Australian Kiddie Pageant To Be "More Tasteful" • Bullying Students Plead Not Guilty

• Organizers of the Miss Bayside pageant in Australia, which will judge children up to age 13 on modeling, talent, and an interview, claim that it won’t be “over the top” like American pageants. Oh, really?

They go on to say that even though there is a tiara involved, the whole thing is going to be totally tasteful. And it’s not about looks: “It’s more about the kids getting up and having a go,” said Laura Buik. We’ll believe it when we see it. • For the first time, the Census Bureau has launched an outreach program specifically targeting gay and lesbian couples. They have asked that any couple that considers themselves married check that box, even though same-sex marriage may not be currently legal in most of the country. “There’s a respect factor there,” one official said. “We’ve never asked people to show us their marriage licenses. We don’t do that for straight people.” • A recent study found that women who were sexually abused as children are more likely to suffer from depression and post-pregnancy trauma. Researchers advise doctors to keep this in mind when examining a pregnant patient, and to provide specially trained teams to help aid women who at a very high risk for PTS. • Here’s a shocker: “The benefits of high-fat breakfasts do have their limits.” Apparently, some fat is good for you, but too much can be bad. In other news, water is wet. • Police have identified the second bomber in the attacks on the Moscow subway system last week. Maryam Sharipova and the other woman, 17-year-old Dzhanet Abdullayeva, are considered to be “black widows,” which is the term for female bombers sent across the Caucasus region to attack major Russian cities. Sharipova’s family says they’re surprised to find out about her involvement. “She was devout, but she never expressed radical views,” said her father. • A recent report from Utah shows that 1 in 3 women from the state have been sexually assaulted, and not all of them reported the crime to the police. A spokeswoman from the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault says she thinks this is due to Utah’s abnormally large youth population. • Two women made off on Sunday with $200,000 worth of cash and checks that they lifted from a church. They reportedly grabbed the Easter offerings before speeding off in a 80s sedan. • Can birth control save the world? The Guardian argues yes. If we start providing women with more control over her own body, we will reduce the growth of the earth’s population and begin to slow the degradation of natural resources. Sign us up! Saving trees by empowering women – what’s not to like? • After hearing about the case of a pregnant woman who was prosecuted for failing to wear her seatbelt, inventor Stephen Weston noticed a gap in the market and designed the four point belt. The harness is specifically made to protect pregnant women, who often wear their seatbelts slightly askew. • Although birthrates were generally down in 2008, there was one sector that defied the trend. Births among women in the 40s rose 4% over the previous year, possibly because they didn’t feel that they had the luxury of waiting until the economy turned around. • Researchers from the University of Southern California found that women have replaced men as the masters of the internet. Women are more likely to consider their online friends just as important as their in-person friends. They suggest that men might be feeling “networking fatigue.” • R.I.P. Wilma Mankiller. The former Charokee Nation Chief – and one of the few women to ever lead an American Indian tribe – died on Tuesday from pancreatic cancer. • Caster Semenya has announced that she will wait until the results of her gender verification tests are released in June before returning to running. Semenya had wanted to make the comeback this month, but was barred by the IAAF. • Edward Boisselle, the school committee chairman for the South Hadley, MA, is running for reelection unopposed, and will almost certainly keep his position. This unremarkable small-town fact has been brought to national attention because Boisselle has spoken publicly about the suicide of 15-year-old bully-victim Phoebe Prince, claiming that school officials had no idea what was going on. He rather lamely insists that the adults had no way of knowing about the 3 month campaign against Prince. Meanwhile, prosecution of the nine teenagers involved in the case continues.Three of the students involved with the rape and harassment of Prince have plead not guilty, and three more will be arraigned Thursday, while the remaining teens face a pretrial hearing in September.