Cynical, cynical.

[memnus]

Depressing symptom of Utah #whoknows: Ever tried buying condoms in a Utah grocery store? Any other state, they're generally stuck innocuously between the tampons and the baby food, giving shoppers all their reproductive options in one place. But around here - at least at Smith's, the one store I'm familiar with - they're brought out to the pharmacy section of the store. Ok, makes sense I guess. But it's worse than that. They're kept in a glass case, generally right under the prescription counter, the kind you generally need to flag down an employee to get into. Once, I saw a sign on the case declaring it to be unlocked, but that doesn't change the fact that you have to single yourself out to get to them - and that scared kids are going to be that much less likely to use them. Worse, if you go in after pharmacy hours, the gate that blocks off the prescription counter (which DOES get locked) blocks off the condom case as well! That emergency midnight condom run might as well be foiled. Ok, yes, you can go across the street to Walgreen's, but there's no self-checkout there. A teenager buying condoms still has to look someone in the eye and, if not verbally so, say "I'm headed off to have sex soon." Combine that with an unhealthy dose of cultural shame about that fact, and you have plenty for LDS Family Services to do.

In today's news, Big Brother is watching Second Life (BBC News). Do they really think that ter'rists are going to set up a Bomb-Making Island? What, exactly, constitutes "suspicious behavior and actions in the virtual world"? What virtual world or MMO actually has the backend available to do that kind of data mining?

I only wish this were in the Onion: U.S. Military makes purchasing decision on value of product instead of lobbyists; Congress vows to find out what went wrong. I sincerly hope that someone in the DoD has the balls to stand up for this decision. Ok, first I hope there was an honest decision process behind it. Since I can't be pissed that it had to be a decision in the first place, I have to start somewhere... right?

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