By Catherine Townsend

Reading about Lindsay Lohan's lover's tiff with girlfriend Sam Ronson over Calum Best (who bloggers in New York have nicknamed Calum Worst), I can't help thinking that Calum must be Lindsay's toxic ex. Everybody seems to have one; he's the guy who you are drawn to like a magnet at your moment of greatest vulnerability (for Lindsay, this was probably pre-rehab).

By Catherine Townsend

I'm really disappointed to see that paying for sex in the UK will soon be a criminal offence. The Labour Party and Jacqui Smith must really be getting desperate if they think that cracking down on kerb crawlers is a feminist move that will help trafficked women. In fact, we should do exactly the opposite: work toward legalising and regulating the industry.

Legalised brothels would be safer for both workers and punters, and STD testing could be mandatory. Forcing all brothels to shut will only drive the problem underground and make the world much more dangerous for female sex workers.

By Catherine Townsend

So Jennifer Aniston has finally aired her feelings about her former love rival by simply saying "What Angelina did was very uncool".

The Daily Mail calls the quote, from an upcoming interview in US Vogue, a "searing condemnation of her notorious nemesis", but I can't help wondering, who cares? The whole "Team Anison vs. Team Jolie" feud was so long ago, and Brad and Angelina have been together for years now and are raising a family rapidly approaching the size of a football team.

By Catherine Townsend

I watch a few minutes of web porn every day (usually during my break... it's a healthier way of killing ten minutes than eating a chunky Kit Kat!), so I was really interested to see Fleshbot's review of "SkinVideo" and "OneTapPorn", two iPhone compatible porn surfing experiences. Since I've finally left the dark ages and bought an iPhone, I decided to road test the two sites myself. Like Fleshbot, I preferred SkinVideo because it arranged the porn collections according to acts and fetishes, so you could click on "threesome" or "cheerleader" and have what you want in seconds. Seconds that can be crucial when you think you may hear your flatmate's key in the door. 

By Catherine Townsend

Last night, watching the election results pour in from the CNN party while downing way too many Electinis (vodka martinis with blueberry and raspberry), I was proud to be an American as we elected Barack Obama our 44th President.

But this morning, I woke up to a nasty hangover - and remembered that George Bush still has 76 days left in office, and according to the New York Times, he's not wasting a second in scrambling to change rules on the environment, civil liberties, and especially abortion laws. Doctors can already refuse to participate in abortions, and now this could extend to providing  women with birth control pills or emergency contraception, including rape victims.

By Catherine Townsend

When I woke up this week with a slight fever and headache this week, I thought it was the flu before realising that, like many of my American friends, I'm suffering from Election Fatigue. After months of non-stop coverage, I veer between nervous excitement that Obama may actually win and terror of hanging chads, malfunctioning voting booths, or another Halloween where Sarah Palin is the most popular costume out there. I dressed up as her, and looking in the mirror was a hell of a lot scarier than my friends' horror masks. I'm exhausted.

By Catherine Townsend

I'm shocked at some of the comments directed at Georgina Baillie, the burlesque dancer and glamour model at the heart of the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand controversy, because she's now doing a bit of publicity for herself and discussing Brand's proclivity for Fawlty Towers dialogue in the bedroom.

By Catherine Townsend

I think that one of the reasons that we are facing what the Daily Mail alarmingly calls an STI "timebomb' is that for many people, the phrase "Hey, it's me, the girl from the other night... Guess what? You could have chlamydia!" doesn't roll off of the tongue very easily.

The "dirty" feelings could be why studies have shown that people tend to tell significant others, but can leave casual partners in the dark.

By Catherine Townsend

I've often written about my adventures with men (under pseudonyms, of course!) during my time as a sex columnist, but I got a taste of my own medicine this weekend when my friend Charlie wrote a piece for The Guardian about his road trip and named me as his ex-girlfriend.

We dated a couple of years ago, and soon realised that we were much better suited to being friends. Still, I was a bit apprehensive about spending ten days with him and two total strangers... but the road trip through California to Las Vegas turned out to be the adventure of a lifetime.

By Catherine Townsend

A few weeks ago, we brought you the The Independent's "Guide to Love and Sex"... and now, we want your feedback. The survey is anonymous, and it's your chance to push aside media perceptions and tell us how you really feel about your sex lives.

Are you getting as much as you want? What do you consider cheating? Have you ever had a same sex experience? Tell us, and feel free to forward the survey to friends. Whether you are a virgin or swing every night, we want to hear from you! We'll be back with the results in a few weeks.