Three days after the Virginia Tech massacre, fifteen hours since NBC's controversial decision to air the campus shooter's multimedia manifesto, and in the wake of the Supreme Court's stunning 5-4 decision to uphold the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the following email missive was received in our inbox:

Slow news day?

Here’s a chance to let your readers know about an amazing contest! Fans can get creative with their favorite midnight fantasy and send a photo entry that best conveys the experience to a panel of experts. Judges will select the top photos, which will be featured on the Britney Spears Beauty website. The ten winners will receive a 30-gigabyte video iPod autographed by Britney Spears.

Note to the publicist for the Tick-Tock Photo Diary Contest:

1) Today is, most certainly, not a "slow news day."
2) There will never be a news day slow enough for us to advocate a contest wherein readers send in their "favorite midnight fantasy" in the hopes of winning an iPod autographed by Britney Spears.
3) That is all.