Erin Flaherty, Shine staff’s Blog

Um, this video has been blowing up the buzz charts, and while I get it--"dancing with the dogs" or whatever is a sure fire crowd pleaser--I can't help but have mixed feelings. Anyone care to weigh in here?


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Some fun facts to help us kick off World AIDS Day:

• In 2007, the Federal Government gave $176 million to abstinence-only education, which, as we discussed a few posts back, is just going swimmingly (ahem).
• In fact, over 30 percent (30!) of girls in the U.S. become pregnant by the age of 20.
• Two-thirds of all people infected with an STD are under 25 years old.
• Every year in the U.S. there are 19 million new cases of STDs.

Today is indeed World AIDS Day, so it seems like the perfect time to draw attention to a new initiative between MTV and Trojan Condoms called "Evolve One Evolve All." The idea is to draw attention and awareness to sexually transmitted diseases through an interactive website that lets you be a sexual health philanthropist of sorts, in that every click on the site goes toward Trojan giving away a million condoms.

Oh, and to help celebrate, we ask Shine readers to weigh in: What's your favorite way to practice safe sex (ribbed, flavored, um, dry humping, etc)? Read More »

According to the recent Rolling Stone cover story, Britney's long time, off-again, on-again manager Larry Rudolph admits that his currently single client is more of a "relationship girl" at heart. But while some young celebrities never seem to get caught up in over-the-top public romantic drama (oh say, Ashlee and Pete, Nicole and Joel), Britney Spears hasn't been so lucky. And it's no wonder she can't seem to catch a break: Between her father's conservatorship and pressure to make a comeback, not to mention the fact that as many as 20 paparazzi have been assigned to track her every move at any given time, how is she supposed to get involved in a healthy relationship? Sure, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all and all that, but this singer likely has decades of love affairs ahead of her. Hopefully Britney will apply what she's learned from her most high profile love affairs going forward.

We get it--after all, who hasn't made questionable dating choices in their 20s?--but in the meantime, let's take a little trip down memory lane, shall we?

Then you tell us: What qualities should the future Mr. Britney Spears possess? Read More »

According to the good pastor Rev. Ed Young, evangelical married couples need to be having more sex. He delivered the good word during a sermon to his some 20,000 followers on November 16, where he called for a week of "congregational copulation," referring to it with the rather snappy moniker, "Seven Days of Sex."

What do you think? Is a commitment to regular sex the way to keep your marriage off the divorce chopping block? Read More »

Can you guess what in god's name they're hawking in this advertisement? Read More »

Poor Carrie Fisher. Besides never being able to live that whole Princess Leia making it with Jaba the Hut sex fantasy thing down, she's also had to contend with alcoholism, pill addiction, bipolar disorder and the el weirdo-ist "mom boyfriend" ever, who, as Jezebel points out, prompted her mother to give her a rawther unusual erm, stocking stuffer, (heh). In her new memoir, Wishful Drinking, she writes: Read More »

In celebration of International Human Rights Day on December 10th and in reaction to anti-gay ballot initiatives in California, Arizona and Florida, DayWithoutAGay.org has come up with a brilliant way to peaceably fight the opposition. The gay community is asking for supporters not to call in sick, but to "call in gay" in order to take the day off from work to volunteer time with various organizations that promote equality. (For those who fear getting fired, there are other ways to get involved.) Oh and you don't have to be gay to call in, duh. Given the huge organizing success of Join the Impact and the nationwide protests this past Saturday, we wonder how many people will actually call in and say, "Can't work, I'm too gay today." Read More »