Raro

(I hope this is the appropriate forum for this -- never done this before) There's a rather shocking news story about a 15-year-old French boy raped in Dubai, and all the foot-dragging and prevarication Dubai is doing to avoid the embarassment of trying the case in court: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/01/world/mi...st/01dubai.html. Dubai's been a golden boy of the international business world with its low taxes, openness to foreign investment, and sea access to the middle east; I'm curious how this will play out, if Dubai will be sensitive to international pressure in this case. As a side note, the "News" section of the forum apparently has been closed to discussion because, a year from US elections, most every topic looks like politics and we're not allowed to discuss politics. Hm... I hope this doesn't mean that for the next year all we're allowed to do here is wish each other happy birthdays. -- Raro

I really like the question! When I read magical fantasy, there's still enough little boy in me to ask "would it be cool to have this kind of magic?" And then the more sober rational part of me responds with "is this magic even plausible enough to day-dream about?" I generally prefer magic of the "wishing makes it so" variety, both because you can wish for so many neat things, and because there aren't any cumbersome explanations to get in the way of its plausibility. ((The most recent example I read of trying to overexplain magic is The Name of the Wind, where the author tries to concoct magical laws akin to some basic principles of thermodynamics, and has the characters blithely talking about "conservation of (magical) energy". For one thing this jarred me as being really anachronistic, since the principle of conservation of energy was only discovered in the mid 19th century, well into the industrial revolution and well beyond the technology level of most any fantasy kingdom. And for another, imitation of scientific laws doesn't make good magic, so the author promptly sidestepped many of his so-called laws.)) Anyway, two series that for me have cool plausible magic are the Chrestomancy series, by Diana Wynn Jones, and the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan -- though I never made it past book 6 of this, for quite different reasons. -- Raro

For a modern variant of the potassium-down-the-toilet prank, check out the news story at http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_250093958.html. Unfortunately, the injured bystander count has risen to five. -- Raro

Googling finds the link: www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_132.html. Quick summary: Thomas Aquinas, arguably the greatest medieval theologian, tried to reduce theology to a science, and in the attempt tried to hack through many of the basic questions one might ask, including whether two angels can be in the same place at the same time (his answer: no). Several centuries later, after the enlightenment, this line of inquiry was mockingly characterized as asking how many angels can dance on the point of a needle... since then "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" has become a generic stand-in for any line of presumably pointless inquiry and/or navel gazing. -- Raro

Hm... I read the first bit of the article and got rather concerned... nothing in it is clearly wrong, even if it sounds like this guy's been polishing his soapbox for some time. A brief google search turned up a much more disturbing article: http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_.../soy_story.html. The article is very well-documented, citing over a hundred sources, and provides plausible explanations for both why soy could precipitate a major health catastrophe and why we haven't heard anything about these issues (read: American corporations). It doesn't mention anything about homosexuality, but cites several effects one might associate with estrogen overload: sexual health problems for males exposed to soy at certain critical periods, and the startling statistic that one percent of (American) girls show signs of puberty before the age of three. Food for thought. -- Raro

So... sometime in high school I had some project for school and a really unenthusiastic lab partner, and ended up doing what you regret not doing: I wrote the whole thing myself, explaining to the teacher that my partner hadn't wanted to help, and handed it in. The teacher promptly told me that the assignment was to be done "with your partner", and thus I hadn't done the assignment either. So he let us redo the assignment together; after an excruciating couple hours hammering out basic english with this really unenthusiastic partner we turned it in, and got some awful grade. I'm not sure if the grade was really because our project was so bad, or in retribution for not doing it "together" in the first place. This teacher was all about teaching us odd lessons, and I'm still not entirely sure what point he was trying to make. Anyway, about my personal regrets... so this cute guy moved into my building, and while we were talking last night this perfect opportunity came up for me to drop a gay reference, to kinda "feel him out", and I missed it/chickened out. Yep. That's about it for the moment. I tend to nurse a regret until I've thoroughly absorbed ("grokked") it, and then put it behind me. -- Raro

I'll mention one that's already been used, but I think is just so creative, and yes this takes a bit of setup: (It's from The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss) Step 1, there's this addictive psychoactive drug derived from the sap of a certain type of tree; step 2, someone grows an orchard of these in the middle of nowhere; step 3, a dragon stumbles on the grove, takes a nibble, and gets hooked; step 4, dragon consumes grove of psychoactive trees; step 5, dragon suffers withdrawal symptoms and the killing rampage begins. It's a pity our hero shows up before the dragon really gets going... -- Raro

Hmph... I always get a cold prickly feeling whenever the specter of censorship lurks. That said, exhibitionism and voyeurism can cause strong reactions, and in The Lounge --one of GA's main entry-points-- may perhaps be inappropriate for the same reasons as discussion of politics. Might I suggest Porn Site for those of you planning on pursuing this? --Raro

Since no one else brought this up, I feel obligated to quote Harry's reply when Hermione asks him how Ron looks: "Well, he's not my type, but he'll do." -- Raro

One of the more annoying security vulnerabilities of just about any computer out there is that they trust anything physically associated with the computer, including not only the hardware, but also removable media like CDs or USB keys. For example (on windows at least) if you insert a CD (or in some cases a USB key) into your computer with a file called "autorun" on it, your computer will automatically run "autorun", without asking your permission, or even letting you know what's going on. Whatever's in this file will be done to your computer, before you can stop it. If it's a virus, you'll get infected. The upshot is that you should be careful about stuff that you physically put into your computer. (As a side note, Sony caused an uproar last year when someone realized how much software they were hiding on music CDs in the name of fighting piracy, software that essentially gave Sony complete control over your computer should they want it; it took the public several months to notice, in part because people had thought Sony was trustworthy, in part because your computer's assumption that anything physical is trustworthy is so deeply embedded in its logic.) Raro

<pokes room and waits> Raro

There's this quote that's stuck with me: "When our memories outweigh our dreams, we have grown old" (Bill Clinton). I think I'm particularly susceptible to overanalyzing the past, navel gazing, etc., and I have to keep reminding myself not to... And then of course there's the tendency to just ignore whatever plans I have for the future and live day-to-day. But perhaps the key word in the quote is "outweigh"; it's not so important how much relative time we spend on current concerns, the past, or our dreams, but rather which are most important to us. And I'd like to think my dreams rank highly, even when I'm drifting in the currents of more boring things. As a guy I know says [paraphrasing], "go in the direction you have to go; keep your eyes in the direction you want to go." Maybe that's what being a kid is all about: not looking where you're going! Raro (and please forgive the navel gazing)

Hey, I collect a list of quotes which I always seem to be reminded of, when deep issues are at hand. Here are a few, in an order that at least seems relevent and sensible to me: [about protecting children:] "We worry about what a child will be tomorrow, yet we forget that he or she is someone today." - Stacia Tausher "What

Hey, Just wanted to add a recommendation for Mysterious Skin. It's an excellent movie, but very rough on the viewer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a kid who knew he was gay since before he was 8 when he helped an older man sexually molest another 8-year-old. The movie is mainly about the 18-year-old versions of these two kids coming to terms with these events. It's rated NC-17, probably more for the theme than for anything particularly graphic. Go see it! Raro

Hey, Three things I wanted to mention: There's a relatively standard evolutionary psychology argument for why gay men typically have more partners than other people (not that I'm recommending arguing evolution with a conservative South-Dakotan). Both men and women are under evolutionary pressure to try to have as many children as possible. For men this means having sex with as many different women as possible; for women this means waiting until one finds a good partner, then trying to get him to impregnate you, and further hang around long enough to possibly help protect the child. So there's a fundamental pressure on men to switch partners frequently, and on women to aim for more selective long term relationships. In the modern hetero dating scene these two forces balance each other out, but in the gay male dating scene both sides are under pressure to switch partners frequently. End of story -- nothing particularly different about the sexual inclinations of gay or straight men, just no counterbalancing influence of women in one case. The second thing that's perhaps relevant to the discussion is the Catholic philosophy about sex. The Catholic church is an ancient organization with deep philosophical roots, and behind all the modern media-oriented rhetoric lie principles that haven't changed in a thousand years. As I understand it the purpose of sex in the Catholic worldview is to reproduce. "Go forth and multiply" is viewed as one of the fundamental commands of the Bible, and God sweetened the deal by making it enjoyable. So, in some sense, God orders us to do certain work but pays us for doing it with pleasure. Catholics take a dim view of those who take the payoff but refuse the work of child-bearing: maturbation, contraception, homosexuality all fall into this category. When your Pastor cites anti-Gay rhetoric, this argument is most likely what he has at the back of his mind. How can you be a good Catholic and gay? I don't know, I'm not Catholic. But the fundamental issues that arise for you may not be so different than those for heterosexual teenagers: masturbation and contraception are quite popular, even among young Catholics I'll bet. As a third and final point, I'd be careful getting yourself into a head-on debate with a pastor. As a trained member of the church he's been carefully schooled in how to be persuasive, how to lead others' hearts and minds with his voice alone. To quote an ancient Chinese text: "Kings and dukes always lord it over others and fight to win the argument. You will find your eyes growing dazed, your color changing, your mouth working to invent excuses, your attitude becoming more and more humble, until in your mind you end by supporting him." This is a good thing for the church, a bad thing for someone in your position. I'm not saying you shouldn't confront him. I am, however, warning you not to hope for too much. But if you go into a meeting knowing (1) that he'll never make you feel ashamed, and (2) that you're ready to leave at any time if there's no sign of progress, then I think it could be a good experience, hopefully for both of you. Best of luck! Raro

Hey, (I'm gonna mention several things that came to mind reading this. Forgive me for not citing sources, I forget where I came across most of this.) In the last few years there's been a growing and powerful push to address the "internet/child/sex" issue. I've put the slashes in there because it's sometimes unclear if this issue is being more driven by people who are uncomfortable with the internet, sex, or children in general. (To quote an unrelated novel: "they have a word for people our age. They call us children and treat us like mice.") There has been a ridiculous array of proposals for dealing with this "issue". I feel obliged to summarize a few just to emphasize how strange this campaign is. Myr posted something on his blog about some proposed US law that would require sex offenders to federally register every internet avatar they use, and would require all entities involved in the internet to keep track of these people. There was a law (recently struck down, I believe) that required "age verification" to view certain kinds of content online, with credit cards numbers the expected form of "proof". The upshot of this was a whole slew of websites being forced to demand a credit card number (that they promised not to charge to) before viewing the content. Of course, very few people would give a sex-related website their credit details, and this ended up as de facto censorship. I've heard a few times about some government initiative to "document" all the child porn they can find. The stated reason? So that they can rescue the involved children. So, what does this mean in practical terms? We've got offices full of government employees whose jobs are to memorize child porn images all day, on the off chance that they'll encounter one of these kids in real life to "rescue" him or her... And finally, there's this project on the internet to recruit volunteers to entrap "child predators". Their website (again, I forget the reference) proudly boasted that they have 30,000 volunteers who have helped out. Their methods are essentially anything that will work. Perhaps you start a conversation claiming to have just turned 18, then get the mark interested and committed, arrange a meeting, then right at the end act all tearful and say you're actually only 17 and really sensitive --suicidal?-- and you really hope this doesn't change anything... "can we still meet?". So the mark, perhaps now not intending anything more than comforting a presumably troubled teen gets busted for "crossing state lines with sexual intent towards a minor" (or however the wording goes). Whether the accusation sticks or not, this ruins lives. As a somewhat personal example, I recently heard that one of my favorite teachers from middle school had been accused of doing something sexual with a student, perhaps 25 years previously. (The accusation was made in the wake of the US catholic priest sex abuse scandal. It was a sensitive issue.) So, many of the teachers at the school tried to help with his defense, he ended up selling his house when legal fees mounted. Ultimately it was settled out of court, very hush-hush, the school had itself to protect, and the guy was forced to leave the state. In sum, all kinds of people --mostly innocent-- are being harassed because of a series of initiatives that don't seem to be having anything like their intended effect. Is child abuse an issue? Certainly; but child sex abuse is not the only form of child abuse, and possibly not even the worst. An alarming percentage of children are "slipping through the cracks", some with parents too concerned with their own problems to feed them, send them to school, or instill in them some sense of how they fit into society; some get caught up with drugs or violent crime through influencial siblings or friends; some get picked up by internet child sex rings.... Whoever finally picks up these children who "slipped through the cracks", pedophile or not, the outcome may not be pretty. But the problems for these children started long before they met the hypothetical pedophile, by a systemic failure of parents, friends, schools, social services, etc. to keep these kids from slipping through the cracks. Get rid of the pedaphile and he might be replaced by a drug dealer. A big portion of the problem is that our society treats its children like mice --very very precious mice. No thought is given to how a well-adjusted, well-informed child would deal with a sexual predator. Instead of the current program of trying to identify the sexual intentions of adults worldwide, we could far more effectively help our children by removing the rigid taboos against making children sexually well-adjusted and well-informed, or more fundamentally, preventing children from falling through the nets that reasonable parenting and education hope to provide. In short, let's not witch-hunt for predators; let's protect and nourish the "prey": our children. Raro