• Despite earlier reports, Cheyvonne Molino, a woman who knows Garrido and the girls says they never acted robotically and didn't wear prairie dresses. • President Obama and Megan Fox are both experts at packaging sound-bites according to The Huffington Post because they each have made similar statements in different interviews. Yesterday when asked about claims that those who dislike him are racist, Obama told both George Stephanopoulos and John King basically, "Are there some people who don't like me because of my race? I'm sure there are." In a Rolling Stone interview Fox talked about her "powerful, confident vagina," and she told Cosmopolitan, "Women hold the power because we have the vaginas. If you're in a heterosexual relationship and you're a female, you win." Maybe their respective thoughts on racism and vaginas are just very consistent. • Between 14 and 23 percent of pregnant women experience a depressive disorder during pregnancy and 13 percent took anti-depressants in 2003. According to a new study short-term neonatal irritability and neurobehavioral changes were linked to maternal depression and anti-depressant treatment. • In the video at the link, a local Florida station, reports that parents are complaining about billboards in 16 cities that say "sex without consent is rape" that are paid for with federal tax money because the ads force them to discuss sexual violence with their children. • Many skin care products and cosmetics contain alcohol and pork products. Aside from being gross, this means Muslim women who keep Halal can't use them. After converting to Islam and finding few cosmetics options for Muslim women, a former makeup created OnePure, a cosmetics line approved and certified by the Malaysian Islamic Authority. • An AP investigation found that baby formula companies are aggressively promoting formula over breast-feeding in Vietnam. Formula companies have paid doctors to push their products and advertised formula for babies between six and 12 months even though Vietnam's law prohibits advertising formula for children under age one. • In a New York Times profile, Beth Kaplan, the president of GNC says, "I need to be part of a big organization, and my kids get it. I was at Bath & Body Works when my father died, and I struggled with being away from home. I resigned and thought my boys would be thrilled. My younger son, who was 8, was so excited that he jumped into my arms. My older son said, 'But Mommy, I really liked that job.'" • Sixty-eight of the 72 known people 110 and older are female, even though there are more boys than girls born each year. Part of the reason may be that men are five times more likely than women to die by firearms, men are more susceptible to fatal conditions like cancer and heart disease, and men are more likely to ignore emotional problems and are nine times more likely to commit suicide between the ages of 75 and 79. • According to government estimates more than 16 million Japanese women, or one quarter of the country's female population, are 65 or older. The country is anticipating a shortage of workers as the population ages. • The Australian Fair Work Ombusdman's office has found that women are being fired for taking maternity leave and being told to quit if they can't juggle work and family. In one case, a woman saw her position being advertised in the newspaper eight months into her maternity leave and was told she couldn't come back. In another case a woman's boss shifted her from five eight-hour days to four 10-hour days so she couldn't drop her kids off at day care, and told her to quit if she didn't like it. • The Pasco, Washington planning commission voted down a proposal to allow a Planned Parenthood in town because they say it would attract too many protesters. Anna Franks, president of Planned Parenthood of Central Washington says the decision was political: "What we have here are protesters protesting against Planned Parenthood that there may be protesters at our clinic." The county has one of the highest teen pregnancy and STD rates in the state. •

• Recently, an 81-year-old woman in Scotland knocked down a would-be mugger from his bicycle when he tried to grab her purse.

• Earlier this month, a 70-year-old woman reportedly gave birth to her first child after undergoing IVF treatment.

• A few months ago, authorities in Blue Ash, Ohio announced that they were dropping petty theft charges against an 89-year-old female curmudgeon who kept a child's ball after it landed in her yard. A victory this year for mean old women everywhere.

• In August, an 87-year-old grandma in New York said she "wasn't scared" when she beat up a man who attempted to mug her. The woman, Elizabeth Maropoulos, was well-known at her local bar for not putting up with troublemakers.

• Also in August, an 85-year-old woman held her 17-year-old male intruder hostage with her gun when he broke into her home in Pennsylvania.

• In July, a grandmother offered a drunk male intruder a beer after he broke into and attacked the woman and her daughter in their California home. The beer calmed the intruder and he was eventually arrested.

• Also in July, a 55-year-old grandma chased off two robbers with claw hammers and a push broom. This one comes complete with pictures!

• But don't think that grandmas are always get robbed, sometimes they rob other people! Take, for example, the grandma "pickpocket terrorist" from New York who had been previously arrested 73 times on various charges. In October the woman was picked up by police, whom she told that she was a resident of the White House. Oh, okay. Sure.

• On the more horrible end of the criminal grandma spectrum: two 70-something widows were convicted in April of befriending and killing two homeless men whom they used for life insurance that they took out on the men. They collected a total of $2.8 million in insurance money.

• Finally, this (probably fake) viral video is the classic "tough old broad attacks asshole" example. In it, a man talks about seeing four old women beat up a guy who crashes into their car. Again, it is almost certainly a fake re-telling, but if these news stories are any indication, senior ladies are not to be fucked with:















Ore. Woman, 88, Gives Naked Intruder The 'Squeeze' [AP]
Granny, 81, Fought Mugger [UPI]