inferior type of beer, but because they seem to only exist as a novelty. Although pumpkin ale is, according to the Samuel Adams website, “one of the oldest beer styles,” like pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks, they’re only there to fill a seasonal niche. (They’re…
Porn Use Spikes After Picking a Winning Political Candidate
If you vote for the winning candidate in the upcoming elections, you’ll probably go looking for porn. That’s according to a recent study in Evolution and Human Behavior. A husband-and-wife team of psychologists studied the relationship between search requests for pornography and the testosterone levels of males after three recent elections. In the winning states,…
Ben & Jerry’s: Unnatural
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is dropping the phrase “all natural” from its product labels, according to the Center for Science and the Public Interest. Last month, CSPI advised the company that it probably shouldn’t use the phrase, considering its products contain such decidedly unnatural ingredients as alkalised cocoa, corn syrup, and hydrogenated oil. Fair…
The News: White House Says Goodbye to “Rahmbo,” North Korea Parades Its Next Dictator, and Toys ‘R’ Us Prepares for the Holidays
Good morning, gentlemen. Here’s what’s good feeding this Tuesday morning. Rahm Emanuel Definitely Leaving White House Staff Later this week, Rahm Emanuel, President Obama’s Chief of Staff is expected to announce his exit from the White House so he can run for the mayor of Chicago. Though he has yet to make the official statement,…
Man of the Day: Angry Dad-Cop From San Jose
Okay, so this guy— a San Jose city cop who mock-arrested a 15-year old boy for having sex with his daughter—isn’t exactly good. Or bright. The cop reportedly told the boy, “a cop’s daughter is not somebody you mess around with,” as he applied hand cuffs. The boy’s father caught the “arrest” on video with…
No Laptop? No Problem
For college kids today, a laptop is more important than a pen and paper. They take notes, write papers, apply for jobs, and watch movies all on the same machine. Laptops are essential, but do we really need them in the classroom? I’m not so sure. Carlo Rotella, director of American studies at Boston College,…
That’s What She Said…
France’s ex-justice minister, Rachida Dati, had an embarrassing slip of tongue in an interview this morning when she mixed up the words “fellatio” and “inflation.” Dati, who is now a member of parliament, told Canal Plus that “I see some [foreign investment funds] looking for returns of 20 or 25 percent at a time when…
Netflix Will Win the Streaming Media War
The expected death of Blockbuster marks an important shift in the video rental industry. It’s not about DVDs and Blu-Ray discs anymore—the battlefield is online streaming media. And I have a feeling that Netflix, despite several shortcomings, will come out on top. Netflix’s biggest artery clog is its crappy selection of “Watch Instantly” movies and…
Study of the Day: Sorry, Man
Steve Martin once said, “An apology? Bah! Disgusting! Cowardly! Beneath the dignity of any gentleman, however wrong he might be.” Well we’re sorry but it appears gentlemen do apologize. A new study shows that men are as likely to apologize as women, they’re just less likely to believe a particular incident is apology-worthy. “Men apologize…
Rest in Vinyl
Would a grave be too quiet, too somber for you? Do you want your remains to live on in a way that people can enjoy them? Well, now you’re in luck. Andvinyly, a British-based company, offers the option to have some of your ashes pressed into a vinyl record. To save you the time and…