Thanks to Shirtoid.com

With all the warm weather and Valentine’s Day right around the corner, everyone is fixated on the birds, bees, and the birth control. Here’s a few stories of interest:

The Pill or Health Care?

According to the Archdiocese for Baltimore, the requirement that the church provide birth control to it’s employees is a deplorable first amendment violation. In his statement Cardinal O’Brien told his fellow congregants:

We cannot – we will not- comply with this unjust law. People of faith can not be made second class citizens.”

Failure to follow the law will result in the loss of health care coverage for 3,500 local employees.

Cardinal O’Brien isn’t the only religious leader that is finding qualms with the requirement.

White House officials have met with women’s groups and religious leaders to try to find a solution that will be acceptable to everyone. Press Secretary Jay Carney said:

There are ways to, I think, help resolve this issue that ensures that we provide that important preventative service, that health care coverage to all women… in a way that also tries to allay some of these concerns.”

The two groups hope to find an effective compromise in a timely fashion. Good luck with that.

Plan-B and a Coke, please.

Shippensburg University installs a new kind of vending machine. Thanks to Associated Press!

Shippensburg University revolutionized the way that college students could get Plan-B by allowing it’s students to purchase the pill for $25 out of a vending machine. All of the university’s students are over 17 and can legally go to the vending machine in a secluded area of the university health center without needing to go into the small town.

There has been quite a bit of ruckus over the accessibility of what is already a controversial medication. But there has been little noise over the accessibility of  Coca-Cola products, which studies have shown can be an effective spermicide.

So if Plan-A and Plan-B are out of stock, stick with Plan-Coca-Cola.

Got No Plan?

Meet Chun Chun- China's biggest baby! Thanks to HollywoodLife.com!

Well, that stinks. You could have your very own Chun Chun! His mother called him the “dragon baby” but in  reality he’s 15.5 pound son of Wang Yujuan and Han Jingang. He currently holds the record for the largest newborn in China by half a pound. His parents are thrilled.

Thanks to MSNBC!

If you have the need or luck to produce multitudes of children,  you may be susceptible to blackmail. As if the diapers wouldn’t be bad enough.

According to the Associated Press, photographer Teresa Hunt threatened to reveal intimate pictures of a cast member from the TLC hit reality show 19 Kids and Counting featuring Jim Bob Duggar and fam if the show was not cancelled or she did not receive $10,000 dollars.

Amy Duggar, the cousin supposedly featured in the photos, has called Hunt’s allegations “totally untrue”.

Image Thanks to the Tomahawk Take

Everybody loves an underdog…errr, bird: the Cardinals come back and win the World Series!

Twitter, China, and Human Rights

Who has student loan debt? A Colorlines infographic breaks it down.

Whack-a-swamp rat!

When do Halloween costumes cross the line?

China’s ruling party has decided that it is not a “friend” to social media.

News reports are coming in that the notoriously strict censors in China are going to crank it up a notch.

Their targets: Micro-bloggers and social media devotees.

This will be a big job. The Guardian reports

The number of registered users on domestic services reached 195 million by the end of June, triple the figure of six months earlier, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre.

Will the great firewall of China succeed?  The cartoon above has its own take. (cartoon by KAL)

Drunken moose in apple trees?! What’s going on, Sweden?

For many who celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, today will be sadly bereft of mooncakes.

A happy ending to a scary story.

Thanks to Zimbio

Don’t add “diplomat” to Justin Bieber’s repertoire. Pop star might be ruining relations in Israel.

Long road ahead; President Obama lays out 12 year plan to cut spending and borrowing.

Environment or economy? China weighs their options.

Republican governors will be Republican governors: Labor supporters angered by Florida’s GOP governor.

And, Barry Bonds breaks the rules.

The international community is united in its condemnation the violence taking place in Libya today. What should the world do about the troubles? That is a subject of far less agreement.

Two countries are preaching restraint in this situation. The cartoon above gives an interpretation of why…  (cartoon by KAL)

Oh, Egypt. You’re such a trendsetter.

The successful revolution in Egypt which forced long term leader, Hosni Mubarak, out of power is now being replicated in several different countries.

We told you about the fire of revolution spreading around the Middle East a few days ago, but it’s not limited to just the desert anymore.

One of the latest countries to toss its hat into the revolutionary ring is China. After a website called for protests in 13 cities in China, the police have cracked down on political activists- before the protests even started.

The protests that were supposed to happen never did. Political analysts say it’s because of China’s immensely powerful and organized police force and censorship system. China has since erased all online discussion of revolution or protests, with President Hu Jintao calling for stricter censorship.

Human error?  Watson stumbles on final jeopardy.

Come to papa: President Obama calls for an “Adult Conversation” on U.S. budget.

Government cracks down as protests pick up in Iran.

There is a new number two in the economic world.

And, your grocery bags might be able to get you to the grocery store.

The U.S. and China have a lot to talk about in the coming days.

And, for today’s Snark attack here’s Howard Stern who it appears doesn’t like Jay Leno one bit.

If you need a laugh on this Monday morning, see why Dave Barry thinks that 2010 was the worst year ever.

Is one of your new year’s resolutions to get a job? Prepare for the interviews with these super hard and kind of weird questions!

Leprosy isn’t just a Biblical thing of the past. Learn about life inside a Chinese leper colony.

Read evidence for how equality is actually good for the soul and the health.