• The Cost of Beauty, Part 2: The Num­bers —
    As to what sucks up all of those Harpy­Buxx (they’re not just good for abor­tions any­more!): our lovely, lovely tresses: 43% of expen­di­tures go towards hair cuts, col­oring, or other ser­vices. Make-​​up takes up another 29%…
    (tags: none)
  • So… —
    …the Obama admin­is­tra­tion puts up a “A Guide to Get­ting Through Tough Eco­nomic Times,” because, as most sen­tient adults know, finan­cial stres­sors can create serious strains on indi­vid­uals, on cou­ples, on entire families—and, as the acting admin­is­trator of the Sub­stance Abuse and Mental Health Ser­vices Admin­is­tra­tion (SAMHSA), Eric Brod­erick, notes: “By helping people remain resilient, we can help pro­mote the overall recovery of our nation.“

    And, nat­u­rally, the rightwing thinks this is hi-​​laaaar-​​ious!
    (tags: none)

  • Afghanistan Law Effec­tively Legal­izes Rape —
    In this Tele­graph article on the new law, oppo­nents say the leg­is­la­tion, the full text of which has not been made public out­side lim­ited parts of Afghanistan’s par­lia­ment, is “worse than during the Tal­iban” and report­edly stip­u­lates that “women can only seek work, edu­ca­tion or doctor’s appoint­ments with their husband’s permission.“

    There’s more at the Guardian here, including the depressing rev­e­la­tion that some female politi­cians are con­sid­ering the law as passed a minor vic­tory since the orig­inal pro­posal was even worse, and they at least suc­ceeded in changing some details, like raising the min­imum mar­riage age of girls from 9 to 16: “It’s not really 100% per­fect, but com­pared to the ear­lier drafts it’s a huge improve­ment,” said MP Shukria Barakzai.

    Con­tact the US State Depart­ment and politely request swift action.
    (tags: none)