Sex, Drugs, Rockband

Washington Post - Teenagers Who Make Such Promises Are Just as Likely to Have Sex, and Less Likely to Use Protection, the Data Indicate
Teenagers who pledge to remain virgins until marriage are just as likely to have premarital sex as those who do not promise abstinence and are significantly less likely to use condoms and other forms of birth control when they do, according to a study released today.

The new analysis of data from a large federal survey found that more than half of youths became sexually active before marriage regardless of whether they had taken a “virginity pledge,” but that the percentage who took precautions against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases was 10 points lower for pledgers than for non-pledgers.

“Taking a pledge doesn’t seem to make any difference at all in any sexual behavior,” said Janet E. Rosenbaum of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, whose report appears in the January issue of the journal Pediatrics. “But it does seem to make a difference in condom use and other forms of birth control that is quite striking.”

The study is the latest in a series that have raised questions about programs that focus on encouraging abstinence until marriage, including those that specifically ask students to publicly declare their intention to remain virgins. The new analysis, however, goes beyond earlier analyses by focusing on teens who had similar values about sex and other issues before they took a virginity pledge.
Read the rest of this entry »

ve3d.ign.com - Some new Jethro Tull songs are making their way into the latest Rock Band 2 DLC.
Harmonix and MTV Games announced today the addition of four new tracks to the Rock Band® Music Store catalog of downloadable content from bands Snow Patrol, Deep Purple, James Gang and Jethro Tull.
Scottish alternative band Snow Patrol makes its debut in the Rock Band music catalog offering their first single “Take Back the City” from their new album A Hundred Million Suns (2008).

In addition, the Rock Band music catalog will expand its collection of Deep Purple tracks, giving players access to the classic rock band’s single “Space Truckin’’” from the influential album Machine Head (1972). Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” was featured on the original Rock Band soundtrack.

Next week’s offering also includes the classic rock single “Funk #49” from the album James Gang Rides Again (1970) featuring Joe Walsh, Dale Peters and Jimmy Fox.

The Jethro Tull single“Hymn 43” will become the second Tull track in the Rock Band music catalog, joining “Aqualung” which was featured on the Rock Band 2 soundtrack. Both songs are from the band’s fourth studio album Aqualung (1971).

These tracks will be available starting December 30, 2008, for the Xbox_360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and January 8, 2008, for PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Each individual track will be available for $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points).

Harmonix and MTV have gone festive with a special Rock Band 2 Christmas song pack, and even plan to add some Foo Fighters music tomorrow.

EuroGamer: The Christmas songs are “Hanukkah Blessings” by Barenaked Ladies, “Christmas is the Time To Say I Love You” by Billy Squier, and “Blue Christmas” by The Pretenders, who are quite keen walkers.

The Rockin’ The Holidays pack can be snapped up for 240 Microsoft Points (GBP 2.04 / EUR 2.88) as a bundle, or 80 MSP (GBP 0.68 / EUR 0.96) individually.

The Foo Fighters songs, on the other hand, are at the usual price of 440 MSP (GBP 3.74 / EUR 5.28) for all three, or 160 MSP (GBP 1.36 / EUR 1.92) each. Inside are “DOA”, “Times Like These” and “This Is A Call”.

Ok, I’m 40 now. Thanks to everyone wishing me happy 40. I love you all. Now, get the fuck off me and let me live my life.
Smooches to all and Happy Holidays.
bv

The Chron BROWNSVILLE, Texas — While border agents continue to be watchful for smugglers of guns, drugs and the usual dangerous contraband, their work this time of year takes on a decidedly holiday flavor as they also nab forbidden Mexican sausage, tamales and poinsettias.
Border traffic is thick with families on the move for holidays, but the car packed to the gills with gifts and coolers draws customs agents to check for the items many don’t think of as illegal.
“They want to take some of the flavor of the home country to friends or relatives they may be visiting,” said Roger Maier, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in El Paso, where a Mexican-style bologna is a favorite yet impermissible holiday item.
The holiday trafficking usually starts after Thanksgiving and typically includes raw pork to fill tamales, guavas, hawthorn fruit and sugar cane for a hot rum-spiked Christmas punch known as ponche navideno, potted poinsettias and even miniature nativity scenes where dried grass in the manger could be harboring pests.
“It’s usually the same items over and over again,” said Felix Garza, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the upper Rio Grande Valley. Read the rest of this entry »

L.A. Times The number of homeless sex offenders on parole in California has increased dramatically since the approval two years ago of Proposition 83, an initiative that imposed harsh restrictions on where they can live, a state panel reported Thursday.

The Sex Offender Management Board said the number of parolees monitored by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation — one of the only government agencies to enforce what is known as Jessica’s Law — increased from 88 in November 2006 to 1,056 at the end of June 2008.

“Common sense leads to the conclusion that a community cannot be safer when sex offenders are homeless,” the report states, citing research concluding that unstable housing can lead to recidivism.

Jessica’s Law, which prohibits sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of schools and parks where children play, was proposed by state Sen. George Runner (R-Lancaster) and his wife, Sharon, a former assemblywoman, and strongly backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Read the rest of this entry »

mtv.com
Last week, I complained about the lack of holiday-themed DLC for band games.
So I followed up with the makers of “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” “Rock Band” and “Rock Revolution” to see if they had any last-minute holiday songs up their sleeves.
Today, MTV Games and Harmonix are announcing through Multiplayer the December 23 release of the “Rock Band” “Rockin’ the Holidays 2008″ downloadable track pack, which includes three songs: “Hanukkah Blessings” by Barenaked Ladies, “Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You” by Billy Squier and The Pretenders’ version of “Blue Christmas.” Each track will be $.99 (80 Microsoft Points) each or for $2.99 (240 Microsoft Points) for the pack.
Meanwhile, a Konami rep confirmed that “Rock Revolution” will not get any holiday songs. Activision also told me that there won’t be any holiday music available for download for “Guitar Hero: World Tour,” but wanted to remind me that new, exclusive songs for Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and The Eagles are available this month. And on December 23, players will get three free Reggae tracks from Pepper, Slightly Stoopid and Expendables. (And Patrick did find some homebrew holiday songs on GHTunes created by its players.)
Also, a reader correctly pointed out that “Wii Music” has two Christmas songs: “Jingle Bell Rock” and “O Christmas Tree.”
So will this satisfy your holiday band game needs, or is this too little too late?

Hey fans,
Sorry for the extended hiatus. Personal life gets to ya sometimes, but no worries, I’m back to cure you from your work time boredom.
A lot has happened while I was out…
Harmonix got rich!
No Doubt, Yngwie Malmsteen, The Killers, Dead Kennedys, and Soundgarden tracks released.
Some asshole thought it was a good idea to allow country to be on RB.
And I’m sure much more. I won’t let you down again, life is wonderful… especially when you have sex, drugs, and RockBand!