Here’s the rundown:
— Vanessa Hudgens, star of Disney’s High School Musical franchise: full frontal nude pics all over the Web.
— Jamie Lynn Spears, star of Nickelodeon’s hit how “Zoey 101”: unmarried and pregnant at age 16.
— Ashley Tisdale, another High School Musical star and cast member of Disney’s “Zack and Cody”: nose job.
And now, the biggest blow of them all:
— Miley Cyrus, mega-star of Disney’s Hannah Montana all sexed up in Vanity Fair magazine, posing without a top wrapped in a satin sheet, her hair damp and her soft gaze directed at the camera.
For parents, it’s like walking in a minefield.
For now, I’m able to avoid getting blown up. My daughters are 8 and 4 and I’m pretty sure they’re unaware of these scandals. And that’s good, because I like “Hannah Montana” and “High School Musical.” They’re decent shows with good humor and music and a wholesome message.
Miley Cyrus, in particular, is appealing. She’s funny, smart and projects a good image for kids like my daughters. It’s too bad she’s succumbed to the pressure to sexualize herself is some misguided effort to stay relevant as she gets older. Miley, for God’s sake, take a good look at Lindsay Lohan’s career. And if you think Disney is innocent, take a look at this.
Sometimes I wish it was the 1970’s. Female child stars in that era were almost tomboyish and had more going up upstairs without having to exploit the downstairs. I’m thinking Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon,” Jodi Foster in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and Kristy McNichol in “Family.”
Of course, I’m conveniently forgetting that Tatum and Kristy would make this movie in 1980. But those were roles played by actresses. How about a remake starring Jamie Lynn and Miley when they’re a little older?
Instead, some producer is dreaming right now of this: “Zack and Cody meet Zoey 101: Which One’s the Daddy?”

It's getting hard to keep up with the Ivy League shenanigans.
How about this from gawker.com:

A Dartmouth lecturer is suing her class for discrimination, as she revealed in a series of regrettable and bizarre emails that promptly ended up all over Dartmouth blogs. Priya Venkatesan (Dartmouth '90, MS in Genetics, PhD in literature) emailed members of her Winter '08 Writing 5 class Saturday night to announce her intention to seek damages from them for their being mean to her. The email below:

Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:56:35
From: Priya Venkatesan
Subject: WRIT.005.17.18-WI08: Possible lawsuit

"Dear former class members of Science, Technology and Society:
I tried to send an email through my server but got undelivered messages. I regret to inform you that I am pursuing a lawsuit in which I am accusing some of you (whom shall go unmentioned in this email) of violating Title VII of anti-federal discrimination laws.
The feeling that I am getting from the outside world is that Dartmouth is considered a bigoted place, so this may not be news and I may be successful in this lawsuit. I am also writing a book detailing my eperiences as your instructor, which will "name names" so to speak. I have all of your evaluation and these will be reproduced in the book.
Have a nice day."

The details of the discrimination and harassment? Students didn't pay attention to her, complained about her to her boss, and accused her of not "accepting opinions contrary to her own" and said she would "lower the grades of students her disagreed with her."

The Yale Daily News story hit the Drudge Report Thursday and the *&%# really hit the fan. Yale officials put the screws to the abortion/performance artist and she admitted it was all a hoax.
What is true is the inclusive language committee at the Yale Divinity School would like everyone to say "Our parent who art in Heaven."

And if it is, this woman really needs some professional help. Also, if Yale thesis advisors and art department officials signed off on this, no billion dollar endowment and best-and-the-brightest reputation is going to stop people from thinking Yale is the most morally bankrupt place on the face of the earth.

From the Yale Daily News 4/17/08:
Headline: For senior, abortion a medium for art, political discourse
Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible” while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.

The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body. But her project has already provoked more than just debate, inciting, for instance, outcry at a forum for fellow senior art majors held last week. And when told about Shvarts’ project, students on both ends of the abortion debate have expressed shock — saying the project does everything from violate moral code to trivialize abortion.

But Shvarts insists her concept was not designed for “shock value.”

“I hope it inspires some sort of discourse,” Shvarts said. “Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it’s not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone.”

This story reminds me of a scene from the movie "The Addams Family." Two Girl Scouts show up at the Addams' door and ask Christina Ricci if she wants to buy Girl Scout cookies.
"Are they made from real Girl Scouts?" she replies.

NEW YORK (AP) — Now at the grown-up fragrance counter — the scent of a baby.
Several perfumers are creating fragrances that try to capture what Americans think of as new baby smell, that aroma of baby powder and lotion that so readily conjures up memories of happy, peaceful newborn bliss.
That sweet, immediately recognizable scent can have elements of violet, cumarine and musk, says Delphine Jelk, of the fragrance lab and manufacturer Drom, and “when you smell it, you smell baby skin.”

So, how do you think they're getting that new baby smell?

Kid’s self-esteem is a big issue these days. Way back in the Pliocene era (the 1970s), when I was a kid, parents were not so much concerned with their kids’ self-esteem as they were concerned with hideous interior design choices like fake wood paneling and avocado-colored appliances.
So when it appeared early on (nursery school) that I was not headed for Harvard, I don’t think my parents agonized over the issue.
ME: I don’t get long division.
DAD: Uh-huh, help me with this paneling.
Nowadays, kids must be made to feel good about themselves. It’s led to the whole “trophies for everyone” style of child-rearing. In fact, the idea of self-esteem seems to be more important than actual achievement.
So, it kind of hurts to say this, but my 8-year-old daughter is an awful soccer player.
In my town, the kids start playing in the municipal soccer leagues in the first grade. Every spring and fall, the little kids take the field, run around and try to kick the ball into goalie-less nets. At first, ability is not an issue. The coaches teach the importance of practice and teamwork and no one gets singled out, either for good or bad play.
Then, in the second grade, it starts to become obvious which girls have some talent. They can run with the ball. They have a nose for the net and they don’t mind physical contact.
My daughter is not one of them. The thing is, she doesn’t quite realize it yet. I suppose it will sting the first time she’s kept on the bench and realizes some of the other girls are better than her. But I won’t complain to the coach. I certainly won’t be like this:
HER: Did I play good?
ME: No, you suck.
This spring season could be the last for her. She’s not in love with the game, doesn’t know who Mia Hamm is or sleep in her team jersey. She’s simply finding her way to some other activity, which perhaps she will excel at and achieve college scholarship glory.
OK, sweetie, here’s a hockey stick and some skates. Make your dad proud.