HAYLEY BURNS

NATIONAL

School Board Approves Birth Control Prescriptions at Maine Middle School

Summary: The plan, offered by city health officials, makes King Middle School the first middle school in Maine to make a full range of contraception available to students in grades 6 through 8, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
There are no national figures on how many middle schools, where most students range in age from 11 to 13, provide such services.

Opinion: Well, wow! Eleven year olds having sex? So I think that the students you are having sex are going to be very irresponsible with this new birth- control policy. All that is needed to receive contraceptive, is a physical exam and parent permission. The parent permission isn’t specifically for the contraceptive. The form is a general Student health Center permission. So the same form that allows your 13 year old son it get an ice pack, after a soccer game, allows your 11 year old daughter to get birth control. What at messed up school.

High-End, Anatomically Correct Real Dolls Get Exposure in New 'Lars' Film

Summary: SAN MARCOS, Calif. — A dozen headless female bodies hang from industrial metal hooks in the center of the room. To the left is a table of plastic faces, awaiting makeup. To the right, a stack of silicone molds ready for the next order of life-sized love toys.
Normally reserved for private play, these high-end, anatomically correct dolls are getting big-screen exposure with the recent release of "Lars and the Real Girl," an offbeat, surprisingly chaste comedy about a lonely introvert (Ryan Gosling) and Bianca, the silicone object of his affection.
Opinion: What? How weird is this world? I defiantly understand making life like dolls to use as models or in films. But, when people are sleeping with them, and purchasing them to use as companions, that’s creeping. People like that need mental help.

INTERNATIONAL

Children Find Naked Child's Body in Suitcase in Australian Park

Summary: SYDNEY, Australia — A group of children found a boy's naked body jammed into a suitcase floating in a duck pond at a suburban Sydney park, triggering a murder investigation Thursday and a police warning to parents. There was widespread outrage at the apparent brutality directed toward the unidentified child, who police said did not match the description of anyone on missing-persons lists, though clues indicated the body had been there for days.

Opinion: Oh my goodness, this is so sad. Whoever is cruel enough to do such things to a child needs to be severely punished. Also I am wondering if the Australian government is providing some sort of counseling for the children who found the body. It must be very shocking to discover something like that.


Roman Catholic Church Will Celebrate St. Patrick's Day Two Days Earlier in 2008

Summary: DUBLIN, Ireland — Although it isn't clear whether bars and pubs will follow suit, the Roman Catholic Church will celebrate St. Patrick's Day two days early next year because of the holiday's rare calendar clash with Holy Week.
Traditionally St. Patrick and all things Irish are celebrated on March 17. However, in 2008, March 17 falls on the Monday of Holy Week and, according to church law, the days of Holy Week and Easter rank above all others, according to Catholic News Service. So the solemnity of St. Patrick must be moved to another date.

Opinion: So I think it is very funny that, the church moves the holiday that is mostly associated with drinking and alcohol, to ay day that will allow such things. By moving the holiday I think the church is allowing such bad behavior.