3-day weekend edition! (Happy Presidents' Day)

Some Democrats haven't given up yet on getting Plan B over-the-counter approval from the FDA. FDA acting commissioner Andrew Von Eschenbach responded that the decision would be based on science, not politics. Riiiight.

Results of the Global Media Monitoring Project's 2005 survey of women's presence in worldwide media, show expert opinion in the news is overwhelmingly male. Men represent 83% of experts, and 86% of spokespeople. By contrast, women appear most in a personal capacity: as eyewitnesses (30%), giving personal views (31%) or representing popular opinion (34%).

The Guardian chats with Ariel Levy.

The city of Leeds, England is paying out millions to thousands of women workers to settle equal-pay claims.

Dr. Rebecca Guy, one of the plaintiffs in the suit to make Wal-Mart stock emergency contraception, makes the case for requiring businesses to sell EC.

The NY Times interviews linguist Deborah Tannen about her new book, which tackles mother-daughter communication-- but not in a self-helpy kind of way.

A federal appeals court let stand a Ohio law requiring special licensing for abortion clinics-- even though the new requirements will make it difficult for some clinics to remain open. Also check out the AP's take on legislation that targets abortion-providing clinics.

The Oregonian investigates several hospitals' practice of sending placentas-- without women's consent-- to Cascadia Placenta Registry, a Portland institute created and financed by the insurance industry, in part to help health care providers defend against birth-injury lawsuits. (via Kaiser and Women's Health News)

A new film about the lasting impact of the systematic rape of Bosnian women by Serb soldiers during the Balkans conflict is getting top honors at film festivals.

To mark National Freedom to Marry Week, a coalition of LGBT organizations launched a new initiative to raise the profile of people of color who support marriage for same-sex couples.