"I'm not here to be anyone's babysitter."

Dear readers, Yours Truly feels like death warmed over. I think that after my move and hectic work schedule, my body just said, "Enough, woman. I'm not cooperating anymore." I'm just trying to get through the day.

In lieu of a new post, check out this wonderful musing on the older woman/younger man dynamic that I've had to deal with so often lately.

"Why do you write strong female characters?"

Watch it, the whole way through.

Hat tip: Echidne.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

"Love is a cigar we willingly smoke," writes a man who was interested in my profile.

Problem is, I'm allergic.

So, I guess that's not going to work.

A man by any other name

Hello, people. Sorry I've been gone a few days; I moved on Saturday, and have been busy getting settled, getting my cable and internet set up, you know the drill.

In lieu of a new post, I'd like to turn your attention to a tradition-defying couple in my current state of residence.

UPDATE: Antigone has a follow up on this subject.

The military continues to be stupid

Pfc. Monica Brown became only the second woman since WWII to receive the Silver Star, for bravery under fire.

For her exemplary service, she was pulled from combat. That makes a lot of sense!

"I got pulled" by higher-ups, she said, because her presence as "a female in a combat arms unit" had attracted attention.

I love that. Attention for what? Bravery? Or bravery while female? Why is that a problem? Were they afraid she was makin' the boys look bad? Do they think Brown's male peers wish that they'd had their lives saved by a man that day? Do you really think they care?

President Bush has forcefully backed the Army's restrictions, asserting in a January 2005 interview with the Washington Times that there should be "no women in combat." Since her heroic actions, however, Brown was promoted to specialist and has been congratulated by Cheney in Afghanistan, praised in a meeting with Bush at a NATO summit in Romania, and offered a job on the White House staff.

Yeah, that's just what she needs - to go work for the idiot who thinks she can't handle combat (which she has already handled) because she has a vagina.

To be fair, this is the work of Teh Dubya, against the wishes of his own commanders:

Military officers in the field and independent experts have said it is both infeasible and contrary to the Army's own warfighting doctrine to prevent women from serving in proximity to – or together with – all-male combat units in today's war zones. They contend that if the goal of the policy is to protect women from capture or bodily harm, it cannot be done in the scramble of conflicts such as those in the Middle East.

Listen to the praise this medic has received from her superiors and peers:

No sooner were they in the ditch that insurgents began firing mortars. Brown threw her body over Smith, shielding him as more than a dozen rounds hit nearby. The ammunition inside the burning Humvee then started exploding, including 60mm mortars, 40mm grenade rounds and rifle ammunition. Again, Brown lay over the wounded.

Robbins, the platoon leader, repositioned his Humvee near the injured and was incredulous that Brown had survived. "I was surprised I didn't get killed and she'd been over there for 10, 15 minutes longer," he recalled.

"There was small arms coming in from two different machine-gun positions, mortars falling . . . a burning Humvee with 16 mortar rounds in it, chunks of aluminum the size of softballs flying all around," said Robbins, of Portsmouth, R.I. "It was about as hairy as it gets."

Across Afghanistan, female medics such as Brown are regularly sent to serve with combat units. "The real catch was to have a female medic out there because of the cultural sensitivities and the flexibility that gave commanders," said Maj. Paul Narowski, the executive officer of Brown's battalion. "It is absolutely not about gender in terms of how well they will do," he said, adding that he does not know why Brown was pulled out.

Silly, silly Major. Because she's a baby machine, and that's all that matters.

DUH.
Hat tip: Jezebel.

Good sportsmanship

This is my warm fuzzy of the day.

Freak extraordinaire - "Should I call the police?!" edition

Somebody found my blog by Googling "i sniff my 9 year old panties".

BARF.

Does this person sniff their own panties, which are 9 years old and crusty? Or is this person sniffing a 9 year old's panties?!

No matter how you slice it, it just comes up wrong.

Beware the gentleman who acts like a gentleman.

Readers, it's bad enough that ladies such as myself have to constantly dodge rude men. These days, it would seem that a few shady dudes have realized that, since sleazy doesn't work, they might lure in a few unsuspecting females with a polite facade. This tactic has worked on Yours Truly once before. More than once, actually. It's sad to say, but although I still hold out hope that a polite-sounding man is exactly that, I now have a cynical streak, and I am rarely proven wrong.

Case in point:

Yesterday I received this unusually polite email. It almost sounds like pleading, doesn't it?

Hi Ginger, I'd really like to get to know you. I'm hoping you'll read my short profile and let me know if you'd be at all interested in knowing me a bit better too. I hope you do. We could talk a bit, exchange pics, ideas, and see where that takes us. No stress, drama, lies, or expectations. Just nice words between nice people. Does that sound reasonable? I would love to hear back from you. You have nothing to lose, and you just might like who and what you find. Thanks for your time and consideration. If I don't hear back from you, I do wish you nothing but the best.

"Thanks for your time and consideration?" There's something I never hear; actually, it's the kind of thing you'd put on a cover letter. I guess that's appropriate, since the guy was really trying to sell himself. It was so polite as to be shady. Isn't it horrible that I think this way now? I don't want to, but it's a defense mechanism.

Well, I can benefit from the anonymity of the internet just like any of the crazy dudes who email me. I clicked his profile, which read:

I am an attractive and yes, married man with two wonderful children. Long story, but, I'd love to fill you in. I'm really looking for that one special woman that I can spend my free time with. All I do know is that there has to be more to life than what I am experiencing right now. Please contact me if you'd be at all interested. Who knows, you might be surprised.

Oh, honey. Nothing surprises me any more.

I'm really looking for that one special woman that I can spend my free time with.

The time you should be spending with your two wonderful kids?

Who knows what this guy's story is, and who cares. This is gross! You know, it's married people who've done the best job at keeping me from getting married. Now, I'm sure some of y'all are happily married, but I'm not talking about you peeps.

At least he was upfront about being married before we went out. I haven't always been so lucky!

Holy cow

Remind me why I'm doing the online dating thing again? This was in the profile of a man who's interested in me:

"My barnyard beauties call me 'Pimp Daddy.'"

I...have no words.

Can't begin to interpret it, don't want to.

Is There an Army Cover Up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?

I'm thinking yes.