Lawmaker Comes Out as Atheist During House Prayer

The Arizona House and Senate typically convene with a prayer, which members take turns delivering. But Democratic Rep. Juan Mendez did something unusual yesterday: He took the opportunity to announce that he's an atheist (he referenced his "secular humanist tradition") and encourage other members not to bow their heads in...

Think You're Pretty Hot? You're Probably Wrong

The latest video in Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign featured women describing themselves to an unseen forensic sketch artist, who drew them as they were described by themselves and then as they were described by a stranger. The sketches based on the stranger's description turned out more attractive, hence Dove's message:...

Teens Name Their Biggest Beefs With Facebook

The vast majority of teens (to the tune of 94% in 2012) are on Facebook, but many of them are gravitating toward Twitter and other social media sites that their parents don't tend to use, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. Researchers found that teenage Facebook users—70%...

Word Choices Show We're Me-Centric, Less Moral

Lexicologists poring over a Google database of books and word usage suggest three general traits of the past half-century, writes David Brooks in the New York Times . Society has become more individualistic (with words and phrases such as "self" and "I come first" on the rise), less moral ("virtue" and...

Unlikely Presence in Court: the Racy 'Urban Dictionary'

Your average court may not be able to define "nut" as a verb; it may struggle to figure out why a pair of thieves called themselves "jack boys." That's where the Urban Dictionary comes in. In the former case, its definition of "to nut"—"to ejaculate"—helped a court decide...

Tumblr Founder a High School Drop-Out

At 14, David Karp—who would one day found Tumblr—was already obsessed with computers and bored with school. So his mom, a science teacher, suggested he drop out. "It became very clear that David needed the space to live his passion. Which was computers," Barbara Ackerman tells the New...

Celeb Worship a Sign American Dream Is Dying

Watching the Great Gatsby might give you a shock of recognition, because it hails from a time like our own: One that's lousy with inequality, observes George Packer in the New York Times . Celebrities, he argues, function as "new household gods" for a population losing faith, and they thrive especially...

Get Over It, Foodies: Spam Is Delicious

It's time for foodies to stop turning their noses up at Spam, declares Anna Weaver in Slate . She offers up myriad reasons the canned meat deserves a spot at even the fanciest tables: It tastes good . In particular, it's more appetizing than that classic American favorite, the hot dog. But...

Homophobia Drove Statutory Rape Charge: Mom

A Florida teen has been charged with statutory rape and kicked out of school, and her mother says the case hinges on homophobia, the Raw Story reports. The parents of the alleged victim—some three years younger than suspect Kaitlyn Hunt, 18—"are bigoted, religious zeolites (sic) that see being...

Now Hot for Men: Makeup

Makeup isn't just for ladies anymore, but that doesn't mean you're about to see Adam Lambert lookalikes at every turn. A new trend in stealth makeup, or ahem, "grooming," has men's cosmetics sales climbing—to the tune of more than $5 billion that American guys dropped last year on skin...

Coming Soon: Caffeine-Infused ...Toothbrush?

Who needs a morning coffee when your toothbrush releases a dose of caffeine? Colgate has applied for a patent on a brush that could do just that. The application describes "a toothbrush that releases a chemical into the mouth during use," but it won't stop at caffeine, reports Yahoo . The...

Bacon Restaurant Shut Down for Smelling Too Bacon-y

Perhaps not everything is better with bacon, after all. A San Francisco bacon restaurant—called "Bacon Bacon"—is being forced to shutter after neighbors complained that the "porcine aroma" emanating from the establishment was too overpowering, and it was illegally disposing of its bacon grease in the sewers. The complaints...

How to Honor Dead MIT Cop? With Beer, Apparently

If your first instinct is to cry "commercialism" at the news that Sean Collier, the MIT officer that was shot and killed after the Boston Marathon bombings, is being honored with a beer brewed in his name—and yours for just $5.50 a pint—know this: His loved ones...

Topless Bea Arthur Painting Sells for $1.9M

No, Bea Arthur never sat for a topless painting. But that didn't stop artist John Currin from conjuring one up in his imagination in 1991, and last night it sold for $1.9 million at Christie's, reports the New York Post . It was part of a $495 million night, a...

Sole Survivor of 1987 Plane Crash Breaks Silence

Cecelia Crocker's body provides her with a constant reminder of the most traumatic event of her life—one that she doesn't otherwise remember. At only 4 years old, Crocker was the lone survivor of the 1987 Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crash that killed 154 people aboard, including Crocker's parents and...

Painting Fetches Highest Price Ever for Living Artist

A huge oil painting by German artist Gerhard Richter sold for $37 million at Sotheby's yesterday, making it the highest price ever paid for a work by a living artist, reports the Guardian . Richter painted the 9-foot-by-9-foot Domplatz, Mailand , in 1968, and it last sold 15 years ago for "only"...

Disney Still Has a Princess Problem

After much outrage, Disney backed down on the makeover it recently tried to give Brave 's Merida—the new version, which was to be featured in the Disney Princess line, was no longer "messy, freckly, slightly overbitey," but teeny-waisted, sultry-eyed, and distinctly bow-and-arrow-less—but this is just a small victory,...

What's Best for Angelina May Not Be Best for You

There's no question that Angelina Jolie made a courageous move in undergoing a double mastectomy . But in the applause for her decision, it's important to keep the cancer conversation in context, writes Mary Elizabeth Williams—herself a cancer survivor —at Salon . "I can swear to you that every one of...

NY Man Done Writing Out Entire Bible

It took him four years, but Phillip Patterson now has serious cause to throw around a couple of hallelujahs: The Upstate New York man yesterday finished his mammoth project of writing out the entire Bible by hand , reports the AP . "Every single curly-q, every single loop, it was all worth...

Mother of Mother's Day Came to Hate It

It's Mother's Day, and Forbes blogger Steve Cooper quantifies the ways Americans will show their appreciation: Figure $169 spent per mom this year, up from $152 last year, with a record 14% planning to buy some kind of electronic gadget as the big gift. Jewelry will be tops ($4.2...

Stylist Created the 'Rachel' Haircut While High

Almost 20 years after it took women's scalps by storm, Jennifer Aniston is finally ready to talk about her infamous Friends haircut, the "Rachel" (she has a new web series and hair care line to promote, according to E! ). But the big revelation is not that she was never...

Anne Frank Charity Battles ... Anne Frank Charity

Two organizations bearing Anne Frank's name are in a bitter dispute over the possession of the Frank family archive, in an echo of a court battle they fought in the 1990s over which one had the right to trademark the Holocaust victim's name. The conflict between the Basel, Switzerland-based Anne...

Randy Jackson Leaving Idol After 12 Years

Jackson out. Randy Jackson, the lone original American Idol judge, says he won't be returning to the Fox talent competition. "To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on American Idol , I have decided to leave after this season," Jackson said in a statement....

Dogs Are Taking Over America— Enough!

Farhad Manjoo is not a dog person, apparently. The usually-tech-focused columnist writes on Slate that pet pooches are now running amok in previously human-only areas of society—and we're just expected to find it adorable. "Sometime in the last decade, dogs achieved dominion over urban America," he says. "They are...

Disabled Couple Sue for Right to Live Together

She fell for his knock-knock jokes. He fell for her beauty. Paul Forziano and Hava Samuels, who finish each other's sentences, met in a performing arts program and talked about marriage for three years before getting hitched last month. But they also both have developmental disabilities, so they are forced...

Floppy Fashion: 20 Fabulous Derby Hats

The Kentucky Derby is known as much for hats and high fashion as it is for fast horses. This year, rains are swamping Churchill Downs, but fans on the infield are still holding their heads—and their hats—high. Bigger and bolder is the rule for hats that often dwarf...

Who Will Be America's Next Top Gerbil?

Gerbil pageants: they are a real thing. In fact, the American Gerbil Society is holding its annual pageant this weekend, with rodents from across the country descending on New England to vie for the title of "top gerbil," reports the AP . The gerbils race through an obstacle course while judges...

America's Hot New Crop Is ... Chickpeas?

Look out, US snackers, here comes the hummus. So says the Wall Street Journal , which declares that the relatively healthy Mediterranean dip made from chickpeas is "conquering America." The numbers are hard to dispute: Sales were up 11% last year to $530 million, and that's up 25% from 2010. Major...

Trump Condo For Sale ... in Bitcoin Only

What can you actually pay for in Bitcoins? Well, at the moment, the list appears to include a luxury condo in New York City. A one-bedroom apartment in the Trump SoHo building went up for sale yesterday for 20,874 BTC, which is to say just over $1.9 million....

Employees Get Raise for Tattoo of Company Logo

Just how loyal are employees at New York real estate company Rapid Realty? At least 40 of them have tattooed the company's logo on their body, reports CBS . In exchange, their boss offers a 15% pay increase and pays for the tattoo. The idea came after one employee was inked...