Jamie Friedman's Blog

Energy Bill: We are killing a lot more than just time

Jamie Friedman — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 15:14:32 EST

Due to political gridlock in Congress over provisions in the Energy Bill, it now seems that Senate and House reps are so scared of not passing a bill that they are again (as they did with ENDA) at risk of passing a less than mediocre piece of legislation.

Federal Court smack down

Jamie Friedman — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 16:15:59 EST

Yesterday, US federal appeals courts made a move in the right direction by rejecting the Bush administration’s 2008-2011 fuel-economy regulations for model light trucks and SUVs. They criticized the administration's new regulations for vehicle gas emissions by claiming that the regulations failed to take into acccount the economic impact of gas emissions' dangerous impact on climate change. The judges rejected the proposal demanding that the Transportation Department go back and add tougher standards for vehicle gas emissions.

Nothing like a little federal smack down in the name of climate change. I like it.

Faulty Studies used to Promote Conservative Agenda for Abstinence

Jamie Friedman — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:25:45 EST

In February, the Journal of Youth and Adolescence published a longitudinal study performed by a groups of researchers from Ohio State that indicated a strong connection between the onset of teenage sexual behavior and delinquency. Wait…. what? Their findings suggest the classic conservative notion that “sex is bad” and so concluded that the loss of virginity at a relatively young age appears to, as the researchers wrote, "open the doorway to problem behaviors." (Check it out on the Post). This is brilliant! What better way to continue the hoax of abstinence only education than to show that having sex no longer solely implies shaky morals, but in fact, now leads to a full blown criminal record?

Wait....are they serious? Southwest Airlines making offensive calls on passenger's "offensive" attire

Jamie Friedman — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:15:53 EDT

Ohh, Southwest Airlines. We all love them don't we? Cheap flights, sarcastic pilots over the intercom...? They offer seemingly friendly service don't they? Well - not if you are female wearing a tank top with anything bigger than an A cup. Apparently, flight attendants on Southwest Airlines have taken it upon themselves to make judgment calls on young women's attire aboard their flights. So much so that they have harassed and humiliated multiple young women on their "inappropriate" and "offensive" attire and almost kicked one of them off her flight. The only response the young woman received when asking which part of her outfit was "offensive" was simply - "all of it."

"All of what," exactly? Kyla Ebbert, 23, was the first to receive wide national attention for her incident with Southwest earlier this month. She was told to "cover up" for wearing, what I would say, is a regular mini skirt and for showing the natural amount of cleavage one would see on any woman who has breasts. But apparently, Ebbert is not the only victim. In fact, Setara Quassim and at least one other woman also encountered similar “offensive” humiliation with Southwest flight attendants. All I have to say is this - Did seeing cleavage serve as the horrid reminder that women have breasts? It is hard to understand what people are so offended by, when in fact, it's these Southwest employee's actions that should be deemed offensive. Anyone?