Bad Company To Be In

I saw this interesting link on Secular Right about a group challenging some Arkansas law still on the books (not generally enforced) barring nonbelievers from holding elected office.

I thought to myself 'well, it is Arkansas!'  Unfortunately, the same link mentions that similar laws are also on the books in Tennessee and...Texas.  Ouch!  Volokh has a deeper dive on the same topic.  There, I learned a bit more about the Texas case: it's in the state constitution!  The official link for the Texas Constitution shows Article I (Bill of Rights), Section 4 (Religious Tests) as:

Sec. 4.  RELIGIOUS TESTS. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, in this State; nor shall any one be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being.

Whack.  I had no idea it was enshrined in our state constitution!

I Don't Think This Is The Start Of A Resurrection...

From Carpe Diem ...

Snuggie Pub Crawl

If we're lucky, maybe the concept will come to Austin as well.  Laura sent me this link from Chicago (a fellow Lincoln Park resident, no less!): Snuggie Pub Crawl Coming

This quote in the story is right on the money:

"This is so wrong, but it feels so right," one commenter gushed on the Web site.

More at the official pub crawl site...In other As Seen On TV news, I just saw a box (8 large, 8 small) of ShamWow! at my local Costco ($27.99, for the curious).  Wikipedia even has an entry on Vince from the commercials!

Women Get Bigger, Playmates Get Trimmer

FlowingData had a reference to a Wired graphic that shows the trends (1954-2008) in the body mass index (BMI) of 20-29 year old women in the general US population versus the trending of the BMI of Playboy Playmates over the same span.

This small image is a bit hard to read, so the full Wired story has it as a Flash graphic that supports zooming.

Glad Jen Isn't One!

A NYT story called It's The Economy, Girlfriend is both entertaining and revolting reading.  I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for the guys or not, as they would have known what they were getting themselves into with these women.

A brief few lines from the NYT story, to give an idea of the content:

In addition to meeting once or twice weekly for brunch or drinks at a bar or restaurant, the group has a blog, billed as “free from the scrutiny of feminists,” that invites women to join “if your monthly Bergdorf’s allowance has been halved and bottle service has all but disappeared from your life.”
Theirs is not the typical 12-step program.
Step 1: Slip into a dress and heels. Step 2: Sip a cocktail and wait your turn to talk. Step 3: Pour your heart out. Repeat as needed.
About 30 women, generally in their mid- to late-20s, regularly post to the Web site or attend meetings.

It's a quick 2 page read, go check it out and barf.

The Snuggie is a Hit

We first saw ads for this shortly before Thanksgiving.  It was in heavy rotation on Thanksgiving itself -- we saw it many times while at Jen's parents.  The Snuggie is basically a fleece blanket with arms, one size fits all.  The infomercial has plenty of images of whole families sitting around in Snuggies, looking very much like a cult.

USA Today has a piece on it: Snuggie Gets A Warm Embrace From Pop Culture

I should order one for Jen (which means ordering one for me too, since you get 'one for free'!)