The news business is, for the most part, a pretty serious undertaking as we report on murder, war, disasters both natural and economic - important trends to watch - and here in the Capitol of California, the often puzzling world of politics.
Of course, some days there just seems to be an epidemic of what I call the head scratchers - stories that prompt the questions, what was he/she or they thinking? Or can we really trust anyone?
Sex in one way or another, seems to be a common denominator in a lot of these stories. Around the world, pornography once upon a time, was a pretty girl in her birthday suit with a staple in her naval. Now it’s, well, as Justice Potter Stewart once put it: “I know it when I see it.” The government of Iceland thinks the people in that chilly part of the world are getting overheated by online porn, so much so, they want to ban it as they have the printed form of smut. The ideas being considered include deploying special filters to block obscene videos and pictures from being accessed by computers, tablets or smart phones. Apparently they think there’s a link between porn and sexual assault.
Is it love or do they need an antibiotic? The U.S. government says 20 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases are logged each year - those know cases costing 16 billion dollars in treatment. The STD rate is highest among young people 15-24.
New Jersey college student Kyle McCabe is doing his part to fight the scourge while helping to pay his college expenses. McCabe has a one man emergency condom delivery service. Those in need can call a time out from the frisky encounters to log on to condomambulance.com choosing their style, size and flavor or prophylactic delivered right to their dorm or back seat.
Some other strange doings on campus: at West Liberty College in West Virginia one professor has banned Fox News as a source for any paper or other class assignment bluntly telling students, she doesn’t like Fox because it’s loaded with opinion.
I say Congress, what comes to mind? Dignity? Probably not the word I would choose right off the top but Nancy Pelosi says any proposed government shut down would be awful because members of the house and senate, like other government workers would miss a pay check or two which Pelosi says would undermine the dignity of our elected representatives.
