There’s a certain color someone uses that I won’t mention that tells me someone’s been demonized. Everything that I talk about is based on numbers, is based on studies, which is what you do…when you’re a scientist. – Jerry Mungadze
Another good week for general links, though I’m glad it wasn’t quite so heavy on topical ones; if I start getting too many more of those I’ll have to expand to two TW3 columns, and I’m really not anxious to do that yet. Our leading contributor for the week was Jesse Walker, with everything down to the first video; that one and “cat physics” were supplied by Mike Siegel. The second video is just footage from a probe on the Martian surface of Phobos eclipsing Deimos, and was provided by Antonio Lorusso; the links between the videos are courtesy of Popehat (“science”), Aspasia (“nanotechnology”), Brooke Magnanti (“tentacles”), Franklin Harris (“haters”), Cthulhuchick (“Azathoth” and “canyon”), Mistress Matisse (“menstruation”), my husband (“allergies”), Mike Riggs (“presence” and “prohibition”), Dean Clark (“taboo”), Cop Block (“never call cops”, “legless” and “bicycle”), and Radley Balko (“SWAT”).
- Egyptian cops arrest suspicious duck for espionage.
- Margaret Thatcher is haunting some dude’s beer.
- Who said it, Adolf Hitler or Taylor Swift?
- Selfies taken at serious places.
- This week in food news.
- Medieval killer bunnies.
- The first LOLcats.
- Science!
- Cat physics.
- Another isolated incident.
- How to beautify a fountain.
- Ancient Roman nanotechnology.
- Well, you’ve heard of tentacle porn…
- Science proves that haters gonna hate.
- Great moments in drug war propaganda.
- Oklahoma City has been claimed for Azathoth.
- A mighty canyon no human eye has ever seen.
- Russian politician calls menstruation a “social problem”.
- The sort of mind that causes food allergies in the first place.
- A new concept in universal criminality: “electronic presence”.
- This makes as much sense as any other excuse for prohibition.
- Shamans punish tribesman for letting boy contact taboo substance.
- This week’s edition of “Never call the cops for any reason whatsoever.”
- Now they’re sending SWAT teams after politicians with overdue tickets.
- Cops beat up innocent legless man and murder boy for riding his bicycle.
From the Archives
- How do I let my regular escort know that I truly value and appreciate her personality without coming off as creepy or patronizing?
- I enjoyed your column of (x date), but it was rather superficial and I wanted to know why you didn’t mention y?
- I’ve read that girls in Southeast Asia “treat men like kings” sexually; what does that really mean?
- The police state, apes, hysteria, rhetoric, bogus math, surveillance, ass wi-fi and nom nom nom.
- Reality can only be fit into simplistic belief systems by ignoring most of it.
- Basic “trafficking” sting: consenting adults caged, 44; victims rescued, 0.
- Advice for a new escort in Malaysia and an aspiring plus size courtesan.
- Why do people get upset if a woman prefers men of only one ethnicity?
- “Trafficking” fanatics claim all whores make more than $300,000/year.
- Prohibitionists have a weird idea of meaning of “support” and “help”.
- Texas begins to realize that locking up whores is a waste of money.
- Michael Weinstein’s campaign to turn porn movies into commercials.
- Christians say GOP should do everything possible to increase rape.
- Support for decriminalization continues to grow in Canada.
- Are tall men more endowed than those of average height?
- What type and size of penis do most women really prefer?
- Sex strikes: good in theory, but usually poor in execution.
- The truth about “sex trafficking” of North Korean women.
- The counterfeit comfort of “sex offender” registries.
- How can I help my boyfriend’s erectile dysfunction?
- Monkeys prefer to play with gender-typical toys.
- The inevitability of Nature getting her way.
- Bringing sex workers into the public eye.
- What are your views on polyamory?
- Language patterns of New Orleans.
- In Sweden, begging equals rape.
- Prohibitionism is a mental illness.
- Welcome to our world, chemists.
- Kristof’s prohibitionist omelette.
- The myth of “rape culture”.
- David Vitter doesn’t tweet.
- My ten favorite columns.
- Maslow’s Hammer.
That was some interesting discussion on people’s preferences for one race over another.
My eyes were opened when I watched Chris Rock’s documentary “Good Hair” about the tempestuous relationship that African-Americans have with their hair and the various industries that serve their needs. He interviewed several black men who were open about preferring white lovers, because they (the men) loved running their fingers through hair while making love and at other times. Black women, because they frequently have weaves and other expensive hair treatments, would firmly prohibit their men from touching their hair.
I’ve been called a weave destroyer, but she loves gently tugging on my hair to move me hither and yon…
Do you have a weave?
And I hope you help your lady rearrange her ‘do after the fun ends. 😉
“PETA wants pregnant women barred from entering chicken wing eating contest”
As time passes, I am increasingly convinced that PETA is, in fact, a performance art piece satirizing the Animal Rights movement.
Isn’t that like trying to parody South Park?
Well, no. At least it shouldn’t be. There are real animal abuse issues at loose in the land. But the Animal Rights wonks have managed too overdo it so badly, that its like the Abolition movement in the 1850’s was demanding that persons of African descent be acknowledged as the natural rulers of society. They’ve drowned any legitimate points they might have in asinine absurdity.
There used to be a non-absurd “humane” movement in the US, but it’s been crowded out and sidelined by people who want to shut down the meat industry by over-regulating it to death, but who think they can hide their extremism behind a moderate-sounding veil.
They strike me as very similar to the “anti-trafficking” campaigners. Not in terms of direct human impact, though there is some of that too, but because they somehow manage to completely avoid understanding, even slightly, the people whose jobs they want to suppress (or those targets’ customers).
My guess is that most of them are recent immigrants from India or southeast Asia, though in a pinch I suppose they could merely have gone to America’s “elite” universities, which have become not only totally unlike real America, but totally clueless about that fact.
I think we have a while to go yet before the rule of the nanny-statists can end. But I’m also optimistic, because prohibition in all its forms is up against a natural law — Adam Smith’s invisible hand.
Medieval bunnies? Bah! What about Pangur Bán? Surely, Nancy knew that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangur_B%C3%A1n
She claims that she did, but you know cats can’t be trusted when it comes to that sort of thing. 😉
Sometimes the beeb does things so well; listen to this, if you can; listen to the list of contributors at the end. They include Malala Yousafzai, “shot by the Taliban for going to school”:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0395qvq
“Pure Pregnancies” … and now you can’t eat chicken wings! 😛
Say, what would happen if an obviously pregnant woman lit up a cigarette and ordered a rum and coke in a bar? LOL – I’ve never seen it but I’m gonna ask the bartenders how they’d react to that.
But – what is the real goddamn consequence of a woman doing that? I’ve been through two pregnancies and, let me tell you, there were times during them I would have THROWN a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of Jack Daniels at the GESTATING DEMON sleeping in my bed!
They say that smoking causes low birth weights. When my son was in the oven – my wife tried to quit – but she had problems doing it. Nevertheless, my son was so damn big my wife swore she’d never have another kid born of my seed.
But then I touched her car keys a few years later and impregnated her again! Silly woman … there’s no stopping me … Krulac seed be airborne and shit!!
I could say that her smoking impaired my son’s intelligence … but there’s a much simpler explanation … his father! 😀
Yeah, I see a need to keep preggos away from toxic chemicals – like DDT. But I don’t understand what harm a little smoking does – especially since women routinely smoked during pregnancies back in the 50’s and 60’s – and even the 70’s. The woman’s lungs filters out pretty much all of the really bad shit. Nicotine? No that will circulate … but then again … is Nicotine in the blood system worse than caffeine? And we allow women to consume that.
Well for now we do anyway.
And while I wouldn’t say that a woman should get drunk off her ass … I don’t see what harm a drink or two does to the baby – and, by damn – it’ll sure improve the morale of the gal … and by extension – her male partner who gets hit with a lot of shit that a gestating demon slings.
Man, and I saw a pregnant chick pick up a beer at a Saint’s tailgating party and the whole crowd hushed up at once … and wondered if they should call the police for child endangerment!!
I saw me a pregnant HOOTERS girl once – in Pensacola, Fl. There she was – serving up them wings and, I’ll bet … she prolly sneaked one or two out from under the light warmers when no one was looking! What an EVIL WOMAN! And why did God bless such an evil creature with the tits she had! What a waste huh?
I don’t believe nicotine itself is a teratogen, but SMOKE and all the chemicals contained therein (tar, carbon monoxide, etc.) is.If you ever need to convince someone to quit smoking, point them toward electronic cigarettes. I quit a 20 year pack a day habit using them and have been smoke free for 18 months now. I’m cutting down my nicotine level every few months and hope to be 100% nic-free by this time next year.
If I were a more religious person I’d call them a gift from God. (I previously tried patches, Zyban, Chantix, and cold turkey with varying degrees of failure).
Of course the health nannies are trying to ban them.
Girl, why do you wanna lie like that? I’ve seen your picture. If you smoked for 20 years then you would have had to have started when you were 6 months old!
Good job on quitting though!
You have?
And thanks for the compliment 🙂 but I just turned 40 this year. Started the evil weed in college. Neither I nor my home or clothes smell like smoke anymore, and long-haul flights (my annual trip to NYC to visit Dad and friends) are orders of magnitude more pleasant.
Hello, I’ve been familiar with your blog for quite some time because my girlfriend is a huge fan of yours and will share links from here (whether yours or your roundups) from time to time.
I was surprised to see you answer a question about escorting in Malaysia, and I was appalled by your answer. I’m Malaysian and I can tell you quite definitely that prostitution is illegal in Malaysia – and the consequences can be dire. It does still happen, but all the Internet advice in the world will not help someone in a situation where there are a TON of cultural and legal barriers around sexuality and sex work.
When you have a female politician shamed out of Parliament for ‘sleeping in the nude’ (Elizabeth Wong’s ex-boyfriend distributed photos of her sleeping in a tank top and sarong), when you have the Vice Squad regularly hauling up people for ‘indecency’, when the idea of comprehensive sex education is still so controversial…your advice, having been based on a fallacy, is dangerous.
I fled Malaysia partly because the things I do here (the US, and Australia beforehand) would get me arrested five seconds flat. I’m outspoken about sexuality and just that alone makes me a threat. Sex workers are appalingly treated in Malaysia, especially trans women (who already suffer a lack of rights for being trans) – not just by the legal system, but by society wit large.
I appreciate that you are trying to help, but I think you made a huge mistake there. I hope the person you advised is safe.
Sex work is illegal in the US as well, Tiara, and women regularly get in serious trouble for it. That doesn’t mean I’m going to tell grown women they shouldn’t do it. You must remember, the original questions are often much more complex than the stripped-down versions I present; this young woman was uniquely placed to understand the legal ramifications (more I cannot say) and was fully aware of what she was getting into from the legal end.
The sort of serious trouble that a Malaysian sex worker could face is markedly different from the sort of serious trouble an American sex worker could face. Depending on your official religion and race you may have to deal with 2 court systems. There isn’t as much in the way of support or advocacy. compared to the US – in fact, the Malaysia AIDS Council notes that many people who exchange sex for material benefit may not identify as sex workers at all: http://www.mac.org.my/v3/?page_id=134
I still feel that there were a lot of cultural implications that weren’t considered in your response, and that recommending a book that was written with a particular culture in mind (Western society) was ill-conceived. What might have been more useful was to link to resources by and about sex workers from neighbouring countries that would be more culturally relevant.
And still, starting off with “it’s legal as long as you don’t publicly solicit” is misleading information,
I’ll get to the LINKS posts after I catch up, if I ever do, and I won’t if I don’t do better than I have been doing, but then again we knew that, so onward.