Everything? That's right. Some people are working to convince parents that abstinence education is unpopular, unrealistic, and unsafe. ...

Abstinence education embraces the same no-nonsense, truth-telling approach we use in teaching young people about drugs, tobacco, and drunk driving.

When you have sex with a man, he unwraps your lollipop and sucks on it.

It may feel great at the time, but, unfortunately, when he’s done with you, all you have left for your next partner is a poorly wrapped, saliva-fouled sucker.

These words were actually uttered by Darren Washington, an abstinence educator, at the Eighth Annual Abstinence Clearinghouse Conference, an informational three-day trade show for abstinence educators, anti-abortion pregnancy care centers and medical professionals.

Washington was giving examples of how to teach abstinence. He then called up volunteers from the audience and used an actual lollipop to help deliver the metaphor.

The abstinence-only education movement is big business. Its product is the promotion of chastity through speaking engagements and the selling of curricula and promotional materials. There is underwear emblazoned with “No Sex” on the crotch, T-shirts, pens and bookmarks — you name the tchotchke — but the serious money involves large federal and state grants. The movement is growing and gaining influence.

The pledgers, not diagnosed or treated, may pack disease longer than other people, the researchers say. ...

Other findings in the study:

* Among virgins -- those who have not had vaginal intercourse -- male pledgers are four times more likely to have anal sex

* Male and female pledgers are six times more likely to have oral sex than non-pledgers.

Along with the passive RFID tags attached to student ID card holders, the InClass system uses ultra high-frequency "readers" mounted in the doorways of school classrooms. As students pass through the a doorway, the reader sends the tags' unique ID numbers to a central computer server. A software program installed on the server then collects the tag data and wirelessly uploads a list of present, absent and tardy students (based on when each student enters the classroom) to a personal digital assistance (PDA) device that is issued to the teacher.

Unbeknownst to him, the book was published in Greece. He found out when he received a summons to appear in court in Athens in January, having been charged with blasphemy.

According to AP, President Bush suggested yesterday that Congress and the White House had done all they could to keep the brain-injured 41-year-old alive. But the National Pro-Life Action Center spokesman insisted that more could be done and that sending in police to save Terri's life would not be an illegal use of executive authority. "No branch or agency of government that steps in to protect an innocent individual from harm -- and in this case, killing -- has ever overstepped its bounds," the minister said.

Some of the documentaries whose distribution has been affected by religious controversy include "Cosmic Voyage," a journey through the far-flung universe, and "Galápagos," about the islands where Charles Darwin made observations that played a crucial role in his theory of evolution. "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea," depicting the bizarre creatures that flourish near hot, sulfurous vents in the ocean floor, is the current focus of controversy. It was vetted for accuracy by a panel of scientists and was sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation, a government funding agency, and Rutgers University. It raised hackles by suggesting that life on Earth may have originated at these undersea vents.

Rabbits and ducks as easy to animate. But how do you make oxygen cute? Their answer was Oxy, a long-lashed, squeaky-voiced character who resembles an orange with a face. She and her hydrogen sidekicks Hydro and Hydra (H20, get it?) take thrill rides through different colorful atomic realms.

Atomic characters form molecules by bonding cheek-to-cheek, bounce around and break out in song verses like: "We make yoooouuu! We make all of you!" They also meet Carbon, a Hispanic atom who pronounces his name like Ramon.