Apparently the organizers had had a hard time keeping creepy dudes out of the Pinkalicious dances - now the sole women-only party Down Under. Says one company owner, "In my experience feminine lesbians are often the target of heterosexual male fantasy, and therefore subject to more intrusive attention from them...It is a major concern that heterosexual males will attend the Pinkalicious event in the hope they can achieve their desire for a sexual experience with multiple women."

There's been a backlash - particularly because only last month the Attorney General demanded that Australia's elite men's clubs open up to women. Says Sue Price, director of the Men's Rights Agency, the ruling represents a double standard, and Pinkalicious is receiving special treatment.

But gay men's bars have long had the right to ban women in Australia - and we can see far more compelling reasons for the Pinkalicious ban. After all, at the end of the day, this becomes a safety issue: the intention is to provide an environment for a group who don't have many other venues in which to feel totally secure and drink cocktails with very large pieces of watermelon in them. Or, as the head of the Human Rights Commission puts it, Pinkalicious events are important because "they offer a disadvantaged group the chance to experience supportive social occasions, feel safe in public spaces and build a sense of belonging." And let's face it: the guys who'd want to crash said event are a self-selecting population, to put it mildly, and I'm guessing it won't pose much of a problem for the non-creeps of Australia. That said, Stephen Horner is obviously going to be furious.

Collier is now 18, and she has fully recovered from her brief fight with skin cancer. She has become a central part of the growing debate on whether or not states should stop teens from visiting tanning salons. Currently 29 states have some regulation on tanning for minors, but some believe that tanning beds should be considered as dangerous, and as be just as restricted, as buying cigarettes. Others argue that it should be up to the parents whether or not teens can tan. Republican senator Mike Bennett is against the bill. "I gotta tell you, you cannot regulate everything in this world," he said. "I suppose we could say the same thing and outlaw tanning on the beach." [ABCNews]

Under the bill, sponsored by Rep. Tami Green, mothers will be protected from discrimination when nursing in public spaces, including movie theaters, parks, malls, theaters, schools, and hospitals. The state - along with 40 others - already has legislation in place that protects women from being slapped with public indecency charges when breastfeeding in public, but the new law will ensure that women are never asked to "cover up" when they are simply feeding their children. While few mothers have formally complained about discrimination, lawmakers say that they feel the bill is necessary because of past instances of discrimination. "Unfortunately we need legislation to enforce common sense sometimes," said Rep. Mike Armstong.

However, Green really hits the nail on the head with her statement about breast-feeding: "We need to remember that breastfeeding is a natural thing and there really is nothing sexual about breastfeeding." It seems that women's breasts have become so sexualized that baring them even in the name is nutrition is considered indecent - at least by the powers that be at Facebook. Seeking to dispel the weirdness surrounding breast-feeding, and to open discussion about the process, Dana Sullivan and Maureen Connolly have collected more than 25 intimate essays about nursing and published them in the book Unbuttoned: Women Open Up About The Pleasures, Pains and Politics Of Breastfeeding.

Dodai mentioned one of the essays on Monday, but yesterday Salon interviewed the editors over email about their new book. In agreement with Washington House Rep. Green, they cite American's "confusion about sex" as the reason women are discouraged from breastfeeding in public. When asked whether she thinks breastfeeding is becoming normalized (as it should be), Connolly responds:

We think that we are already seeing glimmers of just this. I live in Montclair, N.J. where breastfeeding is a perfectly accepted, normal, routine act that doesn't invite all that much attention. Partners, spouses and other children see a nursing mother at a soccer game and it's almost as if they don't see it at all. We think that an act that goes almost unnoticed is the truest testament to the idea that breast-feeding is, in many places, already viewed as perfectly acceptable and routine.

Hear that, Facebook?

Milking it [Salon]
Breast-feeding in public protected by Wash. bill [AP]

Related: In Which A Woman Lets Her Date Drink Her Milk, Milky Way: The Long, Strange History of Breastfeeding, 'Indecent' Breastfeeding Photos Still Won't Fly On Facebook

Authorities say that 21-year-old Williams sent a lewd text message to a 17-year-old girl whom she had heard was involved with her boyfriend. The specifics of the text message were not released, but some voicemails that Williams and others had left the girl threatened rape.

Williams' lawyer, Michael Kielty, claims that the new law which his client is accused under is poorly written and makes something illegal which wouldn't be under other circumstances:

Kielty said Missouri's revised harassment measures are bad law. "It's probably one of the worst written laws I've seen in my career," he said.

He said kids used to say things face to face or pass notes in school commenting on someone's looks or weight. The new law "criminalizes behavior that otherwise wouldn't be illegal except for the medium," he said.

"It's not criminal. It might be mean-spirited, but it's not criminal," he said.

One of the problems with Kielty's arguments is that Williams' behavior would in fact be considered criminal in another medium. The prosecutor of the Williams case notes that telephone harassment (which is essentially what Williams did) has been a crime for years in Missouri.

Kielty argues that because dumb kids say dumb things to each other about their looks or weight (he carefully avoids talking about threatening sexual violence) that Williams' harassment should not be seen as illegal.

Anyone who has been in high school in the past 15 years knows that harassment akin to the Meier's and William's cases are common. Kids do dumb things on the internet all the time, but now the dramatic influence of bullying and girl-on-girl crime are getting national attention. Are we—as some of the commenters on the Wired blog fear—turning into a coddling nanny state by expecting laws to save us from any uncomfortable moment? Or would ignoring these cases of bullying just make it okay for people to make threats of sexual and non-sexual violence just because they did it over a text message or a Myspace bulletin and not to the victim's face?

Prosecutors Charge Seven People Under New Cyberbullying Law [Wired]
Woman Accused Under New Cyberbullying Law [CBS News]

Remember those old ads where a woman tastes a cookie and then says, "Were these made with real butter?" And, when the baker shame-facedly hangs her head, suggests, "Let's start again." I was reminded of this by a quote from the Times piece by one home baker: “I can tell a margarine cookie as soon as I bite into it...And then I put it right down.”

The butter/margarine divide has a long history in Missouri, where, since 1895, yellow margarine has been illegal. (The legislation was likely put in place to protect the state's dairy industry) A state legislator wants to overturn the archaic law, which still exacts a hefty penalty from those who disobey it. However, if the Times is to be believed, this is not an option any serious baker would ever entertain - no matter what commercially-minded professionals might do.

Truth to tell, their butter breakdown is super-helpful, even to the casual baker. As we all know, sometimes baked stuff just doesn't turn out. According to this piece, the culprit is probably the delicious butter, which is very likely at the wrong temperature. These were the facts we found most pertinent and revelatory:

• "For mixing and creaming, butter should be about 65 degrees: cold to the touch but warm enough to spread. Just three degrees warmer, at 68 degrees, it begins to melt."
• "Warm butter can be rechilled and refrozen, but once the butterfat gets warm, the emulsion breaks, never to return."
• "For clean edges on cookies and for even baking, doughs and batters should stay cold — place them in the freezer when the mixing bowl seems to be warming up. And just before baking, cookies should be very well chilled, or even frozen hard."
• "Butter should be creamed — beaten to soften it and to incorporate air — for at least three minutes."
• "The best way to get frozen or refrigerated butter ready for creaming is to cut it into chunks. (Never use a microwave: it will melt it, even though it will look solid.) When the butter is still cold, but takes the imprint of a finger when gently pressed, it is ready to be creamed."
• "When using a stand mixer, attach the paddle blade, and never go above medium speed, or the butter will heat up."
• The best butters are "salted Kerrygold from Ireland, unsalted Kate’s Homemade Butter from Old Orchard Beach, Me., and a 'limited edition' cultured butter from Organic Valley, made from May to September, when cows are outside at least part of the time, eating grass rather than feed. Butter from grass-fed cows, rich in beta carotene, is more yellow (not higher in butterfat, as many believe)."
• "Most important is that butter be well preserved. Mr. Bradley recommends wrapping butter that’s not going to be used immediately in foil, then sealing the edges with tape. Or using it quickly."

Butter Holds the Secret to Cookies That Sing [NY Times]
Yellow Margarine: I Can't Believe It's Not Legal! [USA Today]

• Dutch prosecutors announced today that they have dropped their murder investigation into a late-term abortion that a woman had performed in Spain because the woman suffers from "psychological problems." • The Australian Parliament passed a landmark law today that allows single and lesbian women access to fertility treatment and gives gay partners and parents of surrogate children legal parenting rights. • A former park ranger at the Belair National Park in South Australia claims that rescued koalas that are turned over to park rangers are shot. • An English study of personal ads finds that the myth of the "dirty old man" is true, with most men seeking younger female partners. • A group of English actresses claim they were tricked into auditioning for a porn film when they thought they were auditioning for a Little Britain-style adult comedy. • Why do so many men buy sex? • A UK PSA features a dog drug mule with his chest cut open talking to drug users.• Meanwhile, a new study suggests that dogs have evolved to chase more efficiently over long distances and cats have evolved to creep up on prey, rather than chase. • A painting by Giambattista Tiepolo hidden in an attic of a French chateau for decades because it was deemed "risque" fetched $4.1 million at a Christie's auction in London. • China has told artists performing on its annual TV gala on Chinese New Year's Eve to not lip-synch their songs. • A judge in Arkansas issued a gag order on Wednesday in the murder case against a man accused of beating Anne Pressly, a local news anchorwoman, to death. •

“'More and more, people are looking at calories in, and calories out,'” one shrink tells The Times. Here in New York, we kind of have no choice but to look at them: chains have to post the calorie content of each item in plain sight. Last month, California became the first to require the calorie counts statewide, while variations on the mandate are sweeping the nation; two proposals currently before congress would make posting calorie content a nationwide law. At customers' request, Starbucks has added "nutritional guardrails" for each item. Coke and M&Ms will soon list calorie content on the wrappers.

"Public health officials acknowledge that people rarely change their eating habits overnight, and that there is a lot more to good nutrition than simply counting calories. Still, they are trying to make sure consumers stay calorie conscious. Just to hammer the point home, the New York City health department earlier this month put signs inside subway cars pointing out that most people need only about 2,000 calories a day."

Well, does it work? Hard to say. Apparently, the New Yorkers polled were surprised by the calorie content of their favorite treats, and obviously some elementary notion of nutrition is not a bad thing. Then too, apparently the practice has led some places, like Starbucks, to reduce their portion sizes — never a bad thing. Yes, people obviously need to lose weight; but even in this piece The Times refers to this drastic measure as a "Hail Mary" by desperate public health officials trying to halt the spread of diabetes and obesity. While I certainly believe hearts are firmly planted in the right place here, my concern is that such policies could do as much harm as good. The article quotes a young woman who works at Chipotle (which under NYC law discloses calories): "The customers talking calories, she said, are mostly women, and mostly slimmer older women. Men, especially the younger ones, just ask for everything, and often ask her to double the portions."

Look, I'm not surprised some people gravitate towards calorie-counting, and even that they've demanded places like Starbucks do the math for them. Formulas and numbers comfort people, but they are also an easy way to develop compulsive attitudes towards food. The times in my life when I counted calories were not my happiest, nor my healthiest: I may have eaten fewer calories, but I also smoked more and lost a lot of the pleasure in good food that I think keeps me healthy now. Anxiety and guilt are as likely to be the product of such paternalistic practices as are thoughtful choices. (I should say that my boyfriend, thin and cheap, was delighted to see how many calories a Dunkin' Donuts bagel and cream cheese had: "so much more energy for my money!")

You shouldn't be not eating Starbucks baked goods because they're calorie-laden; rather, you shouldn't do it because the banana bread has the texture of sawdust and the glazed donut tastes like Play-doh smells. I'm skeptical of the canonization of French women, but I do think this sort of nonsense would be greeted with heavy skepticism in any reasonable Parisian boulangerie, if only because it so officiously interferes with the sacrosanct pleasures of eating. In fact, lately I avoid these places not out of guilt but because the calorie count makes me anxious and I start to get that unhealthy twinge of "numbers over nutrition" thinking. There is a wonderful Iris Murdoch quote: "Every meal should be a treat and one ought to bless every day which brings with it a good digestion and the precious gift of hunger." Amen.

Calories Do Count [New York Times]

Journalists boost brothel business in Sydney during the Pope's visit. • Women over 16 near Teesside beach in the UK can pay 5 pounds and don a bikini to set a new world record on Sunday. There is "no upper age limit." • Hundreds of angry pregnant women in Australia plan to "storm" a hospital that is shutting down its maternity unit per the government's instructions. • Showjumpers in England make a "desperate" attempt to drum up publicity for their sport by having two young female showjumpers pose without their pants. • A nurse in England gave the wrong woman an abortion after she failed to do a background identity check and followed anonymity rules at the clinic to protect women seeking the procedure (the two patients shared the same first name). • Former Olympic track star Marion Jones applied for a federal commute of her six-month prison sentence after she was convicted of lying to federal agents about her performance-enhancing drug use. • The latest strange female aphrodisiac out there? Donkey skin. • It is serious puppy face time!