Y'know what really gets me about this?

Is that somewhere there are girls and young women who decide that this behavior is something to admire and aspire to on the same scale as Paris Hilton and other famous sluts.

It wouldn't be such a bad thing really, hell sluts can be fun for a brief interlude...but I can't help but wonder how many young women stumble into poverty through single motherhood as a result, following their role models right off a cliff, but absent the monetary safety net that keeps their heroine's safe.

Weiner did something stupid, he's not the first, he won't be the last. But I don't get what the big deal about it is. Wow, politician has a penis under his pants...likes to show it and use it with women. What a cover story.

Is there anyone that isn't already just assuming most of these guys are screwing themselves silly, with or without photographic proof?

Damnit, posted that in the wrong thread! Should have been under the post about weiner.

A good sun-protection regimen can buy you YEARS of younger looks!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33385839/ns/health-skin_and_beauty/t/twin-study-reveals-secrets-looking-younger/

The problems with the anti sun crusades is that scientists are beginning to understand that Vitimin D plays a major role in protecting people from a lot of deadly cancers. Dark skinned people need more sun than light skinned ones but we all need sufficent levels for optimum health. Since the sun block crusades of the last 20 years, melanoma cases may have dropped but a lot of other deadly internal cancers have sky rocketed especially in darker skinned populations.
Like many other health messages we receive from the government the anti sun crusade is a mixed bag, and may have created many more problems than it solved.

What you don't need to do is fry. And everybody should be tested for their vitamin D level.

dunno Amy, maybe the twins thing would work... but I see beautiful youn women everyday walking with their mothers, and they never seem to realize that their sungoddess status today, ensures they will look like their moms later, like an old crone.

this is the invincibility factor coupled with the tomorrow never comes factor...

twins thing might work at some level... but as long as a tan is considered beautiful? It will be sought after.

The closer to the equator you are, the less likely you are to get any cancer. Sun is not your enemy, although it sure as hell will age you. I wear SPF 60 on my face neck and arms 5 months a year. SPF 15 on face only the rest of the year, but I wear nothing on my exposed legs. Gotta get my D somewhere.

Most people can't think in terms of the future .. I suspect whether it's cancer or aging you're warning them about, if you're stupid you will suffer.

Momof4: "The closer to the equator you are, the less likely you are to get any cancer"

I'm afraid the evidence says otherwise:

http://rex.nci.nih.gov/NCI_Pub_Interface/raterisk/risks103.html

"The most striking association was the inverse relationship between latitude and nonmelanoma skin cancer: The lower the latitude (the equator is zero), the higher the incidence"

@Momof4: I think what you are thinking of is the health effects of vitamin D. But it's only healthy to the extent that you're not overdoing it. If your skin is tanning, you are overdoing it, by definition. The reality is you need VERY little sun to get the health-protective vitamin D effects, and beyond that, the sun most definitely is "your enemy" (and tanning beds are just as bad ... if you are tanning, your skin is getting the 'bad stuff').

"The most striking association was the inverse relationship between latitude and nonmelanoma skin cancer: The lower the latitude (the equator is zero), the higher the incidence"

You do realize that non melanoma skin cancer is the least dangerous kind of cancer and it it rarely kills anyone?

Melanoma is the dangerous kind. And while non melanoma skin cancers increase near the equator, the deadly cancers like gastric cancer, pancreatic cancer, etc. are way down in individuals who get sufficient sun exposure, or have a diet rich in dairy foods.

The body needs UVB rays to produce Vitamin D and in the northern latitudes, especially in the winter most people will not get sufficient sun to produce enough Vitamin D. I don't think that tanning beds, are a good idea for most people but if you live in Alaska, they might keep you much healthier in the winter.
A lot of research indicates that you need as much as 30 minutes exposure twice a week but of course at higher altitudes probably less and in the winter in northern latitude probably more.

The need for vitamin D may explain why the northern latitudes are dairy cultures. Anyone who is lactose intolerant should probably get a lot more sun than most elderly Americans currently do.

Two things are a lot worse for your skin than "some" sun, smoking and lots of booze. :-)