America has no functioning democracy. – Jimmy Carter
As I explained in Tuesday’s column, I was at the Desiree Alliance convention this week; everything but these weekend columns was already scheduled, and considering how busy I was I hope y’all will forgive me for the uncharacteristic brevity of these features. It wasn’t lack of time which caused yesterday’s column to go up in incomplete form, however; there was a sudden and severe thunderstorm in Las Vegas which knocked out the hotel’s internet access, so I couldn’t put the finishing touches on it until last night in a different hotel (on my way home). The top contributor was Radley Balko, with the first video and everything above it; the second video was provided by Amy Alkon, and the links between the videos by Walter Olson (“mice”), Mike Siegel (“bad news”), Kevin Wilson (“vegetarians”), and Jesse Walker (“map”). The epigram comes to us via Glenn Greenwald.
- A case that isn’t at all like that of Edward Snowden, because the government says so.
- Cops jail stroke victim for being unresponsive, thus causing his death.
- What’s with this weird East Asian Nazi fixation? (Here’s another one.)
- Man punches self, tries to blame neighbor.
- Gay people cause mice. Or something.
- The Unpleasant Profession of Nancy Grace.
- A lot of the bad news you think you know is wrong.
- Two-thirds of American vegetarians ate meat yesterday.
- U.S. states transposed onto European countries of similar size.
From the Archives
- Would it be a good idea to arrange for a discreet pro to meet with a divorced friend as if by accident, to rebuild his confidence with women?
- If prohibitionists really want to “rescue” sex workers, why do they keep trying to stop us from getting other jobs?
- Congress’ new strategy is to enact SOPA piece by piece so it doesn’t attract so much attention.
- American anti-whore rhetoric resembles that of nations neither advanced nor Western.
- Woman spends thousands on plastic surgery to resemble a drag queen.
- Anti-bikini barista crusade illustrates public collaboration with tyranny.
- Could a sex worker help a man learn to delay premature ejaculation?
- Sacrificing childrens’ happiness to “social construction of gender”.
- The redefinition of “sex trafficking” into a “gang-related activity”.
- The first step toward overturning the “anti-prostitution pledge”.
- What will happen if abortion is eventually recriminalized?
- It looks as though an AIDS vaccine is finally within reach.
- Indian politicians defy court-mandated decriminalization.
- Aren’t vandalism and indecent exposure already illegal?
- Another politician, another unsolicited underwear pic.
- A disquieting fictional interlude about a ruler’s harem.
- Spying on employees or family members made easy.
- Why “sex addiction” is such a destructive paradigm.
- A hooker “scandal” that didn’t make the news.
- How “sex trafficking” hysteria infested Mexico.
- The tale of a harlot with a rather special gift.
- My first column on Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
- The ways some clients try to control calls.
- Dr. Brooke Magnanti on French brothels.
- Why I invest so much time in my work.
- “We have the right not to be rescued.”
- The TSA vs. the world’s largest penis.
- Singapore stands up to Uncle Sam.
- The naivete of Najat Belkacem.
- On the value of disagreement.
- The wacky world of Ed Wood.
- Octomom does it again.
- The Mechanical Bride.
• What I have never understood about the tragic case of David Reimer is why he committed suicide instead of murdering that sonofabitch John Money. Suicide after, I could understand, poor guy. But I wouldn’t have rested while that unmitigated swine lived.
• Regarding Social Desirability Bias; I wonder how much is because people want to appear more virtuous than they are, and how much is because they have learned that if they do not pretend to follow the prevailing fashions of the Western Intellectual Twits they will be mercilessly hounded.
“Nancy Grace exists. This is distasteful and regrettable…”
Brilliant!!!
In Thailand, they honestly don’t know. I used to live with a Thai lady who was very maternal towards me, and she thought I was sleeping too much. So she told me there was a man who only slept a few hours each night. Eventually, I teased out of her that the person she was talking about was Hitler. I gently explained to her that Hitler wasn’t popular in the United States, and was overall generally considered a bad guy.
http://images.christianpost.com/full/62194/a-thai-student-at-chulalongkorn-university-poses-in-her-graduation-robe-in-front-of-the-mural-showing-naxi-leader-adolf-hitler-aside-superheroes.jpg
I’m glad you posted up that map of the 50 states transposed onto the map of Europe. I’ve learned in my travels of Europe that most Europeans have absolutely no appreciation for the vast size of the U.S.
I’ve learned from living in the U.S. that most Americans don’t understand this either – especially the ones who are so quick to advocate central control of things like healthcare. “Easy as pie” they’ll tell ya … “Europeans do it all the time”. No – there is NO central control of health care in Europe beyond what you have in London, or in Brussels, or in Oslo – or any of the other European capitols which – this map demonstrates they are each controlling not much more than a single U.S. state.
I’m glad to see the U.S. government is taking positive steps to get this ex-CIA agent, who was convicted of kidnapping a “beheader”, back to his home.
He was under the employment of the United States Government when he did what he did. I’m a bit sensitive to this kind of situation. No, i do not work for the CIA nor have I ever, but I HAVE, througout my life deployed on missions to do things that other governments DID NOT like and, in fact, would have arrested me for.
Look man – you guys ELECT these idiots in charge of making these decisions so why do you want to shit on us little guys who are simply following orders? Fuck – elect Sally Field as Presdient and this kind of shit will never happen – in fact – you’ll have the Islamofascists over here running things in five minutes – but it’s your choice, and it seems to be what most of you want anyway.
This “beheader” … Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr … who REASON online won’t even mention his name – was a member of the group that assasinated Anwar Sadaat.
The Ex-CIA agent that is apparently returning – is, in my opinion, a HERO. He deserves to be back with his family.
As a psychometrician, it is my duty to report that the rising IQ’s (Flynn effect) is NOT a real increase in intelligence. The effect is not loaded on the g-factor, and hence not on intelligence.
See e.g.: http://psychology.uwo.ca/faculty/rushtonpdfs/2010%20Editorial%20for%20Intelligence.pdf
Links. I’ll come back to it.