Virginity is Cool

News item: Over one in four females between the ages of 14 and 59 is infected with HPV, the sexully transmitted virus that causes genital warts and can lead to cervical cancer.

Someone please remind me, exactly when did it become uncool to remain a virgin until marriage?

Global Fiction

Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, says global warming could cause sea levels to rise a catastrophic 20 feet this century. Of course, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change now estimates the oceans may rise by between seven and 17 inches. Yet Gore's documentary just won an Oscar. I guess it was in the fiction category. How convenient.

The Work of Homemaking

Anyone who thinks the role of "nonworking" homemaker is easy hasn't tried it.

Long-Winded Bill

The Washington Post reports that former President Bill Clinton has made $40 million in speaking fees over the last six years. Hey, I don't begrudge the man his wealth. In fact, he should ask for more. That amount only comes to about 3 cents a word.

Unjust Justice

As the jury moves toward a verdict in the case of "Scooter" Libby, who is accused of covering up a non-crime, Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security advisor, continues to walk the streets despite stealing and destroying classified documents from the National Archives. What does this sense of priorities say about the Bush administration?

Amazing Movie

On Friday the movie Amazing Grace debuts. The film tells the story of British parliamentarian William Wilberforce, an evangelical, who fought valiantly against the slave trade and ultimately prevailed. If you're tired and discouraged, watch Amazing Grace. You'll see anew that nothing is impossible with God.

Rules for Living

No. 112: When going out, don't take your date to any restaurant where you can read the napkins.

Inconvenient Facts

As evidence of Iranian involvement in attacks on American troops and others in Iraq is rolled out, liberals are warning the U.S. not to use it as an excuse to go after the mullahs. No, let's just continue to let them kill our men and women, undermine Iraq's democracy, and sow chaos in that part of the world while acquiring nuclear weapons.

Hey, here's an idea: Let's have Congress pass a nonbinding resolution expressing our disapproval over Iran's conduct in the war on terror. Naw, we can't do that. Our elected representatives are fresh out of nonbinding resolutions. Apparently George W. Bush is worth one, but not Ahmadinejad.

Out of Bounds

African-American celebrities routinely get away with anti-white rhetoric, but former Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway learned this week that there are indeed limits to black free speech. In an interview Hardaway said, "I hate gay people." Now he has been banned from this weekend's NBA All-Star festivities. I guess it just shows that prejudice isn't a one-way street–even during Black History Month.

Define "Support"

Bowing to public opinion polls, on Friday the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives will likely approve a no-confidence vote on the war in Iraq–a conflict most members voted to authorize in 2002, according to the Wall Street Journal.

I sure am glad they still "support the troops"!

About Time

Iraq says it is closing its borders with Iran and Syria, citing the transport of men and materials by enemies of the new democratic government. One question for the Bush administration: Why wasn't this done in 2003? It's hard to win a war when thugs from outside have unlimited access.

Just Guessing

A prediction of one to nine inches of snow is not a weather forecast. It's a guess. It's time to add meteorology to the list of soft sciences.

Kids' Rules for Living

No 14: If you have to shout, you've already lost the argument.

Boston Bummer

Kudos to Jim Samples, former head of the Cartoon Network, for resigning after the terrorism scare in Boston initiated by his ill-conceived plan to promote a program through "guerrila marketing." Many people today are willing to "accept responsibility" for their mistakes, but few are willing to pay the consequences.

On second thought, give Samples just one kudo. The character on the circuit board-like device was giving "the finger," and I for, one, am sick of nasty and crude cartoons. We get enough of that garbage in the rest of the entertainment industry. Cartoons should be for kids.

Spacing Out

Everyone is wondering what caused the "Astronut" to melt down. Few, however, are questioning NASA's decision to let male and female astronauts work together in close quarters. Love triangles, pregnancies, STIs, and sexual tensions are to be expected, as the military services have discovered. Yes, we want equal opprtunity, but to wish away basic differences about the sexes is a liberal conceit we cannot afford.

Black Eyes All Around

Yesterday, in the "Scooter" Libby trial, NBC journalist Tim Russert faced the kind of tough questioning he usually dishes out on "Meet the Press." And according to newspaper accounts, his inconsistencies and bias toward Dick Cheney's aide were clear for jurors to see. In this unseemly attack on Libby, for whom I have no brief, orchestatrated by the media and federal prosecutors, everyone is getting a black eye.

Faith-Unfriendly

John ("Two Americas") Edwards, the trial attorney who was John Kerry's Democratic running mate last election, believes his pretty face gives him a shot at being president. Hey, why not? It's working for Obama. But, like Joe Biden, Edwards has an early problem. Melissa McEwan, his "Netroots Coordinator" (what the heck is that?), is virulently anti-Catholic. One of her tamer comments as a blogger:

Speaking of the "wingnut Christofascist base," she said, "What don't you lousy [expletive] understand about keeping your noses out of our britches, our bed and our families?"

Then there is Amanda Marcotte, Edwards's new blogmaster, who writes, "The Pope's gotta tell women who give birth to stillborns that their babies are cast into Satan's maw. . . . The Catholic Church is not about to let something like compassion for girls get in the way of using the state as an instrument to force women to bear more tithing Catholics."

Is this what the Democrats mean when they say they are more faith-friendly?

Kids' Rules for Living

No. 65: If Daddy can't walk through your room without the risk of breaking his neck, it isn't clean.

Addicted

Barack Obama is trying to kick cigarettes. Gavin Newsom is attempting to give up booze. Me? I'm facing acute post-Super Bowl withdrawal. Bring on spring training!

Great to be Eight

Eight-year-old boys don't just get up in the morning. They are launched.

Chicago Weather

If you don't like the weather in Chicago, just wait. It will get worse.

I'd Rather Be in Chicago

Not long ago Southwest Airlines had a commercial that concluded, "A bad day in Florida is a good day just about anywhere else." With at least 20 killed in violent storms across the central part of the state yesterday, it looks like Southwest will have to come up with a new ad campaign. All in all, I'd rather be in Chicago, where we're experiencing normal below-zero windchills for February.

Bring It On!

This morning the news is that 1,500 scientists are warning about global warming being unstoppable. Yet when I got out of bed, the wind chill in Chicago was 8 degrees below zero. Global warming? Bring it on!

Insert Feet

Joe Biden, the Delaware senator who somehow thinks he has a chance to be president, said yesterday that Barack Obama ia a "bright" and "clean" black man. As Billy Sunday once said, "Sin can be forgiven, but stupid is forever."

This flap follows Barbara Boxer's earlier condescending remarks directed at Condi Rice. The California senator said Rice didn't understand the impact of her foreign policy decisions because she didn't have children.

And this is the party of diversity and equal rights?