quicklink, sex

Olfactory Pleasures

are more likely for those who engage in regular sexual intercourse, according to a study that has been published in the British Medical journal, reports Forbes.com’s Alan Farnham. And better sense of smell is only a small part of it: “Having regular and enthusiastic sex … confers a host of measurable physiological advantages, be you male or female.” Anyone have the Vatican’s spin on this?

Standard
oddly enough, quicklink

Frauenparkplatz

is German for one of the usually well lit and extremely conveniently placed discriminatory parking spots in car parks reserved for female use. A few weeks ago, I saw a comedy programme on German tv take the word literally: Husbands about to run errants parked their wifes on a “Frauenparkplatz”, leaving them holding the parking tickets in their mouths…

Well, maybe it was because of this gag that the Nox Bar in Hamburg has now started a “Maennerparkplatz”, or rather, “Maennergarten”, as in Kindergarten for men: “[f]or $11.80, [they are] offering boy’s games and home-improvement coaching as well as a meal and two beers for men left there for a Saturday afternoon, leaving women free to shop in the city’s swanky boutiques.”

I don’t know if this will survive in the long run – but they had 27 parked guys there on the project’s second saturday… who said the German service industry isn’t sufficiently innovative? [via Papascott, noted by AP last week.]

Standard
quicklink, US Politics, web 2.0

Georgy Update

The Ventura County Star thinks George may have stolen Georgy’s votes. Not that George (W.) though, who is probably innocent, for once. Here’s what the newspaper’s Colleen Cason believes:

“A heretofore unknown candidate named George Schwartzman placed ninth statewide. Although the San Diego County businessman insists his fresh ideas won him those 11,000 votes, his stellar showing more likely results from a case of mistaken identity. Voters no doubt confused George Schwartzman with Georgy Russell – the candidate who marketed herself on thong undies.”

Standard
quicklink, US Politics

Slightly Surprised.

The final results for the Californian recall are in – “100.0 % ( 15235 of 15235 ) precincts reporting as of Oct 9, 2003 at 7:27 pm“. In the end, only 1,957 votes were cast for Georgy Russell, while 3,747,446 (48,6%) people trusted Schwarzenegger to sweep the office. Georgy’s result is not only unfortunate, it also deserves a closer look given all her blog- and thong-induced internet fame. I’ll think about that over the weekend.

Standard
oddly enough, quicklink

Night of the long knives.

Kids, don’t click this link if you cannot entirely rule out the possibility of having a plastic surgery one day. Via Lillimarleen comes this link (Update 06/02/2014: link not working) to awful examples of plastic surgery.

And indeed, having at least a little idea of the kind of stunning effects well done plastic surgery can have, I am surprised that even some A-list celebrities are still being visually handicapped by their beauty-ops. Anyway – have a look, if you dare.

Oh, and here’s another beauty related statistic I recently overheard: In Venezuela, half of the upper-class girls aged 16-20 are getting “something” done -maybe that’s the reason why Venezuelan girls are renown for their beauty.

Standard
Iraq, quicklink, USA

Deserting a professional army?

Apparently, the number of deserters in the US army has been increasing for some years now.. Not surprising, one might be tempted to say, given the rising number of foreign deployments. But then again – maybe I am not getting this – but why would anyone desert in a professional army? Isn’t serving in a professional army like any other employment? Why “desert” when one could simply quit?

Standard
German Politics, Political Theory, quicklink

What’s Left On the Left?

Joschka Fischer has suggests that ten years after the end of the Cold War, a renewed debate about the meaning of “left” policies, is “important, and overdue“.

He’s right. The victory of Ronald Coase over Karl Marx (in battle not very m any people ever identified as such) has only grudgingly accepted by many whom I would classify in the loony left and left them with nothing but structural conservatism defending redistributive systems mostly benefiting people who don’t actually need them. Fischer’s right – the classic continental left has become increasingly unsexy, in the economic as well as in any possible postmodern sense of the term.

Standard