Sorry about that. I'm away from home right now, and have basic web access, but not access to log into the server and restart the comments process. I'll do that as soon as I get home - but that will be another four or five hours.

In the meantime, you can continue the party in this old thread if you like.

Update: New Comments Thingy is running again. Now that I'm back from... where I was... I'll do some work on it to make it stay running.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 08:45 PM | Comments (50)
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As directed by Martin Scorcese. NSFW, bad language.

Via Whacking Day.

Posted by: LauraW. at 04:56 PM | Comments (10)
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Consensus! Sweet, sweet consensus.

Uncle Jefe wants to know if this contributes to the widespread delusional paranoia on the Truther left. So do I.

Brain scans showing how cannabis affects brain function may help explain why heavy consumption of the drug triggers psychosis and schizophrenia in a small number of people, scientists said on Monday.

Psychiatrists are increasingly concerned about the mental health impact of smoking large amounts of modern super-strength marijuana, or skunk, particularly among young people.

Until now, the mechanism by which cannabis works on the brain has been a mystery but modern scanning techniques mean experts can now detect its impact on brain activity.

...

Professor Philip McGuire and Zerrin Atakan of London's Institute of Psychiatry said their work using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, showed patients given the active cannabis compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) had reduced function in the inferior frontal cortex brain region.

This area is associated with controlling inappropriate emotional and behavioral responses to situations.

"What THC seems to be doing is switching off that part of the brain, and that was associated with how paranoid people became," McGuire told reporters.

Now, one may object that schizophrenia and psychosis only strikes a "small number" of "heavy marijuana users." However, it's rather difficult to believe that much greater numbers of people are affected with low-grade not-quite-clinically-diagnosable versions of schizophrenia. Such as acute lunatic paranoias about the physical impossibility of "fire melting steel."

But don't take my word for it.

Similar findings from other teams also highlight the link between THC dose and the risk of schizophrenia-like symptoms, conference organizer Professor Robin Murray said.

Now here's that sweet consenus I told you about:

"It's no longer a contentious issue. The expert community, by and large, accepts that cannabis contributes to the onset of psychotic symptoms in general and the severe form of psychosis, schizophrenia," he said.

Posted by: Ace at 01:13 PM | Comments (36)
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Goldstein asks:

Question: what would happen were an academic to take the actual findings of new DA [actual state AG] Cooper’s follow-up report on the Duke “Rape” case and write a dissertation based on those findings?

Or, to put it more provocatively: would a dissertation that posited “black, female entitlement”—based, as it is, on a culture of victim politics that rewards group-based grievance narratives and puts the burden of proving a negative on the accused in instances where allegations of sexual offenses against women are proffered—as a society-wide problem, one that underscores the pernicious nature of identity politics and so demands redress through a policy of consciously rolling back weighted legislation benefiting “protected classes,” be so readily accepted by media and intellectual “elites”?

And if not, why not?

On balance, of course, there is no black skin privilege. However, in an effort to overcome supposed "white skin privileges" our institutions do seem to go overboard, don't they?

To overcome injustice in society at large, our institutions are perfectly willing to directly inflict compensatory injustice on anyone, say, unfortunate enough to be the victim of a pill-popping lunatic whore's lies.

Posted by: Ace at 01:04 PM | Comments (9)
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Damn, you hate to see that. And they had such high hopes after the draft and some off-season trades.

Dropping to 200ft, [the Apache] swooped close to the motorcyclists - and the two men could not believe their luck: some of the passengers were holding the parts of a long-barrelled heavy machine-gun.

Six of the bikes slewed to a stop, their passengers leaping off and aiming their weapons at the helicopter in what appeared to be a well-practised drill, while the others took off across country. The Apache banked away to begin its attack run.

"Some of them were trying to get the heavy machine-gun up a small hill to engage us," Lt Denton said. "Capt Staley used the 30mm gun to take out the two guys who had taken off, and then we fixed on the ones with the heavy machine-gun. They were huddled around a large boulder and we shot them. We put as many rounds around it as we could, because if they got to it they could cause us trouble. But they never had a chance to set it up."

*** After the shooting stopped, 12 Taliban were confirmed dead.

American commanders believe that the uncompromising use of airpower in recent weeks has been a key factor in preventing the Taliban from launching their expected full-scale spring offensive against coalition forces and forcing them to rethink their tactics.

Another report on our devastating use of aerial firepower here, with a video report (sadly consisting of photo stills, but still nice).

American helicopters seem to be less dominating in Iraq -- largely because terrorists are armed with rockets capable of knocking them out.

Question: If Iraq is only a sideshow, at best, in the War on Terror, why is it that Al Qaeda and its state sponsors like Iran are flooding Iraq with lethal helo-killing armaments, rather than Osama bin Ladin's home base of Afghanistan?

Via Small Dead Animals, with Fred Kagan's take on the war in Iraq -- the Iraqi army is more and more standing up on its own. A bit wobbly at times, but getting there.

And not even the NYT can ignore the increasing progress in Anbar province:

Anbar Province, long the lawless heartland of the tenacious Sunni Arab resistance, is undergoing a surprising transformation. Violence is ebbing in many areas, shops and schools are reopening, police forces are growing and the insurgency appears to be in retreat.

“Many people are challenging the insurgents,” said the governor of Anbar, Maamoon S. Rahid, though he quickly added, “We know we haven’t eliminated the threat 100 percent.”

Many Sunni tribal leaders, once openly hostile to the American presence, have formed a united front with American and Iraqi government forces against Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. With the tribal leadersÂ’ encouragement, thousands of local residents have joined the police force. About 10,000 police officers are now in Anbar, up from several thousand a year ago. During the same period, the police force here in Ramadi, the provincial capital, has grown from fewer than 200 to about 4,500, American military officials say.

At the same time, American and Iraqi forces have been conducting sweeps of insurgent strongholds, particularly in and around Ramadi, leaving behind a network of police stations and military garrisons, a strategy that is also being used in Baghdad, IraqÂ’s capital, as part of its new security plan.

...

The insurgency in Anbar — a mix of Islamic militants, former Baathists and recalcitrant tribesmen — still thrives among the province’s overwhelmingly Sunni population, killing American and Iraqi security forces and civilians alike...

Furthermore, some American officials readily acknowledge that they have entered an uncertain marriage of convenience with the tribes, some of whom were themselves involved in the insurgency, to one extent or another. American officials are also negotiating with elements of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, a leading insurgent group in Anbar, to join their fight against Al Qaeda.

These sudden changes have raised questions about the ultimate loyalties of the United States’ new allies. “One day they’re laying I.E.D.’s, the next they’re police collecting a pay check,” said Lt. Thomas R. Mackesy, an adviser to an Iraqi Army unit in Juwayba, east of Ramadi, referring to improvised explosive devices.

...

Still, the progress has inspired an optimism in the American command that, among some officials, borders on giddiness. It comes after years of fruitless efforts to drive a wedge between moderate resistance fighters and those, like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, who seem beyond compromise.

“There are some people who would say we’ve won the war out here,” said Col. John. A. Koenig, a planning officer for the Marines who oversees governing and economic development issues in Anbar. “I’m cautiously optimistic as we’re going forward.”

Posted by: Ace at 12:20 PM | Comments (8)
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Criminally stupid. A thief stole a cellphone. So the cops dialed the number.

"An officer called and said, 'You've won a crate of beer'," said a spokesman for police in the eastern town of Neustrelitz Friday.

"Then he asked where he lived so he could drop the beer off, and the guy told him. I think the man was drunk."

It's a fair bet.

Posted by: Ace at 11:51 AM | Comments (6)
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The study is said to be "damning" of Cinemax's entire after-midnight programming schedule.

LESBIANS are twice as likely as heterosexual women to be overweight or obese, which puts them at greater risk for obesity-related health problems and death, US researchers said.

The report, published in the American Journal of Public Health, is one of the first large studies to look at obesity among lesbians.

Ulrike Boehmer of the Boston University School of Public Health and colleagues looked at a 2002 national survey of almost 6000 women, and found that lesbians were 2.69 times more likely to be overweight and 2.47 times more likely to be obese.

“Lesbians have more than twice the odds of (being) overweight,” the authors wrote....

They reviewed smaller studies that have suggested a higher prevalence of obesity among lesbians and the possible reasons why.

Hmmmm... Possible reasons why? Any obvious ones jumpin' out at you? Like the possibility that it's more common than obesity causes lesbianism than lesbianism causes obesity? Or that women simply tend to let themsevles go when out of the competitive heterosexual mate-market (as often happens after marriage to both sexes)?

Nah. This is science. Which means, now, it's politically correct.

“The results of these studies indicate that lesbian women have a better body image than do heterosexual women,” they wrote.

Ah. They're empowered enough to have "better body image" despite the fact they're, you know, pretty fat.

"Better body image," perhaps. More accurate? Debatable.

In more positive news, the study found that lesbians are "three to four times more likely" than heterosexual women to be "pretty handy with a lathe."

Posted by: Ace at 11:44 AM | Comments (79)
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Rather nasty stuff-- Al Gore's enivonmental guru implictly contradicted him by expressing doubt and caution about "projections."

The reaction from the Gore camp? Accusing him of being senile and a dupe of another scientist.

This part of the science is definitely settled: Al Gore is a cynical, unprincipled, and ruthless opportunist and borderline moron.

Posted by: Ace at 11:23 AM | Comments (10)
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It's not as detailed nor as thorough as I would have liked. KC Johnson's does a better job every other day pointing out her ludicrous contradictions.

Still, it does contain additional details about Crystal Gail Mangum's sudden allegation -- coming a year after her first claim of rape (and recanting of that claim, and recanting of the recanting) -- that she had actually been suspended in mid-air during the rape.

It's more absurd than I orignally thought.

Allow me to quote the Sex Pistols:

Lie lie lie lie liar you lie lie lie lie

Tell me why tell me why

Why d'you have to lie

Should've realised that

Should've told the truth

Should've realised

You know what I'll do

You're in suspension
You're a liar

Clinical but graphic details about a delusionary non-rape follow. more...

Posted by: Ace at 10:54 AM | Comments (14)
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The Patriarchy, Old School:

This 30-minute outpatient procedure, called "hymenoplasty" and costing between 1,500 and 3,000 euros ($2,000-$4,000), is increasingly popular among young women of North African descent in France.

No exact figures exist to say how many such operations are done, but the woman's surgeon says he gets three to five queries and performs one to three hymenoplasties each week. Demand has been rising for the past three or four years.

Doctor Marc Abecassis, whose office is near the chic Champs Elysees, sees the rise in religion among France's five million Muslims fuelling this trend. His patients are between 18 and 45 years old, Muslim, born both in France and in North Africa.

"Many of my patients are caught between two worlds," said Abecassis. They have had sex already but are expected to be virgins at marriage according to a custom that he called "cultural and traditional, with enormous family pressure."

For this woman, the decision to have the surgery came after she broke up with a boyfriend who had pressured her into having sex. Unable to cope with breaking family tradition, she felt a hymenoplasty would help put her life back together again.

...

A leading Muslim spokesman said Islam says bride and groom should be virgins before marriage, but did not take a clear stand for or against hymenoplasties.

"If someone committed a sin, the essential thing is to repent," said Lhaj Thami Breze, head of the Union of French Islamic Organizations.

For many doctors, resewing the hymen goes against their ideals of sexual freedom and personal liberty.

"The surgery is an attack on women's dignity," said Professor Jacques Lansac, president of The National College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of France. "We will not take part in a market that places value on the quality of a woman -- if she's good or not. It is an attack on women's liberty."

Of course, this being France, the procedure is usually subsidized:

...

The church-state issue flared up in 2004 when France passed a law banning religious garb, notably headscarves, from state primary and secondary schools.

Since then, Abecassis said, some Muslims in France have been putting much more emphasis on certain customs as a way of expressing their identity. "Today it's the two 'V's' -- veil and virginity," he said. "It's a social phenomenon."

Surprisingly, French social security reimburses some of the cost of the operation in cases of rape or trauma. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, the claim is a fraud," he added.

Thanks to dri.

Related: Iran cracks down on "loose women" who whorishly expose their foreheads. And clothiers have been ordered to saw off the breasts of their manneikins.

A round-up from the Patriarchy, Central Asian Division, at Hot Air.

Posted by: Ace at 09:52 AM | Comments (26)
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