"If two men agree on everything, you may be sure that one of them is doing the thinking." - Lyndon B. Johnson

***

What Are Women Fighting About? - "So I become, once more, the kind of person I can't bear: the female critic who despises any female writer who doesn't project what she feels is the accurate or ideal vision of modern womanhood. This critic believes it is her job to tear down women who are "off-message" because there is only so much publishing space allotted to women, and so more attention for them is less attention for her and other worthy types... Maybe it is time to acknowledge that this is not some conspiracy on the part of the publishing industry or of the patriarchy and admit to ourselves that writers like Joanna Smith Rakoff are giving women what they want... It is tempting to feel resentful when we don’t see ourselves or our stories or our ideals reflected in the prevailing narratives of femaleness"
One comment: "The irony of this article is that she says not to tear apart other women's work and illustrates this by tearing apart another woman's work."
Another: "Women are mean to Women... Just remember, everyone wants universal brotherhood, but, no one is his right mind, wants universal sisterhood"
And a last: "The biggest single overlooked feature in our society is women competing with women. This is the feminist elephant in the room."

YouTube - Vader conducts Icelandic orchestra Háskólabíó - "Darth Vader assumes command of the Icelandic Philharmonic Orchestra as they play the Imperial March."

Islam 4 UK Home page - "Islam4UK has been established by sincere Muslims as a platform to propagate the supreme Islamic ideology within the United Kingdom as a divine alternative to man-made law. Our aim is simple: Izhaar ud Deen (Domination of Al-Islam worldwide). As submitters to Almighty God we wish to establish His Sharee’ah (Divine Law) on the earth for He has said in the Qur'an: [EMQ 5: 45] “Those who rule by other than what Allah (SWT) has revealed are the oppressors.”"
This sounds like a joke, but isn't. The videos of Non-Muslims embracing Islam are particularly funny

Muslim woman held in slay try of husband; he made her wear sexy skirts and eat pork - "She also claimed that his favorite author is Salman Rushdie, reviled by devout Muslims after writing the prophet-bashing "The Satanic Verses.""

Dirty elections: To the rigger the spoils | The Economist - "“Dirty elections are bad for economic growth by skewing politicians’ incentives.” This is because, they find, good economic performance makes a huge difference to an incumbent’s chance of re-election whether the vote is free or rigged, adding about three years’ to his or her tenure. Although economic success wins rewards in both systems, in clean ones, it adds 40% to a president’s time, whereas in dirty ones, the rewards of growth are swamped by those of rigging, which more than doubles the time in power. So rigging makes the economy less important to a president’s future—a rejoinder to the Chinese claim that in developing countries “managed democracy” is better for growth than an electoral free-for-all"

Schumpeter: The three habits... of highly irritating management gurus | The Economist - "The first is presenting stale ideas as breathtaking breakthroughs... The second irritating habit is that of naming model firms... The third irritating habit is the flogging of management tools off the back of numbered lists or facile principles... the most irritating thing of all about management gurus: that their failures only serve to stoke demand for their services"

YouTube - Balls Out Jeans! - "Hey guys! Are you tired of women showing off their junk while you can't say a thing? Wouldn't it be great to walk down the street with your junk hanging out? Well, now you can say goodbye to the old and welcome the new!... New Balls-Out Jeans!"

Strippers or Counter-Strike — Which Gets a Gamer's Attention? (title from elsewhere)

The internet has done for Scientology. Could it rumble the Christians, too? - "In France, Scientology is deemed a sect as opposed to a religion, which is why they are required to produce evidence for their claims, where recognised religious leaders are not. For those of us who believe that all religions are full of tall tales, this might seem slightly unfair... Clearly, Scientologists should be forced to justify their doctrinal lunacies – the only sadness is that other religions are apparently exempt from having to do the same"

Women with male names do better in legal careers: study - "A female "Cameron" is about three times more likely to become a judge than a "Sue," while a female "Bruce" is five times more likely... women with male names are more likely to make more money than their more femininely named counterparts"

Thinking negatively can boost your memory, Aust study finds - "Being sad make people less gullible, improves their ability to judge others and also boosts memory... People in a bad mood were also less likely to make snap decisions based on racial or religious prejudices... sad people were better at stating their case through written arguments"

Spore workers frustrated - "29 per cent of employees in Singapore feel frustrated in their jobs while 35 per cent feel detached. Only 16 per cent feel effective"

China looks to export censorship - "The festival organisation was subjected to an intense campaign of threats, intimidation and disruption, although it is not clear who - if anyone - orchestrated the campaign... Some notes to the organisers contained messages threatening Mr Moore's family... Chinese film-makers withdrew their movies from the festival... "China is using its economic influence to threaten its trade partners in order to censor what they don't like""

10 of the World’s Greatest Jobs - "The Chilean lothario has beat all of us by holding the type of fantasy job that just sounds too good to be true: Quality Control in a brothel... The applicants are whittled down to a final six, who are then fucked one after the other in a single day by Jaime. He takes diligent notes on, say, how they moved their hips and whether their groans were adequate, and makes recommendations to the madam. There is even paperwork involved. The strain of the job is actually such that he can only do it once a month, testing around seventy girls or so a year"
Most of them are either unpaid or very lowly paid.

Disney Princesses, Deconstructed » Sociological Images - "Sleeping Beauty: Betrothed at birth to solidify a political position, she is killed by another woman out of spite. Her owner... ahem... fiance, saves her with a kiss. Again, sex is her only salvation
What Disney princes teach men about attracting women: Be rich, charming, famous, and good looking (x6)"
One comment: "it has nothing to do with Disney, guys. These stories have been around forever. Everyone knows that."

Sartre's "No Exit" - by Hhhalek - "Man’s overwhelming predilection to define himself through the perception and opinion of others and his unwavering tendency to assume that he, accordingly, acquires being-hood, is inherently false... Man is inherently and fundamentally incapable of accepting that the only certitude in life is death... Persistent in his determination to forge bonds with others and to find meaning from without, man becomes what he assumes others want him to be and, thus, damns himself to an eternal void"

The Sex Diaries - A Critical Reading of New Yorkers’ Sexual Habits & Anxieties - "1. The anxiety of too much choice.
2. The anxiety of making the wrong choice.
3. The anxiety of not being chosen.
4. The anxiety of appearing overly enthusiastic.
5. The anxiety of appearing delusional.
6. The anxiety of appearing overly sincere.
7. The anxiety of appearing prudish.
8. Internet-enabled agoraphobia
9. Separation anxiety
10. The anxiety of being unable to love."