Here's a headline to post on your Facebook wall that's sure to get at least three "likes" and an inane comment from a fratty dude you haven't seen since ninth grade: "Facebook linked to rise in syphilis." Or so says a British health director, following the quasi-plausible logic that more people on social networks breeds more people meeting strangers online, which breeds more casual sex encounters that result in more bacteria in your genital region. Follow? From the Telegraph:

Professor Peter Kelly, director of public health in Teesside, claimed staff had found a link between social networking sites and the spread of the bacteria, especially among young women. He said: “Syphilis is a devastating disease. Anyone who has unprotected sex with casual partners is at high risk.

"There has been a fourfold increase in the number of syphilis cases detected with more young women being affected.

"I don't get the names of people affected, just figures, and I saw that several of the people had met sexual partners through these sites."

It's not clear yet what diseases MySpace, Facebook's clearly sluttier sibling, is influencing; it's only known that the general design of MySpace looks diseased. As for the Facebook/syphilis correlation? Uh, use protection! Also consider becoming a "fan" of antibiotics.

Tags: Facebook, syphilis, telegraph

Jess, I don't think former Goldman Sachs executive Charlotte Hanna, once a vice president of "Goldman Sachs University" (an internal training program) is being punished for taking time off. I think she's seeing the unfortunate result of a decision she made a long time ago. She's suing the firm, claiming to have been "mommy tracked" and eventually fired after going part time after the birth of her first child, and then being told that her position had been eliminated while on maternity leave after the arrival of her second. But her first mistake was signing on with "Goldman Sachs University" in the first place—it's the very definition of "mommy track."

At any big entity—bank, law firm, hospital, business—there are revenue generators, and there are revenue hogs. Complex surgeries, scorched earth litigations, IPOs—the powerhouses in those areas are right at the core of their company's business. They're paid for it, and they pay for it, through long hours and remaining on constant call. Sliding off into training, recruiting, managing the legal library or the associate program is simply easier, especially if you're a woman who's also taking on the primary responsibility for running a family. And it's so tempting—you're still using your degree, you still get the high-profile employer, but without all the pain of sleeping under your desk during a big push. That is the mommy track (or the parent track): Supporting the firm's mission without being constantly on call to directly make it happen. It's win-win as long as the firm can support it. But it's a perilous compromise.

The bottom line is that if your job isn't your top priority, then you're probably not your employer's top priority, either. That's fine. In fact, it's true of most people, but it's a bargain that depends on both parties accepting the basic premise. If your firm offers you a mommy track—and you take it—then suing when the luxury niche you've placed yourself in becomes unaffordable is only going to make employers less likely to create a haven for willing parents the next time around.

Photograph of businesswoman by Stockbyte/Getty Creative Images.

Tags: Goldman Sachs, mommy track

Samantha Cameron, whose husband, David, will probably be prime minister of England shortly, is the owner of the "most talked-about pregnancy bump in Britain," according to the Guardian. The obsession with celebrity pregnancy is not new. What is notable about this article is the juxtaposition of the beautiful, handbag-designing Tory wife "Sam Cam" with Miriam González Durántez, the wife of Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. Cameron is taking time off from her role as creative director of Smythson to campaign with her husband. By contrast, Durántez, an international lawyer, won't be campaigning with her husband and said in an interview, "I don't have the luxury of having a job I can simply abandon for five weeks, and I imagine that is the situation for most people in the country."

Immediately after quoting Durántez, the article's author Jess Cartner-Morley writes:

Cameron admitted she "won't be around much over the next few weeks" at Smythson, but said she has worked ahead of schedule, in order to allow this time off. What makes Cameron a compelling character is that she is doing the same juggling act women across the country are doing, only writ large. She may be posh, but she can commiserate over the problems of morning sickness and morning meetings.

Perhaps I am reading too much into Morley's words, but the implication here seems to be that Sam Cam is more relatable simply because she is pregnant and that Durántez has somehow failed at the juggling act that Cameron handles with flair (and a great purse!). Perhaps I am extra sympathetic to Durántez's frustration this morning after reading that a former Goldman Sachs executive is suing the company because she says she was "mommy tracked." According to the New York Daily News, Charlotte Hanna "returned [to Goldman Sachs] part-time in 2005 after the birth of her first child—only to be demoted, she alleges. While on maternity leave with her second child in February 2009, she was told her job was being eliminated."

It pains me that Durántez is contrasted with Sam Cam in a way that makes her look embittered. As Charlotte Hanna's lawsuit shows, not everyone can afford to take time off.

Photograph of Samantha Cameron by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.

—Are Republicans becoming the party of the hissy fit? [NYT Opinionator Blog]

—A former Goldman Sachs VP sues for gender discrimination, alleging the company treats working mothers like second-class citizens. [Wall Street Journal]

—Senate Republicans send the health care bill back to the House. [Washington Post]

—Should family court permit wives to sue their husbands’ mistresses? [Times Online]

—Reports indicate that the Vatican failed to defrock an American priest who molested 200 deaf boys. [New York Times]

—Nancy Pelosi, the Anna Wintour of Congress, relies on her husband to pick out her trendy power suits and Tahitian pearls. [The Daily Beast]

Tags: business, Catholic Church, child abuse, divorce, fashion, gender discrimination, health care reform, law, Nancy Pelosi, politics, Republicans