Friday, June 19, 2009 - Posts
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And you thought human sex was messy: A paper published in Science yesterday introduces the world to a bunch of tiny, ancient crustaceans that produced relatively massive sperm. And io9.com has pictures! (Don't worry; they're safe for work—and oddly beautiful.)
Researchers in Europe used cutting-edge "synchrotron X-ray
holotomography" to non-invasively examine 100-million-year-old
fossilized ostracods.
The descendants of these millimeter-long creatures produce giant
sperm—up to 10 times as big as their bodies, in some cases—and the new
fossil images prove... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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A post from Double X writer Vanessa M. Gezari:
I experienced yet another burst of joy on behalf of Iranians today as I read this dispatch
about the meaning—and more importantly, the feeling—of the
post-election demonstrations. The piece, by an Iranian student named
Shane M., is very good until the last four paragraphs, when it becomes
astonishing. The writer paints an image of a country surprised by
itself—by its own spirit and audacity and modernity and
intellectualism—and by the dramatic pace of change that was supposed to
unfold slowly, almost imperceptibly, until it snowballed... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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Dayo, I disagree that mothers—even single mothers—should be honored on
Father’s Day. If we systematically turn Father’s Day into yet another
celebration of all of the child-rearing and housekeeping that female
heads of household take care of, I worry that will inadvertently
suggest that there isn’t enough child-rearing and housekeeping to
celebrate among dads... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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A friend urges me to tell you that you might want to check out this weekend's call to stand with the people of Iran. Groups are gathering on Sunday at 3 p.m. in select cities to show support for protesters in Tehran... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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In the past few days, on my own website, my life has been reduced to
vanilla pudding. I am dull, devoid of passion, pedestrian, the human
equivalent of a “yawning chubby house cat,” says Meghan, summarizing Cristina Nehring’s new book Vindication of Love,
the caged bird who forgot how to sing. This is because I am trapped in
something that goes by the clinical name of “companionate marriage,”
and worse, I like it... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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It would have been so much easier for me to find the time to write
this post if I had voice-recognition software, a sophisticated
self-built database with all my contacts including my Double X blog
posting instructions, which I keep losing, and most of all if I had an
administrative-assistant-type of husband who handled all the household
bills and dental appointments and child-care challenges and playdates
and grocery shopping and left me free to spend more time at the
keyboard.
But I don't have these things. I mean, I do have a husband, and he
does what he can, but he leaves for work earlier than I do, so this
morning I was the one who took the cat to the vet. Despite the
resulting time crunch, I am posting anyway to say that I was fascinated
by David Pogue's column in the New York Times revealing his work efficiency secrets... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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When word broke that Barack Obama is pausing his busy schedule of revamping health care and heeding climate science and not intervening in the electoral process of a sovereign nation in order to spend three hours preaching "responsible fatherhood"—why, I nearly did a jig. The celebrity-stuffed event in the East Room sheds light on a little-reported obsession of the president whose own father abandoned him when he was barely 2 years old... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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Coming from a family of writers, I am all too familiar with the
delicate issue you raise, Bonnie, of whether and how to write about
one’s family. For me, the most uncomfortable part of having a writer
for a mother isn’t when she writes about me. The unsettling part is
when she writes about herself... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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Susannah, you're right that the appeal of the Real Housewives of New Jersey lies in their outsize cattiness. But in today's XXtra Small, Torie writes about the anti-Housewife: The Hills' Lauren Conrad and her new, semi-autobiographical book L.A. Candy. Conrad's appeal has always been as the bland nice girl... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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Why is The Real Housewives of New Jersey a smash-hit? The season finale's 4.6 million viewers
in the 18-to-49-year-old demographic testify to its broad appeal, but
why are we so enamored with these table-tossing housewives? Is it the
big hair? The brash talk? The back stabbing? One thing's for sure. It's
not their manners.
Out of all the Real Housewives series—from Orange County to Atlanta to New York City—"New Jersey" is the breakaway hit. Because I have deeply bad taste in TV... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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We’ve debated whether to hug or not to hug
in professional settings, but what’s the proper protocol when it comes
to titles? At a hearing on Tuesday, California Sen. Barbara Boxer told
Brig. Gen. Michael Walsh, division leader of the Army Corps of
Engineers, "Could you say 'senator' instead of 'ma'am?
It's just a thing. I worked so hard to get that title. I'd appreciate
it." The General, with all the quickness of an Army lifer, responded... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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Sandra Bullock is right that The Proposal, out today, is not about cougars.
The movie ignores the age gap between leading lady Bullock, almost 45,
and leading man Ryan Reynolds, 32. Which is good, according to Bullock:
"The word cougar makes me want to throw up in my mouth,” she told USA Today.
But Bullock is wrong when she tries to duck the romcom label. “It's
a comedy that has romance in it,” she insists. ‘When you say romantic
comedy, everyone cringes.” Sorry, but the plot is as romcom as it gets... (To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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A guest post from Politico writer Lisa Lerer:
Obsessive White House watchers can't stop talking about an ESPN article
on the political pecking order of presidential basketball games. Author
Wright Thompson breaks down the sociology (and some of the psychology)
of how power works in Washington.
"What's the hottest invite in Washington?" former Clinton press
secretary Dee Dee Myers asks in the article. "Yeah, it's great to go to
White House state dinners or Stevie Wonder kinds of events. But what's
the sine qua non? It's a pickup game with Obama. That's the inner,
inner, inner sanctum."
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All over town, people are playing hoops—in newly started leagues, in...
(To read the rest of this post, visit our new website DoubleX.com!)
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