Really?

According to the CIA World Factbook, there are 26,790,222 women aged 15-64 in Germany.

According to The Economist, there are 400,000 registered prostitutes in Germany. Now I suppose some of these could be men and others could be senior citizens, but I would guess the cast majority are women aged 15-64.

So even if just 300,000 fit into this category (and I imagine it's higher), it means that 1.1% of all 15-64 German women are prostitutes.

I'm not sure whether that's proof of a culture and society in irreversible decline or proof of the coolest country ever. But I'm pretty confident it's one or the other.

(I decided to create a "random facts" label to go along with this post. I was going to create a "prostitution" label, but that would just encourage Big Jim to tell his story of a young boy coming of age on the merciless streets of Cleveland.)

Progressive Prisons

High-larious stuff from a local think tank:

Wisconsin actually has a history of making concessions to prisoners. We were the first state to abolish the death penalty, and to give prisoners time off for good behavior. In 1868, Wisconsin was even the first state to eliminate black and white striped prisoner uniforms. As a thank you for this kindness, criminals vowed to be more polite when they raped and murdered people for the next 140 years.

Quick hits

This is my first post in almost three weeks, so I figured I should at least explain why. The short answer is that I'm working like crazy. In addition to my regular job, I've started working nights, teaching and tutoring students in preparation for the LSAT. Consequently, both my free time and my desire to blog have dropped.

My LSAT class run until June 9th, and Lauren's due date is June 17th. It seems weird that my baby's birth may actually lead to my schedule slowing down.

In other news, poor Brady Quinn. Not only did the guy drop to #22, he fell to the Browns! I think it might just be best if he hang up his cleats now. Sisyphus never had it so bad.

I've been doing some thinking about abortion, and the more I think about it, the harder I find it to justify. Unless one is a devoted atheist, doesn't it stand to reason that there is at least a chance that some form of humanity - defined as a soul, or human rights, or whatever - begins upon conception? If one believes in God, how can one rule out this possibility? And if this possibility can't be dismissed, how can one support abortion? I agree that individual rights generally shouldn't be abridged without a compelling reason, but it seems to me that even the slightest possibility of ending a human life is as compelling as it gets. (I'm aware this is a staple of intro to philosophy classes, including my own. But is there a coherent argument against this reasoning?)

Yee-hawwwwwww!

+



=

Awesomeness

Some People Are Superheroes.

I'm not. They are. Apparently the thing they're doing is called Parkour.



The obvious question is: Could Turkish do this?

The obvious answer (supplied by the sister) is: Of course. But better.

For Rico

From the p. 166 of Robert Leonhard's book Fighting by Minutes:

What type of developments could produce a similar revolution in the future? The goal would be to equip, organize, and train our best fighting formations to move in a controlled manner with great velocity--at a rate, that is, that enemy formations could not adapt to. Alternately, we might approach the problem by focusing developments on our fast, light organizations. If we could maintain their mobility but yet increase their usable combat power, we could again challenge an enemy in a manner he could not handle.

As example of this type of innovation might be to equip the infantry with powered armor suits, similar to those described in the late Robert Heinlein's science fiction novel, Starship Troopers. In his book (a recommended title for students at Command and General Staff College), Heinlein describes infantrymen who can jump hundreds of meters at a leap. The platoon's communications net facilitates a dispersion over great distances, so that one platoon might cover frontages that we would equate with a division today. In fact, such developments are already under way in the army . . .

Separated at birth?

Do you smell what Barack is cookin'?



If Obama spoke in the third person, dropped the people's elbow on John Edwards, and called Hillary Clinton a jabroni, I would have to vote for him.

Let's get banned in Turkey!

Regarding this article:

Turkishness is stupid.

I would rather be mistaken for a nappy-headed ho than for a Turk.

Ataturk liked to have sex with animals.

Turkishness is the Kevin Federline of national identities.

What's the difference between a Turk and a bucket of smelly poop? A bucket.



That oughta do it. I'm already persona non grata in China, so this is a nice addition.

Imus

This whole Don Imus thing is really stupid. Personally, I don't care if they fire him or not. What he said so over the top that he has brought all of this on himself.

Having said that, this quote from the Rutgers captain really annoys me:

"We'd just like to express our great hurt, the sadness that he has brought to us," Essence Carson said.

Really? A 60-something guy you've never met--and most likely never heard of--can cause you "great hurt" that easily? Is your self esteem really that poor? If so, you've got bigger problems than Don Imus.

Communication is key

Thomas Sowell kinda sorta comes out for Giuliani and Gingrich here. Sowell, one of the finest teachers in contemporary journalism, argues for a Republican presidential candidate who can communicate:

At a crucial time in the history of this country and of Western Civilization, the Democrats are embracing foreign policies with a long track record of defeat, which can be punctuated by the ultimate defeat, terrorist nations and movements with nuclear weapons.

That is the background against which the many aspiring presidential candidates of both parties must be judged.

Among the Democrats, the various candidates all seem to be trying to outdo each other in advocating defeatist policies, as if we can unilaterally call off the war on terror by pulling out of Iraq with our tail between our legs, turning the country over to the terrorists as a base from which to destabilize the region and launch more attacks against the West—including the United States.

That is why it is important, even for those of us who are not Republicans, that the Republicans come up with a candidate who not only has guts and brains but who also knows how to communicate.

Have a happy and blessed Easter.

2008!

If you follow politics, you know that the field of candidates for 2008 is fairly crowded. On the GOP side, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Tommy Thompson, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, Jim Gilmore, and Ron Paul have all announced their candidacies. Other potential candidates include Fred Thompson, Newt Gingrich, and Chuck Hagel.

Despite all these candidates, some conservatives have complained that they don't have a candidate to call their own. In an effort to solve this problem, I have the candidate the Republicans are looking for.

Draft Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. When you think about it, he's about as solid a conservative as there is.

Foreign Policy: He starts international incidents as president of Iran. Imagine how aggressive he'd be with the military resources of the United States behind him. The homes of his dovish critics would be craters by sundown.

United Nations: He shows the organization as much respect as John Bolton.

Immigration: Just try to enter our territorial waters and see what happens.

Abortion: I'm pretty sure the word "stoning" would enter the American law books for the first time.

Crime: You think Rudy's tough on crime? Watch how fast graffiti declines when these hoodlums lose their hands.

As a bonus, he may or may not be a midget. How awesome would it be to have a midget president? That's why, at least until Gary Coleman declares, I'm throwing my support behind Mahmoud in 2008.

Bashar Assad is a creepy looking dude.

That is all.

Hope Springs Eternal

Especially on this day. Even if you are a Cleveland fan. Of course, this doesn't exactly hurt either. Based upon all available evidence, it would appear that the Indians should score 1944 runs this year. Not bad.

By the time you're ready to buy a house,

we'll all be living on other planets and in dome cities.

Wow

I thinking of having Google build my house. I'm not ready to buy a house yet, but by the time I will, I figure Google can handle it.

French follies

I was reading a recent article in The Economist about Segolene Royal, the Socialist Party nominee for President in France. Her platform includes all sorts of wacky lefty ideas, but the one that struck me was her proposal to raise the minimum wage.

She wants to increase the minimum wage to 1,500 euros per month. By my calculations, that equates to $13.93 per hour. (See my calculations below.) I just can't imagine how it's possible for a country to have any economic growth when it's paying its burger flippers nearly $14 an hour. But hey, who needs economic growth when the government takes care of you from artificially-conceived birth to physician-assisted death?

1,500 Euros = $1,950

240 work days per year = 20 work days per month

7 hour work day * 20 work days per month = 140 work hours per month

$1,950 / 140 = $13.93

You know you're married when. . . (Part 482)

You know you're married when the most exciting news you've heard for days is the installation of your new washer and dryer.

Big time laundry party tonight.

Less Reliable than a 2012 Presidential Poll!

I suppose I should do this before the season starts:

QB - Demetrius Jones
HB - Travis Thomas
FB - Asaph Schwapp
WR - David Grimes
WR - Duval Kamara
TE - John Carlson
LT - Paul Duncan
LG - Eric Olsen
OC - John Sullivan
RG - Dan Wenger
RT - Sam Young

DE - Trevor Laws
DT - Chris Stewart
DE - Pat Kuntz
OLB - Morrice Richardson
ILB - Maurice Crum
ILB - Toryan Smith
OLB - Anthony Vernaglia
CB - Terrail Lambert
FS - David Bruton
SS - Tom Zbikowski
CB - Ambrose Wooden

Chalk-a-thon rolls on!

This year's NCAA tournament has been incredibly devoid of upsets. The favorites just keep winning. With just 12 teams left (as I write this, we're halfway between the sweet 16 and the elite 8), there are four #1 seeds, three #2 seeds, a #3 seed, two #5 seeds, a #6 seed (Vanderbilt), and a #7 seed (UNLV). If all the higher seeds win tonight, the elite 8 could be 4 #1's, 3 #2's, and a #3. As such, I will be rooting for my former hometown Runnin' Rebels to wreck some brackets tonight.

The pool I'm in has 43 participants. If someone had just picked all the higher seeds every round, he would currently be tied for second place. (FYI, I'm currently tied for 21st, but I will most likely win or come in second if Georgetown wins it all. Go Hoyas!)