Couples in China are only allowed to have a single child. Sometimes, I think that’s a good idea: Britney Spears told David Letterman on Tuesday that she is pregnant with baby No. 2. "Don’t worry Dave, it’s not yours," the pop princess quipped on "The Late Show."
American Idol Update: Elvis Week
Liveblogging tonight! Well, I think this is going to be Elliott’s last night, but we’ll see. Oh, it’s Elvis. Katharine must not be pleased. FIRST ROUND (1) Taylor ("Jailhouse Rock"): This is typical Taylor. Boisterous and fun. I’m not sure "typical Taylor" is what he should be doing. He’s great, but he needs to kick it up this week. Vocals: … Read More
On Abstinence Policies
Abstinence-only policies are costly and inaccurate. Now, we can add another reason why they are bad policy. They simply do not work. Virginity pledges, in which young people vow to abstain from sex until marriage, have little staying power among those who take them, a Harvard study has found. More than half of the adolescents who make the signed public … Read More
Blessed Are The — Huh?!?
The 2006 Exodus Freedom Conference is a-comin’, and sex-obsessed fundamentalists will be gathering this year to engage in workshops about, well, sex. Some of it is okay (workshops dealing with harassment, etc.), but mostly, it’s about same-sex issues and how not to be gay. There’s so much to choose from. You can listen to a former "sex addict" lecture on: … Read More
Gay Marriage Does Not Affect Religious Liberty
What effect, if any, will same-sex marriages have on religious liberty? At first blush, your answer is probably "none". After all, if the gay couple down the street gets married, whose religious freedom does it impugn? But, as Maggie Gallagher points out, there is an argument here: Catholic Charities of Boston, one of the nation’s oldest adoption agencies, had long … Read More
The Da Vinci Code Controversy
From Reuters: In the latest Vatican broadside against "The Da Vinci Code", a leading cardinal says Christians should respond to the book and film with legal action because both offend Christ and the Church he founded. Well, I’m pretty sure that Christ himself never founded the Catholic Church (Peter, perhaps), but let’s set that aside and look at the legal … Read More
Pickler Thumbs Nose At Idol Restrictions
By contract, Idol finalists are not supposed to sing at public events (outside of the Idol competition of course) until their contract is up. But Kellie did, singing the National Anthem at her "homecoming" in Albemarle: "I’m going to get in so much trouble for this," she said, "but what are they going to do — kick me off the … Read More
Last Titanic Memory Survivor Dies
Lillian Asplund of Worchester, Massachusetts was the last Titanic survivor to remember the "night to remember". She died Saturday at the age of 99. She was five on the fateful night in the middle of the Atlantic in April 1912 (photo on right is Lillian in 1912). There are still two Titanic survivors still alive, but both of them were … Read More
Creationism = Paganism
Okay, here’s the quote of the day: "Believing that God created the universe in six days is a form of superstitious paganism" Now, it’s your turn. Who made this claim? Was it the ACLU? Some atheist organization? Nope. It was… The Vatican! This not going to go down well with evangelicals: Believing that God created the universe in six days … Read More
Marie Jon’s Romance Tips
Social conservative Marie Jon over at Renew America pens some advice for women: Forty years of feminist philosophy has brought severe reproof for just about everything the male does. If we listen to the feminists, man is evil, stupid, and unjustly tyrannical. When the truth is that women are evil. To make this point, Marie links to an article entitled … Read More
American Idol: Down To Four
Paris voted off which means Elliott dodged a bullet (yet again). I can’t imagine him lasting through next week. Catharine will get a pass (at least for one more week) because she’s the only girl left. Chris and Taylor are too strong. But who knows? Unfortunate about Paris. She had spunk. The best under-20 of the whole crowd (she’s 17). … Read More
American Idol Update: Billboard Charts
Okay. Now the show is really good. There really isn’t a weak one in the remaining five. Now we have to separate the silver standard from the gold standard. I hadn’t watched Idol in a couple of years, and I forgot that they switch to a two-song-per-show format as thing get to the wire. Good. It’s much better all around, … Read More
Five’s A Crowd
Everyone’s got a breaking point: A Pakistani woman beheaded her husband, chopped up his body and dumped the dismembered parts in a sewerage drain after he announced plans to take a fourth wife, police said today. *** She said her 55-year-old husband had taken other wives and flaunted his infidelity, but she was pushed over the edge when he announced … Read More
More National Anthems
With all the hub-bub about the Spanish version of the National Anthem, I thought I’d generate more ire by linking to this mp3 of the National Anthem in Morse Code (yup, the International Morse Code), via Boing Boing. Not your cup of tea? Fine. Below the fold is the National Anthem …in binary code. Enjoy.
Are Our Children Learning?
Not geography, apparently. A survey of young Americans aged 18 to 24 found out that: Thirty-three percent of respondents couldn’t pinpoint Louisiana on a map. Fewer than three in 10 think it important to know the locations of countries in the news and just 14 percent believe speaking another language is a necessary skill. Two-thirds didn’t know that the earthquake … Read More