Society

Across the U.S., militia groups are reorganizing and according to researchers, could grow rapidly. It's hardly surprising given the turbulent state of affairs in the world right now - economic crisis, war, and various other gripes against the government.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, amongst the causes for the rise in these groups are the stresses of a poor economy and a liberal administration led by a minority president. A conspiracy theory that Mexico has a secret plan to reclaim the American southwest is also spreading along with the debate over illegal immigration.

Special Agent Bart McEntire with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says that this is the most growth he has seen in more than a decade in militia groups. The SPLC report, which was released Wednesday, says the growth is reminiscent of what was seen during the 1990's - people ideologically against paying taxes, right-wing militiars, and "sovereign citizens" are popping up left and right in large numbers.

However, according to the report, while anti-government sentiment has been on the rise in the past two years, there haven't been as many threats and violent acts at this point as there were in the 90s. But researchers worry that it is only a matter of time.

According to the USA Today, a study presented Tuesday at the American Sociological Association's meeting in San Francisco focused on the issue of brides changing their names because the issue was not as politically charged as other gender issues. They found that 70 percent of Americans agree, either somewhat or strongly, that it is beneficial for a woman to take their husband's name when they marry.

29 percent of respondents said that it is better for women to keep their own names, and half of female respondents to a new survey in the U.S. said that the government should mandate women to take their husbands' surname upon marriage.

One of the study's authors, researcher Laura Hamilton of Indiana University, said:

"Gender neutral language is seen as very PC (politically correct), it may not reflect a real change in attitudes as much as an awareness of what you're supposed to say and what you're not supposed to say."

She added that the issue of name changing after marriage is an indicator of how respondents really feel about a lot of other issues because they are more likely to relax and honestly answer questions.

Ronald Fifthen, a former police officer with the city of Gahanna, Ohio, has filed a lawsuit against the Gahanna Police Department, stating that he was "defamed and harassed" after his wife Beth appeared in Playboy Magazine.

Fifthen claims that he was the target of an "invasive, non-criminal investigation" after his wife appeared in a 2008 Playboy article. The Fifthens have named the City of Gahanna, its police department, and its police chief and deputy police chief as defendant in the lawsuit.

He alleges that the chief and deputy chief of police requested autographed copies of the nude photo spread on numerous occasions. Fifthen says he provided the autographed copies because he feared retaliation if he did not.

Former President John F. Kennedy's sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, died early Tuesday surrounded by relatives. She was 88 years old.

Her family said in a statement that she had suffered a series of strokes in recent years, and died at Cape Cod Hospital. Her husband, her five children and all of her grandchildren were by her side.

Shriver had continued the family's tradition of public service, founding the Special Olympics and championing the rights of the mentally disabled.

The hospital where she died is near the Kennedy family compound, where her sole surviving brother, Sen. Edward Kennedy, is also battling a brain tumor.

Shriver was the sister of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, the wife of 1972 vice presidential candidate and former Peace Corps director R. Sargent Shriver, and the mother of former NBC newswoman Maria Shriver, who is married to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger., Jean Kennedy Smith now becomes the last surviving Kennedy daughter.

Ohio currently has a backlog of executions due to a temporary stay by a US Supreme Court case from Kentucky that challenged lethal injections. When the court upheld the process in April 2008, Kentucky and Ohio, amongst other states, resumed executions. With such a backlog now, the state has ramped up its rate of executions and will continue to do so until they are caught up.

Since June, the state has executed three people, and has at least one lethal injection scheduled for each month through the end of the year. Many of the 168 people currently on Ohio's death row were sentenced in the 1980's and early 1990's before life without parole was an option for sentencing.

Ohio public defender Tim Young said:

"This should never become ordinary, it should never become run-of-the-mill, it should never be a normal happening like the turning of a calendar page."

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, however, said that his office is prepared despite the burden that the accelerated rate of executions has placed on the judicial system.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe has made a significant donation to The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization operating the only nationwide around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgendered and questioning youth. He joined the group's "Circle of Hope", a community of major donors who play an essential role in the organization's financial leadership.

Radcliffe said:

"I am very pleased to begin my support of The Trevor Project, which saves lives every day through its critical work. It's extremely distressing to consider that in 2009 suicide is a top three killer of young people, and it's truly devastating to learn that LGBTQ youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. I deeply hope my support can raise the organization's visibility so even more despondent youth become aware of The Trevor Helpline's highly trained counselors and Trevor's many other resources. It's vitally important that young people understand they are not alone and, perhaps even more important, that their young lives have real value."

Olivia Newton-John's former boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, went missing several years ago. According to the Woman's Day, he's not dead and recently contacted private investigators via fax, letting the investigators know that he's fine but wants to be left alone.

The private detective claims that they were contacted by "representatives" on behalf of McDermott. They asked that the investigation into his disappearance end, as he does not wish to be found.

The magazine also shed some new light on the couple's former relationship, publishing new evidence from a private investigator who has seen a photographer of McDermott with his hair dyed black.

In addition, it is believed that McDermott visited Olivia as little as 24 hours before his disappearance, and not three weeks as had previously been reported. He supposedly arrived around 10:30am the day before he disappeared with flowers in hand. He then ended their nine-year relationship, which according to her assistant left her "huddled on the couch, crying".

Later the same day, Woman's Day says that Patrick returned to Olivia's home to give her back his keys. Her assistant asked him what was wrong, and he is said to have replied, "It's too tumultuous around her. I can't do this anymore."

Infomercial superstar Billy Mays, who died suddenly on June 27, wasn't so OxiClean after all. Officials announced Friday that an autopsy showed that cocaine contributed to the heart disease that took his life.

Mays, 50, died of a heart attack in his sleep after going to bed at his Tampa condo the night of June 27. His wife found him unresponsive the next morning.

According to the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office, Mays had last used cocaine just days before his death. The report said that although he died from heart disease, his cocaine use was a contributing cause of death.

Mays became a pop culture superstar, and is best known for his loud voice and informercials. He pitched products like OxiClean and Orange Glo. He got his start hawking various "As Seen on TV" gadgets on Atlantic City's boardwalk, and for years was hired to do the state fair and home show circuits because he was easily able to draw a crowd.

Most restaurants in the U.S have a "no shoes, no shirt, no service" policy, which is pretty understandable. A Burger King in St. Louis, however, takes enforcing this policy to the extreme, asking a mother to leave because her 6-month-old baby was not wearing shoes.

Jennifer Frederich, her mother, and Fredrich's infant daughter, Kaylin, stopped at the Sunset Hills, MO Burger King on Sunday. The baby was not wearing shoes, and the thought that this would violate the "no shoes, no shirt, no service" policy would never cross most people's minds.

Workers, however, told the family that they had to leave because the shoeless baby was violating a health code. Shoelessness is not even a health code violation in St. Louis County.

Burger King's corporate headquarters apologized for the treatment of the family, and on Thursday released a statement indicating that the workers at the Sunset Hills Burger King had taken the policy too far:

Write-director John Hughes suffered a heart atatck during a morning walk in Manhattan on Thursday, and died at the age of 59. He was in New York visiting family.

Best known for his 1980's and 1990's hit teen and preteen films including "The Breakfast Club", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", and "Home Alone", Hughes grew up in Lansing, Michigan and later moved to suburban Chicago, where he set much of his work. He quickly rose from ad writer and then to comedy writer, before making a splash on the big screen.

His comedies made stars out of the likes of Ally Sheedy, Molly Ringwald, and Anthony Michael Hall, amongst many other young actors. He also scripted "Home Alone", which made Macaulay Culkin a household name. Other titles that Hughes wrote or directed that may ring a bell include "Pretty in Pink", "Uncle Buck", "Planes, Trains & Automobiles", and "National Lampoon's Vacation."