FSogol

FSogol's Journal

December 19, 2012

"How Mitt's old-fashioned values lost all the single ladies."

Excerpts from a Gene Weintgarten column in the Washington Post where he talks to author, Gina Barreca

"Some months before the presidential election, my funny feminist friend Gina Barreca wanted to discuss how and why Mitt Romney was going to lose because he creeps out single women."

"All you had to do was watch Romney discussing “binders full of women,” and you understood, intuitively, where women stood with him: We’re a category of thing to be held in containers and accessed when needed, roughly the same as pistachio nuts or lock washers. Romney is the guy who takes you out to his club, because he’s comfortable there. Then he either orders for you or tells you what’s good and then gets petulant if you don’t order it, because he’s already TOLD you what’s good, and it’s the chateaubriand, it is NOT the pasta primavera. He’ll be chummy with the maitre d’ — he respects status — but abusive to the busboy. With you, he’ll be extremely chivalrous. He will pull out your chair. He will elaborately walk to the passenger side door, open it, seat you and close the door before getting behind the wheel, even if time is short. "

and

Gene: I’m fine with all this, but I would like to observe that this entire line of analysis — reducing the girl vote into a matter of romantic preference — is not entirely consistent with rigorous feminism.

Gina: I know. You’ll get letters. But don’t underestimate our seriousness of purpose. I can tell you, for example, who the single woman’s dream date is going to be for 2016.

Gene: Who?

Gina: Elizabeth Warren.

Whole article at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/gene-weingarten-dating-himself/2012/11/30/f9a53d06-301d-11e2-ac4a-33b8b41fb531_story.html

December 19, 2012

Governor Dumbass (R-VA) Speaks!

McDonnell: Arming principals might help
By Laura Vozzella, Published: December 18

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said Virginia should consider arming teachers, principals and other school staff in the aftermath of the school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

“I know there’s been a knee-jerk reaction against that,” McDonnell (R) said in a radio interview Tuesday. “I think there should at least be a discussion of that. If people were armed, not just a police officer but other school officials who were trained and chose to have a weapon, certainly there would have been an opportunity to stop aggressors coming into the schools. So I think that’s a reasonable discussion that ought to be had.”

Of course, in true Repub fashion he tried to walk back on the comment later in the day adding that,

"“way too early” to know whether stricter gun control laws were warranted."

Whole story at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/mcdonnell-arming-principals-might-help/2012/12/18/fedbc0c2-4929-11e2-820e-17eefac2f939_story.html?wpisrc=nl_buzz

December 13, 2012

Fiscal Cliff Funnies

From Jen Sorensen's "Slowpoke"

December 11, 2012

Do you know why Santa is so jolly?

He knows where all the naughty girls live.

*<{:- )}} Santa

December 10, 2012

Google search stopped working for me.

I go to their main page (which is my homepage) enter a term in the search window, hit the button, and nothing happens. Sometimes I get to the results window and nothing appears.

Everywhere else I go on the net works fine. Using Firefox and I did disable all addons and got the same results. Anyone know what's up?

December 7, 2012

Sign of the times?

My spam filter collects a daily email from the Washington Post. Usually some nonsense about stain removal, reminders to vaccinate pets, or how to make chicken broth last longer. Well, every topic must have been covered already since I received this exciting how-to article:

"By Megan Buerger, Thursday, December 6, 2012

Popcorn garland is one of those holiday traditions that has stood the test of time. Here's a refresher from Epicurious on how to make it. All you'll need is five to 10 cups of popped popcorn (plain popcorn keeps longer than buttered), a needle and thread.

First, measure the string to about eight feet long. Thread the needle about halfway through so there is an equal amount of string on either end. Tie the knot enough times so that it is large and secure. Then, pierce the thickest point of the popcorn with the needle and pull it through so that the popcorn slides down to the knotted end. Repeat until the string is full and tie a secure knot to finish. If your tree is in a cool, dry place, these garlands should last through the season."

Do people really need instructions on how to make popcorn garland? Will the next article remind me to breath or explain how to blow my nose or an exciting recipe for ice cubes? Is the endless drive to produce spammable media making people dumber?

The Washington Post article:
http://contact.washpost.com/go.asp?/bCAW013/mN1EO41N1/uWRBNFUM1/x4DX741N1
Epicurious article with instructive photos!
http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/holidays/christmas/christmas-crafts-garland

PS. Did Megan really get paid to ~~write~~ copy the Epicurious article?