"The only really good place to buy lumber is at a store where the lumber has already been cut and attached together in the form of furniture, finished, and put inside boxes." - Dave Barry, "The Taming of the Screw"

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Do Monkeys Pay for Sex? - "It turns out that one of humanity's oldest professions may be even older than we thought: In a recent study of macaque monkeys in Indonesia, researchers found that male primates "paid" for sexual access to females — and that the going rate for such access dwindled as the number of available females went up."
It is insidious how powerful patriarchy is - it is affecting our closest relatives.

Sleepwalkers who have 'sex sleep' - "It might sound like an affair, but what if your "cheating" partner was fast asleep during the act? The phenomenon, called sleep sex, was described to doctors at a meeting in Australia... He said there were documented cases where people had committed murders in their sleep. "There is a case in English law where a guy was beating his girlfriend over the head with a video recorder and she was screaming at him." He said the man only woke up when the girlfriend said "I love you". "Probably that was such a stupid thing in his dream that did not fit that it woke him up. "It's like when you hear the phone in the middle of your dream and you wake up.""

Kinky? You can't beat it - "Bondage and discipline may actually make men happier, according to the first national survey of Australians' fetish habits... In fact, says Dr Richters, men into BDSM scored significantly better on a scale of psychological wellbeing than other men. "This seems to imply that these men are actually happier as a result of their behaviour, though we're not sure why," she said... At the other end of the spectrum - least happy - were men who reported being attracted to men but had never acted on their desire and didn't regard themselves as gay. Researchers said the study helps break down the reigning stereotype that people into bondage and discipline were damaged as children and were therefore "dysfunctional"."

Rickroll Database: never get rickroll'd again - "Have you or someone you love been rickroll'd? Submit the URL below. Protect yourself by using Firefox, installing Adblock Plus, and subscribing to the rickblock blacklist"

With no losers, we wouldn’t have any winners - "The very phrase win-win is enough to set one’s teeth on edge. It is not just goody-goody, it is logically suspect: the idea of winners is predicated on the idea of losers. If everyone wins, then it isn’t a competition, it’s a prayer meeting... I’ve just consulted Wikipedia, which gives as an example of a win-win game one in which many people carry a huge “earth ball” several metres wide over their heads while negotiating an obstacle course. It explains that in this game there are no losers, that no one is excluded and that it is all down to teamwork. What it doesn’t explain, though, is why on earth a group of people would want to carry a big ball over an obstacle course in the first place... The latest Harvard Business Review is urging its readers to adopt a new leadership strategy of win-win-win-win... example of an unfit manager who runs a marathon. This gives him bulging leg muscles and is therefore a win for “self”. It is a win for his work, too, as he trains with his boss – so he can presumably crawl while he runs. Community benefits from the money he is raising, and his pregnant partner is happy because she fondly believes his fitness will make him a better parent. Hey presto, win-win-win-win. Well maybe; I would be inclined to tell the story differently. The marathon could screw up his knees for life, it could make him a shocking bore to his friends, a crawler to his colleagues and make his wife resentful at his prolonged absences. The win-win-win-win strategy isn’t simply babyish slush, it is downright delusional."
If everyone is right, everyone is also wrong.

Ulrich Beck: This free-market farce shows how badly we need the state - "There are surprising parallels between the Chernobyl reactor disaster, the Asian financial crisis, and the threat of the collapse of the international financial system today. The traditional methods of management and control are proving unreliable and ineffective in the face of global risks. The millions of unemployed and poor cannot be financially compensated; it makes no sense to insure against the consequences of global recession. At the same time the social and political explosive force of global market risks is becoming palpable. Governments are overthrown, civil wars become a threat. As the public begins to recognise the risks, the question of responsibility is increasingly raised. This dynamic leads to a reversal of neoliberal policy - not the economisation of politics, but the politicisation of the economy. Not even the most liberal national economy functions without macroeconomic coordinates. It's with a certain degree of bewilderment that one asks oneself: how could anyone in his right mind assume that the world economy is any different?"

The Double Standard of Christian Skepticism - Why can we laugh at the Latter-Day Saint’s mention of the angel Moroni and the reforming teachings of Joseph Smith’s new scripture? Why do we immediately rebuke the Islamic prophet Mohammad’s revelation? Why is this possible, yet such vehement, mistrusting, pessimistic, suspicious skepticism not leveled at one’s own religion? Faith has become a great many things, but it perpetually appears to be belief without doubt before anything else... In my younger years, Josh McDowell gave me fuel, later it was C.S. Lewis and William Craig. Still later, I found a deeper, more profound faith in the works of Tillich and Kierkegaard. Yet none seemed capable of explaining the obvious shortcomings I continually found in my skeptical inquiry of Christianity, whether in the historicism of the Bible or the philosophy of religion. The radical faith I found in the Christian existentialists could only last so long. Whether it was something as mundane as the choppy seams in the Gospel of John, or as major as the lack of Biblical or philosophical evidence for the doctrine of the Trinity, I found that the evidence which held my beliefs together was as shaky as the honest Mormon who tried to convince me that there really was a golden book that only Joseph Smith could read"

PETA’s Latest Tactic: $1 Million for Fake Meat - "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants to pay a million dollars for fake meat — even if it has caused a “near civil war” within the organization. The organization said it would announce plans on Monday for a $1 million prize to the “first person to come up with a method to produce commercially viable quantities of in vitro meat at competitive prices by 2012.”"

best of craigslist : 143 Reasons That I Will Be The Best Girlfriend You've Ever Had - "15. Like you, I am scared of commitment
16. I won't steal food out of your plate after ordering a salad.
17. I wont order a salad."
How come the Singapore one doesn't get this sort of replies?

Female Ejaculation, the Female Prostate, and the G-Spot - "Women are expected to maintain a dry pristine appearance regardless of the activities they participate in. Mothers once told their daughters it was unwise to engage in sports, as boys would see them sweaty and disheveled, and this was seen as unattractive. Today, deodorant and antiperspirant ads drive home the idea, "Do not let them see you sweat."... Society and the media serve to create a barrier between women and their sexual pleasure. Sweaty men are seen as sexual, virile. Their manhood is measured by their ability to produce large quantities of semen. They write their name in the snow with their urine and see who can ejaculate the furthest. For men making a mess with their ejaculate is seen as unavoidable, normal, and is never questioned. It is even idolized in adult movies. Men can ejaculate on the face, in the mouth, and on and in the body of their partner and it is seen as normal and desirable. If a woman gets her body fluids on her partner that is another story, she has made a dirty mess. This is an interesting double standard. If a man can cover his partner with his body fluids a woman should be able to do the same."