Liz Langley

It seems like no coincidence that the health care reform bill finally passed after Rush Limbaugh said he would go to Costa Rica if it did. For nearly 100 years Presidents from Teddy Roosevelt on forward have tried to make inroads in this direction, but it almost seemed that the promise of Rush taking a hike was the magic shove that made it happen. I could see it. And two guys from Brooklyn want to help us help Rush get packing. Salon.com's 3/23 story Go to Costa Rica already, Rush Limbaugh details the rich, ironic goodness of A Ticket for Ru$h which is asking for $1 donations to buy a first-class one-way ticket for Limbaugh; if the talk-show host refuses the donations will go to the Planned Parenthood Action Center. If they don't raise enough - hardly likely since according to the 3/23 Newsweek blog they had raised $1,158 - the money will go to Planned Parenthood. Newsweek also says that Rush claims to have been "quoted out of context," thoug...

     OK, they're not my  chimps...but I felt like they were when I went to the  Save the Chimps  sanctuary, the largest facility in the world for chimps  retired from the labs, the pet trade or entertainment and the abuses that tend to go with those businesses. The lovely girl in this picture is Tammy, social butterfly, impressive spitter and descendant of the original Air Force chimps used for space research. She was the first ape we met in doing the story  Rescued from the Brink  about the sanctuary, which originally ran on  Alternet  and am so happy to say was picked up by the   Orlando Weekly  this week.        If you want to see more pics of the chimps - and a video of them figuring out how to use a blanket to carry a baby (or a baby figuring out how to get herself a ride) click on the Save the Chimps link above. And if you're able to afford a contribution they could use the help: blanke...

       If you’re the kind of girl who likes a little diversity in your love life, new research shows that it may reflect the diversity in your genes.        The journal "Animal Behavior," reported that scientists from the University of Australia studied the DNA of 150 college students, primarily looking at the genes influencing their immune system since more diverse genes there the stronger the person’s immunity. They also quizzed them about their love lives and found that those with more “ varied major histocompatibility complex (MHC) ” also had a more partners.        Sweat also plays a part in a girl’s ability to reel ‘em in. The scent of a woman’s sweat also holds clues to the strength of her immune system , signaling to potential partners that her offspring would be more resistant to illness.        So could it be that the need for variety is more nature than nurture? How much i...

Tomorrow night (Thursday March 11) Enzian Theater's Popcorn Flicks in Central Park (7pm; free; if it's cancelled due to rain day the alternate date is March 25) will present the1966 sci-fi classic Fantastic Voyage , about a medical team (and their submarine) shrunk down to microscopic size in order to enter a human bloodstream and save the life of an assassination victim. The film won Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Effects and stars Raquel Welch as Cora. Check out the above trailer – this movie has it all. Sexiness, sexism, 60’s aesthetics and the first film venture into the human body – and the underlying implication that we know a lot of other irrelevant crap but most of us still don’t much about how our own bodies work. Many other films have gone into the human body since Fantastic Voyage - if you count porn, probably millions. My personal favorite is the Futurama episode Parasites Lost . And I can’t hear the title without hearing the L...

 There are dog and cat people, parrot people and even arachnophiles. I’m a primate person. I’ve never owned one cuz I’ve still got all my marbles, but I could watch them all day, maybe because they’re so like people only they never say anything stupid. If you’ve been reading my work for awhile you know I sneak in a primate piece when I can and a little over a week ago I was lucky enough to get a press tour o f Save the Chimps a huge chimpanzee sanctuary in Fort Pierce, Florida. Here’s the piece on Alternet: Rescued from the Brink: Inside the Chimp Sanctuary . No one wants to see animals suffer in labs or as pets or entertainers. Save the Chimps is the answer to “OK…where do we send them now?” I hope you enjoy the piece and considering donating to Save the Chimps if you can – 600 bananas a day ain’t cheap! (This is Roxy, STC's only baby. Like looking into a mirror, isn't it?)

       Now that there are even easier ways to avoid pregnancy than the birth control pill it’s easy to take the impact of oral contraceptives on our culture for granted. In my latest story for Sexis magazne: "Sex, culture & The Pill," I got to take a look at the history of this amazing little invention and how it’s advent combined with the sexual revolution to change the role of women in the world. Enjoy!