Speaking Volumes Without Saying a Word
By Corina Zappia, The Village Voice
Slender fiberglass figures donning the latest in designer couture -- or subsequent knock-offs -- are displayed throughout retail stores in hopes of luring customers to the cash register. But at Rootstein Mannequin's 50th anniversary party, the focus wasn't on the clothes -- it was on the manufactured bodies beneath them. The mannequin company's retrospective of five decades worth of idealized body shapes highlights past fetishes, from the nippled models wrought from the sexual revolution to the (slightly) more muscular forms popularized by the '80s aerobics craze. Today's developments include a true-to-size African American figure, but sadly, no plus-size forms were to be found -- here or in most shop windows. -- Kristen Mueller
http://villagevoice.com/nyclife/0626,zappia,73630,15.html

Veronica Mars, Class Warrior
By Christopher Hayes, In These Times
Reminding us that every once in a while pop culture produces a winner, Christopher Hayes waxes virtuosic about the TV series Veronica Mars. According to Hayes, the show navigates the treacherous pathways of inter-class tensions and social pressures with nuanced style and a sense of adventure. It depicts, Hayes proclaims, 'a prophetic vision of the Two Americas we are in the process of becoming -- a 'town without a middle class,' as Veronica calls it? where 'your parents are either millionaires or your parents work for millionaires.'' -- Suzanne Lindgren
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2671/

'A Conspiracy Against the Public'
By Liza Featherstone, The Notion, a blog of The Nation
Liza Featherstone reports that four class-action suits have been filed against hospitals in Albany, Chicago, Memphis, and San Antonio alleging that 'hospitals in those cities are exchanging detailed information about nurses' pay, so that each can keep labor costs low without suffering a competitive disadvantage.' Featherstone argues that these low wages are perpetuating a nursing shortage, forcing nurses to work long hours, without support, for menial salaries. Though the lawsuits use evidence collected by the Service Employees International Union, folks are keeping mum about labeling them part of an organizing strategy. However, says Featherstone, organizing might be the best shot nurses have at getting a fair wage. -- Rachel Anderson
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=96268