You can't do that with breasts
Posted: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 10:35 AM by Will Femia
When I read the Ann Althouse piece on the inappropriateness of the pose and breasts (*** presentation?) of a female blogger standing with President Clinton at a group lunch, and compared it with the photo in question, I was pretty baffled.
Maybe there's some kind of cultural difference between Ann and me, but that gal doesn't look in the least bit provocative to me. Then I clicked through to Dr. Helen's criticisms and her subsequent updates to understand the that the issue has to do with whether a feminist can pose for a photo with President Clinton without compromising her (or his) standards.
But then, as the gal in question points out, if that's the issue, what's all the talk about breasts?
Clicking through further "hat tips" and "via" links sees the discussion narrowed to the question of the definition of a provocative stance and whether women have to be on constant guard about with whom they pose and how they look when they do. (And for that matter whether a woman is provocative by definition and whether that's even her problem.)
Which brought be to Glenn's tangent about what's appropriate attire when posing with a president. (Never mind provocative, is the outfit too casual?)
I'm trying to summarize detailed positions in just a few words here, so it's best to click through these links to get the full argument. As an observer, it's a great little blog storm that covers a lot of compelling topics and kept me occupied most of the morning.
Speaking of body parts, we took a few minutes around the water cooler yesterday to talk about the story of the man who asked that his penis transplant be removed. Apparently, even though the procedure was a success, he (and his wife?) was unable to deal psychologically with the idea of having the penis of a dead man. The article includes a few other examples of this kind of psychological rejection of transplants. It's an interesting case of science outpacing culture.
World record cup stacking - It's an international sport I guess.
Islam-watching bloggers are focused on a particular threat lately, gathering and displaying as much information about the plotter as possible. Of particular interest is the possibility that a blog reader actually had an encounter with the terrorist in question. My sanity doesn't allow me to keep meticulous track of who is making what threats, but it'll be interesting to see if this particular case has legs.
“Hotel Minibar” Keys Open Diebold Voting Machines - Tsk. I mean, really!
As was pointed out in the mail yesterday, today is Talk Like A Pirate Day. Here's an instructional video in case you need help.
Speaking of things pointed out yesterday. 15 ways to get more out of Pandora. (That's the online music service.)
Breathing Earth animation shows birth and death rates along with CO2 emissions by country on a world map. I'm not sure what the connection is, but it's interesting to watch. I would have expected the birth/death counter to move faster.
Eragon trailer - Swords, horses and English accents... oh, and dragons.
Amazing paper sculpture - It's not origami exactly, but similar. I feel like we've seen this type of art before, but I don't recognize these particular pieces. There's an artist note at the bottom.
Coin through soda can trick revealed - Even with the instructions, it's not really a layman's trick. The coin passing from hand to hand takes a lot of practice.
Mini helicopter for 30 bucks
Speaking of buying stuff, Boing Boing Digital Emporium: "Our favorite digital products for sale at low prices and without irksome Digital Rights Management"
ThinkPad explodes at LAX - I suppose it makes every bit of sense that laptops are eventually going to be on the security ban list. I can't imagine how security is going to keep track of which batteries are dangerous, however.
