Although you probably do not know who Lilly Ledbetter is (I didn’t know until this past week), you should thank her.

For the last ten years of her life, Ledbetter has fought for equal pay rights in the work place for women. After experiencing pay-based discrimination because of her sex (and learning about it through anonymous letters in her work mailbox), Ledbetter filed a complaint of gender discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Making a long story short (however, you should read the whole story over at CNN), President Obama stepped in and signed the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Restoration Act this past week making the fight for women’s rights and equality better upheld through the law.

While I feel gratitude for Ledbetter’s ongoing battle with the Supreme Court and Congress to pass this act that will give women the rights they warrant and money that is rightfully theirs, I know that work is still left to be done.

It may seem hard to believe, but to this day, full-time working women get paid “on average, only 77 cents for each dollar full-time working men get paid,” according to the Wage Project. This happens in every occupation across the nation, and while it impacts women in different ways, the reality of it is that hardworking women with outstanding college degrees lose money in their pockets simply because of their sex.

Think about it. Imagine working at the same place, doing the same job as a man (who has the same degree and amount of experience as you), putting in the same hours, only to find out he is, in fact, making more money than you on an annual basis. How is that fair? It’s not, at all.

But it is reality. Read More »

A few months ago, we at CollegeCandy attempted to do a roundup of all the hotties on Capitol Hill.

The results were less than appealing.

Someone upstairs heard our cries and brought us this: the hottest guy ever to step foot into the House of Representatives. Might we introduce you to Aaron Schock, the newest and youngest (27, baby) Congressman from Illinois.

Time to send naughty photos write a letter to my congressman. Get your congressional eye candy below. Read More »

Larry Flynt and Joe Francis are all over the current economic crisis. And they are definitely two dudes we should be listening to.

Flynt, the fat guy who founded Hustler, and Francis, the genius creep behind Girls Gone Wild are outraged at the fact that the economy has bent the porn industry over and given it to them hard. Too graphic? Sorry.

Let me, rephrase. Apparently, XXX DVD sales have dropped a whopping 22%! That’s enough to make anyone’s panties jaw drop…

Flynt says that with the economy at a low, sex is the farthest thing from people’s minds (I wonder where he’s gettin his info from, cuz we’re pretty sure it’s not the farthest thing from our mind) and “It’s time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America.”

Yes, Congress. Share some of that sexual appetite we know you are all hiding, you sexy lawmakers, you.

The two men are asking for a $5 billion bailout and Mr. Francis himself is marching up to Washington to propose the bailout himself. Um, really? Seriously?

This gives whole new meaning to a stimulus package.

I turned on the television this morning and I was flipping through the channels when I found something scathing to watch. A headline-making Chicago scandal. Money. Corruption. Politics.

I thought I was watching Chicago, but instead I was tuned in to MSNBC. It’s a story that journalists are calling “jaw-dropping,” “shocking,” and “appalling.”

Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevic was arrested this morning by federal authorities on charges of corruption. He has allegedly been attempting to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated US Senate seat to the highest bidder. The US Attorney’s office in Illinois released an affadavit this morning claiming that Gov. Blagojevic was overheard on wiretaps attempting to “sell or trade” the former senator’s seat in Congress for “personal” benefits. Both he and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were indicted this morning and are expected back in federal court later this afternoon.

In addition to allegedly trying to sell Obama’s former Senate seat, Blagojevic is accused of witholding state aid from The Tribune Company (which filed for bankruptcy yesterday), until the Chicago Tribune agreed to fire staff members who had been critical of him in the past. Sha-dy.

Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald announced at a press conference that Gov. Blagojevic’s actions have begotten “a new low” in politics, and “[His] conduct would make Lincoln roll over in his grave.” Yeowza!

The allegations come on the heels of the aforementioned bankruptcy of one of the premeire media companies in the United States. As an ironic twist of fate, running against the famously corrupt image of Illinois politics was a prominent platform issue of Blagojevic when he was running for governor. If convicted, Blagojevic would be the second Illinois governor in two years (and fourth all-time) to be imprisoned for a crime, after former Governor George Ryan was sent to jail in 2006 for racketeering. In the meantime, several prominent Illinois politicians and authorities are calling for a special election to fill Obama’s Senate seat, so as to minimize the corruption of the position.

Bankruptcy, corruption, press, courts, Chicago, and all that jazz.

The election is less than 4 weeks away, which, obvi, everyone knows since the campaign commercials/ mailings/ phone calls/ SNL skits are EVERYWHERE. All the time. I even hear “I am Barack Obama and I approve this message,” in my freaking SLEEP.

It’s crunch time and Barack Obama and John McCain are popping into new cities every day to tell Americans what they plan to do when they move into the Oval Office.

Which got us thinking.

We know that we could never run for president (there are waaaay too many Facebook albums that could be used as blackmail), but what if we could? So, we asked our writers to weigh in on their Presidential Plans: If they were elected president, what is the first thing they would do? Read More »

[In conjunction with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, College Candy is taking time to address breast health for women in their 20s. Although breast cancer in college women is rare, hundreds of thousands of women are affected by the issues surrounding the disease every year.]

Yesterday we talked about how to best protect yourself against breast cancer before the age of 40. Today we’ll tackle how to join the fight against the disease. From government policies to medical research, life and death decisions about cancer are made every day. No one can control this disease, but there are plenty of opportunities to fight it. Here’s how to get involved.

Run, Relay, Race

No matter where you live, noncompetitive running, walking and relay events are regularly available for participation. Designed to raise funds and awareness, these events are a great way to support the cause with friends, sneak in some exercise and celebrate survivorship.

In 2006, more than 450,000 walkers across the country took part in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, raising over $40 million to help the American Cancer Society fight this disease.

Another amazing event to take part in is Relay For Life. Held in more than 4,800 communities across the country, teams of eight to 15 people camp out overnight and take turns walking around a track or path for 12 to 24 hours. The event usually begins with a survivor lap in which cancer survivors take a victory lap around the track. Afterwards, candles are lit to remember those lost to the disease. Read More »

We’ve been scoping the Internet this morning so we could post a story that isn’t about how Congress is completely divided, or how our economy is set to implode, or how no can find a freaking job…but we just haven’t been able to find anything.  At least not at 9:45 AM.

So yeah.  At the moment, the world is stuck on “panic”.

But here’s a funny video that involves a baby.  Whenever we want to panic, we sit back and think about cute babies and things usually go back to normal.  Maybe the government should start watching more YouTube videos that involve cute little chubby baby cheeks?