Free Republic

Of course, there's nothing wrong with that.

Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts refused to appear at the Clover Club, an Irish American group of businessmen and community leaders in Boston over the weekend because it is a men-only club. Deval was dead wrong. I hope he will similarly cancel visits to the National Organization of Women for the same reason.

Did anyone just see that disgusting slo-motion love fest Obama commercial for his serve.gov site? BAAAAAAAAAARF

"Machismo!" shouted a young college student in the third row. "Tough!" "Violent!" "Homophobic!" shouted three other young men, sprinkled throughout the packed lecture hall. Ethan Wong, a student at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minn., who was dressed in a slim business suit, nodded as he wrote each word on the chalk board. The roomful of young men was brainstorming all the qualities associated with masculinity. Mr. Wong was one of the organizers of the National Conference for Campus-Based Men's Gender Equality and Anti-Violence Groups, a long and clunky name for an unprecedented event that recently took place at his...

At the age of 18, Mitsuhiro Matsushita already has a good idea of his ideal future. After he graduates from university a few years of work will be followed by marriage to an industrious wage earner. When children arrive it will be Mitsuhiro who stays at home looking after them, baking cakes and biscuits and living the traditional life of the Japanese housewife. None of this would be noteworthy but for one thing. Mitsuhiro is not a conventionally minded Japanese woman, but a thoughtful, articulate and fashionably dressed young man. And far from being a marginal eccentric he is a...

When Owen Schmitt, fearsome fullback for the Seattle Seahawks, opened a game last month with a presentation of his manly bona fides that consisted of skull-bashing himself with his helmet until blood ran down his forehead like it was the lobby of the Overlook Hotel, what should your response have been? (a) Laughter (b) Alarm (c) Disbelief Trick question, The answer is (d) Nostalgia. Owen Schmitt, for being the snarling, sweaty avatar of pumped-up, hoarse-throated, brain-damaged heavy metal manhood, did you ever know that you’re my hero? You are the idiot wind beneath my wings. Owen, my good hombre, your...

Modern Men Are Wimps Oct 23, 2009 — Whatever happened to survival of the fittest?  Our ancestors were much stronger, says the author of a new book on anthropology.  PhysOrg reported on a book by Peter McAllister that says today’s males don’t measure up physically to their counterparts even a century ago, let alone those in the Roman empire and earlier. According to McAllister humans have lost 40 percent of the shafts of the long bones because they are no longer subjected to the kind of muscular loads that were normal before the industrial revolution,” the article said.  “Even our...

As a scientist claims modern athletes are weaklings, evidence has been forward that our male ancestors were not only faster, stronger and fitter, even their womenfolk would have wiped the floor with today's emasculated men. That's the central claim of Manthropology, a new book by Australian anthropologist Peter McAllister. In the book, subtitled The Science Of The Inadequate Modern Male, McAllister presents evidence that pre-historic Australian Aborigines could easily have outsprinted even Usain Bolt, today's fastest man on Earth. The basis of his findings? A set of 20,000-year-old preserved human footprints discovered in the Outback. They belonged to a party...

(edit)Scientists say the hormones in the oral contraceptive suppress a female's interest in masculine men  - and make boyish men more attractive.   Dr Alexandra Alvergne, of the University of Sheffield, says the Pill could also be altering the way women pick mates - and could have long term implications for society.  'There are many obvious benefits of the Pill for women, but there is also the possibility that the Pill has psychological side effects that we are only just discovering,' she said.  'We need further studies to find out what these are.'  (edit)  Scientists have long known that a...

No longer sure of their role, "egalitarian" men have been left straddling the gender divide and are becoming male-female hybrids, says Judith Woods. Take a long hard look at the man in your life. Yes him, the one lounging on the sofa, half-comatose in front of Midsomer Murders. Do you ever find yourself wishing he had a little more get-up-and-go, showed a bit more testosterone-fuelled drive, was – dare I say it – a touch more, you know, manly? Is he passive rather than active? Does he leave most decision-making to you? Do you feel irritated that he happily fusses...

Yes there is political significance of a girly pitch

In which CNN totally redeems itself for the other mom-themed political video they foisted on us today. Watch closely here and you’ll see the tweet that was sent to me last night — and which I linked in our post about The One throwing out the first pitch — flash by for a second or two. Good lord: Did Hot Air launch the Obama “mom jeans” meme? Behold my proudest moment as a blogger, my friends.

Once upon a time, there was "The Code of the West." [Original here] That was long ago, far away and in another country. Now there is only, "The Code of the Left." I've compared the two here. W - Never order anything weaker than whiskey. L - Never order anything stronger than a decaf double latte made with soy milk. Yes, that drink will shrink your testicles and/or ovaries to the size of peas, but you weren't using them anyway. Make it a double. W - Don't make a threat without expecting dire consequences. L - Threaten everyone and every...

Doug Black has found himself in a tight squeeze more times than he cares to remember. One day, he got caught in the rain without an umbrella and was unable to run. When his colleagues sat in a circle, the 23-year-old English teacher from Portland, Ore., couldn't cross his legs. And when he tried to jaywalk, while in Beijing for work, he couldn't hop the median divider with his friends. "I had to walk half a mile down the street on my own to use the crosswalk," he says. His jeans were too tight. But he has no plans to...

And they says bloggers are news-lite. The latest issue of Details magazine carries this ludicrous headline on the top of the cover: "Can Obama Make You Better In Bed?" Inside is an article suggesting that "from the way we wear our suits to the way we relate to our wives, somehow American men are acting a little more like 44." This is, as you might suspect, the work of a magazine just making wild generalizations about American manhood with bold assertion and zero research. Men may have favored McCain last November, "But it might not matter all that much, because...

Let’s see what Ashton Kutcher has on his mind today. Yahoo says… “Kutcher has taken to his Twitter blog to voice support for the Iranian people - and urge US officials not to get involved in the uprising. ‘Considering how well fighting 4 freedom in Iraq went, I dont know that we should B jumping in2 this Iran deal. I think that truly the only people that can change things in Iran are the Iranians themselves and they seem to be speaking their minds now.’”

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for Barack Obama. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu rejected President Pantywaist’s settlement freeze proposal. Bibi told Bam Bam that his government was not amenable to putting limitations on building Jewish settlements in the capital of Israel. Obama responded by offering to immediately freeze all US settlements in Washington, DC as a goodwill gesture toward Hamas. Still stinging from Netanyahu’s rebuff, Obama made the harebrained decision to challenge Dick Cheney to a debate on, of all things, foreign policy. Someone on Team O was astute enough to realize that TOTUS would not be well...

Bret DeLone winced, wobbled and occasionally whined on Monday as he gamely walked nearly a mile in a pair of high-heeled shoes as a protest of rape, sexual assault and violence. "I've got a blister on each foot," the Camp Hill resident said, happily slipping out of black high-heeled sling-back open-toe pumps and donning his sneakers. "These shoes didn't fit very well. But I received more than a few compliments on my legs, so I can't complain. It was all for a good cause." DeLone and about 40 other men wearing women's shoes strolled down Market Street in Camp Hill...

GOP Chairman Michael Steele had opposed the name-changing resolution, and other party leaders have called it "stupid" and "absurd." Republicans on Wednesday abandoned an effort to label their opponents the "Democrat Socialist Party," ending a fight within the GOP ranks that reflected the divide between those who want a more centrist message and those seeking a more aggressive, conservative voice. Supporters of the resolution asking the Democratic Party to change its name instead agreed to accept language urging Democrats to "stop pushing our country towards socialism and government control." The initial name-changing resolution had drawn criticism from Republican National Committee...

Video: http://www.butasforme.com/2009/04/29/goldberg-nyt-reporters-enchanted-question-to-obama-fits-our-metrosexual-times-for-softer-men/“A lot of men today - even men in powerful positions, especially men in journalism - they’re softer. They’re what a friend of mine calls NPR men. They want to know about your feelings, whether you’re enchanted.”

Anyone worried that, once in charge, Democrats wouldn’t be vigilant in protecting our southern border can relax. The grave threat of Mexican long-haul truckers has been shut down. With any luck, Mexicans will never have the temerity to attempt to deliver commercial goods into the United States again. At least such is the fervid hope of the Teamsters, the fiercest adversary the Mexicans have faced since Pres. James Polk sent Winfield Scott south in the Mexican-American War. The union can’t abide Mexican trucks because they represent competition, and so they must be blocked — legal obligations, economic rationality, and diplomatic...

Even before Barack Obama is sworn in as the next president of the United States tomorrow, he has changed our perceptions. Not just because he is the first black man to hold the office – but because he has altered our view of what a middle-aged man can look like.

Sounds nutty, I know, but Ambinder breaks news that The One’s dining with “conservative opinion leaders” in Maryland, evidently at George Will’s house. Among the attendees: Bill Kristol, David Brooks, and … anyone else? Coincidentally, I got an e-mail from a reader shortly after noon noting that Limbaugh had a surprise guest host today who spent the beginning of the show dropping hints that Rush had been called away to urgent business in D.C. and that it might have to do with something he said yesterday about giving Obama advice. I ignored it — but now they’re dropping hints on...

Barack Obama has taken a slight lead with white independent voters for the first time in the presidential race, positioning him to capture a key demographic group that has eluded recent Democratic nominees, according to a Politico analysis of independent voting patterns. According to Gallup’s weekly average of some 6,400 registered voters, Obama now holds a 45 percent-43 percent edge over Republican John McCain with white independents. About eight in 10 independents are white. Should Obama’s support hold, he is positioned to become the first Democrat to win white independents in a two-man race since the advent of exit polling....

More men suffering 'Manorexia', health experts warn as size zero pressure hits males By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 10:22 AM on 17th September 2008 There are signs that anorexia is increasing at a faster rate among men than women as the beauty and fashion industry puts a greater focus on males, an eating disorder expert has warned. In recent years designers have promoted sizezero chic for both sexes, with waif-like men in slim-fit clothes parading the catwalks of London Fashion Week. Professor Hubert Lacey, a psychiatric consultant at St George's Hospital in Tooting and the Capio Nightingale clinic...

THE CONSERVATIVE ELITES ATTACK! In today's New York Times, David Brooks launches a critique of Sarah Palin, essentially concluding that her populist appeal is dangerous and ill-conceived. He yearns for the day when "conservatism was once a frankly elitist movement," one that stressed "classical education, hard-earned knowledged, experience, and prudence." Brooks, like a handful of other conservative intellectuals, believes Palin "compensates for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness." Well, at the risk of appearing brash, let me say that I am glad to see my old friend finally pushed to the point where he has to make...

THE BEST MAN TURNED OUT TO BE A WOMANSeptember 3, 2008 John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as his running mate finally gave Republicans a reason to vote for him -- a reason, that is, other than B. Hussein Obama. The media are hopping mad about McCain's vice presidential selection, but they're really furious over at MSNBC. After drawing "Keith (plus) Obama" hearts on their denim notebooks, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews stayed up all night last Thursday, writing jokes about Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, the presumed vice presidential pick. Now they can't use any of them....

Barack Obama: The first metrosexual candidate for President of the United States Feet and shoes take center place in Andy Martin's web-footed analysis of the left's effort to demonize Senator John McCain "Factually Correct, Not Politically Correct" AMERICA'S #1 POLITICAL BLOG ON THE 2008 CAMPAIGN ------------------------------------------------------------- We're not always first because we're #1; We're #1 because we are always first. ------------------------------------------------------------- BARACK OBAMA SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN'S FEET, OR HE RISKS GETTING THE BOOT FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE COMMENTS BY KEITH OLBERMANN DO GET THE BOOT FROM ANDY MARTIN METROSEXUAL DEMOCRAT OBAMA SHOULD TREAD LIGHTLY ON MCCAIN'S...

The first ever eyelash extensions for men are going to hit the shelves in September at Harrods and on Amazon.com. Priced at £5.45, they will come in both thick and fine options.

" Have you ever thought that you stand a better chance to woo a girl by going green? Well, a recent study conducted by US car maker General Motors has revealed that nearly 88 per cent of women surveyed would chat to a guy who owns a green car than a sports car. Quite an award for going green! "

(CBS4) ORLANDO -- Next time you think about buying Avon products, don’t be surprised if a man comes knocking your door. An Avon rep wears a hard hat and carries a pile of company catalogues to his day on the job on a constructions site, encouraging the men to buy their ladies a little something. Perfume and lingerie are his top sellers, Oh, and he won’t go a day without the women’s wrinkle cream. Bobby McKinney is a local Avon man. The 58-year-old fire code inspector from Winter Haven made about $800,000 in sales last year along with his wife...

Late for work? Hello Kitty! Cheat on your taxes? Hello Kitty! Kill some guy? Hello Kitty! Those Thai police, they know what for. Those bad-boy coppers know how to stick it straight to your fragile manly ego and twist that knife until you bleed and scream and whimper like an itty-bitty wide-eyed freckle-faced twinkle-toed girl. Oh yes they do. It's all about the fear, baby. All about the dire threat to the macho self-esteem. See, those cops have figured out what hunky men just like themselves really dread, and it turns out it's not gay sex and it's not peeing...

ZUCK: Have gun, will tremble Sunday, August 5, 2007 10:50 PM EDT A weekend in Las Vegas! The lights, the casinos, the shows, the glitz, the noise, the - guns? "This here's the easiest to start with. It's got less kick so it's easier to control." Into my hand he plops a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum revolver. It's only the second time in my life I've actually touched a gun (the first being during a Boy Scout trip). My hand droops under the surprising weight of the pistol. He chuckles. What am I doing here? It's Saturday afternoon,...

The latest point of emphasis in the global warming movement is that cattle farming endangers the planet by producing too much methane. So now, steaks and hamburgers are classified as instruments of destruction, along with large vehicles, lawn mowers, and charcoal grills. It can't be much longer before cowboy movies, cigars and hockey are held to be enemies of the earth as well. This has got to be the most blatant assault on guyhood since ABC moved Coach to the same night as Roseanne, and turned Hayden Fox into Phil Donahue. It's a wonder that liberals don't cut to the...

More Men Report Sexual Harassment at Work Robert DiGiacomo, for Yahoo! HotJobs Defying assumptions about sexual harassment in the workplace, a record number of men reported being harassed by male colleagues last year, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Cases filed by men made up 15.4 percent of the 12,025 sexual harassment charges in fiscal year 2006, compared to about 11 percent a decade ago, according to the EEOC. New Realities in the Workplace "There's no question this is not only a growing category of claims, but also a large societal problem of which we are just starting to...

PARTY GIRLS A photo layout in the Chinese edition of Esquire goes light on ideology, lighter on clothing. SHANGHAI WHEN Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue hit the newsstands last week in China for the first time, with the sexy singer Beyoncé on the cover, the competition was fierce. Readers here had already seen the February issue of For Him Magazine, which features a Chinese singer named A Duo on its cover wearing a white V-neck leotard that reveals every other inch of her rather substantial figure. snip... The racy For Him Magazine also offers tips on “how to do it...

Like father, like nanny? As chairman of the City Council's health committee, 28-year-old Joel Rivera has made a name for himself attempting to ban things other councilmembers haven't yet thought of: candy-flavored cigarettes, tobacco sales to adults under the age of 21, cheap (or "fast") food in poor neighborhoods . . .

A new dish is appearing on menus across the nation. Restaurateurs say they have little choice other than offer it, though it horrifies many customers. That item is the $40 entree. Until recently, such prices were the stuff of four-star, white-tablecloth meals, the kind that ended with a diamond ring on the petit four tray. But now entrees over $40 can be found in restaurants that are merely upscale, where diners wear jeans and tote children. In geographic terms, New York and Las Vegas have led the charge, and in culinary ones, luxury items like steak and lobster were first...

A friend forwarded me University of Texas Journalism Professor Robert Jensen's ode to pathetic wimpiness (which is posted at SFGate.com, for whom I also write), "Men being men is a bad deal, Guys should evolve beyond masculinity." Guys should evolve beyond masculinity? Let's hope not. Call me old-fashioned, but I'm one of those ladies who actually appreciates the manly virtues, not to mention the incredible damage it does to a society to try and suppress them.

The "cover story" isn't on the web, but the link goes to a Freepable poll, and the photos tell the story of a gushing puff piece timed to leverage His trip to Africa.

As a jubilant Ned Lamont announced his improbable win over incumbent Joe Lieberman, N.O.W. president Kim Gandy stood cheering at his side. The National Organization for Women press release proclaimed, “Peace is a feminist issue and the Iraq war has been a key issue in this campaign. . . . NOW PAC will continue to support Ned Lamont through the general election in November.” Little did Gandy realize that world events would soon overtake Lamont’s “just-give-peace-a-chance” mantra. Because just two days later on August 10, the world was rocked by news of a foiled Muslim plot to blow up more...

Deadwood is one of my favorite programs. Set in a South Dakota gold mining camp in the 1870s, it grittily explores the way human beings organize themselves when consigned to a lawless territory that attracts miscreants, varmints and vultures. A recent episode had an especially insightful moment when all the leaders of the camp were called to an important meeting without an invitation proffered to the female owner of the camp's only bank. Alma Garret could have all the money in the world, but because she has two X chromosomes (a distinction more graphically described in the show), she wasn't...

Deadwood is one of my favorite programs. Set in a South Dakota gold mining camp in the 1870s, it grittily explores the way human beings organize themselves when consigned to a lawless territory that attracts miscreants, varmints and vultures. A recent episode had an especially insightful moment when all the leaders of the camp were called to an important meeting without an invitation proffered to the female owner of the camp's only bank. Alma Garret could have all the money in the world, but because she has two X chromosomes (a distinction more graphically described in the show), she wasn't...

'WOMEN ARE equals now. They can fend for themselves. To offer a perfectly healthy woman a seat simply because she is a woman, however well-intentioned, is creepy. At best, she'll think you're from another country; at worst she'll feel old, or overweight enough to be perceived as pregnant." And that is a lesson in modern manners, according to the new issue of GQ (with Clive Owen on the cover). Glenn O'Brien and other GQ scribes weigh in on e-mails, cellphones, gym etiquette, dressing for travel, how to handle chatty seatmates, sleeping with your friend's ex, online dating, wedding gifts and...

There is a growing trend in men's fashion, the handbag. It goes by many names: the man-bag, the murse. It is a cross between a backpack and a briefcase that looks very much like a pocketbook. They have been big in Europe for quite some time. Who can forget Jerry Seinfeld's exclamation, "It's European." But now, it is coming to America. Why? Because in these teched-out, decked-out times, American men need to put all that stuff somewhere. Guys have their cell phones, BlackBerries, wallets, checkbooks, sunglasses, body spray, you name it. And the 21st century guy wants to put it...

The candidate, immersed in one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, said down for lunch with reporters yesterday and had this to say on the Iraq war: "It didn't work. . . . We didn't prepare for the peace." On the response to Hurricane Katrina: "A monumental failure of government." On the national mood: "There's a palpable frustration right now in the country." It's all fairly standard Democratic boilerplate -- except the candidate is a Republican . "For me to pretend I'm not a Republican would be a lie," he reasoned. But to run as a proud...

The other day I started a thread asking what everybody's Linus-blanket type obsession is. Mine is that I feel completely insecure outside unless I am wearing my fanny pack. Okay a few folks admitted what their neurotic security blankets were BUT I caught a lot of flak for even wearing a fanny pack. Even on my DUmmie FUnnies thread I was the target of mockery for wearing a fanny pack. The fact is that fanny packs are INCREDIBLY practical. It is the PERFECT place to stow away your money, sunglasses, cell phones, pens, dental floss, knives, radios, etc. when you...

NEWLYWEDS in America are “meshing” their names in an attempt to banish the sexism that comes when a woman takes her husband’s surname. Much as the tabloid newspapers have christened film stars Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes “Tomkat”, couples are opting to mix and match elements of their names as a sign of togetherness. Gary Ruderman, 43, a playwright and architect, got married last year to Jodi Wilgoren, a writer for The New York Times. The couple now go by the name of Rudoren. Ruderman’s wife-to-be first raised the subject, saying that she would love to share his name but...

One of the most fancied teams in Germany, England will open their FIFA World Cup™ campaign against Group B rivals Paraguay today -- LIVE NOW on ABC: England v Paraguay

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Ervin Santana allowed one run over 5 2-3 innings, Adam Kennedy hit a tiebreaking two-run triple and the Los Angeles Angels beat the New York Yankees 3-2 Saturday night to hand Randy Johnson his first loss of the season. The last time Johnson and Santana pitched in the same game was back on Oct. 10, when both worked in relief in the finale of the AL division series. Santana, who was bumped to the bullpen because the Angels went with a four-man rotation in the postseason, pitched 5 1-3 innings for the series-clinching victory in his...