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Roman Polanski

Polanski under house arrest at his Swiss chalet

I don't know if I agree with your basic premise, but you do have a good point about her mother. She left her alone with Polanski for a nude photo-shoot, knowing exactly what was going to happen. People also like to conveniently forget that the quaaludes weren't Polanski's either; they were her drugs. Sure, Polanski may be an asshole rapist, but we should at least put a good deal of blame where it's really due. The mother was pimping her teen daughter out to a member of the Hollywood elite, and providing (or at least condoning) the behavior while her teen's head was full of sedatives, undoubtedly seeing dollar-signs the whole time. Unfortunate? Maybe. But not uncommon. And not the work of some dark predator on the hunt for little girls. But of course that view doesn't mesh so well with the Fox-News agenda around here, so I'm sure it will be ignored. The hang-em-high trolls are good at ignoring what they don't want to see.  (Saturday Dec 5 | post #8)

Roman Polanski

Polanski under house arrest at his Swiss chalet

The word pedophile implies pre-pubescent children. He may be a rapist, but he's not a pedophile (if he was going after 7 year olds, that would make him a pedophile). At least get the terms right, if you're going to use them.  (Saturday Dec 5 | post #7)

Psychology

The Psychology of Atheism

Thanks.. you pretty much summed up what I was going to say. :) The person who wrote this article probably knows a lot more about religion than psychology, and seems to have a bit of a militant undertone. For starters, psychology is the study of behavior, so his very premise (that there needs to be some psychological explanation for "atheism "--ie. the lack of strange and complicated religious behaviors) is flawed to start with. I find that most people who use the phrase "the psychology of ______" usually are pretty clueless.  (Wednesday Nov 25 | post #6)

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Teen Girls at Higher Risk for STDs: Report

It's especially funny since the age of consent in all three of these states (Mass., Kentucky, and NC) is 16. Not 18. And in general they all have Romeo and Juliet exemptions that provide for teens to have sex with other teens (whereby a 16 year old could have sex with a 30 year old, pick up a disease, and then turn around and infect a 14 year old). All legal, even by our repressive teen-sex laws. The solution isn't more laws... It's more education.  (Saturday Nov 21 | post #4)

Education Etc.

A middle school social studies teacher was busted on sexual bat...

Well, they're not. They can "seem" any which way you want, but teenagers are generally called adolescents. Developmentally, "child" is still incorrect... 7, 8, or 9 would be close to the end of what folks should stop calling "childhood " and begin to call pre-adolescence or adolescence. Although I agree there's a bit of wiggle room; individuals develop at different ratesIt's spelled "pedophile " here in America, and that's the second time you've spelled it like a semi-literate, hooked-on-phonics teenager. Do you always call people that disagree with you pedophiles? Oh, and by the way, pedophiles are attracted to pre-pubescent children... Birth to 11-12ish. At least get your terms straight if you want to hurl around baseless insultsIt tells me that you're so afraid of being wrong about something that you're willing to completely dismiss the crux of my argument by saying you aren't interested. If you aren't interested, why the hell are you still talkingWell, for starters, the original post that you flew off the handle about mentioned a 16 year old specifically. Sorry, but a 16 year old is not a child, and in many states is allowed to sleep with anyone they choose. Yes, that post was probably a troll trying to yank some self-righteous tight-ass into a lather, but the point still stands. I wasn't familiar with Ohio law, but out of curiosity I looked it up. The age of consent there is 16 too, according to section 2907.04 of the Ohio revised code. http://codes.ohio. gov/orc/2907.04 And I happen to agree with you about one thing... it's never appropriate for a teacher to betray a position of trust that way, at any age (regardless of how many college professors end up screwing / marrying their students... it's almost tradition!). But then again you're referring back to the original article, which we weren't talking about.  (Tuesday Nov 17 | post #22)

Education Etc.

A middle school social studies teacher was busted on sexual bat...

Just to be fair, Bruce said 16 years old (unlike the article which is about a 14 year old). That's perfectly legal in the state you live in. Also, it's a bit disingenuous to refer to a 16 year old (or any teenager) as a child. Developmentally speaking, it's flat-out incorrect. As a legal concept, the word you're looking for is "minor." (But in the case of a 16 year old in Kentucky, it's a minor old enough to give consent to sex with a peer or adult of any age).  (Saturday Nov 14 | post #17)

Psychology

Blood samle needle Phobia

It sounds like blood-injury-injec tion phobia, and it's not terribly rare. If it bothers you phobias are extremely easy to treat without medication, although it may take a few sessions with a psychologist to desensitize you to the point where you're ready to donate blood yourself. The next time you're in the doctor's office you could mention it and ask if he could give you a referral. If push comes to shove, if you go to college / university, most of them have psychology clinics that offer services to students for free / a reduced fee.  (Thursday Nov 12 | post #24)

Homeopathy

Does Oscillococcinum Work for the Flu?

Yeah. That's, uh, the definition of anecdotal evidence. It's impossible (and irresponsible, and a waste of time) to try to make any kind of inference from a single anecdote. Or two. Or four. Or twenty. People who do are either irredeemably stupid or intentionally malicious. The stupid ones deserve what they get (hopefully some kind of infectious disease), but unfortunately the malicious ones frequently just get the stupid group's money. That's what they're really in it forYeah, there's a phrase for that too. It's called "operant conditioning, " and it happens all the time in everyday life. The associated stimuli don't even have to be related for it to happen, and they very often aren't (as in this case where people attribute recovery to the magic imprinted water). This phenomenon can cause a lot more quirky behavior than just the delusion that water can cure disease, but it's responsible for both... just like it is responsible for things like taste aversion. Ever drink so much tequila that you wish you had died the next morning? Chances are you won't be wanting tequila for quite a while, if ever.  (Nov 5, 2009 | post #25)

Medicine

3 N.C. hospital workers didn't take flu shot, resign

I bet none of these three clueless jackasses were actually doctors. It takes some kind of fanatical devotion, pretty much a religious fervor, to turn down basic preventive care that 8,000 of their co-workers (many of who are doctors and nurses themselves) willingly agree to. If they want to live with an increased risk of infection in a place where patients are already injured or sick or otherwise unable to fight off infection as easily they deserved to be fired. What we need is a good old fashioned crusade against the cult of anti-vaccination fear-mongers. It's a small group, but they're loud, annoying, and dangerous, and just as zealous as any extremist religious group. Medical advice doesn't sway them. Empiricism doesn't sway them. If anyone was ever deserving of scorn, ridicule, and exclusion from the community it's these wackos.  (Nov 5, 2009 | post #1)

Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix Officer Who Shot Homeowner Didn't Violate Policy, Polic...

Vengeance would be dragging "officer " Lilly out behind the courthouse and shooting him six times. There is a difference between that and seeking compensation for damage. The city (via the police department) was responsible for causing this man harm and will, eventually, be held accountable for it. In the meantime it doesn't come as much surprise that the police try to downplay the incident. If they had claimed that it was a violation of policy they would have zero chance in court of defending themselves. Too bad, too, since it sounds like their policies need some revision... they seem inadequate in training their police in how to respond to an armed citizenry. One more cop that thinks weapons only belong in the hands of police.  (Nov 1, 2009 | post #10)

Psychology

The great homework debate

No big surprise there, really. Most of our public schools are worthless time-sinks / prisons as it is. The really struggling populations, the ones most of these interventions target, are very poor, go to a godawful school, get their education from sub-par teachers (who else would work in the ghetto?) and have really crappy family lives. Since they live in the poorer parts of town they eat an irregular diet of garbage fast-food. Here in my city some of the worst schools have some of the highest rates of single parent and transient kids. What's more common is for a handful of barely related or unrelated kids to be cared for by an older sibling while mom works 2 jobs / sells drugs / prostitutes herself. And amidst all of these things people think the amount of homework matters? What a joke. Fiddling with homework is cheap, though... and if you can eke out enough of a benefit to be measurable people will call it a successful intervention. Undoubtedly they were public school graduates as well.  (Oct 27, 2009 | post #286)

Medicine

How to deal with erectile dysfunction

Hmm, really? If so, that's why people should go to a doctor for advice and not some internet troll.  (Oct 25, 2009 | post #121)

Psychology

Have You Considered a Career in Industrial-Organizational Psych...

If nothing else it pays really well.  (Oct 20, 2009 | post #1)

Education Etc.

Child dies from medical condition in school

All the police and school are saying is that he had some sort of "medical condition" which caused him to "have a medical emergency" in the pool, but it wasn't a drowning. Could be just about anything. Asthma, maybe.  (Oct 16, 2009 | post #6)

Psychology

How do you deal with confrontational people?

Ahhh! Well, in that case I just dilate some blood vessels and pump a little extra blood to my amygdala until they're gone! ;) Amygdalae : Saving the lives of mean people for millions of years. Kidding. What can you do, really? Ignore them, I guess. When you can't ignore or avoid them, just try to make the interaction as easy as possible. Or fight them, but that's rarely socially acceptable!  (Oct 15, 2009 | post #4)