According to this NY Times article, a law to prohibit sexual activity among teenagers under the age of 16 in the state of Kansas is going to trial. How are they going to enforce this law? By requiring health care workers report any sexually active teens under the age of 16 to authorities. The article doesn’t mention the penalty will be for those sinful demon-possessed children in Kansas if the law is passed, but discouraging them from seeking health care and increasing the number of teen pregnancies and the possible spread of sexually transmitted diseases is probably punishment enough.

If anyone is wondering how it came to be that the Republicans have control of the White House, the Senate, the House, and the Supreme Court, read this article from the NY Times.

Click here for the article

In some ways, the Republicans deserve to have all that control. They’ve been working and planning for decades, and now it’s finally paying off.

- Jean Chen

From Yahoo News:

“Exxon Mobil Corp. posted record profits for any U.S. company on Monday — $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter and $36.13 billion for the year… Exxon’s profit for the year was also the largest annual reported net income in U.S. history.”

Click here for the full article

No comment.

- Jean Chen

Photos taken this week from the West Bank show Hamas members waving large green flags proudly, after party members took 76 of 132 votes in a preliminary election for Palestinian legislative elections.

Crowds of Hamas supporters crowded streets in celebration, signifying the probable end of 40 years of rule under Yasser Arafat’s Fatah leadership party. The images are striking, and were plastered on front pages and Web pages yesterday and today.

It’s almost remniscent of those Bolshevik Revolution images you see in history books, like this:

It appears likely that Hamas will take control, and they’ve stated, according to reports, that peace talks with Israel will come to a screeching halt, according to this

It’s got to feel empowering for the Hamas. But what’s next for Middle East peace talks?

I like Kanye West’s music; I think he’s a talented producer as well as a decent emcee, and I think he’s definitely one of the few positive role models in mainstream hip hop — he doesn’t pretend to be a thug, drug-dealer, or gangster and he doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a suburban backpacking nerd; both of his albums revolve around a college theme (okay, dropping out of college isn’t necessarily the best way to encourage the youth, but at least he went to college and not the school of hard knocks), and he turned a song about Jesus in a radio hit. He’s bold, brash, unafraid to take a stand and speak on what he believes in (“George Bush doesn’t care about black people”) but…damn the man’s ego.

He poses on the cover of the latest Rolling Stone issue as Jesus. A very, very ballsy move. A black man posing as Jesus?!?!?! Kanye’s never gonna hear the end of it.

But it’s not the first time a rapper has played Jesus. Though 2pac was already dead, the Makavelli album cover featured an illustration of 2pac on the crucifix and and actor portrayed 2pac on a crucifix in Scarface’s “Smile” music video. Nas carried the crucifix on his back in his “Hate Me Now” video also.

First blasting Bush and now posing as Jesus? Kanye might just have been added to Pat Robertson’s hit list.