It is reasonable to wonder if the lack of scientific research involving codependency may relate to the fact that there is a strong academic bias against studying possible negative outcomes of empathy. – Barbara Oakley
It was another busy, busy week, trying to get all of my work done in advance for the month of July so I don’t have to take as much time while my husband’s home; I’ll also be away for a total of nine days to attend the Desiree Alliance convention in Las Vegas (five days plus two travel days each way). And on top of that, I’m working on a scholarly paper for the Albany Law Review; it’s about five to ten times the length of a normal column and much more serious in tone, and everything has to be carefully attributed, so it’s much slower going. However, I’m almost halfway done with the first draft and hope to get it to the editors on July 2nd. Once it’s published in the autumn, I hope to make a PDF available so y’all can see what I sound like when I’m actually trying to sound as though my education wasn’t entirely wasted. Anyhow, Radley Balko squeaked out everyone else, providing the three links before the first video (which was itself contributed by Kevin Wilson, along with “digital lineup”); those between the two videos came from Grace (“just wrong”), Walter Olson (“altruism”), Mike Siegel (“concrete”), Luscious Lani (“Scooby-Doo”), Emil Kirkegaard (“New Zealand”), and Scott Greenfield (“registry”).
- Cop tases nude, autistic 11-year-old girl in the back (for her own good).
- What an out-of-control police department looks like.
- What could possibly go wrong?
- This is just wrong.
- Pathological altruism.
- Fighting fire with fire?
- The lost secret of Roman concrete.
- Welcome to the perpetual digital lineup.
- The subversive subtext of Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
- New Zealand takes another step away from prohibitionism.
- Because the “sex offender” registry hasn’t ruined enough lives yet.
- Man charged with “endangering the welfare” of juvenile vandals for stopping them from destroying his neighbor’s house.
From the Archives
- What’s the best way for sex workers to be out, yet not completely compromise their futures?
- Forced feminization of little boys isn’t enough for Swedish neofeminists.
- Young sex workers vs. system which treats them as infantilized victims.
- Attempt to fast-track Swedish Model legislation in Scotland is defeated.
- Even some male scientists believe in the “sex loosens vaginas” myth.
- Lola Montez, one of the most colorful courtesans of the 19th century.
- Dutch police and politicians keep beating the “sex trafficking” drum.
- Two trials of men who raped whores, with two different outcomes.
- Parents angry that sex education teacher answers sex questions.
- How to increase “trafficking” by inventing imaginary “traffickers”.
- British cops are allowed to rape women while spying on them.
- Aphrodite’s Trade, Heart of Gold and National Geographic Taboo.
- Another year, another bogus “Trafficking in Persons” report.
- The inevitable result of criminalizing consensual behaviors.
- The misunderstandings inherent in whore/amateur dialog.
- Sweden finally realizes that drawings are not people.
- The false “happy hooker/trafficked slave” dichotomy.
- How reframing a picture can completely change it.
- My two previous columns for the summer solstice.
- The 44 most ridiculous Cosmo sex tips of all time.
- Spain lifts a ban on advertising by sex workers.
- What if The Shining were a romantic comedy?
- Judge rules that a website is not a building.
- A sensible article about student strippers.
- Two mainstream articles by sex workers.
- The recrudescence of yellow journalism.
- A few words about my father.
- Doublethink as a way of life.
- Whores In History revisited.
- On bachelor parties.
Jesus Christ … “altruism”??
First – I had to look that up to determine the meaning of the word.
Second – I have that article open in a special window on my computer, and I’m sure I’ll be reading it repeatedly over the next week in order to understand what the hell it’s about (first three readings revealed … na-da).
Third – I’m about 55% sure at this point that that article is a … parady? Or something? Imma right? 😀
ANCIENT ROMAN CONCRETE – just a head’s up here … we DO NOT use the pure Portland Cement mix for modern seawater structures. It’s changed and things are added to it to make it stronger … silicates I think. Also – I don’t think the Roman’s used Re-Bar to reinforce their structures while we do. The major cause of cement structural compromise in seawater is the corrosion of the steel reinforcement – and that is due to the natural permeability of concrete. We’re using more non-permeable mixtures now to prolong this life.
Yeah – well, the Roman’s may still have some columns and shit standing in seawater and what not – but they are just sitting there looking pretty and they ain’t holding up the twin-span over Lake Pontchartrain. I love the Romans probably more than anyone else … but I don’t think their concrete mixtures are for modern construction. They may have a compound or two that makes our mixtures stronger though.
‘Pathological altruism’– do-gooders who never foresee the unintended consequences of their meddling, even though it’s plainly obvious to anyone with a functioning brain, because they’re Just Trying To Help and that absolves them of responsibility.
Exactly. I thought that would be an especial topic of interest here, since so-called “anti-pimping” laws are such a perfect example of the syndrome.
Wouldn’t just about every element of anti-prostitution law be considered pathological altruism then? Seems to me it would.
I don’t know how this notion “revolutionizes” anything though.
The thing about “pimps” (not the mythological figure: http://costumei.com/pictures/2013/05/Kramer-Dressed-In-A-Pimp-Costume-In-Seinfeld.jpg ) but men who might more correctly be convicted of “being the lover/husband of a sex worker,” is they usually genuinely care about their lovers and the police definitely do not care about women they arrest for prostitution at all. This is why you get the situation of escorts speaking up for their “pimps” in court or visiting them in prison.
I’ve said before another way to describe the charge might be, “failing to keep control of ‘your woman’s’ sexuality,” much like dog owners can be punished for failing to obey leash laws. (I don’t think it ever occurs to the people in these situation that a woman is a free adult and not a dog… whatever their kinky fantasies.)
I’m a bit surprised about the new discovery of Roman cement and concrete. Years ago, doing an OU course, we learned about hydraulic cement and the use of volcanic ash from Pozzolana. The Romans didn’t use reinforcing stuff like rebar.
The Lefty Intellectual Planners have managed to ignore that champions of social planning murdered 100,000,000 people in the 20th Century (THE BLACK BOOK OF COMMUNISM Harvard Press). I don’t suppose that public discussion of Pathological Altruism will make a dent in their sense of superiority.
Particularly since what they feel isn’t altruism, but the will to power in an exceptionally threadbare disguise.
Apropos of nothing, Penn Jillette is a perfect example, to me, of a man who can be incredibly sexy without being handsome or even attractive.
Links. Will get back to it. Difficult animal, links. They’re related to cats, you know.