EHARMONIOUS RESEARCH

Couples United By Internet Dating Sites Are Happiest, Says Internet Dating Site Boardmember

By Elizabeth C.

USED TO BE LOOKING FOR LOVE ON THE INTERNET WAS construed as the lot of losers who had run out of options. But those who traveled down that road may get the last laugh, as a new study by two University of Chicago researchers concludes unions birthed on Internet dating sites are stronger.

In a survey of 19,131 American adults who married between 2005 and 2012, 35 percent reported having met their spouses online, according to research by John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago’s Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience. Of that group, 45 percent met through dating sites, with another 21 percent connecting through social networks.

“Meeting online is no longer an anomaly, and the prospects are good,” says John Cacioppo, a professor of social psychology.

Even more surprising — these couples report higher levels of marital satisfaction and lower divorce rates.

BALANCING ACT

Turkish ‘Woman In Red’ Becomes Latest Symbol of Abusive Government Power

ReutersBy Elizabeth C.

THE WOMAN IN RED STANDS with eyes closed, head turned, unbowed as Turkish “riot police” spray her directly in the face with tear gas. Reuters reports she’s become the “leitmotif for female protesters during days of violent anti-government demonstrations in Istanbul.” The image has been shared “endlessly” on social media, according to the news agency, which first published the shot taken by Osman Orsal.

Yet there’s something familiar about the photo: it mimics the same cold-minded assault that the now-notorious “pepper spray cop” showed while spraying Occupy protesters at the University of California-Davis in 2009, as well as the single-minded intent of the New York police who penned in Occupy protesters before spraying them with the crowd controlling chemical.

Three different locations, two different governments, but a singular goal: to quell citizens’ protests against government’s heavy-handed authority.

SUGAR AND SUGAR

Kim’s Having A Girl & Guessing Game Turns To Baby’s Name

THE CAT’S OUT OF THE BAG, AND KIM KARDASHIAN IS GIFTING THE WORLD A BABY WITH A VAGINA. Hearty congrats all around!

There’s obvious benefits to Kimye having a girl. There’s the encyclopedic tips on makeup and hair she’ll be privy to from her well-coiffed aunties. She’ll learn first-hand the material gratification that pretty girls can score through proper eyelash batting. And, as a female Kardashian, she’ll not be required to play basketball or music or other people, as do the current crop of the Kardashian lesser halves. All she’ll have to do is look pretty.

On the down side? All she’ll have to do is look pretty. Plastic surgery is inevitable. And the competition between Kim and Beyoncé will now extend beyond booties, bank accounts and baby daddies. Won’t be long before tabloids are comparing Blue Ivy to the little ‘K’ Kardashian.

RESOLULTIONS

The Real Housewives Of Orange County: Love In The Time Of Lasagna

By Karen Malmquist

FINALLY, THE SUN IS SHINING ON THE ladies of the O.C.! Tamra and Lydia are making peace with their mothers, and Heather FINALLY cracks a smile at Terry.

Heather tells Tamra that she wasn’t a fan of Gretchen and Slade’s behavior at her Hot in Cleveland, especially being late for the beginning of the episode. Tamra gives a neutral shrug and sips her wine.

Alexis isn’t happy when Lydia tells her that she went to Heather’s taping. She’s worried that Lydia might be spending too much time with the enemy, but Lydia thinks it’s time for Alexis to make a “bold move” and apologize for her part in the ongoing feud and… like maybe also dropping the whole “bullying” thing? It loses meaning when it’s thrown around like a tetherball.

CAUSE OR EFFECT OF SETTLING?

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Does The Birth Control Pill Make Women Settle For ‘Less Beneficial’ Men?

Credit: A Lofty Existence

RESEARCHERS IN NETHERLANDS ASSERT that birth control pills may makes partnered women less competitive for men, possibly resulting in them settling for “less beneficial” males.

But don’t throw out the baby-deferring meds with the bathwater yet, because the study’s sample was very small — 28 women — and raises more questions than it answers.

Social scientists at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands queried the subjects — women between the ages of 20 and 31 already enrolled in a pre-existing pharmaceutical trial — on three separate occasions: While on the pill, during non-fertile periods in their menstrual cycle, and during fertile periods. Half the women were in relationships while the other half were single.

DUPLICITY VS. DUALITY

Mad Men: The Avon Ladies Deliver

By Miz J

AS THE CHICAGO DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION UNFOLDS, we witness the chasm between the Old Way and the New Way deepen.

First, Don and Megan display totally different points of view on the chaos that’s unfolding in Chicago, with Megan being compassionate toward the protesters and Don being his usually cynical self. Despite this, though, we can clearly see that their marriage is on the mend.

Outside the swanky penthouse, the partners continue to argue about the name of this goddamn agency. Here, too, the split is palpable: the CDC guys versus the SCDP guys, and the SCDP old guard versus the SCDP new guard. Joan and Peter are beginning to jockey for position, something that typically happens during agency tumult like mergers or client losses.

OPTING FOR BALL & CHAIN

Convicted Murderer Jordan Van Der Sloot Is Engaged

By Jacob Wittich

DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN — CONVICTED MURDERER AND suspect in a second death — to have and to hold ‘till death do you part?

Believe it or not, Joran van der Sloot, imprisoned convicted murderer of a young Lima woman, and chief suspect in the 2005 disappearance of 17-year-old Alabama teen Natalee Holloway, is engaged to be married.

Van der Sloot’s attorney, Maximo Altez says Van Der Sloot is awaiting permission to be married within in two weeks at the Piedras Gordas prison north of Lima. Although Altez wouldn’t name the lucky woman, press reports say that the bride-to-be is Leydi Figueroa Uceda.

SOULFUL

Tiny Vegetarian Persuades Mom Not To Eat Animals

BEFORE HE TAKES A BITE OF HIS OCTOPUS GNOCCHI, little Luiz Antonio has a question for his mother.

“He doesn’t speak, and he doesn’t have a head, right?”

The patient mother says no, only the legs are on the plate. Then the soulful boy has another question: “But…is the head in the sea?”

It’s then that Luiz gets schooled on the realities of food processing, and how the rest of this octopus is at the market. The cephalopod’s been killed and chopped for our consumption. This doesn’t sit well, and he makes a determination.

TURNING AWAY FROM ‘CORPSE-LIKE’

H&M CEO Bows To The Wisdom Of Public On Too-Thin Models

By Kyra Senese

IN LIGHT OF THE BOOTYLICIOUS Beyoncé recently modeling for H&M, the company’s CEO Karl-Johan Persson admits that some past models may have been too skinny.

“We have a huge responsibility here,” Persson said in an interview with Metro US. “We’re a large company, many people see us, and we advertise a lot. I don’t think we’ve always been good. Some of the models we’ve had have been too skinny. That’s something we think a lot about and are working on.”