How Brittany Murphy's Menstruation Just Doesn't Make Sense @11:31 AM
There are a lot of women out there who have menstrual cycles. Generally, they talk about it amongst themselves. But sometimes menstruation becomes public! Like in Brittany Murphy's autopsy report, which, Us Weekly reports today, her husband has just read. (The magazine notes that he found reading it upsetting.) But women readers will note that there is some really intriguing menses-related information here. READ MORE 26
Half of Jailed Journalists are Freelancers–And Half Work Online @2:11 PM
Slate, our totally favorite website, where we all desperately want to work some day, looks at the annual statement by the good people at the Committee To Protect Journalists, who report today that 46% of journalists in jail are freelancers—and half of them work online: "A decade ago, when China first topped the list, most of those jailed were print reporters for mainstream media outlets who had gone too far in their criticism of government officials… But online journalists can't be fired, blacklisted, or, in most cases, bought off precisely because most work independently. They don't have employers who can be pressured. Chinese authorities have few options when it comes to reining in online critics-censor them, intimidate them, or throw them in jail. This explains why 18 of the 24 journalists imprisoned in China worked online." 5
The Internet, with Maura Johnston: Martha Stewart Show Embraces Twitter, Grills Founder @10:58 AM
Two weeks ago, MTV's Video Music Awards embraced the liveblogging concept, hiring Internet personality-construct iJustine to preside over mentions of the show on the microblogging service Twitter—and they reaped Internet rewards when Kanye West ran up on stage and sparked a million angry blog posts. Martha Stewart's eponymous TV show took a similar tack yesterday, when it taped a show to air this Friday devoted to what the domestic empress described as "all you need to know about tech and social netwworking" [sic]. Attendees were encouraged to Tweet and blog throughout the taping; there was even an official hashtag that the warm-up comedian confusedly announced to the audience between segments. Martha's studio is as well-apportioned and spacious as one might expect, and the combination of bright-eyed audience members and open laptops kept bringing to mind a particularly well-designed lecture hall on the first day of fall quarter. READ MORE 9
Fox News Goes Big On 'Despot Housewives' @1:00 PM
Poor Fox News can barely fill out five slots in its wonderful "DESPOT HOUSEWIVES" charticle, but still it is a splendid and hilarious thing to behold. Unfortunately they run out of steam by number 5: "Parvin Ahmadinejad is very rarely seen even when beheld in public, as her hard-line husband follows a strict form of Islam that requires women to wear a full-body hijab. In fact, almost nothing is known about Mrs. Ahmadinejad — her age, her schooling, her sign of the Zodiac –because she stands quietly by in a conservative Muslim theocracy, where women are raped the night before executions and face up to 80 lashes for refusing to cover their hair." WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS HORRIBLE WOMAN AND HER HORRIBLE RAPEY COUNTRY! Also, "Jimmy Choo-style"? Was it a knockoff or not? What gives? 6
