You absolutely must watch the video above in response to the ridiculous Super Bowl's Dodge Charger ad, "Man's Last Stand." Via The Sexist. (Transcript after jump.)

Former president Bill Clinton has been hospitalized for heart-related issues. Reports are saying he had chest pains and is receiving two stents for his artery.

This proposed Durex condom ad says giving head makes women feel dainty.

A Christian group is filing a lawsuit claiming that hate crime laws are an attempt to "eradicate" their religion.

Wonkette's Ana Marie Cox has landed a gig as the new GQ correspondent. Go Ana Marie!

Crossposted from Yes Means Yes Blog:

I read Asher Bauer's powerful personal story a while ago, and I didn't know what I could possibly say about it. I still don't, but since the crux of the story is that he has no place to process the story, it seems somehow wrong not to write about it; that would make this just one more place this story (and by extension Bauer's life) doesn't fit.

I've written recently about a male victim of rape. That's incredibly hard to deal with. Men report at even lower rates than women and get perhaps even less support. Certainly the media is no more, and perhaps even less, willing to appropriately call it rape when a man is raped.

But where does a man tell his story if he was raped when he was a woman? Apparently, at Carnal Nation, which has become a regular read for me because they keep publishing folks like Asher Bauer, and like my friend Clarisse Thorn. Bauer himself says, "I still haven't found a space where it is OK to be a man who was raped as a girl, much less a venue where others are able to share similar experience."

And oh my, is it a doozy. The accompanying picture was included in a story by CBS about a Chinese-American flight passenger who was subdued after a bad trip from marijuana cookies. That's right, it seems that CBS thought it would be clever to use imagery of weed and fortune cookies as a way to represent the fact that this dude was Chinese. Thea Lim at Racialicious alerted us to this gem, who says:

I don't know about baked good with drugs in them. (Really. I swear) But I do know that fortune cookies are a task and a half to make. Dear CBS, haven't you heard that along with a ravenous appetite for fortune cookies, Chinese people also love efficiency? No Chinese person worth their salt would spend hours making marijuana fortune cookies when they could just make Sara Lee brownies out of a box...(/sarcasm)

While we're on the topic, I should mention that fortune cookies are not exactly a good illustration of Chineseness. Fortune cookies, while based on a Japanese prototype, are actually 100% American.

Just...wow.

In an especially sweet victory for sex positivity in the U.S., the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health (CSPH), the first non-profit sexuality resource and information center on the East Coast, was granted a permit to open in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Despite months of controversy and opposition during a long, drawn out battle over "zoning permits" (read: sexuality and sex-related scare-tactics), the Center is finally open for business!

Megan Andelloux, a board certified Sexologist and Sexuality Educator is the founder and director of the non-profit Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health, and she's had to go through a lot to see this center come to fruition. Despite the seemingly obvious benefits of having a center like this to educate, inform, and empower, she's actually been in a legal battle over the opening since September since- surprise, surprise, the idea of this center wasn't immediately a popular one in the Rhode Island town where it now resides.

Carnal Nation, where Andelloux is a contributor, reports that the rumors surrounding the Center's opening were as flagrant as they were false:

"Accusations ranged from claims that they would teach sadomasochistic practices to schoolchildren to essentially being nothing more than a brothel.The grand opening celebration, which included speakers such as Carol Queen, Gina Ogden, and Elizabeth Wood and attracted over 200 people, had to be held off-premises in Providence because the zoning board refused to let the Center open on the grounds that their location wasn't zoned for educational purposes. As Megan herself wrote a few months ago, 'That's correct, folks: the city of Pawtucket, RI took a firm stance against 'education' coming into their town.'"

Scare tactics and fear surrounding sexuality and sexual health are nothing new, which is why I'm so glad the verdict came down on the right side this time. The Center will provide tons of crucial community services, including one-on-one coaching services and group classes, as well as hold drop-in hours and offer access to resources on sex, sexuality, pleasure, and health. And it looks like even those who initially opposed it have had to come around to the importance of these services in their community- the press release issues by the Center notes that:

"While the introduction of The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health started off rocky, and false rumors swirled about what the CSPH would be providing, members of the conservative, liberal, and libertarian community eventually stated that The CSPH mission, to provide adults with a safe space to access information about sex, did indeed fit in with their community values."

Love it. Big congrats to Megan- She deserves major kudos for her perseverance and courage in the face of all this unfounded opposition.

For more, check out a video on Waking Vixen of Andelloux telling the story of the controversy.

h/t to Audacia Ray

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Whether you’ll be spending it with a brand new partner or one you’ve known for years, PPNYC wants to help you make sure the relationship is as enjoyable and safe as possible. How do you do that? Conversation of course.

When was the last time you had an honest conversation with your partner about sex? Or about STDs? Brought up something new you want to try? Or something that isn’t working for you?

If it was recently, good for you! If it wasn’t, well, don’t worry you’re not alone.

Our CEO Joan Malin has a great piece up at RH Reality Check and the Huffington Post on how to have difficult conversations, but we thought we’d pull the highlights out for you here:

Educate yourself. Whether it's an STD risk or something new you want to try, know as much about a topic before you bring it up.
Do it with your clothes on. Even though it might be tempting, don’t wait until you’re in the bedroom to bring up a tricky topic. Instead pick a comfortable place, before you’ve gotten hot and heavy.
Break the ice. Telling your partner you’re nervous can be a great way to start. As can bringing up a recent study/statistic/story you’ve read or heard.
Be upfront. Don’t beat around the bush or be dishonest. Be as honest as you can.
Use humor. Yes, this kind of talk can seem weighty or serious, but it’s ok to laugh or use humor to lighten the mood.
Bring up something good first. Mention something you like about your partner first, before bringing up something that isn't working for you.
Talk about protection, pleasure and problems. These open and honest talks aren’t just about the last time you got STD tested. You should be discussing what you like and don’t like, and what is and isn’t working for you.

Check out the full piece or the tips on our blog, and let us know what tips have worked for you!

As an update to yesterday's What We Missed that called attention to the horrendous Facebook group, "Kill Your Hooker So You Don't Have to Pay Her", one of our readers alerted us to this: Apparently, everyone's speedy organizing has resulted in the group changing their name (and link) to make it seem as if the group doesn't exist anymore. But oh, does it still.

Let's keep reporting it until this group is gone permanently. Great online organizing, all!

UPDATE: It looks like the group changed its name again, but we can't seem to find it. If anyone finds it, email me with the link so I can switch up the link again. In the meantime, Carnal Nation finds that there are 232 Facebook groups that contain the words, "dead hooker."

UPDATE TWO: The group is back up at the link it was before.

Reverend Bavi Edna "Nedi" Rivera, the first Hispanic woman bishop ordained in the Episcopal Church. Let's hope the Church of England follows suit.

Despite "traditionalists" being up in a frenzy, the Church of England is standing their ground and moving forward with drafting legislation that would allow women to be bishops.

The Angelican Communion has 77 million members worldwide and has been debating this issue -- as well as the inclusion of gay bishops and same-sex marriage -- for quite some time now. Meanwhile, several Anglo-Catholics have been threatening to leave because of the announcement to include women in leadership. (And because the Pope offered a nice cushy place in his homophobic, anti-choice, anti-women haven at the Vatican.)

However, supporters of the legislation have been suspect when this will actually happen because there's already been quite a delay in drafting it. (Not to mention where's the legislation for gay bishops?) Let's hope the Church's words of assurance this week offers some faith that change will happen soon.

This is just amazing. Boing Boing's Maggie Koerth-Baker filled us in on a lecture she listened to by MIT psychologist Sherry Turkle on her new book featuring various students and scientists disclosing "the objects that first drew their minds to math, computers, science and technology." And amidst the standard objects you'd assume one would draw science from - like a radio or legos - Christine Alvarado used her My Little Pony as a way to help develop her science geekery:

I had several small plastic Ponies that I used to play make-believe with my friends. But I had one larger, plush My Little Pony, a bright-green stuffed horse with a vivid pink mane and tail that I played with all by myself. I would sit for hours on my own, braiding and rebraiding its tail. I developed a system for braiding the tail of my Pony that taught me about mathematical concepts-- from division to recursion.

With science and math toys usually being reserved for the boys' section of the store, actually utilizing a gendered doll to engage one's scientific interests is just completely bad-ass. Goes to show just how resilient our minds can be, despite the suggestions placed before us. (Again and again and again...) Read Christine's whole story.

Choice USA, an awesome youth reproductive justice organization, is accepting applications for it's Southern Reproductive Justice Institute to be held in Durham, NC this March. More information here.

There is a horrific facebook page entitled "Kill your hooker so you don't have to pay her." I hope I don't have to explain what's wrong with that. Unfortunately you have to visit the page in order to report it. To report there is a button on the bottom of the left sidebar. (Thanks to Miranda for the heads up)

John Mayer pretty much sucks. Jill at Feministe has more on why.

There are some proposed revisions to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual in regards to how gender identity disorder is classified, instead referring to it as gender incongruence. Still not sure what this might mean for trans folks, but we'll have more soon.

The non-profit organization SAGE was awarded almost one million dollars from the Department of Health and Human Services to provide services to elderly LGBTQ folks. Bilerico has the details.

This case from Iowa is a spine-tingling example of the ways that feticide laws, ostensibly created to protect pregnant women and punish late-term abortion, can go awry. Police accused Christine Taylor, an Iowa mother of two, of trying to kill her fetus when she fell down the stairs. According to Ms. Taylor, she was crying and hyperventilating after a distressing conversation with her estranged huband, and fell down a flight of stairs. Although paramedics said she was fine, she went to the emergency room out of concern for her fetus. While there, she admitted to hospital personnel that she had not wanted to be pregnant and had considered adoption and abortion rather than raising a third child as a single mother.

Read this slowly: she was arrested and jailed for being ambivalent about her pregnancy.

Before anyone starts wanking about "no, she was jailed for trying to illegally kill her baybee!!," I'd like to point out that the police never would have been involved had she not expressed her ambivalence at being pregnant. You know, because having a miscarriage is not a crime.