Texas Deputy Attorney General Apologises Publicy To Simone Biles
Simone Biles, the American Olympic gymnast who is the most decorated American gymnast of all time, made headlines this week in Tokyo when she elected to prioritize her mental health over the risk of an injury in the Olympic competition, and withdrew from the team final. She was mature and calm when she made the decision, and in a statement she said:
Read full storyDid You Misplace Your Wedding Dress In Frisco, Texas?
From the pics, it looks immaculate. And although the details aren't clear, I'd say it looks like a dress with a beaded, possibly jewelled fitted bodice; cap sleeves; and a full taffeta mesh skirt, layered, with a beaded pattern to echo the bodice. White, of course, and - well - weddingy.
Read full storyMassachusetts Cat Returns After Six-Year Absence
Last summer, when we were on holiday in France, our little white cat went missing. She was being cared for by my eldest daughter but she obviously didn't like the change of routine or the empty house she was living in and, just before we came home, she went walkabout and hasn't been seen since.
Read full story"Giant Snail Takeover" Has Been Prevented At Houston Airport
They're not something I particularly fancy eating (I won't even eat the tiny ones in French restaurants - I can't get past the idea of how slimy they must be) but apparently, in West Africa, giant land snails are considered a delightful delicacy. This, presumably, is why a passenger tried recently to bring a few into Houston via its George Bush airport. But they never ended up on anyone's plate, because they were seized by border officials before that could happen.
Read full storySome Success For #FreeBritney - And She's Turning Cartwheels
Britney Spears turned cartwheels when she learned she can hire her own lawyerSky News. Britney Spears' campaign to break free of her father's strict conservatorship has seen a development this week that saw her post a video on Instagram of herself turning cartwheels in celebration. And for the very first time, she herself used the hashtag #FreeBritney, which has been used by her online supporters for years as they've followed her case.
Read full storyGiant Goldfish In Burnsville Is A Lesson To Us All
Goldfish are, and have been for years, a very popular pet. Although they're not usually given away as prizes at fairs anymore (animal welfare is more important than taking home a fish in a bag!), lots of children and their parents have home aquariums, and goldfish - because they're such a brilliant orange color, relatively hardy and strong, and easy to look after in cold water - are far and away one of the most popular choices for an at-home fish.
Read full storyIn England, Jamie Spears Couldn't Have Done What He's Done
Britney Spears wants her dad out of her affairsSky News. I live in the UK. For the longest time, I thought that an American “conservator” was the same as a British “deputy”. I thought the roles were basically interchangeable. They seemed so similar! And yes, there are lots of similarities on the face of it.
Read full storyAnother Long-Missing Class Ring Has Been Found - In Florida This Time
The newly found class ringIndy100 via WWSB-TV/ABC 7. I wrote recently about a story I was fascinated by, in which a metal detectorist in Wisconsin had turned up a ring that had gone missing in 1976 at a school in Wisconsin, and the dedication with which he tracked down the original owner of the ring so that it could be returned to him. And now, less than a month later, a very similar story has occurred - also in the US, but in Florida this time. And with a ring lost a full 10 years later than the Wisconsin one; this one was from 1986.
Read full storyYes, More Mr. Nice Guy
Last summer, my friend and I took our teenaged daughters to a drive-in movie, to a screening set up as part of Covid-friendly local entertainment. The film that was showing was Grease. I hadn’t seen it in years, and I was quite excited as the opening credits began to roll.
Read full storyMy Husband Visited A Strip Club - And I Didn't React Like I Thought I Would
We’d been married for two years and we were away on a mini-break, which was a rare thing in those days because we had very little money. Also, we’d taken our children with us, because they were very small, so it wasn’t exactly a romantic mini-break. But still. We were on holiday. It was a treat.
Read full storyMy 3 Favorite Yoga Stretches (As A Runner)
Most runners will be familiar with the experience of running-related aches and pains, at least sometimes. That tight hamstring that leads to referred pain in the opposite knee after a long run; the weak hip flexor that can affect our gait or position and lead to occasional backache; the random foot and ankle pains that come and go, especially on rough terrain.
Read full storyMisogyny and Misandry Cannot Be Compared
Men and women have different reactions to hatePexels. In England in March of this year, in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard, a small feminist victory was quietly advanced.
Read full storyWomen Don't Get To "Press Pause" Like Men Do
He’s a straight white cis man and once at a party he tried messily to kiss me on a dark staircase, even though his best friend is my husband and even though I had not said that I wanted to.
Read full storyCould You Give Yourself A Pap Smear?
Pap smears don't necessarily need doctors or nurses.Pexels. Recently, the NHS in England announced a groundbreaking development. In London initially, 31,000 smear test kits are being sent out to women to use at home. This has been introduced mainly because the Covid-19 pandemic has had a catastrophic effect on routine appointments and there’s a hope this will help to ease the backlog — but also, it could signal the start of a general change in the way the ordeal of smear tests is generally perceived.
Read full storyBut I Want To Keep My Bra On, Though!
One of the first “pandemic life changes” for women I read about last year was the concept of “binning our bras”. From the very first moment that we all started working from home, I read article after piece after tweet extolling the joys of a bra-free existence. Everywhere I turned, it seemed, I found cartoons shouting about the relief of ditching the breast scaffolding.
Read full storyVisit NASA In Houston - You Have To, Don't You?!
Astronaut model outside NASA, TexasAuthor's own photo. You can't visit Houston and not pay a visit to NASA, can you? Well, I couldn't. The immortal line "Houston, we have a problem" is ingrained in the minds of pretty much anyone who was alive at the end of the last century. Space and Houston go together like peas and carrots.
Read full storyThere's A "Pain Gap" - And It's Hurting Women
Two weeks ago, a good friend of mine popped into her doctor’s surgery during her lunch hour to have an IUD fitted. An IUD — “intrauterine device” — is also called a coil, and it’s a tiny T-shaped piece of metal or plastic that needs to be inserted into the womb through the neck of the cervix and then left there. It prevents pregnancy, and some types of IUDs also release hormones to regulate a woman’s menstrual cycle or to smooth the passage of early menopause.
Read full storyMidlife Is A Gendered Issue
Recently, I’ve heard a lot of chatter about menopause. I’m not actually there yet — statistically I’m about 5-10 years too young, still — but because a lot of my friends are a few years older than me, it’s a topic that weaves in and out of many of the conversations I have with other women.
Read full storyMen Have Always Thrown Women Crumbs. But We Deserve Much More
In the months that I spent on my own, after cheating on my husband and leaving our home, I could actually feel my personality begin to change by slow degrees. I was very lonely: that was part of it. I’d thoroughly destroyed all the good stuff in my life, and I barely knew who I was in the wake of that destruction. I did believe, though, that I loved the man with whom I had cheated on my husband. I also believed, like a cliche of a fool, that he loved me. And more to the point, I believe that for him to declare this love — which he regularly did— was all that mattered as evidence of it. I fixated on his words, when his actions were anything but loving.
Read full storyDemi Lovato Shows That Trauma Responses Are Not All The Same
Demi Lovato — former child actress, teen star, drug addict, and now a recovering alcoholic — revealed recently in her YouTube docuseries (“Dancing with the Devil”) that after her near-fatal overdose in 2018, after recovering and returning to her life, she got back in touch with the dealer who had sold her the drugs that night.
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