http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/jezebel.com.png http://jezebel.com/tag/government http://jezebel.com/tag/government

Anyone who travels regularly wants to believe that federal air marshals are friendly heroes who are aboard every single flight. (C'mon, it's possible). But the reality, unfortunately, is not so sunny. According to a new government report, air marshals might be fine to share a three-hour flight with, but they don't sound like they'd be too great to work with, particularly if you're a woman. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5883269&view=rss&microfeed=true

Sugar is delicious. It makes a bad day a little brighter; it makes food taste a little better; it makes cupcakes and pies. Sure, it may not be good for us, but why would we ever want to get rid of it? Well, we wouldn't want to, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't. At least that's what a new commentary published in the most recent issue of Nature argues. It may not be a bad idea, but you can bet there will be a whole nation of sweet-toothed people clutching their candy necklaces and screaming, "Do not fucking touch my dessert!" More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5881531&view=rss&microfeed=true

Government officials are agog at the results of a survey that found that 1 in 5 women have been victims of rape or attempted rape, and that the number of rapes reported to authorities are dwarfed by the actual number of rapes that occur. Did none of the shocked attend a freshman anti-rape seminar in college? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5868178&view=rss&microfeed=true

A Florida judge has issued a temporary injunction that will stop enforcement of a measure that requires welfare applicants to be tested for drugs before receiving benefits. Now, if only a judge could declare the myth of the drug-addled welfare queen "dead." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5853186&view=rss&microfeed=true

Melody Barnes, who has worked with President Obama on domestic policy since the 2008 campaign, will resign from her post at the White House at the end of the year. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5851795&view=rss&microfeed=true

Finally, female members of the House will no longer have to walk from the chamber through Statuary Hall just to use the bathroom! More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5824089&view=rss&microfeed=true

A new report on gender equality in the federal government has found that while "overt bias" is no longer rampant, "the vision of a workforce in which women are fully represented and utilized has not been wholly achieved." More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5805814&view=rss&microfeed=true

Republicans have regained legislative power across America, and they're doing everything they can to follow through on their very important campaign promises to rein in spending and shrink the government and really help our children's children's children live out the American dream in a country free of international debt. Just kidding! They're spending all of their energy and political capital trying to pass laws that treat 51% of the population as subhumans incapable of making decisions for themselves. Why, just the other day, they helpfully voted to defund Planned Parenthood! Thanks, guys! More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5766416&view=rss&microfeed=true

It's because the State Department just replaced "mother" and "father" with the gender-neutral terms "Parent 1" and "Parent 2." Uh-oh: political correctness is destroying America's families! Our documents will magically turn us all into same-sex married couples now. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5728204&view=rss&microfeed=true

In a move that's sure to zap material from cheesy stand up comedians everywhere, the days of commercials that are much louder than the shows upon which they advertise are numbered. What's the deal with that? More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5706572&view=rss&microfeed=true

The British government is warning that children's books produced before 1985, printed with inks/paints containing lead, may prove dangerous if eaten. The fine for peddling contraband Berenstein Bears? $10 grand and a jail term. [Guardian] More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5157272&view=rss&microfeed=true

• Joe Francis has launched an Australian edition of the "popular" Girls Gone Wild magazine, which hit sexist newsstands Down Under last month. • The General Medical Council in England has found Dr. Martin Quinn guilty of misconduct for carrying out unnecessary hysterectomies "for research," but will only suspend him for 6 months. • The Netherlands' highest court ruled today that a peep show owner can get a theatrical tax break because strip shows are a form of theater. • A white middle school teacher in New York has apologized for binding two black female students during a "discussion" of slavery. • More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5103044&view=rss&microfeed=true

• Thomas Doerflein, the German zookeeper who cared for Knut, was found dead in his Berlin apartment today. He was 44. • Baleka Mbete may become the first South African female President after the forced resignation of Thabo Mbeki and before the installment of future South African President Jacob Zuma who cannot take over the country just yet because he is not a member of parliament. • Lesbian couples in Australia who have children via artificial fertilization can now have both mothers' names on birth certificates, granting them equal parental rights. • Marjorie Knoller, an attorney from California whose pit bulls mauled her neighbor to death in 2001 was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison after a judge reinstated second-degree manslaughter convictions that had previously been thrown out. • More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5053320&view=rss&microfeed=true

• A suburb of Tel Aviv will use DNA found in dog poop will reward and punish dog owners who properly (or improperly) dispose of their pup's droppings on the street. • Meet 5 "Fiesty" Presidential Daughters, including Margaret Truman Daniel (President Truman's daughter) who co-hosted a radio program with Mike Wallace, and Elizabeth Harrison Walker (President Harrison's daughter) who wrote a monthly newsletter about financial advice for women.• An artist from Virginia Beach known as the "Lint Lady" makes pictures of realistic objects using layers of dryer lint that range from $20 to $3,500 each. • More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5050768&view=rss&microfeed=true

Today is the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and with the memoirs and films of the wreckage left after the natural destruction and human mismanagement comes the documentary Trouble The Water. It stands out from previous films about Katrina because it includes first-person footage shot by a woman and her husband who were living in the Ninth Ward when the hurricane hit. That woman is Kimberly Rivers Roberts, an aspiring rapper and self-proclaimed small-time hustler, who bought the camcorder that would document her experience during Katrina a week before the storm touched down. After the storm, she teamed up with documentary filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal to get her personal account out there...and made herself one hell of a movie. The glowing reviews, after the jump. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5043458&view=rss&microfeed=true

Three Long Island teens were caught breaking into Michael Kors' Fire Island home! Bet he has nice stuff. • A cow rammed a woman in the stomach and the resulting injury prompted her to visit the doctor, where she discovered she had cervical cancer. If it could, the cow would say, "Hey lady, you're welcome. • More Canadian women are "in love" than Canadian men, surely because women are clingy, emotional freaks! • A 16-year-old Texan girl-whiz was denied valedictorian status because she finished school too quickly. • A female boob-flasher was sentenced to a week in jail . Will prison turn her into a girl gone mild? • Islamic Turkish government to women: Stop being so hot. Secular Turkish people to government: STFU. • Women are better than men at remembering faces and words, and have better long-term memory based on personal experiences. • Just in time to ruin your summer: A list of the most fattening ice cream flavors. • "Real-life Carrie Bradshaw" and Cosmo blogger spends $489.50 less than Carrie on a typical Friday, and $280 more than us on a typical weekend! • Blunt-talking madam "introduction-maker" is trying to crash in on Millionaire Matchmaker's territory. • The more your breasts jiggle in exercise, the more chest pain you will have. • Psh, female bloggers are totally mainstream now. • Cuddly pets are now becoming big issues in divorce settlements. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5011705&view=rss&microfeed=true

Maj. Margaret Witt, a former flight nurse, is continuing her lawsuit against the military for dismissing her because of her sexual orientation. Witt had been in the military for 20 years and was honorably discharged in July 2007 for a relationship she had with a civilian woman from 1997 to 2003. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy and says that the government may investigate the private lives of homosexuals when they are "hurting" morale or troop readiness. [CNN] More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5010415&view=rss&microfeed=true