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When a 7-year-old boy said he wanted to wear a skirt to school “because it’s breezy and pretty”, his parents weren’t too surprised. They went to the mall with their son, who then picked out a blue skirt. But when his father wrote about the experience on social media, it sparked a discussion about gender-neutral education in China. The father, a 31-year-old stay-home dad in Beijing who called himself Haixing, wrote on question and answer website Zhihu last month about his son’s experience. Patients with gender identity issues ‘more willing to seek help’ “My wife and I were fully prepared...

After Epstein’s mysterious death, hope for justice for his victims is fading away. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra has refused to invalidate a secret agreement that allowed deceased sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein to avoid federal charges, issuing a ruling which indicated that his death effectively rendered the case moot. Epstein’s alleged victims filed a lawsuit with hopes to expose the federal government’s inappropriate behavior in how they handled the Epstein prosecution. Marra’s ruling has effectively thrown out that case, and the federal judge elaborated on his decision a 15-page order released on Monday. “As a result of Mr. Epstein’s death,...

A Minnesota man felt so comfortable the first time he put on a skirt that he started thinking about why there weren’t more people making skirts for men. In the end, he started making them himself. Joe Quarion first put on a skirt in 2013, for an ultimate Frisbee match. Team captains would occasionally come up with silly dress-up themes for the players, and this time it was skirts or dresses. Joe put on a skirt he had bought from second-hand store Savers and headed on to the field. It was suppose to be a goofy experience, but he realized...

At least 40 secondary schools have banned girls from wearing skirts in a bid to cater for transgender pupils, it has emerged. Schools are opting for gender-neutral uniform policies under which boys and girls both wear trousers, while others are considering similar changes, it is claimed. They have followed the lead of Priory School in Lewes, East Sussex, which scrapped its female uniform last September, also citing fears over the sexualisation of young women. It comes alongside news that a leading private school is bringing in make-up experts to help pupils who feel anxious about their appearance.

Ok, we are surprising someone tomorrow with a Christmas tree. We are Jewish so pretty clueless as to how this works. Got a beautiful tree about 6 feet, best watering stand we could find, even got millions of little lights all up around it (thanks, YouTube!). But it needs something around the base. Thought I could just grab a tree skirt, but this tree has an enormous stand, diameter maybe 2.5 feet. The skirts only have a small hole for the trunk. What can we put under the tree that would fit? So many Christians here who put up trees...

An Oregon judge has acquitted a 61-year-old man who admitted taking photographs up the skirt of a 13-year-old girl as she shopped at a Target store in suburban Portland, lawyers in the case said Friday. Washington County Circuit Court Judge Eric Butterfield ruled on Thursday that Patrick Buono did not break the law when he surreptitiously took the pictures of the girl in January 2013, said his defense attorney Mark Lawrence. "He did not deny it and he feels real bad about it too, by the way," Lawrence said. The girl did not notice his actions, Lawrence said, but another...

Another contribution to #barackbottom on Twitter

As Newt Gingrich enters the presidential race the New York Times did an piece on it that had a particular interest in his wife, Calista. I know he's not a fan favorite, but his wife has my vote. At 45, 22 years her husband’s junior, Mrs. Gingrich always looks perfectly composed. She favors an almost retro look — platinum hair teased and sprayed, bold-colored suits accessorized by a triple strand of pearls or eye-popping diamond jewelry. In college, friends say, she once signed up for an 8 a.m. bowling class and rolled a 200 wearing a pencil skirt. Based...

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YEREVAN, Armenia -- An Armenian archaeologist says that scientists have discovered a skirt that could be 5,900-year-old. Pavel Avetisian, the head of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography in Yerevan, said a fragment of skirt made of reed was found during recent digging in the Areni-1 cave in southeastern Armenia. Avetisian told Tuesday's news conference in the Armenian capital that the find could be one of the world's oldest piece of reed clothing. Earlier excavation in the same location has produced what researchers believe is a 5,500-year-old shoe, making it the oldest piece of leather footwear known to researchers. Boris...

Walking through the lively districts of Harajuku and Shibuya in Tokyo, one might encounter a sight unusual to many people's eyes: men in skirts. Not kilts or kimono, but skirts. Called "the skirt boys," or "skirt tribe," the skirt-wearing men of Tokyo are beginning to get some attention from the fashion world. And so, though it may be a little rude, I have to ask: How is this different from being a cross-dresser? I see my first skirt-clad man in Harajuku on a weekday afternoon, his garment made of an almost transparent white cotton, with pretty geometric designs along the...

Reminds me of Bill Clinton!U.S. President Barack Obama (C) and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) take their places with junior G8 delegates for a family photo at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 9, 2009. Mr. President! Behave! Is this your new theme song?(Excerpt) Read more at floppingaces.net ...

As of last month, the town of Clinton has a pull up your pants rule. Wearing saggy pants can now get you a fine. However, one Clinton man says the indecent exposure ordinance should not apply to him because he has a medical condition. On a day when his mower is giving him grief, business is kind of slow for Jay Herrod. It's not what he does that's the problem. "He cuts the yard in a hurry, does a good job. I don't have any problems. That's what I was interested in. Don't pay attention to what he wears," says...

On a sandy bluff overlooking the Pacific, surfer Mark Massara sees a developing threat to a California amenity: guaranteed beach access for average families. Luxury hotel builders are hovering over the coastline, hoping to expand to California's shores the nationwide trend of developments split between high-priced hotel rooms and privately owned condominiums. Where developers see opportunity in "condo hotels," Massara and others see a legal loophole that lets private buyers snap up parts of the coast which are supposed to remain public. And that, he fears, will make getting to the beach harder. In this low-key northern San Diego County...

SACRAMENTO — A television ad campaign portrayed as an independent effort to help Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been bankrolled partly by a group with deep ties to his political operation. An official with the New Majority, a Southern California Republican group at the core of Schwarzenegger's fundraising apparatus, said its members have given about $1 million to the Washington, D.C., business group that is the public face of the ads: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. By pumping the ad money through the chamber, well-heeled New Majority members have bypassed requirements that their donations be publicly disclosed. And they skirted the...

JACKSON, Mo. - Nathan Warmack wanted to honor his heritage by wearing a Scottish kilt to his high school dance. Then a principal told him to change into a pair of pants. What began with a few yards of tartan has sparked an international debate about freedom, symbols and cultural dress. More than 1,600 people have signed an Internet petition seeking an apology for the high school senior. Scots in the United States are assembling a traditional ensemble they hope the student will wear to the prom, and his family is trying to change the school's dress code policy. ''It's...

German designers are promoting a skirt for male drinkers to wear at the Munich Beer Festival. They say their Oktoberfest Frock is a lot more comfortable than traditional lederhosen. Doreen Anders and Andreas Landinger, from Munich, say they were influenced by the Scottish kilt in creating the drinking-dress which comes in 'short' or 'calf' length. There are no tartan designs but the kilt comes in colours in-keeping with the blue-and-white Bavarian flag and other symbols of the Oktoberfest beer festival. A spokesman for the designers say the skirt "combines softness with comfort" and does not inhibit the wearer like lederhosen,...

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - An Australian woman was found to be carrying 51 live tropical fish after custom officials were alerted by "flipping" noises coming from beneath her skirt as she arrived at Melbourne airport. On closer inspection, officers discovered the woman had strapped on an apron of plastic water-filled bags containing the fish, the Australian Customs Service said in a statement on Tuesday. "During the search, customs officers became suspicious after hearing 'flipping' noises coming from the vicinity of her waist," said the statement. The 43-year-old woman arrived in Melbourne on a flight from Singapore last Friday. Customs are still...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A red-faced man wearing a mini-skirt was rescued by police on Sunday after he became wedged head-first in a clothing donation bin in an act of Christmas charity gone wrong. Police said a startled member of the public had alerted them after seeing what they first thought was a woman trapped in the charity clothing bin late on Christmas Day. Two patrol officers were unable to dislodge the man and a rescue squad was called. The unidentified 35-year-old man was eventually freed early on Sunday and told police he was donating clothes when he became stuck. "I...

TOKYO (AP) -- A policeman in western Japan is facing disciplinary measures after he was caught using a hidden camera to take a photograph up the skirt of a young woman, an official said Wednesday. The 42-year-old police sergeant, whose name was not released, used a digital camera to surreptitiously snap the shots when the woman was reporting a stolen bicycle at his station in the western city of Takarazuka. The woman became suspicious after she saw a flash go off. She later reported the incident to prefectural (state) police, a spokesman said on condition of anonymity. The sergeant has...