Archive for the 'News' Category
April 20th, 2013 by JasonStotts
by Jason Stotts
The other day Diana posted a link to a documentary that I think looks incredibly interesting and I’d like to see the film get made.
The School That Never Was [Documentary]
We’ve seen the statistics and read the stories. If you’re a parent, you live with it every day. Public education is broken. And no one seems to know how to fix it. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The American education system was once the envy of the world. Once. No more.
The School That Never Was documentary will show how education got this way and what we can do to fix it.
Automatically Generated Related Posts:
April 18th, 2013 by JasonStotts
by Jason Stotts
1. Recently Prof. Jean-Denis Rouillon, from the University of Besançon, was in the news for a recent study that seemed to indicate that bras make breasts saggier. Apparently he’s pretty surprised by the media coverage and gave a more nuanced statement, suggesting that more research was needed.
2. Another anti-gay activist caught up in a disgusting scandal involving pedophilia: Anti-Gay Activist Lisa Biron Found Guilty Of Child Pornography After Video Taping Daughter.
3. We talked about same-sex marriage on last week’s podcast. During our discussion, we talked about the real harm it’s causing and here’s another example: What Actually Happened To That Same-Sex Couple In The Missouri Hospital?
4. As you probably know, I’m an Objectivist. Don’t know what that is? Take a look at Craig Biddle’s recent essay explaining What is Objectivism?
Automatically Generated Related Posts:
April 9th, 2013 by JasonStotts
by Jason Stotts
1. Last year I blogged about how mohels fellating recently mutilated babies is disgusting, immoral, and led to a number of deaths. Now these evil bastards are at it again: Herpes Strikes Two More Infants After Ritual Circumcision. It is time to legally ban genital mutilation of children for non-medical reasons. At the very minimum it should be illegal to suck their dicks after you cut them!
2. It’s about god-damned time: Judge orders morning-after pill available without prescription.
3. An interactive map of where abortion is banned and when in the pregnancy: The landscape of abortion bans, in one must-see map.
4. I love to see women stand up and throw off the yoke of their oppressive and misanthropic religions: International Topless Jihad Day: FEMEN Activists Stage Protests Across Europe (NSFW).
5. In 30 years we’ll look back on the sad fact that we had to have a cultural shift for same-sex marriage to be accepted, just like we can look back now on the miscegenation debates: Bet You Can’t Tell The Difference Between These Actual Anti-Interracial And Anti-Gay Marriage Quotes
6. Objectivists are less weird than we may initially seem: The Top 5 Misconceptions about Objectivists
7. I’ve long worried that the politicization of “global warming” has led to some…predictably politic results, namely the corruption of science: Global Warming: Was It Just A Beautiful Dream After All?
8. A couple of new articles about genitals: The Average Human Vagina and The Final Word on Penis Size?
9. Childhood is not a disease: More U.S. Children Being Diagnosed With Youthful Tendency Disorder
10. It’s high time: Introducing the Condom of the Future.
11. The “Aurora Shooter” James Holmes’s doctor warned police that he might be violent: Psychiatrist warned campus police about Aurora shooter a month before mass murder.
12. If you’re in a shooting, your best chance of survival is to attack: In Shift, Police Advise Taking an Active Role to Counter Mass Attacks.
13. Before you read the article, guess: Which Types of Images Drive Sales of Porn DVDs?
H/t to Diana Hsieh and Violet Blue for some of these.
Automatically Generated Related Posts:
March 11th, 2013 by JasonStotts
by Jason Stotts
1.US doctors cure child born with HIV. This is amazing news and with all the advances against HIV in the past couple of years, we may be nearing the end of the scourge.
Dr Hannah Gay, who cared for the child at the University of Mississippi medical centre, told the Guardian the case amounted to the first “functional cure” of an HIV-infected child. A patient is functionally cured of HIV when standard tests are negative for the virus, but it is likely that a tiny amount remains in their body.
“Now, after at least one year of taking no medicine, this child’s blood remains free of virus even on the most sensitive tests available,” Gay said.
2. New Sexual Revolution: Polyamory May Be Good for You from Scientific American I’m happy to see more mainstream outlets discussing ethical non-monogamy and polysexuality.
Two-by-two isn’t the only way to go through life. In fact, an estimated 4 to 5 percent of Americans are looking outside their relationship for love and sex — with their partner’s full permission. Now, social scientists embarking on brand-new research into these types of relationships are finding that they may challenge the ways we think of jealousy, commitment and love. They may even change monogamy for the better.
3. Can the President Kill a U.S. Citizen in the U.S. Without Trial? Attorney General Says Yes
Like many lawyers might, he used three paragraphs rather than just the one word, but that’s what he said.
Obama is seriously the worst president that we have ever had. If he isn’t raising the debt faster than anyone could believe possible, he’s violating civil rights. [Obviously this was written before Rand Paul's filibuster, which I enthusiastically supported.]
4. White House takes stance against gay-marriage ban. One of the only things that Obama has been in the right on is on same-sex marriage. Frankly, I don’t understand why we keep voting for the lesser of two evil political parties and keep making our country worse! We have to stop this insanity and vote for good politicians for a change. We shouldn’t have to choose how we want our rights violated.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration came out forcefully Thursday (Feb. 28) against California’s ban on same-sex marriage and, by extension, implicated similar bans in 37 other states. In a brief to the Supreme Court, which will hear two landmark same-sex marriage cases in late March, the Justice Department argued that gay and lesbian couples should have the same right to marry as heterosexuals.
5.
Concealed Carry Coming to Illinois. In a win for individual rights, the State of Illinois is being forced to allow citizens to carry guns for personal protection. Hopefully this will serve to lower the homicide rate in Chicago.
On Feb. 22, a 5-4 majority of the 10-member U.S. Seventh Court of Appeals upheld the Dec. 11 decision, which had been rendered by a three-member panel, to address absurdity and inconsistency of Illinois gun laws that allowed ownership of a firearm, but not the right to carry it outside the home. In other words, the “right to keep but not to bear arms.”
6. Legislator says cyclists’ heavy breathing causes pollution as they ride. In what should be an Onion piece, a state legislator from Washington has said that there should be a tax on bicyclists because they produce more CO2 when they ride. Newsflash, human respiration takes oxygen from the air and gives off CO2 in a process of gas exchange. Why don’t the environmentalists just go ahead and come out and say that what they’re actually against is human life.
SEATTLE — A state legislator started a firestorm by claiming bicyclists add to greenhouse gas emissions by breathing heavily as they ride.
Automatically Generated Related Posts:
February 28th, 2013 by JasonStotts
by Jason Stotts
Here’s some interesting links that you should take a look at. If you only check out one, read Dr. Marty Klein’s essay about sex addiction. I am in whole-hearted agreement with him that sex addiction is not a real thing and will be writing more about it soon.
1. You’re Addicted to What? by Dr. Marty Klein
Periodically, some famous politician, athlete, or entertainer gets caught with his or her pants down, damaging or even destroying their reputation, livelihood, and marriage. Within hours, my email starts buzzing, as media vultures circle the fresh carcass and want my expert opinion: Is Tiger Woods a sex addict? Was Katharine Hepburn? How about Eliot Spitzer, David Duchovny, Charlie Sheen, John Edwards?
The twenty-four-hour cable/Internet news cycle doesn’t want experts to talk seriously about this—they simply want people (Maury! Tyra! The ladies on The View!) who will announce, with just the right mix of scorn, smirk, gravity, and total confidence that so-and-so is a sex addict.
The schadenfreude is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Moralism stands in for sympathy. High dudgeon stands in for nuanced understanding. From all corners, we hear a Greek chorus of voices linking someone’s extramarital affairs to feminism, testosterone, the Internet, sadomasochism, consumerism, or even 9/11. And then they inevitably wheel in the heavy gun: “sex addiction.”
Most importantly, these public thrashings are a chance for the audience to condemn sexual acting out while vicariously enjoying it. America loves an excuse to sneakily enjoy unauthorized sex. The fall of the rich and famous is a bonus.
2. The Porn Myth: Uncovering the Truth about Sex Stars
Porn stars aren’t particularly keen on being studied. But they are the focus of great public interest and moral debate, which may explain why one man’s in-depth analysis of adult film performers went viral last week.
The average adult film actress is a brunette with a B-cup named Nikki, at least according to blogger Jon Millward, who spent six months analyzing the demographics of 10,000 porn stars drawn from the Internet Adult Film Database. But what’s known about porn stars beyond their breast size? Remarkably little, thanks to practically zero research funding and a community wary of researchers.
3. Why do Some People Have Fetishes?
Fetishes refer to cases where an individual’s sexual desires and behaviors hinge upon a specific object, such as shoes or feet. To be clinically diagnosed with a fetish, desire for this object must occur persistently over a period of at least six months and it must create personal distress (in other words, a fetish isn’t considered a clinical “problem” unless the individual is bothered by it or finds that it interferes with their ability to develop and maintain relationships). People can have fetishes for virtually anything, from the conventional (e.g., silk panties and leather boots) to the unusual (e.g., dirt and cars). It is perhaps no surprise that the most common question people have about fetishes is how they develop in the first place.
4. My friend Alex Epstein is making news with his Center for Industrial Progress, which I enthusiastically endorse: Business Superstar: Interview with Alex Epstein
Alex Epstein is a man on a mission: a new industrial revolution. Yes, that’s quite a mission – and Epstein hopes to achieve this goal with the Center for Industrial Progress (CIP), a for-profit think-tank that he created in 2011.
Automatically Generated Related Posts:
January 31st, 2013 by JasonStotts
by Jason Stotts
1. Reason has an interesting article up right now: “The War on Sex Workers.” Anyone who claims to be for the rights of women, but think that women who sell sex aren’t real people are simply deluding themselves. Whether selling sex is moral or not, it should still be legal and those who sell sex should enjoy equal protection under the law.
2. Apparently America isn’t the only country sturggling to come to terms with what to do about the gays (answer: treat them like people): “Russia ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban Backed By Parliament.”
3. Should losing control of a vibrator in someone’s ass result in a six-figure settlement? Would it have been the same if the couple was straight?
4. News flash: putting poison in your vagina in order to poison someone else is a terrible idea!
5. There is an Enema Bandit on the loose.
6. Finally: mind=blown. We’ve been using Chinese boxes wrong all these years!
Update!
I forgot these two:
7. “Never Life About Who You Really Are.” This piece argues much the same as does my recent “Sexuality and Privacy,” that we can contribute to having a better culture by being honest about who we really are.
8. Sexual Surrogacy might be a really good alternative for helping people with sexual issues.
Automatically Generated Related Posts:
January 14th, 2013 by JasonStotts
by Jason Stotts
1. Sara Reedy wins in Court
A woman gets raped during a robbery, accused of the theft, and then jailed. She filed suit against the police and eventually wins. Her case is alarming and worth reading if you aren’t familiar with it.
2. The GOP is still Advocating Rape
I discussed Todd Akin in my piece “Rape and the Magical Female Body,” but now someone is trying to explain his idiocy. Rep. Phil Gingrey is now coming out to defend Akin:
On Thursday [Gingrey told] a local Chamber of Commerce breakfast that Akin was “partially right” when he said last year that a woman can stop herself from getting pregnant.
“We tell infertile couples all the time that are having trouble conceiving because of the woman not ovulating, ‘Just relax. Drink a glass of wine. And don’t be so tense and uptight because all that adrenaline can cause you not to ovulate,’” Gingrey said.
Is it a prequisite of being a Republican that you have to be completely ignorant of human biology and reproduction? It’s no wonder the Republicans were able to so decisively snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the last election.
Automatically Generated Related Posts:
November 20th, 2012 by JasonStotts
by Jason Stotts
This is a post of congratulations: congratulations to me for Erosophia again being in the top 100 sex blogs! It’s also a post of thanks, to you, my loyal readers, for supporting Erosophia. Last year Erosophia was #93, just barely on the list. But this year, you guys really stepped it up and we made it up to #67! That’s a big jump and I’m really happy about it. It’s also really high on the list for someone who doesn’t post nude imagery or erotic stories and who primarily does philosophical discussions of sexuality and sexual ethics. So, thank you sapiosexuals.
It’s really encouraging to get this news right now. I’ve been so busy between working full time and taking two classes that I haven’t been writing as much for Erosophia as I’d like (although I have a big surprise soon for you guys!), but even with that, readership is still up and last month was our biggest month ever!
It really means a lot to me that you guys turned out to vote for me and support Erosophia. Your support motivates me to write more and keeps me interested in continuing to work on Erosophia. If you didn’t get a chance to vote for the top sex bloggers, you can still support Erosophia by donating money via paypal or Amazon payment to Jason(at)JasonStotts.com. You can also just shop on Amazon, buy me something from my wishlist, or subscribe to Erosophia on your Kindle for only 99 cents a month. Want a free way to show your support? Come like Erosophia on Facebook.
I’m really happy about doing so well and I want to congratulate all of the other sex bloggers who made it on the list! This was a good year for Erosophia and next year will be even better.
Automatically Generated Related Posts:
