Romney in skinny jeans?

I’m home for the holidays and overheard a Mitt Romney campaign recording on my parents’ voicemail, so I wanted to see when he was actually coming to South Carolina to campaign in person. No, I do not have a life over the holidays. And yes, that is just the way I like it.

Anyways, when I was in the process of typing in “Romney in South Carolina,” the first self-populated search term that popped up was… “Romney in skinny jeans.” Um, what? Google, you cannot tell me that this is a popular search term…

 

Weatherman throws a fit on live TV

Poor Weatherman… apparently he is cut short after his Toys for Tots interview and isn’t too happy about it.

But the video below is definitely my all-time favorite.

Best (ehh, maybe worst?) of 2011 politics

 

Princesses v. Superheroes

This little girl is awesome. I wonder if she’s available for consulting?

Definitely will be watching this when it comes out!

Ed Harris looks just like John McCain in this trailer, and Julianne Moore is perfect in the Sarah Palin role… I can’t wait to see this in March! I’ll have to read the book while waiting for this movie to come out.

Adorable video of polar bear cub!

Just had to share

Insulting the First Lady’s physique? A tad inappropriate…

This Huffington Post article reports that Jim Sensenbrenner, a GOP congressman from Wisconsin, has criticized Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign for healthy eating and exercise… by saying she has a “large posterior.” Um, I’m pretty sure that using that term doesn’t make this statement okay. And no offense, but I really don’t think that our friend Mr. Jim should judge…

For the record, I think Michelle Obama looks fantastic.

Jim Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin Congressman, Says Michelle Obama Has A ‘Large Posterior’

In today’s edition of Outrageous And Unfounded Insults, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has decided to question Michelle Obama’s body shape.

MediaBistro reports that Sensenbrenner was overheard talking on the phone, retelling an incident in which he said about Michelle Obama:

“She lectures us on eating right while she has a large posterior herself.”

The most bothersome issue here is the conflation of two entirely separate matters: the First Lady’s (natural) physique and her campaign for healthy eating and physical fitness.

Michelle has traveled the country for her “Let’s Move!” campaign for over a year, talking about healthy eating, promoting a more user-friendly pyramid graphic, getting stores like Walmart to stock their shelves with nutritious items and playing sports with kids.

Although she has been called out for indulging in the occasional hamburger and fries, Michelle Obama has practiced what she preaches: she stays fit (those arms are still toned after all these years) and maintains an enviably healthy body, both inside and out.

Yet some conservative critics don’t see it that way. Before Representative Sensenbrenner spoke out, Rush Limbaugh was on the case, disparaging Michelle Obama’s body as a way to critique her healthy eating campaign. The radio host said in February:

“The problem is, and dare I say this, it doesn’t look like Michelle Obama follows her own nutritionary, dietary advice…I’m trying to say that our First Lady does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue or of a woman Alex Rodriguez might date every six months or what have you.”

With comments like these, Limbaugh and Sensenbrenner not only blatantly insult the first lady. They also invoke the specious notion that skinny equals healthy, that women with shapely curves can’t possibly lead active, mindful lifestyles.

In fact, Michelle Obama and her fabulous physique are an ideal example for women — and men — of what an active, balanced, healthy lifestyle looks like. Posterior and all.

Read more about Rep. Sensenbrenner’s comments at Mediabistro.com.

Taylor Swift ad pulled for excessive Photoshopping

Is the US following in the UK’s footsteps??

 

Taylor Swift’s CoverGirl ad pulled

We never thought Taylor Swift could be controversial, but according to E! News, the singer’s ultra-glossy CoverGirl NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara ad has been yanked after it caught the attention of an ad industry watchdog group.

The offense? Excessive Photoshopping.

Procter & Gamble voluntarily pulled Taylor’s mascara print spot when it was flagged by the industry’s self-regulatory group, The National Advertising Division.

NAD was pleased with P&G’s response, and issued a statement saying “it has determined that the Procter & Gamble Company acted properly in discontinuing superior performance claims made in print advertising by the company for its CoverGirl NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara.”

The group had questioned P&G about claims that the mascara, as shown in the ad, has two times more volume vs. bare lashes and is 20 percent lighter than the most expensive mascara.

Additionally, NAD didn’t appreciate the ad’s “implied messages” that buyers “would get lashes like those depicted in the advertisement and that the lashes depicted in the photograph were achieved solely by using [the mascara]…without post-production enhancement.”

P&G/CoverGirl rep Brent Miller explains the pull to CNN: “Our scientists work very closely with our advertising teams to ensure that benefits are accurately portrayed, and P&G’s policy is to feature visuals and claims that accurately reflect these benefits. As soon as we were aware that the NAD had concerns, we voluntarily discontinued the advertising – a move that the NAD itself regarded as entirely proper.”

Contribute to the cause: Help fundraise for Alle

Please visit this site to help fundraise for Alle, whose dog was murdered this past week.

Government spends thousands on pancakes?

Yikes — this FOX news article makes me kind of nervous about how our money is being spent!

Coburn Releases ‘Wastebook’ Detailing More Than $6.5 Billion in ‘Unnecessary’ Spending

Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn on Tuesday released his annual “Wastebook” highlighting what he’s labeled some of the government’s most wasteful spending items, including $113,000 for a video game preservation center and $765,000 to subsidize “pancakes for yuppies” in Washington. 

Coburn, a Republican who is known around Washington as “Dr. No” for his opposition to excess spending, said in a press release Tuesday that his “Wastebook 2011″ details the “most egregious ways your taxpayer dollars were wasted” — items he claims total more than $6.5 billion in “unnecessary” spending.

“Video games, robot dragons, Christmas trees, and magic museums. This is not a Christmas wish list, these are just some of the ways the federal government spent your tax dollars,” Coburn said in a statement. 

Among the items on Coburn’s list include $10 million for a remake of “Sesame Street” for Pakistan and $764,825 to examine how college students use mobile devices for social networking. 

The “Wastebook” also claims $550,000 was spent for a documentary about how rock music contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union as well as $48,700 for a festival promoting Hawaii’s chocolate industry.

“Instead of cutting wasteful spending, nearly $2.5 billion was added each day in 2011 to our national debt, which now exceeds $15 trillion,” Coburn said.

Coburn noted that nearly $1 million went to projects in his own state, including nearly $400,000 for the state’s agriculture department to study how different colors on shade cloths affect vegetable growth.

In his report, Coburn, who used very colorful language to describe what has been his campaign to rein in deficit spending, wrote that while some of the items listed in the book may have merit, they are not national priorities, and shouldn’t be undertaken when the country can’t deal with a massive and growing deficit.

He added that with a 9 percent approval rating, “perhaps there was no bigger waste of the
taxpayer’s money in 2011 than Congress itself.”

Click here to view the entire report