"If absolute power corrupts absolutely, does absolute powerlessness make you pure?" - Harry Shearer

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Daisuke Shima Heralds in 10 Years of an Erect Japan - "ED is becoming a big problem in Japan, with 1 in 5 men reporting only grapefruit-level hardness on Pfizier’s highly scientific scale of konjak (jelly) to ripe, red apple... “Some men say that if you normally have wood, Viagra turns it metal!” Why might a penis as hard as a grapefruit be cause for concern, when it’s listed on the scale as “plenty sufficient for penetration”? Interestingly enough, while most agree with the western stereotype that Asian men tend to be on the small side, the Japanese hold the fierce belief that they are much harder than Americans. Getting it up isn’t just a matter of being able to get off or not, it’s a point of national pride."

No sex please we're Japanese - "Only in Japan would a popular weekly newsmagazine deem it necessary to exhort the nation's youth to abstain from sexual abstinence: "Young people, don't hate sex," AERA magazine pleaded... More and more Japanese men and women are finding relationships too messy, tiring and potentially humiliating to bother with anymore... young women no longer feel bound by the Japanese tradition that says a woman unmarried after age 25 is like a Christmas cake on Dec. 26 — stale... Japanese men sometimes propose to women with lines like: "I want you to cook miso soup for me the rest of my life."... [In 1997] the happiest people were in their 20s, and twentysomething women were the happiest of all: 77.7% said they were content with their lives... Many young Japanese women live carefree lives, staying at home with their parents, paying little if any rent, letting their mothers cook their meals, clean their rooms and do their laundry... A few years ago, Tokyo Gakugei University sociologist Masahiro Yamada coined the phrase "parasite singles" to describe young people who sponge off their parents... the most carefree of the parasite singles tend to be women; the men are more serious about establishing careers and moving out on their own one day... "The good men are all married," writer Junko Sakai says. "Those left behind are all nerds or without jobs or violent or not nice-looking."... Yamada says young men and women need to get more realistic. Men need to start helping with the housework and supporting their wives' careers. Women need to stop waiting for the flawless man who's never going to show up."
I like the summary: 'Why are all the good men married or nerds or poor or violent or ugly?'

Laughing gas kills comedian - "A COMEDIAN died after accidentally overdosing on laughing gas while watching computer porn, an inquest heard."
At least he died happy - doubly happy.

No money so oral sex will do - "Two female cleaners who could not come up with any money during a robbery were instead forced to perform oral sex on the robber."
Malaysia Boleh!

Cognitive Daily: Even isolated cultures understand emotions conveyed by Western music - "Are there musical "universals"? In other words, do the emotions conveyed by music depend on what we've learned through our culture, or can anyone perceive the emotion intended by a composer of a given musical work? Does "good" or pleasant music have cultural boundaries?... Both Western and non-Western listeners recognized the intended emotion at rates significantly higher than chance (the dotted line on the chart). So even people who've never been exposed to Western music can understand the intended emotion."
I like how everyone hated dissonant music.
[Addendum: It looks like some things are universal after all, and music is a universal language. I wonder if these tribesmen would have found 20th century music disgusting]

Chim fired up over battle of the sexes - "It is time for men and women to sit down and talk before their relationships disappear down the plughole of materialism, says cultural adviser and comedian Jim Chim Sui-man... The "sins" of Hong Kong women include demanding men pay for everything, being late for every date, an unquenchable desire for luxury goods as gifts, lack of knowledge of current affairs and an inability to do housework. Mens' "sins" are low academic qualifications, low income, no confidence, staying at home and overusing the internet... "The first thing a mother asks about her daughter's boyfriend is what his job is and then what area he lives in rather than asking how the boy treats and shows concern for her daughter," Chim said. "Perhaps one day we will see men and women putting price tags on their partners, who will be put up for sale in internet auctions," Chim joked."

To offend the French, fondle a slice of cheese - "The Gallic Shrug is one of many simple but brutally effective gestures listed in a new travel guide produced by the Paris tourist board. Aware that it can do very little to change the stereotype of the arrogant Frenchman, it wants to help discerning visitors blend in by using the same body language... Le Camembert, which is used to tell somebody to shut up. You hold your hand in front of you in the shape of an L, and then slowly bring thumbs and forefingers together, as if gently clasping a small slice of soft cheese. A blank face — signifying vast indifference — completes this traditional French pose... The board is even encouraging Britons to send in pictures "of yourself imitating a Parisian" with the prize of a weekend in Paris."
STB should take a slice from their cheese wheel

France 'Gallic Moan' proves answer to hard times - "Vie De Merde" -- which means roughly "Life Sucks" -- was launched 15 months ago around a simple concept: tell the world a one-liner about your day that is guaranteed to give strangers a chuckle. The site's English version, "FMyLife.com" -- "FML" for short -- became an overnight sensation in the two months since its launch, with some 1.7 million people logging on each day, and huge fan groups on Facebook and Twitter."
Hah, so it came from France.

An endless measuring of red tape - "He argues that the reason why Ofsted and the Quality Assurance Agency have been so successful in expanding their activities is that the inspection system has become institutionalised. He suggests that "there is much potentially to be lost, and little to be gained, through challenging this system of regulation"... He then goes on to argue that the "problem with audit and inspection is that they are based on the assumption that the performance of an organisation can be measured and that improvement can be demonstrated over time". He also rightly argues that league tables are part of the problem... many staff are experiencing QA as "something that slows down the organisation through creating burdensome and unnecessary work""

The painful truth about trainers: Are running shoes a waste of money? - "The injury rates have actually ebbed up since the Seventies - Achilles tendon blowouts have seen a ten per cent increase. (It's not only shoes that can create the problem: research in Hawaii found runners who stretched before exercise were 33 per cent more likely to get hurt.)... It was an astonishing revelation that had been hidden for over 35 years. Dr Richards was so stunned that a $20 billion industry seemed to be based on nothing but empty promises and wishful thinking... Runners wearing top-of-the-line trainers are 123 per cent more likely to get injured than runners in cheap ones"
"empty promises and wishful thinking" sounds like cosmetics too

Inclement Weather Linked to Headaches - "For every 5 degree Centigrade (9 degrees Fahrenheit) increase in temperature, both migraine and non-migraine headache risk went up 7.5 percent over the next 24 hours."
This might explain why Singapore is bad for health, if it also applies when it's hot all the time.

Poor Texas - "Texas, with its glorious free market regime and deeply incentive-creating 25 percent rate of health uninsurance, has a per capita income of $37,187; nanny-state New Jersey, with its oppressive taxes and regulation of everything (what it takes to get permission to cut down a dying tree … ), has a per capita income of $49,194."
I'm sure the libertarians will find some way to blame government anyhow.