Upfront

imageMarge Simpson — yes, the fictional cartoon character from the television show — is the star of this month’s Playboy. “Marge Simpson is the quintessential girl next door who stole our hearts 20 years ago and has held them captive ever since,” Hugh Hefner told CNN.com. “We were delighted to learn she wanted to grace the pages of our magazine. Her pictorial is truly stunning.” We’re not sure which is more weird, the fact that Hugh Hefner is referring to Marge as an actual person or that Playboy might have run out of attractive real women to feature in its magazine.
An interesting legal development: Given the right circumstances, you can be arrested for “poking” someone on Facebook. In Tennessee a 36-year-old woman was put in handcuffs after one of her pokes was considered a violation of a court order that forbade her from “telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating” an individual she had allegedly been harassing for months. She faces up to 29 days in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. The implications of the case for social networking sites are unclear, but for now it’s a safe bet that if you’re not allowed to harass someone in person, you probably shouldn’t do it online.
image It looks like Rush Limbaugh will have to wait another day to become an NFL owner. The fiery conservative talk show host has been dropped from the investment group seeking to buy the St. Louis Rams. To no one’s surprise, Rush is angry and blaming the left. The move was part of “the ongoing effort by the left in this country, wherever you find them, in the media, the Democrat Party, or wherever, to destroy conservatism, to prevent the mainstreaming of anyone who is prominent as a conservative,” he said on his radio show. Maybe he should ask Fergie for advice. The NFL just voted to allow the Black Eyed Peas singer to become a small part owner of the Miami Dolphins.
Turns out a little bit of booze might help reduce type 2 diabetes. In a new study published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, moderate alcohol consumption is “associated with a decrease risk of Type 2 diabetes in the general population. ” A caveat: moderate alcohol consumption is defined as 1 to 3 drinks a day, the study found no (diabetes-related) benefits to having more than 3 drinks daily.

The Pulse

What the polls tell us about ourselves


Health Care

57% of people aged 18-29 oppose a government fine for being uninsured, while 29% support it.

Swine Flu

46% of those aged 18-39 living in California say that they are at least remotely concerned about contracting Swine Flu, and just 16% admitted they were “very concerned.”

California Politics

20% of registered voters between ages 18 and 29 approve of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance as Governor.

56% of Republican primary voters ages 18-39 have yet to back a candidate to challenge Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer in the 2010 Senate race. 20% support businesswoman Carly Fiorina and 24% prefer Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

41% of Democratic primary voters aged 18-39 back Gavin Newsom as candidate for Governor, while 32% support Jerry Brown. In contrast, over 50% of voters over the age of 39 prefer Brown over Newsom.

25% of Republican primary voters aged 18-39 support John Campbell for Governor; 50% of this group is undecided.

Sources: Rasmussen Reports; Field Research Corporation