"The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people." - Lucille S. Harper

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In Defense of Piracy - "How is it that sensible people, people no doubt educated at some of the best universities and law schools in the country, would come to think it a sane use of corporate resources to threaten the mother of a dancing 13-month-old? What is it that allows these lawyers and executives to take a case like this seriously, to believe there's some important social or corporate reason to deploy the federal scheme of regulation called copyright to stop the spread of these images and music?... It is time we recognize that we can't kill this creativity. We can only criminalize it. We can't stop our kids from using these tools to create, or make them passive. We can only drive it underground, or make them "pirates." And the question we as a society must focus on is whether this is any good. Our kids live in an age of prohibition, where more and more of what seems to them to be ordinary behavior is against the law. They recognize it as against the law. They see themselves as "criminals." They begin to get used to the idea. That recognition is corrosive. It is corrupting of the very idea of the rule of law. And when we reckon the cost of this corruption, any losses of the content industry pale in comparison... Copyright is the most inefficient property system known to man"

Dinner at El Bulli - "Getting a reservation was a bit like playing the lottery... The tasting menu, which changes slightly every day, unfolds in three acts and thirty-five dishes: small snacks that you eat with your fingers, larger-sized tapas to be eaten with a fork and spoon (no knife, ever), and desserts. It is a fast-paced dining rollercoaster, with explosive flavors and textural surprises that await you at every turn -- it is thus a good idea to take a break on the terrace every now and then... There were recurring themes within the meal -- seaweed, seeds, Parmesan, Thai flavors, clementine, peach, the cotton candy texture, and Adrià's famous esferificación technique, in which liquids are trapped in a thin alginate casing that bursts open on your tongue."

Turducken - Wikipedia - "The largest recorded nested bird roast is 17 birds, attributed to a royal feast in France in the early 19th century (originally called a Rôti Sans Pareil, or "Roast without equal") - a bustard stuffed with a turkey, a goose, a pheasant, a chicken, a duck, a guinea fowl, a teal, a woodcock, a partridge, a plover, a lapwing, a quail, a thrush, a lark, an Ortolan Bunting and a Garden Warbler. The final bird is small enough that it can be stuffed with a single olive; it also suggests that, unlike modern multi-bird roasts, there was no stuffing or other packing placed in between the birds. This dish probably could not be recreated in the modern era as many of the listed birds are now protected species."

TuckerMax.com: Don't you think your page is very sexist/anti-women/misogynistic? - "Don't misunderstand, there are times when women just annoy the shit out of me. Of course, I am sure I annoy them also. It's part of the curse of having a high sexual dimorphism within a species: the differences cause friction. And let me be clear about this: I do not believe that women's studies is a legitimate academic discipline. Of course, I don't think many of the majors available are legitimate academic disciplines (see e.g. "Marxist studies," or "Recreation."). And I obviously believe that there are natural, inherent differences between the sexes, differences that go beyond the purely reproductive, and that examination of those differences is fertile ground for humor. If you are one of those who reject the idea of inborn differences between the sexes and claim that all differences are socially constructed, I can offer you nothing but a biology primer and my sympathies, because you are stupid."

Legal Career Satisfaction - "In a recent survey by the American Bar Association, 800 lawyers revealed their thoughts about life as a lawyer and the state of the profession. The survey revealed some disturbing facts: Almost half of the lawyers surveyed reported dissatisfaction with their careers; Only 4 in 10 lawyers said they would recommend a legal career to others."

Can a girl sexually abuse herself? - "A 15-year-old Ohio girl currently faces juvenile child pornography charges for allegedly taking and distributing nude photos of herself... If convicted, she could spend several years in juvenile detention and be forced to register as a sex offender for the next 20 years of her life... What’s more, charges might still be filed against the students who received the photos, regardless of whether they received them unwillingly. State law holds that “anyone possessing material that shows a minor in a state of nudity is guilty of a fifth-degree felony”"

How Obama's race helps him - "Research shows that feelings among whites toward African-Americans in general have little relationship to their feelings toward African-American politicians. "If I think most blacks are lazy, and I find myself with someone in front of me who I know has worked very hard and is black, I'll respond at least as positively as I would to a white—or more positively if I'm conservative," says Paul Sniderman, a Stanford political scientist. In a 1987 experiment, Sniderman discovered that conservatives were more likely than liberals to think blacks were lazy—but that they made an exception when they encountered hardworking blacks."

Japanese Farts - "It seems that many of you thought that the previous train crushing fetish was odd - you still have not seen deep enough into the world of Japanese fetishes... The videos shows a bunch of girls jumping up n down in school uniform to stimulate their gases where upon they lift up their skirt to deploy their payload in a boys face."

Borderlinx International shipping & tax solution from the US - "Globeshopper brings shopping from the United States to your doorstep. Many US stores will only deliver to a US address. Register for FREE and get your own US shipping address."
Cheaper than vpostusa, but you need a Citibank credit card. And naturally some items like chewing gum and "cigarette lighters of pistol or revolver shape" (I never understood this) are prohibited for Singapore. Hah.

Why you should have sex at least once a week - "The problem is that even if a couple shares a strong commitment and partnership as parents, without sex, a relationship becomes very vulnerable. Sex isn’t all that matters — unless a couple isn’t having it! Then it becomes the elephant in the room that no one’s taking about... Whether they’re arguing or allowing resentment to build, a couple will get further and further away from physical intimacy, which is an important part of reconnecting and buffering stress... One or both partners may turn to sex-substitutes, which often come in the form of overeating, alcohol and drug use, or, if the problem goes on too long, some form of infidelity."
HURR HURR

Q&A with Steven Pinker - "According to the Tragic Vision, humans are inherently limited in virtue, wisdom, and knowledge, and social arrangements must acknowledge those limits. According to the Utopian vision, these limits are products� of our social arrangements, and we should strive to overcome them in a better society of the future. Out of this distinction come many right-left contrasts that would otherwise have no common denominator... other leftists are fans of evolutionary psychology... Robert Frank argues that extreme laissez-faire policies don't make people better off because of our innate craving for status makes us waste disposable income in zero-sum contests of conspicuous consumption. And decades ago there were "Bell-Curve Liberals" -- British intellectuals who saw IQ tests as the ultimate egalitarian talent-detectors, which would subvert a class system ruled by inbred upper-class twits... Modernist and postmodernist art was [unpopular because it was] intended to raise our consciousnesses, illustrate a theory, or shock us out of our middle-class stupor... Popular culture, to become popular, had to please people, and (at least at its best) it perfected engrossing plots, catchy rhythms and melodies and gorgeous fashions and faces."

UCLA study finds that searching the Internet increases brain function - "UCLA scientists have found that for computer-savvy middle-aged and older adults, searching the Internet triggers key centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning. The findings demonstrate that Web search activity may help stimulate and possibly improve brain function."

Brown lawn means jail time - "Prudente, 66, must stay in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes until the required sod work is completed... Prudente has owned a home in the deed restricted community since 1998. The covenants require homeowners to keep their lawns covered with grass. Earlier this year, the Beacon Woods Civic Association took Prudente to court after he failed to install new sod on his browning lawn, which had withered after his sprinklers broke."