They want asexuality classified as a sexual orientation. Which, in fairness, I guess it is.

1% of the population is asexual? And I keep dating them all. What are the odds.

I believe that 1% figure (at least as regards men) like I believe the 1-in-10 gay figure.

Question: If you had no sex drive, would you be more or less productive?

This is a tougher question than at first I thought.

On one hand, with no sex drive, no trolling for porn, no wasting time and money in clubs hoping to find someone drunk enough to sleep with you.

On the other hand, with no sex drive: No compelling reason to work much at all. As David Chappelle said, if a guy could get laid in a refrigerator box, all men would be homeless. Take away the sex drive and the associated competitive mate-attracting behaviors, and one could be pretty happy in a hovel with a kickass TV and a Wii.

Then again: Jeeze Louise. Even without the sex drive you still have the urge to date?

To date? Dating is the worst part of sex.

Another option, of course, is for those who are asexual to form relationships with each other. Jay said that there is an emerging asexual dating scene, and some online dating services geared toward asexuals have appeared.

What is an asexual relationship like? Jay likened it to an intimate partnering of "very, very close best friends."

That's like ordering chili when you hate chili just because you have some urge to possess a fresh new plastic spork.

I'm not being misogynist when I say that men and women are basically alien species living together on the same planet, united only by our matching genitals.

Minus sex, what on earth do we have in common? I mean, both men and women find Law & Order passable if not thrilling entertainment, but you can't build a life on just that.

Posted by: Ace at 11:51 AM | Comments (156)
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This actually represents a major uptick in Boy George's career.

Previously, he couldn't even get arrested.

Oscar loves a comeback.

Boy George was sentenced to 15 months jail today for handcuffing a male escort to a wall and beating him with a metal chain.

The 47-year-old former Culture Club singer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, imprisoned Audun Carlsen during a drug-fuelled naked photoshoot at his London flat.

Sentencing the musician at Snaresbrook Crown Court in East London, Judge David Radford told him he was guilty of 'gratuitous violence'.

The judge condemned his 'premeditated, callous, and degrading drug-fuelled actions which traumatised' his victim.

The judge added: 'He was denied his dignity.'

Blank-faced O'Dowd glanced briefly at family members in the public gallery, who gasped as his jail term was read out.

In case you haven't seen it, here's Boy George's Obama tribute, Yes We Can.

Just because you can, doesn't me you should, you know.

That video looks like the gay rape scene in Deliverance as directed by Tex Avery.

Posted by: Ace at 11:12 AM | Comments (50)
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Yes, we're going to be finding a great many things which were previously declared to be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezey are just so goshdarn difficult and complex and nuanced.

Posted by: Ace at 10:39 AM | Comments (74)
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Europe loves us, so I guess life has meaning again.

As Micha Wyatt plans an inaugural bash at the Chicago Rib Shack in London, she is basking in the new warmth toward Americans overseas.

It's cool to be an American again, Wyatt said. "Finally! I'm tired of pretending I'm Canadian."

From Jakarta to Johannesburg, Americans who travel or live abroad are finding that instead of being scolded about the Iraq war, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or U.S. climate change policy, they are being hugged when strangers hear their accent.

"People would question me: 'Where are the weapons of mass destruction? What is America doing?' " said Wyatt, 38, a San Francisco native who said she does not align herself with any party but comes from a Republican family.

Since Barack Obama's election, she said, people want to hang out at American parties and talk about the latest news from Washington: "There is a buzz about America now."

We've been putting up with this new situational patriotism since just after the election, and every new example of it simply highlights the increasing toddler-ization of the left. When they don't get what they want, they throw epic temper tantrums.

Over the last eight years, George W. Bush and conservatives have been chided for a lack of nuance. We've been told we lack sophistication for believing there is good and there is evil, and that some evil cannot be understood or appeased but must be eradicated. Those same enlightened ones, however, cannot seem to grasp what many of us neanderthal conservatives have figured out - our sense of national identity is not dependent upon a need to agree or even like our political leaders.

I am an American regardless of who the president is, and that president is my president whether I voted for him or not. America is not a perfect country but it is a good one, and it does not lose that essential character when the party I did not support takes control of the government.

Maybe it's because I'm one of those simple-minded conservatives, but I simply cannot comprehend allowing the feelings of people I do not know determine whether or not I acknowledge that I was born and raised in the greatest damn country in the world. And being the obviously mindless 'jingoist' that I am, might as well go all the way and quote Ronald Reagan, because his view of America is also mine:

"And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home."

Posted by: Slublog at 10:20 AM | Comments (101)
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I think that's what she's saying.

Love, whose mother is Jewish but who describes herself as Buddhist, says of ex-husband Kurt Cobain's legacy: "Every time you buy a Nirvana record, part of that money is not going to Kurt's child, or to me, it's going to a handful of Jew loan officers, Jew private banks, it's going to lawyers who are also bankers . . ."

Awesome. It's good to see some celebrities besides Adam Sandler doing a good turn for Israel.

Come on, I'm Not That Stupid: If I seem to be saying something utterly fucking retarded, there is a good chance I'm being ironic.

Granted, there is also a chance I'm just being utterly fucking retarded.

But here-- irony.

Posted by: Ace at 09:31 AM | Comments (93)
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Here's the thing: The federal government arranged for them to acquire the faltering Merrill Lynch. Now it turns out Merrill was more of a liability than thought, and they're getting bailed out too.

So essentially we're paying the costs for BofA to buy a major company.

That said, it's possible the capital infusions either worked or were never necessary in the first place. So can we stop now?

But back to the market problem overall: Investors continue to ignore one of the very brightest spots in the firmament: Namely, the credit freeze is thawing, according to all manner of key interest rates and spreads. In fact, LIBOR is around 1 percent now, back to where it was in the early summer of 2007 before the crunch started. This means that much of the uncertainty about lending, borrowing, investing, and hiring is receding from the market. This is a very positive sign. While retail sales and jobs are lagging indicators, the credit-market improvement is a leading indicator — pointing to recovery in the economy sometime this spring or summer.

Credit has been unfrozen. So let's stop this nonsense now.

Posted by: Ace at 09:18 AM | Comments (58)
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A double: Both yet another Obama bar-lowering story, and also a All Obama Promises Come With an Expiration Date story.

Gee, I guess the situation is more complicated and dangerous than fatuous liberals claim. Would have been nice to have known that four years ago.

Caught by the Corner.

Posted by: Ace at 08:41 AM | Comments (73)
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Welcome to Fuckitall Friday, I will be your hostess this afternoon.

If you should need any little thing, just wave your naughty bits and I'll be right over to dump some ice water on them and slap you.

Got that? It's time for your beating.

Batter up, Morons. I'm in the mood.

Posted by: LauraW at 08:22 AM | Comments (312)
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Unbelievable Utterly predictable.

Newsbusters catches AP singing different songs.

January 2005:

President Bush’s second inauguration will cost tens of millions of dollars — $40 million alone in private donations for the balls, parade and other invitation-only parties. With that kind of money, what could you buy?
■ 200 armored Humvees with the best armor for troops in Iraq.

■ Vaccinations and preventive health care for 22 million children in regions devastated by the tsunami.

■ A down payment on the nationÂ’s deficit, which hit a record-breaking $412 billion last year....

The questions have come from Bush supporters and opponents: Do we need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?

January 2009:

For inaugural balls, go for glitz, forget economy

So you're attending an inaugural ball saluting the historic election of Barack Obama in the worst economic climate in three generations. Can you get away with glitzing it up and still be appropriate, not to mention comfortable and financially viable?

To quote the man of the hour: Yes, you can. Veteran ballgoers say you should. And fashionistas insist that you must.

"This is a time to celebrate. This is a great moment. Do not dress down. Do not wear the Washington uniform," said Tim Gunn, a native Washingtonian and Chief Creative Officer at Liz Claiborne, Inc.

"Just because the economy is in a downturn, it doesn't mean that style is going to be in a downturn," agreed Ken Downing, fashion director for Neiman Marcus.

Um.

Anyone get the feeling the AP feels like celebrating one presidential bash and not the other?

More: Video of Bozell rapping AP about this.

Posted by: Ace at 07:33 AM | Comments (103)
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The more I learn about the details of yesterday's plane crash, the more amazed I am that Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III was able to land that plane. This article describes what a pilot has to do in such a situation, and Sullenberger was able to do all of that in very little time.

Hot Air links to a story with more pictures and details, including the rather calm way he told his wife about the incident. If thereÂ’s any justice in the world, Sullenberger will never have to pay for another beer in his life.

Posted by: Slublog at 06:52 AM | Comments (113)
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