Jun 30, 2010 8:41 pm US/Eastern
Reporting
Michael Williams
E-mail MIAMI (CBS4) ―
File: Rashad Ingraham (L-R) William Haselberger, Dietrick Purvis and Carlos Estevez, all unemployed, look for a job at the Diversity Job Fair on Sept. 24, 2009, in Davie, Fla.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The unemployment rate hovers around 12 percent in Miami-Dade and Broward. That means misery for tens of thousands of people, and it is now compounded by a cutoff of federal unemployment benefits. The House has approved an extension of those benefits and Senate Democrats vow to press for a vote on the $34 billion dollar proposal Thursday.
Republican deficit hawks may block the way though, and people like Teresa Miranda are not sure what they will do next. She lost her accounting office job last summer in the Miami area, and her $1100 a month unemployment check stopped coming in a few weeks ago.
A tearful Miranda told CBS4 News, "The unemployment quit and I don't know what to do. I have nothing, savings are exhausted, no money for rent in July."
Miranda also has a message for the U.S. Senate, where fierce debate over balancing jobless benefits against budget deficit worries has stalled any extension of unemployment compensation. Miranda argued, "The Senate better open your eyes and realize what you are doing to us. We elected you to help us. I don't see what you are doing for us."
Miranda is single, with two adult sons who are on their own now and facing their own job struggles. She counts on donated food twice a month from a local church to help her get by.
"I'm an American, I was born in this country," she said. "I feel belittled to have to come here to have to get food to live to eat. It is embarrassing to me."
It is embarrassing but necessary, especially when every job Miranda seeks is packed with desperate people. She said, "When you do go, there are 150 applicants."
And so, for now at least, Miranda lives on the charity of others and relies on her faith for a journey she never imagined, and one with no end in sight.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Want a mansion? Just take one
'Luxury squatters' take over vacant houses and declare themselves owners. In Seattle, one family moved into a $3.3 million place.
Posted by Teresa Mears on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 5:47 PM
For years, the 8,000-square-foot mansion in suburban Seattle sat vacant and for sale, the price gradually coming down from $5.8 million to $3.3 million. One day in June, a 30-year-old woman, a man and two children took down the for-sale signs, changed the locks, moved in and declared it their home.
They didn't actually buy the house, or even rent it. They just moved in and declared it their house.
Jill Lane, who was arrested on a charge of trespassing after two weeks in the house, is not contrite, The Seattle Times' Danny Westneat reports. Not only did she try to take over the mansion, with its wine cellar, home theater, six bedrooms and nine baths, she has staked a claim to 10 other bank-owned houses in the Seattle area.
"Banks do whatever they want and nobody holds them accountable," Lane told Westneat by phone from Disneyland, where she went on vacation after she was released by the police. She and her partner ran a company that pledged to "eliminate mortgages" and help others move into empty foreclosed homes.
"It makes me ill to see what the banks are doing. They aren't using their bailout money to help anyone. So I'm standing up for the people who are being brutalized by banks every day."
And we thought we were making a political statement against the banks by abandoning credit cards and paying cash.
Bing: Squatters in foreclosed homes
You can listen to a radio interview with Lane here and see TV stories here and here.
Lane is one of a number of people nationwide who are taking over other people's vacant homes, some using a quirk in the law called "adverse possession," which dates to 16th-century England, Sally Kestin reported in the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale. She wrote:
Adverse possession allows non-owners of a property to eventually take ownership if they pay the taxes, occupy, maintain and improve the land for a period of years -- seven in Florida. The purpose was to prevent abandoned properties from sitting idle with no one paying taxes on them.
It's been used mostly to take over abandoned farmland or settle boundary disputes, such as a fence or building encroaching on a neighbor's property.
In Fort Lauderdale's Broward County and neighboring Palm Beach County, three men were arrested on felony charges and a fourth is under investigation for trying to take over 200 houses.
"We look at this as another con job, another get-rich-quick scheme,'' Don TenBrook, a Broward state prosecutor of economic crimes, told the Sun-Sentinel. "You're starting to see them pop up all over the place.''
Fitzroy Ellis tried to claim 48 properties, Broward officials said, including one worth $1 million. He told police he planned to rent out the houses and condos at a good price "since he didn't have to pay anything for the homes,'' the newspaper reported. He was charged with six counts of grand theft -- allegations, he wrote in court documents, that are "false and an abuse of power.''
Mark Guerette of suburban West Palm Beach filed court papers to take possession of 103 homes. Police say Guerette rented out six of the homes and collected more than $20,000 from tenants before he was arrested and charged with running an organized scheme to defraud.
He pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Robert Shearin, said Guerette is trying to help people by rescuing blighted homes. "The banks are letting these properties go down the tubes,'' Shearin told the Sen-Sentinel. "Here's a guy trying to help out, and he ends up in jail.''
In Pasco County, north of Tampa, Stephen Bybel drove around scouting for vacant homes. When he found one he wanted, he posted a small notice on the door, citing "adverse possessions" and saying the property "has been found to be vacant, abandoned, open, unsecured and a hazard and a nuisance to the community."
He gave the owners seven days to contact him. If they failed to do so (and certainly out-of-state banks weren't likely to see those signs), Bybel would claim the property. He did that 72 times, The St. Petersburg Times reported.
He rented 31 of those homes to tenants, collecting $16,780 in rents in January alone, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said. Now all those tenants have to find new places to live.
Bybel, too, told police he was a good guy. He said "he is doing everyone involved a favor, as these vacant properties are being vandalized, burglarized and are a detriment" to neighborhoods, according to a police report.
"This is closer to burglary and grand theft than it is to adverse possession," Pasco County Sheriff Bob White said at a news conference.
Adverse possession isn't the only tactic people have used to move into someone else's luxury home.
Squatters have used bogus deeds to take over luxury homes in Southern California, citing the philosophy of the far-right "sovereign citizens" movement, saying they are beyond the reach of police and the courts. The Southern Poverty Law Center detailed their tactics in a report.
These "luxury squatters" bother the traditional groups that have advocated moving homeless people into homes that truly are abandoned, as detailed in this New York Times story.
"As we've written, squatting in foreclosed properties has become more common as homelessness and foreclosure have gone up. Operation Welcome Home envisions squatting as one part of a larger struggle to end homelessness, not a route to fancy free houses," Natalie Wendt wrote in the End Homelessness blog at Change.org.
"This (Seattle) case isn't really about squatters. It's about two brazen and greedy people (seriously, nine bathrooms?) who tried to steal property and dragged two kids and an entire movement through the mud with them," Wendt said.
Comment
My brother rehabs homes in Broward and came across this scam there. The guy just changed the locks and moved renters in while he collected the rents. My brother paid $3,000 for the guy to sign a quit claim deed so he could sell the property. Its a scam. They arent helping anybody but themselves.
Posted by Teresa Mears on Tuesday, June 29, 2010 5:47 PM
For years, the 8,000-square-foot mansion in suburban Seattle sat vacant and for sale, the price gradually coming down from $5.8 million to $3.3 million. One day in June, a 30-year-old woman, a man and two children took down the for-sale signs, changed the locks, moved in and declared it their home.
They didn't actually buy the house, or even rent it. They just moved in and declared it their house.
Jill Lane, who was arrested on a charge of trespassing after two weeks in the house, is not contrite, The Seattle Times' Danny Westneat reports. Not only did she try to take over the mansion, with its wine cellar, home theater, six bedrooms and nine baths, she has staked a claim to 10 other bank-owned houses in the Seattle area.
"Banks do whatever they want and nobody holds them accountable," Lane told Westneat by phone from Disneyland, where she went on vacation after she was released by the police. She and her partner ran a company that pledged to "eliminate mortgages" and help others move into empty foreclosed homes.
"It makes me ill to see what the banks are doing. They aren't using their bailout money to help anyone. So I'm standing up for the people who are being brutalized by banks every day."
And we thought we were making a political statement against the banks by abandoning credit cards and paying cash.
Bing: Squatters in foreclosed homes
You can listen to a radio interview with Lane here and see TV stories here and here.
Lane is one of a number of people nationwide who are taking over other people's vacant homes, some using a quirk in the law called "adverse possession," which dates to 16th-century England, Sally Kestin reported in the Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale. She wrote:
Adverse possession allows non-owners of a property to eventually take ownership if they pay the taxes, occupy, maintain and improve the land for a period of years -- seven in Florida. The purpose was to prevent abandoned properties from sitting idle with no one paying taxes on them.
It's been used mostly to take over abandoned farmland or settle boundary disputes, such as a fence or building encroaching on a neighbor's property.
In Fort Lauderdale's Broward County and neighboring Palm Beach County, three men were arrested on felony charges and a fourth is under investigation for trying to take over 200 houses.
"We look at this as another con job, another get-rich-quick scheme,'' Don TenBrook, a Broward state prosecutor of economic crimes, told the Sun-Sentinel. "You're starting to see them pop up all over the place.''
Fitzroy Ellis tried to claim 48 properties, Broward officials said, including one worth $1 million. He told police he planned to rent out the houses and condos at a good price "since he didn't have to pay anything for the homes,'' the newspaper reported. He was charged with six counts of grand theft -- allegations, he wrote in court documents, that are "false and an abuse of power.''
Mark Guerette of suburban West Palm Beach filed court papers to take possession of 103 homes. Police say Guerette rented out six of the homes and collected more than $20,000 from tenants before he was arrested and charged with running an organized scheme to defraud.
He pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Robert Shearin, said Guerette is trying to help people by rescuing blighted homes. "The banks are letting these properties go down the tubes,'' Shearin told the Sen-Sentinel. "Here's a guy trying to help out, and he ends up in jail.''
In Pasco County, north of Tampa, Stephen Bybel drove around scouting for vacant homes. When he found one he wanted, he posted a small notice on the door, citing "adverse possessions" and saying the property "has been found to be vacant, abandoned, open, unsecured and a hazard and a nuisance to the community."
He gave the owners seven days to contact him. If they failed to do so (and certainly out-of-state banks weren't likely to see those signs), Bybel would claim the property. He did that 72 times, The St. Petersburg Times reported.
He rented 31 of those homes to tenants, collecting $16,780 in rents in January alone, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said. Now all those tenants have to find new places to live.
Bybel, too, told police he was a good guy. He said "he is doing everyone involved a favor, as these vacant properties are being vandalized, burglarized and are a detriment" to neighborhoods, according to a police report.
"This is closer to burglary and grand theft than it is to adverse possession," Pasco County Sheriff Bob White said at a news conference.
Adverse possession isn't the only tactic people have used to move into someone else's luxury home.
Squatters have used bogus deeds to take over luxury homes in Southern California, citing the philosophy of the far-right "sovereign citizens" movement, saying they are beyond the reach of police and the courts. The Southern Poverty Law Center detailed their tactics in a report.
These "luxury squatters" bother the traditional groups that have advocated moving homeless people into homes that truly are abandoned, as detailed in this New York Times story.
"As we've written, squatting in foreclosed properties has become more common as homelessness and foreclosure have gone up. Operation Welcome Home envisions squatting as one part of a larger struggle to end homelessness, not a route to fancy free houses," Natalie Wendt wrote in the End Homelessness blog at Change.org.
"This (Seattle) case isn't really about squatters. It's about two brazen and greedy people (seriously, nine bathrooms?) who tried to steal property and dragged two kids and an entire movement through the mud with them," Wendt said.
Comment
My brother rehabs homes in Broward and came across this scam there. The guy just changed the locks and moved renters in while he collected the rents. My brother paid $3,000 for the guy to sign a quit claim deed so he could sell the property. Its a scam. They arent helping anybody but themselves.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
The Universal Question; Does the G-spot Exist?
Does the G-Spot Really Exist?
posted by Lissa Rankin Jun 21, 2010 9:08 am
filed under: Health & Wellness, Relationships & Sexuality, Uncategorized, Women's Health, anatomy, beverly whipple, clitoris, doctor, g-spot, medical school, orgasm, pleasure, vaginal orgasms, what's up down there
When you think of a sonogram, you probably think of some grainy, grey-and-white image of your baby’s hand waving at you, labeled with the caption “Hi Mom!” You probably don’t think about the clitoris. But a couple of French doctors do (leave it to the French).
Is There Really a G-Spot?
A study in Sexual Medicine called “The Clitoral Complex: A Dynamic Sonographic Study” mixes ultrasound, the clitoris, the G-Spot, and vaginal orgasms together into a sexy soup I couldn’t resist writing about. Whether or not the G-Spot exists remains controversial. One of the questions I answered in my upcoming book What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend is “Does the G-Spot really exist?” The answer:
According to the teacher in my Gross Anatomy lab, the answer is no. As we were dissecting the vagina, someone asked, “So where’s the G-Spot, Doc?” My teacher, in his thick Eastern European accent, said, “Zere is no G-Spot in ze human female.” Okay, good to know.
The rest of my medical training pretty much agreed with Professor Von Buzzkill. An expert in the field even told me that every part of the vagina has been examined under the microscope, and there is nothing on the anterior wall of the vagina that looks any different than the rest of the vagina. Therefore, the G-Spot does not exist. Period.
However, as is the case with much I learned in medical school, my patients tell me otherwise. Over the years, thousands of patients have sworn that there is a place felt through the anterior wall of the vagina that hits the oh-oh-oh spot – or, rather, is the spot. I believe in many things I cannot see, so I tend to believe my patients.
Hunting for data to validate their experience, I came across Dr. Beverly Whipple, who famously named the G-Spot after German OB/GYN Dr. Ernst Gräfenburg, who described a zone of erogenous feeling on the anterior wall of the vaginal canal. (A friend of hers suggested she name it the “Whipple Tickle”, but out of respect for Whipples everywhere, she vetoed this idea.) According to Dr. Whipple, the G-Spot definitely exists. When I asked her why some in the medical community vehemently deny its existence, she seemed baffled. She said, “I don’t know. I guess, because they can’t see it under a microscope, they think it doesn’t exist. But my career has been about validating what real women experience. And some — but not all — definitely experience pleasurable feelings when you stimulate the G-Spot area.”
Her belief runs so deep that she went on to conduct hundreds of studies aimed at validating the sexual experiences women relate. For one study in 1981, 400 female volunteers were examined. According to Dr. Whipple, a spot that empirically swells with stimulation was found in each of these women, although she admits that not all women appear to be sensitive to this type of stimulation.
So what is the G-Spot? Dr. Whipple isn’t sure. As Dr. Von Buzzkill said, no specific anatomic differences can be detected in this area. But she suspects a cluster of blood vessels, nerves, glands (including the “female prostate gland”), and part of of the clitoris may all merge to create a sensitive area that hits the spot. She believes the female experience more than the microscope, and I tend to agree with her.
Drs. Foldes and Buisson seem to agree with Dr. Whipple, theorizing that the reason some women can have vaginal orgasms is that the anterior wall of the vagina (in the location of the famed G-Spot) overlies the root of the clitoris, where the crura (legs) come together. So perhaps the reason that nobody can find an anatomic location for the controversial G-Spot is because there’s nothing special about this part of the vagina other than it butts up against a sweet spot of the clitoris.
When you think of a sonogram, you probably think of some grainy, grey-and-white image of your baby’s hand waving at you, labeled with the caption “Hi Mom!” You probably don’t think about the clitoris. But a couple of French doctors do (leave it to the French).
Is There Really a G-Spot?
A study in Sexual Medicine called “The Clitoral Complex: A Dynamic Sonographic Study” mixes ultrasound, the clitoris, the G-Spot, and vaginal orgasms together into a sexy soup I couldn’t resist writing about. Whether or not the G-Spot exists remains controversial. One of the questions I answered in my upcoming book What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend is “Does the G-Spot really exist?” The answer:
According to the teacher in my Gross Anatomy lab, the answer is no. As we were dissecting the vagina, someone asked, “So where’s the G-Spot, Doc?” My teacher, in his thick Eastern European accent, said, “Zere is no G-Spot in ze human female.” Okay, good to know.
The rest of my medical training pretty much agreed with Professor Von Buzzkill. An expert in the field even told me that every part of the vagina has been examined under the microscope, and there is nothing on the anterior wall of the vagina that looks any different than the rest of the vagina. Therefore, the G-Spot does not exist. Period.
However, as is the case with much I learned in medical school, my patients tell me otherwise. Over the years, thousands of patients have sworn that there is a place felt through the anterior wall of the vagina that hits the oh-oh-oh spot – or, rather, is the spot. I believe in many things I cannot see, so I tend to believe my patients.
Hunting for data to validate their experience, I came across Dr. Beverly Whipple, who famously named the G-Spot after German OB/GYN Dr. Ernst Gräfenburg, who described a zone of erogenous feeling on the anterior wall of the vaginal canal. (A friend of hers suggested she name it the “Whipple Tickle”, but out of respect for Whipples everywhere, she vetoed this idea.) According to Dr. Whipple, the G-Spot definitely exists. When I asked her why some in the medical community vehemently deny its existence, she seemed baffled. She said, “I don’t know. I guess, because they can’t see it under a microscope, they think it doesn’t exist. But my career has been about validating what real women experience. And some — but not all — definitely experience pleasurable feelings when you stimulate the G-Spot area.”
Her belief runs so deep that she went on to conduct hundreds of studies aimed at validating the sexual experiences women relate. For one study in 1981, 400 female volunteers were examined. According to Dr. Whipple, a spot that empirically swells with stimulation was found in each of these women, although she admits that not all women appear to be sensitive to this type of stimulation.
So what is the G-Spot? Dr. Whipple isn’t sure. As Dr. Von Buzzkill said, no specific anatomic differences can be detected in this area. But she suspects a cluster of blood vessels, nerves, glands (including the “female prostate gland”), and part of of the clitoris may all merge to create a sensitive area that hits the spot. She believes the female experience more than the microscope, and I tend to agree with her.
Drs. Foldes and Buisson seem to agree with Dr. Whipple, theorizing that the reason some women can have vaginal orgasms is that the anterior wall of the vagina (in the location of the famed G-Spot) overlies the root of the clitoris, where the crura (legs) come together. So perhaps the reason that nobody can find an anatomic location for the controversial G-Spot is because there’s nothing special about this part of the vagina other than it butts up against a sweet spot of the clitoris.
<1 of 2>More on Health & Wellness (1069 articles available)
More from Lissa Rankin (12 articles available)
Marilyn L. says
Jun 22, 2010 5:02 PM
Trudi Gray you are one funny woman.
send
Teresa P. says
Jun 22, 2010 4:50 PM
I don't think I have a G spot. My orgasms are clitoral but they are very good. My vulva is sensitive too. Having orgasms seems a quite healthy thing to do.
Thomas T. says
Jun 22, 2010 4:28 PM
The clitoral glans is homologous to the glans penis in males, and the clitoral body and the clitoral crura are homologous to the corpora cavernosa of the penis. The labia majora, labia minora and clitoral hood are homologous to the scrotum, shaft skin of the penis, and the foreskin, respectively. The vestibular bulbs beneath the skin of the labia minora are homologous to the corpus spongiosum, the tissue of the penis surrounding the urethra. The Bartholin's glands are homologous to Cowper's glands in males.
Then, why would the part the was homologous to the male prostate dissappear? My contention is..it didnt, it IS the G spot.
The science shows that, depending on the hormone balances at the time of differentiaion, (we all start as female), there are variations in the final development of both male and female.
Larger, smaller this and that in both sexes, and, sometimes a complete shamnbles with both this and that in the same person!
That is why some have a larger G spot, some a smaller one, some, one without sensation.
In males, the main source of pleasure at orgasm is at the prostate. The male ejaculation is mainly prostatic fluid. Some women, at orgasm, also ejaculate. From where? I think from the now partly developed prostate, or, the g-spot.
Does the author agree, even though her professor professed otherwise?
Martha Kauppinen says
Jun 22, 2010 3:16 PM
Yes, the G-spot exists! There was no mention in this article of an "ejaculation of water" for lack of a better description. I wonder if anyone else has had this experience along with their G-spot orgasm.
Julie F. says
Jun 22, 2010 2:52 PM
The G spot DEFINITELY exists in some way, shape or form. I'm kind of agnostic about it - I know it's there, but I don't really care to define it so. :)
Jun 22, 2010 2:26 PM
Anna W., the G-spot rarely is enough for an orgasm in most women, even if a partner actually finds it! The clitoris is the main source of sexual pleasure for most women. Which is why intercourse is not often satisfying.
Anna W. says
Jun 22, 2010 2:19 PM
Not sure about the G spot. Why do women sometimes get an orgasm and other times they don't? If there is a G spot then it would make sense that every time the G spot is stimulated, they get the orgasm reaction, which is not the case (speaking from my own experience and my friends')
Laurie S. says
Jun 22, 2010 1:43 PM
Thanks for the article Lissa. I figure that as long as we all get our rocks off then it's all good!! :)
Jane H. says
Jun 22, 2010 1:17 PM
Thanks for your open and honest discussion and post!
Juliet D. says
Jun 22, 2010 12:53 PM
@ trudi gray thanks for the laugh! It's so true.. women's magazines have stories about how to please your man in bed, men's magazines have articles about cars.
posted by Lissa Rankin Jun 21, 2010 9:08 am
filed under: Health & Wellness, Relationships & Sexuality, Uncategorized, Women's Health, anatomy, beverly whipple, clitoris, doctor, g-spot, medical school, orgasm, pleasure, vaginal orgasms, what's up down there
When you think of a sonogram, you probably think of some grainy, grey-and-white image of your baby’s hand waving at you, labeled with the caption “Hi Mom!” You probably don’t think about the clitoris. But a couple of French doctors do (leave it to the French).
Is There Really a G-Spot?
A study in Sexual Medicine called “The Clitoral Complex: A Dynamic Sonographic Study” mixes ultrasound, the clitoris, the G-Spot, and vaginal orgasms together into a sexy soup I couldn’t resist writing about. Whether or not the G-Spot exists remains controversial. One of the questions I answered in my upcoming book What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend is “Does the G-Spot really exist?” The answer:
According to the teacher in my Gross Anatomy lab, the answer is no. As we were dissecting the vagina, someone asked, “So where’s the G-Spot, Doc?” My teacher, in his thick Eastern European accent, said, “Zere is no G-Spot in ze human female.” Okay, good to know.
The rest of my medical training pretty much agreed with Professor Von Buzzkill. An expert in the field even told me that every part of the vagina has been examined under the microscope, and there is nothing on the anterior wall of the vagina that looks any different than the rest of the vagina. Therefore, the G-Spot does not exist. Period.
However, as is the case with much I learned in medical school, my patients tell me otherwise. Over the years, thousands of patients have sworn that there is a place felt through the anterior wall of the vagina that hits the oh-oh-oh spot – or, rather, is the spot. I believe in many things I cannot see, so I tend to believe my patients.
Hunting for data to validate their experience, I came across Dr. Beverly Whipple, who famously named the G-Spot after German OB/GYN Dr. Ernst Gräfenburg, who described a zone of erogenous feeling on the anterior wall of the vaginal canal. (A friend of hers suggested she name it the “Whipple Tickle”, but out of respect for Whipples everywhere, she vetoed this idea.) According to Dr. Whipple, the G-Spot definitely exists. When I asked her why some in the medical community vehemently deny its existence, she seemed baffled. She said, “I don’t know. I guess, because they can’t see it under a microscope, they think it doesn’t exist. But my career has been about validating what real women experience. And some — but not all — definitely experience pleasurable feelings when you stimulate the G-Spot area.”
Her belief runs so deep that she went on to conduct hundreds of studies aimed at validating the sexual experiences women relate. For one study in 1981, 400 female volunteers were examined. According to Dr. Whipple, a spot that empirically swells with stimulation was found in each of these women, although she admits that not all women appear to be sensitive to this type of stimulation.
So what is the G-Spot? Dr. Whipple isn’t sure. As Dr. Von Buzzkill said, no specific anatomic differences can be detected in this area. But she suspects a cluster of blood vessels, nerves, glands (including the “female prostate gland”), and part of of the clitoris may all merge to create a sensitive area that hits the spot. She believes the female experience more than the microscope, and I tend to agree with her.
Drs. Foldes and Buisson seem to agree with Dr. Whipple, theorizing that the reason some women can have vaginal orgasms is that the anterior wall of the vagina (in the location of the famed G-Spot) overlies the root of the clitoris, where the crura (legs) come together. So perhaps the reason that nobody can find an anatomic location for the controversial G-Spot is because there’s nothing special about this part of the vagina other than it butts up against a sweet spot of the clitoris.
When you think of a sonogram, you probably think of some grainy, grey-and-white image of your baby’s hand waving at you, labeled with the caption “Hi Mom!” You probably don’t think about the clitoris. But a couple of French doctors do (leave it to the French).
Is There Really a G-Spot?
A study in Sexual Medicine called “The Clitoral Complex: A Dynamic Sonographic Study” mixes ultrasound, the clitoris, the G-Spot, and vaginal orgasms together into a sexy soup I couldn’t resist writing about. Whether or not the G-Spot exists remains controversial. One of the questions I answered in my upcoming book What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend is “Does the G-Spot really exist?” The answer:
According to the teacher in my Gross Anatomy lab, the answer is no. As we were dissecting the vagina, someone asked, “So where’s the G-Spot, Doc?” My teacher, in his thick Eastern European accent, said, “Zere is no G-Spot in ze human female.” Okay, good to know.
The rest of my medical training pretty much agreed with Professor Von Buzzkill. An expert in the field even told me that every part of the vagina has been examined under the microscope, and there is nothing on the anterior wall of the vagina that looks any different than the rest of the vagina. Therefore, the G-Spot does not exist. Period.
However, as is the case with much I learned in medical school, my patients tell me otherwise. Over the years, thousands of patients have sworn that there is a place felt through the anterior wall of the vagina that hits the oh-oh-oh spot – or, rather, is the spot. I believe in many things I cannot see, so I tend to believe my patients.
Hunting for data to validate their experience, I came across Dr. Beverly Whipple, who famously named the G-Spot after German OB/GYN Dr. Ernst Gräfenburg, who described a zone of erogenous feeling on the anterior wall of the vaginal canal. (A friend of hers suggested she name it the “Whipple Tickle”, but out of respect for Whipples everywhere, she vetoed this idea.) According to Dr. Whipple, the G-Spot definitely exists. When I asked her why some in the medical community vehemently deny its existence, she seemed baffled. She said, “I don’t know. I guess, because they can’t see it under a microscope, they think it doesn’t exist. But my career has been about validating what real women experience. And some — but not all — definitely experience pleasurable feelings when you stimulate the G-Spot area.”
Her belief runs so deep that she went on to conduct hundreds of studies aimed at validating the sexual experiences women relate. For one study in 1981, 400 female volunteers were examined. According to Dr. Whipple, a spot that empirically swells with stimulation was found in each of these women, although she admits that not all women appear to be sensitive to this type of stimulation.
So what is the G-Spot? Dr. Whipple isn’t sure. As Dr. Von Buzzkill said, no specific anatomic differences can be detected in this area. But she suspects a cluster of blood vessels, nerves, glands (including the “female prostate gland”), and part of of the clitoris may all merge to create a sensitive area that hits the spot. She believes the female experience more than the microscope, and I tend to agree with her.
Drs. Foldes and Buisson seem to agree with Dr. Whipple, theorizing that the reason some women can have vaginal orgasms is that the anterior wall of the vagina (in the location of the famed G-Spot) overlies the root of the clitoris, where the crura (legs) come together. So perhaps the reason that nobody can find an anatomic location for the controversial G-Spot is because there’s nothing special about this part of the vagina other than it butts up against a sweet spot of the clitoris.
<1 of 2>More on Health & Wellness (1069 articles available)
More from Lissa Rankin (12 articles available)
Marilyn L. says
Jun 22, 2010 5:02 PM
Trudi Gray you are one funny woman.
send
Teresa P. says
Jun 22, 2010 4:50 PM
I don't think I have a G spot. My orgasms are clitoral but they are very good. My vulva is sensitive too. Having orgasms seems a quite healthy thing to do.
Thomas T. says
Jun 22, 2010 4:28 PM
The clitoral glans is homologous to the glans penis in males, and the clitoral body and the clitoral crura are homologous to the corpora cavernosa of the penis. The labia majora, labia minora and clitoral hood are homologous to the scrotum, shaft skin of the penis, and the foreskin, respectively. The vestibular bulbs beneath the skin of the labia minora are homologous to the corpus spongiosum, the tissue of the penis surrounding the urethra. The Bartholin's glands are homologous to Cowper's glands in males.
Then, why would the part the was homologous to the male prostate dissappear? My contention is..it didnt, it IS the G spot.
The science shows that, depending on the hormone balances at the time of differentiaion, (we all start as female), there are variations in the final development of both male and female.
Larger, smaller this and that in both sexes, and, sometimes a complete shamnbles with both this and that in the same person!
That is why some have a larger G spot, some a smaller one, some, one without sensation.
In males, the main source of pleasure at orgasm is at the prostate. The male ejaculation is mainly prostatic fluid. Some women, at orgasm, also ejaculate. From where? I think from the now partly developed prostate, or, the g-spot.
Does the author agree, even though her professor professed otherwise?
Martha Kauppinen says
Jun 22, 2010 3:16 PM
Yes, the G-spot exists! There was no mention in this article of an "ejaculation of water" for lack of a better description. I wonder if anyone else has had this experience along with their G-spot orgasm.
Julie F. says
Jun 22, 2010 2:52 PM
The G spot DEFINITELY exists in some way, shape or form. I'm kind of agnostic about it - I know it's there, but I don't really care to define it so. :)
Jun 22, 2010 2:26 PM
Anna W., the G-spot rarely is enough for an orgasm in most women, even if a partner actually finds it! The clitoris is the main source of sexual pleasure for most women. Which is why intercourse is not often satisfying.
Anna W. says
Jun 22, 2010 2:19 PM
Not sure about the G spot. Why do women sometimes get an orgasm and other times they don't? If there is a G spot then it would make sense that every time the G spot is stimulated, they get the orgasm reaction, which is not the case (speaking from my own experience and my friends')
Laurie S. says
Jun 22, 2010 1:43 PM
Thanks for the article Lissa. I figure that as long as we all get our rocks off then it's all good!! :)
Jane H. says
Jun 22, 2010 1:17 PM
Thanks for your open and honest discussion and post!
Juliet D. says
Jun 22, 2010 12:53 PM
@ trudi gray thanks for the laugh! It's so true.. women's magazines have stories about how to please your man in bed, men's magazines have articles about cars.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Payback Time
In Budget Crisis, States Take Aim at Pension Costs
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
Published: June 19, 2010
Many states are acknowledging this year that they have promised pensions they cannot afford and are cutting once-sacrosanct benefits, to appease taxpayers and attack budget deficits.
Gov. Pat Quinn said an overhaul would save Illinois’s pension system $300 million in its first year. But the fund is weakened.
Payback Time
Untouchable Benefits
Articles in this series are examining the consequences of, and efforts to deal with, growing public and private debts.
Previous Articles in the Series »Illinois raised its retirement age to 67, the highest of any state, and capped public pensions at $106,800 a year. Arizona, New York, Missouri and Mississippi will make people work more years to earn pensions. Virginia is requiring employees to pay into the state pension fund for the first time. New Jersey will not give anyone pension credit unless they work at least 32 hours a week.
“We can’t afford to deny reality or delay action any longer,” said Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois, adding that his state’s pension cuts, enacted in March, will save some $300 million in the first year alone.
But there is a catch: Nearly all of the cuts so far apply only to workers not yet hired. Though heralded as breakthrough reforms by state officials, the cuts phase in so slowly they are unlikely to save the weakest funds and keep them from running out of money. Some new rules may even hasten the demise of the funds they were meant to protect.
Lawmakers wanted to avoid legal battles or fights with unions, whose members can be influential voters. So they are allowing most public workers across the country to keep building up their pensions at the same rate as ever. The tens of thousands of workers now on Illinois’s payrolls, for instance, will still get to retire at 60 — and some will as young as 55.
One striking exception is Colorado, which has imposed cuts on its current workers, not just future hires, and even on people who have already retired. The retirees have sued to block the reduction.
Other states with shrinking funds and deep fiscal distress may be pushed in this direction and tempted to follow Colorado’s example in the coming years. Though most state officials believe they are legally bound to shield current workers from pension cuts, a Colorado victory could embolden them to be more aggressive.
Colorado pruned a 3.5 percent annual pension increase to 2 percent, concluding that was the fastest way to revive its pension fund, which was projected to run out of money by 2029. The cut may sound small, but it produces big results because it goes into effect immediately. State plans vary widely, but many have other costly features, like subsidized early-retirement benefits, which could likewise be trimmed for existing workers.
Despite its pension reform, Illinois is still in deep trouble. That vaunted $300 million in immediate savings? The state produced it by giving itself credit now for the much smaller checks it will send retirees many years in the future — people who must first be hired and then, for full benefits, work until age 67.
By recognizing those far-off savings right away, Illinois is letting itself put less money into its pension fund now, starting with $300 million this year.
That saves the state money, but it also weakens the pension fund, actually a family of funds, raising the risk of a collapse long before the real savings start to materialize.
“We’re within a few years of having some of the pension funds run out of money,” said R. Eden Martin, president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a business group that has been warning of a “financial implosion” for several years. “Funding for the schools is going to be cut radically. Funding for Medicaid. As these things all mount up, there’s going to be a lot of outrage.”
Joshua D. Rauh, an associate professor of finance at Northwestern University who studies public pension funds, predicts that at the current rate, Illinois’s pension system could run out of money by 2018. He believes the funds of other troubled states — including New Jersey, Indiana and Connecticut — are also on track to run out of money in less than a decade, unless they make meaningful changes.
If a state pension fund ran out of money, the state would be legally bound to make good on retirees’ benefits. But paying public pensions straight out of general revenue would be ruinous. In Illinois’s case, it would consume about half the state’s cash every year, bringing other vital state services to a standstill.
Mr. Rauh said he thinks any state caught in that trap would have little choice but to seek a federal bailout. Bigger pension contributions and higher taxes can go only so far.
Many state officials, hoping for a huge recovery in the markets, say that such projections are too pessimistic, and that cutting benefits for future workers must suffice, given laws and provisions in state constitutions that make membership in a state pension fund a contractual relationship that cannot be breached.
Lawyers, though, are raising the possibility that those laws are being misinterpreted.
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
Published: June 19, 2010
Many states are acknowledging this year that they have promised pensions they cannot afford and are cutting once-sacrosanct benefits, to appease taxpayers and attack budget deficits.
Gov. Pat Quinn said an overhaul would save Illinois’s pension system $300 million in its first year. But the fund is weakened.
Payback Time
Untouchable Benefits
Articles in this series are examining the consequences of, and efforts to deal with, growing public and private debts.
Previous Articles in the Series »Illinois raised its retirement age to 67, the highest of any state, and capped public pensions at $106,800 a year. Arizona, New York, Missouri and Mississippi will make people work more years to earn pensions. Virginia is requiring employees to pay into the state pension fund for the first time. New Jersey will not give anyone pension credit unless they work at least 32 hours a week.
“We can’t afford to deny reality or delay action any longer,” said Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois, adding that his state’s pension cuts, enacted in March, will save some $300 million in the first year alone.
But there is a catch: Nearly all of the cuts so far apply only to workers not yet hired. Though heralded as breakthrough reforms by state officials, the cuts phase in so slowly they are unlikely to save the weakest funds and keep them from running out of money. Some new rules may even hasten the demise of the funds they were meant to protect.
Lawmakers wanted to avoid legal battles or fights with unions, whose members can be influential voters. So they are allowing most public workers across the country to keep building up their pensions at the same rate as ever. The tens of thousands of workers now on Illinois’s payrolls, for instance, will still get to retire at 60 — and some will as young as 55.
One striking exception is Colorado, which has imposed cuts on its current workers, not just future hires, and even on people who have already retired. The retirees have sued to block the reduction.
Other states with shrinking funds and deep fiscal distress may be pushed in this direction and tempted to follow Colorado’s example in the coming years. Though most state officials believe they are legally bound to shield current workers from pension cuts, a Colorado victory could embolden them to be more aggressive.
Colorado pruned a 3.5 percent annual pension increase to 2 percent, concluding that was the fastest way to revive its pension fund, which was projected to run out of money by 2029. The cut may sound small, but it produces big results because it goes into effect immediately. State plans vary widely, but many have other costly features, like subsidized early-retirement benefits, which could likewise be trimmed for existing workers.
Despite its pension reform, Illinois is still in deep trouble. That vaunted $300 million in immediate savings? The state produced it by giving itself credit now for the much smaller checks it will send retirees many years in the future — people who must first be hired and then, for full benefits, work until age 67.
By recognizing those far-off savings right away, Illinois is letting itself put less money into its pension fund now, starting with $300 million this year.
That saves the state money, but it also weakens the pension fund, actually a family of funds, raising the risk of a collapse long before the real savings start to materialize.
“We’re within a few years of having some of the pension funds run out of money,” said R. Eden Martin, president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a business group that has been warning of a “financial implosion” for several years. “Funding for the schools is going to be cut radically. Funding for Medicaid. As these things all mount up, there’s going to be a lot of outrage.”
Joshua D. Rauh, an associate professor of finance at Northwestern University who studies public pension funds, predicts that at the current rate, Illinois’s pension system could run out of money by 2018. He believes the funds of other troubled states — including New Jersey, Indiana and Connecticut — are also on track to run out of money in less than a decade, unless they make meaningful changes.
If a state pension fund ran out of money, the state would be legally bound to make good on retirees’ benefits. But paying public pensions straight out of general revenue would be ruinous. In Illinois’s case, it would consume about half the state’s cash every year, bringing other vital state services to a standstill.
Mr. Rauh said he thinks any state caught in that trap would have little choice but to seek a federal bailout. Bigger pension contributions and higher taxes can go only so far.
Many state officials, hoping for a huge recovery in the markets, say that such projections are too pessimistic, and that cutting benefits for future workers must suffice, given laws and provisions in state constitutions that make membership in a state pension fund a contractual relationship that cannot be breached.
Lawyers, though, are raising the possibility that those laws are being misinterpreted.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
10 years on, human gene map yields few cures
Insights are plentiful, but treatments for common diseases are elusive
During a White House ceremony in June 2000, President Bill Clinton announces the completion of the first survey of the entire human genome.
More from NYTimes.com
U.S. Military Intelligence Puts Focus on Afghan Graft
As Afghan Fighting Expands, U.S. Medics Plunge In
A Decade Later, Gene Map Yields Few New Cures
Worried About Their Dollars, More Are Turning to Gold
For American Muslims, Choosing to Wear the Veil Poses Challenges
More health news from NYTimes.com
In Florida, a Lifeline to Patients With TB
Field Notes: For Better, for Worse, for B.M.I.
Obama Presses Congress to Avert Medicare Pay Cuts
Legal Fight Delays Paper on Psychopathy Scale 3 Years
By NICHOLAS WADE
updated 8:53 p.m. ET, Sat., June 12, 2010
The Genome at 10: First of Two Articles
Ten years after President Bill Clinton announced that the first draft of the human genome was complete, medicine has yet to see any large part of the promised benefits.
For biologists, the genome has yielded one insightful surprise after another. But the primary goal of the $3 billion Human Genome Project — to ferret out the genetic roots of common diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s and then generate treatments — remains largely elusive. Indeed, after 10 years of effort, geneticists are almost back to square one in knowing where to look for the roots of common disease.
One sign of the genome’s limited use for medicine so far was a recent test of genetic predictions for heart disease. A medical team led by Nina P. Paynter of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston collected 101 genetic variants that had been statistically linked to heart disease in various genome-scanning studies. But the variants turned out to have no value in forecasting disease among 19,000 women who had been followed for 12 years.
The old-fashioned method of taking a family history was a better guide, Dr. Paynter reported this February in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Big promise
In announcing on June 26, 2000, that the first draft of the human genome had been achieved, Mr. Clinton said it would “revolutionize the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of most, if not all, human diseases.”
At a news conference, Francis Collins, then the director of the genome agency at the National Institutes of Health, said that genetic diagnosis of diseases would be accomplished in 10 years and that treatments would start to roll out perhaps five years after that.
“Over the longer term, perhaps in another 15 or 20 years,” he added, “you will see a complete transformation in therapeutic medicine.”
The pharmaceutical industry has spent billions of dollars to reap genomic secrets and is starting to bring several genome-guided drugs to market. While drug companies continue to pour huge amounts of money into genome research, it has become clear that the genetics of most diseases are more complex than anticipated and that it will take many more years before new treatments may be able to transform medicine.
“Genomics is a way to do science, not medicine,” said Harold Varmus, president of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who in July will become the director of the National Cancer Institute.
Discoveries of mutations
The last decade has brought a flood of discoveries of disease-causing mutations in the human genome. But with most diseases, the findings have explained only a small part of the risk of getting the disease. And many of the genetic variants linked to diseases, some scientists have begun to fear, could be statistical illusions.
Bobby Yip / Reuters file
Researchers work on pork at the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen, southern China, in March.
The Human Genome Project was started in 1989 with the goal of sequencing, or identifying, all three billion chemical units in the human genetic instruction set, finding the genetic roots of disease and then developing treatments. With the sequence in hand, the next step was to identify the genetic variants that increase the risk for common diseases like cancer and diabetes.
It was far too expensive at that time to think of sequencing patients’ whole genomes. So the National Institutes of Health embraced the idea for a clever shortcut, that of looking just at sites on the genome where many people have a variant DNA unit. But that shortcut appears to have been less than successful.
The theory behind the shortcut was that since the major diseases are common, so too would be the genetic variants that caused them. Natural selection keeps the human genome free of variants that damage health before children are grown, the theory held, but fails against variants that strike later in life, allowing them to become quite common. In 2002 the National Institutes of Health started a $138 million project called the HapMap to catalog the common variants in European, East Asian and African genomes.
With the catalog in hand, the second stage was to see if any of the variants were more common in the patients with a given disease than in healthy people. These studies required large numbers of patients and cost several million dollars apiece. Nearly 400 of them had been completed by 2009. The upshot is that hundreds of common genetic variants have now been statistically linked with various diseases.
But with most diseases, the common variants have turned out to explain just a fraction of the genetic risk. It now seems more likely that each common disease is mostly caused by large numbers of rare variants, ones too rare to have been cataloged by the HapMap.
During a White House ceremony in June 2000, President Bill Clinton announces the completion of the first survey of the entire human genome.
More from NYTimes.com
U.S. Military Intelligence Puts Focus on Afghan Graft
As Afghan Fighting Expands, U.S. Medics Plunge In
A Decade Later, Gene Map Yields Few New Cures
Worried About Their Dollars, More Are Turning to Gold
For American Muslims, Choosing to Wear the Veil Poses Challenges
More health news from NYTimes.com
In Florida, a Lifeline to Patients With TB
Field Notes: For Better, for Worse, for B.M.I.
Obama Presses Congress to Avert Medicare Pay Cuts
Legal Fight Delays Paper on Psychopathy Scale 3 Years
By NICHOLAS WADE
updated 8:53 p.m. ET, Sat., June 12, 2010
The Genome at 10: First of Two Articles
Ten years after President Bill Clinton announced that the first draft of the human genome was complete, medicine has yet to see any large part of the promised benefits.
For biologists, the genome has yielded one insightful surprise after another. But the primary goal of the $3 billion Human Genome Project — to ferret out the genetic roots of common diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s and then generate treatments — remains largely elusive. Indeed, after 10 years of effort, geneticists are almost back to square one in knowing where to look for the roots of common disease.
One sign of the genome’s limited use for medicine so far was a recent test of genetic predictions for heart disease. A medical team led by Nina P. Paynter of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston collected 101 genetic variants that had been statistically linked to heart disease in various genome-scanning studies. But the variants turned out to have no value in forecasting disease among 19,000 women who had been followed for 12 years.
The old-fashioned method of taking a family history was a better guide, Dr. Paynter reported this February in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Big promise
In announcing on June 26, 2000, that the first draft of the human genome had been achieved, Mr. Clinton said it would “revolutionize the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of most, if not all, human diseases.”
At a news conference, Francis Collins, then the director of the genome agency at the National Institutes of Health, said that genetic diagnosis of diseases would be accomplished in 10 years and that treatments would start to roll out perhaps five years after that.
“Over the longer term, perhaps in another 15 or 20 years,” he added, “you will see a complete transformation in therapeutic medicine.”
The pharmaceutical industry has spent billions of dollars to reap genomic secrets and is starting to bring several genome-guided drugs to market. While drug companies continue to pour huge amounts of money into genome research, it has become clear that the genetics of most diseases are more complex than anticipated and that it will take many more years before new treatments may be able to transform medicine.
“Genomics is a way to do science, not medicine,” said Harold Varmus, president of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, who in July will become the director of the National Cancer Institute.
Discoveries of mutations
The last decade has brought a flood of discoveries of disease-causing mutations in the human genome. But with most diseases, the findings have explained only a small part of the risk of getting the disease. And many of the genetic variants linked to diseases, some scientists have begun to fear, could be statistical illusions.
Bobby Yip / Reuters file
Researchers work on pork at the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen, southern China, in March.
The Human Genome Project was started in 1989 with the goal of sequencing, or identifying, all three billion chemical units in the human genetic instruction set, finding the genetic roots of disease and then developing treatments. With the sequence in hand, the next step was to identify the genetic variants that increase the risk for common diseases like cancer and diabetes.
It was far too expensive at that time to think of sequencing patients’ whole genomes. So the National Institutes of Health embraced the idea for a clever shortcut, that of looking just at sites on the genome where many people have a variant DNA unit. But that shortcut appears to have been less than successful.
The theory behind the shortcut was that since the major diseases are common, so too would be the genetic variants that caused them. Natural selection keeps the human genome free of variants that damage health before children are grown, the theory held, but fails against variants that strike later in life, allowing them to become quite common. In 2002 the National Institutes of Health started a $138 million project called the HapMap to catalog the common variants in European, East Asian and African genomes.
With the catalog in hand, the second stage was to see if any of the variants were more common in the patients with a given disease than in healthy people. These studies required large numbers of patients and cost several million dollars apiece. Nearly 400 of them had been completed by 2009. The upshot is that hundreds of common genetic variants have now been statistically linked with various diseases.
But with most diseases, the common variants have turned out to explain just a fraction of the genetic risk. It now seems more likely that each common disease is mostly caused by large numbers of rare variants, ones too rare to have been cataloged by the HapMap.
Monday, June 7, 2010
What Men Love About Women
Is it the way you comb your hair? The stylish clothes you wear? Redbook's guy columnist reveals what really makes your man's heart melt.
By Aaron Traister
A pastor, a U.S. Marshal, a rabbi, a lawyer, and a guy who writes a column for a women's magazine all found themselves in the same Irish bar. Is this the beginning of the worst joke ever told? Perhaps, but it's also a totally true tale of masculine diversity uniting and bridging political, cultural, religious, and philosophical differences in an unprecedented attempt to answer the burning question on every woman's mind: What do men love so much about women?
You guys may think we dig you because you have a great sense of humor, look hot, or can make a mean macaroni salad — and those are certainly lovable qualities. But they aren't really what we love most about you. Several hours of discussion, many beers, and more than a few plates of chicken wings later, I was able to compile my list. (Then we all hugged. It was kinda weird.)
Anyway, without further ado — or further awkward stories about men hugging — I present a list of the things we men really love about our wives, created from the weepy declarations, tipsy ramblings, and uncomfortable announcements I culled from my "Focus Group of Manliness."
We love it when you take control.
It might seem like we hate it when you're bossy, but really, we only hate it when you boss us around. When you get badass with other people, it's totally hot. My wife was working from home the other day, and while she was on a conference call, I listened to her chew someone out for screwing up. She didn't yell or get nasty, but she made sure the person knew how displeased she was, and then completely shut down any excuses they tried to make; by the end of the call she had them apologizing. She was in total control, and everyone on the call knew it. It was at that moment that I realized my wife is a professional badass — and that I find it ridiculously sexy.
We love watching sports with you — sort of.
While we consider watching sports mostly a guy thing (because of the cursing and the gluttony), every now and then we are happily surprised by your interest in and enthusiasm for our favorite athletic competition. "There is one sporting event every year that I love sharing with my wife: filling out our NCAA men's basketball tournament brackets," my lawyer friend explains. "We've been filling out our brackets together every March since we first started dating. She was a 'bracket virgin' before we met, but now her enthusiasm for picking teams is pretty amazing. She chooses with her heart using a complicated system of geography, underdog status, and familial connections. Her brackets are an example of who she is — they are all about loyalty, hope, and happy memories. Her sense of conviction is so strong, it can make you believe that Lehigh has a shot against Kansas. How can you not love that?"
We love that you don't want us to die — yet.
I recently went to the doctor for a checkup and learned that my overall physical assessment had changed from "in the danger zone in several key categories" to "facing imminent demise." Forgetting the childhood lesson learned from that hoagie-loving über-husband, Cliff Huxtable, and his hoagie-denying über-wife, Clair, from The Cosby Show, I made the mistake of telling my wife about the diagnosis. So now every morning and evening, my wife makes me a greenish-brown "smoothie" to drink. It's made from things like kale, flax seed, and spinach, and it has the consistency of motor oil. It's so bad it makes my taste buds feel ashamed.
And yet my wife dutifully makes it for me, twice a day, because it's packed with my daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Karel is a smart, successful, and energetic woman who would do just fine without me. Every time I drink one of her sickly-Yoda-colored drinks, it's like a little reminder that she doesn't want to do just fine without me — she wants to do just fine with me. And I love that.
We love that we know everything about you (and vice versa).
Everyone in the Focus Group of Manliness agreed that after X years of marriage, there is very little we don't know about our wives or they don't know about us. But even though our relationships may lack mystery, we all love that you know exactly how we feel at a particular moment and why we feel that way. And we also love knowing how you feel at a particular moment and why you feel that way. That kind of intimacy is like a big plate of waffles on a cold morning. It might be syrupy sweet and make you fat and lethargic, but it's comforting, heartwarming, and delicious. And if you pair it with some fried chicken, it can also become sorta sexy. To be honest, I don't know what the fried chicken in this metaphor represents. I just really like fried chicken and waffles.
We love that you talk our ears off.
When I'm not yakking about why I love my wife over a plate of wings and some beers with the guys, I'm actually pretty quiet. For me, there is something soothing about how much my wife talks. It's like she's doing the talking for the both of us. It's relaxing. Her constant talking is like having a rerun of my favorite TV show on in the background after a long day: It's familiar and funny and you can kind of tune in and out as you unwind.
We love how you solve problems.
The rabbi describes the way his wife tackles obstacles as full of drama: She rages, she cries, she internalizes everything. Her system of problem-solving takes a long time and involves making everything personal and leading with her emotions in a quest to see how she would feel about each possible solution. It is apparently a very stressful process. In contrast, the rabbi's problem-solving method is to just try to find the fastest fix. When I asked him why he preferred his wife's method, he said it was because "her decisions always end up being the right ones, whereas mine always end up being the quick ones."
We love you — even in your sweats.
There is something to be said for the things in life that are effortlessly sexy. Sometimes lingerie and Princess Leia outfits feel forced, which can make everything that follows feel a little awkward. My wife has a ratty pair of sweatpants that she's owned since before we were even dating, and they are just about the sexiest thing on the planet. By some amazing alchemy of time blended with constant usage, these sweats have totally conformed to the shape of her body. They have holes above the pockets that show off the swoop of her hips and they have somehow managed to maintain their shape in the back so that they accentuate one of her finest features. I would take this pair of sweatpants over lingerie or Princess Leia outfits the majority of the time. Which is why it wasn't that my wife was all glammed up the first night we slept together that made me think we could be physically compatible for the long haul — it was the fact that I wanted her just as badly the next morning.
We love that you love us.
When asked what's the most surprising thing that he loves about his wife, the U.S. Marshal says simply, "that she puts up with me." 'Nuff said.
Comment
I have known a woman who looked INCREDIBLY sexy wearing one of my dress shirts - only. She also looked fabulously sexy in one of my tee shirts. I LOVE women who cook well, and are interested in good, healthy eating. I truly like it when they know me so well, and vice versa, that just a knowing look is all that's necessary for us to communicate. I also like it when she picks lint off my clothes. I really like a big, beautiful smile. I am incredibly attracted to women that I can really discuss some important aspects of some sport. My best friends wife is who I go to for information regarding FSU's football prospects for the coming year. She knows all the positions, and the players; their strengths and weaknesses, and how they can help the overall team. That I find to be terribly attractive. I am constantly amazed how women can be sexy in so many ways - a look, a touch, a pose, a flash, a joke, a perceptive comment, a smile, a smell... the list is endless. I love women who are passionate about something, anything, almost. I am not crazy about people who use their passions in negative or destructive ways ie racists, snobs, sexists, etc. I am not well-versed or even all that interested in fashion. I know what I like and it's usually pretty simple and straight-forward.
By Aaron Traister
A pastor, a U.S. Marshal, a rabbi, a lawyer, and a guy who writes a column for a women's magazine all found themselves in the same Irish bar. Is this the beginning of the worst joke ever told? Perhaps, but it's also a totally true tale of masculine diversity uniting and bridging political, cultural, religious, and philosophical differences in an unprecedented attempt to answer the burning question on every woman's mind: What do men love so much about women?
You guys may think we dig you because you have a great sense of humor, look hot, or can make a mean macaroni salad — and those are certainly lovable qualities. But they aren't really what we love most about you. Several hours of discussion, many beers, and more than a few plates of chicken wings later, I was able to compile my list. (Then we all hugged. It was kinda weird.)
Anyway, without further ado — or further awkward stories about men hugging — I present a list of the things we men really love about our wives, created from the weepy declarations, tipsy ramblings, and uncomfortable announcements I culled from my "Focus Group of Manliness."
We love it when you take control.
It might seem like we hate it when you're bossy, but really, we only hate it when you boss us around. When you get badass with other people, it's totally hot. My wife was working from home the other day, and while she was on a conference call, I listened to her chew someone out for screwing up. She didn't yell or get nasty, but she made sure the person knew how displeased she was, and then completely shut down any excuses they tried to make; by the end of the call she had them apologizing. She was in total control, and everyone on the call knew it. It was at that moment that I realized my wife is a professional badass — and that I find it ridiculously sexy.
We love watching sports with you — sort of.
While we consider watching sports mostly a guy thing (because of the cursing and the gluttony), every now and then we are happily surprised by your interest in and enthusiasm for our favorite athletic competition. "There is one sporting event every year that I love sharing with my wife: filling out our NCAA men's basketball tournament brackets," my lawyer friend explains. "We've been filling out our brackets together every March since we first started dating. She was a 'bracket virgin' before we met, but now her enthusiasm for picking teams is pretty amazing. She chooses with her heart using a complicated system of geography, underdog status, and familial connections. Her brackets are an example of who she is — they are all about loyalty, hope, and happy memories. Her sense of conviction is so strong, it can make you believe that Lehigh has a shot against Kansas. How can you not love that?"
We love that you don't want us to die — yet.
I recently went to the doctor for a checkup and learned that my overall physical assessment had changed from "in the danger zone in several key categories" to "facing imminent demise." Forgetting the childhood lesson learned from that hoagie-loving über-husband, Cliff Huxtable, and his hoagie-denying über-wife, Clair, from The Cosby Show, I made the mistake of telling my wife about the diagnosis. So now every morning and evening, my wife makes me a greenish-brown "smoothie" to drink. It's made from things like kale, flax seed, and spinach, and it has the consistency of motor oil. It's so bad it makes my taste buds feel ashamed.
And yet my wife dutifully makes it for me, twice a day, because it's packed with my daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Karel is a smart, successful, and energetic woman who would do just fine without me. Every time I drink one of her sickly-Yoda-colored drinks, it's like a little reminder that she doesn't want to do just fine without me — she wants to do just fine with me. And I love that.
We love that we know everything about you (and vice versa).
Everyone in the Focus Group of Manliness agreed that after X years of marriage, there is very little we don't know about our wives or they don't know about us. But even though our relationships may lack mystery, we all love that you know exactly how we feel at a particular moment and why we feel that way. And we also love knowing how you feel at a particular moment and why you feel that way. That kind of intimacy is like a big plate of waffles on a cold morning. It might be syrupy sweet and make you fat and lethargic, but it's comforting, heartwarming, and delicious. And if you pair it with some fried chicken, it can also become sorta sexy. To be honest, I don't know what the fried chicken in this metaphor represents. I just really like fried chicken and waffles.
We love that you talk our ears off.
When I'm not yakking about why I love my wife over a plate of wings and some beers with the guys, I'm actually pretty quiet. For me, there is something soothing about how much my wife talks. It's like she's doing the talking for the both of us. It's relaxing. Her constant talking is like having a rerun of my favorite TV show on in the background after a long day: It's familiar and funny and you can kind of tune in and out as you unwind.
We love how you solve problems.
The rabbi describes the way his wife tackles obstacles as full of drama: She rages, she cries, she internalizes everything. Her system of problem-solving takes a long time and involves making everything personal and leading with her emotions in a quest to see how she would feel about each possible solution. It is apparently a very stressful process. In contrast, the rabbi's problem-solving method is to just try to find the fastest fix. When I asked him why he preferred his wife's method, he said it was because "her decisions always end up being the right ones, whereas mine always end up being the quick ones."
We love you — even in your sweats.
There is something to be said for the things in life that are effortlessly sexy. Sometimes lingerie and Princess Leia outfits feel forced, which can make everything that follows feel a little awkward. My wife has a ratty pair of sweatpants that she's owned since before we were even dating, and they are just about the sexiest thing on the planet. By some amazing alchemy of time blended with constant usage, these sweats have totally conformed to the shape of her body. They have holes above the pockets that show off the swoop of her hips and they have somehow managed to maintain their shape in the back so that they accentuate one of her finest features. I would take this pair of sweatpants over lingerie or Princess Leia outfits the majority of the time. Which is why it wasn't that my wife was all glammed up the first night we slept together that made me think we could be physically compatible for the long haul — it was the fact that I wanted her just as badly the next morning.
We love that you love us.
When asked what's the most surprising thing that he loves about his wife, the U.S. Marshal says simply, "that she puts up with me." 'Nuff said.
Comment
I have known a woman who looked INCREDIBLY sexy wearing one of my dress shirts - only. She also looked fabulously sexy in one of my tee shirts. I LOVE women who cook well, and are interested in good, healthy eating. I truly like it when they know me so well, and vice versa, that just a knowing look is all that's necessary for us to communicate. I also like it when she picks lint off my clothes. I really like a big, beautiful smile. I am incredibly attracted to women that I can really discuss some important aspects of some sport. My best friends wife is who I go to for information regarding FSU's football prospects for the coming year. She knows all the positions, and the players; their strengths and weaknesses, and how they can help the overall team. That I find to be terribly attractive. I am constantly amazed how women can be sexy in so many ways - a look, a touch, a pose, a flash, a joke, a perceptive comment, a smile, a smell... the list is endless. I love women who are passionate about something, anything, almost. I am not crazy about people who use their passions in negative or destructive ways ie racists, snobs, sexists, etc. I am not well-versed or even all that interested in fashion. I know what I like and it's usually pretty simple and straight-forward.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Where are summer gas prices headed?
Memorial Day weekend typically offers a preview of higher summer gas prices. But in recent weeks, pump prices have actually dropped.
[Related content: gas prices, travel, economy, oil, cars]
By Elizabeth Strott
MSN Money
Gasoline prices are falling just as the busy summer driving season is about to heat up. But drivers should take the decline in stride, as it comes only a few weeks after prices hit a 19-month high.
Find the lowest gas prices near yo
u
In early May, the Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook had forecast a national average of $2.94 a gallon for the summer, up from last year's $2.44, and average prices came very close to that forecast -- weeks before the summer even began.
The national average reached about $2.93 a gallon in early May, the highest level since October 2008, but prices have been declining in recent weeks amid fears of a slowing global economic recovery and worries about Europe's debt crisis. The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline fell to $2.78 a gallon today, a decline of about 15 cents in about three weeks.
The agency plans to release its next update June 8.
Oil spill fallout intensifies
Geopolitical events in the Middle East or a hurricane could push prices higher, but a spike to $3.50 a gallon would probably require an increase of $40 to $45 a barrel in the price of crude oil, said Tom Kloza, an analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. Without such a jump in crude or a large federal tax hike on gasoline, there is not much of a case for prices above $3 or close to $3.50, Kloza said.
The average price of gas hit an all-time high of $4.114 a gallon on July 17, 2008.
Impact on consumer spending
Consumer spending has recently been showing some hints at life, but even a small increase in gasoline prices could hinder a turnaround.
"If gas becomes too expensive . . . that is going to have an effect on discretionary spending," said Troy Green, a public-relations manager at AAA. Higher prices at the pump would mean that people wouldn't have the money "to spend on other things, like clothes, new computers or a new car."
The economy might not be able to handle gasoline above $3 per gallon for long, Green cautioned.
The thought of high gas prices is a worry for restaurateur Dave Magrogan, who opened his 10th restaurant, Harvest Seasonal Grill and Bar, last weekend in Glen Mills, Pa.
Gas prices directly affect the restaurant business, Magrogan said, and many guests likely will trade down or avoid dining out altogether if there is a price spike. Moderate price increases could cut restaurant sales by 5%, and a big jump in gas prices could decrease sales by up to 20%, he said.
If gas prices remained high, vendors could pass on surcharges in just a few weeks, "much faster than in the past," Magrogan said, because many small and midsize vendors are still struggling with tight credit markets. "They will not be able to absorb a temporary fuel price increase," he said.
Long-term high gas prices would "create the perfect storm: decreased guest counts, vendor fuel surcharges and commodity price increases," he warned.
And then there is the tipping point when motorists start changing their driving behavior.
It could be $3 or $3.50 -- there is no exact number, Green said, "but it's probably lower in this economy, this year, than it was four to five years ago, when the economy was running on all cylinders."
Higher gasoline prices will also weigh on consumer demand, Kloza said. "Gasoline is . . . something that has an embroidered 'State of Americana' on it. There's a huge portion of our population that believes it's our birthright to have relatively cheap fuel," Kloza said
[Related content: gas prices, travel, economy, oil, cars]
By Elizabeth Strott
MSN Money
Gasoline prices are falling just as the busy summer driving season is about to heat up. But drivers should take the decline in stride, as it comes only a few weeks after prices hit a 19-month high.
Find the lowest gas prices near yo
u
In early May, the Energy Information Administration's Short-Term Energy Outlook had forecast a national average of $2.94 a gallon for the summer, up from last year's $2.44, and average prices came very close to that forecast -- weeks before the summer even began.
The national average reached about $2.93 a gallon in early May, the highest level since October 2008, but prices have been declining in recent weeks amid fears of a slowing global economic recovery and worries about Europe's debt crisis. The national average price of a gallon of regular gasoline fell to $2.78 a gallon today, a decline of about 15 cents in about three weeks.
The agency plans to release its next update June 8.
Oil spill fallout intensifies
Geopolitical events in the Middle East or a hurricane could push prices higher, but a spike to $3.50 a gallon would probably require an increase of $40 to $45 a barrel in the price of crude oil, said Tom Kloza, an analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. Without such a jump in crude or a large federal tax hike on gasoline, there is not much of a case for prices above $3 or close to $3.50, Kloza said.
The average price of gas hit an all-time high of $4.114 a gallon on July 17, 2008.
Impact on consumer spending
Consumer spending has recently been showing some hints at life, but even a small increase in gasoline prices could hinder a turnaround.
"If gas becomes too expensive . . . that is going to have an effect on discretionary spending," said Troy Green, a public-relations manager at AAA. Higher prices at the pump would mean that people wouldn't have the money "to spend on other things, like clothes, new computers or a new car."
The economy might not be able to handle gasoline above $3 per gallon for long, Green cautioned.
The thought of high gas prices is a worry for restaurateur Dave Magrogan, who opened his 10th restaurant, Harvest Seasonal Grill and Bar, last weekend in Glen Mills, Pa.
Gas prices directly affect the restaurant business, Magrogan said, and many guests likely will trade down or avoid dining out altogether if there is a price spike. Moderate price increases could cut restaurant sales by 5%, and a big jump in gas prices could decrease sales by up to 20%, he said.
If gas prices remained high, vendors could pass on surcharges in just a few weeks, "much faster than in the past," Magrogan said, because many small and midsize vendors are still struggling with tight credit markets. "They will not be able to absorb a temporary fuel price increase," he said.
Long-term high gas prices would "create the perfect storm: decreased guest counts, vendor fuel surcharges and commodity price increases," he warned.
And then there is the tipping point when motorists start changing their driving behavior.
It could be $3 or $3.50 -- there is no exact number, Green said, "but it's probably lower in this economy, this year, than it was four to five years ago, when the economy was running on all cylinders."
Higher gasoline prices will also weigh on consumer demand, Kloza said. "Gasoline is . . . something that has an embroidered 'State of Americana' on it. There's a huge portion of our population that believes it's our birthright to have relatively cheap fuel," Kloza said
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