Sex on the Green

Via Perez Hilton (I know, but it's a funny story :-)), via WMSV out of Nashville:

Queen Elizabeth II was at home at Windsor Castle, the sentries who guard her were on duty, and the large park surrounding the magnificent building was full of tourists on a Sunday afternoon.

So it didn't take long for people to realize that something was out of order when an inebriated couple arrived from a nearby restaurant and began having sex on a grass bank outside the castle, according to witnesses.

"One window from the guardroom opened up and when a soldier saw what was going on he told his mates -- and lots of windows opened up," witness Mark Robinson told The Sun newspaper.

"The couple did not care who was looking and just kept going as if they were in their own bedroom."

Japanese tourists filmed the couple, who only stopped when police officers arrived on the scene, witnesses said.

Thames Valley Police said the man and woman were arrested and given a written warning about outraging public decency.

The queen was in the castle at the time, but her office declined Friday to comment about what had happened.

I do like a good bout of exhibitionism for my evening.

Speaking of Flash Mobs...

This is what my sister is doing tonight...

Yes, kids, that's the brand new library at the College of Charleston. Um... what? I think they are screaming We Want Peace -- which is a strange political statement to be making in the middle of a mob.

Physiology of the Phallus

Thanks to @kate_the_great for the Tweet on this one...

Why is the phallus (ie, the "penis") shaped like it is? I know, I've never asked the question, either. I've just assumed it was there for my own pleasure. The question seems to have bothered Gordon Gallup of SUNY-Albany so much that he decided to research the reason for the shape, and came up with some interesting results:

So how did natural selection equip men to solve the adaptive problem of other men impregnating their sexual partners? The answer, according to Gallup, is their penises were sculpted in such a way that the organ would effectively displace the semen of competitors from their partner’s vagina, a well-synchronized effect facilitated by the “upsuck” of thrusting during intercourse. Specifically, the coronal ridge offers a special removal service by expunging foreign sperm. According to this analysis, the effect of thrusting would be to draw other men’s sperm away from the cervix and back around the glans, thus “scooping out” the semen deposited by a sexual rival.

Seriously folks. They even researched it using toys -- both vaginal and penile -- in order to demonstrate just how much semen a larger glans (the head) could "scoop out" of another partner ... finding that, the larger the glans (and, btw, the deeper the penetration), a partner could displace as much as 91% of a woman's former partner's semen.

Ironically, he also comes to the conclusion that, if this is the case, it is also possible that a man (uncircumcised) would be able to impregnate a woman without ever having sex with her ... but, instead, by having his semen deposited into the foreskin of another male (via vaginal sex with a shared partner). Thus, the most likely fathers would be those men who could thrust deeper and who had a bigger head to create the proper suctioning/scooping in order to disrupt the seminal placement of another man, leaving the author to conclude:

So if you want advice that’ll give you a leg up in the evolutionary arms race, don’t go West, young man—go deep.

For gay men, this is interesting because a bottom could seroconvert even if the top is not HIV+ ... simply based on the seminal fluid left in the foreskin. Hrm.

One more bucket list item illegal.

It's not really on my bucket list, but now that it's illegal, I really, really want to do it.

Nude hiking through the Swiss Alps, that is.

The canton of Appenzell Inner Rhodes by democratic majority (apparently they do old-school "raise your hand and vote" governance there) voted to illegalize nude hiking through their land. My first question, of course, was: this is a problem? My second question became: where else can this be done so that I, too, one day may partake.

From the Dickinson Press (via the AP):

Only a scattering of people on Sunday opposed the ban on the back-to-nature activity that took off last autumn when naked hikers — primarily Germans — started showing up in eastern Switzerland.

The cantonal government recommended the ban after citizens objected to encountering walkers wearing nothing but hiking boots and socks.

"The reactions of the population have shown that such appearances over a large area are perceived as thoroughly disturbing and irritating," the government said in a statement.

A similar legal move is expected in neighboring Appenzell Outer Rhodes with legislation being prepared against "this shameless behavior."

German Web sites promoting the activity describe it as "a special experience of nature, free and healthy" and said nude walking in the Alps has roots in antiquity.

Oh, those Germans and their nudism!!! Seriously, though, very sad that I can't ever do this. On the flip side, the fine is a measly 200 francs ($176), so maybe it's worth it!

I'm trying really hard to make a Sound of Music joke here -- if for no other reason than to make fun of Queen City Survey's Dan and his love of the movie -- but I, shamefully, have nothing to say. It's very sad, I know. There's something about being on the hill with a lonely goatherd [insert yodeling]. But it's just not coming to me. I'm sure my witty readers will have plenty of jokes, though.

Texas vs. Science

From Salon.com: 

Dan McLeroy, the Texas State Board of Education chairman, a dentist and self-described creationist, led the charge to mandate teaching the "strengths and weaknesses" of the theory of evolution. After three days of high-pitched argument on both sides, the 15-member board, by a vote of 8-7, rejected the language, relieving textbook authors and publishers of the pressure to insert what opponents called "junk science" into their pages. But in a compromise that alarms and dismays many science education advocates, the board did adopt language that attempts to cast a shadow of doubt over the validity of the central evolutionary concepts of natural selection and common ancestry.

Proponents of the theory of intelligent design, and other brands of neo-creationism, argue that evolution is inadequate to the job of explaining the diversity and history of life on earth. If they can cast doubts about evolution's validity, they have a chance to fill the authority vacuum with the tenets of creationism. But since late 2005, when a federal judge in Dover, Pa., ruled that intelligent design was a form of creationism, and that its introduction into public high school curricula was unconstitutional, advocates of teaching neo-creationism have been forced to seek other ways into public science classrooms. Enter the "strengths and weaknesses" strategy, crafted by the Seattle-based, pro-intelligent-design think thank, Discovery Institute...

Not that science makes sense to a creationist like McLeroy. "Scientific consensus means nothing," he tells Salon. "All it takes is one fact to overthrow consensus. Evolution has a status that it simply doesn't deserve. People say it's vital to understanding biology. But it's genetics that's the foundation for biology. A biologist once said that nothing in biology makes sense without evolution. Well, that's not true. You go into the top biology labs, and it makes no difference if evolution is true or false to what they're doing and studying. It makes no difference."

It makes all the difference in the world, says Miller, who notes the irony of McLeroy quoting Dobzhansky, one of the fathers of the modern evolutionary synthesis. Adds Miller: McLeroy's "fundamental misunderstanding of the way genetics and evolution have produced a unified science of biology is nothing short of breathtaking."

This whole debate makes my head hurt. I thought intelligent design was pretty much discredited.

No more Mrs. Nice Guy

I think it's funny that they are blaming the "radical feminists" on this, and not, you know, the growing presence of women in male-dominated arenas, and perhaps the need to respect them.

From LifeSiteNews:

Officials of the European Union have issued a booklet for EU Parliamentary staff, saying that the use of "Miss" and "Mrs" for women, as well as such terms as "statesman" and "fireman," are to be banned on the grounds that they are "sexist."

Any honorifics that distinguish between a married and an unmarried woman in any language are to be banned as well, including "Madame" and "Mademoiselle," "Frau" and "Fraulein," "Senora" and "Senorita." Instead, staff are asked not to use any form of honorific and merely to address women by their names.

"Gender-specific" terms, such as "statesman," are to be replaced with gender-free alternatives, such as "political leader."

What is the possibility of a website just making up information and running with it? Can we do that?

Virginity by Major

An interesting study out of Wellesley College that charts virginity by major... Some of the more interesting findings:

1. 0% of students with 'studio arts' major are virgins

2. Virginity rates for Spanish major (43%) is much lower than virginity rates for English and French majors (50%)

3. There is evidence that geeks get laid the least in college. Check out the rates for Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics.

I was closest to a "Political Science" major -- about a 73% virginity rate. So, not exactly true.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

No, really, Krispy Kreme IS that good...

Thanks to Kate for this bit.


No word on if it's real or not. It comes from, allegedly, a Georgia TV station who was doing a story on Krispy Kreme's new Wheat Donuts. How boring.

But look closely...

I've always wanted a "fellatio" tag -- now I have an excuse!!!!!

Super Happy Fun Joy Time!

Its...

I just fucked your day -- again! Make it a good one!

Americans Losing Faith in... well, Everything

Via Nate Silver @ FiveThirtyEight.com, via the General Social Survey, data on Americans faith in certain institutions:


I don't have time to process, so I'll do the cheapie blogger thing: thoughts? reactions?

Billionaires

Forbes published its list of billionaires -- all 793 of them (down from 1,125 last year). Most lost money. And we're talking money in the amounts that we will never even come close to -- in the range of $18-$25billion dollars for the top three. I get pissed when I lost a $20 bill. 

No worries, I only have 12.5million of those left. 

Most disturbing is that there is a 25 year old (2.1B, Germany), a 27 year old (2.3B, China), and a 28 year old (1.1B, France/Lebanon) on the list. I'm just feeling a little behind right now.

Spring Forward

Don't forget to set your clocks an hour ahead tonight!

Oh, Jean-Luc!

I'm such a closet trekkie...

BWAHAHA!!!

"Equal Pay"

Picture courtesy of Writes Like She Talks

The New York Times has an interesting bit about the difference between women and men's pay. Women earn more than men in exactly three fields: data entry, postal work, and special education teachers (but nothing more than 5%). Women and men earn exactly the same in ticketing and travel agents.

Everything else... it goes way way down. The biggest difference? Physicians, where women earn 40% less than men.

The next three blogs come from ohioBNN on Twitter.

The Art of the Snowflake

Saw this neat bit on Sunday Morning (my dad's favorite show) about this professor in California that uses a special photomicroscope to take pictures of snowflakes. He has published several books on the subject, but I just think they are really pretty.



In fact, he has a whole website called SnowCrystals.com dedicated to his project. And, just in case you think it's a waste of time, don't worry... he's a physicist. Thus, he has lots of neat science on the creation and morphology of snowflakes, like this neat little chart that looks at the shape of the snow crystal based on the temperature and the supersaturation:


Oh, and just in case you still aren't convinced, he provides this explanation why he's studying it: "This is the way that basic science becomes useful -- figure out how things work the best you can, and later on use that knowledge in unforeseen applications."

:-) Anyways, nerdiness for your morning.

Overhead

9:30pm, UDF @ MLK and Auburn, semi-drunk frattish looking boy in a "Everyone loves a drunk Irish guy" t shirt and Bengals sleepy-pants, to his friends, upon being asked for change by the guy in the wheelchair who always sits out front of that store:

"What kind of ghetto are we in anyways?"

Um. My ghetto, bitch. Oh, and one that's like five blocks from your campus, bub.

Beer sales drop off

Thanks to Nate Silver over at fivethirtyeight.com...



In a world of economic turmoil, one thing has always remained constant: beer generally sells well.

...except in the 4Q of 2008.

It's a bad day when we aren't drinking. Or, when no one else is drinking and I still am.

Awesomest Scrabble Game EVER

The full story here from Ohio.com, but I thought the picture said quite a bit.

Via Neatorama.

Miss Piggy on Scrubs!!!!

Can you tell I'm YouTube surfing this morning?

Look, Miss Piggy AND Scrubs -- my two favorite things!!!


And, of course, we have to have a gay Scrubs video: