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Monday, March 5, 2012
'It was absolutely appalling': How glamorous soldier (and mother-of-two) shamed Rush Limbaugh on Twitter with '#I am not a slut'
When Rush Limbaugh called a college student a 'slut' over a heated debate on contraception it sparked a national outcry.
The controversial radio host found himself abandoned by advertisers and was even criticised by Barack Obama.
But it was an online campaign through Twitter which really helped to galvanize women's outrage over his comments.
The hashtag 'I am not a slut' went viral and resulted in hundreds of tweets in an enormous national reaction against Mr Limbaugh.
And it has now emerged that the woman responsible for starting the online campaign is a 35-year-old Army officer from Fort Hood, Texas.
Jessica Scott, who is a company commander and romance novelist, told BuzzFeed that she had been following the heated debates on contraception and religious liberty for a month.
But when Mr Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a 'slut' after she argued that employers should pay for their workers' contraception, she decided it was time to act.
The second lieutenant, who has served in Iraq, wrote on Twitter that she 'used birth control while deployed with my husband so I *wouldn't* get pregnant & sent home.'
She then finished the tweet with the hashtag #iamnotaslut which proved hugely popular and sparked a flurry of tweets expressing anger at Mr Limbaugh's comments.
Speaking to BuzzFeed, Mrs Scott, who has two children, said: 'The entire thing is absolutely appalling because her testimony wasn't even about sex.
'It was about a woman who'd lost an ovary because her insurance would not cover birth control pills she needed to control the ovarian cysts.'
Mr Limbaugh had faced repeated calls for an apology after claiming that the student must be sexually promiscuous because she supported a contentious measure which would have forced religious institutions to fund birth control for their employees.
But instead he dialed up the rhetoric, first saying that Ms Fluke, from Catholic College Georgetown University in Washington D.C, should film herself having sex and then claiming that she 'had boyfriends lined up around the block'.
Anger: Rush Limbaugh, left, sparked a national outrage when he called Sandra Fluke, right, a 'slut' following a heated debate on contraception
However, after a number of firms pulled their advertisements from his show and the President called Ms Fluke to express his support Mr Limbaugh finally backed down on Saturday afternoon, three days after his initial remarks.
Today, AOL became the eighth advertiser to drop their adverts from Mr Limbaugh's show.
The company posted on Twitter today: 'At AOL one of our core values is that we act with integrity. We have monitored the unfolding events and have determined that Mr. Limbaugh’s comments are not in line with our values. As a result we have made the decision to suspend advertising on The Rush Limbaugh Radio show'.
His apology read: 'For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity, three hours a day, five days a week. In this instance, I chose the wrong words in my analogy of the situation. I did not mean a personal attack on Ms Fluke.'
Mrs Scott, who has served in the army for 17 years, was left stunned by the reaction her hashtag created
When she is not working as a soldier, she writes romance novels with covers featuring near-naked male soldiers.
Campaign: These tweets from Jessica Scott with the hashtag 'I am not a slut' resulted in an online campaign against Rush Limbaugh's controversial comments
Her books - part of a series called Coming Home - focus on soldiers returning from war.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110419/Jessica-Scott-shamed-Rush-Limbaugh-Twitter-starting-I-slut-hashtag-campaign.html#ixzz1oHlarx22
Why loneliness can be deadly
According to a new research, loneliness can increase risk of cancer. Research was conducted on rodents. Rodents that are kept alone developed more tumors of deadly type than rats living as a group.The researchers say that the same may be true in humans. Experts in cancer say that more work and research is needed to prove such a link in humans.
In terms of survival, cancer patients who are depressed tend to fare worse. Previous research has found that social support can enhance health conditions for breast cancer patients.
In this study, researchers found that risk of breast cancer trebled with isolation and stress in sociable Norway rats.
e: BBC
Words of Wellness: ‘You Are What You Wear'
You may be guilty of it, too – male or female – standing in front of your closet for what seems like a lifetime, agonizing over which outfit will look the best, convey the right message or hide those extra pounds.
Jennifer Baumgartner, a psychologist, knows these feelings all too well.
As she worked toward her Ph.D., Baumgartner followed in her grandmother’s footsteps by working in retail and styling people’s wardrobes. She discovered what she was learning in psychology classes, was happening in dressing rooms.
“I have always been interested in fashion, style, and the way people dress,” Baumgartner said. “I felt clothing was wearable art and was fascinated that as wearers, we interact with the art and the artist (the designer). I was also intrigued by the internal process that influenced dressing behaviors (shopping, putting together an outfit, storing, wearing, not wearing, etc.”
While working on her dissertation, Baumgartner began writing ‘psychology of dress’ ideas in a book format. She eventually was offered her own blog, “The Psychology of Dress,” by Psychology Today – and this led to her most recent book, You Are What You Wear – What Your Clothes Reveal About You.
"Unfortunately, the feel-good chemicals released from shopping are temporary, so one must continue to shop to reap the benefits. This can lead to an addictive cycle, where shopping continues despite negative outcomes."- Jennifer Baumgartner, psychologist
Q: Describe the connection between psychology and dressing for success.
A: Obviously, if you are well-dressed, you are going to feel better about yourself. We always hear that dressing a certain way makes us feel a certain way, but what we don't hear is that the way we dress is the way we feel. Yes, we can dress stylishly, and this will impact our feelings of our success, but I think it is more important to analyze the internal reasons we are not dressing successfully in the first place. If we can identify why we are not enhancing the self externally, we can make those internal changes, which leads to successful dressing. These reasons may include fears of failure, discomfort with standing out, lack of time/self-care, etc. When we can change these things, dressing successfully is, well, far more successful.
Q: Clothes and what you buy can also be a look into a person’s mind – case in point, “Tessa,” a well-dressed woman who had shopped her way into debt, who you describe in your book. Can you explain further?
Sleep study video captures last hours of man’s life
The man, Brandon Harris, was mentally-handicapped and had been referred by his doctor to the Emory Sleep Center in Atlanta for a sleep study that could help establish whether or not he had obstructive sleep apnea.
According to the TV station, Harris’ family said it was risky for Harris to lie on his back for long periods of time - because he was overweight and had congestive heart failure, cardiomyopathy, diabetes and high blood pressure.
During the study, Harris started gesturing and asked, ‘Am I dying?’
Georgia state senator Vincent Fort said the sleep center staff should have acted more quickly to help Harris.
“Brandon knew that he was in a situation that was life-threatening,” Fort told MyFoxAtlanta. “They should have done more than just reassure him that he was OK. They should have done the things necessary to save his life.”
Harris’ death has prompted a wrongful death lawsuit, as well as a new bill, which would provide tougher regulations on Georgia’s sleep centers – such as 24-hour staffing and defibrillators being placed in each room
NYC amputee awarded nearly $18 million from city and hospital
A New York City woman who had her hands and legs amputated has won a $17.9 million settlement from the city and a hospital.
The Daily News reports that Tabitha Mullings will receive $9.4 million from Brooklyn Hospital Center and $8.5 million from the city.
The hospital and city say they settled because a sympathetic jury would have been swayed by Mullings’ severe injuries.
Her nightmare began in 2008 when she went to the emergency room was sent home with a diagnosis of a kidney stone.
She experienced excruciating pain and numbness the next day and called 911 but wasn’t taken to the hospital.
She developed a sepsis infection by the time she went to the hospital the following day. Gangrene spread to her extremities.
3-year-old swallows 37 magnets, tears holes in stomach
A 3-year-old needed surgery after she swallowed 37 magnets, KPTV reported.
Payton Bushnell of Portland, Ore., ripped a hole in her stomach and three in her lower intestine after she ate 37 Rare Earth Buckyball magnets, according to the TV station.
When Payton’s parents took her to the hospital, an X-ray revealed that it looked like she had swallowed a bracelet.
“I’m thinking that she kind of put two and two together and thought these look like what we put on Christmas cookies,” said Payton’s mother, Kelli Bushnell. “If we had any idea what they could have done to her intestines, we would have never had them in our house.”
Payton has since recovered – but this is not the first time a child has swallowed magnets. Since 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported 22 cases of children swallowing magnets, according to the TV station.
“I had not read that any child had ever swallowed more than, say, 10, or so,” Sandy Nipper, a registered nurse at Randall’s Children’s Hospital in Portland, told KPTV. “When I heard that 37 of these magnets had been swallowed, it frightened me to death.”
Payton Bushnell of Portland, Ore., ripped a hole in her stomach and three in her lower intestine after she ate 37 Rare Earth Buckyball magnets, according to the TV station.
When Payton’s parents took her to the hospital, an X-ray revealed that it looked like she had swallowed a bracelet.
“I’m thinking that she kind of put two and two together and thought these look like what we put on Christmas cookies,” said Payton’s mother, Kelli Bushnell. “If we had any idea what they could have done to her intestines, we would have never had them in our house.”
Payton has since recovered – but this is not the first time a child has swallowed magnets. Since 2009, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported 22 cases of children swallowing magnets, according to the TV station.
“I had not read that any child had ever swallowed more than, say, 10, or so,” Sandy Nipper, a registered nurse at Randall’s Children’s Hospital in Portland, told KPTV. “When I heard that 37 of these magnets had been swallowed, it frightened me to death.”
5 reasons to make some noise in the bedroom
You might think being noisy in the bedroom is just a matter of personal preference. But in a lot of ways, there’s a strong connection between sexual health and being vocal in bed.
Here are five reasons why it’s important for the bedroom of healthy, sexual active people to not be so quiet.
1. It means you're breathing. In the heat of passion, breathing should be more than the silent inhale and exhale of daily life. So, if your breathing is audible in bed, that’s an excellent sign. Breathing deeply can increase pleasure. It can also keep the fun from ending too soon. Use your breath to regulate the speed of what’s going on. Speed it up to help get you in the mood, and slow it down to prolong the activities.
2. It means your partner knows that you are enjoying it. If you’re silent as a mouse in bed, your partner might begin to wonder if you’re even awake, let alone enjoying what’s happening. So don’t be afraid to “ooh” and “ahh” – or even yell. The point is that it’s important for your partner to hear you. There’s nothing sexy about holding back. You don’t have to put on a show. Just let the sounds flow naturally. You might even surprise yourself….
3. It keeps you in the moment. If you spend all of your time in bed thinking about keeping quiet so you don't sound "weird,” you’ll miss all of the fun. But, if instead of worrying about how noisy you are, you simply let the sounds fall where, when, and how they may, you can stay present and enjoy all of the presents your partner is gifting you. No one’s listening except the one person you want to have in earshot and, believe me, he or she is delighted to hear it all.
4. It shows intimacy. If you can tell your partner what you want in bed, it means you feel close enough to him or her to be comfortable doing that. So don’t be shy. If you like it a little more to the left or a little further down to the right, then make your desires known. There’s no shame in purring a few suggestions or offering some directions. Believe me, everyone loves to be a rock star in bed and having some stage directions only makes it easier to shine.
5. It means you’re comfortable with your sexuality. Letting it all out is only possible when you feel good about yourself and what you're doing, which is how everyone should feel when it comes to sex. If you’re hung up on your body image or whether you’re doing it “right,” then it’s highly likely that silence would be de rigueur. But when the bedroom is alive with the sounds of sweet nothings and shivers and sighs, then it’s clear that all’s well.
Sex shouldn’t be filled with worry or insecurity or thinking ahead about how it should go. Instead, it should be about spontaneity and pleasure and joy. Just like the other senses, our sense of sound can play a big part in our sexual experiences. So why deprive yourself or your partner of any fun? And if being noisy is new, take it slowly, start with breathing, move to sounds, and finally add in some pillow talk. There’s no rush and no rules. It’s all about what works for you.
Jenny Block is a freelance writer based in Dallas, Texas. She is the author of "Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage." Her work also appears in "One Big Happy Family" edited by Rebecca Walker and "It’s a Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters" edited by Andrea Buchanan. Visit her Web site at www.jennyonthepage.com
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Newt Gingrich is the latest to distance himself from Rush Limbaugh following 'slut' comments and at least one advertiser says they're never coming back
Newt Gingrich was the latest Republican presidential candidate to distance himself from the controversial radio commentator Rush Limbaugh following his tirade against a law student that he deemed a 'slut'.
Appearing on a Sunday morning news program, Mr Gingrich said that it was 'silly' to suggest that Mr Limbaugh speaks on behalf of the entire Republican party, and that he glad that Mr Limbaugh issued an apology to Sandra Fluke, the woman at the heart of the debate.
Following her appearance at a hearing in support of President Obama's quest to have all employers pay for birth control through health insurance policies, Mr Limbaugh called the 31-year-old Ms Fluke a 'prostitute' and suggested that she could make enough money to pay for her birth control by posting videos of herself having sex online.
SCROLL DOWN TO LISTEN TO THE AUDIO
Rant: Rush Limbaugh, 61, left called Sandra Fluke, right, a student at Catholic college Georgetown University, a 'slut' for saying religious institutions should cover birth control under health insurance
Mr Gingrich's fellow candidates already responded, with each varying in their severity.
Rick Santorum said that the comments were 'absurd' and Ron Paul said that they were 'crude'.
Mitt Romney tried to tactfully avoid the issue at several campaign events before finally saying Mr Limbaugh's remarks were 'not the language I would have used'.
After refusing to retract his name calling from Wednesday, Mr Limbaugh decided to double down on Thursday and dig himself deeper into the issue.
Only after a number of advertisers announced that they would be withdrawing their ads from his show did the radio host apologize, saying that he 'did not mean a personal attack on Ms Fluke' but was simply trying to make a point.
'For over 20 years, I have illustrated the absurd with absurdity,' he said in his statement that he released on Saturday.
Condemnations: GOP Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich said that he was glad Mr Limbaugh apologized, and distanced himself from the controversial host by saying it was 'silly' to think that Mr Limbaugh speaks for the party
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2110091/Rush-Limbaugh-condemned-Newt-Gingrich-calling-law-student-slut.html#ixzz1oB1K8KLO
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