Interesting article in USA Today - The Global War on Women

While I don't agree with everything in the article and feel a couple of the analogies are a bit sensationalistic, it's a different perspective on what the War on Terror is also about -- the Global War on Women.

I don't believe any of you out there in the LammieShpere believes that women should not have the same opportunities and rights that we as men enjoy in our society. Yelling "gaesh" and verbally abusing college-aged women aside, we as a group can rationally conclude that any society that categorically excludes 50% (give or take) of it's population from contributing to both the social and the economical fabrics cannot succeed and flourish in a global economy.

A few snippets:

The sudden transition of women from men's property to men's partners in our own country unleashed dazzling creative energies. In the historical blink of an eye, we doubled our effective human capital — and made our society immeasurably more humane. Our half-century of stunning economic growth has many roots, but none goes deeper than the expansion of opportunities for women.

...

In traveling the globe, I've witnessed far more instances of the mistreatment of women than I care to recall, but the one that always leaps to mind is local and superficially benign: In the southern heat of a Washington summer, it's common to see a male Middle Eastern tourist comfortably dressed in a polo shirt and shorts trailed by a staggering woman wrapped from head to toe in flapping black robes, eyes peering out through a mask. It offends me to meet that image in my country — or anywhere.

...

We do not think of our troops abroad as fighting for women's rights. But they are. This is the titanic struggle of our time, the liberation of fully half of humanity. Islamist terror is only one aspect of it. But we can be certain of two things: In the end, freedom will win. And no society that torments women will succeed in the 21st century.

I'd like to hear some of your views on this facet of the War on Terror.

(I guess Carles' post just below this one throws a monkey wrench into some of my conviction.)

Fun in the shower

Looking for ways to spice up your shower rub? In need of inspiration? Want to piss off your lady?





Shower Breasts

Baseball Books

October is nearly upon us, so what better time for booksellers to market and remarket books about baseball to us. And since I am expecting the inevitable $50 Barnes & Noble birthday gift certificate from mom & dad to arrive in the mail in a week or so, I thought I'd oblige. Tim McCarver offers up his five best linked to above. I am ashamed to say that I have not read any of these. Does anybody want to second any of these recs or offer their own?

Also, I'd like to offer this note of detente as the Yankees-Red Sox tension level heightens over the next week. I recently saw my favorite Yankee, Graig Nettles, speak at a charity dinner. Some tidbits he gave the crowd: best all around player he ever played against - Carl Yastrzemski; best pitcher he ever faced - John Tudor; his baseball idol - fellow San Diegan Ted Williams. Savor that Peace, Love and Understanding for 3 seconds.....................OK. Boston Sucks!

Best Bad Food

Whit, Pellicane and I spent last Saturday night indulging in a 2:00 am repast at Giovanelli's in New Brunswick, NJ. Setting aside for a moment the gastronomic wizardry displayed by Mr. Lester, our glee in shoving really tasty but grossly unhealthy cholesterol bombs into our faces got me to thinking. What's the best really bad food you've ever had? Where would you go if you needed one really greasy, really artery-clogging, and really sublimely satisfying meal? I really enjoy the White Spot in Charlottesville, for one, and the aforementioed Giovanelli's has a menu marked by diversity and excess in equal portions. Let's hear it from the assembled gastronomes.

Show Him Some Love

Today is the 35th birthday of everyone's favorite raconteur, Whitney Lester, shown a few posts below in all his 230-odd pound splendor. He's moving a bit slowly today because he got trucked by a 140-odd pound 3rd-baseman in our softball game last night. For that reason, please be gentle while jamming him.

Tribe Football Makes Stewart Mandel's CNNSI Column

The jist is Kansas State sucks because they barely beat Marshall who didn't crush W&M. Ouch.

Just Tell Me What to Buy

My 6th wedding anniversary is Sunday. My wife wants a digital camera, and a digital camera she shall have. I don't want a technical discussion, because I'm quite possibly the least tech-savvy adult male in America. I'm looking to spend $400-$500, and I want a solid, reliable camera. Tell me what to get.

WTF MNF?

Can anyone explain to me how the decision to move a Saints home game against the Giants to the Meadowlands is fair at all to the New Orleans franchise? And by "at all," I mean how it isn't the most stupefying kick in the balls to a team who's already down. Seriously, why not just tell the Saints that their dome is inaccessible because it was used to house thousands of city residents in a hurricane disaster, so they have to forfeit. If anyone can explain this to me in a rational manner, I'm all ears.

Restaurant Picks in Cambridge, MA

Can anyone familiar with Cambridge recommend any restaurants for a business dinner? Any kind of food is fine, preferably not the most expensive but not too cheap either.

The Internet

I don't get to see the Chappell Show much but this is hilarious.


The Internet

Rated PG 13

Longhorns say "Ooooh, that 'shoe place was SCARY!"

OSU was not the only Big 10 team to see the back of the Big 12's hand, with Iowa taking a red-headed stepchild beating from Iowa State. And 100,000+ stadiums didn't prove very effective all around as Mich went down to the Irish.

Another Saints Season Ruined Before It Begins

From The Onion:

NEW ORLEANS - Front-office executives of the New Orleans Saints football team provided a much-needed dose of normalcy Monday when they announced that, for the 23rd year running, the Saints season had been ruined before it began. 'I'd say this is even worse than when Mike Ditka traded away all our draft picks to get Ricky Williams,' said Saints vice president of pro-personnel operations Bill Kuharich. 'But there's one thing we Saints can always rely on: our chances for a winning season being shitcanned before we play a single down. We're proud to have carried on with this tradition despite everything.' The National Football League has declined the Saints' 'mercy rule' request to be allowed to forfeit all their home games, saying the team must set an example for its home city by being blown out in every contest."

Shocker? I don't even know her

I realize most of us are married now, but for those of you of fewer obligations and slightly larger right forearms, I recommend The Complete A**hole's Guide to Handling Chicks.



You may learn :

• How a five-dollar date can get you laid
• How to stop being friends with girls and start getting them in the sack
• Where you’ll have the best odds of finding a one-night stand, and how to get rid of the chick the next morning
• How to trick a woman into thinking you’re classy, even if you have holes in your underwear
• Why fat chicks always try to keep you from banging their hot friends, and how to finally stop these evil creatures
• How to stop your wife from nagging you into an early grave
• Why it’s possible to watch six hours of football, put the moves on your neighbor’s hot daughter, and leave the toilet seat up in the same day

Gettin' Angry

The latest from your favorite Lammie-dominated softball team is one click away.