Looking for the first runner-up

So you're an ambitious young woman, and you work out a promising career path:

* Compete in Miss Arizona pageant -- CHECK!

* Go to law school -- CHECK!

* Get a job with a federal district judge -- CHECK!

* Pose for a calendar in a bikini holding an impressive firearm -- CHECK!

* Kidnap and torture your ex-boyfriend -- er, CHECK!

ABC News describes it this way:

Kumari Fulbright, 25, is accused, along with three other men, of tying up her 24-year-old ex-boyfriend with plastic cable and duct tape, and holding him captive for hours in two different Tucson homes, the Arizona Daily Star reported, citing indictment documents in Pima County Superior Court.

Fulbright, who participated in the Miss Arizona pageant as Miss Pima County in 2005, and Miss Desert Sun in 2006, also reportedly serves as a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Raner Collins. She is listed as a second-year writer on the editorial board of the Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law at the University of Arizona.

* * * * *
Prosecutors cite Fulbright in the documents. "[Fulbright] specifically bit him several times while he was bound, stuck a butcher knife in his ear ... said she was going to kill him, [and] pointed a pistol at him."

According to the Tuscon Citizen, court documents allege that she "bit his ears, hands and forearm." Not quite Bobbittesque but still pretty bizarre.

As we all know, of course, people are innocent until proven guilty, so let's let the criminal process take its course. Blah, blah, blah.

OK, if you haven't clicked on the first link, you're probably still wondering about that photo in the bikini with a gun. Click here and tell me whether this helps or hurts her at trial.

UPDATE: Stumbled on this post with an amusing title: "Looks Like Judge Collins is Going to Need a New Clerk." The blogger speculates that this woman was planning to bump the guy off: "The really scary part of this story is that she was obviously planning to kill him. You can't kidnap, rob, assault and torture someone who KNOWS YOUR NAME and then release him."

Click here to read more . . .

Tending the lawn

It's a business you probably would want a part of.

It doesn't call for women in bikinis to serve you your morning coffee, but it does offer bikini-clad women to mow your lawn. (There's even a video to accompany the story, though you have to endure a 30-second commercial first.)

The story's a bit old, but the business, Tiger Time Lawn Care, located in Tennessee, is back in the news again: "Backlash against owner of bikini lawn care company." At least one resident is upset with the bikini-clad women tending the lawns, and he's pulling his kids out of the sports league that Lee Cathey, the owner of Tiger Time, is involved in. "'It's an act of perversion,' said Dewayne Lufcy. 'It's degrading to women.'" Cathey responds: "It's no different than going to the beach. It's no different than seeing models on the runway." (There's a video there, too, if you're willing to endure another commercial.)

On a vaguely related topic, we hear what a female attorney has to say about inappropriate attire of women at the office: "What cleavage tells the world about a woman's brain." The point, with which I generally agree, is that women should dress conservatively at the office. But she goes on to make some broader points, and you should take a look at the comments section, where readers are going absolutely nuts, being personally insulted, calling her a racist, and so on.

I don't know about cleavage, but what you write in a comments section definitely says something about your brain.

(both stories via Fark)

Click here to read more . . .

Here's one attorney you might like to see

"Bikini Attorney Responds to Dismissal of Lawsuit"

Headline, Yokwe Online, Aug. 10, 2007

Click here to read more . . .

A new form of hasbarah?

And speaking of immaturity featuring women...

When I first heard that there was a ruckus over an invitation issued by the Israeli consulate in New York with a photo of a scantily clad Miss Israel 2004, Gal Gadot, I assumed that the ruckus involved the ultra-orthodox.

Wrong. It was the feminists: "'It's unfortunate that the Israeli consulate chose to emphasize Israel's relevance with a portrait of a half-naked woman, instead of with one of women of substance and accomplishments,' [a female Knesset member] told Yediot Achronoth."

OK, I know you came here looking for the photo, so let's get that out of the way. [UPDATE: In case that one's down, try this.]

The consulate's invitation, by the way, is to an event with the men's magazine Maxim, which will feature in its July 2007 issue "The Women of the Israel Defense Forces." I'm sure it will be very tasteful.

Now, if you can believe this, and I have absolutely no reason to doubt it, then maybe the feminists have a little bit of a grievance here:

"Maxim was approached by the Israeli consulate to be a part of reshaping Israel's public image, specifically because of our unmatched mainstream reach to men aged 18 to 35," the magazine said in a statement. "We are pleased with the result of our work together."

I don't know. I suspect men aged 18 to 35 would go more for this.

Why go to Maxim, though, if you can have a serious photographer take photos of the women of the IDF? This photo shoot, by Rachel Papo, is completely tasteful. (via Kesher Talk)

I guess working with Maxim is a new form of hasbarah.

UPDATE: A commenter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs links to the official (or so it says) blog of the State of Israel.

Click here to read more . . .

"I'll have a double espresso with skim and cleavage"

It's hard to believe it's taken so long for the Hooters approach to take over Seattle coffee shops.

The naughty baristas of Cowgirls Espresso represent a new trend in and around Seattle — perhaps the most caffeinated city in America — and illustrate how cutthroat the competition can be in the hometown of Starbucks, which has multiple coffee shops competing on the same block.

Among the other coffee stands that are showing some skin: Moka Girls in Auburn, The Sweet Spot Cafe in Shoreline, Bikini Espresso in Renton and Natte Latte in Port Orchard.

One recent afternoon, there was a long line of cars at the tiny, black-and-white, cow-painted Cowgirls stand in front of a Tukwila casino.

Candice Law, leaning provocatively out the drive-through window in a black bra that didn't quite cover her shiny purple pasties, and Toni Morgan, wearing a skimpy halter top, see-through red lace panties and chaps, seemed to know every customer.

Go ahead, click through. There's a photo. I know that's why you're here. And, amusingly, there's a place under the photo where it says "Enlarge."

So I did, and here it is:


In case you were wondering about the law, the article advises: "As long as the employees' breasts and buttocks are covered, they aren't breaking the law. And the owners of the stands say they get few complaints." I'll bet they do.

Now, let me be the first to say that this just wouldn't work for me. Half the time, when I go out for coffee, I'm with my wife. The other half of the time, I'm actually trying to work.

Which, really, is quite OK with me. There's something just a little weird about the whole thing.

And the real problem is what this does to the market.

Coffee-stand owner John Cambroto couldn't compete against the bikini-clad women selling espresso up the road.

"We had a much better atmosphere, good coffee. Unfortunately, they ran around half-naked and we didn't," said Cambroto, who finally threw in the towel last spring and sold his business to his rival, the operator of six Cowgirls Espresso stands in the Seattle suburbs.

I guess that's life in a capitalist society. After all, at some point Cowgirls is going to have to throw in the towel itself, only it probably will just throw in the bikini.

And that may well be the best time to grab an espresso.

Click here to read more . . .