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Giving the Bleeding Edge
Secrecy is a long standing tradition in the martial arts. When you analyze how most arts developed, it's easy to understand why.
Take kenjutsu (sword arts) of the Samurai for example. A kenjutsu headmaster was in charge of training his disciples with the deadliest skills he could. Those men would then take their techniques to the battlefield and fight for their daimyo. Unfortunately, during the Warring States Period, backstabbing and side switching was so common it was almost unremarkable. The daimyo changed allegiances depending on what elevated their status or saved them from annihilation. They also intermarried among clans, which shifted the power of alliances. The Samurai were often doomed to follow along, even fighting against clans they once considered allies.
These switches could happen in a hurry, even in the middle of a war. The outcome of one of the most famous battles in Japanese history, the Battle of Sekigahara, was significantly influenced by a few properly persuaded commanders right before the battle took place.
Imagine now if a skilled kenjutsu instructor was wide open with his teachings, sharing all he knew with anyone who came to him. How soon would that information be used against him?
This secretive behavior persisted even after the Samurai were less needed on the battlefield. Sword schools transitioned from focus on large battles to more individual development. It was at this time musha shugyo became more popular. Roaming Samurai desired to test their skills against headmasters and make a name for themselves. If a headmaster was loose with his knowledge and word of his tactics got out, it could mean an early demise.
Karate and kobudo also posses a history of secrecy. After the invasion of the Satsuma warriors, quite a bit of tode and kobujutsu training was conducted away from prying eyes. The Satsuma had roving metsuke (armed informants) who would be all too happy too report or outright extinguish suspicious behavior.
It wasn't just threat of death that kept the lips of instructor's tightly sealed. Both Japan and Okinawa developed under Confucian philosophy. In Confucianism, there is little tolerance for questioning of those in higher stations of respect than oneself. Further, it is expected of seniors to maintain a certain level of aloofness above those below them. The result was a lot of show with little tell.
Our modern era has it's own excuses for secrecy. Luckily the amount of "roving fighters" has gone down (but not disappeared thanks to the everpresence of ego), so it's not a particular need for tactical secrecy that keeps teachers quiet. More often than not, it is a need to retain students. If a modern teacher with limited skillset teaches everything they know, then students will inevitably grow tired of the training. Some may have the natural ability to surpass the teacher and go beyond their lessons, but then the instructor may become concerned about the student opening a school nearby and taking students away (or just becoming better, which hurts the ego). One safe bet to keep students interested and at a comparatively low skill level is to institute varying degrees of witholdance and secrecy.
The Wayward Student
There's one reason for concealment that we haven't discussed, and it's perhaps the most important. Whether in the early days of karate or today in a modern dojo, the possibility of "wayward students" exists. Despite a teacher's experience and intuition, some people are capable of hiding what's in their hearts. On the surface a student might seem dedicated and cautious and honorable, but deep down they could be manipulative and devious. Some of the most important martial artists in recorded history have fallen prey to charasmatic "disciples" who have siphoned power and influence from them.
One or two of these deep burns is enough to make any teacher pack his/her belt away for awhile.
Aside from the political aspects, teaching a wayward student the most debilitating, deadly, and effective aspects of an art is not only regrettable but dangerous to society as a whole.
Truly, wouldn't it be safer just to teach the bare basics and not risk it?
Giving the Bleeding Edge
The task of finding an honorable student and helping them to higher levels is a monumental task. After getting to a certain point, the instinct and tradition of letting things "coast" is very strong. After all, it's been done that way for generations.
However, in this modern era, it is appropriate (and even vital) for teachers to draw students to the edge of their own understanding***.
Today, it is very unlikely that martial artists of the same school will ever appear on opposite sides of a battlefield. Nor is it likely they will face other martial artists who have received inside information about their tactics. Instead, students are probably going to encounter street violence. Technique foresight is not an issue; the training will work or not work based on quality, not on secrecy.
Therefore, it is the duty of an instructor to give all they can in order to help students protect themselves and their loved ones. After years of getting to know each pupil the instructor can make an educated decision about sharing deeper knowledge in the hopes the student will carry on the desired "way".
Teaching to the very edge of skill level is also critical for an instructor's growth. "Toping out" in regards to skill and knowledge while strategically keeping students at a lower level is a very effective way to never grow. If, however, a teacher actively pulls students up as far as he/she can, the teacher will then be challenged to improve even more in order to continue sharing and helping the students.
Personally speaking, a lot of new ideas and developments in my own training begin as feelings. I sense that something is coming within reach and manifesting into potential improvement. However, it isn't until I attempt to verbalize and demonstrate what I'm thinking that it takes ahold in my own skillset and becomes available to me in a more complete way.
This very blog post is part of that process. If I don't truly understand it, then I can't help others understand it. So in order for me to understand it, you have to understand it.
See, now you know all my secrets! (or do you??).
***(please keep in mind I write this as an instructor with limited understanding and experience. Kyoshi and Hanshi level practitioners may possess a different perspective given their experience, but I do currently believe this advice applies forever in one's training).
Walking the Beat with Okinawan Police
Okinawa is beautiful and it's people well-mannered, but even they are not protected from the realities of violence.
Throughout it's history Okinawa has been the stage for many conflicts and power plays, the two most notable being the Satsuma Invasion of 1609 and the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. During those times a great amount of combat went on, but what about the rest of Okinawa's history? What was it like day-to-day on the island?
For about as long as our records can tell, Okinawa has utilized a rudimentary class system. In it's early days the Ryukyu island chain (Okinawa being the largest of the islands) was split amongst a variety of chieftains. These small lords feuded in a constant tug of war for land and resources. Each ruler had a fighting class to battle for them and a working class to do the heavy lifting.
Eventually Okinawa conjealed into three main sects (known as the Sanzan period). A powerful ruler named Hashi (1422-1439) from middle Chuzan united all three territories after an extended military campaign. Years later, in the second Sho dynasty, Sho Shin (1477–1526) organized the local rulers in a unique way, pulling the leaders into a concentrated area in Shuri. He was also responsible for the first edict on the island banning the wearing and ownership of traditional weapons such as swords, firearms, spears, etc.
Weapons ban or not, the Okinawans had to deal with plenty of conflict in their normal lives. Territorial feudings persisted, rogue bandits known as wako scoured nearby islands (including Okinawa), and standard rabble-rousing was a stark reality.
What could be done?
Enter The Police
Sho Shin favored a Confucian method of societal order, and as such established very distinguished classes amongst his people. Along with the local lords (anji) who were now under his watchful eye in Shuri, Sho Shin designated multiple levels of Pechin. Pechin could range from the lofty Oyakata who were officials from important families, to the rather pedestrian Chikudun who came from non-noble and even common families.
Among the lower ranks sat the Shikusaji Pechin who were responsible for day-to-day law and order. These men of action were based out of an administrative building known as hirajo and operated within the Okumiza Bureau in Shuri itself1. Branching out from this main department were lesser kogumiza organizations operating via hirajo found in each of the outlying provinces.
Rank Amongst the Police
Inside the Shikusaji Pechin class were even more delineations. The most important inspectors or police chiefs were referred to as Ufuchiku, while lesser inspectors held the title Wakichiku. Beneath the inspectors sat the "beat cops" who held the titles of Ufusaji (senior cop) and Wakisaji (junior cop)2.
As you can see, the rank and file were well established and even resembled the organizational structure of modern law enforcement.
Luckily for lower class Okinawans, the order of society under Sho Shin was a mix of familial inheretence as well as meritocracy, meaning that individuals had some room to improve their station in life.These external motivations helped keep people deligent and operating at their maximum effort.
The Tools at Hand
Up until Sho Shin's time it wasn't unusual to see the fighting class walking around with swords or spears. With the weapons ban in place, things got a bit more complicated.
The first tool of the Shikusaji Pechin was authority. Sho Shin's class development wasn't just on paper – each class could be distinguished by the flair and color of their garb. For example, Pechin could wear yellow or red hachimaki3 (headgear) depending on their rank.
Of course, eye catching dress wasn't enough on it's own; Shikusaji Pechin realized they needed a wide variety of public deterrents. Their duties ranged from corralling local drunks to engaging deadly wako, which required a diverse arsenal.
The two main weapons the Shikusaji Pechin adopted, especially after the weapons ban, were the sai and bo. The sai offered an exceptional ability to trap, ensnare, and deflect weapons. Sai were frequently unsharpened which meant they could break and bludgeon without killing.
Bo on the other hand offered a distinct length advantage along with clubbing capability. This allowed Shikusaji to control and dissuade perpetrators without resorting to lethal force. When combined, the distance and prodding of the bos along with the pinning and striking of the sai made for an effective system.
The sai itself was constructed out of high quality metal, something rather rare on Okinawa (remember the island was never rich with natural ore). Therefore seeing a sturdy pair of sai on the hip of a policeman was akin to seeing a well polished badge.
Naturally, the Shikusaji Pechin also took interest in weapons that would always be available – fists and feet. As such, they became active players in the importation and integration of empty hand technique.
Direct Impact on Karate and Kobudo
The impact of Shikusaji Pechin on karate and kobudo is not theoretical; there are multiple examples of it's influence. One of the most important men in this realm was the police chief of Shuri itself. This powerful man went by multiple names (as was common at the time), including Kinjo Sanda, Kinjo Daichiku, Ufuchiku Kanegushiku, Masanra Kanagusuku, and Usumei Kani. Whatever he was called, he was to be feared and respected.
One of his more well known names, Ufuchiku Kanegushiku, offers insight into his rank. Ufuchiku was the title reserved for high inspectors, and being the high inspector in Shuri was a big deal. Ufuchiku Kanegushiku's duties varied from crowd control to specific guard duty to the king himself.
Kanegushiku was said to be a rather private man but in his later years chose to pass on some of his learning, even developing his own sai kata4.
Since Kanegushiku's time law enforcement on Okinawa has had a constant impact on the direction and mindset of karate and kobudo.
1. McCarthy, Patrick. Bubishi. North Clarendon: Tuttle, 2008. pg. 83.
2. Swift, Joe. "The Roots of Ryukyu Kobujutsu." Meibukan 10 July 2008: 2-4.
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pechin
4. Alexander, George. Okinawa: Island of Karate. Lake Worth: Yamazato, 1991. pg. 49.
Does Hick's Law Apply to the Moon?
When I'm in a bakery, I often stand transfixed by the many rows of donuts. They all look so delicious, I can imagine myself eating most of them. After a few moments, I narrow down my selection by deciding which one or two elements I really need to have (sprinkles, glazing, chocolate…). After that, I compare prices and sizes of the available choices. Ultimately, I make my choice and try to live happily with it.
Other times I remind myself that I'm trying to eat as little sugar as possible, and walk out without buying anything at all.
Most of us are fortunate to have these moments of abundance in our lives. But the real crux of this tale is the decision time it takes to make a selection. If there were only 3 or 4 donuts to choose from, certainly my process would be much simpler and quicker, even if it resulted in me not wanting anything.
The burden of selection and it's effects on the brain is a long studied phenomenon…longer than many people realize.
In the 1950s, a gentleman named William Edmund Hick performed an intriguing experiment. He utilized computers and humans to test how the amount of choices affected decision time. In fact, he boiled it down to a logorithm:TR+a+b{Log2 (N)} (read the wikipedia entry for more on that). Through his studies Hick concluded that IQ and choice quantity were heavy factors in determining the ability of a person to react quickly to external stimuli. In fact, as choices continued to rise, reaction time would increase logarithmically.
Hick Invades the Martial Arts
He couldn't have predicted it, but Hick has made a real splash in the martial arts world. Britain in the 1940s and 1950s didn't have the same kind of martial diversity as we see all over the world today. In fact, traditional arts like karate, taekwondo, jujitsu, etc were just starting to make appearances outside of their native homelands. Had they been as popular during his time, he might have seen the obvious connection.
One of the biggest (legitimate) complaints surrounding the traditional martial arts is the focus on technique quantity and visual appeal over quality. While there were many brilliant westerners who helped spread martial arts in meaningful ways, there were far more who treated kata like currency and were more interested in developing large schools and successful tournaments than truly learning how to use the skillsets handed to them.
The result of the early boom was a lot of half-learned concepts taught in unintegrated fashion. Instead of learning "better", many instructors just learned "more". Before too long styles were cropping up that boasted thousands of moves to defend against any attack.
Some practitioners (both traditional and modern in background) have spoken out against this kind of training, frequently citing Hick's Law to support their argument. They state that the hastily collected techniques and myriad of kata relied upon by many traditionalists will increase their needed reaction time beyond any semblance of usability.
It's a compelling argument. Unfortunately, it's not quite complete…or original.
Hick's Law – Not Complete
Since Hick's time there have been many studies in the realm of neurobehavioral science, many of which dispute some of the direct assumptions made by Hick.
"New tests on skills like driving vehicles, flying, sports and psychology, have created so many layers of fresh information. Larish and Stelmach in 1982 established that one could select from 20 complex options in 340 milliseconds, providing the complex choices have been previously trained. One other study even had a reaction time of .03 milliseconds between two trained choices! .03! Merkel's Law, for example, says that trouble begins when a person has to select between 8 choices, but can still select a choice from the eight well under 500 milliseconds. Brace yourself! Mowbray and Rhoades Law of 1959, or the Welford Law of 1986, found no difference in reaction time at all, when selecting from numerous, well-trained choices. " – W. Hock Hochheim
Mr. Hochheim's work goes on to explain further studies in deeper context. I recommend you read his study if you have the time.
It turns out, there are a bunch of other important variables that can affect a person's reaction abilities other than just pure stimulus-to-reaction-choice quantity. One of the most important aspects is how well trained each choice is inside the person's neural pathways.
Gary Klein (also sourced by Hochheim) explains that the brain actually possesses a dual track. When stimulus enters the brain through the eye, it is transported to two sections. The first (System II Cognition) can be likened to my donut quandary as stated at the beginning of this post. In System II, external stimulus is transferred to the frontal lobes of the brain, where the consciousness analyzes, assesses, and comes to a conclusion about the best course of action. This is a rather slow and deliberate process.
The second location is located in a more primitive part of the brain – the amygdala. Here in System I Cognition the stimulus flashes against pre-existing sensations similar in sight, sound, smell, and essence. The amygdala bounces a response back based on pre-conscious patterns that are not under deliberate control.
And, according to researchers Martin D. Topper, Ph.D., and Jack M. Feldman, Ph.D…
"Even though these two tracks are complimentary, we know that some people seem to be much more skilled than others at integrating System 1 and System 2. These especially competent individuals seem to resolve critical situations and also adapt to rapid changes in those situations. They invent routines they have never before performed and act in a fluid, seamless manner without employing full focal awareness." – Unconscious Competence
When taking more modern research into account, it can be concluded that the brain isn't slave to a single reactionary track that enlongates reaction time exponentially as stimulus increases. Instead, the brain can utilize different responses depending on how well trained it is. If the amygdala can sense recongizable stimulus as ingrained during training, it is then more likely to respond in kind. It can also utilize conscious decision making while responding in order to create new and more appropriate solutions.
Hick Back In!
While's Hick's ideas have been built upon since his original studies, he still has more to offer. One of his most useful ideas was that of Stimulus–Response Compatibility. In essence, he was suggesting that the closer the stimulus and response are in character and kind, the shorter the needed reaction time.
For example, it's easier for a person to hit a red button (amongst other colors) when a red light illuminates. Similarly, a person can more easily drive a car if turning the wheel left is connected with moving the tires left.
This idea works with the natural connections already established in our brain. The body and mind have built-in connections that allow us to function normally in every day life. They also allow us to protect ourselves instinctually. If something flies toward our eyes, our hands automatically raise up and turn palms outward. If something swings passed our groin area, the hips will instinctively lurch backward.
From a martial arts perspective, it could be considered wise to work WITH those bodily reactions and enhance their effectiveness. Furthermore, instincts can be used as launch points, connecting other methods of self defense from them, utilizing and sculpting the amygdala while providing it with trained pathways that connect it to a few structured solutions in the frontal lobes.
The Hick Argument – Not Original
The sophistication behind neuroscience is increasing every day. Our technical understanding of the brain's functions has never been better, and we stand to improve radically in the next few decades.
Would it surprise you then if I said the Japanese were making the same Hick-like arguments a couple hundred years ago?
Kenjutsu is an art with limited real world application. Anyone caught carrying a katana in day-to-day life will be quickly escorted to jail. Because of that, it's value in the martial pantheon is often overlooked by individuals focused on practicality. But consider this brief story…
In the early 1600s, a powerful man named Muso Gonnosuke roamed the Japanese countryside while engaging in musha shugyo, the practice of challenging other warriors to test one's own skill. One fateful evening Gonnosuke happened upon Miyamoto Musashi. His fame preceding him, Musashi found himself challenged by the brash Gonnosuke. Attacked suddenly, Musashi was able to easily evade and defeat Gonnosuke, leaving him alive after the duel (a rare occurrence).
Gonnosuke, thoroughly defeated, retreated to a Shinto shrine near Mount Homan where he meditated and trained for 37 days. It's said that he received enlightenment there and invented the Jo in order to finally defeat his rival Musashi. Armed with a weapon of increased length and an enlightened mindset, Gonnosuke eventually found Musashi once again and either fought him to a draw or defeated him (as the story goes).
The duel itself is not critical to our exploration of Hick's law in the martial arts. Instead, we need to analyze one of Gonnosuke's enlightened theories:
maruki o motte, suigetsu o shire – with the round stick, know the strategy of the moon on the water.
The round stick of course refers to the Jo. However, the idea of "the moon on the water" is a bit more slippery (pardon the pun).
When you observe the reflection of the moon on a still pond, you can see it's true nature. However, disturb the water and the image becomes distorted. Try to grab the moon, and you'll reach through it to the water.
The movement of the moon, subtle as it may be, is always reflected on the water. They are attached, not by any physically measurable property, but inescapably nevertheless.
The Moon and the Mind
This Japanese concept is very esoteric. In fact, many Japanese concepts are esoteric.
Japanese culture has long been steeped in oral transmission, frequently mixing fact with fanciful embelishment. In addition, their desire to hide real knowledge from one another has been deeply ingrained since the time of The Warring States Period.
In the old days, a good kenjutsu instructor transmitted wisdom to his students using artful story telling as well as thought provoking analogies and metaphors.
Despite all that, what the samurai were trying to impart is clear – The mind, when like still water, can reflect the truth of the moon. If the moon moves, it does not escape the water's notice and yet the water remains unperturbed. Should something disrupt the water or should it's surface become muddled, the image of the moon becomes hazy and unfocused.
This concept is often related to the idea of mushin – the uncluttered mind; free to act or respond.
To draw things out a touch, we can correlate the idea of disrupted water with that of a mind that is burdened by decisions. Think of dozens of techniques as being like dozens of reeds tossed on the water's surface. The clear path to the moon (as in, the opponent) is now slowed down as you attempt to push through the reeds and once again reveal the reflection. Continue the metaphor by analyzing the perpetual connection between any change-of-state between the moon and water. If a practitioner is connected to the opponent with such unencumbered clarity, they can move and act even before the opponent attempts anything of their own since the opponent's intent is at-once revealed.
When looking at the practice of kenjutsu, such a principle is apparent in every movement. The core of sword work is based off of 8 cuts. Everything that happens can be created from and returned to these cuts. Waza as performed by kenjutsuka are stark, simple, and effective.
Kenjutsuka realize that their lives can be ended with the smallest mistake, and a mind that is burdened by excessive choice and stimulus-overload would be quickly defeated by a better prepared warrior.
One Case Among Many
Gonnosuke's idea of "maruki o motte, suigetsu o shire" is hardly unique. All of the major sword styles have some way of building a foundation that can be relied upon in times of high stress with minimal choice conflict. They may not have known what an amygdala was, or that the frontal lobes are responsible for conscious thought, but they saw what worked on the battlefield. A few brilliant minds like Yagyu Munenori were able to communicate their ideas through the language of the time. Had they been able to grasp the science behind studies like that of Hick and Topper/Feldman, they would likely have concurred with the logic.
So, what of traditionalists that are fighting their own natural instincts in an effort to collect more techniques? Are they lost forever?
That depends. Each of the major classical arts (kenjutsu, karate, taekwondo) have roots based in true violence. The progenitors of those styles knew about things like unconscious competenence. Falling short of their high level can come from a wide variety of causes, including desire to make profit, grow business, form new systems before the old ones were understood, incomplete teaching, cultural miscommunication, lineages moving away from effectiveness (you get the idea – a WIDE variety of reasons).
Personally, this is why I find modern investigations so valuable. The scientific, research-based understanding of conflict can prepare us in ways that we might have missed while trying to navigate old esoterica.
And what of modernists who consistently blast traditional artists for being backward and blind to real conflict? Should they keep raging on?
That also depends. There will always be martial artists out there who spout nonsense and rely on parlor tricks to seem impressive. But perhaps modernists can also take a moment to realize the brilliance of some of the old masters, and what they were trying to impart through generations of artful study.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Faith Evans|17|Senior|FC: Ashley Benson|OPEN
Power(s): Precognition
When Faith was younger, she used to make up stories in her mind. Things she'd like to happen, places she'd like to go, people she'd like to meet. She was so bored and tired with her life, there was never anything to do. So she would sit at her desk in her bedroom and write or draw. Usually it'd be a fantasy tale or a story of adventure.
Regular life was just so boring. So when a new girl arrived at her school, of course Faith was going to jump at the opportunity to befriend her. Of course, she dragged her best and only friend Skylar with her. Thankfully, all turned out well and the girls became best friends.
When Faith found out that her two best friends, the two most important girls in her life, were going to go away to boarding school together she was devastated. Her parents could never afford such a large entrance fee, and they wouldn't want her wandering off into a school far away from them. It was a shock when Faith learned that her father had signed her up for entrance exams, and she passed due to her artistic skills.
✓ good sense of humour, artistic, caring, loyal, adventurous.
x blunt, sarcastic, vain, easily bored.
Skylar Moore & Paisley Branning - Best Friends; The thing Faith is most happy about that she's done in her life is forcing Skylar to befriend Paisley. The three girls are inseparable, and really, it's all thanks to Faith. Although she's a little blunt with them at times, and drags them into adventures, Faith loves and cares for these girls. If anyone harms them, they'll have hell to pay.


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Kid Breaks Leg On Jet Ski Stunt
Posted by austin576 on Sep. 26, 2011
Posted by austin576 on Sep. 26, 2011
Chuck Norris thinks this Guy is a Tough Guy! He could beat Him, but He won't because He has Total Respect for Him! This is the kind of Guy You can depend on in a Crisis to rise to the occasion & save You if need be. I'd serve with this Guy anywhere, anytime, in the World. He Doesn't Quit or Whimp Out like a lot of people do. All the Superheroes Nod to this Guy when they see Him out of Respect & Homage! You should all try to be more like Him instead of the Whiny Whimps a lot of You are.
i like the way adrenaline takes the edge of pain off 5 mins later he would have been hurting
i agree with airforcefun
Walk it off it's just a sprain.
ITS NOT a Freak'n Jet Ski. Jet Skis are ridden by MEN. These sit down wave runners are for Girls.
actually jet skis are made by kawasaki and wave runners are made by yamaha. and Sea doo's are made by guess who?? moron.
I have to say he took it like a man.
@pine-he still took it like a man. your cool on topic shows you have not broken shit.
Breakin joints dont hurt as much as bones (i.e. leg). Plus hes jus floatin, no pressure on it, nor does he hafta move it much, which hurts like a bitch!
what a rubbish stunt anyway
Just give him the same amount of anesthetic as Michael Jackson was given and it wont hurt a bit.
And whatever happened to "snapped in half" ??? On Break its always "snapped IN HALF".
Well obviously.
love his pink life jacket
what was the point of that!!
he didnt break his leg, he broke his ankle
if he was italian hes soccer career would be over. wheres the pain?
he snapped it in half
Fart Robot Approves!
I wanna smell yoU!!! XD
Hmmm looks like his ankle to me.
Yeah some kind of mistake!!
HE clearly states "ankle" yet break posts "leg". Why...?
I know they shoulda said arm because clearly the ankle is on the arm
I thought I was about to here a dubsteb.
Dumbass. I hope you were paying for your stupidity and not your parents.
looking @ all the comments.. shit you all just bout nailed it, except for he should've been a load that his mom should've swallowed
I can not stop laughing atm....
Ass. Deserved it.
did anyone else get turned on by this
Yeah, I pretty much jizzed in my pants
This video is a prime example of the Dunning-Kruger effect. This means the guy thinks highly of himself as competent (physically), but greatly overestimates his talents in a big to win himself whatever self-esteem he can manage to conjure up through stupid physical exploits.
why they never split their heads open! just once! u dumb bastards
I'm sure he was aware of the tube construction but obviously not aware that there was even a slight possibility that he was going to smack right into it. you gotta give him props though, he handled quite well considering. I'm sure all the d-bags here wouldn't have been able to handle it half as well. regardless, the dude was an idiot for even attempting to pull a stunt like that
damn that looks painfull
And not a single fuck was given that day.
How insanely cool can you be about breaking bones?
Last nights self-suck was interrupted by a massive fart to my face. Laughed so hard i couldnt finish.
JUST WHAT in the hell were you think'n boy!?!?
What the hell was that horror movie like scene cuts in the middle?
you guys are never happy are you?? you bitch when the films are not edited and then again when they are
He had a good time!
"I broke My ankle" "Really" "Yup" "Obviously". WTF DOES THAT MEAN?
I expected that conversation to go like this: "I broke my ankle" "really?" "no" "ok"
 means why the fuck would you say it otherwise jackass, thats not something you cry wolf about.


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Hi, friends.. it's Wednesday! And this week's theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog is Make Your Own Background!
So put away that patterned paper, and create your own! :) This week's product focus was stencils.. aaaaalll the rage right now. So here's my card, using a stencil, some ink, and a sponge to create my background:
I used Simon's Exclusive BLOCKED CIRCLES stencil with a couple Distress Inks (FESTIVE BERRIES and TUMBLED GLASS) and slightly shifted the stencil between color applications to get that great pattern. I accented it with a circle stamp from Simon's Exclusive LOTS OF DOTS set. The sentiment is from the Simon Exclusive HAPPY EVERY DAY set as well. I pretty much love how this came out.. it was SO quick to do. Plus, imagine the color combinations you could do with this! What do you think? :)
So now you're up! Link your custom-made background project HERE no later than 8am next Wednesday (the 11th), and you'll be included in the random drawing for a very generous prize voucher to spend at Simon!
And have you heard? Simon Says Stamp just introduced their very own line of inks and card stocks! Super quality, gorgeous colors... head HERE to check 'em out!
That's all from me.. thank you for peekin'. See you soon! :)


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Microsoft Announces New 360 Bundle Packs
Zonk posted about 7 years ago | from the more-for-the-same dept.103
Starting at the end of this month, you'll be able to get a little more for your dollar when buying a new Xbox 360. Gamasutra is reporting that Micrsoft has unveiled bundle pack versions of the Elite and standard consoles. The $449.99 Xbox 360 Elite and the standard $349.99 Xbox will now both come with packed-in game titles: Forza Motorsport 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. "Microsoft says both bundles will be available by the end of October and throughout the holidays. The retail packaging bears the company's new model-specific slogans, with the Elite tagged 'Go Big', and the standard 'Go Pro'. On October 3rd, various now-deleted online retail listings showed the existence of a third pack, the $279.99 'Arcade' bundle, which bore all similar markings as the new models, and was tagged 'Go Play' ... As yet, Microsoft has not officially announced the bundle, but all signs point to its imminent arrival."


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Thaddeus Snodgrass, Wide Receiver, Ohio
Snodgrass was supposedly going to commit to Brian Kelly in November but his commitment was declined. The Fighting Irish are clearly going to be selective in the 2014 class. Snodgrass is a 4-star Wide Receiver according to Scout.com. The Irish could be waiting on someone more talented to make their decision such as Artavis Scott out of Florida. But, Snodgrass plays in an excellent High School conference in Ohio that produces Division 1 talent every year. He is probably worth taking.


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Three Undergraduates Honored by Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program
Cecilia Gentle and Sarah Millholland were awarded scholarships, and Erik Sathe was granted an honorable mention by the prestigious and competitive program.
UST in the News for April 1, 2014
A student commentary on climate change, why fish isn't considered meat, and an appeal to lower prison phone rates are featured in this week's headlines.
Three Juniors Honored by Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program
Ryan Augustin, a junior majoring in biochemistry, was awarded a prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, an award that honors outstanding students who plan to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Juniors Elizabeth Annoni and Mark Painter were named honorable mentions.
You Can See For Miles and Miles and Miles at the St. Thomas Observatory
The university observatory will open its doors for public observing on Nov. 28 and Dec. 12.
Philosopher and Author Father Robert Spitzer to Speak on 'Creation and the New Cosmology' Wednesday
He will present and take questions on developments in physics and mathematics on Creation, the "Big Bang Theory," and the complementarity between new physics, philosophy and theology.
Under the Milky Way
First published images from the new observatory offer "awe-inspiring" view of our universe


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Breast Cancer Health Center
Can You Trust Your Mammogram?
More Ways to Get the Answers You Need continued...
When It's Not "Nothing"
Amalia Rigoni, 50
Olympia Fields, IL
Although she'd had a normal mammogram just a few months earlier, in March 2000, Amalia Rigoni was uneasy about a lump she felt in her lower right breast. Both her gynecologist and internist said she was fine. A diagnostic mammogram detected nothing. Still, she insisted on seeing a surgeon. That doctor, a general surgeon, told her to come back in six months. So Rigoni tried another tack: "If your mother had breast cancer, where would you send her?" The surgeon recommended a breast specialist who'd been his professor. The specialist checked her by closing his eyes and palpating the breast. "I don't like the feel of that lump," he said. "It was surreal," Rigoni recalls. "But I said, 'Thank God. At least I know what's going on.'" Almost nine years later — after a mastectomy, reconstruction, radiation, and three years of the drug tamoxifen followed by five on Femara — she's fine. Now Rigoni's a hotline coordinator for Breast Cancer Network of Strength, counseling women who may be facing the same struggle to get answers. "I tell them that doctors may know medicine, but you know your body. If something doesn't feel right, get it checked out." And, she adds, "go to a specialist."
Filling the Info Gap
Evelyn White, 48
San Francisco, CA
Support groups can provide invaluable information that patients may not get from their doctors. Evelyn White, for example, says her medical care was "great." She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2006, and underwent a mastectomy. But the chemo that followed left her unable to move — and she was suffering terrible crying jags. A friend thought it might be the medicine that White was taking for nausea — Ativan, a powerful sedative. She asked her doctor about stopping the drug and then, at a meeting of a cancer survivors' organization, heard about an alternative. There was a newer drug, Emend, developed specifically to prevent the nausea of chemotherapy — without causing depression. Once her physician switched the meds, "I felt a thousand percent better, physically and emotionally," says White. Later, the group helped in another key way. White had assumed her cancer was genetic (her sister was a survivor as well), and she was worried that her daughter, 24, might be at increased risk. Armed with information she got from a meeting, she underwent testing and, last year, was thrilled to be able to strike that worry off her list.
Originally published on September 9, 2008
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Tag Archives | Weed
Hemp is a Threat to US Corporatocracy
The Psychedelic 90's—Modern Myth Making and the Music Press
As an obsessive music weirdo, you start to notice some odd patterns as you get older and contemplate the way that most people contextualize music in their lives. I'm not sure how much research has been done on this, but as far as I can tell, in most cases, whatever stuff someone happened to get down to during their formative developmental ages of say, 14-24, apparently permanently burns itself into their psyche and leaves an indelible mark on their opinion as to what constitutes "good shit" for the rest of their lives. This is the sort of secret psychology you'll never read about in text books but I'm sure sketchy uptight rich dudes talk about behind closed doors 24/7. The one thing I can say about pursuing psychology in college was that I quite quickly picked up on the fact that the real people who understand how to bend the human psyche work at PR firms and press agencies, not universities.… Read the rest
Lebron James Will be Better Than Michael Jordan…at Life! Take the Ride Disinfonauts, Your Psychic Sports Tribute to Ingo Swann Starts…Right Now!
You know how I know I'm not very smart? I might be able to convince myself I'm excessively clever at times, in various states of divine intoxication, but I always come back to earth. At the end of the day, my poetic super-mind basically goes blank the second a cute girl walks by or someone throws on a basketball game. All of a sudden I'm a drooling animal. Total right brain switch off. Some refer to this primal aspect lurking within ourselves as the reptilian mind. Should be noted that I also smoke a ton of pot and that's a positive aspect of pot smoking I don't hear too many people talk up. When you're high a lot, you do a lot of hilariously stupid shit, which is good for your psychology because you start to find it impossible to look at yourself in too serious a light. This is good for everyone.… Read the rest
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Crapfest—Things I Never Hear Anyone Say About the Music Business
One of the strangest things about watching lefty hippie types getting all fired up about wealth inequality is that I never see them even acknowledge how much worse everything is in the arts, which a lot of them are directly involved with. Don't want to bite the hand that feeds (or pretends like it might feed you one day). Let's face it, you're not a real artist until rich people say you are and sadly, it's probably better now than it used to be say, fifty years ago. Doesn't matter what art form you're involved with, it's all fairly impossible to make ends meet unless you're either born or fuck your way into the privilege factory. Having a trust fund helps. And that's the sad thing no one's saying about this stuff, the worse income disparity gets in society as a whole, the even more psychotically worse it gets in the arts.… Read the rest
"They" Told Me to Write This
Who are "they"? Good question. Grey Aliens? Beings from the Sirius star system? Harvey the white rabbit? Fuck if I know. They appear to refract differently through the nervous system of everyone who comes into contact with them. I actually started referring to them as hynagogic light entities after they started showing up in my peripheral sleep states. The whole scene started crackling right after I began performing magick. I summoned them and they came, rebuilding the structure of my soul on a near nightly basis—which often felt like computer updates being rapidly downloaded into my psyche. Seriously, that's how it went down from my perspective, I started doing magick and they started installing the sorcerer software pack into the very fiber of my being.
This went on for months before they finally finished. They showed me what they'd been working on and of course I didn't understand it even remotely, but they seemed quite proud of themselves.… Read the rest
Hear Beloved Children's Poet Shel Silverstein Sings about Weed, STDs and Masochistic Babies
Weed Wars: Medical Marijuana Hits Reality TV
"Most of our patients and our staff were really skeptical about doing a reality TV show because they were watching Jersey Shore and The Kardashians," says Andrew DeAngelo, general manager of Oakland, California's Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the world. Andrew and his brother, Harborside's Executive Director Steve DeAngleo, are co-stars of Weed Wars, a new show by the Discovery Channel that looks into lives of those who run Harborside, the patients that seek out their services, and the politicians looking to shut them down. "There are a lot of stigmas about medical cannabis patients, that we don't work hard, that we're a bunch of stoners...
House Introduces Bill To Protect Medical Marijuana Industry
The House is doing what it can to protect the medical marijuana dispensaries with a bill that has been proposed to allow the marijuana industry to act as any other legal buisness, including expense deduction on federal tax returns and would make both businesses and patients "immune to federal prosecution if they are acting in compliance with local marijuana laws." Via AlterNet:
… Read the rest
Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA), Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced legislation to the House on Wednesday aimed at ensuring the medical marijuana industry is treated like any other business.
The legislation was supported by Republican Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (CA) and Ron Paul (TX).
The Small Business Tax Equity Act, introduced by Stark, authorizes medical marijuana dispensaries to take the full range of business expense deductions on their federal tax returns, like other legal businesses are allowed to.
"Our tax code undercuts legal medical marijuana dispensaries by preventing them from taking all the deductions allowed for other small businesses," Stark stated.
Will Big Pharma Take Over The American Market For Medical Marijuana?
If the hundreds of uses for cannabis doesn't plead the case for its legalization, the money made from its medical industry just might do it. The Washington Independent reports:
… Read the rest
The American Independent has previously reported on the growing corporatization of the incipient medical marijuana industry at a time when medical marijuana dispensaries scrabble to hold on to their businesses in the face of a multi-pronged federal crackdown. But there are signs afoot that it just may become ever more corporate if a Big Pharma push to get the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to recognize a cannabis-derived drug is successful.
Last week, British prescription drug manufacturer GW Pharmaceuticals announced a licensing agreement with drug giant Novartis, maker of Ritalin and Excedrin, to begin selling GW's drug Sativex in markets across Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Middle East. The medication is already available in Britain, where it's produced and marketed by Bayer, and in Canada and Spain.


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My Cute Asian is dedicated to the seemingly innocent, nubile pleasures of hot Asian chicks who just can't seem to get enough dicks to suck and fuck long time. It certainly isn't lacking in quantity and I'm happy to report that it's looking better than ever these days. Navigation is also better than it's ever been.
MyCuteAsian's 657 videos can be downloaded as MP4, Windows Media, MPEG or AVI files (not every format is available for each one, though). The flicks vary in quality, which isn't too surprising since the content is user-submitted, or at least that's what they're claiming. If you look around, you'll come across many great-quality flicks and some in Full HD, but most are average in quality.
The photo collection has grown to 5,613 picture sets and there are now some high-res images to be found. You can view them in slideshows or download them in Zip files if you prefer, but that's not really necessary because the sets are very small, averaging about 10 images each.
The material is a mix of softcore and hardcore action, so be prepared for a bit of everything. You might see a chick taking herself to orgasm using her fingers in one scene and then see a babe getting banged outdoors in another. You might even see two Asian cuties getting down and dirty together.
Extra content includes hundreds of Asian movies as well as ones in other niches. They can only be streamed, though, and the quality didn't really measure up to what they claimed. Four bonus sites are also included: AV Idolz, Brutal Asia, Asians Bondage and JAVHQ. As you can see, the Asian theme is carried throughout the network.
The site promises daily updates, but there have only been 44 new videos over the last 20 weeks or so. I figured that meant updates included vids and pics combined, but there have been 159 new galleries in that time. Most likely, this just means that they don't add new videos as often as they used to.
My Cute Asian delivers true Asian amateurs in spades and shows them off in hot action. I would like to see more higher-quality vids, but they are all decent enough to watch and the bonuses add all that extra Asian action.
|By: Will Peters
|Number of Reviews: 1488
|Average Score: 63.9
- Comment by: Billy - Score: 15/100 - Date: 9/16/2010
This is by far the worst site I will ever join. I like image sets, and these image sets are a disgrace! Without exagerrating, a good 95% of the image sets have between 3 and 5 images, and a lot of the time they are.. well you couldn't even call it softcore I'll say that. I was immediately upset with the fact that I had paid for a membership to this site. Seriously, it is terrible, and in no way is it worth your money. People contribute images to the site and get free membership. They should make this a free site and make money with advertising.
- Comment by: bejo - Score: 100/100 - Date: 1/12/2010
- Comment by: Dr00s - Score: 40/100 - Date: 12/30/2008
This site appears to need an update of their technology as well as their subjects.
Their is nothing cute about the ladies in the samples.
The quality of the sample Pic Set is 'poor' and the woman looks used up as well as the women in the Vids and Clips.
$24.95/30 days (Reg. $
|Limited Trial $1.00/2 days, rebills at $34.95
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|Zip sets: Yes
|Pic Res: 1280x960
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|HD Porn: Yes
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|Full length videos: Yes
|Download Limits: No
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AVI (624x416; 1967k)
Windows (320x240; 1200k)
MP4 (640x480; 1000k; streaming)
MP4 (1920x1080; 3000k)
MP4 (640x480; 1000k)
MPEG (640x480; 1500k)
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|Independent Biller(s):
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|Customer Service:
Pros & Cons
-some Full HD videos
-can save favorites
-bonus content
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12/30/2013- From 77 to 75: Quality score adjusted. -Adam
08/19/2013- From 81 to 77: More content, but scores adjusted to new criteria. -A.K.
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05/03/2010- From 81 to 80: Updating slowed a little. -Chris
11/03/2009- Stays at 81. -Morris
12/22/2008- Stayed at 81. -Peacock - Initial review: 2/18/2007
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|Content Amount
|Unique Content
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|User Score: 52/100
|3 votes
|3 comments
|User Top Rated Sites


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Members frequently ask us for advice when it comes to legal matters. As we cannot provide this type of advice, we've compiled a list of qualified music business solicitors who have agreed to help you.
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Please note:
The solicitors listed have agreed to be part of this service and can advise only on music business related issues.
We do not vet the contacts so we cannot guarantee their suitability for your needs.
Download a list of solicitors
If you are a solicitor interested in being involved with this service please contact us.
PLEASE NOTE: On 1 July 2013 the legal entity behind the PRS for Music brand changed its registered name from The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited to PRS for Music Limited.


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Check out this amazing piece by The Lovely Jaclyn Friedman at Women's eNews, "Drinking and Rape: Let's Wise Up About It."
104 Comments
Michael, as I noted in the comment you reference, a lot of men take offense at the statements I made (as you did) because they're difficult to phrase JUST RIGHT so they express the specific idea I'm communicating. I'll try again.
Obviously getting drunk doesn't "make" a guy a rapist and reading my comments as saying this is overly simplistic. What I DID say is that we live in a culture that minimizes the horror of rape and in some cases even completely forgives it. This is unacceptable. It is also unacceptable that the media emphasizes burden of PREVENTING rape (falling on women, naturally) far above and over the burden of NOT RAPING (falling on the would-be rapists, almost always men).
Obviously I am not saying every man is a rapist or wants to be a rapist or could be a rapist. I AM saying that there are a LOT of men out there who simply do not understand or appreciate what rape IS (due partly to social upbringing and in some cases to pure asshole-ishness). Thus, if we start educating men that rape is something THEY DO to unwilling women and that statistically speaking, rape is more likely to happen in certain situations, my optimistic hope is that many of these men who do not currently understand that what passes for "bad sex" is in many cases in fact rape, will be dissuaded from raping by the simple change of learning what rape IS. Thus, the problem is not that most men are "bad" or "want" to rape — it is that they do not understand, and have not taken it upon themselves to become educated about, what constitutes rape, and how they can make sure they are not doing it.
This is the charitable view, as roymac has noted. I could, instead, take the view that the reason so many men deny rape accusations (almost none of which are likely false) is not because they are genuinely misinformed, but because they are in fact evil bastards who should burn in hell for eternity. Now, if my education proposal fails, I'll sadly be proven wrong. But I like to give the men out there the benefit of the doubt.
Similarly, this obviously does not refer to ALL men. The men here on feministing who regularly comment, for instance, UNDERSTAND that women's sexual desires should be respected just as much as men's, and that hesitancy/reluctance are as good as saying "no." These men respect women and would never accept anything other than affirmative, enthusiastic consent. I like to think that a primary difference between these men and the other men I described, is that these men have made the effort and taken the time to listen to women's experiences, and to learn about and respect those experiences such that they have a better understanding of what rape means. My hope is that making such education widespread will significantly reduce the number of rapes, such that the only rapists left out there (hopefully very few) are LEGITIMATELY assholes who can then be castrated and left for dead.* I like to think that your average college guy is actually, deep down, fairly decent, and with some education would understand and respect the difference between sex and rape.
*I'm being flippant. I don't actually advocate this as punishment. Except maybe in a few very rare cases
Friedman is full of shit!
She has written extensively about this rape and I wanted to research it since reading this nonsense yesterday. In all of her other articles on this "rape" she claimed she was raped because though she participated and "appeared willing" and "never said no" she was intoxicated and therefore was not of a "competent" mind. She argues she was raped because a "drunk woman can not be relied upon to give consent".
Now, she admits that the man who supposedly raped her was also intoxicated. First time she admitted that!! Now here's the hard part for all of you man-hating "men are evil" feministing supporters: If the man was drunk doesn't this mean SHE also raped him? If a woman when "intoxicated" is unable to give consent isn't this also true of men? Or is this just ANOTHER example where your bizarre hateful ilk of feminism requires special treatment of women.
Isn't it interesting that on one hand you demand "equality" but then constantly argue for treatment as if women are children?
This woman got drunk and fucked a guy and later regretted it and screamed rape. Oldest story there is…
Denise, it's one thing to disagree with us and call us names and make up silly stereotypes with no basis in reality.
It is another to insult and mock someone who's been subjected to a horrific, heinous crime.
The first makes you a harmless and vaguely entertaining troll. The second makes you evil.
A dark part of me wishes bad things on you, but my human side pulls me back and reminds me that you're a simple child who apparently never learned to respect fellow human beings. And so I am sad for you, and for the awful life you must lead where you have nothing better to do with your time than to bait and ridicule women who have been deeply hurt.
Honey… and I say this with all gentleness. Please get some therapy before you hurt yourself.
The reason Ed is being attacked, Aaron, is he's playing the same old song and calling it something new. What he's saying is that women are responsible for men's behavior, and if we would only alter our behavior, then men would stop raping us. Well, bullshit. Men are responsible for their own behavior, because they are reasoning adults–and if they're not, if they can't be held responsible for their own behavior as so many anti-feminists seem to imply when they go on about how women should dress, or act, or decide whom to grace with our pussies, in order to control men, then they shouldn't be allowed out in public without a minder.
And a pre-emptive reminder not to feed the hateful troll.
Heh. Not pre-emptive enough! You're really a better person than I am in so many ways, TLF. In all seriousness.
The woman admits she got drunk and decided to have sex with a drunk man. She says she participated willingly and never said "no" and even says she could have stopped it at any time. YET… she calls it rape because SHE was intoxicated (and it important to repeat: SHE points out that he was drunk, too!). This is not rape and the only "horrific, heinous crime" here is that she refers to it as "raped" and you support that.
BTW, after her initial article on the "rape" the local police investigated and the local press covered the investigation. The FEMALE detective wrote in her report (according to the newspapers) that Friedman says "we were drunk, it was ill-advised sex but it wasn't rape, except in the way that all sex between men and woman is rape".
Sick, stuff. Good job Fairy, thanks for taking up the usual feministing "hate all men and all men are evil and rapists" position and mantra. You just reveal yourself for what you are.
You people are not feminists. You are man-haters and this site and your position does nothing but damage REAL feminism. You are a joke, a sad joke that serves those who try to denigrate real feminism.
When women falsely scream "rape" they make it just that much harder for real victims and they should be criticized and prosecuted. Women like this make us less safe.
TLF: Now you have dropped the alcohol reference completely. If you want to argue that many man have basically no problem with rape, they will not have much of a problem with alcohol too.
And I wasn't offended personally. To some degree I can actually identify with the rape culture remark. Movies portray women often as trophies for nice guys like ed. And, as Gavin de Becker convincingly argues, romantic courtship in movies is pretty much stalking. The guy gets rejected, doesn't accept, does a lot of fuzz- and gets her, not a restraining order.
I'm not sure what other articles you're referencing. Can you link to them? Because I most certainly did say no, and I don't know how I could have appeared willing, unless being actually passed out drunk in my bed qualifies as appearing willing.
Nor did I "fuck" anyone. Let me be super clear about that. Nor did the guy who raped me in any way attempt to acquire consent.
I don't know why I am bothering to defend myself to you. I just want the record here to be clear on what I'm saying, I think. Some women don't manage to say no, at least not verbally. They are no less traumatized by the experience of rape. (Some, more so.)
And I don't know in what way I would benefit from "screaming" rape. I've had quite a bit of sex over the years. Most of it has been pretty great. I like sex a lot. You can't slut-shame me. You can try, but I just don't have shame around it. But even when I've had sex that wasn't much to write home about, or with someone I later maybe thought better of sleeping with… I just can't imagine sex bad enough make it worthwhile for me to bring down on myself the pain that came with pressing rape charges. The friends I lost, the threats I received from both people and implicated institutions, having to relive the experience over and over again, the complete absence of any real justice. The ONLY reason to go through that process is because SOMEONE COMMITTED A HEINOUS BODILY CRIME against me, and I want to do my part in creating a world where that is not tolerated.
Y'know, several people have said to me how "brave" it was to tell even that little bit of my story in the article, and I've responded, sincerely, why? I have no shame about having been raped. I have pain about it, but not an ounce of shame. The shame belongs on the rapist. And now it belongs on you, Denise, for actively working to support and uphold the culture which told him it was not only OK but good to rape me.
Shame. Shame. Shame. Shame. Shame.
You told the police you were NOT raped. You seek attention and the vilification of men.
YOU ARE BUSTED by the facts… But don't worry, the women on here will support you: they HATE men too and also think all men are rapists. This site is proof that sickness and hate feeds on sickness and hate.
Thank you, Jaclyn. For everything.
Oh, and Denise — I REALLY don't know what stories you're referencing. I never even went to the police, knowing there was not enough physical evidence to make it worthwhile put myself through that process. The courts really hardly ever hold rapists accountable unless the rape has been VIOLENTLY PHYSCIALLY BRUTAL, to the point of approaching attempted murder. The charges I pressed were internal, on-campus charges.
If you want to argue that many man have basically no problem with rape, they will not have much of a problem with alcohol too.
Well, yes and no. (The alcohol reference, btw, is because women are constantly being told "don't go out and drink! You might get raped!" So if the stats say alcohol and rape are linked, let's explain this link to men in the hopes that SOME of them will understand that link and maybe better understand rape as a result — my optimistic contention here is that (many) men (and apparently women, too, if "Denise" is in fact a woman) see "woman gets drunk and has sex she doesn't 100% want" not as rape, but as something else. They need to understand that it is RAPE).
I don't think that there are all these men out there who don't think rape is wrong (though there certainly are some of those), but rather that they don't understand what it is and what it entails and, on some level, WHY it's wrong. So if they are made to understand the link between rape and alcohol, maybe, for those of them who are deep-down decent people (or at least who don't want to be RAPISTS even if they're willing to be jerks), they'll be more careful about their approach in bars. Maybe not. But that's kind of the thinking behind my comments.
EG, oh, I don't know about that. That dark side really does get the better of me sometimes
And, of course, don't forget that I hate men and America and babies and families and God and shaving my legs and really just all people in general. Hehe.
Any bets that "Denise" is actually "Dennis"?
Jaclyn, Denis has created an alternet universe inside his mind. In that universe we are all evil and man-hating. That's where you not only wrote everything she is talking about, but you actually did it.
But just so you know, those of us in the real world actually appreciate your work and your honesty.
Now you really become a manhater, Seraph.
Michael -
>TLF: Now you have dropped the alcohol reference completely. If you want to argue that many man have basically no problem with rape, they will not have much of a problem with alcohol too.
Alcohol is involved in rape the same way it's involved in *all other* violent crimes (maybe all other crimes, period) – it clouds your judgment and lowers your inhibitions. Booze may not *make* you rape any more than it makes you call up your exes at three in the morning, punch your best friend, or spew anti-semitic rants at the cops who've pulled you over for drunk driving, but it can make you stupid enough to think that it's okay.
>Now you really become a manhater, Seraph.
Good point.
Believe me, I certainly don't *want* to acknowledge any similarity between myself and that waste of a human incarnation – the very thought makes me feel slimy – but there's something about the writing style. I'm getting "MRA" vibes from it.
And, of course, don't forget that I hate men and America and babies and families and God and shaving my legs and really just all people in general. Hehe.
Me too! I'm not so sure about the sad joke accusation, though. I like to think, even at my most self-loathing/deprecating, I'm a pretty good joke. *shrug*
So the rape apologists arrive.
When a woman talks honestly about rape, there are always defenders of patriarchy to come and try to silence her. Usually they try to use the constellation of shame issues around rape and sex. But that won't work with Jaclyn.
So "Denise" has decided to construct a factual argument that Jaclyn admitted that it was not rape and changed her mind later, and claims that this is substantiated by some sort of published account. "She" supplies no information that would allow any of us to verify "her" claims, however. She just says that Jaclyn admitted to making it up somewhere else; an account that Jaclyn flat refutes.
Jaclyn posts under her own name with a link to her professional website; she stands by what she says. "Denise" supplies no identifying information (which I can understand) and no information to support her assertions (which is, in my view, fatal to her credibility).
The verdict? "Denise" is somebody with an agenda to silence feminist discourse on rape, and "she" is perfectly willing to simply make shit up, at whatever cost to the emotional welfare of rape survivors, to perpetuate the myth that women who stand up to be counted as survivors are lying.
I have seen the enemy, and this time, it really isn't us. It's "Denise."
First of all, let me apologize to Jaclyn for taking so long to ban "Denise." I haven't been checking comments the last couple of days as I should and I feel terribly that what should have been a safe space turned into this nightmare.
"Denise," who has also posted as "Lisa Flaherty" and "Jennifer Dwyer," has been a fucking nuisance asshole troll for a long time. I banned "her" IP address so hopefully that should take care of it.
Again, Jaclyn–I'm so sorry you had to deal with this bullshit.
It is always amazing to me the amount of hatred you can feel emanating from a true troll's comments, especially when the comments here have always seemed to me to generate such an interesting and, for the most part, fairly neutral conversation.
Thanks to Jaclyn and Thomas both. Thomas, I'm printing that analogy.
I also think that LF had a great point when she said that typically the term "rape" connotes physical brutality and that is why so many men are offended when you discuss a "rape culture." I think it is an important distinction and one that would radically help the essentialist nature of defining rape.
I don't think that there are all these men out there who don't think rape is wrong (though there certainly are some of those), but rather that they don't understand what it is and what it entails and, on some level, WHY it's wrong.
Exactly. There are a lot of people who talk big about being tough on rape, but when you get down to it they seem to believe that if he's not throwing punches or brandishing a weapon, and she's not kicking and screaming, it's not "really" rape. Or that the harm is strictly physical, so if she's passed out and can't feel anything it's no big deal. Or that it's defined solely by the rapist's intent, and that if he didn't think of it as rape then it must just be a "misunderstanding."
Yes. The paper at the university I'm at reported on a rape a few years ago, and wrote that the victim "was not injured." That kind of attitude is pervasive (and in this case accompanied by a "humor" section of the paper in which more than one rape joke figured. Fortunately, it raised enough ire on campus that the paper had to issue an apology.).
Okay. You're right. Thank you to both EG and roymacIII for spelling it out for me. Rereading (which I should have done before posting) shows that there are some things that scream "this is about me" in ed's post, and that it is a derailment in terms of rape prevention, with a fig leaf of a claim that he has suggestions about stopping rape, which never materialize. Certainly not a productive way to start talking about things.
I still found some initial attacks to be off the point, focused on presumptions about him, rather than actual substantive complaints that about his post not being constructive. In fact, it was almost a reverse slut-shaming. Instead of discounting a woman for wanting sex and how much sex she has, it was discounting a man for wanting sex, and how little sex he has.
That caused me to give him more slack than was called for. That, and I think there was a seed of a worthy point near what he was saying.
Maybe this isn't tied directly into rape and rape prevention, but I think that a number of things overlap and reinforce in odd ways that I think there is some overlap.
Not that we should blame women for how men act, but an example of the patriarchy reinforcing itself. There are actual women that do in fact i.e. go out and get drunk in order to get past that censor in their head saying only bad women want sex. Or ones that feel better if they feel they've been "tricked into/out of sex", or they seek out assholes because they are more masculine. (Of course, assholishness is in the eye of the beholder, so maybe this last should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, I'm sure you've run across some times when you've asked yourself "why the hell is she with that asshole?")
These behaviors are one way of dealing with living in this patriarchical world and absorbing damaging messages about sex. And they in turn affect what men do.
It's not a matter of being not being rewarded for taking the high-path, but that taking the low-path is rewarded. If there are enough women out there like this, it is an effective strategy/technique for getting sex.
Maybe this doesn't directly deal with rape, but I can see a slippery slope down from lying to make oneself look better, to targeting drunk girls, to plying girls with drinks, and so forth, down to "rape so bad it is universally condemned".
Is there a way to break this reinforcement? I'm sure telling girls "don't do that" won't help. Providing better examples of both female and male sexuality might. Which gets back to the point about thinking about sex as a performance, rather than a commodity.
Oh, Aaron's comment reminded me of something I wanted to say a while back (thanks, Aaron!)
Lying to get someone to sleep with you is, under certain circumstances, a criminal offense. For instance, if I have HIV and I lie and tell you I don't, and then you sleep with me, I've committed a crime.
"Alcohol is involved in rape the same way it's involved in *all other* violent crimes (maybe all other crimes, period) – it clouds your judgment and lowers your inhibitions. Booze may not *make* you rape any more than it makes you call up your exes at three in the morning,"
…or makes you call anyone else without checking the time zone difference. My parents have friends and relatives all over the place and sometimes get well-meaning but strangely timed phone calls…
you know, it was exactly that attitude that some types of rape aren't REAL rape that had me so fucked up about what happened to me.
does real rape start out with a jealous fight with your boyfriend of 4 months because he got too drunk? does it perhaps include you verbally telling him you don't want sex at all, but want to sleep over because you are too tired to drive? does it also include him trying to have sex with you anyway, and then you consent to a little cuddling/petting, but absolutely refuse penetration of any type? and does it then include him penetrating, you freezing because your mind/body goes "OMG NOT AGAIN!!", and then him telling you when you are crying/shivering post-his-orgasm that you didn't sey no loud enough, thus putting the blame of the encounter entirely on you?
this shit happens. this shit is rape, even if he was my boyfriend, even if i'd had a couple drinks, even if i loved him. IT WAS REAL RAPE. ok? are we clear? because i've had to deal with the aftermath- the guilt he tried to force on me ("why didn't you protest more? you should have protested more."), the shame, the completely perplexing feelings that this was someone i LOVED and HE RAPED ME and he never ever ever has to admit it.
well, fuck that. that was real rape. all non-consensual forms of sexual activity are RAPE. it is rape if he is drunk, and doesn't listen to you saying you don't want to have sex. are we clear?
jaclyn, my heart goes out to you, but also, you are really kick-ass. i have been advocating for those same steps for some time now. clear, precise article with just the right amount of "fuck you men! if you rape, you have to deal with what you've done!"
"Not that we should blame women for how men act, but an example of the patriarchy reinforcing itself. There are actual women that do in fact i.e. go out and get drunk in order to get past that censor in their head saying only bad women want sex."
This is a degree thing too. Modrat drinking in order to loosen up is different from being passed out.
But women staying in abusive relationships is to some degree their responsibility.
I didn't mean to say lying in order to get laid is okay or something. But what I had in mind was more like lying about ones job, not being HIV positive. The basic point is that one can be an asshole without being a rapist.
I didn't mean to say lying in order to get laid is okay or something. But what I had in mind was more like lying about ones job, not being HIV positive. The basic point is that one can be an asshole without being a rapist.
I'm curious about what the argument is for why it isn't rape, assuming that the lie is enough to change someone's mind about whether to have sex. Can we really call "consent" based on misrepresentation consent?
It seems to me that the only way to defend this is to say that some people's reasons for choosing whether or not to consent to sex aren't sufficiently worthy of respect.
I would say that lying in every culture is part of pretty much every social interaction.
Suppose some person is unfaithful and not telling the partner. Telling the parner the truth would certainly lead to not having sex with the partner for at least some time. Is not telling and still having sex a form of rape?
"It seems to me that the only way to defend this is to say that some people's reasons for choosing whether or not to consent to sex aren't sufficiently worthy of respect."
That doesn't follow. Overriding the decision not to have sex with you by another person is rape, not helping to make good decision about that isn't. One usually cannot tell whether a lie was responsible for the sex. "That tastes great!" maybe that line was a lie and lead to sex. Rape? Some forms of dishonesty are part of the usual social code and the boundaries are not that clear.
Thomas wrote:
BCFritts, the kernel of the commodity model is not the transaction — defined broadly enough, almost every interaction is also a transaction. The kernel of the model is the commodity view of sex, that it is a good or service to be exchanged for value rather than a shared experience.
Thomas – I appreciate your clarification. I think that is right on a basic level. Sexual interaction is often a shared experience.
What really interests me here is the idea of the trading of value. Physical assault, theft and fraud are only different in matter of degree. At issue is the fact that someone is trying take something with force or deception.
You could have a case (which would not be rape) where there was consensual sexual relations, but each party had different reasons for the encounter. The failure to share an experience in a sexual encounter is not a necessary and sufficient condition for rape.
While every case of rape would involve a case of non-sharing, not all cases of non-sharing would be rape.
I think we are sort of on the same page, but our points of emphasis are different. – Brian
"But women staying in abusive relationships is to some degree their responsibility.�
Ah no Michael, that's where you're wrong. The ONLY person responsible for abuse is the abuser. To say otherwise is to blame the victim.
Brian, you wrote that there are situations where "each party had different reasons for the encounter." This is in fact almost always true, of any interaction, but it does not alter the collaborative nature of the experience. Experience is subjective; two people do a thing together for different reasons, and each takes something slightly different from the experience. So what? It doesn't follow from that that the experience is any less shared. I certainly was not proposing a model where all consensual sex involved a general congruence of motives and desires.
"Ah no Michael, that's where you're wrong. The ONLY person responsible for abuse is the abuser. To say otherwise is to blame the victim."
There´s a difference between blame and responcibility. But it is absurd to think one cannot effect wether one is a victim or not.
I'm really only talking about "deal-breakers" here, rather than simply any lie.
Is it really consent if one partner is misled to believe that the other is monogamous when they're not?
Perfectly informed case is much more demanding than consent. Can make up be sufficiently misleading to lead a men to having sex with a woman he otherwise wouldn't consider? If such a man claims to be raped, he deserves a hit with the big bat of common sense.
Prostitutes who have been raped usually say that it is qualitatively completely different from not being payed out. I think this is a strong evidence that rape is different from not having perfectly informed consent.
I really don't think that rape analogizes well to a property crime (which is sort of the core of the difference between the performance and commodity model). To use the Latin, sex is not a res, a thing to be taken, bartered or sold. It is an interaction. So forcing that interaction is not like taking a thing by force; it is like commanding an interaction by force: kidnapping is the closer analog. For that reason, trying to extend the analogy so that there is a sex- equivalent for fraud, is trying to put a round peg in a square hole, IMO.
I think the status of lying to induce someone to have sex is, as a matter of public mindset, totally indeterminate. There are big problems getting people (men and women both) to recognize what rape is; we're not even at square one with getting recognition that lying to sex partners is wrong. I think there is not even widespread acceptance that it is wrong; and the answers one gets will depend basically on whether the speaker envisions him- or herself as the one asking or answering the question.
For my part, I don't lie to sex partners. I also don't believe that anything other than disease status requires affirmative disclosure (unless one is doing BDSM, where negotiation about limits is really a necessity unless an existing relationship gives the parties a mutual basis for understanding). I don't think one's number of sex partners or orientation or even trans status requires affirmative disclosure: the person in the best position to know what I need to know about a sex partner is me; I should be an adult and ask what I need to know instead of expecting my partner to guess.
Do you have a blog or website I can read, Thomas?
Jeff, I'm really intrigued by your consent point. You've got a really great idea there — I know that, in contracts, lying to induce someone to make a promise is grounds for rescission and may constitute fraud, which opens the offending party to punitive as well as compensatory damages.
I think it's a valid question why lying to induce someone to agree to sex is any different? The law distinguishes between material and immaterial deception when evaluating the effect of the lie in the contract case. Why can't we do the same for sex? "I love romantic comedies" — arguably immaterial. "I've been tested for STDs and I'm clean" — arguably material. "I think you're the smartest person I've ever met" — arguably immaterial ("puffery"). "I want to marry you and have children with you" — arguably material.
And so forth. I mean… it seems to me we could make this civilly actionable. And is it really so bad to structure our incentives for people not to lie for sex?
Perfectly informed case is much more demanding than consent.
Yes, it is. Consent as we understand it is "anything goes except for the few things – violence, intoxication, power relationship – that we've declared off limits." Informed consent adds lying (about "material" things – that is, things that you know or should know are going to change your partner's decision) to the list of things that are off limits.
Can make up be sufficiently misleading to lead a men to having sex with a woman he otherwise wouldn't consider? If such a man claims to be raped, he deserves a hit with the big bat of common sense.
What is it with makeup always being brought up as a rebuttal to misrepresentation? Is it just Hamlet's little misogynist rant, or something else?
TLF, I don't know about the practicality of making material misrepresentation legally actionable, because people will just say "I didn't know that it was that big a deal," and except in the really blatant cases they'll probably get away with it. Of course, whether it's a good idea or not, it's probably not going to happen anytime soon.
I'm questioning the idea of consent not so much from a legal standpoint, where protection of defendants in criminal trials applies, but from a social/moral standpoint, to get the idea out there that it's not "anything goes," that consent is not about tricking your partner into saying "yes."
"Physical assault, theft and fraud are only different in matter of degree."
I couldn't disagree more–attacking someone physically is a crime against their person. Taking something from them is a crime against property (unless the thing in question is something like medication). Property doesn't have consciousness, agency, feelings, plans, etc. People do. Much misogyny is predicated on the idea that people (women) are property, and I could not object more strongly.
I like what you're saying, Jeff, about informed consent, and I agree that the legal system might not be the best way to handle the issue.
Jeff, lol — I see your point, I'm just always thinking about new ways to sue people, as this is what keeps me employed
BUT, the fact that some people would protest "I didn't know" is irrelevant. Things like material misrepresentation have an objective, rather than subjective, standard. It would look something like this: if a reasonable person would have known that telling lie [X] would have induced plaintiff to sleep with defendant, where plaintiff otherwise would not have slept with defendant, then lie [X] was a material misrepresentation. Although, now that I re-read your comment, I think you might already be saying this. So it would just be a question of where the law decides to draw the line, and then going from there. As with any law, it would be up to people to know what's legal and what isn't. Common-law negligence, for instance, is almost 100 percent built on assumptions of "common sense" (it being not all that common, yuk yuk). Basically, every moment of every day we owe certain duties to every person. We don't normally violate these duties because to do so is outside of the bounds of "common sense." We simply know better. Maybe building similar presumptions specifically into the context of sex would help our "common sense" about sex to evolve.
TLF, there are big problems with importing a "reasonable person" standard for sex. "Reasonable person", at the pleading and summary judgment stage at least, is a person whose actions make sense to the judge. In economic transactions, reasonable is economically rational, and "material" is often measured by peer- reviewed valuation methods. But in sex, "reasonable" is whatever actions a judge thinks are reasonable, with no objective backstop or even cultural consensus. "Material" omission or misrepresentation is whatever puts a burr in the judge's saddle — the then the trier of fact is a jury; the combined prejudices of twelve members of the community wiht the time to sit for a trial.
Imagine explaining to a sixty-year-old conservative Catholic anti-choice judge that it was material that your partner be pro-choice. They would hold every time that the importance plaintiff placed on it was a post-hoc rationalization because nobody actually makes their decisions on that basis; even though we in fact do.
(Not to geek among lawyers, but the problem with law-and-economics as a movement is that while in theory it accomodates the subjective utility of ideosyncratic preferences, in fact it always devolves to a "reasonable person" view, which is the ascertainable market value of anything. One of my professors taught L&Ec beginning with an example of someone who preferred burnt scrapple to filet mignon, and said that if that's what s/he valued, that valuation ought to be respected. But it's easier just to count dollars, and that's how is usually devovles. That is a particularly bad problem for sex: what one person finds attractive is repellent to another, and no person or encounter is fungible with another. Hence the performance model: all performances are unique, whereas a commodity is by definition fungible, and even a unique object can be valued.)
Donna, I don't. I am an interblog creature residing in the aether of comment threads, with only the occasional guest-post somewhere. The vast chasms between the interesting things I have to say would certainly prevent me from keeping a readership entertained.
To the extent I have a home base, it is Feministe, where I was part of Lauren's devoted following when it was a one-woman show.
TLF, one of the reasons I try to avoid looking at the issue in terms of law is that we already look at rape in an overly legalistic way, with the result that anything not prohibited is encouraged.
Also, what Thomas said – it's tricky to decide in a court what's material without devolving into what *should be* material – if it really is a deal-breaker for me that my partner be left-handed, and a prospective partner knows this and consequently lies to me about their handedness, I don't want a judge deciding that the misrepresentation is okay because my criterion isn't reasonable enough to be respected.
Me too, Thomas. Except I'm too scattered to blog post anywhere.
"Overriding the decision not to have sex with you by another person is rape, not helping to make good decision about that isn't. One usually cannot tell whether a lie was responsible for the sex. 'That tastes great!' maybe that line was a lie and lead to sex. Rape?"
I've heard some people claim that even changing your appearance is lying.
They claim that wearing makeup over one's blackheads, wearing a padded A-cup bra instead of one that binds breasts flat, getting plastic surgery, etc. is dishonesty. Maybe they think that looking at least average is what sends the "I deserve humane treatment" message and that this is a lie (IOW you don't deserve humane treatment) if you didn't get those looks naturally…
@The Law Fairy:
"Jeff, I'm really intrigued by your consent point. You've got a really great idea there — I know that, in contracts, lying to induce someone to make a promise is grounds for rescission and may constitute fraud, which opens the offending party to punitive as well as compensatory damages.
I think it's a valid question why lying to induce someone to agree to sex is any different?"
I think there may well be cases where it is fraud- but not rape.
"What is it with makeup always being brought up as a rebuttal to misrepresentation? Is it just Hamlet's little misogynist rant, or something else?"
That´s a reductio ad absurdum. I guess you don't kile misogynist views- but your standard would lead to the misogynistic conclusion that makeup is a way of women raping men. Why are you always ignoring my remarks that I don't support any of these things. I´m against beating up small children, but that doesn't make me confuse it with murder.
Rape gives a basic, very damaging message: "I can do with your body what I want and you can't do anything about it." This is not the case when only lying is involved, so I would say it is usually much less damaging.
I agre that willingness-to-pay measures are of little use in policy evaluation, but I think there are lots of ideas in law and economics worth considering.
Rape is another touchy subject for feminists. Men have the rest of the world to bargain and equivocate about rape. Feminist blogs are a millionth of the discussions that go on in the world. Some of you men on feminist blogs should give women the benefit of the doubt especially on touchy subjects like rape.
Thomas – I think you are pretty much dead on regarding the primary issue with Law and Economics. I think the Posners of the world have taken it too far in much of their analysis. While generally a viable model for analyzing contract and tort law, it fails dramatically when introduced wholesale into criminal law.
One thing that I think is consistent in the posts on this issue is that the legal, moral and social spheres regarding rape are not in congruence. Evidentiary issues often make the legal sphere separate and apart from some of the other moral and social issues concerning the issue.


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While some organizations are content with tipping their hats to Latino heritage every Cinco de Mayo, the Dallas Mavericks have opted for something more, namely their fourth annual Festival de los Mavs. The festival has its share of cultural activities, as well as free autograph sessions with former Mavs players Rolando Blackman and Derek Harper, plus photo ops with the Larry O'Brien Trophy and Dallas Mavericks Dancers. Bands will play throughout the day, including featured musical guest 3BALLMTY. This trio of DJs is influential in the growing tribal guarachero genre that injects pre-Hispanic sounds with house electronica. The festival offers a number of free give-aways and activities, including a rock climbing wall sponsored by the National Guard, bounce house play areas and a diabetes testing area. The festivities begin at noon, with activities occurring throughout the day at the American Airlines Center, 2500 Victory Ave. Admission is free. For details visit mavs.com//losmavs.
Sat., March 31, noon, 2012