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Kat Vs. Nina As Women Struggle On 'Survivor'

2012-02-23T06:36:27Z

In only the second week of the competition on "Survivor: One World" (Wed., 8 p.m. EST on CBS), the women's tribe continued to struggle with communication. At least they got their leadership situation taken care of by appointing high school teacher Sabrina. She proved a competent and capable leader around camp, but it still wasn't enough.

This season, fans were promised more challenges without Jeff overseeing them, and they got one in the reward challenge. While the women remained competitive in this one until the bitter end, the men once again pulled off a victory. They would continue their winning streak into the immunity challenge as well. This one had them having to squeeze past one another on a narrow balance beam.

While the men quickly figured out a strategy, the women couldn't quite figure it out. They threw blame on their boobs getting in the way, and on Kat jumping into the water needlessly twice, but it came down to a lack of leadership and communication. On this one, Monica had figured out a way for them to do it, but by the time anyone heard her it was too little too late. The women started getting themselves across the beam, but they couldn't catch up to the strong lead the men had established.

So it was back to tribal council for the women, though this time they had a pretty clear target going in. As the oldest member of the tribe, Nina had never quite fit in, and they decided she was a liability. Nina made a strong case for Kat simply because of her ditzy move at the challenge. The women's alliance openly admitted that they basically regretted some of their alliance choices, but they stayed true to the one they'd created and sent Nina packing. Down two, they need to get it together soon if they want to stay competitive in the game.

Find out who gets eliminated next on "Survivor: One World," Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

Federal Judge Says State Can't Force Pharmacies To Sell Plan B

2012-02-23T05:38:18Z

TACOMA, Wash. -- Washington state cannot force pharmacies to sell Plan B or other emergency contraceptives, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the state's true goal was to suppress religious objections by druggists – not to promote timely access to the medicines for people who need them.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton sided with a pharmacy and two pharmacists who said state rules requiring them to dispense Plan B violate their constitutional rights to freedom of religion because such drugs can destroy a fertilized egg, which they consider equal to abortion.

Washington's rules require that pharmacies stock and dispense drugs for which there is a demand. The state adopted the dispensing regulations in 2007, following reports that some women had been denied access to Plan B, which has a high dose of medicine found in birth-control pills and is effective if a woman takes it within 72 hours of unprotected sex.

State lawyers argued that the requirements are legal because they apply neutrally to all medicines and pharmacies, and because they promote a government interest – the timely delivery of medicine, including Plan B, which becomes less effective as time passes.

But Leighton ruled that the state allows all sorts of business exemptions to the rules. Pharmacies can decline to stock a drug, such as certain painkillers, if it's likely to increase the risk of theft, or if it requires an inordinate amount of paperwork, or if the drug is temporarily unavailable from suppliers, among other reasons.

"The most compelling evidence that the rules target religious conduct is the fact the rules contain numerous secular exemptions," the judge said. "In sum, the rules exempt pharmacies and pharmacists from stocking and delivering lawfully prescribed drugs for an almost unlimited variety of secular reasons, but fail to provide exemptions for reasons of conscience."

The decision comes as contraception has been debated in political and health care circles around the nation. A controversy erupted this month when religious groups protested a new federal rule that required church-affiliated universities, hospitals and nonprofits to include birth control without co-pays or premiums in their insurance plans.

The outcry prompted President Barack Obama to change the rule to shift the burden from religious organizations to insurance companies. Lawmakers in a few conservative states have taken up the fight with proposals that serve as direct challenges to Obama's ruling.

Leighton, in his decision Wednesday, did not strike down Washington's rules, but said simply that the way they were applied to the plaintiffs in this case was unconstitutional.

The state remains free to try to enforce the law against other pharmacies that violated the stocking and dispensing rules, whether for Plan B or other drugs; it remains unclear whether courts would reach a similar conclusion if pharmacies objected to selling other drugs for religious reasons.

"I remain concerned about the impacts on patients if pharmacies are allowed to refuse to dispense lawfully prescribed or lawful medications to patients," said Gov. Chris Gregoire, who insisted on the dispensing rule's adoption. "I am especially concerned about those living in rural areas, many of whom may have few alternatives and could suffer lengthy delays in receiving medication or go without entirely."

The judge, an appointee of President George W. Bush, first blocked the state's dispensing rule in 2007. But a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel overruled him, saying the rules did not target religious conduct. It sent the case back to Leighton, who held an 11-day trial before reaffirming his original decision.

Further appeals were expected, both from the state and from groups that intervened on the state's behalf. Before taking more than an hour to read his 48-page opinion in court, Leighton acknowledged that he crafted it for the benefit of a "skeptical" appeals court.

The interveners included women who were denied timely access to Plan B when they needed it – one of whom cut short a vacation in central Washington to return home to Bellingham, where she knew she could obtain Plan B from her regular pharmacy – as well as HIV patients, who argued that if druggists could refuse to dispense Plan B for religious reasons, some might also refuse to dispense time-sensitive HIV medications.

"The question really is whether the patient's rights come first or the pharmacist's rights come first," said Andrew Greene, a lawyer for the interveners.

Assistant Attorney General Rene Tomisser said Leighton's ruling was "more detailed" but made the same mistake he made in 2007.

Margo Thelen, of Woodland, one of the pharmacists who sued over the rules, said she had to leave one job because she refused to dispense Plan B – and now she can continue working at her new job without fear of being fired.

"Speak to anyone who shops in a pharmacy," she said. "Their product isn't always available."

Two Supreme Court cases guide judges in determining whether laws that infringe upon the free exercise of religion are legal.

In one, the court held that the state of Oregon could outlaw the use of the hallucinogenic peyote for everyone, even though some groups might use it in religious conduct.

In the other, the court held that a city in Florida could not outlaw animal sacrifices for religious purposes, while allowing the slaughter of animals for food, hunting and pest eradication.

Leighton said Washington's rules are akin to the Florida case. Though they appear to be neutral by their plain language, the state allows pharmacies not to stock or sell drugs for various business reasons, he said.

___

Newt Gingrich Calls Obama An 'Extremist' Who Supported 'Infanticide'

2012-02-23T02:40:27Z

The Republican presidential candidates Tuesday night, during a GOP debate in Arizona, took shots at President Barack Obama for his pro-choice history.

Newt Gingrich deflected a question about Obama's recent decision mandating that employers' insurance plans cover contraception by pointing out that Obama voted in favor of a law that protected abortion providers during his term as state senator of Illinois

"You did not once during the 2008 campaign ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide," Gingrich said. "If we're going to debate about who is the extremist on this issues, it is President Obama, who, as a state senator, voted to protect doctors who killed babies.

Mitt Romney lambasted Obama's new requirement that insurers of faith-based organizations who object to birth control must offer the coverage to those groups' employees for free.

"I don’t think we've seen in the history of this country the kind of attack on religious freedom we've seen in Barack Obama most recently requiring the Catholic Church to provide for its employees and its various enterprises health care insurance that would include birth control, sterilization and the morning after pill," he said. "He tried to retreat from that, but he retreated in a way that was not appropriate, because these insurance companies have to provide these same things, and now the Catholic Church will have to pay for them."

In fact, the Catholic Church is exempt from Obama's contraception mandate.

Santorum, asked about his previous comments on the "dangers of contraception," refused to engage in a discussion about birth control at all, going on a tangent instead about children born out of wedlock.

"What we're seeing is a problem in our culture with respect to children being raised by children, children being raised out of wedlock, and the impact on society economically with respect to drug use and all host of other things when children have children," Santorum said. "And so yes, I was talking about these very serious issues."

Would You Rather Have A Long-Distance Friendship Or Relationship?

2012-02-22T22:35:26Z

You love your job in New York, but you're in love with someone who lives in San Fransisco -- and he feels the same way about his job and city. Which one of you picks up everything and moves across the country?

Neither, perhaps. Increasingly, couples are opting for plane tickets over moving vans: USA Today reported this week that 3.5 Million married Americans are living apart.

With Skype providing free video chats, the "Kissinger" robot making a long-distance kiss a reality (you have to see this one to believe it), and pillows that glows and pulses with you lover's heartbeat, there seem to be more and more potential for people to maintain meaningful relationships with people who live far away (or at least invest in some really cool gadgets in the name of love).

As a favorite band of ours, Menage a Twang, points out in a song of theirs aptly titled "LDR," there are both advantages and disadvantages to long-distance dating: While it helps avoid conflict with your partner: "my mind has erased all those annoying little traits until all i can remember is your handsome face," and "there is very little fighting when your dates are all in writing," it also has its downsides: "no one here to help with the groceries, the rent or the high-speed Internet" and can lead someone to go the way of the song's protagonist, who confesses: "I've stopped shaving and started misbehaving."

The Frisky offers a variety of ways to avoid letting distance come between you and your partner -- and many of the tips on making love work long-distance can also be applied to maintaining healthy long-distance friendships, such as mixing up how you keep in touch (supplementing texting with snail mail, for example) and finding creative ways to show your friend they're on your mind. HelloGiggles suggests sending video postcards across coasts.

Would you ever be able to live in a different city or state from your partner? If you're in a long-distance romance or friendship, how do you two keep in touch? Submit your long distance stories below or tweet @HuffPostWomen with #DespiteDistance

WATCH: 'LDR'

Fighting The 'Gimmies': Getting Kids Away From Materialism

2012-02-22T22:32:07Z

Marc and Craig Kielburger are the co-founders of Free The Children and Me to We, a social enterprise. They are authors of "The World Needs Your Kid: Raising Children Who Care And Contribute," with journalist Shelley Page.

"They're not so much children as what I like to call 'evolving consumers'."

You could be forgiven for thinking this was a classic line from Mr. Burns in The Simpsons. But it's actually attributed to well-known (real-life) marketing executive Elliott Ettenberg. And he's not alone -- fellow advertising guru Nancy Shalek famously told the Los Angeles Times, "Advertising at its best is making people feel that without their product, they're a loser. Kids are very sensitive to that. If you tell them to buy something, they are resistant. But if you tell them they'll be a dork if they don't, you've got their attention."

Maybe it's over-dramatic to say there's a war going on for the souls of our kids, but it's definitely a struggle. On one side: the 20,000 commercials that Canadian kids see each year (60 per cent of which promote sugared cereals, candy, fatty food and toys), armed with the latest research in child psychology. On the other: Mom and Dad, armed with "You're still cool to me, sweetheart."

Studies abound on the inverse relationship between materialism and happiness, including among kids. Professor Tim Kasser, author of The High Price of Materialism, asked 206 middle- and high-school students what they would do with $100, cross-analysing their answers with measures of their self-esteem, happiness, anxiety and high-risk behaviours.

He found that the kids who would save the money had higher self-esteem and didn't smoke. Those who would donate to charity were happier and less likely to smoke, use alcohol or get into trouble. And those who would spend more on themselves had lower self-esteem and greater anxiety. Professor Kasser validates the conventional wisdom linking self-esteem to materialism: "If a young person is driven by insecurity, they will shop. They are only doing the best they can to meet their needs."

We certainly weren't angels when it came to material pressure. Our mom loves telling the story about Marc hiding in the car in the parking lot of discount store Bi-Way, refusing to go inside or to wear anything she bought for him there. Mom took action a few weeks later during the holidays, bringing Marc along on a visit to the Chans -- a single-parent, recently arrived family whose daughter was Mom's student. Aware they were struggling in their new country, Mom did what she could to help.

On that Christmas gift run, Marc noticed that their small apartment in a run-down building was sparse but spotless. The kids had on their best clothes, and the cookies they served were clearly a luxury. After tea, Mrs. Chan handed Marc a small gift and said, in broken English, "You are our best friends. And best friends are so important to us. Thank you."

The words cut through Marc's cool veneer and showed him how fortunate our family was, and how Mom's small gestures of kindness and friendship could make a difference in the lives of an isolated family of newcomers.

Parents want their kids to be happy, and being accepted is a big part of happiness in childhood and adolescence. But when birthday party invitations stipulate that gifts must be worth at least $35, or include a private concert by Aerosmith, it's gotten out of control.

It's natural for kids to want certain things, but why not balance their needs with the needs of others? Here are some tips from Prof. Kasser and other parents we've met who have found that balance by tackling materialism head-on:

1. FIGHT THE GIMMIES
The Kassers limit their sons' screen time to 30 minutes a day and encourage alternatives that foster creativity and physical activity. Since it's nearly impossible to avoid all commercial advertising, it's also a good strategy to instill media literacy, like our friend and The World Needs Your Kid co-author Shelley Page, who taught her two daughters to "ad bust" from age four.
Whenever they saw an ad together (watching TV with your kids helps), Shelley and the girls deconstructed the message, "What are they selling me? Why are they selling it to me? What are they claiming it'll do for me? Is it true?" Now at ages nine and 12, the girls are informed consumers on whom ads have little effect. "They think ads for make-up, brand-name clothes, medicine, cars -- the list is long -- are ridiculous. We have great bonding time mocking commercials," says Shelley.

2. A BOOSTER SHOT OF SELF-ESTEEM
Vernon, BC-based child psychologist Dr. Kevin Murphy is author of The Jendorra Boxes -- a fantasy trilogy for adolescents that promotes positive social values through fiction. Over four decades working with children, teens and their parents, he's found that the key to building sustainable self-confidence in the early teen years is to "value not just final outcomes but also their effort and learning." Regular, constructive feedback on a child's progress toward an objective are more valuable than generalizations.
"Comments such as 'But I love you' may be true, but not necessarily all that useful," says Dr. Murphy, who also advocates encouraging kids to contribute to the household and community: "If a young person can do things of value for others then it becomes easier for them to value themselves and resist commercial efforts to exploit the uncertainty-based drop in self-confidence that is generally associated with the early teen years."

3. GIVE TIME, NOT STUFF
Many parents work harder and longer to provide a 'better' life for their families. The catch is that often the more parents work to provide, the less time they spend with their kids. In lieu of presence? Presents -- an exchange that teaches kids that stuff is more important than time spent with family. Instead, let the birthday girl or boy (parents included) choose the family activity and meal plan for the day, and volunteer together on holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Hannukah. If you must give a gift, consider a coupon book with tokens for a movie night, a lift to a friend's house, or a week off from putting out the garbage.The Kassers make a point of collecting experiences instead of things, through family adventures such as Semester at Sea, a sailing school where Professor Kasser taught a psychology course and brought his family along to see the various countries they visited.

4. SPELL IT OUT: YOU'RE LUCKY
Like our mom did for Marc at the Chans, make sure your kids know that having more or better stuff isn't the most important thing in the world. From a very young age, start dinners with a round of thanks: to the sun, earth and farmers for growing the food, the grocery store clerks for stocking it, and the person who prepared it. Later, bring them to volunteer at a food bank or soup kitchen. Trace the journey of your kids' clothes and toys -- note the discrepancy between their lifestyle and that of the workers in China or elsewhere who made their stuff. Of his kids' experience with Semester at Sea, Professor Kasser said: "They have now seen poverty and know what real poverty is. They know how privileged they are. What they want isn't really what they need."

5. MODEL IT
Like any other habit, it's hard to expect your kid to avoid the trappings of materialism if you spend your Saturdays draped with a rainbow of boutique bags at the mall. If you want to take a preventive approach, try taking family challenges like a TV Turn-Off Week or a Buy Nothing Week. Take a chance at your local second-hand store -- there's a range of options from fashion-conscious consignment stores, to mid-range Value Village, to the 'Whatever You Can Fit in a Bag for a Buck' church basement thrift store. Our friend and co-author Shelley has adopted the '3-Way Allowance Split' -- spend, save and charity -- and has a spare change jar in the kitchen that, once filled, goes to whatever charity the family chooses.

My Fat, Beautiful Body

2012-02-22T22:16:55Z

By Jenn Leyva | Role/Reboot

Without fail at noon on every Friday, 30 minutes before my beginning ballet class starts, a mixture of fear and dread ooze into my mind. It starts when I think of getting dressed for class. Despite a well-stocked closet, I am never content with my choices. I spend 20 minutes scouring my closet for a garment that doesn't exist - I am looking for something that will make me invincible. Exasperated, I leave wearing the same men's gym shorts and oversized t-shirt. My nerves don't get any better once I get to class. I am scared to look at my body in a mirror; I am scared to compare my body to my peers. I try to stand in the back rows as far away from the mirrors as possible, and I still occasionally catch a glimpse of my double chin. Or my belly escaping the drapery of my shirt. I am scared that even after working at accepting my body and fighting tooth and nail to get those around me to change their actions and opinions, I will see something repulsive. I can't get through a weekly dance class without having to give myself pep talks. It takes all that I can muster to remind myself that I am beautiful and, more importantly, worthy of being in that class. It takes all that I have to remind myself that I love my body and that I can take pleasure in moving it. I can take pleasure and find beauty in my body.

I loathe classifying these problems (yes, I acknowledge that they're problems) as "body image" problems. "Body image" isn't really about the image of bodies. It's about the holistic relationships we have with our bodies. It's about how bodies look, how they move, what they feel like, and how we treat them. Even if we ignore semantics, conversations about body image almost always come down to health. Most conversations I've had about body image blame the media and advertising for exposing young girls to impossible standards in order to sell products. But more than selling products, these images drive people to unhealthy habits - crash diets, disordered eating, and sometimes even more dramatic actions like diet pills and self-harm.

And yet many of these behaviors have been recommended to me by health professionals. You see, I'm fat. Not "does this dress make me look fat?" fat, but eligible-for-weight-loss-surgery ~~morbidly obese~~ deathfat. I've been fat for as long as I can remember, but the first time I remember my size being an issue was at a check-up. I was 8 years old, and after plotting my height and weight in one of those grids, my pediatrician had one of those "talks" with my parents and me. I was too heavy for my height and age, so he presented me with a Xeroxed list of 10 "helpful tips" for eating.

It was meant to be innocuous, but I became obsessed with that sheet of paper. It was the first time I saw my body as a personal failing, and that list was the way to redeem myself. I followed the rules to a tee, and yet I didn't get any smaller. That simple piece of paper was only the beginning. My adolescence was filled with appointments with doctors and nutritionists, medically facilitated crash diets, and crying fits in dressing rooms. My doctors pathologized my body, and I believed them. I believed that my fat body meant that I was overeating, even when I would leave the dinner table hungry. I believed that I was lazy, unkempt, untrustworthy. I couldn't trust myself.

I can't rely on a conventional understanding of health to fix my body image issues because my body image issues stem from those conventional understandings of health. To find peace with my body I've had to reject mainstream medical wisdom. I screen my health care professionals, and I set firm boundaries. I am not interested in weight loss, and I will not step on a scale. I don't care about a new diet regimen; I care about eating. I've learned to love my body - I love the look of my body; I love the way my squishy, soft flesh feels. I have embraced my fat. I do this because I care about my body. I care less about the image of my body, and I care more about my relationship to my body.

When I stand at the barre to begin my weekly ballet class, I am reminded that loving my body is both difficult and important. As we go through the usual warm-up routine I feel my muscles stretch and flex. I am present in my body, and I appreciate the grace and flow of movements. As we transition into leaps and jumps, I am reminded of that power in my body. My hearty legs can push my body in the air again and again in rapid succession. I land easily each time.

I am still scared that even after working to accept my body I will catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and find something ugly. So far, I've only seen my body. My fat, beautiful body.

When Jenn Leyva was 16, her dad told her that he'd buy her a car if she lost weight. She cried, finished her calculus homework, and is now a New York based fat activist and a senior at Columbia studying biochemistry. She authors Fat and the Ivy, a fat blog about social justice, feminism, science, health, and fa(t)shion.

This post was originally published on Role/Reboot.

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Brown Backs Women In Combat

2012-02-22T22:14:44Z

WASHINGTON -- Following the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the military has faced increasing pressure to open its most dangerous combat jobs to women. On Wednesday afternoon, that effort gained a prominent supporter when Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta urging him to lift restrictions on women in combat.

"We have an obligation to expand the professional opportunities available to women, especially considering their sacrifices. Doing so in my view would improve military effectiveness, not detract from it," he wrote in the letter. Brown is a lieutenant colonel in the Massachusetts National Guard, where he serves as a military lawyer.

Women have long been officially barred from what the Army terms "combat arms" -- jobs like infantry, armor, and artillery that engage the enemy directly. But many of the 255,000 women who've serve in Iraq and Afghanistan have seen combat in those fluid environments, and in some cases have been more explicitly placed in harm's way. In a notable example, the Marine Corps created small teams of female Marines to patrol and interact with local women, a concept now in the Army's plans as well.

Last week, the Department of Defense loosened restrictions on women serving in combat arms units. While they still cannot serve as infantrymen or tank crewmen, for example, a female medic or intelligence analyst would now be able to serve in a unit that previously wouldn't have included women at all. The new rules will take effect this summer.

But Brown claimed that even those changes are inadequate, saying that the new rules neither correspond to the reality of modern combat nor allow women equal opportunity within the military. “Closing these opportunities to women affect[s] their ability to develop a career path in the military and advance to higher ranks,” Brown wrote.

In calling for such opportunities, Brown places himself at odds with at least one major Republican figure. Earlier this month, Rick Santorum made widely criticized comments questioning the prudence of women serving in combat.

"I do have concerns about women in front-line combat. I think that could be a very compromising situation, where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved," he said in an appearance on CNN. "It already happens, of course, with the camaraderie of men in combat, but I think it would be even more unique if women were in combat, and I think that's probably not in the best interest of men, women or the mission."

Yet polling shows that the public -- and many Republicans -- share Brown's stance. When asked by the Washington Post in March 2011, 73% of respondents and 58% of self-described "strong conservatives" said they approved of allowing women in combat.

The Globe speculated that Brown's stance could be motivated by his re-election fight with Democrat Elizabeth Warren. "It is an issue for women voters because it is a way to say these are positions women now have access to," said Elisabeth Armstrong, a professor of women and gender at all-women's Smith College, to the Globe.

GOP Lawmaker Seeks To Make Birth Control 'Obsolete And Outdated'

2012-02-22T21:29:27Z

A Republican lawmaker in New Hampshire has proposed repealing the state's requirement to provide insurance coverage for birth control by attaching the measure to a bill aimed to repeal "obsolete and outdated" laws.

State Rep. Andrew Manuse (R-Derry) has proposed the amendment to end the contraception law to a piece of routine legislation clearing older laws off the books, the Concord Monitor reports. Manuse's amendment, first proposed Tuesday as the routine legislation was being heard by a legislative committee, would exclude both religious organizations, along with private companies that have religious objections, from the requirement to provide birth control.

The Monitor reports:

Current state law, passed in 1999 with bipartisan support and no objection from the Diocese of Manchester, requires insurance companies to cover contraceptive care. Employers, including churches, can bypass the requirement by self-insuring, and that is what the diocese does.
Manuse's repeal of that mandate surfaced publicly for the first time yesterday as an amendment to an unrelated bill that eliminates "obsolete or outdated" provisions from various state laws. The housekeeping bill Manuse chose -- which does not deal with insurance, contraception or religious exemptions -- was scheduled for a public hearing and a vote yesterday by the recodification committee.

Manuse's proposal, which is co-sponsored by House Speaker Bill O'Brien (R-Mont Vernon), did not surprise legislative Democrats who are planning a floor fight to stop the bill. Senate Minority Leader Sylvia Larsen (D-Concord) said that Manuse had stated his desire to repeal the provision, but they were surprised with the bill he choose. Larsen said the original law passed a Republican-controlled legislature before being signed by then Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D).

"He's tacked it on to a deadwood bill," Larsen told HuffPost. "It was meant to be an uncontroversial housekeeping bill. Now it's a nightmare bill."

Larsen said that O'Brien has already ruled the amendment -- which will be heard by a state House committee later this week -- as germaine. The "obsolete and outdated" bill that would be amended contains repeals of a variety of laws that state officials have deemed ready to take off the books. Among the two dozen measures contained in the bill are the repeal of laws relating to the training of campus security officers, a report on school accounting standards, a certificate of need for a Strafford County nursing home and the retirement age of probate court judges. No contraception or abortion related legislation is in the bill.

Manuse and O'Brien's spokeswoman did not return calls for comment.

Kevin Donovan, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester, told HuffPost that the diocese did not have a position on the amendment but confirmed that an attorney who worked with the diocese did provide advice to Manuse on the drafting of the amendment. He said the advice was limited to providing wording from a similar proposal in Missouri.

The amendment comes the same week that the Tea Party-controlled New Hampshire House passed a resolution calling on the Obama Administration to repeal the federal birth control requirement for religious organizations. The resolution's passage came after a committee hearing where one Republican lawmaker said that birth control causes prostate cancer and another GOP lawmaker said that married couples should practice abstinence except when they want to conceive.

Larsen said that she believes Manuse's amendment can fail in the Republican-controlled state Senate, which she said is not as conservative as the House. She noted it is likely Gov. John Lynch (D) will veto the bill if it contains the amendment. She also had an opinion on Manuse wanting to call the law "obsolete and outdated."

"If they consider that outdated," she said, "I would consider them outdated."

Not Just Head Pain: Women With Migraines May Also Have Higher Depression Risk

2012-02-22T21:01:00Z

Women who currently experience migraines or who have suffered from them in the past may be at a greater risk for developing depression than those without migraines, according to a new study. It joins a growing body of literature linking the two conditions and attempting to better understand the possible connection.

"We don't want to scare patients, and we know that migraine sufferers suffer a lot because of the migraines themselves," said Dr. Tobias Kurth, a neuroepidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and one of the study's authors. "But this highlights the need [for doctors and patients] to talk about the possible risk of depression."

In the new study, which will be presented in April at the American Academy of Neurology's 64th annual meeting, researchers looked at more than 36,000 women who were enrolled in the Women's Health Study -- a trial designed, primarily, to evaluate the effects of vitamin E and aspirin in preventing cardiovascular disease and cancer in women.

At baseline, approximately one in six women indicated they had migraines or had experienced them in the past. None of the women said they had a history of depression. However, over an average of 14 years of follow-up, nearly 4,000 of the women developed depression.

Overall, the researchers estimate that women with migraines or a history of the severe headaches were approximately 40 percent more likely to develop depression than women without migraines.

Since the new research has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, it should be regarded as preliminary. However, additional research has also linked migraines and depression.

Last fall, a study out of Calgary -- published in the journal Headache -- found "substantial evidence" that migraines are linked with subsequent development of major depressive episodes. It also found some confirmation that depressive episodes are associated with later migraines, but it was not a causal link. When the researchers took into account factors like stress and childhood trauma, that link disappeared.

The new presentation may help shed light on which condition typically comes first -- migraines or depression.

"This doesn't prove that migraine itself caused depression, but there certainly seems to be a strong link," said Dr. Jason Rosenberg, an assistant professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins Medicine, who was not associated with the research.

"What this adds is the order in which this tends to happen -- that migraines start first, which may predispose you to depression later," he continued.

Kurth explained that the current research cannot, and does not, indicate the mechanisms behind the seeming connection between migraines and depression.

It could be that because both migraines and depression relate to the brain, similar biological concepts are at play. For example, neurotransmitters that are responsible for one could also trigger the other. It may also be that migraines negatively impact people's mental health and happiness, possibly leading to depression, Kurth hypothesized.

"How it works is anybody's guess at this point," agreed Rosenberg, who stressed that co-occurrence does not necessarily indicate causality, or even linkage. "Is it chemical? Are people worn down and sad because they're getting these headaches? Is it something you're born with that's underlying both?"

As researchers attempt to address these questions, the current message may simply be that the possible connection should be on patients' and health care providers' radars.

"We can't advise anyone, 'Just don't get headaches,'" Rosenberg said. "But as a physician, it's good to be aware of this and maybe screen patients."

New Breast Cancer Gene Discovered

2012-02-22T20:59:00Z

Scientists have identified a new gene that may increase the risk of breast cancer, according to a new study from Finland. In the study, mutations in this gene, called Abraxas,were linked to cases of hereditary breast cancer.

'GCB' Stars Preview Their Texas-Sized New Drama

2012-02-22T20:43:37Z

"GCB" (premieres Sun., March 4, 10 p.m. EST on ABC) has gotten a bit of a bad rap already. First it was over the many name changes (what was "Good Christian Bitches" got tamed to "Good Christian Belles," which was then shortened to just "GCB"); but then, people started saying the show's portrayal of life in Dallas, Texas, was too over-the-top.

Being from Dallas, Texas, let me assure you: It's not.

I caught up with the show's fabulous cast -- Kristin Chenoweth, Annie Potts, Leslie Bibb, David James Elliott, Miriam Shor, Marisol Nichols, Jennifer Aspen and Brad Beyer -- to talk all about their adventures in the Lone Star State, and why they believe they're in very capable hands.

"We have Bobby Harling, who wrote 'Steel Magnolias,' writing television for us," Potts said. For those uninitiated in the ways of the South, oh my Lord & Taylor -- "Steel Magnolias" is kind of like the Southern Bible (a label that Bibb has now stolen from me after I took her character's shopping-inspired exclamation).

"It comes from truth, as you know, and it comes from love," Aspen said of the show's depiction of the larger-than-life Texas personalities. "There's a real admiration of this area, of these people, of this life."

But if the women are all bitches, what does that make the good-time guys on the show? "They are hot asses!" Aspen said. "All the men on our show are over six feet tall, and we should do a 'GCB' calendar."

"We're like the parents, and they're like the children," Eliiott said. "We look at them as our entertainment."

Watch my full video interview with the cast for more of that entertainment, and tell us: Are you excited for "GCB"?

"GCB" premieres Sun., March 4, 10 p.m. EST on ABC.

Cindy Sherman's Long Awaited MoMA Retrospective

2012-02-22T20:33:41Z

Cindy Sherman is both one woman and an infinite number of real and imagined women. She is not only one of the most influential contemporary photographers but she is also her own makeup artist, hair stylist and subject. As a model, her persona explodes into a vast range of roles, in which there is never-ending variation yet restricted by rigid boundaries, designated for us as "female." She photographs herself in different roles, all named "Untitled" yet all strangely familiar. We know this film-noir vixen, we know this collagen-pumped aging socialite. These are the roles women are all offered and expected to play.

Sherman exposes how her artistic endeavor isn't all that different from the universal expectation of the female image. Look a certain way, play a certain role... Sherman shows us the categories we already know all too well. Thirty-five years of the photographer's work will show at the Museum of Modern Art from February 26 to June 11. Listen to the curator speak on the exhibition and Sherman's immense influence in art and culture in the video above.

'Real Housewives' Go Skinny Dipping

2012-02-22T20:08:36Z

"The Real Housewives of New York" finished taping two weeks ago with its new cast, and producers are already saying this is the best season yet -- the ladies travel the globe and even go skinny dipping.

"Sonja [Morgan] and Ramona [Singer] have totally bonded and formed a great alliance against the new ladies," a show insider tells me. "They are so inseparable this season that they shared a bed together in St. Barts and even went skinny dipping late one night after enjoying a few glasses of Ramona's wine."

This will be the first season of the hit show since original cast members Jill Zarin and Alex McCord were fired and replaced with Carole Radziwill, a distant relative of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, fashion designer Heather Thomson, and Wall Street wife Aviva Drescher, who is related to actress Fran Drescher.

"This season you will see the ladies travel to London, where Carole thinks it's so funny that LuAnn [de Lesseps] insists that everyone call her 'The Countess,' that she makes all the ladies refer to her as 'The Princess' to mock her," one of the ladies tells me. Carole is the widow of Prince Anthony Radziwill, who died August 10, 1999, at age 40 after a five-year battle with cancer.

But when the ladies travel to Miami and St. Barts, that's where the real trouble begins.

"Things between Ramona and the new ones get so bad at one point they even discussed recreating the bathroom scene from the film 'Bridesmaids' after Ramona gives them her new red wine to taste," an insider tells me. "Ramona now thinks it's her show for sure."

Get a glass of wine in these women and there's no telling what they'll do.

"You know me, I always skinny dip," Sonja tells me. "Why else would you rent a house? I can't tell you if I did it on film or if I did it with Ramona because that would be a storyline and I can get in trouble for that according to my contract."

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Check out all of the "Real Housewives," past and present, below:

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner's Smart Advice For Mexico's First Female Presidential Candidate

2012-02-22T18:30:22Z

By Torie Bosch
(Click here for original article)

Earlier this month, Josefina Vazquez Mota became Mexico's first female presidential candidate backed by a major party. Her nomination has been called both a step forward for Mexico and a shrewd move by the beleaguered conservative National Action Party.

In the fall, when she was still a "precandidate," I heard Vázquez Mota speak. In a wide-ranging conversation that covered education (she used to be the country's education secretary), the drug wars, and other topics, she also told the assembled group of journalists and policymakers about wise words Argentine President Cristina Kirchner once shared with her. Speaking about how to be a female politician in Latin America, Kirchner told Vázquez Mota, “One should govern without your mustache on" - or don't try to be a man. (I should note here that I don't speak Spanish, and this is how the translator rendered her words.)

It seems that Vazquez Mota has taken that advice to heart. The New York Times noted last week that she is using her gender to her advantage, "not as a feminist but as a comforting maternal figure rooted in traditional values."

Along those same lines, NPR recently asked whether she can fight the country's culture of machismo. NPR reports:

On the campaign trail, Vazquez Mota embraces that she's a woman and mother, though she avoids marketing herself as a candidate specifically for women. Earlier this month, her rival Pena Nieto said he didn't know the price of tortillas because he was not "the woman of the house." Vazquez Mota's response? She has raised children and kept the fridge stocked, she says - all while running the federal social services agency.

Why She Decided To Join The Army After 50

2012-02-22T18:03:38Z

By Melissa K. Buckley
Fort Leonard Wood

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo., Feb. 21, 2012 – Army Sgt. Sandra Coast graduated from Basic Combat Training here Feb. 17, officially beginning her Army career at 51 years old.

The average age for an Army Reserve recruit is about 23, making Coast one of the oldest people to go through basic combat training, U.S. Army Recruiting Command officials said.

"Everybody in the world thinks I am a total nutcase," Coast said. "I just want to support our troops. I love all of them."
From 1982 to 1993, Coast devoted her life to the Navy. She gave up her lifestyle as a sailor to raise her son, Jeff, who ironically led her back to the military she left behind years ago.

"When Jeff graduated high school, he joined the Marine Corps. When I was at the recruiter's office with my son, I walked into the Army recruiting office and said 'I want to join,'" Coast said. Her previous years of military service allowed her to join the Army Reserve well past the age someone without prior service could join, she explained.

For as long as she can remember, Coast said, she has had a special place in her heart for troops and a hunger to serve.

"I have a friend in the Navy that was emailing me from Afghanistan,” she said. “It's his third combat tour in seven years. I don't know, I can't explain it. I just had this overwhelming desire to give back to the military somehow. I was doing the same job day after day after day. I can't live my life that way. There is more to life than this, so I ended up in basic training."

She was stunned to learn that as a paralegal specialist she would have to go back to basic training -- this time, Army style.

"I wasn't quite expecting to be running around with an M16 and all of this gear," Coast said as her training neared its end. "This is nothing even remotely similar to being a sailor. I was blown away by the total difference of it. We carried M16s during Navy boot camp, but we never shot them. Here we are shooting several times a week. Shooting this weapon with all of the gear on takes a toll on me."

Coast started preparing for basic combat training months prior to stepping foot on Fort Leonard Wood.

"Before the recruiters would even talk to me, I had to lose 30 pounds,” she said. “I went from sitting at home every night eating ice cream to exercising and watching what I ate. I also started getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning to exercise and tried to go to bed early at night. I knew I needed every advantage I could have to get through this."

Coast’s 10-week journey from civilian to soldier was spent in Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Chemical Brigade. Army 1st Sgt. John Byars, her first sergeant, said his first reaction when he heard he had a 51-year-old headed his way was "Wow, that's strange." Now, Byars has a new perception.

"I was impressed, because she can do everything the younger soldiers do," he said. "She never expected us to feel sorry for her. She even got one of the highest Army physical fitness test scores in the company. She is a prime example that age is just a number. She ran faster than soldiers young enough to be her kids."

Coast even amazed herself when she came in second place during the test.

"I am still kind of blown away by that,” she said. “I even ran faster than all but one female."

The fitness test may have been a breeze for Coast, but she said one of the hardest things for her to adjust to was the divide in life stages between her and her roommates.

"Everything about basic training is pretty tough, but living with more than 30 teenage females is one of the hardest things," she said. But despite the age gap, she added, she was treated like every other soldier in training.

"We don't treat her any different, and we don't see the privates treat her any different," Byars said.

Coast agreed.

"They treat me as an equal,” she said. “The males, especially, have the utmost respect. They will do little things that they probably aren't supposed to do, like give me their seat on the bus and hold the doors for me. It's the little things that mean so much."

Coast recalled an incident during hand-to-hand combat training that was particularly tough for one of her battle buddies.

"We had to slap each other in the face. The poor guy that was up against me said, 'I cannot do this. I cannot slap her,'” she said. “I told him I would pay for his counseling when we were done. I was slapping him -- he finally slapped me."

As her graduation approached, she said the thing she was looking forward to the most was wrapping her arms around her son.

"I am thrilled to wear the title of sergeant in the U.S. Army, but the title that is also very near and dear to my heart is Marine mom. You can't beat that. I feel totally blessed," Coast said.

Marine Corps Pfc. Jeff Coast didn't think his mother was serious when she expressed interest in joining the Army, but recently he started seeing a side of her that was new to him.

"She is doing what most people her age would consider crazy," he said. "I think she is hardcore. I hope when I get older I am still active and do all kinds of cool stuff."

The Marine’s mother said she made it through basic training because of the support she received from family, friends and even outsiders.

"It blows my mind that I am able to accomplish this," she said. "I couldn't have done it without the support of my Marine mom friends. I get more mail from them than anybody. That support keeps me going. They are constantly cheering me on. Even random people around here will tell me they are cheering for me.

"At the dining facility the workers walk up and tell me they are cheering for me," she continued. "I cry pretty much every day. Not a lot, because it's not an Army thing to do I know, but it's mind-boggling to me how supportive strangers can be."

Coast said she is delighted to have reached the end of her basic training adventure, and that she’s thankful for all of the new experiences it provided.

"This has been very challenging,” she said before her graduation. “It makes me realize that I can do all of this. I got to do some really fun things. After the rappelling tower, I decided to start rock climbing when I get out of basic training."

Coast added that she also is looking forward to her life in the Army Reserve. She said she enlisted hoping to work directly with active-duty troops, but instead was attached to a reserve unit. But on the plus side, she said, she will be able to work near her son's reserve unit.

"I wanted to go active duty, but they are not taking people as old as me for active duty,” Coast said. “So I got attached to a virtual unit. Everything I do will be by the Internet and phone.”

Basic combat training left her with a new respect for combat soldiers and a new respect for herself, Coast said.

"Their gear is heavy, and they are doing this constantly,” she noted. “We have some really awesome troops out there. I am 51 years old, and I can do this."

Courtesy of America Forces Press Service