911 Operator: “Is there anybody that’s willing to help this lady and not let her die?”
Nurse: “Not at this time.”
This was the 140th week since I began the blog, and as of today that number will again be attached to the links columns rather than “That Was the Week That Was”. Starting tomorrow, the latter will be numbered with a new system I’ll use from here on out: the first digit will be the last one of the calendar year, and the next two the week within that year. So since this was the 10th week of 2013, tomorrow is #310; the last week of this year will be #352, the week after that will be #401, and so on. That system will work perfectly until the end of 2019, by which point I may not even be doing things the same way.
Our top contributor this week was Radley Balko, who provided everything down to the first video (which was itself provided by Grace). The links between the videos were contributed by Walter Olson (“insect jewelers”, “rules > people” and “pop-tart trauma”), Antonio Lorusso (“downloaded gun” and “philosophy jokes”), Franklin Harris (“vewy quiet” and “Iliad“), Teller (“crime deterrent”), Laura Agustín (“imaginary spectators”), Lenore Skenazy (“suspended hero”), Luscious Lani (“Adam”), Sensia Blue (“settlement”), EconJeff (“Berlin”), and Jesse Walker (“clichés”). The second video was supplied by my husband, and it may require an explanation if you aren’t an American reader over the age of 35: the music is from a series of educational videos called Schoolhouse Rock which aired as shorts between Saturday morning children’s shows in the 1970s. Take a look at the original first, then you’ll appreciate the featured parody more fully.
- Jim’ll paint it.
- I’ve been saying this for decades.
- The re-emergence of a modern Ys.
- Mom drowns son because he has a small penis.
- “This is what happens when your grandma sells crack.”
- Valiant customs agents save Britain from the dried caterpillar menace.
A robot dog throws cinder blocks with its mouth.
- Insect jewelers.
- Download this gun.
- Be vewy, vewy quiet!
- Top ten philosophy jokes.
- Religion is not a deterrent against crime.
- Real vs. imaginary spectators of stripping.
- When rules are more important than people.
- Richard III: not a psychopath, just a control freak.
- Teenager suspended for saving another student’s life.
- Using genetics to pinpoint the publication date of the Iliad.
- Adam lived a much longer time ago than previously suspected.
- Rent-a-cop literally throws old woman off of a train for singing hymns.
- School offers “counseling” to children “troubled” by terrifying pop-tart.
- Settlements like this must become routine before anything will change.
- The last generation tore down the Berlin Wall; this one is trying to save what’s left of it.
- “Kenya was braced at the crossroads…amidst growing concern that the demand for clichés is outstripping supply.”
- Wendy McElroy on the conversion of basic human rights into privileges granted by one’s location within a magic circle of protection.
From the Archives
- Because South African cops are allowed to beat, rape and pepper-spray whores, it’s “official handling” rather than harassment.
- Sheriff Joe thinks stopping consensual sex is a higher priority than investigating rape.
- When the media suddenly noticed that “condoms as evidence” policies are asinine.
- Why men shouldn’t play BDSM games with emotionally-unstable women.
- Politicians just can’t resist photo-documenting their sexual indiscretions.
- Only whores are “trafficked”; actual slaves are “encouraged aliens”.
- Zimbabwe: “sex trafficking” source, transit and destination in one.
- Reverend Lia says churches should actively welcome sex workers.
- My two previous columns for International Sex worker Rights Day.
- Russians use “trafficking” hysteria as anti-American propaganda.
- Sex rays can even contaminate the money handled by harlots.
- Western Australian politician seeks to impose Swedish Model.
- Preparing teenagers for adult life by keeping them ignorant.
- CNN is still channeling the spirit of William Randolph Hearst.
- Don’t they teach research in journalism schools anymore?
- The aftermath of the Dallas hooker invasion that wasn’t.
- Sex, food, prohibitionism, crypto-moralism and disease.
- The suit against Utah’s criminalization of acting sexy.
- Yet another whore-raping cop gets a paid vacation.
- Sometimes Nazi analogies are entirely appropriate.
- The appalling ignorance of New York “authorities”.
- The incredible waste of prostitution “stings”.
- Gail Dines’ obsession with coeds’ pubic hair.
- Why footballers prefer pros to amateurs.
- The sad story of the president’s nanny.
- Sexual predators with badges.
- The Miramonte debacle.
- Cheese is brain food.
- The Profumo Affair.
I needs me a robot like that ‘un to slaps me down sum forum trolls!!
I’ve been watching Cody Wilson for a few months now with his 3D printed gun parts. He’s one of the reasons I’m starting to “dig” Crypto-Anarchism. Yeah sure – I’m sure the busy bodies will attempt to solve the “Cody Wilson Problem” with the only tool they know – MORE LAWS … but more laws means you have to suck more of the productive rewards from citizens to enforce those laws. In the end – you’re taking all of everyone’s money to enforce an unbelievable number of laws and the whole system collapses. The idiots can’t even see this – but the Cody Wilsons can and that’s why he’s practically begging the U.S. oligarchy to ban his ass!!
So wait a second … you mean the Neanderthals disappeared because they could no longer hunt RED MEAT efficiently? What!? Why didn’t they just shift to an enhanced high-fiber vegetarian diet as many doctors today would suggest? Seriously, you mean there was a time on this planet when RED MEAT was a good thing and absolutely essential to survival? Wow – learn something new everyday!!
Am I the only dummy in the world who – when faced with a difficult problem – tries to REMEMBER the words of a Schoolhouse Rock song from my youth that explained it? Those short songs were some of the most influential teaching tools in history. I was counting some shit the other day and I was counting by threes and singing … “Three – Six – Nine … Twelve – Fifteen – Eighteen … Twenty-One – Twenty Four – Twenty Seven …
Thirty!”
LMAO!!
It was like 40 years ago when I first saw those song videos!!
They were powerful teaching tools, and some of them even managed to sneak in concepts other than the multiplication table itself. For example, “Little Twelvetoes” contains a primer of non-decimal number systems:
You won’t believe this … but “Little TwelveToes” was actually shown in one of my basic electronics courses when I first joined the Navy. We were getting into digital numbering systems, Octal, Hexadecimal, etc – and that short video was the introduction to the class.
I still marvel at how valuable those schoolhouse rock pieces were.
It’s thanks to Schoolhouse Rock that I have the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States memorized. And I’ve heard that in some test (for citizenship?) where writing the Premable verbatim was an answer, the proctor could hear some of the people humming the Schoolhouse Rock tune:
Like many here, I remember the fall of the Berlin Wall, and remember the events of the six months or so beforehand, when it seemed inevitable that it would fall. Most of the Wall is now gone, marked only by lines of differently coloured setts in the road: there are occasional memorials to those who died trying to escape. The East Side Gallery is a motley collection of anarchic images — it’s on the east facing side of the Wall — and it would be sad to see any of it disappear.
There’s quite a feeling of nostalgia (Ostalgie) amongst the more senior members of the population of Berlin for the East; the guaranteed jobs, the security, even some of the foodstuffs. There’s a DDR museum, which is fascinating, and you can even tour Berlin in a “Trabbie”. (And my avatar is a laterally reversed Ampelmann.)
Sadly, I can remember the Wall being built; I didn’t expect to live to see it come down.
And I can remember the Profumo Trial; I commented on your original article, and won’t repeat what I said. The book I referenced will be available in the US in September; it’s an eye-opener.
We had Schoolhouse Rock in the 1980s too! 🙂 And then, having a brother almost a full decade older than me familiarized me with a lot of old-school things that most people my age wouldn’t care about.
One of my best friends, at the time, was visiting Berlin where her aunt and uncle lived. The Wall came down during her visit and she was able to bring back a chunk of it.
Also, Richard III wasn’t a control freak. We call ourselves control enthusiasts. 😛
Re: Neanderthal-bunny connection.
Thanks for link of the Argentinian town, Maggie. It looks like a great place to squat. It also looks like a place to retire, if you stock up on medical supplies.
Have you ever had an article on Braddock, PA? That’s also a fascinating place.
Hello Maggie,
Off topic sorry, but here’s a question for you. I come from a country were prostitution is legal. I recently visited Hawaii, and one night in Honolulu in a very busy area I could see a number of very obvious streetwalkers amongst the buskers and the general throng. I even got the “hello handsome” from one of them. Then I saw two cops on the beating walking along, and I stopped to observe. The cops just ambled by and ignored the pros completely, friendly as you like. THIS, after I’d read in the local newspaper about rates of arrests for prostitution.
So, here’s the question – is it really the cops, or are the cops just pawns in political football games, going out on raids only when political pressure builds up. These guys were very obviously turning a tolerant blind-eye. Or, is it just Hawaii? At any rate, what I saw surprised me as a follower of your blog – I half expected the girls to hide or get arrested. What’s going on?
I lived in Hawaii for many years and even dated and lived with a sex worker there for a couple of years. She wasn’t a SW though – but worked in a “health spa” in Pearl City.
Couple things about the streetwalkers of Hawaii …
The level of police enforcement is dependent on the location and the class of hookers involved. Down in Waikiki – that’s where the highest class of SW’s can be found, usually after 10pm walking streets like Kuhio, Kalakaua, even Lewer’s street. You’ll see them near the major hotels along the beach and hanging out by ATM’s and ABC Bars.
Cops don’t really care about these girls. These are probably the highest class SW’s in the U.S.A. A non-GFE date with one of them will cost you usually about what you’d pay for an hour of GFE with some of the best independent escorts in Texas. The Waikiki girls are NO bargain. They also – aren’t usually local but instead come from the mainland. Hawaii is a very popular place for “anonymous” hooking. Any girl can go there an do whatever she wishes and won’t have to worry about getting outed in her hometown. The girl I dated was a blonde from Oregon – she was no local. So – because there’s a high percentage of non-locals – Cops just figure they’re here today – gone tomorrow so why bother?
Also – Cops can’t really do anything to a SW until she gives them a sex for money proposition the girls are too smart for this. Police realize that too many arrests on the streets of Waikiki impacts (negatively) the tourism industry – so if the girls behave themselves and are dressed nicely – even though a bit provocatively – they’ll put up with them.
The COPS ROUTINELY BUST the lower class hookers though – that hang out in the Hotel Street area. These are the gals that tend to look like druggies. This is the place the cops BELIEVE is where the real nasty human trafficking happens. Also – they claim they’ve linked prostitution to several other crimes such as theft, drug dealing, and murder – so they believe this gives them the authority to come down hard in this area.
So in Hawaii … it’s LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
Krulac, you are truly a man of the world. Thank you for that.
Yeah, there was one blonde who caught my eye as just a hot girl, and it took a second look to realize she was a hooker. But…seriously, none of those girls even approach the class of the independent escorts I see in Australia. Maybe it is because escorts can dress normally, their advertisement already made through the web. I don’t know.
Thanks.
I’ll get back to this post after I’ve caught up with the other posts. The LINKS posts always take me a while, because I always end up following many of the links, because they tend to be very interesting, informative, or funny. Some are heartbreaking, but those tend to also be informative and/or interesting.