This morning news broke that our very own president, Barack Obama, posted a campaign-themed Spotify playlist on his Facebook page. If you’re not familiar with Spotify, it’s the life changing music program that allows users to stream full albums and songs for free! Obama is really reaching out to the youth with this one, and I’m on board with it. If he actually picked out these songs himself and didn’t have one of his many staff members do it for him (which is what I am going to choose to believe), I will definitely add some points to my personal Obama approval rating. C’mon, he’s got “I Love You I Do” from the Dreamgirls soundtrack on there. YES! YES, BARACK! YES!

The songs range from Earth Wind and Fire’s “Got To Get You Into My Life” to Florence + The Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love.” I’m currently listening to the playlist as I write this post, and I must say, I’m impressed. Barry has good taste. This playlist can get any weary voter bobbing their head and tapping their feet.

This makes me wonder what kind of playlists Republican candidates Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich would make? Would they have Arcade Fire on there like Mr. President? Probably not, but I would be willing to give whatever they came up with a listen. I imagine lots of country songs (which surprisingly Barack has a lot of on his) And maybe some gangsta rap? Some N.W.A or Wu Tang? You never know these days.

You can check out the 2012 Campaign Playlist here!

Katie is finishing up her undergrad at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. She enjoys wasting hours on Facebook and tweeting things no one cares about. When asked the question, “Do you do marathons?” She promptly responds, “Of course! Which show?” Follow her @KatieGarrity!

Proposition 8 was overturned, and now we have to see that lesbian comedienne Ellen Degeneres as the new face of JCPenney? Where on EARTH will I shop now? Ladies, we’ve got to do something about this. Let’s protest that crazy talk show host so that her homosexuality doesn’t taint all our kids’ back-to-school clothes and our Christmas shopping.

Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating the thought process of a member of One Million Moms, a conservative group that’s got their high-leg briefs in a twisted bunch because out and proud Ellen Degeneres is the new JCPenney spokesperson. The group issued a statement following the company’s announcement:

“Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families. More sales will be lost than gained unless they replace their spokesperson quickly. Unless JC Penney decides to be neutral in the culture war then their brand transformation will be unsuccessful…By jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon, JCPenney is attempting to gain a new target market and in the process will lose customers with traditional values that have been faithful to them over all these years.”

Fox News contributor Sandy Rios, who supports the One Million Moms perspective, summed up this week’s Hot Button Issue while on The O’Reilly Factor: ”The problem is that Ellen DeGeneres has chosen to act out her lesbian lifestyle and marry her partner, it’s what that represents,” she said. “And the fact that JCPenney is supposed to be middle America, the place where families shop…and people who believe that marriage is between a man and woman and children should not be exposed and propagandized in homosexuality have a moral problem with that.”

Well I’m sorry, Sandy, and the members of One Million Moms, but America—the land of opportunity, the land of the free and the home of the brave—is changing. And for the better. Thank goodness it’s been allowed to change, or else women would never be able to proudly make a buck in any workplace and we’d still stupidly have slaves everywhere who each only count as three-fifths of a person. Though the country has managed to acknowledge the basic human right of being considered an entire person to these minority groups, why can’t such a given be also applied to those who aren’t perfectly heterosexual? Those who choose to be both free AND brave?

If you’re protesting Ellen’s employment with JCPenney, you’re asking that the company discriminates based on her sexual orientation. Hm, discrimination definitely sounds like one of “the negative influences our children are forced to contend with”—you know, the part of society’s “filth” that you should be working to fight, rather than avoiding the hilarious and kindhearted Ellen Degeneres and every product she’s ever endorsed. I’m guessing you’re missing out on the greatness that is CoverGirl LashBlast Mascara and the daily dose of awesome on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Oh man, your kids must have never even seen the movie Finding Nemo! Do you tell them that they can’t go on the Submarine Voyage ride at Disneyland because that funny blue fish is the voice of an evil lesbian?!

Oh, and by pushing Ellen down and calling her names, you’re being a bully. That’s right, One Million Moms, all 40,000 of you are guilty of anti-gay bullying.

Thankfully, the group’s protests and cries were no matter for the department store, as the company stood behind their decision. And yesterday, the free and brave Ellen Degeneres addressed her haters and, therefore, her motivators, on her talk show. ”I’m proud and happy to say that JCPenney stuck by their decision to make me their spokesperson. Which is great news for me because I also need some new crew socks.”

On a more serious notes, she continued, “I really want to thank everyone who is supporting me…Here are the values I stand for. I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you’d want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values. That’s what I stand for.“

To be honest, I’m surprised that One Million Moms even had the time to jumpstart a JCPenney protest. The group has also requested action against Macy’s, ABC’s Modern Family and Mattel. Don’t shop at Target for promoting the destructive program that is Degrassi, don’t watch Dancing With The Stars because the show “aired a definition of ‘transgender’” and don’t support Ben & Jerry’s because of their “tasteless” ice cream flavor names. Thank goodness—that means there’s more Schweddy Balls for me!

Watch Ellen’s full speech now. It’s hilarious, it’s heartwarming, it’s all things Ellen Degeneres.

Should JCPenney be concerned about losing conservative customers? Or will they gain more respect for taking a stand?

Ashley is a UC San Diego grad who is holding on way too tightly to a potential career in magazines and goes to Vegas all too often. She’s fascinated with celebrities and strawberry beer and doubles as a pathological texter/emailer/blogger. Feed the addiction with tweets @cashleelee. Thanks in advance.

You may think the current political election, Prop 8 or Josh Hamilton may be important, but they pale in comparison to the dead whale shark. He is way better than them, and he is way better than you. It’s not every day that a 40-foot Rhincodon typus is found “unconscious” off the coast of Pakistan. This is breaking news! Personally, I think the whale shark was passed out from a recent bender. He clearly didn’t read the Do’s and Dont’s of Blacking Out, because I’m pretty sure it said to stay clear of the coast of Pakistan. It took 5 cranes to pull this giant from the water. He was purchased for 1.7 million rupees (roughly 18,000 USD). His body will be put on display for three days (out of respect) and then resold to the men working in the poultry business. Whale sharks also taste like chicken. He will probably feed many families. He is a hero.

In addition to being a martyr, here are 7 reasons why the dead whale shark is better than you.

initiating the gallery...

Great news out of California this week! Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same sex marriage in California, was ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court on Tuesday.

Prop 8 has been very controversial since 2008, when it was narrowly passed by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent. You probably remember the Yes on Prop 8/No on Prop 8 campaigns. Even though the law only affected California, people from around the country got involved with the issue. And even though countless celebrities and big companies like Google threw their weight behind the No on Prop 8 campaign, it still managed to pass.

Ever since then, activists have been fighting Prop 8 in court, trying to get it declared unconstitutional. The recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals actually upholds the decision of a lower court from 2010. Prop 8 has now been ruled unconstitutional twice, but both sides are looking to decide the issue for good. The only way to do that is to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court, so it looks like that is probably going to be the next step.

So what exactly does that mean? It creates a lot of what-ifs. First of all, the Supreme Court could decide not to take the case at all. That would make this week’s decision final, and Prop 8 would be squashed.

But because marriage equality is such a big issue, the Supreme Court will probably take the case. And if they do, their decision could have huge long-term effects on the entire country. If the Supreme Court reversed the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court, Prop 8 would be upheld and same sex marriage would be illegal in California. But if the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court, Prop 8 would be gone for good.

Supreme Court decisions set precedent for other courts, and influence their verdicts. So a Supreme Court ruling on Prop 8 could set the standard for same sex marriage laws and court cases across the country.

It’s a lot to think about, and there’s no way to know what the future of Prop 8 might be. But for now, one more court has ruled it unconstitutional. And that’s one big step in the right direction.

Garnet is a student at Columbia University in New York City. She is “that person” who starts dancing at a party when everyone else is standing around, and if there were a Facebook stalking Olympics, she would be a gold medalist. She also has a love for cheesy 90s music, and almost died of happiness when Vanilla Ice retweeted her. Once. Follow her on Twitter @garnethenderson.

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Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day date? See Titanic in 3D first on the big screen! See a screening for free in 44 cities across the nation. RSVPs filled up in minutes last week and your last chance to get in is exclusively through us! Don’t wait for someone else to plan the perfect date, make it a guaranteed incredible Valentine’s Day. Your friends will be green with envy when you get to experience Titanic two months before anyone else. We got a sneak peak at the movie in November and were totally blown away. The visuals were incredible and we definitely couldn’t hold back the tears.

Tweet this phrase for additional entry consideration:

“I want @CollegeCandy & @COEDmagazine to pick me to see @Titanicmovie 3D on #VDay in my city! http://bit.ly/CCtitanic3D   #RT2W”

It’s a common comment made in romantic comedies. The longer you are in a relationship, the less you have sex. Turns out, according to a new study by researches at the University of Guelph in Ontario, women’s decreasing sex drive is to blame.

Yes, over time women lose interest in having sex. Men, on the other hand, don’t. Sarah Murray and Robin Milhausen surveyed 170 undergraduates (men and women) that had been in heterosexual relationships for at least one month. They asked participants to rank their relationship satisfaction, sexual satisfaction and sexual desire at the present point in their relationship. The researchers created a Female Sexual Function Index to rank desire from 1.2 to 6.0.

While most of the participants were satisfied with both their relationships and their sex lives, research showed the longer a women had been in a relationship, the less interest she had in getting it on. Sexual desire on the Index drops by 0.02 points each month. Though it is incremental, for people in long term relationships it does add up. Male sexual desire alternatively, remains steady throughout a relationship.

Researchers haven’t yet nailed the cause for the general decrease in desire among women. Some theories are that women’s attention turns towards raising children, decreasing their interest in sex. As they looked at university students, another theory emerged that younger women lose interest once the “honeymoon phase” of a relationship over. Yes, once a guy stops trying to impress a gal, she’s going to stop putting out.

The researchers hope that this information could help couples from losing the spark. They also found that women with realistic expectations about sex did not face the same decrease in desire.

So there you have it boys! If you want us ladies to keep getting it on with you, you might want to drop the whole “I’m going to blow your mind,” act and be realistic. Also, presents help.

Leah is in her final semester of her Bachelor of Journalism at Ryerson University in Toronto. She’s rounding out her degree as the Senior Online Editor for the Ryerson Review of Journalism. In her limited spare time she’s honing her cupcake making skills so she can one-day fulfill her dream of competing on Cupcake Wars. Follow her (and drool over her tasty treats) @ElleandBee.

[Image via altafulla/Shutterstock]

Madonna’s Super Bowl half time performance received split reactions from viewers, and the CollegeCandy office was divided down the middle with lovers and haters. The result? We let one of editors and one of our writers go head to head for an all out battle on the matter.

Jenny, CollegeCandy’s Editor-In-Chief thought Madge’s performance was one of the greatest things she’s ever seen! (Okay, that might be taking it a little far…but it was better than the Black Eyed Peas fiasco of 2011.) Garnet, CC’s lovely and talented intern, happened to think otherwise. Was Madonna’s performance hot or not? Read what our girls had to say, then leave your own comments below!

JENNY: Madonna is 53 and STILL dances like Beyonce!
GARNET: Madonna is 53 and should know better than to wear weird pointy gold headpieces

JENNY: The whole performance was over the top and fantastical- exactly what we would expect from Madonna and definitely super bowl worthy. There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind–she’s still got it.
GARNET: Madge is desperate – she’s worried no one will buy her new album, so she did the halftime show for free and went overboard trying to make it cool.

JENNY: She even ‘slips’ to the beat. I’ve never seen a better recovery to an almost accident. Give the girl some credit, she was dancing on bleachers in three inch heels!
GARNET: She was dancing, and she even sounded like she was actually singing, but the way she said “I’m sexy and I know it” like somebody’s mom ruined the whole thing.

JENNY: Quite possibly the coolest stage/lighting effects of all time. Anyone on MDMA, I mean, listening to MDNA would say it was a perfect representation of the new album.
GARNET: The lights were awesome, I’ll give you that. But there were only a few good shots of the stage from far away where we could really see what was happening. Most of the time, we were just seeing awkward close ups of Madonna shaking her nonexistent booty. The woman is like one giant muscle.

JENNY: Hey, there was no wardrobe malfunction, and she blew the Black Eyed Peas out of the water.
GARNET: Madonna’s entire outfit was a wardrobe malfunction. What was that on her head? And she looked like she was going to break her back dancing in those heels.

GARNET: Gladiators, really? What a bizarre theme, especially when Madonna started by singing “Vogue.” I loved seeing Madge sing some of her older songs, but I think “Vogue” would have been better if she had actually been voguing. I mean, come on.
JENNY: The last song on her new album is “Beautiful Killer” and no one makes a hotter gladiator than Madonna.

GARNET: Lady… Madonna? Lady Gaga rightfully gets lots of flack for imitating Madonna – almost everything she does, Madonna did first. But those gladiator boys look an awful lot like the dancers in “Alejandro.” Come on Madonna, you’re the queen. Don’t copy Lady Gaga.
JENNY: Did “Alejandro” have slackline acrobats? Back flips on a bouncing tight rope tops all dry humping in Gaga’s video. Where Gaga did trashy, Madonna goes classy.

GARNET: LMFAO makes everything bad. The show died the minute they came on stage. I didn’t think “Party Rock Anthem” could get any worse, until Madonna straddled one of the guys from LMFAO and things got ugly. I think I died a little inside when Madonna joined in for the “everyday I’m shufflin” dance.
JENNY: BUT Cee Lo Green makes everything better. I won’t argue that LMFAO lessened the performance quality (I mean, really, WTF were they wearing?), but Cee Lo and the marching band more than compensated.

GARNET: M.I.A. looked like she was going to die of boredom. And you know it was a boring show when the one part everyone remembers was M.I.A. giving the camera the finger.
JENNY: M.I.A. would use any opportunity to make a statement. It was the only way she could compete with Madonna’s spotlight.

GARNET: World peace, really? Sure, Madge, I’m all for world peace. But you thought it would be a good idea to add that right after “Like A Prayer,” the song about blowjobs? I guess that’s one way to go about it.
JENNY: True or false: The world would be a more peaceful place if more people had orgasms…

While there are a fair amount of women actually invested in the big game between the Giants and Patriots this Sunday, let’s be honest, a lot of girls are in it for the 7-layer dip and cold beer. CollegeCandy pulled together some facts and figures that may make the game a bit more interesting to the girl who has no concept of a ‘first down.’ We broke the teams down by their ‘date-ability,’ complete with names of the hottest players each team has to offer. However, if you want to impress the boy you’re watching the game with, check out this actual game-day cheat sheet.

Yesterday, I wrote about the controversy surrounding Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to defund Planned Parenthood. Today, the Komen Foundation has issued a statement apologizing for that decision. They have also announced that they will “continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities.”

The Komen Foundation defunded Planned Parenthood because of a new rule that prevents them from supporting organizations that are under government investigation. They now say that they will amend that rule so that it will only apply to investigations that are “criminal and conclusive in nature,” not politically motivated like the Planned Parenthood investigation. You can read their full statement here.

The Komen Foundation was pretty much forced into this reversal because of the huge damage they suffered as a result of the original decision. The public outcry against Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the surge of support for Planned Parenthood was truly amazing. Still, I’m glad that they’ve amended their rule and that Planned Parenthood will still receive the funding. The past few days have been a pretty amazing example of the power of public opinion, especially through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

What do you think? Did Susan G. Komen make the right decision? Do you think that the people who pledged to boycott the Foundation should support them again?

Garnet is a student at Columbia University in New York City. She is “that person” who starts dancing at a party when everyone else is standing around, and if there were a Facebook stalking Olympics, she would be a gold medalist. She also has a love for cheesy 90s music, and almost died of happiness when Vanilla Ice tweeted at her. Once. Follow her on Twitter @garnethenderson.