• A new study claims that eating extra amounts of choline, a chemical found in eggs, while pregnant can lead to an increased risk of developing breast cancer in offspring. • Nielsen Online says that the number of employees visiting porn sites while working has increased 23% over the past year. • A new study reports that young gymnasts are suffering new types of injuries to their hands, wrists and arms .• Women who have undergone breast augmentation and are being treated for early-stage breast cancer may have more treatment success with brachytherapy, a partial-breast radiation treatment.• Inducing labor before the 40 week gestational age has become more common in the U.S. • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is taking the estate of Beverly Rogers to court over the estate's planned auctioning of Mary Pickford's 1930 Oscar for best actress. • Honor killings have increased by 70% in the southern Iraqi city of Basra where women can be murdered for "honor killings" by hired hitmen for as little as $100. • Amnesty International is asking the Haitian government to do more to stop the widespread rape of girls in the country's slums.• A BBC reporter's 12-year-old daughter gets the Somali pirates on the Sirius Star to talk. • Canadian researchers say that gay men who feel undesirable are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and develop psychological problems. • A recent survey claims that British men and women beat out the people of Italy, Germany, France and the US as the most sexually liberal. • We may have just missed the beginning of Advent, but surely this condom Advent Calendar will keep us up-to-date. • An Italian book that reveals unpublished excerpts of Amanda Knox's diary says that sex was a "predominant aspect of her life" and influenced her relationships with men and women. • A new study claims that individuals who wash their hands before making judgments tend to make less strict rulings. • More and more men are beginning to take primary care of their elderly and ill parents. • Meanwhile, the Gender-Based Violence Forum estimates that 60% of Sri Lankan women have experienced domestic violence.• An art critic for the BBC's Antiques Roadshow received criticism when he referred to a woman in a portrait as having "Shropshire ankle" (or fat ankles). • Are you ready for a relationship boot camp? • A Texan man claims that God told him to ram into a woman's vehicle on a highway while going 100 mph on Friday because she "wasn't driving right" and needed to be "taken off the road." The two only suffered minor injuries. •

• About 414 women waited in the cold outside the Apollo Theater in New York on Saturday in hopes of getting the role of Effie White for the upcoming national tour of the musical Dreamgirls. • Vivid, a student magazine at Cambridge University has sparked a controversy after printing a picture of a topless female undergrad in a recent issue. • A new study reveals that neurotic people are bothered more by uncertainty than bad news. • Campaigners of a pro-Cesarean and pain relief childbirth group in England had a meeting today with the chair of the Commons Health Select Committee to warn against ignoring "women's choice" while pandering to natural childbirth lobbyists. • A Los Angeles judge put off a decision on dismissing the case against Lori Drew today and asked for Drew's defense team to open its case. • Jump Start, a shelter for teenage mothers in Tacoma, Washington will be closing in mid-December due to lack of funds. • A 106-year-old woman discovered that she had been celebrating her birthday on the wrong day for years but still decided to celebrate on that wrong date. • A new federal investigative report into Michael Vick's dogfighting operation reveals that the athlete was directly involved in the hanging and drowning of "underperforming" pit bulls. • The Brazilian police are currently investigating 1,000 women suspected of having abortions, which are illegal in Brazil. 150 women have already been charged. • More than 400,000 women in England have had their handbags stolen from cars in the past 12 months. • Amazon.com is offering 19 best-selling products that won't require tools to open in order to deal with frustrating packaging on holiday gifts. • A cafeteria and playground aide at an elementary school in New Jersey is causing an uproar after the community learned that she used to be a porn star. • The Medina Collective in Toronto offers university-level courses to women of color about sexuality, gender, the media and hip hop culture. • Menopause isn't just for women anymore; now men can get in on the fun.•

• Good Morning, you have new president. His name is Barack Obama. No, he cannot start today. But soon. And he says: "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy… tonight is your answer." [People]
• Oprah on Barack Obama's win: "It's one of the greatest moments I could ever even imagine. That's how great it is." [ET]
• Courteney Cox and David Arquette hosted a Barack Obama victory party at their house in Beverly Hills. Jennifer Aniston, Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher were in attendance; champagne was had. Meanwhile, in Chicago, Brad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey watched Obama's speech live. Also psyched: George Clooney and Usher. [E!]
• George Clooney: "I congratulate President-elect Obama on his historic victory, and now it's time to begin unifying the country so we can take on the extraordinary challenges that this generation faces." [ET]
• Oprah again: "This is democracy at its finest." [ET]
• In other news, Jennifer Aniston is pregnant with twins. Supposedly. More in Midweek Madness. [Star]

• Britney Spears is on the cover of Australian Cosmopolitan, and they used a photograph tat is five years old. She looks good, though. [TMZ]
• Nikki Blonsky will guest star on Ugly Betty as an assistant from a rival magazine. Will there be an airport-style kerfluffle? [E!]
• Perez Hilton got served! With legal papers: Liz Silver, who runs the Web site PerezRevenge.com, is accusing him of plagiarism and copyright infringement. She had a friend crash his Halloween party and hand him papers. [Page Six]
• Blind items! 1. "Which aggressive TV, stage and movie actor has a shady past? Rumor is he sexually assaulted a girl while in high school and his family had the situation 'swept under the rug.' 2. "Which screen god isn't as happy as he and his paramour would like the world to think? Whenever the couple and their children are in LA, he 'goes to a bar in a Beverly Hills hotel and drinks for hours before going home." 3. "Which oft-photographed socialite/designer is losing her grip on the fashion world? Luxury brands no longer send her clothing and accessories and don't want her in their ad campaigns." [Page Six]
• Holly Madison is "depressed" about calling it quits with Hugh Hefner, but basically, she claims, "I got too old for Hef." Yeah, that's right: She's 28 and too old for the original Playboy. She now sleeps in a guest room. "I still work for him. We're still best friends. I still call and check in on him almost everyday." [Newser via Extra]
• More from Holly: "It might be refreshing to date someone who is not high maintenance. Sorry, Hef, you know you're high maintenance. I love you but you know you're high maintenance." [Perez Hilton]
• The rest of Janet Jackson's tour: Officially canceled. They say scheduling conflicts. Could it also be vertigo? Or crappy ticket sales? [Perez Hilton]
• Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty are both off of NME's "Cool List" this year. Drugs and jail are bad for your career, kids! [The Sun]
• CNN's Christiane Amanpour may finally get her own show. It's about time! [Page Six]
• A top Hollywood agent — who repped Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston and Matthew McConaughey — insulted his clients, stole gifts sent to them, and discussed their private parts, a lawsuit alleges. [Page Six]
• Angelina Jolie explains War and Peace in her household: "We don't take war and violence lightly, but we don't hide it from anybody. Listen, my kids play video games. I let them play with toy soldiers. We say, 'Mommy and Daddy have movies where we play these characters, but there's real death and real violence in the world. There's a real responsibility there to create in their minds the difference between the two." Also, when Mommy visits Afghanistan, she wears a flak jacket. [People]
• Anne Hathaway's new man is an actor named Adam Shulman. He's cute. [Perez Hilton]
• The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is not happy about when Nelson's use of "that's so gay" in a scene with Milhouse on The Simpsons. [TMZ, E!]
• 50 Cent's new TV show, 50 Cent: The Money and the Power, airs tomorrow on MTV. Fourteen "wannabe moguls" compete to earn a $100,000 investment from the rapper by doing challenges like walking through Brooklyn chained together. No, really. There's a clip. [People]
• Christina Aguilera's new TV commercial for Target has a comic-book feel, meaning she wears a red jumpsuit and a cape. At least she seems to know who Roy Lichtenstein is. (There's video of her talking about the spot.) [People]
• Don't tell anyone, but Keanu Reeves is a secret genius. He reads Proust and stuff. Shh! [Newser via Details]
• Cammy Diaz: Seen smoking like a fiend and being rude at Drew Barrymore's Halloween party. [Page Six]
• Charlie Sheen left his pregnant wife at home to go party at get lap dances in Las Vegas because he is Charlie Sheen. [Star]
• Guy Ritchie has hired a top family lawyer to handle his custody battle with Madonna. She's already got a top divorce lawyer. Ever heard the joke about he little girl at the cemetery? She asked, "Mommy, do they ever bury two people in the same grave?" Her mom said, "Of course not, Why would you think that?" And the girl answered: "The tombstone back there said 'Here lies a lawyer and an honest man.'" [Daily Mail]
• Guy Ritchie went out for drinks and now the Brit tabs are calling him "Tipsy Ritchie." [The Sun]
• Tina Fey's Emmys and SNL appearances may be translating into more 30 Rock viewers. She deserves it! [AP]
• Hindu leaders are not amused by Heidi Klum's Kali Halloween costume. [Best Week Ever]
• Katie Holmes and Rebecca Gayheart were friends 16 years ago, way before Katie met Tom Cruise. According to Roger Friedman, after Katie met Tom, "Gayheart, like most of Holmes’s friends, never saw her or heard from her again." But now Gayheart's in a Broadway play right around the corner from All My Sons. Will they reunite? [Fox 411]
• Have mercy: Janice Dickinson was on some afternoon court TV show, being sued by one of her former models. Judge Christina (???) listened to her crazy-ass defense are ruled in her favor. [ONTD]
• Sharon Osbourne on Simon Cowell's break-up: "He deserves it. He's a t****r, that's the truth." Hmm, what's that word there? Tosser? Anyone? [Mirror]
• Simon Cowell gave Terri Seymour $5 million cash and another $4.6 to buy a Beverly Hills home as a parting gift. Simon, break up with me next! [MSNBC]
• Oh, and Simon says: "Don't worry about me - I don't need a lonely hearts ad. I'm off women now." [Mirror]
• Daniel Craig in a Bollywood film? "I am open to offers from India… Till now I haven't been fortunate enough to get hold of an Indian movie. But yes, I will be very honoured and excited to work with an Indian actor or actress on any given chance. I also feel very obliged for the immense popularity which I enjoy in this part of the world." [ONTD]
• Katie "Jordan" Price was named Britain's Best-Loved Celebrity Mum because "she's not perfect." [Mirror]
• Liz Hurley's husband likes it when she dresses like a tart. "Like the vast majority of men, Arun likes short, tight, sexy dresses." Here's the good news: So does Liz. [The Sun]
• Expect to see a lot of Jennifer Hudson headlines like this (this isn't the first one): "Hudson Begged Mother To Move Out Of Neighborhood." [Daily Express]
• Denis Leary is the voice of Ford Trucks. Don't worry, he makes no mention of autism in the commercials. [Business Week]
• Singer Duffy accidentally set her hair on fire in her dressing room in Cleveland. Candles are soothing yet dangerous! [ONTD]
• Matthew Broderick quotes Ferris Bueller in this prObama video. [Newser via HuffPo]
• Carrie Underwood won't tell you who she voted for, so stop asking. [People]
• Cindy McCain "has this evil queen beauty about her," quoth Project Runway's Austin Scarlett, whilst seen voting in New York. [NY Observer]
• Apropos of nothing: "Mariah Carey's Top 10 Maddest Moments." [Mirror]
• Audrina of The Hills moved out but LC was cool with it blahblahblah JustinBobby blahblahblah. [People]
• Corrie Loftin of Paris Hilton's My New BFF was once ins a Girls Gone Wild video. And hanging out with Paris is different… how? [E!]
• "Sporty Spice," Mel C says: "I know there’s been a lot of things written recently saying I’m getting married and they’ve said the date and the church and that Victoria’s organizing it, but, no, we’ve got no plans." Seems she wants to have the baby first. [The Sun]
• Did Ivana Trump's young Italian husband cheat on her with a hot Italian model? "Nothing sexual happened. That I know for sure," she writes in Page Six Magazine. "I'm not going to make any other comment until I speak to him." Good idea! [Page Six]
• Selena Gomez, 16-year-old budding Disney star, was asked if she reads tabloids: "Recently, I have not. I'm actually very, very proud of myself. Honestly, the blog sites and everything — I'd be on them nonstop. I've gone four weeks total without looking at them and I'm very proud and very happy. I was addicted. It was bad." [LA Times]
• Courtenay Semel's dad, former Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, has cut her off. What's a girl to do? A reality show, obvs. [Page Six]
• For the last time: Joe The Plumber did not hook up with any SNL cast member. [Politico]
• Simply Red's Mick Hucknall, yes, that's right, Mick Hucknall, paid £29,000 for a pair of David Beckham's football cleats in 2002 and they seem to have lost about £25,000 in value since then. Surely he's wishing he really could be holding back the years. [Mirror]
• Reading about Bianca Jagger being in an argument over a €200,000 ring she lost in Salzburg earlier this year is like reading about a goblin surfing on Mars: Sounds interesting, but I just can't relate. [Yahoo News]
• Very cool, worth-your-while profile of Diahann Carroll. She says: "Dynasty was rather marvellous, you know. It was all about the clothes. The most important thing about the day was wardrobe, and of course I explained to Aaron [Spelling] I didn't want to be on the show unless I could be bitchy." She also says: "I lost two children [to miscarriage]. That's why when we talk about racism it will always take third, fourth, fifth place to some of the other things that have happened to me that are much more meaningful than being in a room with an idiot who is going to judge the color of my skin." [Guardian]
• "Having a love is a gigantic bonus in life, but I wasn't unhappy when I was single, either. (John)'s just fun, so much fun. I'm very happy now." Bo Derek, who's living with John Corbett, aka Aidan from Sex And The City. [The Sun]
• "I enjoyed being Mayor of Carmel, but you do see that it is very difficult to get things done. You just have to lose your soul. You have to bullshit people. You have to deal with people you don't care for and will never be friends with, so you kind of sell yourself out to be a politician. You have to kiss it up with the world. That ain't my style." — Clint Eastwood. [Daily Express]
• "I'd always fall for guys I wanted to save. For the first time, I fell in love with someone who saved me." — Jessica Simpson on Tony Romo. [People]
• "I would rather be sexy like Simone Signoret or Anna Magnani than like - oy, vey - Paris Hilton" - Erica Jong to More. [Page Six]
• "Barack Obama's treated like the Messiah in England. We don't have particularly inspirational politicians, certainly no one who can draw crowds in the thousands." — Daniel Radcliffe. [Page Six]
• "I think every black kid will tomorrow will be one inch taller when he goes to school. And I think everyone will be energized. And a lot of people who had given up hope in the last seven eight years are hopeful." — Richard Belzer. [Observer]

[Image via AP.]

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., arrives at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, Oct. 31, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong). — AP

[Image via AP.]

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks at a rally at the Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va., Saturday, Nov. 1, 2008. His wife, Cindy, is at right. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) — AP

• Cloris Leachman was booted off of Dancing With The Stars. "I'm not leaving," she said. "I'm going to get a pretty costume and be here next week. I'm going to sit over there. I can't go home. Are you serious? This is a joke." [UPI]
• Despite at first being told she was too old, Cloris might be Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein on Broadway! Producer Mel Brooks originally told her she didn't have the "stamina" and said "We're afraid the show could kill [Leachman]. We don't want her to die onstage." [Page Six]
• Dina Lohan on Dancing With The Stars? Just the kind of trainwreckery this country needs. [New York Mag]
• Speaking of Lohans, Lindsay's former bodyguard has settled a lawsuit he filed against her. [TMZ]
• This report claims that Lindsay has lost 14 pounds and is "thinner than ever." Really? She doesn't look the way she did when she was hanging with Nic Rich back in the day. [Boston.com]
• By the by, Dina Lohan calls the reports of a Lindsay/America Ferrera feud on the set of Ugly Betty "just silly." She says: "America's a doll. And they said [Lindsay] brought a posse. It was my mother and myself, and [sister] Ali. It was not a posse. We had sushi and no one trashed the room." Dina does admit: "It was long hours and when you're on a movie set it's a lot different. She's not used to television, but it was fun." [People]
• Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in a sitcom together??? Sign, apocalypse. [News.com.au]

• BREAKING: Joaquin Phoenix is retiring from show biz. He will be working on his music now. [Extra]
• Here is a photograph of David Beckham ogling cheerleaders. (Again.) [The Sun]
• Is Angelina Jolie "burning up with jealousy" over Brad Pitt's Inglourious Basterds costar, Diane Kruger? She did star with him in Troy. [Star]
• Keanu Reeves and the paparazzo who's suing him took turns on the witness stand yesterday. Reeves told jurors he moved his car forward very slowly to try and get the photog to move out of the way, but never hit him; the photog testified the opposite, saying the car hit his knee. [AP]
• Did Madonna and Guy Ritchie have a marriage contract? In which he promised not to shout at his wife and to devote time to sex? [Daily Mail]
• Madonna has allegedly offered Guy £20million. Of her £300million fortune. Pennies! [Daily Express]
• Hey, look, Guy Ritchie's flick RocknRolla got a good review! [Yahoo News]
• When Angelina Jolie showed up at Monday night's Hollywood Film Festival Awards Gala — where she payed tribute to director Clint Eastwood — it was a total surprise. The A-list crowd reportedly "gasped audibly" when she was introduced. [People]
• At Mary-Kate and Ashley's book signing, there were incredibly elaborate rules one had to abide by, or else! [Racked]
• Here's a liveblog of the book signing. "The paparazzi are shouting 'Mary-Kate!' and 'Ashley!' and people are freaking out." [Racked]
• Oh, and there were PETA protesters outside the book signing, with signs calling the twins "fur hags from hell." [Page Six]
• Watch Britney Spears work out! Warning: Incredibly dull video of Brit repeatedly lifting weights. [MollyGood]
• Amy Poehler will not be replaced on the SNL "Weekend Update" segments; Seth Meyers will go it alone for a while. Because Amy cannot be replaced! [ET]
• First we heard that Julianne Hough from Dancing With The Stars went to the hospital for unknown reasons. Then we heard it was her appendix. Now she reveals it was something more personal, but her managers wanted her to lie. "It turned out I ruptured a cyst that was on my ovary. My management and the other people around me were trying to think of something else I could say that was wrong with me, but I was like, don't worry. I want to be a good role model." [TMZ]
• Julianne says: "I didn’t know but I have endometriosis. I’ve apparently had it for a long time because I’ve had this pain for about the last five years. I’m just glad I’m taking care of it now because I want to have babies some day." [People]
• Check out Bjork's well-written column about Iceland's financial meltdown. [Times of London]
• Daniel Craig jokes that if the economy's bad, glamorous locations could be dropped from Bond films. "There are plenty of places we could shoot in the British Isles," he says. "If the credit crunch hits the movie business, who knows? Bond in the Lake District, Liverpool… or Birmingham." [Telegraph]
• The case against William Balfour, the primary suspect in the murder of Jennifer Hudson's family, is building quickly. His alibi is falling apart and he was seen carrying a bottle of liquor Friday. [TMZ]
• William Balfour is a felon; he was busted in June for a "rock of cocaine" and served time for a 1999 attempted murder and vehicular hijacking conviction. [AP]
• Jennifer Hudson and her mom were "very close, very tight." Jennifer's mom hosted a block party for the whole neighborhood a few months ago. Jennifer wanted her to move, but, a neighbor says: "She didn't need a bigger house. She didn't need anyone to buy her a new car. She didn't desire or want those things. She was just supportive and stood by her daughter." [People]
• Jennifer Hudson's sister Julia writes on her MySpace: Thank you for your prayers, thank you for posting his picture on your pages as your default picture, thank you… But his lil soul is at ease, I take comfort in knowing that Julian is with my mother and my brother and most of all The Lord and now he's my angel he's protecting me…" [Perez Hilton]
• Rosie O'Donnell on Jennifer Hudson's awful ordeal: "The family tragedy of Jennifer Hudson — no words will do — a grief too hard to comprehend. Guns and domestic violence are a lethal combination — injuring and killing women every day in the United States. A gun is the weapon most commonly used in domestic homicides. In fact, more than three times as many women are murdered by guns used by their husbands or intimate acquaintances than are killed by strangers' guns, knives or other weapons combined. Contrary to many public perceptions, many women who are murdered are killed not by strangers but by men they know." [UPI]
• Coldplay dedicated a song to Jennifer Hudson at a concert in NJ on Monday night. [Perez Hilton]
• Elisabeth Hasselbeck gets more death threats than anyone else on The View, says Whoopi Goldberg. Well, no one wants to see anything happen to Joy! [Page Six]
• Jerry "Turtle" Ferrera and Jamie Lynn Sigler — Meadow from The Sopranos: It's on. [Perez Hilton]
• Peter Andre, husband of Kate "Jordan" Price, is in L.A. Alone. Don't know what it means. [The Sun]
• Poor Paris Hilton. She used to get paid to show up at clubs, sometimes $100,000 "appearance fee." The recession has dropped the sum she can get to $40K or less. Tragic! [Daily Mail]
• An Austrian woman allegedly sent more than 100 letters to CSI: Miami star David Caruso, stalked him, asked him for an autograph, and then sent death threats when he refused to give her one. Authorities are looking for her; they've got an international arrest warrant, and officials said she could be hiding in Mexico. Very Special Episode? [Yahoo News]
• Hmm, Hairspray 2? John Waters is in; John Travolta's not. [Perez Hilton]
• Lauryn Hill was spotted taking her kids to see Martha Stewart at a Williams Sonoma store in New Jersey. [Perez Hilton]
• This article states, "A Canadian mathematics professor says he's used his science to solve mysteries about how the Beatles created two unique musical sounds." Someone has a lot of time on his hands! [UPI]
• Headline of the day: "AC/DC blamed for dark economic times in Britain." [News.com.au]
• On the heels of 90210, next comes Melrose Place. Would Heather Locklear come back? [LA Times]
• Half nekkid pix Naomi Campbell at an art show. [Page Six]
• "The thing that gets me the most about this country is that it’s called a “free country” but everyone is a slave to their car. From my place I can walk to my loft, but nobody walks here, everyone has a car. If I walked down there in the evening, I’d be stopped three or four times by someone who thinks I’m a prostitute, inviting me to get in their car. This is why I left the States when I was 22. I saw that I was going to be trapped into buying a car so I could get to work so I could pay for my car, and I thought, that’s not for me. " — Chrissie Hynde. [BlackBook]
• "I didn't come across too well either in the majority of reviews and even with the audiences — people did not respond to it. It was a film that was made to be seen by many people. Not many people saw it and they weren't particularly fond of it, and that was shitty, it was really shitty." — Colin Farrell, on Alexander. [Reuters]
• "Bernie and I were pals. We've known each other for a long time and we had a great relationship… If you had to pick a perfect way to be remembered for an artist, especially a guy like Bernie — the joy that this film has in it, and the kind of love and adoration that people had for him, and the kind of joy he brought people is evident in this film. [The audience] will discover that he can do things that they didn't know he could do, like sing, dance and carry this dramatic arc. I'm always finishing films and looking forward to seeing them, and I know Bernie didn't see this movie. It's kind of like 'wow.' " — Samuel L. Jackson, on Soul Men, Bernie Mac's last film. CNN]
• "I watched kids of differing physical abilities and different backgrounds from around the world lose themselves in imagination and make believe. And I was moved to tears. All I can tell you is that I cried like a baby. I couldn't stop crying." — Mike Myers, on performing at Rusk Institute in The Bronx with Only Make Believe, a theater charity group that puts on plays for young children in hospitals and care facilities. [People]
• "I like to wear formfitting things because I work very hard to keep my gorgeous figure. I’m very happy to show it off and I honestly go to the women’s department often because I know I’ll find very interesting patterns and formfitting clothes. It’s an old rock ’n’ roll trick for guys to shop in the girl’s section. I’ve recently gotten some great things at Miss Sixty, Betsey Johnson and G-Star. In the women’s department, I go for size large and in men’s, I go for small." — Perry Farrell. [BlackBook]
• "For Halloween, I'm going to look like a normal girl, put some bronzer on, some spray tan on and wear some jeans. People will ask me where my costume is! I would never do this in normal life, that's why I'll do it at Halloween. It's a bit funny and people think I'm not wearing a costume but I really am." — Dita Von Teese. [ONTD]
• "How do you nurture a positive attitude when all the statistics say you’re a dead man? You go to work." — Patrick Swayze. [NY Times]
• "I feel like I’m a pretty normal 22-year-old. An actor friend told me the best way to deal with attention is to exist in the 3 feet around you when you’re out with friends — you can’t be worried about people watching you." — Lauren Conrad [Cosmopolitan]

• Jennifer Aniston had dinner with Gerard Butler at L.A.'s Tower Bar — days after eating there with John Mayer. Don't hate the player, hate the game. [Page Six]
• Amy Winehouse was in the hospital last night, being checked out for a chest infection. Is it related to the emphysema she was diagnosed with in June? [Mirror]
• Amy missed an appointment to talk to cops about punching a fan; it will be rescheduled. [TMZ]
• Although this report says Amy could get arrested, and that she's doing so many drugs she's totally out of it. [The Sun]
• Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia Balfour, is begging for her son to be returned safely. He disappeared after a shooting which killed her mother and brother. At a news conference on Saturday night, she said: "All I ask, I don't care who you are, just let my baby go, please. I just want my son." [CNN]

• Jennifer Hudson showed up to officially identify the bodies of her mother and brother yesterday. [TMZ]
• Cops say there was "trouble in the marriage" between the suspect, William Balfour, and his wife, Julia. William is in police custody. [TMZ]
• Barack Obama, who also calls Chicago his hometown, says he and Michelle are "heartbroken" to hear of Jennifer Hudson's tragedy and offer "thoughts and prayers." [People]
• America's Most Wanted plans to help in the search for Jennifer Hudson's nephew. [ET]
• Jennifer Hudson has offered a $100,000 reward for her nephew's safe return. [AP]
• Baby-wipes enthusiast Terrence Howard allegedly punched composed Tex Allen during a rehearsal for Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in January. Allen is suing for $5 million. [UPI]
• A source says Lindsay Lohan is not planning on coming out of the closet, because she's not a lesbian: She still loves men. "She has been telling everyone over and over that she’s still into guys," a "friend" says. "She keeps saying if anything went wrong with Sam she would date a guy next. She even flirts with guys when they go out." [NY Daily News]
• Kate Hudson had a Halloween party! Courteney Cox came as a witch. David Arquette was a wizard. Cindy Crawford was Amy Winehouse. Isla Fisher was a princess; Sacha Baron Cohen was a cow. Click for pictures! [Daily Mail]
• Miley Cyrus is living with her boyfriend Justin Gaston, don't you know? A source says: "Billy Ray wasn't born yesterday. He figures the safest path to take is to keep Miley and Justin on a short leash — and under the same roof." Just imagine all the sneaking around going on. [UPI]
• Mama mia: Victoria Beckham's been offered millions to host a documentary about husband David moving to AC Milan. Remember the one she did about moving to L.A.? It would be similar, but "more polished." [Mirror]
• David Beckham was speeding around Hollywood in his Porsche and got stopped by the cops. He flashed a smile and got a talking to instead of a ticket. [The Sun]
• David Beckham says even though he's being loaned to AC Milan, he will stay with his L.A. team. "At the end of the day, my commitment is still to the Galaxy and that's not changed," he explains. "But I've been given a chance to join up with one of the biggest clubs in the world, so I'm going to do that." [AP]
• Madonna: In "full meltdown mode"? [MSNBC]
• Madonna plans to gather all of the items she received from Guy Ritchie: photos, gifts and letters — and scan them before burying them. Yeah, she's gong to bury them. In the ground. "It will be a little bit like a funeral as she lays that part of her life to rest," a source spills. [NY Post]
• The latest is that Madonna and Guy are fighting over the household staff, with each demanding that the employees testify against the other. [Daily Mail]
• Guy will visit the kids next month but there's "no way" Madonna will be there when they see each other. [Mirror]
• Did Guy try to turn Madonna into an English housewife? [Mirror]
• Did Guy And Madonna's marriage end when she started scheduling sex around her gym workouts? [Daily Mail]
• Madonna and the kids were seen leaving the Kabbalah center in New York over the weekend. Lourdes was wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt. [The Sun]
• Yay, Amy Poehler had a baby boy named Archie Arnett! Boo, Amy won't be on SNL ever again. [AP]
• Slash: Working on a "star-studded" solo album! [Reuters]
• Jerry Lewis was on Australian TV when a reporter asked him about cricket. "Oh, cricket? It's a fag game. What are you, nuts?" Lewis replied. It's been a year since he used the same gay slur on his telethon. What's his problem? [AP]
• Check out this picture of Beyoncé as Sasha Fierce: Flexible! [Concrete Loop]
• Zack And Miri Make A Porno: Not playing in Salt Lake City, Utah. Too "raunchy." But! You can totally see Saw V there. [Page Six]
• Thieves hit the set of Prison Break! Cash, credit cards, documents and a computer were stolen from trailers. The robbers cleaned out $25,000 from Jodi Lyn O’Keefe's checking account and charged $14,000 on her credit cards, right on the heels of her finding out she's being written out of the show. The thieves hit Dom Purcell's credit cards as well. [The Sun]
• Celebs who live in Greenwich Village, New York, are being targeted by "trash-trollers." Someone's going through the garbage and discovering secrets in the trashcans of people like Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, Liv Tyler, Charlie Rose and Graydon Carter. It's mostly prescription receipts. [Page Six]
• Elle Macpherson's new man is a convicted drug trafficker. He's reformed, though. [Daily Mail]
• OMG: Sienna MIller and Jude Law almost ran into each other in London. [Mirror]
• A new book alleges that Heath Ledger was bipolar. [Mirror]
• Look for Michelle Obama to be hanging out with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show this evening! [USA Today]
• John Malkovich, who has lived in France for 10 years, is in the midst of a tax dispute. He's refusing to hand over the cash and there will be a trial. [Daily Express]
• Even though she was seen cuddling up with a hot hot model, Kylie Minogue says she does not have a man. She's free and single! [The Sun]
• Prince Harry wants to start the full Army Air Corps program and be a helicopter pilot. The failure rate is high, but Harry has passed an initial aptitude test. Fly, Harry, fly. [BBC News]
• Katie "Jordan" Price and husband Peter Andre are holding crisis talks about the future of their marriage. Stay tuned. [Mirror]
• Mariah Carey will appear on UK show The X Factor. [The Sun]
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: releasing an album of covers for theur 50th anniversary. Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll," Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds." Migraine meds not included. [Reuters]
• Phil Spector talks shit about the Beatles. [Mirror]
• A blonde teenager who was "wooed and bedded" by James Blunt — and then caught the singer in bed with another woman — says: "I just want people to know exactly what type of person he is. Everything he says in his songs is bullshit." [News.com.au]
• Peter Cook is not giving teen mistress Diana Bianchi any cash, because her lawyers badmouthed him? [TMZ]
• Dave Grohl and wife: Expecting baby #2. [People]
• Former Grateful Dead keyboardist, Mel Saunders, has died. Harold "Hal" Kant, the lawyer who represented the Grateful Dead for more than 30 years, has also died. [AP, UPI]
• No man has won more Emmys for performance than actor and social activist Ed Asner, but there has never been a biography of his life — and there probably never will be. [Yahoo News]
• The title track from Axl Rose's Chinese Democracy was actually released to radio last week. The album will be released on November 24. It's been 17 years since a Guns N'Roses album came out. [Guardian]
• These celebrity trading cards, PopCardz, sound lame. [AP]
• "I just like sitting and watching people. I love seeing people having fun. Everyone over in L.A. is too cool for it. That’s the problem." — from "A Night Out With Lukas Haas." [NY Times]
• "I had the fat removed from under my chin. That's why I wear the goatee because it covers the scar. If I went for laser treatment, I could get rid of it, but I thought, fuck it, I'll wear a goatee. My nose, that was straightened. Then, with the eyes, they took the heaviness out of the lids." — Tom Jones, detailing his plastic surgery. [Mirror]
• "I hadn't heard that Joe the Plumber dropped my name. I'm honored to be in the little passion play, to be an extra." — Matt Damon. [USA Today]
• "A legend is someone who has died… I used to drag people up on stage, whip them and pretend to fuck them in the rear. You can’t get more intimidating than that. But I’m honest about it, so the men who go out with me know I’m going to be more macho than them. My husband used to shout at my mother, 'What is wrong with your daughter? I'm married to a man.' I'm not like a normal woman, that’s for sure." — Grace Jones. [Times of London]
• "Oh, there's no squabble [between me and Tina Turner]. The people at USA Today just grossly exaggerated that I was fuming. That's ludicrous. I've always appreciated Ms. Turner and she just kind of overstepped herself and chose to speak on my ego when I really thought she was being more descriptive of herself. Mmm-hmm. Particularly in view of the fact that she doesn't even know me." — Aretha Franklin. [Washington Post]
• "I definitely regret all the things I said about Samantha [Ronson]. I’m a Christian. I should not pass judgment on anyone. In the past, I felt that the best way to get to [Lindsay] was to speak out publicly, and it was the wrong choice. Family matters should be kept private. I’ve learned that now." — Michael Lohan. [NY Magazine]
• "I put on a significant amount for Body Of Lies and I really enjoyed that. When I got that phone call it was just one of those wonderful moments where you turn to your wife and say, 'Baby I'm really sorry but I gotta eat.' I loved it." — Russell Crowe. [Daily Express]
• "It's not all about singing. Being the Queen is not all about singing and being a diva is not all about singing. It has much to do with your service to people. And your social contributions to your community and your civic contributions as well. I contribute to the food banks in Detroit, and the churches. And that kind of thing." — Aretha Franklin. [Washington Post]

In fact, when compared to other vaccines, those receiving Gardasil shots reported fewer "serious adverse events." The Journal reports that 6% of Gardasil complaints were "serious," while "most vaccines have reported serious adverse events rates between 10% and 15%."

Even with these findings, immigrant advocates are still not happy that immigrant women between the ages of 11-26 are required to get the Gardasil shot before receiving their green cards. As we reported earlier, the expense of this shot is a serious barrier, and the L.A. Times reported yesterday that some experts think the shot could be fairly ineffective. "Many women will very likely get this only for the purpose of the visa," according to Kate Bourne of the International Women's Health Coalition. "Quite likely they will be at the upper end of the age range, which means they are more likely to already be sexually active, and this vaccine is useless to them." The only group of women and girls required to get the Gardasil vaccine beyond immigrants is residents of the state of Virginia, because as we all know, Virginia IS for lovers, despite what Nancy Pfotenhauer says.

Side Effects Not Linked To Gardasil [WSJ]
Immigrants' Advocates Decry Cervical Cancer Vaccine Order [LAT]

Earlier: Experts Question The Cost Effectiveness Of HPV Vaccine
Experts Appalled At Gardasil Requirement For Immigrant Women

So what's the big deal, you may think, this pharmacy is in the D.C. area, competing against thousands of pharmacies that do dispense birth control. But, as former Planned Parenthood lawyer Roberta Riley points out, "in parts of Montana, women must drive 80 miles to find a pharmacy willing to sell contraception," because so many pharmacists are practicing their "consciences."

What's more, as Tarina Keene, executive director of the Virginia chapter of NARAL notes, "If this emboldens other pharmacies in other parts of the state, it could really affect low-income and rural women in terms of access." But isn't denying women their prescriptions illegal? Well, it depends on where you live.

According to the AP, a Wisconsin state appeals court upheld sanctions against a pharmacist who wouldn't give a woman her birth control and wouldn't transfer the woman's prescriptions elsewhere (yay Wisconsin!). But according to Riley, who writes forWomen's E-news, a "ruling, issued in late 2007 by a lower court and now on appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, allows people who run pharmacies to refuse to dispense birth control based on their belief it kills the unborn." The Ninth Circuit Court covers California and the Pacific Northwest, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Arizona, but it's headquartered in San Francisco, so fingers crossed that the pinko liberals will not allow pharmacists to continue refusing women their prescriptions.

What's most troubling about the Divine Mercy Care Pharmacy is that according to NARAL Virginia, the Birth Control Protection Act has failed to pass in the state for six years running, so refusing women their valid prescriptions is currently legal. To download the NARAL petition click here, or if you happen to live near Chantilly, drive by and give the Divine Mercy Care folks your divine middle finger.

Va. Pharmacy Follows Faith, No Birth Control Sales [AP via Yahoo News]
McCain Is Party to Secret War on Contraception [Women's E-News]

• Jennifer Aniston is "said to be" expecting John Mayer's baby. [Mirror]
• Jen may have asked John to marry her. This is according to the cover of Star magazine. More later in Midweek Madness. [Star]
• The three guys who say Lindsay Lohan held them hostage during an alleged alcohol-fueled drive have sued over the incident. Remember back in July 2007, when she hijacked a car and sped through Malibu? Her lawyer says the suit is absurd: "These guys had the night of their lives, playing with the radio and leaving the vehicle at one point and getting back in." [TMZ]
• Speaking of Lindsay, she and Samantha Ronson, Eve, Kevin Connolly and Stacy Keibler went swimming at the Roosevelt Hotel in L.A. a week after there was a dead body found in the pool. Apparently the staff never drained the pool after the body was removed and celebs and guests "were swimming in the unchanged water." As the kids say: Vom. [Page Six]

• The rumors about Katherine Heigl adopting a baby from Korea seem to be true. [Perez Hilton]
• Is George Clooney back with old flame Krista Allen? [Rush & Molloy]
• Rocco Ritchie: Seen wearing a New York Yankees T-shirt. Ouch! What will daddy say when he finds out you're celebrating the team of Mommy's new love interest? [Daily Mail]
• This report says Madonna and A-Rod will be together by Christmas. [The Sun]
• Madonna wants the kids to be with her at Christmastime because there's no Christmas in Kabbalah and she doesn't want them to have the traditional English Christmas that Guy wants to give them. [Mirror]
• Team Madonna is saying that Guy Ritchie "lived like a king" off of Madonna's money and never spent a dime of his own cash. [Daily Mail]
• Does Guy Ritchie have a new ladyfriend? Us Weekly says he's hooking up with British actress Kelly Reilly, who's in Sherlock Holmes, which Guy is directing. [Page Six]
• Julianne Hough from Dancing With The Stars was rushed to the hospital after having severe stomach pains backstage. [TMZ]
• Toni Braxton was eliminated from DWTS, by the by. [CNN]
• Take a minute to LOL at this picture of Justin Timberlake trying so very hard not to stare at Rihanna's ass. [Daily Mail]
• Mariah Carey calls married life "amazing" and hints she might have kids. [ET]
• Michael Vick will plead guilty to state dogfighting charges in hopes of securing an early release from federal prison and possibly returning to American football next year. [Yahoo News]
• Brad Pitt, who's staying in a mansion in Germany while filming that Tarantino movie, has changed the beer taps in his house from lager to Guinness. I want a spigot that issues forth margaritas! [The Sun]
• Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham talks about photo shoots with her husband: "I'm hands on. I will take every shoot and pick it to pieces whereas David is a lot more easy-going — and he's the good looking one." Plus! "I know I'm not overtly sexy to most men. I'm just not one of those women." [The Sun]
• David Beckham is being "loaned" to futbol team AC Milan. [BBC Sport]
• Holly Madison and Criss Angel: Seen "super touchy feely" at the CatHouse Lounge at the Luxor Hotel in Vegas, where the illusionist has show. An unnamed source says: "They were completely enamored by each other as they kissed and held hands." There's a joke here about a magician and a bunny, right? [Perez Hilton]
• Kim Kardashian spent her 28th birthday in an Alabama medical center, where boyfriend Reggie Bush was recovering from surgery after injuring his knee. There's a snap of her dressed in a hospital gown. [People]
• The memorabilia dealer who led O.J. Simpson to a hotel room where an infamous robbery occurred filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Dr. Phil show claiming his remarks in an interview were spliced to change their meaning. [AP]
• Ooh, here's an interview with Vincent Kartheiser, also known as Pete Campbell from Mad Men. A snippet: "Pete is an annoying guy, but you feel sorry for him in the way you feel sorry for Steve Carell in The Office. Pete's life made him who he is and I think he wonders why people aren't more sympathetic. 'Why doesn't everyone like me? Can't they see what I've been through to get here? Why can't they just give me what I deserve?'" [ONTD, via London Free Press]
• According to a statement by AMC, "the future of Mad Men on AMC is not in question." [LA Times]
• Actress Kate Walsh is heading to a swing state: "I think we're all sort of holding our breath a little bit, counting the hours down. We're still working arduously toward the goal of Obama being president—or at least I am. [Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice creator] Shonda Rhimes and I are going to Ohio to campaign this coming weekend, so we're doing everything we can." [E!]
• Eminem is backing Obama. [Mother Jones]
• Tina Fey's going to be shot by Annie Leibovitz for the cover of Vanity Fair; this posting's author muses, "I wonder if her back will be exposed." That does seem to be a Leibovitz fave! [ONTD, via Radar]
• Did you know that Tina Fey glues her ears down in order to play Sarah Palin? [Reuters]
• William Shatner says that George Takei has a "sickness" and a "psychosis" and doesn't know why he wasn't invited to Takei's wedding in September. [Perez Hilton]
• Blind item! "Which reality star has-been should tone down the drug use? The dethroned tabloid subject brought two eight balls of coke (7 grams) to a weekend getaway. She was last seen at 7 a.m., trying to find someone to play charades with her." [Rush & Molloy]
• Ashton Kutcher's been coaching football and he loves it. "I'm pleased to report that my Harvard Westlake football team is 4-2. I am blessed to step on the gridiron every week with a great group of individuals that understand that the collective force is greater that any individual can ever be," he says. "Though coaching a football team is no great step for mankind I'm finding that it's a great step for me. I'm not there to teach them, they are there to teach me." [People]
• Kate Moss wants to buy a house in Puerto Rico, a "special place where she can escape from the limelight." Don't we all??? [The Sun]
• Britney will appear on The X Factor with a "raunchy" routine. [Mirror]
• Is Britney going as Shaved-Head Britney for Halloween??? [ONTD]
• Here are some new promo shots of Christina Aguilera: Big hair, striped tights, lollipop, rocket, "sexy secretary answering the phone." [The.Life Files]
• Here's a picture of Jude Law looking like a "1970s German porn star." [The Sun]
• News that David Duchovny will sue the Mail newspaper for alleging that he was having an affair with a tennis coach has reached the UK. [Guardian]
• In this "10 Things He Doesn't Want You To Know" story, we learn that Simon Cowell likes to watch Desperate Housewives and read Jackie Collins novels. Plus 9 other things similarly mundane. [Mirror]
• Daniel Craig has turned down the chance to play Thor on the big screen. [Daily Express]
• Intel on upcoming TV shows! What to expect on Lost, NCIS, Brothers & Sisters and more! (If you like Desmond from Lost, you ought to watch.) [EW]
• Milla Jovovich's daughter, Ever, is turning one; Milla recalls the kid's birth last year: "I was in labor for 72 hours," she says. "I was up for 48 hours, for two nights. I started Halloween night. By the time I went into the hospital, it was the night of November 2. I finally went into the hospital and had the epidural." [People]
• Charlie Sheen's new bride is knocked up and word is: Twins. [Perez Hilton]
• Oh, Jesus: Mel Gibson has given his church, the Holy Family Catholic Church in Malibu, $10 million. Mel now has a church with tax free assets of $42 million; Holy Family is not recognized by the Catholic Church. Gibson is the single contributor to the church every year. [Fox 411]
• Bridget Moynahan will costar with Donnie Wahlberg in a new series from über-producer Jerry Bruckheimer for TNT. It's a cop drama set in Boston called Bunker Hill. [E!]
• Katie Price, aka Glamour Model Jordan, is no longer friends with most of her bridesmaids from her 2005 wedding, yawn. [The Sun]
• Yikes: Enrique Iglesias' plane made an emergency landing on Monday after the pilot had to shut down one of the engines while crossing the Atlantic. [Mirror]
• Brad Paisley was "arrested" at the Nashville airport in a prank orchestrated by Jewel. [People]
• A 114-year-old Illinois house where much of the action in the 1993 comedy Groundhog Day took place may soon become a bed and breakfast. [UPI]
• Headline of the day: "Paul McCartney's Wax Head Left Behind On Train." [NPR]
• "[My career] has become kind of large and it really began for me very, very small. Like me alone in my bedroom with my four-track and a pair of headphones. I just need to go back there for a while to get my bearings again and then know what to do next. I just need to let it rest for a minute." — Feist, on taking a break after touring. [Perez Hilton]
• "I gained almost 15 pounds to play the role. It was way easier – and tastier – than having to lose so much weight for Dreamgirls." — Beyoncé, on playing Etta James in Cadillac Records. [People]
• "I don't feel the need to get married. But Ashley wants children. I'll be a great aunt or godmother." — Mary-Kate Olsen. [Star Magazine]
• "Paris Hilton is still bugging me about "Stupid Girls." She came up to me in a nightclub a couple of months back and she said, 'I hope you realize that the person I seem to be in the press is really just an act and the real me is really smart'. I said, 'Just get over it. The song was like years ago. Quit bugging me.' I still take a pop at Jessica Simpson in my new video. That girl hates me. But it's just that her name happens to be a good rhyme fit for lots of lyrics. Those girls are something else. There's part of me that thinks they're such losers, but there's also a part of me that admires how they actually play the game. I'm so bad at playing the Hollywood game. I just hate all that fake stuff." — Pink. [ONTD]
• "Jamie Lynn is NOT pregnant and I wish everyone would stop being so judgemental because if you weren’t having sex at 16 it probabaly means you were very unattractive. She just happened to get pregnant and then did the right thing by not having an abortion." — Diane, a "friend" of Jamie Lynn Spears. [CelebSlam]
• "To be honest, there's nothing I want to talk about less than politics. I'd rather vomit and lick it up. I like Obama, but he's not gonna win. Trust me, I know my people." — Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders in Blender. [Page Six]

But that's not the only coded language these Conservative queen-makers use in relation to Palin. Kristol referred to her as "my heartthrob" on Fox News in July; Barnes noted that she is “exceptionally pretty"; Jay Nordlinger, a senior editor at the National Review , wrote in a column that Palin is “a former beauty-pageant contestant, and a real honey, too. Am I allowed to say that? Probably not, but too bad.”

As many of her most ardent fans have noticed, Palin is a very attractive woman. And noticing this wouldn't be bad — it would just be human — if it didn't seem that this is her main qualification in the eyes of even her most serious-minded supporters. Kristol, Barnes and Gerson, in discussing why they were so initially enamored with the Governor of Alaska, mentioned her star power, her hockey mom biography, her charisma, and almost as an afterthought, her record as a "reformer," which at this point has been pretty thoroughly debunked (see her troopergate abuse of power and her bridge to nowhere fibs).

It is undeniable that conventional attractiveness, regardless of gender, is a large part of political success; to deny this would be naive. Do you think Barack Obama would have had his meteoric rise to power had he been fifty pounds overweight? Why do you think Mike Huckabee got his lap band, or Biden his hair plugs or Hillary Clinton or McCain their alleged Botox? However, while Obama's looks, oratorial skills and biography, while certainly part of his packaging, are not the sole basis of his rise to prominence.

I spent the better part of yesterday thinking about Sarah Palin and what she means to women. After my initial rage over the choice of a severely anti-choice, anti-intellectual, theocratic woman subsided, I have tried to think about the ways the choice of Palin could be construed as a positive. She is a self-proclaimed feminist, and even though many people may think she doesn't qualify as one, the mere fact that she embraces a term that so many young women shun is important. I also decided that Palin's prominence could be a boon for little girls. Perhaps the next generation will be more inclined to join the political fray after seeing a woman so easily glide onto the Presidential ticket.

Then, last night, I read that John McCain announced on Fox News that he picked Palin, in part, as a counter to the "liberal feminist agenda," and I found my first claim deflating. McCain is trying to take a place of common ground that women might have with Palin — that we all call ourselves feminists — and make the word into something even more divisive than it already is. I suppose in the Republican party there is only one proper way to be a feminist, and that's to be pretty and pro-life.

This morning, I watched a few videos on Newsweek from the magazine's Women In Leadership conference, and was struck by the comments of former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers. "As long as human beings are sexual, and as long as attraction remains one of the dynamics that define life, you're never going to totally eliminate that. What you can do, is, one, women have to be conscious of it, because if you don't take it off the table, it becomes a distraction." Myers went on to talk about how Hillary Clinton purposely looked almost exactly the same every day — the same hairdo and pantsuits — so that people would not comment on her looks, they'd talk about what she had to say. When Palin winks and flirts with the audience during a debate and wears black, high-heeled patent leather boots to political rallies, it's impossible not to notice these things, and it's also impossible to argue that these actions don't become part of the conversation.

And this is what worries me about Palin's legacy to young girls. I don't think we should ever require female politicians to be asexual or unfeminine. The point of feminism is that you should be able to present yourself in whatever way you please along the spectrum. However, if a male politician were winking and mugging at the camera the way that Palin does, I would find it equally unprofessional. And I worry that when young women see Sarah Palin, they think, "I too can have a meteoric rise to power... as long as I'm also a beauty queen."

"Women are judged more harshly if they're not pretty," Myers says in her Newsweek video. "That's something we've all had to live with since junior high." Which is not to say that Palin does not possess other gifts. I think she is incredibly ambitious and savvy, though these things are not part of her public persona. She has always masked her ambition, something often seen as unfeminine, behind folksy talk and faux humility, like when she said, "I never really set out to be in public affairs, much less to run for this office."

But Myers also notes that people are given genetic gifts unequally, and while Palin's looks are an advantage for her, so were Bill Clinton's charisma and Barack Obama's intellect. Again, this would not be a problem if Palin had the political knowledge to back up her very carefully constructed and gilded image. Myers did say something heartening, though. "One woman can't change a culture, but if there are more women there can be a critical mass. If there's only one woman, the culture changes the woman." I think Palin alone will not be able to personally change a generation of women. But hopefully the combined impact of Clinton, Palin, Pelosi will inspire a critical mass.

The Insiders [The New Yorker]
Among Rock-Ribbed Fans of Palin, Dudes Rule [NYT]
McCain: Palin Is A Counter To The "Liberal Feminist Agenda" [Feministing]
"Palin's Looks Do Help Her" [Newsweek]

Earlier: Palin Dudes: "Proud To Be Voting For The Hot Chick"

Lawyers for Knox's side say that this is a mere "presumed scenario" with no real evidence to back it up. Many media reports, including a thorough Radar feature, note that prosecutor Mignini has had it out for Amanda Knox since the murder occurred.

As discussed last week, Radar's Sarah Horne reported that, "Lisa Pasko, a criminology professor at the University of Denver who specializes in young women who commit violent crimes, has been following the case and does not believe that Knox participated in Kercher's murder…She likens Mignini's behavior to that of the very vocal prosecutor in the Duke rape case, former Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong, who improperly leaked information to the media in order to beef up his case against the accused lacrosse players."

Amanda herself took the stand during a closed-door hearing today in Perugia, and proclaimed her innocence. An obviously emotional Knox told the court "Meredith was my friend… I had no reason to kill her." As for the other two men allegedly involved, Rudy Hermann Guede has requested a "fast-track" trial and has admitted to being in the room when Kercher died. Though Knox and Sollecito have no prior records, the Radar article pointed out that Guede is a "petty criminal who had a history of home invasions with a knife," and according to the Guardian, a pillow with Guede's bloody hand print was found beneath Kercher's body. The case against Sollecito seems to be based mostly on the fact that he liked violent Japanese Manga comics that depicted murder scenarios.

Kercher's parents are lodging a claim for financial compensation in the aftermath of Meredith's death, and according to the Daily Mail, their lawyers will argue that "'this was a particularly violent crime and that all three [Knox, Sollecito and Guede] were present and responsible for her death."

U.S. Student Accused Of "Satanic" Slaying [AP via CBS News]
The Accused [Radar]
Knox Accused Of Stabbing Meredith [Guardian]
Meredith's Parents Lodge Claim For Murder Damages After Court Is Told She Was Attacked For Refusing To Take part In Drug-Fuelled Orgy [Daily Mail]

Earlier: True Crime

• Did Madonna get "bored" playing dress-up on the English countryside? Andrew Morton writes that when friends found out the formerly skanky downtown vegetarian was out shooting birds, they gave the relationship 5 years. He adds: "The one thing Madonna hates more than chaos in her life is failure." Ritchie's movies "opened to less than rapturous reviews," but Madonna's new movie received high praise. "She has proved that she can live with fake. But not with failure." [The Daily Beast]
• Guy Ritchie spent the day his divorce was announced filming interior scenes for Sherlock Holmes. [People]
• Oh, snap: Guy Ritchie reportedly wants "not one penny" of Madonna's estimated £300 million fortune. Plus, he hates Kabbalah. [The Sun]
• Madonna hired divorce attorney Fiona Shackleton, who repped Prince Motherfucking Charles, as well as Sir Paul McCartney. And yeah, there's no pre-nup. [Perez Hilton]
• Madonna in concert: "This song is for the emotionally retarded. Maybe you know some people who fall into that category. I know I do." [Mirror]
• A source says Gwyneth Paltrow "begged" Madonna all summer "not to be an idiot" and let her marriage fall apart. Gwynnie wanted them to keep it together for the kids. [Digital Spy]

• Guy Ritchie is moving out of the London house. Madonna might move to New York, though. Lourdes maybe wants to move to NYC to be near her bio-dad, Carlos Leon. What will happen to Rocco and David? What about the children? [Perez Hilton]
• Madonna's been "closer" to Carlos Leon lately. [The Sun]
• Guy Ritchie allegedly tells a friend: "I'm afraid the laughs in our life together were long gone. She's obsessed with her own public image, obsessed with being seen as some kind of global soothsayer. It's silly, she's a pop star. There was a time when she used to have a sense of humour about herself. In the last few years, she just got angry." [Mirror]
• Guy calls the marriage a "three ring circus" that had to end. [Mirror]
• Guess who is waiting in the wings, learning Kabbalah? Alex Rodriguez. [E!]
• DJ AM made his first big public appearance at a benefit concert Tuesday night in Hollywood. The 5-hour show was a "Welcome Home" celebration and Mark Ronson, Mix Master Mike, Steve Aoki, and That 70s Show's Danny Masterson spun tunes on stage while AM watched and sang along. [People]
• DJ AM says that after Travis Barker wrenched open the emergency exit after the plane crash, "I tried to cover my face as I jumped through a fireball. As soon as I hit the ground, I remembered, 'Stop, drop and roll.' So I started rolling." [ET]
• Amy Winehouse "lost it" in a recording studio, blamed "Satan" for her drug problems and then smashed up a £3,000 guitar. [The Sun]
• Amy will DJ tonight at London pub The Monarch! Maybe she'll spin the records backwards! [Mirror]
• Quentin Tarantino has changed the name of his film Inglorious Bastards to InglOURious BastERds, which is much, much better. [Perez Hilton]
• Aniston & Mayer: Late dinner at the Sunset Tower Hotel in L.A. [People]
• Denis Leary is defending his statements about autism: He says critics obviously haven't read his book. "They missed the sections I thought made my feelings about autism very clear: that I not only support the current rational approaches to the diagnoses and treatment of real autism but have witnessed it firsthand while watching very dear old friends raise a functioning autistic child." [E!]
• Stevie Wonder's house: Burned! In the L.A. wildfires! A source says: "Everything was destroyed - all of Stevie's memorabilia, photos, musical instruments, history, clothing, furniture, everything. It's all gone. It was his main residence and he is utterly devastated. Stevie's had to put his tour and appearances on hold while he deals with this." [Page Six]
• A statement has been issued that reads: "In light of continuous speculation over the lives and marriage of Tea Leoni and David Duchovny, the couple has confirmed that they have in fact been separated for several months. the statement says. The couple had hoped to keep this separation private for the sake of their children." [People]
• Reese Witherspoon gave Jake Gyllenhaal a "sexy lingerie show" while shopping in London. She beckoned him into the changing room and Jake watched as she "wiggled into various bra and panty sets, including an itsy-bitsy pair of purple panties and a matching push-up bra." [Star]
• Lauren Conrad might go to colleges to talk to students about dating abuse and violence. She works with Mark Cosmetics' M-Powerment campaign for young women. [E!]
• LC and Heidi reconciled!!! Lauren was at a restaurant celebrating her runway show at LA Fashion Week with family and friends. Spencer and Heidi were at the bar eating dinner. Heidi spotted LC and the two ended up hugging. [ONTD, Us]
• Angelina Jolie found out that she was pregnant right before she started filming "harrowing" scenes set in a mental institution for Changeling. [NY Times]
• When will Tina Fey be back on SNL? "I don't know," Fey says. [CNN]
• The first day in Britney's driving without a license trial ended without a juror being seated. One man labeled the idea of a trial "ridiculous." [USA Today]
• Britney didn't show up, btw. [LA Times]
• Um, Lynne Spears is in talks to turn her book, Through The Storm, into a movie. What's that saying? Oh yes: *Headdesk*. [Perez Hilton]
• Janet Jackson's mystery illness: migraine-associated vertigo. She's feeling better and has resumed touring. [USA Today]
• Peter Cook/teenage assistant sex tape: It exists. [Page Six]
• Christina Aguilera showed some kind of X-rated video clip during her This Day Africa Rising charity concert at London's Royal Albert Hall. Classy! [Mirror]
• Last week the More magazine's Women In Hollywood luncheon had a "stellar panel," including: Cybill Shepherd (as moderator), S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order), Polly Draper (Thirtysomething and the creator of the Naked Brothers Band), Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek Voyager) and Talia Balsam (Mad Men). The ladies talked about how hard it is for women and minorities to find quality parts. Balsam said, "We live in a celebrity focused world and that is harder to fight than age. They want me in my 40s to play the part of the grandmother." There's more if you click. [Women & Hollywood]
• Queen Latifah talks about beekeeping, The Secret Life Of Bees, confidence and Barack Obama: "I've been voting since I was 18 years old," she says: "I think it's such a powerful thing; I like it, it's fun to me, it's exciting, you feel like you're part of the process, and you feel like you have say-so." [Premiere]
• Ryan O'Neal and son Redmond: Both charged with possession of methamphetamine, a felony. [AP]
• Khloe Kardashian had to go to the morgue yesterday, as part of her DUI penance. [E!]
• Jade Jagger was trying to build an eco-home in Cotswold Water Park, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire. But a rare orchid caused developers to move the location. [Telegraph]
• Kelly Osbourne has started a "band" with two Radio 1 DJs. The "band" is called OMG. It's just a silly video. [Mirror]
• Ringo Starr says his ban on fan mail was "in direct response to an inordinate amount of items which have recently appeared for sale on eBay" and that all the mail is "a waste of paper and we all should be mindful of our carbon footprint" and that fans can still email him. He also said, "Please read this in a mellow way. Peace and love." [Rolling Stone]
• A new Muppet movie? For adults? The Happytime Murders would take place in a world where humans co-exist with puppets. [Perez Hilton]
• Kevin Costner's wife is pregnant with her second child. [Star]
• Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams are expecting a second child. [People]
• Lisa Bonet: Expecting her third child. Daddy is hot hottie Jason Momoa. [People]
• Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes: Posthumous album. [Perez Hilton]
• Molly Ringwald has come out… Against Proposition 8. Cute video! [E!]
• Despite what you may have heard, Holly Madison is not looking for a new sugar daddy. "Where do these stories come from?" she asks. "I'm adjusting to the single life, and looking forward
  to the adventures ahead!" [ONTD]
• ABBA's Bjorn found innocent in Swedish tax evasion case. Winner takes it all… [UPI]
• Jay Leno: Being sued by the estate of a Macy's department store heir over a rare vintage car. [Reuters]
• Headline of the day: "They said it wouldn't last. But months later, Ronnie Wood's still with his Russian floozy, downing two bottles of vodka a day . . . and heading for a £70m divorce" [Daily Mail]
• OMG a remake of The Monkees. "Producers are already on the hunt for four hunky surfer dude types to play an updated version of the original boyband." I'm not your stepping stone! [The Sun]
• "ID LOVE IF THE INDUSTRY COULD ONE DAY UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBESITY AND FAT AND THICK AND THIN AND SICK. I AM A THICK GIRL, I HAVE NEVER BEEN OVER A SIZE 12, I CAN RUN, AND I TRY MY BEST TO EAT RIGHT ALL THE TIME. I AM NOT THE TEXT BOOK WEIGHT THAT THEY SAY I SHOULD BE, BUT EVERYDAY I HAVE MY OWN PERSONAL STRUGGLES, AND I THINK THAT PEOPLE NEED TO RESPECT THAT." — just a mere snippet of a long MySpace blog written by Raven Symone. [ONTD]
• "I mean, I know we seem crazy, just bringing them in one after the other, but we do plan. We make sure one is absorbed completely into the family before we add another. There are moments when we look at everyone around the dinner table, and it’s just crazy, but our family is the greatest thing we’ve done in our lives." — Angelina Jolie, on having more kids. [NY Times]
• "I blocked out second grade completely. I have no recollection of it. I always talk to my mom and my grandma about it. It was because I cried every day. I didn't understand the culture. I didn't understand the people. I didn't understand the language. My first sentence of my essay to get into college was like, 'Imagine being blind and deaf at age seven.' And that's kind of what it felt like moving to the States. But I got over it pretty fast." — Mila Kunis, who arrived in L.A. from the Ukraine at age 7. [LA Times]
• "I did hear there was a rumour going around and my agent actually got a couple of calls about it so he checked it out. Apparently I’m on a list but I’m not sure what list exactly! I hope it’s not a sex offenders register!" — Ricky Gervais, on whether he'll host The Oscars. [Daily Express]
• "I don't believe you have to be monogamous, but you have to be respectful. Don't come home and say: 'Oh, I've just had sex with someone else.'" — Boy George, to the Times of London. [Page Six]
• "Right now, we’re not cool Mom and Dad. Even video games, you know, it’s: 'Mom, you can’t play this. You won’t know how.' Oh, they all think I can’t do anything, that I’m just there to snuggle with. But the other day Madd said, 'Can you do a cartwheel?' And I said, 'Yeah, I can.' And he was like, 'Wow, Mom.' And I thought: 'Oh, yeah. I can do some things. You wait. You’ll find out. I’m capable.'" — Angelina Jolie. [NY Times]

For those unfamiliar with this chilling case, here's a recap: Caylee has been missing since early June, but her disappearance was not reported to police until July 15, and even then the call to authorities was made by Casey's mother. In addition, Casey's mother told police that it smelled like "a dead body in the damn car" that Casey was driving, and Casey borrowed a shovel from a neighbor in mid-June.

Another young woman who is facing murder charges, Amanda "Foxy Knoxy" Knox, the American studying abroad in Perugia who was accused of stabbing her roommate Meredith Kercher to death, is looking more and more like the victim of an overzealous Italian prosecutor than a murderess.

According to an extensive article in the November issue of Radar, when Amanda originally "confessed," it was after 14 hours of police intimidation in Italian, which she did not fully understand. In addition, the police have subsequently found the DNA of Rudy Guede, a "petty criminal who had a history of home invasions with a knife," all over the apartment.

Knox has been excoriated in the Italian press, in no small part because prosecutor Giuliano Mignini has had it out for her from day one. "Lisa Pasko, a criminology professor at the University of Denver who specializes in young women who commit violent crimes, has been following the case and does not believe that Knox participated in Kercher's murder," Radar reports. "She likens Mignini's behavior to that of the very vocal prosecutor in the Duke rape case, former Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong, who improperly leaked information to the media in order to beef up his case against the accused lacrosse players."

Though Knox has been in jail since Meredith Kercher was killed last year, it is still unclear whether or not she will have to stand trial for Kercher's death. Hearings began on the case last month, but according to Radar, the snail's pace of the Italian justice system means that Knox's fate will hang in the balance until the end of the month at the earliest.

Mom Of Missing Girl Weeps After Murder Indictment [AP]
The Accused [Radar]

Earlier: Creepy Mom Casey Anthony Tried To Give Missing Caylee Up For Adoption
True Crime