In the video above, Tyra Banks defends herself against allegations that she is "fat". Yeah, I was puzzled too. Apparently, unless you look like something that might have crawled out of Auschwitz with a pulse of 40 bpm, you're a big, fat, fatty. No wonder so many girls have body image issues, if they can pick up magazines in which perfectly healthy, normal-weight women are ridiculed as "waddling" and "fat".

There is so much more to be said about this, but I'm pissed off and haven't had my coffee yet.

Actually, here's what I'm going to do. I am no longer going to buy anything they use underweight models to sell. If I look at an ad or a catalogue page or an in-store poster and I instinctively want to feed the girl a fucking sandwich, I'm not buying it. I don't care if it's a shirt or a handbag or a goddamn lawnmower. I don't want my money going towards the advertising campaigns that make self-esteem and healthy body image harder for other people.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

If anyone out there can give me a satisfactory account of the origin of animal rights, I'll give up leather, fur, hunting, and whatever else is unacceptable along the same lines.

I know nobody reads this, but I thought I'd ask. Even just point me in the direction of something that doesn't blindly espouse Bentham's utilitarianism (as if it works) or revert to "omg-but-they're-CUTE" sentimentality. (Or feature Pam Anderson's giant fake tits. Because when I think moral responsibility, I think of porn.)

Hey amyhf, what if we start at Checkpoint 9 and go up to Whitefish Lk and do the loop? Looks like there are some rapids after Fork Lk but I think they're portageable. There's also a 1500m black portage back to Rock Lk, but we can handle it! Rock Lk has big granite bluffs we can jump off of and you can't say no to that. :)