• A report claims that an Australian baby was born deaf and blind after its mother was given an injection of the wrinkle filler Dysport in the first week of pregnancy. • British professors have been given a grant to test whether pink rooms can make violent prisoners calmer. • Volunteers at a Houston-area maternity ward wrap Christmas babies in holiday stockings every year. • The Church of England is trying to quell "thousands" of dissidents who are upset over the appointment of a female bishop by creating a new type of clergy that will restrict the rights of female bishops. • Oh look: a dog gulping down a small burrito in one second. • Breaking: Olivia has become the most popular name for British girls over the past year. • A California woman pleaded guilty on Monday to arranging the fake marriages of dozens of Chinese citizens to U.S. citizens so the Chinese spouses could live in the United States. • Freida Pinto is set to receive the Palm Springs International Film Festival's Breakthrough Performance Award on January 6 for her role in Slumdog Millionaire. • A 72-year old woman has been accused of kidnapping her 86-year-old sister from Pittsburgh so they could get her away from her ramshackle apartment so a male friend could make repairs on her sister's home. • On Monday, the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights ruled against a church group who discriminated against renting out a beachfront property to a lesbian couple seeking to use the locale for a civil union ceremony. • The Popeye the Sailor copyright is set to expire in Europe this week. The copyright is protected in America until 2024. Bring on the European porn tributes! • Apparently, comfort food is back in style as the economy continues to go downhill. • One of the teens convicted in the "Jena Six" beating case shot himself after he was arrested last week for shoplifting. The wound is not life-threatening. • According to a new study, obese men are three times more likely to have a low sperm count than their normal-weight peers. • If you are feeling blue, blame your friend: moods are contagious. • Hospitals in the U.S. are testing to see if simple arm-strengthening exercises can reduce lymphedema, a side effect of breast cancer surgery and radiation. • A Boy Scout from Long Island, NY has earned all 121 badges. • The Florida meter-reader who found the remains of Caylee Anthony may get a $5,000 reward. • An English woman called the police after she thought she saw a man riding a giant turquoise rabbit balloon floating past her house. • Meet Harry, a pet ferret in England who thinks he's a puppy. • A NASA report releases some graphic details about the deaths of all seven astronauts on the space shuttle Columbia, including information about the astronauts not wearing their full gear which may have let them take more action, but wouldn't have saved them from death. • A new study claims that African American women have been shrinking in size with each new generation since the mid-1960s. •

Also, why haven't we seen Michelle raise her voice above an "appropriate" decibel level? Michelle Obama doesn't seem to be anything like the image of black women that we see on TV and in films. Who is the real Michelle Obama? Get ready for it:

Michelle Obama is totally normal. A normal, well-educated wife of a politician and mother of two.

Samuels points out that Michelle is a type of black woman that many Americans don't get to see, since mostly, black women are portrayed in the media as either sassy, abrasive and angry or drug-addicted, poverty-stricken and AIDS-infected. But there are many different types of black women out there in the world. Some of whom — gasp — have a college education (complete with gender/race related undergraduate thesis), a good job and generally fit into the "normal" idea of upper-middle-class Americans. You just rarely see them on TV:

Usually, the lives of black women go largely unexamined. The prevailing theory seems to be that we're all hot-tempered single mothers who can't keep a man and, according to CNN's "Black in America," documentary, those of us who aren't street-walking crack addicts are on the verge of dying from AIDS. As writer Rebecca Walker put it on her Facebook page: "CNN should call me next time they really want to show diversity and meet real black women that nobody seems to talk about.''

Like Walker, I too know more than my share of black women who have little in common with the black female images I see in the media. My "sistafriends" are mostly college educated, in healthy, productive relationships and have a major aversion to sassy one-liners. They are teachers, doctors and business owners. Of course, there are those of us who never get the chance to pull it together. And we accept and embrace them—but their stories can't and shouldn't be the only ones told.

Like the fictional Huxtables before them, Samuels sees the Obamas serving as an example to both blacks and non-blacks through their upper-middle-class regular-ness. Perhaps Michelle has "softened" her image throughout the campaign, but if she becomes the First Lady she'll have to figure out her role in the White House amid criticisms much in the same way that Jackie Kennedy and Hillary Clinton did before her.

And even though Michelle will probably never gain acceptance from some of her critics, Samuels still sees her life in the spotlight as a way for Americans to see a "regular African-American woman" in action, showing "what we think and what we face on a regular basis." Some may argue that Michelle doesn't need to "teach" Americans about what it's like to be a black woman, but Michelle's prominent position in the public eye will invariably shape both black and non-black American's perceptions of what a black woman is, and can be.

What Michelle Obama Can Teach Us About Black Women [Newsweek]
Barack Obama Again Dances In A Slightly Embarrassing Manner On 'Ellen' [Wonkette]

Earlier: Following Criticism, 'Mom In Chief' Michelle Obama Charms Americans

"Survey after survey has shown there isn't enough content reaching African-American women," says Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications. "African-American women say they are looking for more content reflecting their voice and lifestyle. This partnership gives us the opportunity." The problem: Is there an African-American voice and lifestyle? I'm black and I never watch Oprah or Girlfriends (although my mom loves Girlfriends). My brother doesn't watch basketball (my friend Jonathan, who's Jewish, does). I have black friends with no interest in Tyra Banks and an Asian friend who loves her. Are the people who read Essence the same people who read Sister 2 Sister, Vibe and Black Enterprise? It's like targeting "women" with a site like Shine. Are they working women? Moms? Single women? Beauty-obsessed women? Bitter women? Does being a woman mean you automatically give a shit about Kate Bosworth? (I'll answer that one: No.) Black women come in a myriad of tastes, styles and voices. Can a website attract all black women? It'll be interesting to see them try.

Essence Enlists Warner To Reach Black Women On Web [Crains]
Essence Mag Uses Some Synergy to Turn Past Printed Page [AdAge]
Essence Magazine To Go Multiplatform [MediaWeek]
Overhaul for Web Site of Essence Magazine [NY Times]