Marriage Gap of Politics

The battle for control of the House of Representatives may be determined on whether or not the voters in various districts are married or not. According to Census data, compiled in this USA Today article, Republicans control 49 of the 50 districts with the highest rates of married people. Conversely, Democrats represent all 50 districts that have the highest rates of adults who have never married. Pretty staggering figures. As the elections get closer, hitched will take a closer look and see what real couples have to say and find out why marrieds go Republican and Democrats stay single. We'd love to hear your opinions on this.

Rev Run's Tragic Loss

If you happened to read Steve Cooper's article last month on miscarriage www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=44, you learned how tough dealing with one could be. For rapper Rev Run (Joseph Simmons) who put the "Run" in Hip Hops legendary old school group Run DMC, the tragedy of loosing a baby became a reality when last Thursday the religious rappers wife's newborn was pronounced dead upon delivery. The couples hit MTV reality show "Run's House" has chronicled the baby's inception when Simmons announced on the show that they would be welcoming a new life into the family. Doctors at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, New Jersey delivered the baby via C-section, and to their shock, revealed a baby girl who's organs had been growing outside the newborns body. Tragically, the baby girl died shortly after. Our thoughts go out to their family.

Age Gaps - No Problem Here

A quarter century can be a long time. Especially when you're married. But that's nothing when the difference between you and your wife is a quarter century. What could you have in common? Let's see. For one, you're both human. Two, you both breath air and three, you might like the same foods. In 1969 Catherine Zeta-Jones, born in Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK, was being delivered into the world while her husband, Michael Douglas, was celebrating his 25th birthday. With shared birthday's, a couple Oscar's respectively and a grand total of 99 candles between them-most belonging to Douglas-the couple has been happily married for nearly six years. And if they ever stop finding work in Hollywood, they can always turn to Douglas' federal retirement benefits, in which he is now eligible to receive.

Hair Gel Allowed On Planes!

That's right, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced that airplane passengers can now resume taking hair gel, deodorant, toothpaste and other security-risk liquids back on board airplanes. The catch? Liquids must be in containers of 3 ounces or less and all of the containers must fit in a single clear quart-sized bag. Also, items purchased in the "sterile zone"--the area past the security checkpoint--are now allowed on board as carry-ons. That's right you mean terrorists, we can spike our hair and brush our teeth and there's nothing you can do about it! The TSA website has more details (click here). For more information and analysis, click here for an article by USA Today.

Jonesing for Joe?

If you love your Starbucks, sit down we have something to tell you. Okay, your expensive coffee just got more expensive-er. Now breathe. Prices increased by 5 cents on all made-to-order coffees, espressos, cappuccinos and even your favorite venti-soy-cinnamon-dolce-latte with whip. However, those tasty pre-bottled drinks--no change. If you like to brew your joe at home, bags of beans jumped 50 cents. This may seem insignificant, but it could affect the rest of the world. No seriously, this article from USA Today mentions the "tall latte index" is used by The Economist to project consumer spending habits worldwide. Just an expensive coffee? Tell that to Ben Bernanke.

2007 Tax Predictions

I'm sure you probably weren't thinking of your taxes right now, unless you've got a money tree in your backyard so you file your taxes quarterly (if that's the case give us a call). The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, however, has a first look at what married couples can expect from their 2007 federal returns. According to the article, a married couple filing joint with a combined income of $100,000 will pay roughly $267.50 less in 2007 than in '06. That's just the start of the article. If you'd like to read more, click here.

Tiger's Roar

Jim Croce sang, "You don't tug on Superman's cape"--and that's what a Dublin magazine has done. Tiger Woods and the rest of the U.S. Ryder Cup golf team is in Ireland ready to compete when The Dubliner magazine ran a story with a purported nude photo of Tiger's wife Elin, along with text saying many more nude photos can be found online on various porn sites. The magazine didn't stop there, they also attacked the wives of the other players on the team, insulting each one individually for various reasons. Needless to say, Tiger wasn't happy, saying as much during a press conference. The Dubliner has quickly apologized saying it was a "inappropriate" and meant to be "satirical". A little too late for that, I'd say. Read more from ESPN.com

Movie Downloads: Tale of the Tape

A week or so ago we mentioned that Amazon had started offering movies for download and we also speculated that Apple would announce their arrival to the movie download game. Well, we were right. Apple is now offering downloadable movies through it's iTunes store. USA Today has a nice side-by-side comparison of these two services, which reveals some important information...such as Amazon only works with PCs, while Apple's service works for both Macs and PCs. Conversely, Amazon allows users to rent and buy and older movies start cheaper ($7.99) Click here to go to the site to get the full details.

Don't Eat Spinach

In case you've missed it, there's an E. coli outbreak going on right now that has the FDA has warned consumers and wannabe Popeye's to stop eating spinach...at least for the time being. E. coli are common, normally benign intestinal bacteria found in humans and animals, but the O157:H7 strain produces a powerful toxin that can cause bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps and in some cases death. The O157 bacteria is virulent and tough and only a few are needed to cause illness. Their is an antibiotic to help treat it, but time usually heals the illness. Go to this USA Today article for more information.

Wear A Helmet, Get Hit

If you're a person who rides their bike to work and back on Friday, you may want to know about a new finding coming from the UK. Their research suggests that byciclists who wear helmets are more likely to get hit! Why, you wonder? Well, it's because drivers tend to get closer to byciclists wearing helmets than those who do not. Also, their research found that drivers gave female bike riders more room on the road than male riders. The study was conducted by the University of Bath and more details can be found here.