iStockphoto

More and more of us are studying math in college, and not just Stats 101 to fulfill a requirement. According to research released in the journal Science, women earned 48 percent of undergrad degrees in math. Sadly, we still lag behind in physics and engineering. Maybe the Nerd Girls will change that. [AP via WSJ]

iStockphoto

A 53-year-old mother and wife committed suicide in Taunton, Mass. soon after faxing a letter to her mortgage company saying by the time they foreclosed on her house later that day, she would be dead. After the mortgage company received the fax around 2:30 p.m., they called police, who found Carlene Balderrama’s body at 3:30 p.m. 

iStockphoto

Hiring a hairstylist and a makeup artist used to be sufficient for the big day, but not anymore. Brides are increasingly demanding or strongly suggesting their bridesmaids, mothers and mothers-in-law get all types of cosmetic enhancements, like Botox, Restylane, and even breast implants. In most cases, the brides are replacing the customary mani/pedi bonding session with trips to an aesthetician, where she foots the bill, but some bridesmaids are actually willing to pay for these treatments themselves. I can understand a bride wanting everything to be perfect on her wedding day, but perfect to me means showing loved ones as themselves. The bride has the right to choose the bridesmaids’ dress, but she has no right to demand cosmetic enhancements. Why risk a friendship over a wrinkle, an acne scar or sun damage? The only way I’d get Botox for a demanding bride is if she paid for it and I could get it in my armpits, which I imagine is extremely painful, but I hate sweat stains. [New York Times]

iStockphoto

Some people don’t like their names. They wish their parents had named them “Melissa” instead of “Margaret,” or that they had a better/more normal middle name, something like “Marie,” the most popular middle name in my seventh grade class. And then there are those who need to change their name in order to function normally in society. A 9-year-old girl in New Zealand has been made a ward of the court so that she can change her name from “Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.” Seriously. Maybe her parents were drunk or high when they came up with the name, but really, is that an excuse for forcing your child to go through life with that name? The poor girl is so embarrassed by her given name that she is known among her friends as “K.” And yet, there are actually people who change their names from normal to bizarre. CNN reports that a guy in Illinois legally changed his first name to “In God” and his last to “We Trust.” Bet that helps him pick up the ladies. [CNN]

We’re asked some of our friends to tell us who they nominated for the Hotness Awards. At the last minute, just before we closed to the nominations, we received picks from the fabulous Cate Sevilla, the blogger behind the upcoming new women’s blog BitchBuzz. Check ‘em out (some of her picks made the final nominees!) and then click to after the jump to view a new video telling you how and when (Hint: NOW) to start voting!

iStockphoto

Do you recognize the name Daniel Powter? I didn’t. He was the guy who sang the song “Bad Day,” which you’ve heard everywhere in the last couple years (“‘Cause you had a bad day, you’re taking one down/You sing a sad song just to turn it around..."). Since Daniel Powter’s not really famous, and “Bad Day” was no “Umbrella,” what made it so popular? The BBC’s magazine investigated…

nationalenquirer.com

So, The National Enquirer is claiming that John Edwards has a mistress and a love child and that he was totally caught visiting with them at a hotel recently. All this while his wife Elizabeth is still dealing with cancer. Now, this is the National Enquirer we’re talking about, so this is hardly FACT, but politicians stepping out on their wives is hardly an original rumor. Besides, despite the fact that my Grandma calls it “the trash”, they have been right on more than one occasion. Our lovely intern Annika revisits the Enquirer‘s moments of “A-ha! We told you so!”

Writing a song about self love isn’t as easy as it sounds, I imagine. How do you pen a tune about masturbation that doesn’t sound obvious or conjure up disturbing images? The following artists did it right, in no particular order (and check out clips of the songs, after the jump).

9. “And when my hand touches myself/I can finally rest my head/And when they take from his body/I think I’ll take from mine instead/Getting off, getting off while they’re all downstairs.”—Tori Amos, “Icicle”
Lyrical analysis isn’t my forte, but it seems like Tori is saying she’s diddling herself while her man’s funeral is going on downstairs. Scandalous!

Big Stock Photo

Someone in Milford, MA, has a lot of time on their hands and the desire to annoy everyone in town. This person is leaving dozens of pairs of pantyhose, almost always black and queen sized, are frequently left near a school bus stop. Some pairs are new, some used. One day, Milford resident Laurie Warich picked up 43 pairs. The police are investigating the case, however, the only crime being committed is littering, and the city’s police department doesn’t have the resources to focus on the case. Shouldn’t they just ask drugstore cashiers if anyone’s bought them out of pantyhose lately? [AP via CBS News]

iStockphoto

The sad, sad results of a national survey showed that about 3 percent of girls between 12 and 17 said they had been the victim of dating violence, which includes physical abuse, sexual assault, and being threatened with a weapon. In the same age group, 0.6 percent of boys said they’d been a victim.

According to the findings, certain factors, such as a history of stressful or traumatic events, seemed to put teens at great risk for dating violence, and older teenage girls were at greater risk than boys or younger girls. The last bit is interesting because it seems that as we get older, we should understand more about what is okay for people to do to us, and what crosses the line, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Either that, or the guys get more aggressive around that age, too. [Reuters]

thenation.com

Well this is fascinating. The Nation, a well-respected, politically left-leaning magazine is introducing a sex column! JoAnn Wypijewski’s “Carnal Knowledge” column probably will discuss sexual topics that have some sort of link to culture or politics, but it’s not clear if she’ll be taking questions from readers. I’ve been reading The Nation for a long time, mainly because I think it offers all sorts of info the mainstream media leaves out, but it’s hardly what I’d call the most exciting magazine in the world. Jon Friedman from the Wall Street Journal points out that The Nation is about as asexual as a magazine can be, so are they only adding sex appeal to boost sales?  Wypijewski told Friedman, “What drives politics is celebrity. What drives celebrity is sex appeal...I don’t think people on the left side of the political spectrum take sex seriously—or seriously enough.” Hmm, well I am certainly eager to see how this turns out. The inaugural column was more of introduction, saying:

“Most acutely, gay liberationists and pro-sex feminists have long understood that sex, religion, economics, power and freedom aren’t discrete little categories; they’re of a piece. Accordingly, ‘Carnal Knowledge’ will explore sex as desire, as work, as play, as the screen against which America projects its fantasies and fears.”

Suddenly I’m a little more excited for the next issue… [WSJ: Market Watch]

iStockphoto

While women like the cool Kat Von D of LA Ink are responsible for the rise in tattoos, ladies are still feeling the backlash from going under the needle. A 2006 survey conducted by Texas Tech found that while 25% of people ages 18-30 have a tattoo, 40% of women with works of art feel social pressure to get them removed. Compared to 5% of men who claim they’ve been teased, it seems like the new glass ceiling is a bit more skintimate. Now, we can understand if a lady regrets an eBay auction where she sold a casino the right to tattoo their URL on her forehead, but overall, it’s disheartening that we can’t get our lower back tattooed without it being called a tramp stamp.  Let’s unite and take back the lower back tat for classy women! You know if Paris Hilton doesn’t want a trendy tat, especially one inherently nicknamed for sluts, then they must only be for the supremely lady-like! [LA Times via Fark]

AP

Justin Timberlake could have Janet Jackson naked by the end of his song. In a surprising landmark judicial decision, the US Circuit Court of Appeals stopped the FCC from fining CBS over half a mil for the infamous 2004 halftime split second strip show...er, wardrobe malfunction. The Court ruled in favor of JT, Janet, and the station for a couple reasons.  At the time, the FCC laws weren’t explicit enough to be enforced for the accident, so it became a case of puritanical opinion versus freedom of speech. Also, since it was a live show, there was no way for any CBS employee to prevent Janet’s jug from airing, therefore, there was no network negligence. Nevertheless, Nipplegate was the shot heard ‘round the world and the FCC immediately freaked out and created tighter restrictions and higher indecency. The boobie bonanza is over! [Guide Live]

Amazon.com

• Miley Cyrus Breakout
  Miley Cyrus has come out with her second solo record Break Out. Produced by Matthew Wilder, the man behind No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom, Cyrus has officially shed her Hannah Montana alter ego and is standing on her own as an angsty teenager.  The Frisky’s Amelia promises that you will love her sans the Disney-style smile. [Yay! Yay! Yay!—Editor]

Some stories are truly stranger than fiction. Darla and Mark Pritchard tried to have a baby for five years, but nothing was working, even after two in-vitro fertilization attempts. Then, Darla’s twin sister, Dana Johnson, offered to be a surrogate, and it seems that both Darla and Dana had Darla eggs (fertilized by Mark) implanted, and both became pregnant. Darla gave birth to twins, and six weeks later, Dana gave birth to a girl. Even though they came out of different women and don’t all have the same birth date, the three children are considered triplets. Even Darla and Dana seem a little confused when they try to talk about the ordeal in the above video. [CBS News]

Remember how residents of the Aegean island of Lesbos were trying to get a court to ban the use of the word “lesbian” in reference to gay women? Well, the courts dismissed their request. A court in Athens, Greece said the word did not define the identity of the residents, so it could be used by gay groups, both in Greece and abroad. Maybe they should start calling themselves the Lesbosians, unless that’s too many syllables for people to handle. [Reuters]

The thing is, with the gossip magazines and bloggers reporting every little thing that goes down in the interim, are we even going to be surprised by the fake melodrama? We already know Heidi and Spencer are back together; we know Lauren and Audrina continue to fight; we know Lauren dates a couple dudes not named Stephen or Brody. I mean, they better have some stuff they’ve kept hidden, or this could be a boring season. Sigh. Whatever, still excited.