amarante

I think the "help" is in the form of actual physical care taking of the infant and not the kind of "advice" that one might need when one has their first baby. I can't fault anyone for wanting physical help with an infant - especially if one already has a child - or two or three. New parents - especially mothers are typically frazzled and exhausted unless they can pay for help - or have a mother willing to act as an unpaid baby nurse :-) While I don't think that infant/child care has to be performed by the "mother" (except for breast feeding), I do think that there has to be a rational distribution based on the schedules of the spouses. I don't care what kind of crap Lizzie is spewing about her bathing suit business, it does not appear to be a full time job which requires her to be in an office for many hours. She clearly has ample time to lunch; to judge pageants and to film a television show. Therefore she has a flexible enough schedule versus her husband who probably does work at a job that requires him to be away from the house for extended hours and has less flexibility.

Of course no one ever knows what is going on in a marriage, but I think Kyle/Mauricio, Ken/Lisa and even Heather/Terry have fundamentally sound *normal* marriages. Conversely, it was pretty apparent that Don/Vicky, Tamra/Simon and Adrienne/Paul had marriages that were on life support because spouses who actually care about each other don't interact in that manner consistently. i don't know why Shannon chose to exhibit her dissolving marriage but god bless her for doing so since it seems to be one of the few authentic things going on in this show. Of course, I find it ridiculous that she would become riled because Tamra spoke about the marriage to Heather - when the whole thing is being shown on television but I also found Eddie's wanting to keep a conversation Tamra had on camera private to be equally ludicrous. I also found the bedrooms of Shannon's girls to be bizarre. I don't know anyone who has their children sleep in a bed with one pillow and white sheets. You don't have to decorate a bedroom in zebra and hot pink but it looked as if the kids were being tucked into vacant rooms where a bed had been temporarily placed. I will give Heather a pass on her saying she interacts with people from all walks of life. Heather was not born into extreme wealth and so she grew up interacting with people who aren't as wealthy as she is now. I would assume that she has acquaintances/friends who aren't as wealthy as she - most people aren't. Does that mean she regularly entertains people who work at Walmart - probably not because the people she comes into contact with are going to be at least middle class. I am sure there are people at her synagogue who are less wealthy than she who are in her "social circle" for example. However, I really don't think that she would not be friendly with someone based on their wealth.

You are correct as Aviva absolutely stated that Miss USA came over and was given the son's room to sleep in. I don't recall whether she stated she had breakfast there but Aviva definitely corroborated her father's claims by stating the woman had physically been there - been escorted to a bedroom but the bed had not actually been slept in. I agree that Carole wasn't exactly indignant when she encountered George and so she is a bit Johnny come lately to the indignation party but her blog was spot on in every way. None of the housewives (excluding Ramona) seem to treat George in person as the loathsome disgusting toad he is - for whatever reason so perhaps they are all deferring to a stupid old man. I know most of us have bitten our tongues rather than really get into it with an older person. The housewives tend to only fight with each other. And in what universe could Aviva think anyone would willingly be with her father for any reason other than money? The mind boggles. Aviva is almost old enough to be their mother - would Aviva want to have sex with someone as old and repulsive as her father?

It is not necessary to prove an intent to harm and it is also not necessary to know that the statement was false - there is a standard of care imposed since defamation is a tort. For libel (which is published defamation), it is only necessary that the person speak the lie and that it be published. There are different standards of care depending on how "public" a figure is. However, public figures including Tom Cruise have won libel actions against news media. Analytically, the libel might not have occurred until the episode was broadcast because until that time there would have been no publication - just the verbal slander at the actual luncheon. However, pursuing a lawsuit is quite expensive and you still have to prove damages which is probably why most people don't pursue it. Suing George and Aviva because they said you had a three way is NOT the kind of lawsuit that would make someone unemployable in the entertainment business because most people above and below the line as well as in executive suites would be sympathetic to the plaintiff. It's entirely different than someone who sues his/her employer like Nicolette Sheridan did with Desperate Housewives.

FWIW, Gracious Homes carries fairly moderately price stuff and I would suspect that Ramona got a deal because of the signage provided at the beginning - and it was pretty clear that Avery wasn't getting the $500 throw pillow. I don't think Avery is more spoiled than most kids from wealthy backgrounds. She appears to be a hard working even headed kid - unlike most of the useless spawn from Orange County franchise who were for the most part complete losers and just as materialistic. It's all relative and most college dorms are far more luxurious than the cinderblock cells that were prevalent 20 or 30 years ago. I was sent to school with stuff reflecting my parents' middle class background but in terms of percentage of income, it was probably more money than the Singers are spending for Avery.

Until I see more, I don't think Miss USA *consented* to be on a reality show. I think she - and every other woman who was attending the luncheon - signed a standard name and likeness consent which is quite a bit different than consenting to being slandered as part of a storyline on the show. There have been a lot of people who show up in episodes of these shows because they were at an event and don't become part of the storyline unless they deliberately insert themselves into the storyline. Miss USA did nothing to become part of the *show" although she did respond to Ramona's questions and it seemed as though she was genuinely puzzled. If the woman had indeed had a threesome with the old goat, I think she would have looked nervous rather than completely confused.

It's actually not particularly Mad Men and much more like the corporate looks women wore in the 1970's and early 1980's when we were all supposed to look like men. Dress for Success advised suits and blouses with bows. Mad Men era for women was a much more sexualized look for women.

There is a fashion cliche which states - If you were old enough to wear it the first time, don't wear it when it comes around again. I think this is true of Aviva. While the clothes might actually be bought in the year she is wearing them, they are not particularly flattering to a woman in her forties. The old marm fashion look is best worn by young things where it is a contrast versus being worn by someone who looks like they just dragged it out of storage from the time they last wore it. There is a way to dress well for one's age without looking matronly or being a slave to fashion. I think Lulu for the most part always looks great - not dressed as mutton disguised as lamb nor does she look matronly. I think Ramona also dresses poorly - she needs to rethink all of those unforgiving tight satin mini-dresses which look like they were picked up at a store catering to prom queens or disco impersonators.

The "trips" are the most strenuous part of the filming for the housewives which is why the women do rightfully get pissed when a housewife doesn't show up unless there is a really valid excuse. According to Alex McCord, you are essentially being shot 24/7 for the duration of the trip which is quite different than the shooting schedules when they are at home when they can more or less control the schedules don't have to go to bed and wake up with cameras in their faces recording everything. So Aviva has essentially cancelled out of the most strenuous portions of the production. I've always enjoyed Luanne even at her haughtiest because she always exhibited behavior that I found normal in an adult woman in terms of interactions and I have no idea why she was demoted this season because the season without Luanne would have been even more unwatchable. Kadooz to her for really being the only housewife to call Aviva on her flaunting her disgusting father's behavior. Of course, you can't control what another person does but you sure as hell can refrain from having it broadcast to the world for posterity; engaging in conversation with a parent about their disgusting sex habits and enabling the behavior by approving it. I disagree as Aviva was attempting to equate *serious* art which might have nudity and/or sexual themes with vulgar discussions of three way and other stuff that George does. There is quite a bit of difference between George's lechery and vulgar talk and actions and art. I don't think Luanne was being a prude - or attempting to bowdlerize the world but making a valid point about how George is not someone who should flaunted in *polite* society - and I am deliberately using the arcane terminology.