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In a study of 202 men conducted in the Boston area by clinical psychologist Melissa Farley and the non-profit group Prostitution Research and Education, men who pay for sex were found to be more likely to commit a number of crimes, including violent acts against women. The study was conducted via face-to-face interviews after recruiting subjects through the local paper. Subjects were first asked to reveal whether they buy sex. Then they were paired off based on background to test whether or not their attitudes would lead to crime in the future (current criminals buying more sex would be expected and was not the point of the study).
According to Reuters:
This is certainly an important question and one that bears directly on the impact of the accelerating sex

During the 2008 presidential campaign opponents of then candidate Barack Obama, both in the primary and the general election, attacked him for being an elitist. Apparently, despite his modest roots, Obama was viewed by some as an elitist largely because he studied hard in school and managed to graduate from Columbia University, earn a law degree from Harvard University and work briefly as a professor of law at the University of Chicago. There is a deep strain of anti-intellectualism in American politics, as in many countries, so candidates with degrees from elite universities, particularly if those candidates speak well and demonstrate a capability for complex thought can expect to be attacked in this way.
Although many come from more privileged backgrounds than the President, the Republicans in the House of Representatives, on the other hand, cannot be accused of being elitists. On the contrary, they are contemptuous of formal education and wear their ignorance of the world and the economy as almost badge of

I often find myself unable to let go of questions that don’t seem to give most people any pause at all. For example: Why do we cry at weddings? The more I think about this, the less certain I am about the answer — or, rather, the answers, because there are probably many different reasons, depending on the crier’s relationship to the bride or groom, the crier’s own marital status (by which I mean not only whether he or she is married but how happy that marriage is) and whether the crier is someone who tends to weep purely for joy or thinks frequently about death and loss.
Another day may find me musing about gossip, and whether it’s just a harmless way to kill time and bond with friends or coworkers or, like racist jokes, something that decent people should refuse to participate in. As is often the case, it’s hard to decide solely on the basis of observable behaviors (in this case, what’s being said about the absent party) — we need to consider people’s motives for saying it as well.
Or, while sitting in traffic (or standing in the shower), I may be busy constructing a taxonomy of different forms of loneliness. The aching separation from a particular other is not to be confused with the undifferentiated emptiness of being alone, which lacks the felt absence of a specific

The Long Beach, Calif. indie rockers known as The Fling draw inspiration from an eclectic mix of folk, rock, pop and psychedelic music. Their sound has been described as, “Classic ’60s pop, ’90s alternative and contemporary indie-rock clashing fluidly to create a strangely nostalgic effect.” The foursome — Dustin and Graham Lovelis, Justin Roeland and Justin Ivey — released their first full-length album, When the Madhouses Appear, just last year. As the band continues to tour the country, we wanted to know what keeps them fueled

Happy Monday everyone, here’s my Top 5 for July 25, 2011 from Len Berman at www.ThatsSports.com.
1. Quick Hits
NFL players are expected to vote to accept a new deal today.
Please say it ain’t so. Rumors have the Philadelphia Eagles interested in the “retired” Brett Favre.
Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven are inducted in Cooperstown.
The Seattle Mariners lose their team record 15th straight game, 12-8 to Boston.
Cadel Evans is the first Australian winner of the Tour de France. Actually he’s the first non-American, non-European winner.
In nuptial news, Bears quarterback Jack Cutler called an audible, his engagement to actress Kristen Cavallari is

Will Republicans, during these debt-ceiling negotiations, do the unthinkable and support cutting defense spending to avoid raising taxes on the uber-wealthy? The answer is yes, as it should be, and there is an answer to their angst.
The answer is that we should dramatically reduce the nuclear weapons budget. Doing so will do no harm to our national defense.
But don’t take my word for it. Take Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.). His proposal this week to lop off $9 trillion from the national debt over the next decade would halve the total number of nuclear warheads in our combined active and reserve stockpiles from about 5,000 to nearly 2,500.
This would save nearly $80 billion over the next

Fraud amongst bankers was endemic leading up to the financial crisis, but to date the SEC, the Justice Department and the FBI haven’t arrested a single executive at the big banks. Someone smuggling $2,000 of marijuana across the border with Mexico can expect to have a major investigation initiated at the behest of the FBI, the Justice Department, local police and US Immigration while bankers have virtually gone scot free, having caused a global crisis with global unemployment now at 180 million, an estimated 10 million people possibly losing their homes to foreclosure just in the US alone and I estimate $30 trillion of wealth will have evaporated from worldwide wealth of $200 trillion.
To those who argue that there is no smoking gun, I would say that how could there be, there hasn’t been any investigation. Put yellow crime scene tape around Goldman Sachs’ new building, tap some bankers’ phones, seize hard drives and desktop computers, and drag mid-level traders and banking executives off to prison and watch to see how quickly these folks learn how to sing. Can you imagine what leads and evidence would be uncovered by getting one bankster to wear a wire while golfing with his fellow decamillionaires in Southhampton?
Enforcement agencies like the SEC and the FBI complain about being understaffed and this is true, and not coincidental as banking industry lobbyists have been successful in convincing congressmen to cut back on the budgets of these important policing

The New York Times story this Sunday covering the bombing and the slaughter in Norway by a Christian Fundamentalist ends with these words from a researcher at the London School of Economics:
Therein lies the rub.
read full news from www.huffingtonpost.com

I am sure you have heard the expression “offering an opinion is like peeing on yourself in a blue serge suit. It feels warm and no one knows you’ve done it.” Now, two sources, an article in The Atlantic Monthly and a report from the Pew Research Center, confirm the expression as fact.
Their evidence concludes that neither political conservatives nor their liberal opposites can be persuaded to change their beliefs or opinions no matter how much empirical evidence shows that they are wrong.
A case in point is the matter of evolution. To someone who believes that the world is 9,000 years old no quantity of fact burdened argument will get them to change their mind. “It’s a THEORY of evolution!” they

This Sunday, my brother Josh and his friend Shane Bauer are due to have their final hearing in an Iranian court, where they are falsely accused of espionage. It will be exactly two years since their capture on the unmarked border with Iraqi Kurdistan, a semi-autonomous region of northern Iraq where they were hiking during a vacation.
Sunday is a perfect opportunity for Iranian authorities finally to end the needless suffering that Shane, Josh and our families have had to endure. Friends and supporters throughout the world will join our families in prayer that, after two years of unfulfilled promises and delay, Iran will finally do what is just, compassionate and humane and set Josh and Shane free.
On Friday, we will hold a rally for Josh and Shane’s freedom outside of Iran’s Mission to the United Nations in New

What exactly does a Christian terrorist look like? I know, the question doesn’t sound quite right. After all, there’s no such thing as a Christian terrorist. The two words don’t go together, unlike “Islamic” and “terrorist.” This is certainly true in much of the public and political discourse in Europe and North America when it comes to terrorism. The overriding assumption is that Islam has cornered that market.
The revelation over the weekend that Friday’s perpetrator of close to one hundred murders in Norway, Anders Behring Breivik, identifies as a conservative Christian sent shockwaves throughout many Christian

There is no point in chasing after a wild tiger or cursing at the rain. We have to be patient with those things that are beyond our control.
Do you have a Chill Pill you’d like to share? Tell us in the comments below.
read full news from www.huffingtonpost.com

One of the most important and positive things that happened during the recently concluded special session may turn out to be something that hasn’t yet received big headlines: Minnesota will now require annual evaluations of all public school teachers.
By their very nature teachers, whose life work is built around daily judgments of their students’ progress, want fair and honest feedback about their own abilities.
In January, Education Minnesota reaffirmed our support for meaningful, annual assessments of teachers. Throughout the regular legislative session, we favored a bill authored by Rep. Kathy Brynaert (DFL-Mankato), and that bill is the foundation of Minnesota’s new teacher evaluation law.
The law will require reviews by trained evaluators, including school administrators and experienced teachers already in the districts. Those reviews would take a wide variety of factors into account, including multiple measurements of student learning.
The new teacher development and evaluation law is not

Left and Right, Democrats and Republicans, Tea Party advocates and progressives. Who are we? We are humanity fragmented within itself. We are individuals banding together to promote our interests or opinions so that we will prevail over the interests and opinions of others. And who are the “others?” People whose interests and opinions conflict with ours.
Many of us consider ourselves committed to a spiritually-oriented life, whether we are religious, New Age, New Thought or followers of any other spiritual

The parade of posturing in our nation’s capital continued through this past weekend’s incredible heat and humidity. You just knew our politicos’ love of the spotlight would ensure deadline bargaining to milk all the free media they could out of this self-created crisis. While intense political conflict is a great American tradition, our economy is too complicated to withstand this type of attack without suffering damage.
There are some real changes in America’s economy and society that require a new approach to generating revenues and structuring government programs. The conversation on these issues is a few decades overdue, but our polarized political community is incapable of holding this

The cinema-verite approach to documentary making has its pitfalls – particularly if the subject is as close-mouthed as Ferran Adria, the focus of Gereon Wetzel’s El Bulli – Cooking in Progress, opening in limited release Wednesday (7/27/11).
Adria is acclaimed worldwide as one of the most imaginative and inventive chefs on the planet, an innovator in molecular gastronomy. His soon-to-be-defunct restaurant, El Bulli, which closes on July 30, has been proclaimed the best in the world. Which means it’s also one of the toughest reservations to land.
The 50-seat facility, a few hours outside Barcelona, is only open 160 nights a year. Meanwhile, the hype about the place supposedly produces two million reservation requests a

Going vegan “changed my life and changed the course of my life,” says Ann Gentry. “I couldn’t see it then. I just thought I was changing my diet.”
You may know Gentry as the founder of vegan mecca Real Food Daily, you may know her through her new cookbook Vegan Family Meals, but she started out as an actress — the starving kind. This only sounds

There comes a point in everyone’s life when it’s time to gather one’s herd and leave the hustle and bustle of the big city. For Elaine and Michael Fresco, that time is now. And although the herd in question numbers only two, they’re much beloved – and they’re goats.
Yes, Laurel Canyon, long a home to musicians and other entertainment industry folk, is also the home of two Mini Mancha dairy goats, Snowflake and Pumpkin.
But not for long. “I like Laurel Canyon,” says Elaine, “but not LA.” So, after about thirty years of living at the urban-wilderness interface that’s characteristic of Laurel Canyon – including three years with the goats – the Frescos are moving to a rural area near Santa Cruz, and taking their petting zoo with them.
(Check back soon for photos of the goats.)
Animals of many types are common in the canyon, particularly coyotes, hawks, owls, rats, field mice, squirrels, raccoons, skunks, lizards and snakes – a veritable menagerie – as well as dogs and cats, both of the latter best kept indoors at night and away from the

It’s no surprise that Republicans, led by House Speaker John Boehner, went out of their way to insult the president but remarkably Democrats also went forward over the weekend with Capitol Hill debt talks that did not even include a symbolic emissary from the White House.
After a perfunctory meeting with Barack Obama on Saturday – a session he had hurriedly called to maintain at least the appearance of leverage – Democrats and Republicans returned to their caves on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue for the real talks, without anyone from the White House included.
This served to reinforce Boehner’s vow to exclude Obama from the discussions. The internal logic of Washington’s byzantine protocol indicates a bipartisan snub of the president.
While the GOP obviously would savor a solution to the debt-ceiling crisis that gives Obama no credit, why are Democratic leaders so willing to cut him out?
The answer might be found in growing concerns among veteran Capitol Hill Democrats that their president is a lousy negotiator.
read full news from www.huffingtonpost.com

When it comes to conversations about insomnia, one might think we were at war. This isn’t all that surprising, since we generally approach health problems as adversaries. We fight disease, combat infections, kill germs and go to battle with our symptoms.
These kinds of fighting words are integral to the sleep disorders culture, as

There is a sizable, but still decidedly minority population that can benefit in terms of feeling better by excluding gluten, entirely or mostly, from their diets. There is a population — an order of magnitude smaller — for which it is vital to do so, and potentially even a matter of life and death. For everyone else, going gluten free is at best a fashion statement. Now, let’s mill the details.
Gluten is generally described as a protein, which is basically

A Conversation with Jill Scott
Mike Ragogna: Hello, Jill. You have the #1 album in the country with The Light Of The Sun, and you feature Anthony Hamilton on your latest single, “So In Love.” Can you give us some background on how your duet came about?
Jill Scott: Hi Mike, yeah sure. I got a phone call from a very dear friend, Charles Whitfield, who was working with Anthony (Hamilton) and he told me he had something for me. I got the song and, immediately, I fell in love, before I even heard Anthony’s

It is my forecast that in the future you will not be able to find ajob in your company because more and more’things’ will be free.
Crazy, I know, but hear me out.
We are living today, in what I call a free economy.
The free economy is a trend that has gone out of control.
It started as a marketing strategy, then it became essential for all businesses, and now it will ultimately cost you your job.
While many think todays high unemployment is a knock on from the recession, there is also a knock on worse than the recession in the form of the free economy.
What used to be a trend has become the only way to engagecustomers today.
Today, every bank or financial institution has to offer customers great free products, I call it ‘free bait’,to stand a chance at engaging a customer — think free software, free trials, free reports, free smart phone apps, free videos etc. etc.
As more and more ‘things’ become free, companies compete with eachother to offer more and more for free, until they are offering their core service for free.
As more becomes free, companies find ways to cut costs so they canoffer their ‘things’ for free to compete.
The only way they can dothis is by replacing your job with technology and computers, innovatedby freelance contractors and run by outsourced teams, as we see allaround us today.
How did we get here?
The internet.
With the rise of cloud computing, the price of bandwidth and storagedropping fast, the ‘free economy’ has become a movement for everyindustry.
In fact my guess, is that right now you and your team are working onthe very technology that will replace your job.
As soon as you get it working smoothly, you will be offered a job as acontractor over the next ten years or so.
Drastic, I know, but take a look at the trends.
In order to give all this stuff away for free, companies need toproduce their free goods at minimal costs.
This means everything going digital.
Virtually every product or industry that touches digital networks,quickly feels the effect of falling costs, but only when they figureout how to do it without the huge cost of staff.
read full news from www.huffingtonpost.com

Recently I sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives opposing passage of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill for 2012 that will go to the House floor this coming week. As I said in that letter, The Nature Conservancy has long provided ideas and input to the Interior appropriations process, but never before in our 60-year history have we opposed passage of this legislation.
I came to The Nature Conservancy from the private financial sector. I understand the gravity of the budget crisis facing this