If one of your New Years resolutions (or general goals) is to get a handle on your money (I know it's something I'm working at), you might want to check out Suze Orman's new book, Action Plan. I haven't read much of her stuff, but she seems popular and she's offering her new book for free download until 1/15 - get it here.This week on the Bottom Line podcast: Ray Magliozzi, on why he supports a 50-cent national gas tax: "We would want to discourage people," Ray says, "who had no good reason to drive a pick-up truck that got 11 miles per gallon just because they wanted to commute back and forth from Home Depot just to buy plants."
On January 18, 2009, El Salvador will hold its sixth municipal and legislative elections since the 1992 signing of the Peace Accords. This year national politicians and international officials are aiming for the most transparent and clean to date, but popular sectors criticize the electoral system and predict that past problems are likely to occur again. A September 2008 poll executed by the University Institute of Public Opinion at Central American University José Simeon Cañas (IUDOP) found that 55% of those surveyed believe there will be fraud in January’s election.
NYTimes: "As His Inmates Grew Thinner, a Sheriff’s Wallet Grew Fatter": "The prisoners in the Morgan County jail here were always hungry. The sheriff, meanwhile, was getting a little richer. Alabama law allowed it: the chief lawman could go light on prisoners’ meals and pocket the leftover change. And that is just what the sheriff, Greg Bartlett, did, to the tune of $212,000 over the last three years, despite a state food allowance of only $1.75 per prisoner per day.""We're going to do three things in Congress," he told me. "First, a hate-crimes bill--that shouldn't be too hard. Next, employment discrimination. We almost got that through before, but now we can win even if we add transgender protections, which we are going to do. And finally, after the troops get home from Iraq, gays in the military. The time has come."
For whatever reason, I really LOVE this Max Azria ad of Nastia Liukin! My love is sort of random, since I usually don't really care about fashion advertising, I don't know anything about Max Azria's designs, and I didn't watch Liukin at the Olympics. I guess maybe it's just nice to see some mainstream fashion photography/advertisement with genuine movement and spontaneity, that actually looks like a celebration of the human body instead of a confinement of it.
Sometimes it seems incongruous to switch back and forth between fashion and politics to me, but that's, for better or worse, sort of how I go through the day. I also don't think I could focus solely on one or the other. Sometimes the actions of people, whether individuals or countries, are simply too painful. In addition to the horrible killing going on in Gaza, this week has also seen an incredibly upsetting tradgedy in Oakland, and its understandable aftermath. On New Year’s morning, San Francisco BART police officer dragged a few young men off a train. An officer then proceeded to shoot Oscar Grant (who may or may not have been one of the men taken off the train) with a gunshot through the back, while he was restrained and lying face-down on the ground. The effects of the shooting continue to ripple through Oakland and the Bay Area, in the form of protests, anger, and mourning. Here are excerpts from some of the coverage:
Yesterday Lipstick Lobbyist and I were discussing the post on Corporette about young women and pearl necklaces. As a Corporette reader wrote in (and unbeknownst to me), apparently there are lots of "rules" corresponding to your age and the size of pearls deemed appropriate to wear:As a late graduation present, I was considering asking my folks for a classic strand of pearls. This turned out to be more complicated than I had thought. Is it (still) true that younger women shouldn’t aspire to larger pearls? I don’t want to buy a strand that will look silly when I’m in my 30s and 40s — what’s the largest I can get away with in my 20s?As two ladies who like to think of themselves as a little bit funky and fashion forward (LL has an impressive knack for the vintage and for shoes, whereas I like to think I have a little rock and roll flair), trapped in the not always so fashion forward city of Boston, we definitely had some thoughts on the matter. Bottom line, we were both wary of traditional pearl necklaces. The reliable accessory of the working "girl," both LL and I felt these were a little too staid for our appearances, along the lines of, for instance, cable knit sweaters. However, we each had our exceptions - LL thought certain vintage necklaces were noticeably fake enough to not even count as pearls, meanwhile I thought an over-sized fake-pearl necklace could be a good combo of tradition and a little flashy (the workplace fashion goal I aim for). Getting dressed this morning I realized I sometimes rely on another plan, which is the vintage costume jewelry gold ball necklace I recently inherited from my grandmother (via my mother). It's large enough to not come off as dainty but not so large as to be inappropriate for day time work (see left). Or so I hope. The Morocco necklace I wrote about yesterday would be another great alternative (see below).
My wonderful friend Mo (long time, no see!) has been handcrafting beaded jewelry for years and has finally decided to make it available online at her Etsy store, MandG. As she says, her simple but bold designs will liven up even the most Plain Jane (although I disagree with her self-assessment as plain). I am particularly smitten with the Morocco necklace (left) - who needs basic pearls when you can have gumball like color? (Unfortunately someone also has great taste and snapped that necklace up!). Check out MandG and support a great artist, lady, and new mama.
Obviously I've been a neglectful blogger.... I guess that comes along with the move, new job, and, most importantly, the holiday season. I do love the holidays. This has been my first holiday season as a Miami resident, and I'm so excited that I get to have both the Florida experience and the family Oregon experience. We head west on Monday and I'm so excited! As usual, I think I've gone overboard with stocking stuffers (many of which I anticipate not fitting into stockings) but I can't help it! Buying gifts for those I love is one of my favorite activities. OK, and I've bought a few things for my self as well....bad Shorty, bad!Girls get tired of hooking up because they want it to lead to a relationship (the guys don’t), and, as they get older, they start to realize that it’s not a good way to find a spouse.There are plenty of women who are happy with hooking up and are not looking for a relationship - we don't come out of the womb dreaming of a DeBeers ad-like proposal - and plenty of men who want to date as well. This "women want a boyfriend, men want booty" is a pretty old paradigm and played out by now. Also, there are plenty of people (and I'm sure there were in the 1960's and every other decade) who start dating via "hook up" and end up in a serious relationship with that person (disclaimer: one of them may be writing this blog). It's not always so black and white as Mr. Blow suggests.
So, under the heading Things I [Hope To] Love is ART BASEL! The annual event is routinely described (in Miami at least...) as "the most important art show in the United States":As the sister event of Switzerland's Art Basel, the most prestigious art show worldwide for the past 39 years, Art Basel Miami Beach combines an international selection of top galleries with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and crossover events featuring music, film, architecture and design. Exhibition sites are located in the city's beautiful Art Deco District, within walking distance of the beach and many hotels.
An obscure ballot initiative in Florida intended to end a legacy of bias against Asian-Americans was defeated Tuesday, apparently because voters incorrectly assumed it would prevent illegal immigrants from owning property.
Had it passed, the initiative, known as Amendment No. 1, would have removed from the state’s Constitution language adopted in 1926 allowing the Legislature to prohibit foreigners who were barred from citizenship — Asian-Americans at the time — from owning land.
No such legislation was ever enacted here, and every other state that had such laws has scrapped them on grounds of equal protection. But on Tuesday, Florida’s effort to delete the provision went down, with 52 percent voting “no” and 48 percent voting “yes.”
Immigrant advocates said they were stunned. “It’s terribly disappointing,” said Cheryl Little, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center. “At a time when our country has turned away from a history of racism, we have left a racist and anti-immigrant provision in Florida’s Constitution.”
...[The Ballot] simply asked voters if they were willing to delete “provisions authorizing the Legislature to regulate or prohibit the ownership, inheritance, disposition and possession of real property by aliens ineligible for citizenship.”
Steve Geller, a former state senator who worked to get the initiative on the ballot, said Florida election rules only allowed a description of 75 words, and required that the language of the old provision — “aliens ineligible for citizenship” — be included. As a result, he said, “a lot of people thought it had to do with illegal aliens, and it had nothing to do with illegal aliens.”
In fact, some organizations opposing illegal immigration latched onto the provision and advised people to vote no. On the Web site of one group, Americans for Legal Immigration, a member wrote that it should be left standing because “ ‘illegal aliens’ should not have ‘rights’ like U.S. citizens have. The only right they should have is deportation!”
...Ms. Tang, 47, who came to the United States from Macao in 1978, said that next time would be different. She said she hoped to put the initiative on the ballot again as soon as possible.
“We’ve learned,” she said. “From here on, we will have to get together to raise some funds to get information to the communities.”
Just discovered 
