After reading my post yesterday on taking a “Trip Down Boner Lane,” one reader wrote in with a concerned message: “They missed the Beach Boner,” he wrote.

Though my friend was quick to clarify that he, himself has “never even experienced beach boner,” only “heard several accounts,” he had a good point. In all the discussion of tween boner personality types—the Sensitive Boner, the Rebel Boner, the Jerky Boner, and the Oblivious Boner—we completely neglected to discuss Situational Boners! After all, not all boner queries provide a window into the teenage boy’s soul—some are inspired entirely by circumstance.

So which boners did we miss?

Read More “Boner Lane: The Boners We Missed Along the Way” »

The ban has been lifted. In a presser from Health and Human Services:

” . . . in recent years, when it comes to stem cell research, rather than furthering discovery, our government has forced what I believe is a false choice between sound science and moral values. In this case, I believe the two are not inconsistent. As a person of faith, I believe we are called to care for each other and work to ease human suffering. I believe we have been given the capacity and will to pursue this research – and the humanity and conscience to do so responsibly.”

The full release is after the jump.

Read More “Obama’s Remarks on Stem Cells” »

Reproductive Health Reality Check has some advice for our next president on the importance of choosing pro-choice cabinet appointees—and not just in Health and Human Services.

Barack Obama, our sexy, hot-lady-marrying, jump-shot-making president-to-be is also a pathetic nerd. Time’s Joel Stein warned against what he termed the “Urkel Effect” in the magazine’s pre-election blitz, the power of those undecided voters who would “walk into the voting booth and suddenly think, I cannot take four years of listening to that giant-eared nerd.” Now that Obama has secured victory, his utter geekdom can safely be revealed.

TrekMovie.Com has bravely gone where no fansite has gone before and has compiled a body of evidence suggesting Obama’s secret Star Trek obsession. Check out this exchange that Newsweek recorded between Sir Nerdlington and Nyota Uhura Michelle Obama earlier this year:

Read More “Obama: First Trekkie President” »

Once anonymous contacts inside Obama national headquarters start leaking their mythical beast photos, you know the presidential mascot is official. Who needs a puppy?

Riding through the rain. Scouting barber shops. Hugging strangers. Beating drums. Watching revelers climb to the highest elevation in sight—bus stops, stop lights, trees. Yelling back at honking cars. Chanting “U.S.A.” for the first time (unironically). Storming Marvin when Barack came on the big screen. Cheering for our next first lady—and, inexplicably, even louder for our next first puppy. Cheering for the District of Columbia. Putting down my notepad. Watching history. It was a wonderful night.

Photo by Darrow Montgomery

There’s a lot to talk about.

* Feministing has a comprehensive round-up of ballot measures of interest to both women and gays. Overall, the results are “pro-choice, anti-gay,” with three anti-choice measures failing across America. (Feministing also throws in the anti-immigrant and anti-equal opportunity initiatives for good measure). The most ridiculous, Colorado’s Amendment 48, was shut down by 73% of voters who spoke out “against granting fertilized eggs full rights.” Whew, because you never know when you’re gonna get one of those, am I right ladies?

Read More “Feminists On the Aftermath of the Election” »

It’s the wee hours after the Joe Biden v. Sarah Palin debate, and boy am I spent. In case you missed the Sexist live blog of the Veep showdown, allow me to recap: There were no major flat-on-their-face, waking-up-in-a-pool-of-their-own-vomit, bloated-purple-dead-on-a-toilet moments for either candidate, and for that, schadenfreudists everywhere give the debate a collective “Meh.”

Palin pointed out that it’s onler her fifth week in the national spotlight, and she showed a marked improvement from last week’s showing. While in the Katie Couric interviews, Palin appeared uninformed and unprepared, here, she appeared uninformed and prepared. She learned how to bullshit, and boy, did she lather lipstick on that pig.

Actual pro-woman candidate Biden was fine throughout, but he only managed to let his particular strengths shine through at the end. His personal story, fuck all politics, was the debate’s one real moment, and it was the only thing that could silence Palin’s persistent posturing about being more middle class, accessible, relatable, and real. Biden has a record, too, Palin, but he also has this quirky talent of being able to answer the questions that are asked of him. In the end, Biden picked up considerable steam. [Live-blogging onlooker The Sexist, on the other hand, found even simple subject-verb constructions difficult as the event wound down].

Throughout, both candidates got caught in that same political eddy—they both kept (1) trying to out-Mainstreet, out-Middle Class, and out-kitchen table each other while (2) trying to name-drop for their presidential honies as much as possible. The reason VP debates are so fascinating is because the two candidates form the bizarro-world of the Presidential election—the tangential side-show to the main event. But it’s also why they can get annoying and irrelevant. After the first 90-minute presidential debate, I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to sit through another one; now, I’m a little bit hungry for more of that Obama/McCain stability.