Al Franken chokes up over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

We should all be choking up, now that Congress has blocked the defense authorization bill (the bill that funds the miliatry) for the first time in decades simply because conservative members (and two Democratic senators!) don’t want to support gay rights, either because they think homosexuality is wrong or, more likely, they’re afraid of pissing [...]

Naked News: World record kissing and Lady Gaga on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

• Lady Gaga PSA’s her way into politics with a video about the importance of repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
  
  
• Two men from the College of New Jersey kissed for thirty-three hours, putting them in the Guiness Book of World Records for world’s longest kiss.
  
  

Naked News: A celibate Craigslist; plus, saying the wrong name in bed may be bad for your health

• A recent study claims that there may be a psychological danger to prolonged celibacy.
• Craigslist renames their controversial “Adult Services” section “Censored” and shuts it down — temporarily, we’re assuming, to make a point about free speech. Don’t they know there’s a psychological danger to prolonged celibacy?!

Naked news: C-section predictions, tragic marriage proposals & Bible sex tips

• Swedish scientists recently discovered a way to help predict whether a mother-to-be will need a C-section. This could save women painful and possibly dangerous hours attempting a doomed vaginal delivery.
  
  
• Esteban Rojas, one of the thirty-three Chilean miners who has been stuck underground for 20-some-odd-days (and counting), proposed to his long-time girlfriend. The proposal was written on a piece of scrap paper the miner stuck through a small hole in the tumbled rock.
  
  

Naked News: Smoking & ED, obesity & the pill, Utah & gay marriage

• As if you needed another reason to quit, research shows that smoking drastically increases the chances of erectile dysfunction.
  
  
• Obesity, on the other hand, gets a free pass in the birth control department: Contrary to what was previously thought, obesity does not lower the effectiveness of the birth control pill.
  
  

Bad journalism warning labels

Tom Scott, a two first name guy described by UK’s The Register as “sometime Internet funny man,” came up with a cheeky labeling system that would warn or alert readers of “sloppy journalism and other questionable content.” You can also print a PDF template of these labels. [Hat tip: Kaizar]

The power of teenage love

We both went to high school in New Jersey (just a few towns away from each other, it turns out). During those late 80s days, Lo fell in love and had sex within a loving, committed, romantic relationship. Meanwhile, Em remained a virgin and sometimes ate her lunch in the bathroom. We both ended up excelling in high school, engaging in many extra-curricular activities, and going to well-respected universities.

Naked News: Black market dildos, early puberty, and fertile rockers

• Vibrators, dildos, sex dolls et al are illegal in Vietnam, but there is a thriving trade for sex toys on the black market there.
  
  
• A recent study of more than 2000 women showed that implanting a copper inter-uterine device (IUD) up to five days after unprotected sex was 100% effective in preventing pregnancy.
  
  

Naked News: Old people sex, frozen eggs, and bed bugs

• Senior citizens are getting frisky without protection — STD rates are booming amongst the baby boomer generation.
  
  
• In more cheery news, post-menopausal lesbian sex may be something to look forward to.
  
  

Ancient dildo dug up

We’ve come a long way, baby. Check out this penis-shaped….shall we call it a “tool”? It was just unearthed in Sweden during an archeological excavation by the country’s National Heritage Board. Carved out of antler bone and probably dating back to sometime between 4000 to 6000 B.C., the dildo-like object measures 4-inches long without much, um, girth (which makes sense since people were a lot smaller back then). The scientists aren’t saying definitively what it was used for, but we know what you’re thinking: it was probably a tool for chipping flint, or better yet, a back massager to relieve stress.

10 ways giving up on perfection may save your (sex) life

Recent studies show that the personality trait of perfectionism is linked to poor physical health and an increased risk of death — in particular when it’s what psychologists call “socially prescribed perfectionism,” i.e. where you feel like other people expect you to be perfect (as opposed to “self-oriented perfectionism,” when you impose the high standards on yourself — apparently not quite such a health risk). Then again, is it possible to completely separate what you think others expect of you and what you expect of yourself? Where does one end and the other begin?

Naked News: Mass skinny dipping, boy pageants, and the science of a broken heart

• Vancouver residents set out to break the World Record in mass skinny-dipping while simultaneously promoting body acceptance, bless their Canadian souls.
  
  
• Normally we’re all for equal opportunity objectification, but little boys in beauty pageants? That’s just as messed up as the little girl variety.
  
  

Senator and artist Al Franken multitasking during Kagan hearing

Last year I blogged about Al Franken’s (talented) ability to free hand draw an accurate map of the United States from memory. During the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, the AP snapped this photo of Senator Franken multitasking and demonstrating that his illustration abilities extends beyond cartography with his sharp sketch of [...]

Dubious sex studies of the week

Okay, we know we’ve been guilty in the past of drumming up sex research into juicy, slightly misleading headlines. But we’re trying to be better people, we promise! (In our defense, who can possibly resist reporting on a study claiming that wearing socks leads to better sex?) In the meantime, here are some recent “scientific” headlines that gave us pause…

1. The headline: “Women Freeze Eggs to Wait for ‘Mr Right.’” The reality: This story is based on a study of fifteen women. Can you even call that a “study”? Sounds more like a girls’ night out gossip session to us.
   
   
2. The headline: “Shopping Is Bad for Men’s Fertility.” The reality: Trace amounts of BPA have been found in cash register receipts — and BPA is known to suppress male hormones in the body. Okay, yes, BPA is bad. But it’s bad for all of us — men, women, and especially children and babies. But “Licking Cash Register Receipts Bad for Babies” isn’t nearly as catching.
   
   

Naked News: Sodomy in Texas, blessed sex toys, and the ultimate aphrodisiac

• The Texas Republican party endorsed a platform that would make sodomy illegal again. Yep, you read that right: anal and oral would be banned.
  
  
• Hormonally speaking, using Twitter and falling in love feel the same.
  
  

New study says fetuses don’t feel pain before 24 weeks

A report by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which was commissioned by the UK’s Department of Health, has found that fetuses don’t feel pain before 24 weeks (and probably not after for some time) for two reasons: 1) the brain is not formed enough to perceive pain, and 2) the fetus is unconscious.

Naked News: HPV vaccine for boys, and how the oil spill is connected to weddings and abortions

• Gardasil, the popular vaccine that protects against certain strands of HPV, is now being recommended for boys.
  
  
• The Pakistani government is beginning to allow sex-change operations.
  

Kids of lesbian parents may fare better than their peers

A new study analyzing long-term data on kids from birth to adulthood just came out that suggests children of lesbian parents do better than their peers.

Frontline’s “The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan”

We just got around to watching Frontline’s late April report called “The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan” — it’s a horrific and mind-blowing look into the world of “bacha bazi,” or “boy play”: …Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi (Behind Taliban Lines) returns to his native land to expose an ancient practice that has been brought back by [...]

Naked News: Soccer vs. sex, free birth control, and sex parties in China

• A study of Germans found that only 5% of them would choose sex over watching a German World Cup final game.
  
  
• Sex education will become part of regular high school lessons in the Philippines for the first time.
  
  

Naked News: The pope, stolen sex toys, and free spiked condoms

• Pope Benedict XVI called abortion and same-sex marriage some of the most “insidious and dangerous” threats facing the world today. (Can we start replacing that phrase “Is the pope Catholic?” with “Is the pope an ignorant doddering asswipe?” instead now please.)
  
  
• In news that actually belongs in this century, the Minnesota Legislature has passed a bill that would give same-sex couples more end-of-life rights in the event of a partner’s death.
  
  

The 50th anniversary of The Pill

This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Pill, and there’s been some interesting coverage of it by the media. Margaret Marsh, one of the first researchers granted access to the personal letters of the Pill’s co-developer, John Rock, discusses his Catholicism, among other Pill tidbits.

Naked News: Sex ed in Pa, gay marriage in Ca and sex in Brazil

• A bill that would require Pennsylvania’s public schools to provide sex education to students is on its way to the state House of Representatives.
  
  
• The federal trial to determine if California’s same-sex marriage ban violates the U.S. Constitution may wrap up in June after a months-long hiatus.
  
  

Illinois state lawmaker makes a personal case for gay marriage

Last week, Illinois lawmaker Deborah Mell spoke on the state House floor to announce her “bittersweet” engagement to her girlfriend of six years — “bittersweet” because she’ll have to go next door to Iowa to tie the knot instead of doing it in the state where she grew up, where she now represents 100,000 people [...]

Boobquake roundup

If you haven’t heard of it by now, here’s the ten-second scoop: Iranian cleric blames the world’s earthquakes on women’s immodesty so Jen McCreight, a self-proclaimed “liberal, geeky, nerdy, scientific, perverted, atheist feminist trapped in Indiana” at Purdue, organizes Boobquake, a day (yesterday, April 26th, 2010) for women to wear their most immodest outfit (that they would would wear on any other given day or a night out) to scientifically (sorta) study if the cleric’s claim holds any water. Well, the media went bat-shit crazy for this, so here’s a round-up: