We hope Victoria used 900 of these {thanks, morguefile.com}

Somewhere, Wilt Chamberlain is hanging his head in shame.

Victoria Betteridge (who is from Britain, as her Dickensian name suggests) has confessed to sleeping with 900 men in nine years. She’s 28 and an Oxford University graduate.

“I know most girls say their first time isn’t great,” Betteridge tells News of the World, “but I couldn’t get over how incredible it felt! I’d never had anyone touch my bare flesh before — it was amazing. I just wanted to do it over and over again.”

Which, apparently, she did.

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Morassa Mohseni, 28, of Hopkins' Park lab, conducts an experiment {Brian Krista, b}

Hope guides their hands.

Sometimes that’s all the members of Dr. Ben Ho Park’s breast cancer research lab have to run on.

But in this line of work, hope is a powerful motivator.

Experiments are repeated 10, 12 times. Cells die. Genes the researchers investigate within re-created breast cancer cells, genes that can be targeted for therapeutic treatment, sometimes don’t show themselves like the lab crew wants them to. It’s stressful, detailed work that tests patience.

But it is important work; the lab members know this. This is the kind of work that saves lives. This is the kind of work that will, one day, eradicate breast cancer.

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{thanks, AP}

Mia, aka BmoreFab of thefabempire.com, reports Baltimoreans were well-represented at last weekend’s Congressional Black Caucus: Annual Legislative Conference.

During the four day event in D.C., African-American members of Congress are joined by policymakers, business leaders, athletes, entertainers, emerging leaders and members of the media for policy forums, discussions, networking events, exhibits and more.

Congressman Elijah Cummings, who represents Md.’s 7th congressional district, was among the lawmakers who participated in the conference, Cummings is a past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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ACORN’s scandal is bad news for community organizers {Thanks, AP}

The current scandal which has engulfed ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is bad news for community organizers.

AP says ACORN plans to sue the filmmakers who caught ACORN workers in several states on tapes advising actors (posing as a pimp and prostitute) how to lie to receive housing aid and tax benefits.

The lawsuit from the Baltimore ACORN workers claims the filmmakers damaged ACORN’s reputation and violated Maryland’s wiretap law. The IRS and the U.S. Census bureau have cut ties to ACORN and congressional leaders voted earlier this month to cut off federal funding for the organization.

What ACORN did was wrong, but their acts threaten to harm those still making efforts to help the poor and disadvantaged persons in real need.

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Summer is coming to an end, and for only the second time in 18 years I’m not headed back to class.

I still don’t know how I feel about this.

My feelings of uncertainty are more pronounced as I have conversations on the phone, on Facebook and on Twitter with friends preparing to head back to class — some in graduate school; others to medical or law school.

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She wanted to get out of there. She knew she would.

When she was 5, Sonja Sohn would crawl atop a generator behind her home in Tidewater Virginia. Her father would lie beside her. “I’d ask, ‘What’s the difference between an astronomer and an astrologer?’” she says. “He saw where I was going.”

He told her she could be a lawyer. She liked hearing that. But she also knew it wouldn’t be easy: Drugs permeated the streets of her rough neighborhood, drugs she’d later experiment with.
Sohn’s life would be a balancing act — between wanting to help others and having the resources and background to do so; escaping an abusive situation at home and having the guts to run away; filling life roles as mother, friend, actor and feeling fulfilled.

It’s a similar unwieldy line Sohn’s character on HBO’s Baltimore-set crime saga “The Wire,” Det. Kima Greggs, had to walk — Kima could be tough-as-nails one scene and show heartbreaking vulnerability the next.

After all these years, Sohn’s standing straight on life’s tightrope. “A lifelong purpose has meant a lot of me,” says Sohn. “I’ve been on that search since I was 5 years old.”

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Chinese students using palm prints to make the shape of a large red ribbon as part of activities to raise HIV/AIDS awareness in Hefei, China’s Anhui province in 2005 {thanks, AP}

The Obama administration has been dropping former Bush administration sex education programs (aka: abstinence? YES!!!) like a bad habit, and new data suggest a change in teachings might be helpful.

Like, really helpful.

Reuters reports that a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study finds, among other bad news, that the annual rate of HIV* diagnoses for males aged 15-19 has nearly doubled in the past 10 years. Syphilis rates are up, too.

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Natasha Bowden dances at last year’s festival {thanks, The Baltimore Sun}

WHAT: The African American Heritage Festival

WHEN: 4-10 p.m. Friday; noon-10 p.m. Saturday; noon-9 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: M&T Bank Stadium, lots B and C

COST: $5 (children 12 and younger free)

EXPECTED CROWD: The festival typically attracts 500,000 people over the three days.

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Recent grads faced with student loan debt are being encouraged to pursue careers in public service {Thanks, AP}

Maryland Congressman John Sarbanes is expected to unveil a new loan forgiveness program geared at encouraging more young people to consider careers in public service.

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Match Zimmerman

He’s a modern day renaissance man: an artist, a musician, and a teacher. Meet Match Zimmerman and hear from him not only about his art and how he expresses himself but also how he passes his talent on to others.

Meet this local blogger and tell us about other local bloggers who you’d like to hear from.

Contact me at bchrisnelson@gmail.com.

More on Match after the jump.

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