There is a lot of stuff going on today, Broadsheet readers, some of it more important than others. But why not write about it all?
Nude car washes. Leave it to those wacky Australians to take what might seem like bad news -- Brisbane water restrictions -- and turn it into a business opportunity. Apparently, restrictions on personal water use have turned car washing into a booming business. What could make business boom even more? Offering car washes from topless women. And what's better than car washes from topless women? Car washes from totally naked women who give you "x-rated shows" as they clean your car. (I imagine they make good use of the windshields.) You heard it here first.
Bush threatens vetoes over abortion issues. This seems less surprising than the idea of nude car washes -- but yes, according to the New York Times, President Bush has sent a letter to Nancy Pelosi threatening to veto "any measures that 'allow taxpayer dollars to be used for the destruction of human life.'" (He's supposedly talking about abortion, but I predict Jon Stewart is going to have a field day with that one.) Why is this an issue? Congress is scheduled to take up several appropriations bills that include provisions that limit federal funding of abortion. Pro-choice groups have been trying to change these provisions -- like, for example, one that bans discussing abortion in family planning clinics in developing nations. Good luck.
Men and women aren't as different as we think. Or so says Judith Warner in her New York Times blog post, titled "Escape From the Gender Ghetto," about whether the sexes are innately different. Really interesting.
Wal-Mart helps Indian women? Yup. According to the Economic Times, Wal-Mart is planning to "unveil a private equity fund targeted at Indian small businesses and women-owned enterprises." It'll be in addition to Wal-Mart's $25 million U.S. fund, also devoted to small businesses and women-run projects.
And last, lesbians should not raise children. Or at least that appears to be the view of a judge in Georgia, who has refused to allow a 28-year-old, openly gay woman to have custody of a young girl -- despite the wishes of the girl's biological mother -- simply because she is a lesbian. The ACLU (whose Web site story about the case is linked to above) has taken up the cause.
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