In a stunning blow to the new-born Zygote Civil Rights movement, voters in Mississippi prevented conception of a new state law granting “personhood” and the rights and responsibilities thereof to fertilized human eggs, without regard to the citizenship status or age of the host mother’s ovaries and uterus. This sudden outbreak of good sense is surprising after the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision granting “personhood” to corporations, allowing them the free speech to purchase all the votes they can buy.
Barbara Millicent Roberts (aka “Barbie Doll“) is sporting a new look: pink hair, leopard-skin tights and fresh tattoos. While the hair and tights seem questionable choices for a 52-year-old, it’s the tats that have caused consternation:
“Tattooed Barbie Sparks Controversy, Media Frenzy,” Christina Cheddar Berk, CNBC
“Barbie dons new ‘punk’ look: Mattel defends doll as parents take aim at tattoos and bad-girl image,” Daniel Prendergast and Tracy Connor, New York Daily News
Each summer, Girls Rock! DC volunteers teach girls (ages 8-18) Rock and Hip-Hop music skills in an intensive week-long summer camp. At Saturday’s concert, girl bands and DJs will perform their original tunes for the cheering crowd. Much better than watching those same old Saturday morning cartoons.
More about the national Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls Alliance here — they put the “amp” in “camp.”
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi commemorated the work of his predecessor, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini, in a ceremony at the Vatican yesterday. Mr. Berlusconi met with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to mark the anniversary of the 1929 Lateran Treaty establishing 109-acre Vatican City within Rome. That’s the same Cardinal Bertone who urged “everyone, especially those who hold a position of public responsibility [...] to commit themselves to a more robust morality, a sense of justice and legality.” The two officials may have shaken hands, and it is unclear whether the Cardinal wiped his off afterwards.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is being hounded by prosecutors in Milan just because he had sex with a sixteen-year-old girl. Why not? After all, he paid for it. A billionairemedia mogul, Berlusconi is a firm believer in free market capitalism, but prostitution is considered terribly unfashionable in Italy. The Berlusconi government even passed strict laws against prostitution, but also another law making the Prime Minister immune from prosecution. Che dilemma!
The courts revoked the immunity law? Ha! Silvio Berlusconi refuses to be questioned by magistrates about prostitution, and refuses to leave office for refusing to testify.
The young lady in question, runaway teen dancer Karima el-Mahroug (aka Karima Keyek), is nicknamed “Ruby Rubacuori,” “Ruby Heart-Stealer.” She must still be a teenager since she’s on Facebook [we pause briefly so you can "Like" her]. Ms. el-Mahroug was born in Morocco, so perhaps her compensation was merely an aspect of Italian foreign aid policy.
U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers was suspended from her position by the Bush administration in 2003 and fired in 2004. Her crime: expressing concern about staff shortages which endangered visitors and NPS employees.
It was the truth. The Merit Systems Protection Board has ordered the Park Police to reinstate Chief Chambers by month’s end. The Board also ordered NPS to reimburse her for legal fees and restore her pay retroactive to July 2004.
Teresa Chambers is an admired and persistent law enforcement professional. She has doggedly pursued the cause of justice as Park Police Chief and as Chief of Police in Durham, North Carolina and Riverdale Park, Maryland. It’s only right that Chief Chambers finally got some justice herself.
More:
“Fired Park Police chief Teresa C. Chambers ordered reinstated,” Ed O’Keefe, Washington Post.
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Today one of World War II’s iconic “Rosie The Riveters” punched out on the time clock for the last time. Geraldine Hoff Doyle passed away at 86. A news photo of her working in a metal pressing plant is said to have inspired the famous ”We Can Do It!” poster encouraging women to seek industrial work in the war effort. While Norman Rockwell painted a woman doing war work for a magazine cover, it is the poster that has has become a pop culture icon.
Lucy O’Brien has an interesting post in the Britannica blog. Ms. O’Brien is author of She Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop & Soul and She Bop II, and she reflects on the role of women in the music industry, and how it has changed in the past quarter century.
It’s a rich subject. If you agree, here are a few more titles to consider:
