• Her official photographer has posted many of the pictures on Palin's Facebook page, along with the credit "The Photo Opportunity is Provided By SarahPAC," so, if you want a shot of yourself wearing an Obama shirt next to Palin you'll have to contribute to her PAC. • Sarah Palin will give the keynote address at the International Bowl Expo 2010, the "premier international convention" of bowling in June. A rep said: "Regardless of your political affiliation, Ms. Palin is a force in American politics and culture. Her presence underscores the impact and importance of bowling, one of our country's leading national pastimes and a growing $10 billion industry." • Leroy Benros was charged with rape at a New York nightclub after his alleged victim texted her friends during the attack. After he forcibly kissed her, the woman texted her friend: "I'm being molested. Help." By the time two of her friends found her, police say she was partially naked under a coat with her eyes closed and her arms dangling. Her friends pulled her away and Benros was arrested. • Now that Maurice Clemmons, the ex-convict suspected of killing four police officers, is dead, authorities are focusing on the people who may have helped him escape and stay on the lam for two days. Prosecutors are expected to charge alleged getaway driver Darcus D. Allen today. Clemmons' aunt and another woman have been arrested and are expected to be charged for giving him first aid and helping him escape. Police are still investigating a handful of other suspects. "Some are friends, some are acquaintances, some are partners in crime, some are relatives. Now they're all partners in crime," said a police spokesman. • Cocaine abuse is on the rise among young English women. Among women ages 18 to 25, the number of women who needed treatment for cocaine abuse in England. jumped 80 percent in the past four years from 329 to 592. Experts point to a growing "ladette" culture, which is also blamed for increasing alcohol abuse among young women. • In a new British study, researchers say they have discovered how and where androgenic hormones work in the testis to control normal sperm production and male fertility, which may allow for the development of a male birth control pill. "This study provides a new opportunity to identify how androgens control sperm production, which could provide new insight for the development of new treatments for male infertility and perhaps new male contraceptives," said Michelle Welsh, Ph.D., co-author of the study. • An increasing number of British women are hiring doulas to help them give birth, but anesthetist Dr. Abhijoy Chaklader questioned their role in the British Medical Journal. He wrote the trend toward hiring doulas, who have no medical training, may "be a sad reflection of failures in the delivery of medical and midwifery care, a sticking plaster concealing greater problems... a cynic might ask whether the doula business is actually necessary or whether it is exploiting - for profit - unspoken fears about NHS perinatal care and the seemingly limitless market for birth related products and service." • Switzerland elected women to the nation's top three political positions today: president, speaker of parliament's lower house, and speaker of the upper house. Swiss women couldn't even vote in national elections until 1971. • A Dutch man was arrested for allegedly collecting information on more than 30 girls from social networking sites, then blackmailing their parents. He posed as a photographer and told the parents their daughters had performed sexual acts on camera, or suggested they had been raped by others, then said he'd upload the non-existent pornography online if they didn't pay him. • Family members say a New York hairdresser who disappeared last week after dropping her 6-year-old daughter off at school complained about a creepy man she kept encountering near the school. "She mentioned to us about this guy in the street she would see every day," said Jamaica Smith's niece. "He was real aggressive toward her, always saying, 'Hey, baby, you look so pretty.' ... We know for a fact she was abducted because she would never leave her daughter." There are rumors that some people saw her struggling with a man near her home, but police deny the story and say they don't think foul play was involved. • After General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson announced yesterday that he was stepping down, someone claiming to be his daughter Sarah Henderson posted on GM's Facebook page, "HE FUCKING GOT ASKED TO STEP DOWN ALL OF YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. I'M FRITZ'S FUCKING DAUGHTER, AND HE DID NOT FUCKING RESIGN. WHITACRE IS A SELFISH PIECE OF SHIFT [sic], WHO CARES ABOUT HIMSELF AND NOT THE FUCKING COMPANY. HAVE FUN WITH GM, I HOPE TO NEVER BUY FROM THIS GOD FORESAKEN [sic] COMPANY EVERY [sic] AGAIN. FUCK ALL OF YOU." It was later removed. • Adeline Bayne-Goody, a 56-year-old New York City subway driver, may lose her job over an incident in October in which she subdued a crazed man who threatened other passengers, spewed racial epithets, punched her and spit in her face. She held him down until the police arrived, but officials told her she committed "gross misconduct" and should be fired because she left her post. • Carmen Huertas, the woman accused of driving drunk in Manhattan, injuring six children who were in the car and killing one, has been trying to commit suicide in jail. "She's tried to place objects around her neck," said her lawyer. "She's confused and devastated, and understands the consequences of her actions." • Thirteen female ski jumpers have filed a request with Canada's Supreme Court to allow the sport in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The International Olympic Committee voted in 2006 not to include women's ski jumping in the 2010 Olympics because they say the sport is not developed enough. • The Japanese man who recently married his virtual girlfriend from the Nintendo DS game Love Plus has responded to media reports with a letter and some photos from his honeymoon. He writes: "Now that the ceremony is over, I feel like I've been able to achieve a major milestone in my life. Some people have expressed doubts about my actions, but at the end of the day, this is really just about us as husband and wife. As long as the two of us can go on to create a happy household, I'm sure any misgivings about us will be resolved." •

• On Sunday, Michelle Wie won her first LPGA tour title. This was her 65th LPGA tour event, and while she had finished second six times, she had never managed a win. ''Wowww-w-w ...... never thought this would feel THIS great!!!!" she said on Twitter. • President Obama told - not asked - Burma's junta to free pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi at a recent summit with the Burmese prime minister. •  A Zambian reporter has been acquitted of pornography charges, which could have held a five year sentence if she had been convicted. The so-called porn possessed by Chansa Kabwela was actually photographs of a mother giving birth in a car park, which Kabwela did not publish but instead sent out to women's rights groups. • The suburban swim club outside Philadelphia that was accused of discrimination earlier this year has announced plans to declare bankruptcy. The club reportedly asked several children not to return because of "racial animus" expressed by a member. But the swim club's president denies that their closing has anything to do with the legal proceedings. •  A bushfire on the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve has turned the area into an "animal graveyard." Some blame Terri Irwin for improperly managing the property, but Irwin blames it on pig hunters, who she claims were probably trying to clear the land. •  A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that current policies to reduce teen pregnancies are simply not working. The study also linked certain factors to teen pregnancy, including dislike of school, poverty, unhappy childhoods and low expectations for the future. •  For the first time in decades, the U.S. skating team has no clear-cut Olympic medal contender. "In the past, we've had Michelle Kwan, Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill year after year, and every time we felt that they were going to win the gold medal," said David Ruth, executive director of US Figure Skating. "But when Michael Jordan left the N.B.A, they were looking for a new star, and we're looking for a new star." • Researchers have found that texting may be linked to neck pain, caused primarily by the hunched-over body position favored by serial texters. • Doctors are hopeful that a vaccine for chlamydia isn't far away. However, previous research has shown that injections don't work very well, so a vaccine may come in the form of a vaginal cream or spray. •  Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has pissed off some 200 Italian women after he placed an ad recruiting "attractive girls between 18 and 35 years old" for an "event." While most expected a party, the event turned out to be a two hour lesson intended to convert them to Islam. •  A recent report touts the benefits of distributing contraceptives in Uganda. The report estimates that meeting just half of Ugandan women's unmet needs for contraceptives would yield dramatic health benefits, including an expected 21% decline in maternal deaths. • Angie Young's film The Coat Hanger Project tells the story of how abortions have actually become increasingly less accessible in the decades since Roe vs. Wade. One good example: the Stupak amendment. You can take action against the pro-choice Democrats who supported the amendment by signing a petition to send them a coat hanger. • The Association of Chief Police Officers in England and Wales has proposed a domestic violence register to track an estimated 25,000 serial abusers. The register would allow people to look up a man's history including convictions and unproven allegations. The Association is also pushing for the creation of a "course of conduct" offense to make it easier to go after serial offenders, even if there isn't enough evidence to prosecute each individual case. • Janet Clark went to a British hospital because she believed she'd gone into labor in her 25th week of pregnancy, but a doctor and four midwives told her to go home. The next day she went back and was told to go home again, and then started giving birth on the toilet. "A pregnant woman shouldn't have to plead with medical staff," said Clark, who had a healthy baby boy. • In a study 54 Caucasian subjects were asked to manipulate the skin color of male and female faces on a computer screen to make them appear as healthy as possible. Most increased the rosiness, yellowness, and brightness of the skin. "In the West we often think that sun tanning is the best way to improve the color of your skin," said researcher Dr. Ian Stephen, "But our research suggests that living a healthy lifestyle with a good diet might actually be better." The study didn't address what makes non-white faces appear healthier and attractive. • Researchers found that in business, gender is a factor in measuring a team's performance, but but not the leaders themselves. In industries in which most leadership positions are held by men, people will expect more of teams led by men, but expectations of the leaders themselves are not influenced by gender. • In an interview on CBS' Early Show Mary Lou Quinlan, author of What She's Not Telling You: Why Women Hide the Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It, says women tell "half truths" about "anything with a number in it. Their age, their weight, how many drinks they had." • In a new interview with CBS News, Laura Bush said Texas feels like it's a million miles away from Washington. "...Not that I ever felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, or that George did when I lived there — but when it was gone, I could notice it," she said. "There's a great feeling of freedom." •

The article focuses on men and women in their 20s and 30s, who seemingly can't do anything without broadcasting it to the rest of the world. In one particularly horrifying paragraph, a woman named Polly describes how a man she'd just slept with "raced over to his laptop – I assumed to work. Next morning I found he had, in fact, being typing the exclamation, ‘Aaaaahhhhh', on his profile. His friends, aware of the meaning, replied with cheer and misogynistic repartee. No detail was spared. It still makes me feel ill."

Oversharers on Facebook have been mercilessly mocked on various blogs such as STFUParents, STFUMarrieds, and Lamebook, all of which zero in on the worst of the worst, posting cringe-worthy status updates from users who feel it's a-ok to describe their pooping habits, sex lives, STDs, and super-duper lovey dovey goo-goo talk with the rest of their social network. Granted, the content on these blogs is user-generated, meaning that people are sending in screenshots of their "friends" and laughing along with the rest of us. It's funny, but it's also exhausting. There are times when I read Lamebook and think, "Why are you still friends with this person? Delete! Block! Delete!"

I suspect, however, that many people enjoy having an oversharer in their lives, both online and off, as it allows for two things: one, mockery/bonding with others at the oversharer's expense ("Oh my god, did you see that insane fight between Sean and Marissa?") and a behavior check that makes us realize how stupid/annoying people seem when they forget that there are certain boundaries that should be followed both online and off. It's easy to get caught up in the overshare festival that is the internet (and we have all done it and will continue to do it, I'm sure) but hearing horror stories such as Polly's and reading blogs that point out the worst kinds of overshare are a reminder to us all that just because you can share your entire life with the world, it doesn't mean you should.

I doubt people are going to stop sharing the most intimate details of their lives on the internet anytime soon; if anything I suspect it's only going to get worse. But perhaps I'm wrong, and eventually the novelty of knowing exactly what your "friends" and neighbors (and celebrities, for that matter) are thinking and doing at all times will wear off. And, I suppose, if you really want an element of mystery back in your life, you can just start blocking people who won't stop giving you the play-by-play of their everyday lives. It's great that you're 28 and can poop 8 times a day, random Allan from elementary school, but I'd rather keep you in the back of my mind as the kid who ate half a jar of paste and received a standing ovation from our second grade classroom. You can keep on pooping and posting, but I think I'd rather stick with the memories.

Generation Reveal: There's Nothing They Won't Post Online [TimesOnline]
[Lamebook]
[STFUMarrieds]
[STFUParents]

Joey's intervention took place almost entirely over text messages, because he ran out of the hotel conference room where his family had been waiting with Ken Seeley, and would only communicate with them via text while at his friend Pizza's house. Pizza is Joey's drug buddy. When I first saw his name in the subtitles, I imagined him as a white guy in his early 20s who's maybe into reggae and wears dirty hippie junkie knit hats that look like giant old hacky sacks, and probably earned his nickname during the gateway phase of his current downward spiral, because he'd always be the first one in the room to get the munchies and suggest calling Domino's.



But it turns out he's a portly, creepy, middle-aged man with an injured nose, who probably earned his nickname from working in a pizza parlor.



He ended up being a central figure in this episode.









Pizza swore that Joey was not hiding in his house.






So it's OK, because it all worked out in the end. Joey is trying to learn the true meaning of "serenity" in rehab, but judging from his recent artwork, it seems like he's not quite there yet.

The Washington Post's Monica Hesse brings up a very real issue of modern manners today: how to react when a companion begins texting. While it seems the rules would be pretty clear-cut - Don't Do It - like cellphone mores, it seems like this is something we're going to need to hash out.

Texting mid-sentence, even on the most urgent of BlackBerry business is, obviously, rude. Unless it's accompanied by copious apology and a very convincing explanation of the text's importance, it's pretty much inexcusable. Need to text a friend our location? Fine. Just explain first. Excuse yourself, even. Hesse's point, however, is that there is no stopping the phenomenon: all we can do is react appropriately. And what's appropriate? Says Hesse, "Should you stay, or should you go? Should you cool it, or should you, perhaps, blow?"

There's a crotchety deli near my house that has one of those signs reading, "if you're talking on a cell phone you're obviously too important to be here." PDA stuff is trickier, because there's not the same obvious noise-pollution issue, but to a companion it's almost worse. I'm a luddite hard-liner who's always looking for an excuse to turn off my connections to the world, so I find it hard to understand why it's not basic policy to retire technology for the duration of a social function. In this I differ from my steady, and I frequently find myself talking to the rapidly texting hand as he ascertains where some random band is playing later in the evening and whether someone's friend from high school is in town for the night. Initially, I took this hard and personally. Eventually I figured out that the man actually didn't know that this bothered me! Because it had never come up, it hadn't occurred to him! And maybe a lot of people are like this. As such, perhaps they should be pitied, spoken to slowly, rather than censured. The truth is, anyone this oblivious is going to be equally untouched by pointed cold silences and other instruments in the passive aggressive poison arrow arsenal. As such, we need guidelines. We need dialogue. Preferably of the spoken variety.

Text Is Cheap [Washington Post]

The hoax appears to be based on an urban myth circulated by e-mail since 2005. Police departments around the country have been getting calls about the texts, which are tailored to each local area and claim gangs are killing women at Walmart as part of their initiation rites. The texts are making the rounds in at least 16 states, including Maryland, Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Hawaii. It's a particularly inopportune time for Walmart, since many stores are holding Twilight parties at midnight on Saturday, but it's not clear if this is a coincidence or a coordinated effort to sabotage the event. [Advertising Age]

The Washington Post explores both sides of this issue, but by now, we are probably more familiar with the cons than the pros. There is the old grouse about text speak, emoticons and the decline of writing, along with other, more serious concerns:

There also are concerns about texting while driving, text-bullying and "sexting," or the term for adolescents messaging naked photos of themselves or others. What might have been intended for a friend can be widely distributed, and the texting of lewd photographs of minors can lead to criminal charges.

The American Journal of Psychiatry published an editorial last year by psychiatrist Jerald J. Block, suggesting that addiction to the Internet and text messaging be included in the diagnostic manual for mental illnesses.

Sexting has proved to be a real problem lately, with teens nude cellphone pictures resulting in charges of disseminating child pornography. However, the question about online addiction seems even hairier. We're just beginning to come to terms with the idea of sex addiction (and many still wonder whether it a real addiction) so while it is not surprising that some feel addicted to the internet or texting -or their "crackberries" - it is still up for debate whether this should be classified as an addiction up there with "real" issues like alcohol or drugs. But, as Block points out, we won't know the repercussions of our texting tendencies for some time: "our use of technology today amounts to a large social experiment. We still don't know how it helps us or how it hurts us."

Fortunately, there is also a pro-side to this debate. Al Filreis, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, believes that texting (and instant messaging/emailing) has caused student writing to improve rather than deteriorate:

"In writing, quantity tends to lead to quality," he said, "and we're doing quantity right now." Through texting and other instant communication, Filreis says, his students have learned hard-to-teach lessons about audience, succinctness and syntax. "My students are better writers than they were 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 25 years ago."

Others point out that texting can help create feelings of community and connectedness, bring parents and teens closer together. However, the overall tone of this article is rather alarmist, and seems to fall quite heavily on the cons-side. Filreis is the only expert quoted who believes texting may ultimately be good for teens, everyone else seems to think that texting is a symptom of our decreased attention spans (which may be true), our decaying family structure, and our crippling dependency on technology. But honestly, we're getting pretty sick of all the doomsayer prophesying. Texting is probably not going to destroy the grammar and moral fiber of an entire generation. IMing didn't, despite articles that claimed that abbreviations and emoticons popularized by instant messenger were "part of a continuing assault of technology on formal written English." Six years ago, the New York Times thought IMing could lead to a generation of anti-social, emotionally detached addicts. This brouhaha about texting is really just more of the same. So please, journalists, calm down, the kids are alright.

6,473 Texts a Month, But at What Cost? [Washington Post]

Related: What's The Right Punishment For Teen "Sexting"?

I work online, and I IM friends and coworkers all day long. Thanks to e-mail, MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, I know what friends and acquaintances are up to without ever hearing their voices. But when I was a teenager, I used to love talking on the phone. True, we didn't have texting, but there was also something about the back and forth of spontaneous conversation that was addictive. Although, sometimes, I didn't even talk to my friends on the phone: We'd just play songs for each other. (The phone scene in The Virgin Suicides made me weep.)

The telephone gives communication an important, human layer: You can hear a person breathe, sigh, sniffle, cough. Inflections and tone give statements subtext and weight. But when it comes to finding or deciphering emotion in texting, IM and email, you might as well be using Morse code. The weird thing is that the less I talk on the phone, the less I want to talk on the phone. When it rings, I sometimes feel interrupted, annoyed or, you guessed it, reluctant to answer. Could it be that because it tends to reveal emotion, the very thing that makes talking on the phone so special is what makes some people avoid it?

The research uncovers that men will text back their crush within the hour (57 minutes). Women, however, leave their dates hanging 22 minutes longer, taking an average of 1 hour 19 minutes to reply. Don't leave it any longer than 2 hours 36 minutes, though — this is officially the point when 'playing it cool' becomes 'plain rude.' ... Once again it is the women who leave men hanging after the first date, waiting an average of up to 2 hours 45 minutes compared to 1 hour 51 minutes to text their crush afterwards.

Okay. Is the UK a totally different universe? Texting back within hours of wrapping up the first date? Because here in the US it seems like most guys still subscribe to that ridiculous, old-fashioned "wait three days" rule. And are women really so slow in texting back? Because most we know are of the variety who reply to texts immediately. And correct us if we're wrong, but don't most men set out to use as few words as possible while texting? So that you're staring at the screen, trying to decode the message, wondering what its brevity could possibly mean?

So yeah, English men? The ones who send perfect texts, which, by the way, "take 1 minute 12 seconds to compose" according to the study? We'd like them to text us. Because we our phone is painfully silent today.

The Joy of Text [Cellular News]