Ever since birth control became a hot topic of debate, women everywhere have been feeling like they're living in a different universe. (Or at least a different century.) Since the Rush Limbaugh-Sandra Fluke debacle, the national conversation on the topic has sort of simmered down, but in Arizona -- home of extreme politics, it seems -- the battle rages on.

There's a proposal there threatening birth control coverage (you know, on the grounds that employers have "moral" objections to it) and potentially require women who need birth control for a medical reason outside of contraception provide evidence of that. So, in an attempt to fight crazy with silly, critics of the proposal pulled a hilarious stunt ...

Who knew the biggest problem facing Americans right now were contraception and abortion? Who knew we didn't have bigger fish to fry than worrying about how people procreate (or don't)? At least one Republican in Washington! And that would be ... surprise, surprise -- John McCain!

YES! The Maverick is back!!! After turning on women in the worst way possible and unleashing the terror known as Sarah Palin on our country, and after voting for the dreaded Blunt Amendment, McCain was on Meet the Press this past weekend, calling for his GOP colleagues to put an end to the war on women. Incredible!

As we know by now, Rush Limbaugh has a very twisted definition of the term "slut." It's strange, because the conservative chauvinist with a megaphone icon claimed (over and over again) that Sandra Fluke, a law student from Georgetown University must be having so much sex -- for money. If you listened to Rush, you would have thought Fluke went to Capitol Hill looking for a loan to support her sex addiction. (Even though what she really did was say was that birth control should be covered by employers because for some women, it's a medical need. But that's beside the point.) Limbaugh has since "apologized," but we still can't get his favorite misogynistic buzzword out of our brains. All we can talk about is "sluts!"

MotherJones.com pointed this out and then did the only thing you can do in a situation like this: Laugh. Oh, and they made snazzy flowchart called "Are You a Slut?"

Yesterday, the ongoing battle in the war against women came to a swift halt when the Senate rejected an effort to expand conscious exemptions to the Obama administration's new birth control coverage rule. The Blunt amendment would have allowed religious groups (apart from churches) and any employer with moral objections to opt out of covering birth control or any health service covered in The Affordable Care Act.

Seems like the turn of events has triggered a HUGE sigh of relief 'round the country. After all, the majority of Americans -- 63 percent -- back federal rules requiring private insurers to cover birth control! (Perhaps that's because most Americans realize it should be regarded no differently from any other preventative medicine, like heart or allergy drugs?)

What's more, many of us have been thinking the argument is a distraction from bigger concerns like the economy. Silly electorate! Don't you know that distractions like this are Republicans' specialty?

When people first started using Foursquare and Facebook to "check-in" (at the gym, at the library, at their own homes), I was baffled. Why would you want everyone -- perhaps even strangers -- knowing where you were? Now, I sort of get it (because I do use Foursquare to get coupons and it's fun to wrack up points). But does that mean I would ever want to "check-in" ... in bed??? Uh, no thanks! When and where I'm going for an O is my BF's and my biz, no one else's -- especially not an entire social network's!

But there are people who feel differently. Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest recently distributed 55K condoms with scannable QR-codes (barcodes). The idea is that you can scan the code on the condom wrapper with your smartphone and report the location of where you're having sex to wheredidyouwearit.com. It's supposed to be like "Foursquare for people who don't want STDs."

Yes -- to clarify and paraphrase a Twitter trend -- this is real life.

If you are planning on any sort of sexy time this evening, you're definitely going to want to read this news first. Glenmark Generics is recalling seven lots of generic birth control because the pills might be placed in the wrong order. The packs contain three types of pills with varying levels of hormones -- if women take them in the incorrect order, then the pills could be ineffective. Yeah, and we all know "ineffective" is a fancy way of saying "unable to prevent pregnancy." See why this is such a BIG DEAL? Don't panic yet, though. Here's all the information you need to know to determine whether you may be affected:

If you still need proof that the war on contraception in Washington is officially out of control, you may not have heard Rick Santorum's Republican backer Foster Freiss talking about his take on birth control. He told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell: "You know, back in my days, they used Bayer Aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly." Jaw-dropping ... to say the least.

Freiss has since apologized, remarking that not even his wife was happy with the remark, but the damage has been done. The completely out-to-lunch comment typified the right's blase, dismissive attitude toward birth control. It's enough to make you wonder: What other pre-1960 birth control old wives' tales "methods" would they prefer women use? A few ideas ...

Women's reproductive health has certainly been a hot topic lately, which explains why a small university in Pennsylvania is suddenly making headlines for a "controversial" vending machine that has actually been in place for a couple years now.

The particular vending machine in question dispenses Plan B One Step emergency contraceptive to students who need it for $25. It's the opposite of shocking that some religious conservatives and activists are opposed to the machine simply because they are opposed to the "morning-after" pill in general. But in this case, there's not a lot they can legitimately complain about ...