Breaking News: Assholes Make More Money

This is depressing. Maybe I should start acting like Don Draper, drink during the day, put some plastic on my furniture, and start making some REAL money.

Study Ties Wage Disparities To Outlook on Gender Roles

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 22, 2008; A02

Men with egalitarian attitudes about the role of women in society earn significantly less on average than men who hold more traditional views about women's place in the world, according to a study being reported today.

It is the first time social scientists have produced evidence that large numbers of men might be victims of gender-related income disparities. The study raises the provocative possibility that a substantial part of the widely discussed gap in income between men and women who do the same work is really a gap between men with a traditional outlook and everyone else.

Full article here.

Mad Hombres

I have gotten hooked on the show "Mad Men." Really well written, and whoever is in charge of making everything (even the misogyny) look authentic to the early sixties, well, they deserve a night out with the boys.

Sometimes, I like to think that maybe I could write copy. You know, come up with some riveting catch phrase that would compel you to buy Tupperware. Well, maybe not. But it's fun to think about.

But today, I saw this, and I have to say, unless something is lost in translation, I really don't get this slogan.
This is on the side of a truck purportedly delivering pinto beans. And not just any beans, but the "mas limpio," which, unless I'm missing some other meaning, means "cleaner." This company wants to assure you that when you buy these pinto beans, they are cleaner than other pinto beans.

Is this genius or are these guys just not trying very hard? I guess it suggests that everyone else's pinto beans are dirty...and I guess they would have a hard time trying to convince people that their pinto beans really taste much different than any other pinto beans....hmmm. How about this one guys.

El Frijol: no lo mata.

I Love* L.A.

So I just got back from a three day trip to Los Angeles. I stayed downtown, but I was there on bidness so I didn't get to go out and explore much. I was actually born in LA (Hollywood to be exact), but my family moved when I was 7 to a small town up north so I don't really remember it all that much. I do remember not enjoying visits with my family who continued to live down there though. But they lived in the valley, which is just awful. I went to Santa Monica earlier this summer and had a wonderful time though. So here are my thoughts.

Hey, LA isn't so bad!
Downtown has actually been cleaned up pretty nice. Good restaurants. Scary after dark though. Weather was nice. Cute girls, plenty of eye candy. One morning, while I was in a print shop making copies, they were shooting an episode of "CSI" out front. That was kind of fun. Some of the kitchy architecture from the 50s and 60s has now come full circle and is kind of cool.

LA is as bad as I remember!
While it was hot, it didn't seem sunny because of the smog. Getting anywhere during the day takes forever because of traffic. As they say, you pretty much have to allow an hour to get anywhere in L.A.

*"Love" as used herein refers to mixed feelings concerning smog inhalation, hour long cab rides to go 10 miles, and having to dodge production assistants on your way out of a copy shop as you run to a deposition.

Vote "No" on Prop 8

In November, Californians will be voting on proposition 8, which would amend the state constitution so that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." This of course is an attempt to undo the California Supreme Court's decision over the summer that struck down the ban on same sex marriage.

One of the arguments used by the opponents of same sex marriage, is that the issue should be decided by the electorate, not the courts. If you agree with that argument, this would mean the electorate of California.

But guess who is funding the proposition 8 campaign? That's right! Mostly people from out-of-state!

So Californians, when you go out there to vote for Obama, don't forget to vote "No" on 8. Tell these people from New Hampshire, that they should keep their money and spend it on...um...whatever people do in New Hampshire besides hate gays.

On a different note

This is totally fair game.

McCain's voice mail to Palin.

I am Sarah Palin*

As I think I've said on here before, I don't really like politics. Like sausage, it's from watching the stomach turning process that I have turned into the equivalent of a political vegan.

So, for god's sake, will someone please call the hounds off of Bristol Palin. She is not running for office, and surely there are more relevant discussions to be had about whether her mother will be a good vice-president than her fertility. This could be anyone's family, and there is no reason to politicize this.

If anything, she was nominated because she is a mom, with mom values that a lot of people can identify with. If we start attacking her for having a "real world" mom problem that, so far, she is dealing with gracefully, this will only blow up in our faces, because we will then be insulting all those people who identify with her.

I mean, hell I identify with her. I'm from a small town where there wasn't much to do. I know that kids can get pregnant early, regardless of political affiliation, believe it or not.

My ability to empathize with her, however, has no bearing on whether I think she is qualified to be the next Vice President of the United States.

Refreshingly, I think the only person who has had the right attitude about this is Barack Obama. As reported by Fox News, of all places....

“I have heard some of the news on this and so let me be a clear as possible: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people’s families are off limits, and people’s children are especially off limits. This shouldn’t be part of our politics,” the Democrat said forcefully. “It has no relevance to Governor Palin’s performance as governor, or her potential performance as a VP. And so I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories,” he continued.

So even though this might provide some anecdotal evidence as to whether an abstinence only based fight against teenage pregnancy is completely ineffective, you know what? Get some statistics or something.

* No I'm not.