The school year got off to a bit of a rocky start, with my first lecture postponed due to the tropical storm in Florida. So it was on to West Virginia University, which moved the event to a larger venue than last year - and still it was standing room only! Thanks to the more than 1,500 students for turning out and bringing great energy to the room. Here's an account from the school newspaper. (The reporter wrote "selfish and heathenism" instead of "selfish hedonism" - which is how politician/commentator Alan Keyes has described sex outside of marriage - but her term is interesting, too!)

I was just noticing that it was a year ago this week that I launched this blog. Thanks to all for reading!

And, just like last year, this school year (my 17th full-time on the college lecture circuit) starts with lectures in Florida and West Virginia this week. Next week, the fun continues in New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Nova Scotia! It's always challenging to come back from the summer "off" and jump back into things with a slew of start-of-the-school-year lectures, but it's exciting to know that big crowds await. I especially like the energy of the early programs.

Oh...and I'm pleased to write this on the eighty-eighth anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment. On August 18, 1920, that amendment gave women the right to vote. Let's hope that as many women (and indeed, as many people) as possible turn out to vote this November!

Are you enjoying the Olympics? I know I'm enjoying these great condom ads, each depicting a stick-man athlete using a condom or two as an apparatus in an Olympic event.

Quick posting as I gear up for the start of the school year. (Already?)

1. From the Daily Kos (a site I read more than daily), this chilling diary that says women in the military is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than to be killed by enemy fire in Iraq. 

2. New estimates show that more Americans are getting infected by HIV each year than previously thought.

3. A conservative Congressman held a fundraiser at a burlesque club. It's the hypocrisy, stupid!

4. A sex educator working for Fox News. Again, it's the hypocrisy, stupid! (I might have more to say about this another time.)

No fresh pasta, sea urchin, or kimchi on a first date? No shared plates? Yikes.

This Guardian article on how, where, and what to eat for a first date makes a few noteworthy points (like avoiding places with mariachi bands), but it ultimately sounds more punishing than pleasure-enhancing. I’m not so concerned about specific food items (though you might want to avoid asparagus, for reasons I’ll explain another time). Instead, at least for me, I think it’s incredibly important to find food compatibility. Granted, I’m a food freak, but if you’re hoping your first-time dining companion might turn into your life-long partner, I believe you should share some passion when you’re first breaking bread. After all, you might be sitting across the table from each other for many meals in the years and decades to follow.

Happily, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a first date, but thinking back, I came to realize I wanted to be with someone who loves looking at menus, sampling new dishes, and discerning the different ingredients. Someone with a healthy appetite, translating to a healthy appetite for life. Someone who likes to share plates, but will playfully fight for that last great bite. Someone omnivorous, who understands that bacon fat makes everything taste better, and who smiles instead of squirms at the prospect of ordering organ meats. Someone who’d perhaps even eat fresh pasta with sea urchin and kimchi!

Luckily, I found that someone. What’s hard for me to believe, especially now that I’m a food writer, is that it wasn’t long ago that I dated someone who didn’t like fruit…or fish…or beef…or any dark meat…or most anything. (Basically, it seemed like she only ate chicken breasts and overcooked vegetables, which made her the perfect candidate for hotel banquets.) Vacations, the perfect time to explore new cuisines and concoctions, felt like a nightmare. Worse, daily life at the dinner table became, well, dull and eventually dreadful.

Does that make you look at that first dinner date any differently?

Remember the fuss over the so-called "wardrobe malfunction" during the 2004 Super Bowl? You know: that microsecond of "boob flash" when Justin Timberlake ripped off part of Janet Jackson's bustier during their halftime show. It drove conservatives (and some non-conservatives) crazy, with the ensuing controversy making us the laughing-stock of the world for our Victorian attitudes about nudity and sex.

Recall that the FCC slapped CBS with a $550,000 fine for indecency.

Yesterday, years later, the U.S. Court of Appeals overturned the fine, arguing that the FCC "arbitrarily and capriciously departed from its prior policy" by levying a fine for this fleeting episode.

Nice to know it's not all boobs in the government...

Continuing to wreak havoc on reproductive rights, the Bush administration just announced a proposal that would cut off aid to health programs (like hospitals, clinics, and medical schools) that refuse to hire workers who object to abortion—and even certain methods of birth control. In other words, the proposal allows any federal grant recipient to obstruct a woman's access to
contraception.

Meanwhile, John McCain has a major birth control problem. Carly Fiorina, his campaign advisor, had stated that "There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won't cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice." Watch this video and see how the so-called Straight Talk Express totally derails when McCain stumbles and bumbles, eventually pleading ignorance, when asked his position on the issue.

Good news, though: watermelon may be the new Viagra.

The election is just four months away, and as I've been predicting on the lecture circuit (I didn't really have to go out on a limb to get this right), some right-wingers are trying to stir up homosexuality as a wedge issue. Just yesterday, conservative commentator Fred Barnes suggested that John McCain use gay bashing to energize his base.

Part of that base has reintroduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution. Ten Republican senators have submitted this piece of legislation to protect the so-called sanctity of marriage, saying that "marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." As if it's bad enough that the likes of Alex Rodriguez and Madonna make a mockery of such sanctity, let's take a look at a couple of the co-sponsors of the legislation. David Vitter (R-LA) liked to wear diapers and hire prostitutes, while Larry Craig (R-ID) solicited sex from a man in a Minneapolis bathroom. Ah...the family values party in action. I'd love to see them run these ads as part of their pro-marriage campaigns.

As we note George Carlin's passing, it seems appropriate to celebrate his wit and wisdom as evidenced in his poignant "Sanctity of Life" routine.

I'm struck by the significance of June 18:

1. In 1873, women's rights advocate Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for voting. (It wouldn't be until 1920 that the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote in this country.)

2. In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. (She wasn't arrested for doing that.)

3. In 1983, Sally Ride took a ride and became the first American woman to travel in space.

In a related note, yesterday marked the first time that Maryland has elected a black woman to Congress. Donna Edwards will be sworn in tomorrow.

Yes, today is Loving Day, which marks the anniversary of the legalization of interracial marriages, dating back to...1967. It wasn't that long ago that the Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia that "There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause." The aptly named "Loving" refers to Richard and Mildred Loving, who got married in Washington, D.C. in 1958 and got arrested (not realizing that interracial marriage was illegal) upon their return a few weeks later to a town near Richmond, Virginia. Richard died a few years ago, and Mildred died just last month. But Loving Day is (and will continue to be) celebrated each year.

We're about a week from the official start of summer, but for most of us involved in college life, it's already summer - and hence my lack of blogging! There are many stories to tell, like a Colorado ballot measure that calls an egg a person, efforts in Utah to remove a ban on bikinis, reasons why John McCain should worry women and anyone concerned about reproductive and sexual rights, nursing home sex, how same-sex weddings might help save the California economy, and the supportive reaction of Deval Patrick (governor of Massachusetts) when his daughter came out: "You know, I can still imagine what Katherine's wedding is going to be like." Lowering his voice, he adds, "How much it's gonna cost."

It's important to keep an eye on the news and monitor the political and cultural climate related to sex. I encourage you to do that. I'll do the same. But it's summer, so expect my blogging to be fairly light. After all, life's also about getting out and enjoying the good times...

A Christian group is boycotting Starbucks over its new logo, which is a revised resurrection of its original logo from 1971. The Resistance claims that the logo "has a naked woman on it with her legs spread like a prostitute," and goes on to say that "the company might as well call themselves Slutbucks." More info and great comments at Dvorak.

Ah...America, the beautiful.

Starting tonight is VH1's four-part series Sex: The Revolution, which looks like it might be interesting. From the press release, the documentary will look at lots of issues:

The series begins with the groundbreaking sexual research of Alfred Kinsey and takes the viewer through key moments in America's sexual history including Marilyn Monroe, Splendor in the Grass, Bettie Page, Citizens for Decent Literature, Sex and the Single Girl, the Pill, Sex, Drugs & Rock and Roll, Make Love Not War, swinging, Midnight Cowboy, Burn the Bra, Stonewall, Deep Throat, Forty Second Street, the Continental Baths, Roe v. Wade, Hustler, Caligula, phone sex, herpes, AIDS, the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, Angels In America, Bob Dole and Viagra-and oh, so much more!

No, not in the United States. Ecuador. Yes, Ecuador!

At least it's in our hemisphere.

When an opposition member worried that this would decree orgasm by law, Assembly member Maria Soledad Vela (on the committee that defines fundamental constitutional rights) asserted, "I never asked for the right to orgasm, only the right to enjoyment."  I love it. 

Okay, I wanted to write about my final two lectures of the school year, and the joy of being in Ithaca.

Instead, I'm getting a bit angry about the whole bitter/elite thing.

This week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on government-supported abstinence-only education. But despite expert testimony from the American Public Health Association, the U.S. Institute of Medicine, the American Psychological Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecolosits that abstinence-only teaching doesn't work, is a waste of money, and actually spreads misinformation about sex, Republicans objected:

Rep. John Duncan, a Tennessee Republican, said that it seems "rather elitist" that people with academic degrees in health think they know better than parents what type of sex education is appropriate.  

The Bush Administration, continually willing to ignore science, continued to seek support for this misguided approach to sex education. And it appears things would be the same in the McCain administration. The so-called "maverick" seems quite confused about sex education, with his so-called "Straight Talk Express" completely derailed in this interview:

Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

Ugh...

Flying off tomorrow to Ithaca for the last two lectures of the semester and, alas, the school year! First will be Ithaca College on Wednesday. The school is special for me, as it's where I did endless numbers of little workshops in the residence halls, developing my skills as a speaker/presenter. And then on Thursday I go to Cornell - my alma mater. I always feel nostalgic visiting the campus I crashed as a 17 year-old, when it was unfathomable that I would ever become a sex educator! All these years later, it's a special feeling to be on stage in Statler Auditorium - a place where I was once one of a thousand as a student in the audience...

Just two more weeks on the road, and I'm trying to survive both the travel and the tax season (the latter ending, for better or for worse, today!).

For now, I wanted to report that I recently finished Brian Alexander's America Unzipped: In Search of Sex and Satisfaction. It's a satisfying read in a gonzo journalism sort of way in which Alexander travels the country meeting the many Americans who are getting "down and dirty" in our otherwise conservative culture. A fun and revealing ride, especially seeing how many  sworn Republicans are true conservatives in thinking the government should stay out of their sexual lives - though I don't necessarily agree with all of the author's conclusions.

Just a quickie. Two articles, one covering my Sex Week keynote at Colgate, NY, and the other a distillation of my recent lecture at San Marcos, CA.

Greetings from California! Fun to be down here, having finished lectures at San Marcos (the photo shows the mocktails provided at the event) and Northridge. I also did a little speaking engagement for the Cornell Club of Los Angeles. Speaking of Cornell (my alma mater), I went to see alum Bill Maher and the taping of "Real Time" on Friday. He's a blast, and guest Tavis Smiley was incredibly impressive. I especially like Maher's "New Rules," with clips available at the site.

News of another report proving that the abstinence-only approach to sex education just doesn't work. And in fact might be harmful. Why we waste hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a misguided approach full of misinformation is beyond me. (Well, not really. Check out this article exposing how abstinence-only has become a billion dollar industry for Bush's buddies in the religious right.)

Beyond the misinformation, these curricula contain simplistic slogans like "Do the right thing, wait for the ring," "Not on week days, only on wed days," and, yes, "Pet your dog, not your date."

Worse, despite evidence that these programs don't work (see the Waxman report for a congressional investigation), the Democratically controlled Congress (yes, I'm a bipartisan basher on this issue) has actually proposed a budget to increase funding for abstinence-only education. But new reports show that some are coming to their senses and stammering for an end to this funding, which will only lead to another fight.

Time for you to fight for your sexual rights. Contact your representatives, and tell them you oppose funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education.