Although nothing about the truck — which is used to advertise for a strip club — is illegal, some commissioners fear that it could cause accidents. • In 2005, Melanie Dawn Williams went into premature labor and ran a red light on the way to the hospital. Two police officers chased after her, followed her into the hospital, and tackled her in the emergency room. The over-zealous cops then dragged her outside, where they proceeded to handcuff her. Eventually a nurse found her, and brought her back in for medical care. Williams now says she may sue for unlawful arrest. •  A British woman has received a £75 fine for littering after she was caught throwing bread to ducks. "I do not intend to pay the fine," she said. "I'm going to fight this to the end." •  A 56-year-old Oregon man has been charged with making threatening calls to a local Planned Parenthood. Gregory Paul Freeman reportedly threatened to blow up the clinic. They also received a voice message that said: "Uh, please go ahead and dial the, uh, United States of America, because I'm going to burn your abortion clinic down because you are a baby killer and you hate babies." •  In the past year the pay gap between men and women in Britain has fallen - but only by 1%. There still remains a 16.4% gap in the U.K. If improvement continues at this rate, it will be 17 years before women receive equal pay. •  The Maryland university system has opted not to police porn on college campuses. They voted unanimously to reject the policy, on the grounds that it would hinder free speech and suck up too much funding. • Former CIA agent Valerie Plame lost her appeal to declassify part of her memoir Fair Game. Plame and her publisher sued the CIA in 2007 to block the agency from blacking out the dates she worked there, but the appeals court ruled that, "Because Ms. Wilson is obligated by a secrecy agreement with the CIA not to disclose information, the district court correctly ruled." • Weston General Hospital in England has banned pregnant women with a BMI of more than 34 from giving birth at the hospital, forcing them to travel 20 miles to the nearest maternity ward. The hospital claims it's not equipped to handle complicated births. "Our foremost concern is for the safety of mothers who deliver here and their babies," said a spokesman. "Mothers with a high BMI are at increased risk in labour of bleeding, needing an instrumental delivery or complications, such as the baby's shoulder becoming trapped behind the pubic bone." • French art expert Pascal Cotte analyzed the Mona Lisa with a special camera and found she used to have eyebrows and a wider smile. He says da Vinci painted some details on top of a glaze that was meant to make the portrait look 3-D. "That could explain why the eyebrows have disappeared – they have faded because of chemical reactions or they have been cleaned off," said Cotte. • University of Haifa researcher found that the hormone oxytocin, which affects trust, empathy and generosity, also affects opposite behaviors, like jealousy and gloating. "Subsequent to these findings, we assume that the hormone is an overall trigger for social sentiments: when the person's association is positive, oxytocin bolsters pro-social behaviors; when the association is negative, the hormone increases negative sentiments," said lead researcher Simone Shamay-Tsoory. • A British woman saw a suspicious message pop up on her husband's computer so she pretended to be a 14-year-old schoolgirl and contacted him on the internet from another computer in their house. He asked her to meet for sex and "used a webcam to film himself carrying out acts of indecency," which she could see on her screen in the other room. He was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and making and possessing illegal images, and his wife left him. •

Der Weg Des Geldes [YouTube via Adgabber]

• When presented with the dress, bride Lin Rong "laughed and cried at the romantic gesture." Her husband-to-be said: "I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet." • Following the success of a similar pilot program, DC officials have announced that they plan to offer STD testing to all high school students in the coming school year. Cue the denial driven parental outrage. • A new study found that 60% of black parents said that they would consider volunteering at their children's schools, up from 23% in 2008. Researchers believe this is part of the Obama Effect. • Little Orphan Annie turned 85 yesterday! The "Annie" comic strip first appeared on Aug. 5, 1924. Creator Harold Gray originally planed on publishing a strip called "Little Orphan Otto," but he changed it at the last minute on his editor's suggestion. •  The Australian government has forged a partnership with soccer authorities in attempts to encourage more girls (and women) to play football. • In order to better understand the life of Muslim women, three British police women donned robes and hijabs for a day. The exercise, called "In Your Shoes," has drawn some criticism. "This is a complete waste of police time and taxpayers' money," said Douglas Murray of the Center for Social Cohesion. "It's not the duty of police to empathize with particular sections of the community." • The British Trade Union Congress is considering a motion to ban stiletto heels from the work place as a health hazard to women. Some women are saying, "From my cold, dead feet." • A female stripper from Australia has been found not guilty of raping the best man at a bachelor party where she was hired to perform. The victim claims that, after sticking a sex toy into his anus against his protests, Linda Naggs told him it was "just a joke," and told him not to worry, "only you and I know." • Denver Radio Station KTNI decided to scrap its indie music format in favor of "Classic Non Stop Stripper Hits, from the 80's, 90's and today." They're now going by 101.5 The Pole. • Sam, the koala made famous by this photograph, has passed away during surgery to remove several cysts caused by chlamydia. • Two important advertisers have pulled their support of radio network Austereo, following the forced confession of a 14-year-old girl that she had been raped during a lie detector segment of the Kyle and Jackie O Show. • Newspaper editor Chansa Kabwela is currently on trial for distributing images of a woman giving birth in a parking lot after she was turned away from a hospital. Zambia president Rupiah Banda deemed the images pornographic and called for charges to be brought against Kabwela. • Lula Mae Battle, 81, had charges against her dropped when prosecutors learned that her public urination arrest was due to age-related incontinence. • A woman in Texas has been charged with mutilating her infant while high on drugs. Yes, another one. • A woman from New York was ticketed for breastfeeding in a parked car. Although she admits they were in a "no standing" zone, Marta Lily and Enrique Velez pleaded with the officer not to ticket them, and offered to move while he was busy writing out the forms. • Saudi citizen Mazen Abdul-Jawad is facing more than 200 charges for appearing on a Lebanese television show discussing the fact that he's had sex and liked it. Abdul-Jawad is the divorced father of 4. • New research shows that although baby-making declines as countries achieve certain levels of wealth, it goes up again once they get really rich. • Lori Drew wants her internet access back. The Internet doesn't want her. • Daniela Earnest of Tulare, California learned that California regulations really are as bad as conservative commentators warn: local officials shut down her corner lemonade stand, which she opened to pay for tickets to Disneyland, because it lacked the proper business permits. Although the city is contemplating a change to the law, a local radio station traded her family 4 tickets to Disneyland in exchange for 30 cups of lemonade. • Be warned: The story I'm about to link to may offend some with its absurdly bad puns: According to a new study, women who down one or two glasses of wine a day have better sex lives than those who abstain. •

1.) Toddlers & Tiaras Is Back!

You know, the show that puts daughter-less mothers—who refuse to accept reality—on reality TV.

2.) Twinemies
The premiere episode of the second season featured twins AshLynn and BreAnne, who are forced to compete against each other. The mom so obviously likes BreAnne better. It's totally Jacob Have I Loved. Usually BreAnne wins the crowns, but at this pageant, she threw a temper tantrum and her father wouldn't let her compete for the rest of the day, so AshLynn ended up winning. BreAnne won't accept this. One day, a therapist will get an earful from one or both of them.

3.) Hand Puppets
This little girl is so Anna Nicole. Not because she's from Texas.

And not because she's cranky and flashy.

And not because she doesn't always make sense.

And not because her good behavior at photo shoots is rewarded with trips to McDonalds. No, she mostly reminds me of Anna Nicole because she has a face full of makeup and acts like a four year old. Also, her two best friends are her mother's hands, which she believes to be people, and that's something I can see Anna Nicole subscribing to.

4.) The Insider So Totally Doesn't Get "Ethics"



But at least they're curious.

5.) World's Strongest Toddler: That Don't Impress Ah Me Much



TLC did a whole special on this kid and the best evidence of his "title" was him lifting his mom's wuss weights over his head. Big whoop. Wake me up when he can French braid his own hair.

6.) Teens, Need A Summer Job?
Teenagers 16 and up are allowed to strip in Rhode Island (as long as they're home before midnight).

7.) Joe Jackson: "I started Leonard's career in music promotion."
Leonard:

8.) This Isn't An SNL Skit

9.) Crazy Old German Lady Beats Up Librarian, Gets Away With It
This is from some kind of Cops format show. I could barely edit it down because it's too awesome, beginning to end. While I love the German lady's outbursts, I'm also into how upset the one librarian gets when it's implied that she couldn't find the U.N Charter. ("I didn't even get the chance to look!")

10.) That's So Lindsay

• In efforts to better understand the causes of anorexia, scientists are using new imaging technology to study the brains of anorexic patients. They have found patterns of dysfunction in certain neural circuits of the brain, which they believe may be related to the onset of the disease. • A UK radio commercial for sausage that asked listeners to reveal "where you like to stick yours" has come under fire for the "offensive" sexual innuendo. Another line from the ad is even more explicit: "Think about all the things you can stick this tasty, extraordinarily large sausage in." • Farmers in eastern India have discovered a new way of dealing with the shortage of rain: Roping their unmarried daughters into plowing the fields while nude. "They (villagers) believe their acts would get the weather gods badly embarrassed, who in turn would ensure bumper crops by sending rains," said Upendra Kumar, a village council official, which still does not explain why it has to be naked girls doing all the work. • Katrina Vanden Heuvel disagrees with Feminist Majority Foundation President Ellie Smeal and thinks withdrawing our military from Afghanistan would be best for women and children there. • Women in Herat, Afghanistan are increasingly likely to choose divorce over self-immolation, despite laws that all but automatically award custody to fathers. • In another slightly-less-than-entirely-depressing development, Afghan women are getting more midwives. • An Australian bus driver attempted to force a woman wearing a niqab to remove it to get on the bus. • But the Japanese want to make sure you're smiling on the trains. • Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been caught on tape admitting that it takes him forever to have an orgasm and advising a sex worker to masturbate more. La dolce vita, indeed. • Australian men are really, really, really concerned that they have small penises. • Borders Group has announced plans to expand their teen department, which will include various merchandise in addition to young adult fiction. Kathryn Popoff, vice president of merchandising, said that they have noticed more adults browsing in the teen section. • A woman who pimped out a mentally ill woman received a 20 year sentence. • A mother in Florida is suing because her kids learned an African-American spiritual, claiming she's upset because it has a religious theme. • If giant inflatable vaginas are your thing, we have a (NSFW) picture for you. • Some dickhead state representative in Ohio introduced a bill that has no chance of passing that would require a woman to receive the permission of the father of her embryo to consent to an abortion. And look! He got the publicity he wanted. • Congress introduced a decent common-ground-on-abortion bill, though, focusing on contraception and education. • According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, the number of doctors and clinics that provide abortions has fallen by 25% since the 1990s, and some states, such as Mississippi and North Dakota, have only one abortion provider. The study, UPI notes, was concluded before the murder of Dr. George Tiller. •

Q: How do I develop confidence that I will be a good mom?
Doree's Mom: There's no magic good mom potion, but as long as you realize what you don't want to be, you're honestly on the right track.

Q: How do I get my mom to stop obsessing over my ex-boyfriend and realize that some of the guys I pick will not be up to her standards?
Jessica's Mom: Your mother doesn't seem to have empathy for your feelings. Set her down, explain that she is hurting you - don't do this in an argument or reactively. Do this quietly at a time when you can really make your case. After that, if she persists, you have to give it up. If she will not give your new boyfriends a chance, then you are spinning your wheels for no good end.

Q: How do I tell my mom that I am a stripper? Or do I even need to?
Doree's Mom: Try to gauge her reaction by telling her, "Do you remember so and so, she's a stripper."
Jessica's Mom: But if you do tell her, don't expect (unless she is extraordinary), that she is going to approve. You have made a choice which I assume is important to you. If you feel that not telling her is an unacceptable omission of the truth, then by all means tell her, though sometimes a don't ask don't tell policy makes the most sense. Even if she doesn't approve, take pleasure in the other ways your mother shows care.

Q: How can I get my mother to stop controlling me and treating me like a child?
Jessica's Mom: The best way to handle this is to calmly discuss the situation, but if there is no resolution, I am concerned that you might consider living under her roof. If at all possible, don't go home after graduation, and be close from a distance.

Q: I'm a Korean-American who fits practically every straight-laced Korean stereotype ever, and yet I am still rebuked by my parents for being disrespectful. How do I get my very Korean mom to realize that we have cultural differences and that we will not always see the world in the same way?
Doree's Mom: Do your parents watch American movies or TV? Do they realize how lucky they are to have an almost totally Korean child? Have them contact me, I'll tell them just how bad it can be. [Ed. note: We're assuming she's not referring to Doree, who of course is a perfect child.]

Q: How do you convince your religious mom that your intention to marry your non-religious dude is not a hurtful slight against her, God or her culture?
Jessica's Mom: Point out to her all the wonderful moral qualities your man has which are religious in spirit if not in doctrine. If this doesn't work, realize that your mother still loves you and you her, even if there are these differences. Again, this is painful, but love is always ambivalent and conflicted.

Q:What is the best way to show your mom you love her and appreciate her?
Doree's Mom: Buy her a copy of Love, Mom!
Jessica's Mom: Empathy for what upsets your mother - this is the greatest form of caring. It is often difficult for adult children to understand and process that their parents have ongoing lives which contain pain and upset separate from their own. If you can notice when your mom is having a bad day and say you're sorry and wish her a better day, this is love.

Q: How do I get my mother to connect with my husband's mother, who is very different from her?
Both Moms: Give them grandchildren.

Love, Mom [Amazon]
Postcards From Yo Momma

Earlier: Momma Knows Best: A Call For Questions

Lauren A.E. Schuker's article goes on to count the many, many times a woman has been nominated for an Oscar for playing a stripper or a courtesan/prostitute: Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Mira Sorvino, Elisabeth Shue, Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Greta Garbo, Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Basinger, Jane Fonda. The very first actress to win an Oscar was Janet Gaynor, who played a hooker in 1928's Street Angel.

Why do actresses take these parts, and why does Hollywood reward them? "There aren't and have never been a lot of great roles for women in Hollywood," says Patty Jenkins, who directed Charlize Theron in Monster. "Sadly, that creates this cliché that if a woman plays a prostitute, she wins an Oscar."

Jeanine Basinger (not related to Kim), who heads Wesleyan's Film Studies department, has a slightly different perspective: "The way to land an Oscar as a woman is either to take off your makeup or put on a lot more. You're either a prostitute/stripper or you're a mother/nun." Schuker adds: "As if to underline the point, Meryl Streep is up for an Oscar this year for her role as a nun in Doubt."

As for Marisa Tomei, she certainly embraced her role:

"My aim in the film was to honor the women I met and to represent them in a meaningful way. I wish there was a movie called The Stripper because I found out so much about these women, like the physical toll that dancing takes on a stripper's body, and on her feet, that we couldn't fit into the movie."

Clearly, strippers and hookers often have story arcs which are more complex, more interesting than roles like "quirky girlfriend" or "graceful wife." Can we blame actresses for being attracted to these characters? On the other hand, why does a woman have to play a sex worker to get props?

Stripping Your Way to Success [WSJ]

*Inspired by Shirley MacLaine's assertion that the best parts for actresses fall into one of the above categories.

Thanks to the reader who tipped us off to the Flirty Girl Fitness workout system, which allows you to join in the pole dancing workout trend right in your own home. Why waste your time doing unalluring exercises like running or lifting weights when you could be giving your body a makeover with workouts based on "the world’s sexiest dance moves, from music videos, club dancing, even exotic dancing?" Check out the commercial below to learn how you can liberate yourself from non-sexy workouts, or check out their website to order your own pole, feather boa, and lap dance-inspired workouts for just $259.94.

• A poll of British mothers reveals that 16 percent of respondents have a favorite child and 50 percent love both "equally but in different ways." • A claim that steroids may prevent a third of miscarriages raises questions about how normal early miscarriages are for women who are trying to conceive and if they need to be "cured." • A study of young girls and boys reports that boys with conduct and oppositional defiance disorders had lower heart rates and sweated less than boys without those conditions while playing a money-making computer game but girls showed no physiological differences while playing. • Concita de Gregorio appointment as editor-in-chief of one of Italy's most prestigious newspapers, L'Unita, signals the rise of women in the workplace in Italy. • The soccer players of FC de Rakt, an amateur Dutch women's soccer team, all play in short skirts (over hot-pants) because they feel that the look is both more "elegant" and comfortable. • Residents of San Francisco are split over a new proposition that would make prostitution legal in the city: The city's health department backs the proposal but the Mayor and DA say that it will ruin neighborhoods. • An internet advice site about divorces in the UK says that 10% of divorces happen during the second year of marriage and "online divorces" are contributing to a "throwaway" culture. • The "upscale bums" of Beverly Hills benefit from the neighborhood's rich residents but must "act respectful" and not be turned off by the wealthy in order to not get attention from cops. • A judge in Texas has ordered a woman to stop bearing children as part of her 10-year-probation after the woman admitted to not providing care for her 19-month-old daughter after the child was severely beaten by her father. • Computer models that are commonly used by doctors to determine if a woman would benefit from genetic testing for ovarian and breast cancer have underestimated the probability ofAsian women having a genetic mutation that could lead to cancer. • The various relationships between a Saudi woman and her driver all reveal a deep frustration with the inconvenience of not being able to drive themselves. • Why have Crayola crayons removed their old smell from their products? • A trading website for mothers in Australia called Mum Swap encourages free trading (instead of spending) of goods and services from clothes, babysitting, tips, and vacation homes. • High-class escorts in India are sharing in the country's booming economy but they are also evidence of the rising focus on materialism for women in the globalized economy. •