SCIENCE IS (MOSTLY) FUN

one a day could keep the stork away
1. New global sex study reveals a few surprises.

Ok, stuff we knew: monogamy is still quite popular. Married people have more sex than singles. Men have more partners, on average, than women.

Surprises: "there is no evidence that young people are engaging in sexual intercourse at earlier ages." Take that, conventional wisdom! Also surprising: "married women are actually at greater risk of unhealthy sexual behavior-they find it harder than single women do to convince their partners to use condoms." Oof.

2. Speaking of convincing men...new contraceptive Pill for men being developed, purportedly without any hormonal side effects. What's humorous about this article in particular is that it's less concerned with science here and more focused on the question: "would you trust your man to take the male pill?"

3. Not humorous but important: scientists find possible medical explanation for SIDS. Turns out, it might be a serotonin issue.

--O.W.

GETS THE GASFACE

do you ever think about when you outta here?
P.W. Botha dies.

--O.W.

THE "ALL CHINESE PEOPLE LOOK ALIKE" DEFENSE

Can you spot the differences? Me neither.

In Scotland, a judge cleared Hui Yu, a student from Beijing, of a minor traffic offense, after Yu claimed he was not the person officers identified as driving without insurance papers.

The judge sided with Yu, stating "Without wanting to be derogatory in any way, sometimes it is said that all black people look the same at first glance, and the same can be said that all Chinese people can look the same to a native Scot."

Janice Dickson, chairwoman of the Scotland-China Association, agrees with the judge's observations. But she also claims that the Chinese all think that Scots look alike.

I suppose the lesson here is that there are some upsides to people thinking that you and your ethnic brethren look the same. At the very least, if I ever decide to start a life in crime, I know where to go.

Hey Fat Bastard, it wasn't me!

Credit: AngryAsianMan

--Junichi

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #80

Fat Food Nation

This Week's Question:

Would you support a ban on all restaurants from serving any food with trans fats?

(FYI: New York City is considering such a ban.)

--Junichi

POPLICKS RADIO?

I'm experimenting with BlogAMP, which allows me to upload a few songs and gives you the option of playing my selected tracks on-demand while you read Poplicks. A Poplicks soundtrack, of sorts. Just hit play below.

I figure it'll be an excuse to put together a short mixtape every few weeks. Let me know if you have any feedback.

--Junichi

POPLICKS COMIC STRIP

For over a decade now, I have been wanting to write my own comic strip. But I have no artistic skills and my two friends who draw seem to think that my content will ruin their art.

At last, one of the greatest uses of the Internet has come along: COMMIX, a brilliant do-it-yourself comic strip site where you can lawfully use other people's art to write your own comic strips. The site is incredibly easy to use, although there are still lots of design kinks to work out. (There is no real search function and there seems to be no way to delete earlier drafts.)

Click on the image below to see the actual-sized version of some Poplicks commentary that I wrote in less than three minutes:



(Yeah, yeah ... I should keep my day job.)

--Junichi

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #79

Turner & Hoochie

This Week's Question:

You come home and find your spouse/partner having sex with the family dog. What do you do?

Specifically, do you call the police and have him/her arrested, knowing that he/she will likely be convicted of -- and forever associated with -- bestiality?

From the Seattle PI: Michael Patrick McPhail's wife allegedly found her husband having sex with their "squealing and crying" four-year-old female pit bull terrier. She took photos with her cell phone, called the cops, and now Michael Patrick McPhail's name appears in blogs like this one.

--Junichi

ALBUM COVERS DUKE IT OUT

Strong. Photoshop and YouTube have never been put to better use.

--Junichi

SEXY HALLOWEEN COSTUMES ... FOR CHILDREN?

Trick or treat?

We all know that Halloween has become an annual event during which women are encouraged to just dress "sexy" for the occasion.

In my mind, at some point during the mid-1990s, a few confused ladies took the classic French Maid costume or the Catwoman costume as a signal that they could simply show up scantily clad to a party and be "in costume." None of the straight men complained. And now, Halloween is officially an Exotic Erotic holiday for adults.

This point was best made when The Onion published the following:

Well, it was only a matter of time before little girls started following suit.

I found the following costume at halloweenmart.com:

Yikes, right?

Or am I just the prudish Puritan in the neighborhood whose house is destined to be egged and toilet papered by little girls to whom I refused to give candy because they looked like prostitutes and strippers?

--Junichi

CRACKA ASS CRACKA BARREL

Where Everybody Hates Chris

Ain't no laughing matter when two black women refused service in a restaurant in South Carolina.

But when it turns out to be Chris Rock's mother and sister who were refused at a restaurant chain known as Cracker Barrel, I can't help wonder whether Chris is thrilled he's struck upon such a goldmine of comic material. In fact, I wouldn't be totally floored if Rock had secretly sent his family to every establishment with the word 'Cracker' in it just to see what would happen.

Sometimes, I forget Chris Rock didn't invent the word 'cracka.'

His use of the phrase "cracka ass cracka" is so ingrained into my head that whenever my wife and I refer to an actual cracker, we have to say "cracka ass cracka."

For example, "Honey, I was going to make you S'mores for dinner, but we're out of Graham Cracka Ass Crackas. Shall we eat some Cracka Ass Cracka Jacks instead?"

In any event, Rose Rock, Chris's mother, has enlisted Rev. Al Sharpton's help to file a class-action discrimination claim against Cracker Barrel, which already has the reputation for being a racist establishment. Rev. Sharpton, who has also been mentioned in Chris Rock's routines, claims that he's been getting calls from all across the country with similar complaints.

While I suspect this lawsuit is necessary to remind the restaurant chain that segregation is still illegal, I wouldn't be surprised if this whole controversy increases business for Cracker Barrel.

Although a decent number of black -- and non-black -- patrons will likely stay away from the chain, there are probably more people in South Carolina (read: racists) who will patronize the establishment as a symbolic show of support.

(Sadly, I heard that Geno's in Philadelphia actually gained business when it posted its "This is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING 'SPEAK ENGLISH'" sign, despite organized efforts to boycott it.)

On the bright side, I greatly look forward to Chris Rock's next tour and stand-up special.

--Junichi

HOW TO MAKE BEAUTY

We're probably only the 1,032,313th blog to put this up by now but it's still a good video.

--O.W.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #78

Going Gone Out of Business

This Week's Question:

In your opinion, why is Tower Records bankrupt and closing all its stores?

Here are some possible explanations:

(a) Illegal downloading
(b) Legal downloading
(c) Giant retail stores like Wal-Mart and BestBuy
(d) Online mail-order stores like Amazon.com
(e) Rising prices of CDs
(f) Bad economic times
(g) Poor quality of new music
(h) Tower Records sucks

--Junichi

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #77

Chicago Daily Tribune fires editor for his poor Photoshop skills

This Week's Question:

Which of the following will American voters put in the White House first:

(a) a Mormon president
(b) a Scientologist president
(c) a Muslim president, or
(d) an overtly atheist president ?

--Junichi

ANGELIDES vs. SCHWARZENGGER

A Head in the Polls

Anybody watch the debate? Since when does "I can tell the joy in your eyes when you talk taxes" count as a substantive political discussion?

Quite frankly, I am dumbstruck over how Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is maintaining a double-digit lead over Democratic gubernatorial challenger Phil Angelides.

In a national climate where Republicans are suffering a serious anti-Republican backlash and in a blue state where Democrats far outnumber Republicans, Republican Gov. Schwarzenegger is destroying Angelides by anywhere from 11 to 17 points in the polls. Brutal.

The most shocking statistic is that Schwarzenegger is even beating Angelides in the San Francisco Bay Area: 42 to 37 percent. Mind-blowing, this is.

I have no difficulty understanding how Arnold won the recall election back in 2003. Gray Davis was immensely unpopular, Arnold came across as an independent maverick, and there was novelty value to electing The Terminator.

But today? Sure, Arnold has been good on environmental issues and has made more efforts to work with Democrats than any of the Republican leaders in Washington. He's also raised the minimum wage by $1.75, which is huge.

But otherwise, he's been a reliable GOP conservative, opposing progressive initiatives on nearly every issue ranging from immigration to education to labor to gay marriage to capital punishment.

He's also blatantly reneged on his original campaign promise not to take money from special interests.

And his tenure is marked with disturbing sound bites, like his recent suggestion that Mexican immigrants should be chided for "try[ing] to stay Mexican."

Despite this, he maintains stellar approval ratings and is on pace to win by a landslide.

This is not a rhetorical question: Why?

The best theory I can come up with ...

--Junichi

BOYZ 'N LAHOOD

Rep. LaHood makes inappropriate hand gestures around minors

Seeking the award for over-reaction of the year, Illinois Republican Congressman Ray LaHood appeared on CNN yesterday, suggesting that the congressional page program be shut down.

In effect, he admitted that Congressional leaders cannot be trusted to behave themselves around minors.

And who said politicians aren't honest?

An excerpt of the interview:

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After all these years, why would you suggest dropping the page program now?

REp. RAY LAHOOD (R): Well, look it, Miles, this program was flawed when the Democrats ran it. We know that Gerry Studds, a Congressman from Massachusetts, was involved with a young boy in a homosexual activity. And there was Congressman from Illinois that was involved with a young page a couple decades ago. And we see what's happened now with former Congressman Foley and his activities with pages.

To send 15 and 16-year-old boys and girls to Washington, D.C., it's an antiquated system. And my idea is let's suspend it, send the pages home, and have some scholarly people in Washington really evaluate the program and bring it into the 21st century. It just -- it's a program that simply is flawed. It has its flaws. We should fix it. And then if it's a valuable program, perhaps bring it back.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, that's kind of a sorry state of affairs. In essence, what you're saying is that members of Congress can't be trusted to be around young people.

LAHOOD: Well, that's pretty obvious. It's pretty obvious with respect to Mark Foley and it was pretty obvious a couple decades ago when other members of Congress were involved with young boys and girls. And these young men and women come to Washington, they look to us as their heroes and people they can look up to, and then we betray their trust or some members betray their trust by taking advantage of them. And we should not subject young men and women to this kind of activity and this kind of vulnerability. And what I'm saying is let's have some scholarly people in Washington really look at the program.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, well...

--Junichi

PREOCCUPATIONS

For anyone who doubts that sex and violence sells, just look at the top two stories of this past week: school shootings and Mark Foley. The latter has to be one of the most absurd acts of political theater I've witnessed since the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal. Its a wonder why the Democrats are even bothering to weigh in. They should just hit the sideline, pass the popcorn and Red Vines and watch the GOP stumble over themselves to try to enact some damage control.

One of my favorite moments in this regard came today on All Things Considered when Michele Norris interviewed Paul Weyrich of the Arlington Group, a conservative organization that's asking for Speaker of the House Hastert to resign. Here's what Weyrich had to say:

PW: "It has been known for many years that Foley was a homosexual. Homosexuals tend to be preoccupied with sex. The idea that he should be continued as chairman of the Committee on Missing and Exploited Children, given their knowledge on that is just outrageous."

MN: "I think there are quite a few people who would take exception to your statement that homosexuals are preoccupied with sex."

PW: "Well, I don't care if they take exception to it, it happens to be true."

MN: "That is your opinion."

PW: "It's not my opinion, it's the opinion of many psychiatrists and psychologists who have to deal with them."

Ah...ok, so homosexuals are preoccupied with sex but heterosexuals are not? Has Weyrich not, you know, turned on a television, opened a magazine, turned on the radio, seen a movie, surfed the internet lately? Has he not walked out into the street?

There's so much crazy out there right now. And just four weeks from the midterm elections.



By the way, speaking of NPR, here's Marc Acito on why gays aren't rushing to embrace their new brother
.

--O.W.

SENSELESS

The news out of Pennsylvania yesterday was unfathomably horrific. I know it's often said that crimes like these are beyond comprehension, but I truly cannot even begin to understand how a father of three could drop his kids off at school then storm a classroom and begin executing children, girls at that.

Ironically, I had been spending the last few days looking over material on masculinity in America for my classes at Long Beach State and especially with this recent spate of school shootings, especially the Colorado incident from last week, it's just another reminder that these kind of rampage killings are more or less a uniquely male province (the fact that they've been combined with sexual assault or selective targeting of girls only highlights this point in sickening ways).

Though I, like many, want to try to make sense of what's going on, I'm also filled with a wariness of how this may play out in public. If there wasn't already a stampede towards hysteria, there almost certainly will be one now and no offense, but hysteria is a very poor position to make intelligent policy decisions from.

On that note, I read that President Bush will be convening some kind of conference or meeting next week to discuss school violence. I'm not suggesting this is a wholly bad idea but it must be noted - despite the last week of school shootings, the "rampage" events (premeditated acts of mass murder on school grounds) are still extremely rare. You're about twice as likely to get struck by lightning than get killed on a school campus in America.

However, rampage killings, especially in suburban and rural schools, tend to gain all the sensationalist attention, usually under the auspices of wide-eyed, "we never thought it could happen here" incredulity. Two things I want to say here:

First of all, in many inner-city schools, violence is endemic yet rarely attracts the same kind of attention as when suburban/rural schools are the sites. To spell out the difference here, it's largely race and to a lesser extent, class. The conventional wisdom has been that urban students are victims of larger patterns of violence within their environment, usually pathologized as being a result of drug or poverty-related forces.

I feel that this often times excuses officials from having to address the specific manifestation of violence in or around these campuses. They push the blame onto the surrounding neighborhoods and it's questionable if any kind of site-specific policies are explored (besides increased policing and criminalization).

It's not that drug or poverty-related violence isn't part of what inner city students have to contend with but on top of that too is just the general culture of violence that we live in now and this is not something restricted to just urban settings. This should be the key tie between urban school violence and suburban rampage killings[1] - that the commonality they share is how young people - and adults - are exposed to a violent set of ideals that manifest from the most seemingly innocuous forms of popular culture all the way up to the actions of the American nation-state while in time of war. That the perpetrators are almost always men is no coincidence either since this kind of violence has a uniquely male quality that isn't always addressed.

By the way, I highly recommend people check out the documentary Tough Guise by the Media Education Foundation to get an idea of how violent behavior among men is neither a wholly urban or suburban (or Black/White) issue.

---

Added thoughts: I realize that I, myself, may be guilty of the same "missing the forest for the trees" mentality that I'm critiquing above. One of the things worth noting about 2/3 of the shootings this past week is that though they may resemble the kind of Columbine-style rampage shootings we've come to fear, they were 1) not by former students and 2) shootings whose site wasn't necessarily a result of symbolic choice but rather opportunity. In the PA shooting, police have claimed that the shooter chose the school because it was convenient but it wasn't an action taken against the Amish or that school in particular. Similarly, it looks like the CO shooting had to do with picking a location where the shooter could find the right population to victimize (blond teenage girls) with relative ease (i.e. less a chance of being caught or circumvented by law officials).

That's not to say that similar factors guiding both these recent shootings and other ones aren't still in place - social isolation, culture of violence, access to guns, etc. - but this seems to be a disturbing trend towards acts of sociopathic opportunity rather than a specific manifestation of hate or anger towards schools as a social or public institution.

Notes:

[1] Ironically, one reason why there's a lower occurrence of rampage shootings on urban campuses is likely due to heavy police presence and metal detectors at the entrances.

--O.W.

RAPPIN' TO THE BEAT

Previously unbeknownst to me until my colleague handed me a clipping, the LA Times' Robert Hilburn recently reviewed a few Sugar Hill related compilations a few weeks ago, two of which I wrote the liner notes for. These are part of Rhino's new Definitive Groove series and (among others), I wrote for the Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

In his review, Hilburn is kind enough to quote my notes for the Sugar Hill comp and I wanted to elaborate on what he said about "Rappers Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang:

"...the song wasn't original in most fundamental ways. The verses drew heavily from other rappers in the area, and the song echoed the bass riff in Chic's "Good Times."

As someone who is fascinated by hip-hop's early years and those moments where the music goes from local to global, "Rappers Delight" is such a remarkable document, especially as the song that helps spark off the popularization of hip-hop.

To clarify however: the Gang didn't just "draw heavily" from other rappers - they straight up BIT (or copied if you prefer) their lyrics from other rappers, especially Grandmaster Caz who was acquaintances with Big Hank. And the bassline didn't simply "echo" the riff from Chic - it was the riff from "Good Times." It's just that, in this era, digital sampling wasn't affordable yet so the the Sugar Hill house band replayed the bassline note for note.

None of this history is particularly new. Any of these books cover the same basics. However, the point here is just to remind people that hip-hop's entry into the popular world began as a fake, a construction, a bite of a variety of different artists' work. And I'm not saying this as condemnation, only that it's important to remember that so much of what makes hip-hop hip-hop is posturing and that the idea of "authenticity," prized as it is, is far more of an ideal than reality in most cases. Yet, what matters in the grand scheme of things is how the music is received and perceived. Despite the stories behind "Rappers Delight," no one denies its important or influence and even if its origins weren't as mythical as we'd like to think, it's still a song that arguably changed the world.

I like the idea of hip-hop having that kind of play and internal conflict and complexity, rather than ascribing this suffocating ideal of purity that so many want to cloak it in.

--O.W.

IT'S NOT "THE PLAY" BUT STILL...

--O.W.

GRAND OLD PEDOPHILE

Rep. Foley asks, "Have you ever seen a grown man naked?"

Republican sex scandals are so much more interesting than Democratic sex scandals. No?

I really don't care what politicians do in their private life.

But I do make an exception when one continues to chair the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children in the face of abundant evidence that he is a pedophile. And also if he authors legislation to punish people who use the Internet to exploit children despite his propensity for using the Internet to exploit children. And I carve out loopholes when a politician is secretly gay while supporting anti-gay congressional legislation like the Defense of Marriage Act.

I will admit, however, that even if none of the above were true, I couldn't avoid a scandal that involves the former Republican Deputy Whip admitting that he is "never too busy" to "spank it."

An excerpt of the alleged transcript is below:

The whole instant messaging transcript includes other impending and disturbing buzzwords like "reaching rock."

Now that Rep. Foley has adopted the Mel Gibson defense, I'm curious to see whether Alcoholics Anonymous can cure pedophilia.

Needless to say, the most disturbing part of all of this is the breaking news that the entire GOP leadership in the House and all the Republicans on the Page Board (but not the lone Democrat on the board) knew about Foley's desire to sleep with his underage pages ... last year !

Apparently, GOP leaders are the new Catholic archbishops. Shame.

Update: as new facts keep surfacing about how Rep. Foley actually tried to induce minors to have sex, a federal indictment seems more imminent.

--Junichi

QUESTION OF THE WEEK #76

To his credit, Foley didn't drink enough to become anti-Semitic.

This Week's Question:

Is alcoholism ever an acceptable excuse for anything? Should it mitigate the punishment -- legal or otherwise -- for criminal acts or moral transgressions?

--Junichi