Wednesday, February 28, 2007

How You Doing

New York. Newww Yoooorrrk. I was on line at Rite Aid and there were three girls and a guy behind me. They had been shopping together for condoms and lube and a bit uneasy about it. From the conversation it was clear the boy was gay. And then one of the girls turns to me and says, "He thinks you're cute." It was pretty cool. I'm used to that at bars, but not just on the street.

They banned "the N-word" (nigger) in New York. Bro, whad my niggaz think a dat? I think ihs a gross vy-o-lation o' da first amendment. (story)

Monday, February 26, 2007

Fashion or Porn?

Dsquared
Photo: Marcio Madeira
Courtesy of men.style.com

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Skins

I love Skins! New TV show on Britain's e4 network. Not usually into the British stuff, but this is really good. And refreshing to be away from Idiot America stuff. Poor America doesn't realize how far it has its head stuck up its Oh, never mind. I was so annoyed when the episodes were removed from veoh. I had downloaded episode 1 and 2, and the next day when I returned for 3 and 4, they were gone. Luckily, they were still available on youtube, but split up into 10 minute segments. And undownloadable, so when they are removed I won't have them :-( Oh well.

I was happy with the network, but then I saw them get uptight on the compyright and all, and now they don't seem so hot. Bad PR, if you ask me. How can 50,000 extra viewers be bad for a TV network, right? And when I considered paying (1 pound and episode), I found that it could only be downloaded from e4 within th UK. How dumb is that?

Btw, it seems the Brits have issues with the program: It reflects their way of life, which isn't always pretty. I think it's the same thing that bothers me about watching US TV: Why watch it when I live it? Let me watch something different and learn about other cultures. Oh, and have some fun in the process.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

The Wrong Way to Reheat a Pizza

Wrap it in aluminum foil, stick it in the oven, and forget about it.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Is This In Poor Taste?

Onions and Lemons

The Onion

Chrysler Halts Production Of Neckbelts

DETROIT-Paralysis and violent decapitations contributed to the recall of all automobiles containing neckbelts.


The Onion

Nation's Teens Disappointed By Banned Books

WASHINGTON, DC-Huckleberry Finn, Slaughterhouse Five, and The Catcher In The Rye are just a few of the many banned books to which U.S. teens are reacting with disappointment, the American Library Association reported Monday.


Not a worthwhile endeavor, but the Onion makes a nice diversion sometimes.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Hussein is Running for Prez in US

Did you know that Barack Obama's middle name is Hussein? (Now where did I see that?) I won't support him any less because he shares a name with Saddam. Will you? Winner and Loser were a pair of twins, Winner was convicted of a string of crimes and sent to jail, while his brother Loser is a successful lawyer. So what's in a name?

Anyway, five CW Post students are undergoing an investigation and punitive action for making a comic film about kidnapping a rubber duck. Apparently, local Muslims were insulted by the Middle Eastern accents used in the short. They want everyone to know that they don't kidnap rubber ducks. . . they've got more important things to do. . . I didn't say that!

If Barack Obama wins America in 2008 and Ehud Barack wins in Israel, imagine the fun the media will have playing up the Barack/Barack relationship.

GQ Should Do a Cover with Shawn Hornbeck

GQ vs. Esquire? No contest. Esquire is inconsistent, has no image, no niche and is just random and weird but not in a good way. GQ is much more relevant and fresh. I was thrilled by their Shameless Left-Wing Magazine AgendaTM message to Congress ("Dear Democrats") on the last page of the February issue:

1. Protect gay marriage
2. Environmental protection
3. Stop trash-talking the immigrants
4. Step up gun control
5. Legalize euthanasia
6. Respect separation of church and state
7. Iraq war reforms
8. Legalize marijuana

Granted, I don't agree 100% with this agenda, but it's the best I've heard anyone suggest to this Congress so far to help get our country back on track.

I was just listening to the radio and every five minutes the radio host (Richard Bey, fyi) wants to say something that he "can't say on the air". THERE IS NO FREEDOM IN THIS COUNTY ANYMORE. It died with 9/11 and the Bush administration. It took a few years of living abroad and then coming back to realize this because they have everyone here on subliminal mindf**k. Everyone is brainwashed with rhetoric, but bottom line is that we are awash with anachronistic restrictions.

Forgive me flying off the handle.

Anna Nicole Smith dead? I never heard of her before, and when I went to look now I saw she is uglier than Brittany.

Survey says most women would give up 15 months of sex for a new wardrobe. Hey, isn't the wardrobe to help you look attractive to the opposite sex? If you are abstaining anyway, why do you need the nice clothes? That's how a man sees it. I guess for gals it's different. Or the results are inaccurate.

"Some people say clothes make the man, but the right clothes can even replace him," fashion designer, stylist and TV personality Carson Kressley from the reality TV show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" said in a statement accompanying the poll.

Did anyone else notice that Shawn Hornbeck is really cute? I know, it isn't PC to say that about a boy who spent most of his teen years as a captive to an alleged child molester, but I think it's an important point and this goes back to the Anna Nicole Smith story. America is paying attention to stories about good looking people.

There was a recent scientific study done about implicit effects of political party affiliation on aesthetic judgments of candidates' appearance. Similar pictures of Bush and Gore from the 2000 presidential campaign were shown to participants, who were asked to judge physical appearance of the pics. Sure enough, party affiliation predicted aesthetic judgments with impressive accuracy.

It is foolish to deny the effects appearances have on us. Let's own up and then we can deal with the effects and correct our decisions. I hate to harp on the poor Aken family, but they composed a message published on their website and signed by Shawn that just wasn't written by a 15 year old boy. Especially one who hasn't been to school since 5th grade. He seems like a smart kid, but this speech was written up by lawyers and to sign Shawn's name to it - whose interests does that serve? Why the deception. But it's a delicate case. And one I'll probably be paying especially close attention to because its implications for forensic psychology may make it a fantastic term paper topic.

Oh and about the Aken family, this was a juicy, if irrelevant, factoid that the Post picked up on: Shawn's father Hornbeck was convicted on sexual assault charges and did prison time during Shawn's early childhood. He was released on parole around 1997, but Mrs. Horbeck divorced him and Shawn never had a relationship with his father after that. Shawn's mother remarried to Aken in 1999, three years before Shawn's abduction. That should clear up the name confusion (Uhduh why are Mr. and Mrs. Aken dragging Shawn Horbeck around the country...)

My deepest sympathy, and I know this is not enough, to all who have been hurt in this disturbing (I refuse for the time being to call it tragic; we don't have enough details yet to know if it was that. Remember your Shakespearean tragedies where everyone dies in the end and then you know it was a tragedy? Well here everyone is alive and possibly well) episode. And especially to you, Shawn, you're the greatest. (At least, I think you are; I don't really know you.)

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Case #1

You are a forensic psychologist asked by the court to assess the accused's current and prior mental state to determine his competency to stand trial as well as potential criminal responsibility.

You try to interview the suspect (alleged attempted murder of a police officer), but he refuses to talk. You explain the procedure, his rights, the potential for this interview to open the door to a possible insanity defense; you also explain the unconfidential nature of the assessment. He continues to refuse to talk, claiming he isn't feeling up to the interview and anyway is suffering retrograde amnesia so he doesn't remember any details from the incident.

Following the unsuccessful interview, you call the suspect's wife. At first, she hesitantly corroborates her husband's story. She says at the beginning of his recovery from the bullet wound to his head dealt him by the police officer during their altercation, he was very regressed and had difficulty with basic hygienic functions. Later in the interview, she leaked more information.

"Will my husband find out what I tell you?"
"I will have to include it in my report to the court. Are you scared about that?"
"He's killed people before. He made me promise to back up his story."

You must now go and file your report to the Judge. Analyze the actions of the court psychologist up to this point and recommend the next step.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Sands of Time Flow Always In the Hourglass

Postmaster: Please note change of address. I returned from the Holy City back to the economic capital of the world. Left the Land of Canaan, returned to the erstwhile superpower of the world. Alas my time abroad has come to a close. But there is always a chance that this time next year, or even sooner I'll be someplace even more exotic. And anyway, there is plenty exotic in New York City. Like Eliot Spitzer and Michael Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton and George E. Pataki. I hear there is a big art show here next week, and the MLB All-Star game.

The city truly doesn't sleep, doesn't stop. But it is so BIG. Maybe next time I'll try some little remote village. I stick too much to capitals and big influential cities. If I get that internship in London, at least it won't be influential. LOL. But I figure London is pretty big as well. And not all that clean. NY is pretty clean. For a city this size, for all its shortcomings give them credit. This city runs so well for a city so full of people. And people are like animals. And animals are like people. And I'm overtired.

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers
Fourscoreandsevenyearsago. Our fathers
FourSCore and seven years aagoo, ouur fathers brought forth
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers

Four score andseven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a NEW nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that ALL men are created equal.

Speech class. I think I've just set the record, along with my compatriots, for hearing the greatest number of Gettysburg recitations in a row.

Sunday, February 04, 2007

The New Elementary School - Part 1

Imagine those poor Tourette's kids who have to call out "penis!" at random intervals throughout their day. At the cafeteria line in school. What would you like for lunch, Johnny? "Penis!"

Teacher: Who was the general who led the Confederate army at Gettysburg?
Johnny: Penis!

Johnny leads his team to a victory on the basketball court during recess. Michael to Johnny. Johnny takes the pass, he looks, drives, posts up in the paint. Shoots. Two points. Penis!

Oh, no. Yarislov brought peanut butter again. Now Freddie's going to break out in hives because he's allergic to the smell. Go call the security guard to take the peanut butter away from Yarislov and dispose of it according to Environmental Protection Act 11a. Wait. Freddie is angry. Uh oh. He's chasing Petunia. This has nothing to do with the hives, of course, he's just mad that there's a girl called Petunia. He thought her name should be Alexia. Alexia sounds like a nice name; it's too bad it's already taken by a reading disorder.

Jared and Brandon are shooting up in the corner of the schoolyard, Brandon goes on a bad trip and gets so scared he wets his pants. Johnny comes running over, takes one look at Brandon and shouts, "penis!"

Jared: Yes you idiot, it's coming from his penis, what you thought he had a vagina, asshole?
Johnny: I didn't mean anything it's just my Tourettes. What happened to Brandon?
Jared: He's on a bad trip. He'll be okay.
Johnny: Penis!
Jared: You say that one more time I'll rip your pants off, stick you're dick in your mouth and make you suck it.
Johnny: Please don't hurt me. It's a sickness I have that makes me shout strange things. I'm really not like that. You have ADD, I have Tourettes, like, we all have gotta have something.

Psychoanalysis

Let's try some free-association.

Stock markets up down hell sex hey i didn't mean that. It's one of those things you Christians are always saying. Love is great. I love to look at the beauty of good looking people, especially teenage boys. I could be on this topic all day, so that would kind of defeat the purpose, right? I mean, I'm supposed to jump from topic to topic? Do you feel like jumping from topic to topic. No, not really. OK, then just be natural. Write what comes into your mind. This whole exercise is unnatural. It is the most awkward thing. Fine, stop concentrating on the process, just let it happen. Ah, yah that's good. I like to jst let it happen. Like we're out at the club having a great time, and then we're at his apartment, and we just let it happen. Do you think it's odd that I'm always thinking about sex? is this normal? I hear polls from time to time about how often people think about sex, and the choices are like not at all, 1-2 times a day, 3-4 times a day. And I'm like what are they talking about? Try 6 to 20 times an hour. Parents are also one of those thing i think about when I'm doing these psycho thinking things. I think it's because of all that stuff you hear about parents being responsible for children's psychological probs. but maybe I'm just doing the defense mechanism thing. My aunt is a psychologist. Her mom is real proud that she has a daughter who is a "doctor". Now she just needs a lawyer. And maybe a real MD would be better than a shrink, idk. Medical school takes so long. Law is faster, but it's not a fun job. SO maybe I'll try writing. I saw an internship position at The Economist that looked interesting. Gotta write a sample article for the science section of the magazine to apply. I am typing on a keyboard. that is one of those classic fillers that you use when you aren't really thinking about things you feel comfortable talking about, so you just look around.
I'm shopping for a phone, oh yeah. I got this awful haircut Friday. I asked the barber to keep the style, just make it a bit shorter. Next thing I know, it's short where I want it long and long where I want it short. don't ask. made me appreciate my israeli hairstylist i'd been using in the holy land. I thought american barbers are better, but i guess even in this great country, some things are still hit or miss. I got new accuview contact lenses. much more comfortable than my old ones, which weren't disposables like these.
I've noticed people wearing these flashy glasses with big think temples. cut it out. ok. glasses should not be something that i have to look around to see your face. they should complement your face, not obstruct it.
My benchmark is hair you can eat. let me explain. ideally you would have some hair just long enough to reach your mouth, or maybe almost long enough, like just out of reach of your mouth. This allows a certain amount of freedom and flexibility for styling. Not that hair always needs to be this length. in the summer when the weather is hot for sure it should be much shorter. But once in a while i like to let it grow out a bit, especially when the extra thickness can serve as insulation in these cold New York winters.
I decided i like some red near my face. like black jeans, green/cyan/white striped button shirt under a conservative young sweater. shirttails protruding out from under the sweater, red scarf or button. idk.
there is this guy in school who when he walks by i look hard, gaze, try to remember every glorious detail, want to become one with his, eat him, hold him, love him. Why. why? what kind of stupid question s that. he's hot idk he's beautiful. can you elaborate on that. this stuff interests you huh doctor? when i ramble about new york winters you are silent, but talk about sex and you're all ears. ok he's about 5'8", slim, short light brown hair. oh wait, i'll describe this one. he drives me wild. A bit shorter, maybe 5'7", but I could be off. blond hair with a lock that sticks straight out in front at like a 90 degree angle so if i kiss him his hair would basically stab me in the eye. moist red lips, cheeks that make him look if he were blushing, energy. yah, that is part of a visual description of this guy. he looks "energy". you just see it on him. anyway, if i could be with these cuties that would be great. My printer is saying that it is thirsty. it gets that way sometimes after it has done a lot of printing. this post is getting long. shall we continue next week? Will you pay another $100 for a fifty minute therapy hour. No i will not, doctor. I think you are wasting my time. Why am i becoming a psychologist if I don't believe in shrinks? i guess because i know there are others who believe in them and if you believe in it, then at least you can get the placebo effect, so it helps them. Which is good. Unlike mass murder in Darfur. WHich is bad. And the people in hollywood like the people in darfur so they go there and take pictures and maybe they should make movies about them. Hi mr. you live in darfur. you could live in khartoum, but you don't so you get to get killed all the time. hi mr person from darfur, how does it feel to get killed all the f***ing time? To tell you the truth mr hollywood man sir, i like your money and i like that you come here and make movies and give us your money and i don't half recall having been killed all the time, though my neighbor from down the block, he's also mr live in darfur, and he got killed last week. but not all the time. so maybe you could ask him. but he probably not answer you because we bury him good. And can i have a free pair of those Toms shoes you like to give out to us poor people in Africa. And can you help me witht eh AIDS thing. I don't want to die of AIDS and you like to go on TV for helping us Africans with stuff like that. Anyway, it's ben a pleasure meeting with you, Mr. rich american hollywood guy. Now i'd better be off. I have a meeting with an impotent, that is important, terrorist leader to get to and there is not to me car so i would need run.
Go save the environment for us so we could live in this poor place and kill each other and get humanitarian aid from the people who aren't fighting and killing each other, they just fight and kill people in Iraq and destabilize the country so all the Iraqis can blow each other the heck up because maybe they like to die and then they could kill more Israelis in bakeries buying their food. How does that make you feel, Teddy? Feel? like punching you in the face. why do you always interrupt at stupid times? Would you like to punch me in the face? no, i would not. i was just expressing my distaste at your distaste. how do you know how i taste. You, idk but i was with a guy lat week who really tastes excellent. It's like licking absolute bliss. A spark goes right through your tongue straight to the pleasure centers in my brain and i just melt and hold him close. And then I have to finish two more quizzes for experimental psych. And I have to study for my LSATs and you are wasting my time. why do you think that this stuff works, anyway?
What do you think of when you think of wasting time? Try to free-associate to that idea. Computers that crash, lost work, stock markets can crash, lost money. wasting time? dying. the end of time. you get old, you can't do stuff. I want to make the best of my time but don't really know how. my spiritual leader said in a lecture a couple of days ago that there is no happiness like the absence of doubt. That the greatest happiness is knowing exactly what to do. That explains the joy of the hassidim. they listen to their rebbe, and blindly happily do whatever, no questions, no thoughts, no second-guessing. the rebbe did all their thinking for them. so there are no doubts and ignorance is bliss. but it's really bliss.
So back to wasting time. if i knew exactly what to do things might be different. but i don't and i have the feeling i guess (saw a hot pic on a Guess shopping bag) of time slipping away and i want to have lots of sex. i told you that always comes up. as i was saying time slipping away and life ending without meaning and what to do to give it lasting substance and there is religion and i do that. i do lots of religion and the whole secular world looks down at religion and wants people to be secular like them but they don't realize what they are missing because they are missing the essence of life and they live out meaningless existence and are never really happy and they should do more religion. but said spiritual leader (see above) also said that we don't just do some religion in our religion. we do everything according to the rules of religion, i mean every little thing to show we are slaves of god. wasting time? i guess not doing all of the religion stuff means i am wasting my time on earth. and doing all of the religion stuff means i am not having time for other things i value. early memories of wasting time? well, around my parents i would always feel guilty about wasting time because they were always doing important stuff and wanted the same of me. do your homework idk. i've wasted lots of time. like on a school holiday back in elementary, i would play hour upon hour of nintendo or playstation video games and then turn around and have to go back to school and i would feel terrible, that i wasted my whole vacation , and now it's back to school, even though i enjoyed the games. I'll see you again next week then, ok, teddy. go f*** yourself. You'd like that huh? no. If you were as hot as my acting coach then yes. and now you sound like me already.

Life is

Life is

Friday, February 02, 2007

Gay Parenting

"it is vain to blind oneself to the fact that the problem of male homosexuality is in essence the problem of the corruption of youth by itself and by its elders. It is the problem of the creation by means of such corruption of new addicts ready to corrupt a still further generation of young men and boys in the future" (Rees & Usill, 1956, p. 29)

"often have assumed that their children are likely to be emotionally harmed, subject to molestation, impaired in gender role development, or themselves homosexual. None of these assumptions is supported by extant research and theory" (Falk, 1989, p. 941)

"there is no evidence either that homosexual parents are more likely to seduce or allow their children to be seduced than their heterosexual counterparts or that lesbian mothers or their acquaintances molest children more often than heterosexual individuals. However, research on the point is scant" (ibid. p. 944)

you have comments on the adoption/artificial/sex gay parents raising the next gen of americans?

"Researchers have been unable to establish empirically that detriment results to children from being raised by lesbian mothers" (ibid. p. 946)

"[t]here is no evidence of any kind that demonstrates that living with a homosexual parent has any significant negative effects on children. In fact, it appears that gay parents are as effective and may be even more so in some ways than nongay parents" (Bigner & Bozett, 1989)

Bozett (1989) contended that "[t]here is no evidence whatsoever that children reared in households in which one or both adults is homosexual are in any way at harm, either physically or psychologically."

The American Psychological Association accepts the thrust of these conclusions so sufficiently, it provided expert testimony to that effect in the joint adoption of a boy through artificial insemination by male homosexual partners in the District of Columbia in 1992 (Washington Blade, 6/19/92).

More importantly, the American Psychological Association joined the National Association of Social Workers in an amici curiae brief in Bottoms v. Bottoms, November 15, 1993, in which the APA asserted that: "the belief that a child raised in a household with a lesbian or gay parent is more apt to become lesbian or gay is without any basis in fact" (p. 23); "the research suggests that lesbian mothers have parenting skills that are equivalent to or better than those of heterosexual parents" (p. 12); and "there is no social science evidence that even suggests that lesbian or gay parents are more likely to sexually abuse their children, or to allow them to be molested by others" (p. 13).

I've heard people oppose gay marriage on the basis that two parents, including a father figure and mother are needed to raise psychologically healthy kids. Is is not clear how this argument holds up to the empirical evidence.

Get ready, here comes the new forensic psychologist me. One of my new classes for the Spring semester.

i'm out of time, more later