Shock: Palin Not Well-Liked • Fart-Fetishist Sexually Assaulted

• A CBS poll shows that Sarah Palin is pretty unpopular. Unsurprisingly, only 7% of Democrats have a positive view of the former governor of Alaska, and 43% of Republicans can say the same.

Also interesting: Palin ranked really low among college grads, the majority of which disapprove of Sarah. • In other Palin news, she announced at a Michele Bachmann rally yesterday that, “Someone better tell Washington that that pink elephant is on the move, and 2010 is shaping up to be the year that conservative women get together and help take back this country.” • And one such “pink elephant,” Bachmann supporter Betty Soban, says she’s for “freedom of ownership. Freedom of our guns. Freedom of having babies.” Interesting definition of “freedom.” • “A group of cheerleaders from Texas were suspended or otherwise punished after they spiked a girl’s drink with urine. They reportedly mixed some pee into a soda, brought it to a restaurant, and tricked their friend into drinking the gross cocktail. • Glee star Lea Michele isn’t the “clean” girl you’d expect her to be. Why? Because she has tattoos! Nine of them, in fact. The Sun has the (incredibly boring) inside scoop. • According to a new study, men and women are equally guilty of using their looks to manipulate members of the opposite sex. However, women generally have more success with the tactic. • Female scientists may be being held back by an unexpected weight. The burden of housework has helped to drain America’s finest minds by keeping many women overly busy with things like vacuuming and dusting. A recent study found that, among tenure-track faculty, female scientists in long-term relationships reported doing 54% of the housework, while male scientists only did 28%. • A new study found that talking can have beneficial results for pregnant women. Something as simple as a conversation can help drastically cut neonatal mortality rates in rural communities, which is why a new program in India focuses on educating moms through “self-help groups.” So far, results have been positive. • Brought to you from Yemen, the most depressing news you will read today: A 13-year-old child bride died five days ago after suffering internal hemorrhaging in her sex organs. She was married to the older groom just last week, in a traditional “swap” marriage. • An attorney for one of the five suspects charged with the rape of a seven-year-old girl at a party in New Jersey is arguing that the girl was not actually raped, and was pressured to give a false account. Police say the child was sold to several men by her older step-sister, who also engaged in sexual acts with several men. • Researchers have found a link between men’s perceived happiness in marriage and their likelihood of dying from a stroke. However, they are not willing to say yet whether “happiness is a magic bullet” that keeps men alive. • A Wisconsin prosecutor is trying to stop teachers from demonstrating proper condom use to high school students in sex ed. He argues that, if the teachers know a student is sexually active, showing them how to use protection could amount to contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He also says that the instruction encourages sexual behavior among children. • Hattie Hasan was sick of being treated like a novelty item simply because she had chosen a “masculine” profession, so she started a company of female plumbers, wittily named Stopcocks. “The Stopcocks Business Scheme gives women plumbers a way to be part of a national brand, build up their customer base and increase their skills and speed without worrying about the business side of things so they can concentrate on the thing that earns the money… the plumbing,” she explains. • A spokeswoman from the UK Health Protection Agency warns that gonorrhea may become a “superbug.” Some strains of the STD are already resistant to certain medications, and doctors fear that someday it could become untreatable. • Lawmakers in Pakistan are considering a bill that would make domestic violence illegal. Currently, 80% of Pakistani women living in rural areas say they fear physical violence from their husbands, and 50% of urban women say their husbands beat them. Detractors argue that it could undermine families and tear apart the social fabric. • Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, broke her leg yesterday while “hill-walking” at the Prince of Wales’ private home. Prince Charles was not with her at the time of the fall. • Gregory Giusti, the man accused of threatening Nancy Pelosi, cried in court today when a judge sent him back to jail instead of to a halfway house. • A fart-fetishist says he was sexually assaulted by a man he met online. He says he went to the man’s house expecting that they could “fart and be friends” but was forced to engage in a variety of sexual acts. •