As Metro so lucidly explained, we are living in very interesting political times, as Canadians. Prime Minister Stephen Harper gained a reprieve from Governor General Michaelle Jean when he was granted a prorogation (a word every Canadian now understands) of Parliament until late January. He dodged the bullet of a potentially career-ending no-confidence vote slated for this coming Monday, Dec. 8, hanging onto his position by his fingernails. He knows his minority Conservative government would have been deposed on Monday.

It’s been educational for us Canucks, not only learning the definition of “prorogation” but also being reminded that the Governor General wields more political power than the Prime Minister.

Still, there is a lot of political ignorance out there.

I work with a couple of young women, one about 25, the other just 18. This morning, the 25-year-old said, “Whut?” when the rest of us heard the news about Parliament being suspended by the GG, and comments were flying across the office. “Whut does that mean? Who would wanna do that?” I tried to explain but was met with, “Oh, I don’t follow politics. Major yawn.”

The 18-year-old giggled and contributed, “I hate to admit it, but, like, I don’t know who the Pee-Em is.” I echoed, “You don’t know who the Prime Minister is?” I was dumbfounded. I added, “You’re of voting age, right?”

“Oh yeah, and I, like, voted in the October election, for, like, the NDP.” She was proud of this fact, but I seriously doubt she knows who leads the NDP party, if she can’t even name the PM who has held office for almost 3 years.

But, like, it’s not important, right? I mean, DUH.

A California mom got her child’s class photos back, only to find that the photographer had Photoshopped out every last freckle on every single second-grader.

Are freckles on a seven year old my failure? …. I wasn’t previously aware that a few freckles were a Photoshoppable offense.

One wonders what other “flaws” were retouched. Crooked teeth? Messy hair?

Maybe when the girls hit middle school photographers will taper their waists and accentuate their bustlines? The 8th grade boys would surely enjoy getting broader shoulders. Why stop with just a few freckles?

She’s pissed off that someone thought her kids needed “fixing”, and so am I. This is teaching children that they’re flawed, ugly, not worth printing on photo paper without being made “normal” first.

This also reminds me of the services offered by pageant photo retouchers. If you want to see something really creepy, read this article: “Retouching Service Turns Pageant Children Into Plastic Freakshows”.

Abject apologies! I just had a cup of tea and realized I have not updated this since people stopped clapping and Tinkerbell died… You would not believe my anguish at my misdoings. Please don’t abandon me!

I am distracted with discovering time doesn’t stand still, selling my soul to Google, just generally being Snow White to the local soccer team; my day lasts forever from 5:35am to well after sundown. I am convinced that I absolutely deserve this after all my hard work. I wish you could be here to share it.

I swear on the bones of my ancestors I will update you with my nefarious activities as soon as I get a chance. No, really! What do you mean you don’t believe me?
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Okay, I didn’t really write that… the Lazy Bloggers’ Post Generator did. But quitting my job, packing, moving several hundred miles away, starting a new job and despairing of ever unpacking every box is a damn good excuse.

Testicles for your truck? There’s no dearth of places to buy them. ThatsNutz.com (Dayglo? No problem! Blue balls? …really?)

BumperNuts.com, BullsBalls.com… too bad that Florida legislators keep trying to ban them.

Looks like these guys just can’t compensate hard enough.

If you’re mourning the loss of your bumper crop of junk, you can always add antlers to the roof. We’re not surprised to see fangs for the front bumper and even this incredible mod. But a nutsack? C’mon.

This caught my attention. An article in the Vancouver Sun about a week ago, “Research appears to undo what we thought we knew about sex and stuff”. (Actual headline.)

Apparently hetero women just aren’t hard-wired, cerebrally, to be aroused by the sight of naked men, while we all know that the sight of a nekkid lady makes most men’s eyes sproing out on springs and their hearts pound visibly in their chests. Or maybe I’ve just seen to many Merrie Melodies cartoons.

Anyway, Meredith Chivers, a research fellow at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health at the University of Toronto, found that straight women were no more excited by videos of hunky, naked men doing yoga than by the control footage: slow camera pans of snow-capped Himalayan mountains.

But when the same female group viewed naked women exercising, their blood flow increased sharply. And it was monitored well since Chivers had hooked her subjects up to a photoplethysmograph in a place that makes them extremely tolerant, broadminded, easy-going volunteers.

This adds to a growing body of evidence that female sexuality is more multi-dimensional, and a lot more interesting, than men’s.

Women’s apparent gender tolerance presents an unexpected challenge for straight men, who, predictably, are only turned on by women.

The competition for a woman’s love has doubled. It’s one thing to fight an army of male suitors, quite another to stand against all of humanity. What straight men have long considered an erotic fantasy has become a threat to their manhood. Women think other women are hot; men, not so much. It’s tough to be a guy.

Or to put it another way — guys, remember that when you get out of the shower and strut around, to her you’re just a snow-capped Himalaya.