The Daily Newds 5/12/09

• In the UK, the town of Huddersfield is going all out to encourage breastfeeding.
• Paula Cooey, a professor of religion at Macalester College, wonders if embattled beauty queen Carrie Prejean is God's prophet or a porn star.

  We as a nation promote biologically reductionistic, soft-porn views of human bodies and human sexuality, views that do real violence to real people. Don’t get me wrong; my objection is not to naked bodies and eroticism, but to shrouding sexual titillation and drooling voyeurism with the patina of beauty and virtue, a phenomenon hardly restricted to the religious right alone. We don’t have to be right-wing evangelicals to be confused about our own flesh; bought, marketed, and consumed through various print and electronic media. Indeed, the Carrie Prejeans and Jerry Falwells Jr. of the world are just more transparent.

• Two Ohio teens were sentenced yesterday over nude photos on their cell phones.

  Prior to sentencing, defense attorney Charlie Rittgers told Powell the boy was never in trouble before and was “remorseful” for his actions. “He is scared to death at being here,” Rittgers told the judge. “He did not realize that what seemed to be an innocent act on his part could have ramifications.”

• Some people expect Facebook to cave in to protesters who want all groups devoted to Holocaust denial to be banned. The powers-that-be at Facebook put themselves in this predicament when they banned photos of mothers breastfeeding their children. Free speech is messy. You can't only demand the free speech you want without accepting the free speech of others. Banning the breast, now banning certain political speech, and what will be the next topic to be deemed offensive? Nudism? As abhorrent as the Holocaust deniers are, they cannot be denied their First Amendment rights.
• The rash of recent nude photos of celebrities is likely part of a larger trend.

  "The commonsense response is that anyone who thinks popular culture is not helping to shape the social script for teens just isn't paying attention," said Bill Albert, a spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. "It's not the only thing, of course, but what's happening in celebrity culture and what's happening amongst their peers has a great influence on teens."

• The media need to stop sexing up all body parts - now "love handles" are seen to have a "damaging effect" on a person's love life.
• AANR's publicity campaign for a world record skinny-dip has reached at least one news outlet.
• Go for it! Shirley Jones's husband thinks it would be "sensational" if the 75 year-old beauty would pose nude for Playboy.
• If you are unemployed, Central Casting in New York is looking for nude models.
• Lily Allen, forced to change lyrics to one of her songs by the BBC, told her audience that she "might just go naked. In fact, I think everyone coming to watch should go naked. I want to see the whole crowd naked." I think she really means it.