Chris Bodenner

What Hookup Crisis? Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

A reader shifts the focus to South Korea:

Both sides of the dialogue on “hookup culture” start from the assumption that hooking up is inherently wrong. As a US-born, UK-naturalized ethnic Korean who moved to the motherland five months ago to get in touch with my “roots,” I challenge that assumption. Korea lacks a normalized hookup culture, and its societal views on sex can only be described as pathological.

Between Confucianism and Christianity, there is no education in school or open discussion on sex, so the population is astonishingly ignorant of safe sex and contraception. Even with the 15th largest economy and a fertility rate of 1.24, the overseas adoption rate is the highest in the world. Upon marriage, most women quit work and reduce sex, stopping entirely after childbirth. Husbands sleep in a separate room from their wives, who sleep with the baby.

Not surprisingly, the sex industry is rampant: an estimated 20% of men in their 20s visit a prostitute weekly.

Paradoxically, Korea is both one of the top exporters of prostitutes (they go upscale to Japan, Australia and the US on holiday visas) and of johns (who go down to SE Asia for “golf and business” trips). This helps explain why Korea has the highest rate of plastic surgery in the world. It’s less to do with generation divide, affluence, distance from the war, etc and simply a matter of economics: whether a woman’s path is marriage or prostitution, a few grand on a nip/tuck is a rational investment.

Now I’m not saying all these problems will miraculously disappear if Koreans start hooking up. But if they had a more relaxed – and more importantly, open – attitude towards sex and equality between the sexes, there might be some chance of restoring sanity.

For more stats on the subject, go here.

(Image via twinkiesandeggs)

The View From Your Window Contest: Winner #167

by Chris Bodenner

A reader writes:

The architecture and the many satellite dishes and TV antennas are reminiscent of the couple of countries in the Arab world I have visited . The “star and crescent” in one of the windows also suggests that we are in an Arab country. The writing on the water tank could be in Arabic. I assume the location is Egyptian because of the the structure of the number plate of the vehicle; it has a horizontal band running along the top, and a Google image search of “number plate” and various Arab countries suggests that this could be an Egyptian number plate.

While this is not an upscale neighborhood, the buildings look fairly modern and there is a number of ornamental trees. For local standards this is a higher-end neighborhood. According to some Egyptian real estate websites, Zamalek, an affluent district of central Cairo, encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island, could fit the bill. I have never been in Egypt (other than the Cairo airport), so I am probably off by hundreds or even thousands of miles.

Just hundreds. Another reader:

The red star and crescent in the window of the building and the general Middle Eastern looking buildings led me to Turkey, but the buildings didn’t look quite right. After looking at photos from Cypress, I am going to guess the location is Nicosia, Cypress.

Another:

The style of the buildings and their stone exteriors (this type of rock is locally called Jerusalem stone) are a clear giveaway that this picture was taken in West Jerusalem. You can also see water tanks on the roofs with attached solar panels, which are ubiquitous throughout Israel.

Another goes east:

It’s quite obviously Jerusalem, and the Arabic writing on the roof-top water tank puts it in East Jerusalem. Beyond that I’m not sure, so gonna guess somewhere in Sheikh Jarrah, north of Damascus Gate.

Another:

This looks like somewhere in Israel/Palestine. Israel is one of the countries where solar water heaters are commonly used, and the only one of those places (according to Google) where you might expect to find Arabic script. The landscape and architecture confirm this. The stone looks like “Jerusalem stone,” which suggests a locale somewhere in that area. The car has what look like white plates, which indicates an area controlled by the Palestinian Authority, not Israel.

Since the West Bank is basically a blank spot according to Google Maps (few if any street names), it’s hard to get very precise. So I’m going to hazard a guess and say this is Ramallah. The apartments look like recent construction, so I’m going to say specifically the Beytunia neighborhood, which is where a lot of new housing has been built as a result of Ramallah’s building boom. That would make the communication tower on the hill in the distance a part of the Israeli settlement of Psagot, which is built on a mountain overlooking central Ramallah. Fingers crossed!

Another gets a strong feeling:

This street is one of the favorite views of my life. This might sound a bit crazy, but I know this view because I lived in the house where this photo was taken for two years about twelve years ago.

It’s Kuwait City, Kuwait. The neighborhood is a bit more built up than I remember, but I’m sure this is it. This was my window. This was my view. This was our home when my children were babies and toddlers. This is the balcony where I sat with them in the evening. Seeing the image now of the low sun reflecting off the buildings, I can feel the heat and the heavy evening breeze. I can smell the hot dusty sand in the air, and I can see my young daughters’ super wide smiles. And I’m dying right now, because the heavy heat and my daughters’ smiles made those evenings so peaceful. I really miss it too much.

Another is also confident:

I am sure it is Lebanon because of the red roof in the distance behind the building in the front. Those are typical historical Lebanese homes, so it has to be Lebanon. We have got a repeat of the Islamic “muqarna” motif in this photo as well – similar to the recent view from the Al Hambra. The entrance portico of the building in the photo has a modernist architectural approach to a “mihrab” – a feature typical of most mosques oriented in the direction of Mecca. The question is what city. I doubt it’s the capital, Beirut, because there are too many trees. I would have to guess Jbeil, or perhaps Aukar near the American Embassy.

Another Lebanon guesser:

Gonna say Beirut and the neighborhood of Geitawi. Arabic script on that small sign atop the near building and what looks like cypress (?) trees to the left. I’m guessing Geitawai because when I googled “cypress trees in beirut,” I found this story.

Another:

I was so close but just a bit too far north last week for the Olympia, WA view. Now I feel close but so far! I have been to Tunisia but didn’t get to spend much time in Tunis. The neighborhood looks newer and pretty nice. And are those solar panels? So maybe a more progressive/modern area? My husband thinks Istanbul but that thing on the roof with the tank appears to have Arabic script on it so I decided to rule that out. The Islamic crescent and star on the window is so helpful but so not helpful at the same time! So I’m just going to take a guess of Tunis, Tunisia.

Another nails the right city:

This is my first time guessing for the VFYW contest, and usually my personal guesses are wrong, but I think I know this one. It’s definitely a Muslim country, with the red crescent and star in the window in the building across the street. And the white buildings everywhere remind me of Amman, as that certain shade is mandated by law within the city. There are a few too many trees for me to make this guess entirely comfortably, but they only seem to be in the foreground, and the hill rising in the back doesn’t appear to have any (another indication its Amman, because its a very hilly city). So that’s my guess.

Correct guess. Another Amman entry:

I lived there for three years. Haven’t quite figured out how to search images/maps and pinpoint the exact location but this is the first VFYW contest where I’ve immediately guessed it. I hope someone gets the precise location – can’t wait to find out what it is. It’s been driving me crazy.

Another:

This has to be Amman. Probably the Abdoun neighborhood, in the leafy (by Jordanian standards) western reaches of the city. This has been killing me all week, because I suspect the photo was taken within a mile or so of my apartment. I kept adjusting my route to work, hoping I’d pass by the view in question. But, alas, no luck. I’m sure someone cleverer than me has nailed down the exact location …

Here’s Grand Champion Doug Chini’s entry:

With most contests the hard part is finding the right city, while finding the exact address is easier, but this week is a prime example of the opposite situation. We’re almost certainly in the city of Amman, Jordan, but that choice of city means trouble. Amman’s architecture is strikingly uniform, in part due to government edict, and in part because so much of it has been built in just the past few decades. This is especially the case in the newer suburbs to the west of the city’s historical center. A best estimate then for the exact location would be in the Rabiya neighborhood which is bounded by Khalda to the north and Abdoun to the southeast and sits near the sixth of the city’s famous traffic circles.

About a dozen readers correctly guessed Amman, but no one got the exact location, as described by the submitter:

It’s from Amman, Jordan, which isn’t all that thrilling but I don’t think you’ve used one from there in a while. I was recently visiting a friend who is now living in Jordan, starting his own business. This is the view from his balcony in Amman, near 8th Circle (house number 3, Al-Hajil Street). Here‘s the exact location. Despite the fact that it’s the capital of Jordan, Amman only got street names three years ago, so finding things gets a little complicated! I visited my friend during Ramadan, which makes life interesting for California atheist expats such as himself. His requests to me: “real” bacon, glazed donuts, flip flops, aviator sunglasses, rum, tequila, and avocados. (I only brought the shoes and shades.)

None of the Amman guessers correctly answered a difficult view in the past, so the tiebreaker this week goes to the reader who has participated in the most contests overall. Since all of the Amman guessers but one have participated in just one or two contests, the following reader, who has entered eight, is the winner this week:

THAT is Amman, Jordan. But man, it could be one of many neighborhoods in West Amman. I don’t see a single unique feature in the whole picture. I’ll guess that this is in Shmeisani, just ’cause.

(Archive)

When Animals Grieve, Ctd

More readers respond to Andrew’s post on Eddy’s mourning of Dusty:

We have been so very sorry to read your recent posts about the life and death of Dusty. We are both sorry for your loss and with it, the remembrance of our Van’s death last year. I admit to starting a note to you twice last week, each time ending with “What is happening with your other dog?”, but I didn’t have the heart to send them. They just seemed like piling on, and my own memories of Van’s death were overwhelming. So I was interested to read the stories from readers on grieving pets. I thought it was time to share my thoughts from last week.

Our beloved dog Van died last year in late May after years of decline, followed in the end by seizures. He got to the day when he wasn’t really Van anymore. Like Dusty, his last day was full of love and hamburgers. The vet came to our apartment and we said our goodbyes. When I started to close the French doors separating our living room from the kitchen, so that our other dog Bettina wouldn’t be in the room, the vet said gently that we should allow her to be with us at the end of Van’s life. Bettina sniffed around him and said her goodbyes.

We were concerned about her, so we increased her walks with our dog walker from two days a week to five, thinking that at least she would enjoy the company of her canine friends. Like Eddy, she ate and seemed to enjoy her new solo life. But then, also like Eddy, she stopped eating and started burying her food in our couch and chairs. She started living under the dining room table. She stopped hanging out with us. We began to realize that the only reason Bettina ever hung with us was because Van did. We understood that he was her captain and without his leadership, she didn’t know what to do with herself.

The week after Christmas, we adopted for Bettina a 6-month-old fur brother. At first she wasn’t very enthusiastic. He is a giant puppy with no impulse control. But she did start eating again. Our dog walker insisted that Bettina was hating to love him, and that turned out to be true. Eight months in, they are now firm friends. And she is herself again.

Our reader also attaches the above photo of “Van and Bee watching the world go by.” Another reader:

I just finished reading the story about Molly and Custard. My family had a very similar experience when our 14-year old golden retriever Auggie died.

Nine years ago now, we adopted a one-year-old cat named Nemo, an absolute rascal that had been left at our vet’s office when his owner could no longer keep him. Auggie and Nemo were never the best of friends. Despite being a 75-80 lb dog, Auggie was pretty much afraid of her own shadow and Nemo took full advantage. He always seem to know how to drive the ol’ girl crazy, particularly in later years when she had hip dysplasia and Nemo could get to parts of the house that Auggie no longer could.

When the day finally came to put Auggie down – and we were so fortunate that she was really only truly suffering the last two weeks of her life – we didn’t think Nemo would miss her much. After all, he’d be king of the castle! But something funny happened: Nemo started sleeping in spots where Auggie used to sleep. He was gentler and more affectionate, staying near my mom for hours (who thought of Auggie as her long-lost daughter) when she was feeling sad. He got lonely more frequently, often meowing or trying to grab our attention in the middle of the night. It was as if he had experienced a bit of a personality transplant – he was the same ornery cat, but softer and more vulnerable.

I dunno, maybe I’m projecting my family’s feelings onto a cat that couldn’t give a damn. Still, I couldn’t help but feel we were helping him as much as he was helping us grieve.

Another emphasizes a point illustrated by the first reader:

I feel like one very important thing we can all try to do is to let our companion animals be with their companions in death. Personally, I’ve told my partner that if I should die before he and my dog, I want my dog to have some time to be with my body, to know me in death, since that physical proximity is her only way of really knowing I am gone. Animals know by scent (and perhaps other means) that other animals in their presence have died. I think the same should ideally occur with other animals in the “pack” – they are, after all, not only companions of us, but companions of each other. If one dog dies, another dog in the same family should be given time with that dog to know and experience its death. There is no other way for them to really know what has happened to the one that is gone.

Thank you, as always, for the opportunities you provide for these conversations.

For the entire Dish discussion this summer of deceased pets and the impact on their owners, go here.

The View From Your Window

Mineola, Texas, 5.43 pm

Cameron Proves Greenwald Right, Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

A reader casts a skeptical eye on the story:

Andrew’s take on the detention of Greenwald’s partner is mostly on the mark, but he says that Mr. Miranda appears to have been held only because his partner embarrassed the US government. This is possible, but the circumstances also suggest that he may have been acting as a courier between Greenwald and Poitras and thus made himself a part of the Snowden case. By no means do I mean to suggest that there would be anything wrong with acting as a courier, or that his detention was justified under British law – only that there is some reason to believe Mr. Miranda may have been directly involved in the disclosure of Snowden information, in which case his detention – however inappropriate – would have been in connection with his own actions, not just Greenwald’s.

Another points to the following excerpt from a NYT report and says “it sure sounds like he was acting as a courier”:

Mr. Miranda was in Berlin to deliver documents related to Mr. Greenwald’s investigation into government surveillance to Ms. Poitras, Mr. Greenwald said. Ms. Poitras, in turn, gave Mr. Miranda different documents to pass to Mr. Greenwald. Those documents, which were stored on encrypted thumb drives, were confiscated by airport security.

Another wonders:

Was that sloppiness on Greenwald’s part? Was it a deliberate attempt to solicit sympathy, to manipulate people’s emotions? I’ll admit that on the first read of what happened, I was angry that Miranda was detained, because Greenwald made it sound as though there was no good reason. But obviously there was.

Another responds to the latest news from Greenwald – that he’s planning to leak UK-specific national security documents to retaliate against his partner’s detention:

I understand why Greenwald is upset, but I’m uncomfortable with this type of personal and vengeful journalism. It is something I’ve always disliked about Greenwald and those like him. I wish I could better articulate why, but it just strikes me both as petty and dangerous – and not journalistic.

Update from a reader:

I’m not sure that I see the point these readers make. Even though Miranda may have been acting as a courier for Greenwald, he was detained by the UK government under an anti-terrorism statute – and journalism ain’t terrorism. It’s a perfect illustration of the exact corruption Greenwald’s been warning against, and a colossally stupid move to make for those invested in the security state’s continuation.

Another:

Reuters twisted Glenn’s statement beyond recognition. See his response here.

The Best Of The Dish Today

by Chris Bodenner

In case you’re confused by the multiple bylines today, last night Andrew unplugged for his annual fortnight away from the blog. But before doing so, he reflected on the first seven months of an independent Dish and praised the young staffers contributing to its slow but steady success. A new subscriber writes:

Well, your vacation going-away post finally got me. I am a religious RSS user and thus I haven’t “had” to pay yet. But I’ve been reading the Dish daily since your coverage of the Green Revolution and, yeah, I can afford it, so [tinypass_offer text=”take my money”]!

Also, for the “You Think ‘Weiner’ is Bad?” files, I bring you Dick Power, “an important Long Island, New York bike shop owner and bicycle maker.” Yes, Dick fucking Power.

Andrew also wrote a handful of other posts before signing off; he tore into the Cameron government for detaining Greenwald’s partner under an anti-terrorist law; he filled us in on the somber state of Eddy over her dearly departed roommate Dusty (prompting similar stories from readers); and he rallied beard-lovers everywhere, provoking readers to weigh the pros and cons of pogonophilia. One more from the con side:

Howard Jacobson’s argument, and the vanity-free high ground, can be owned only by that tiny subset of beard wearers that do not “interfere in the process” and proudly display their long, scraggly, unkempt beards. Cheers to them. But the bearded men I know groom their prized facial hair meticulously, with more attention and effort than goes into my two-minute daily shave in the shower sans mirror. Simply scraping all the hair off is easier (and just maybe, less vain) than all of that obsessive trimming and sculpting.

Another narrates the above video:

I trust you’ve been getting updates on the bearded Daniel Bryan, the Dish’s favourite pro wrestler. But in case you haven’t, I thought I’d pass along news from last night’s Summerslam (WWE’s second-biggest annual show), where Bryan defeated John Cena to become WWE Champion in one of the most triumphant moments in recent wrestling history. Unfortunately, he also became one of history’s shortest-lived champions after getting screwed by a conspiracy between WWE’s top brass (COO Triple H was the special guest referee) and one of its veteran heels, Randy Orton. So Bryan’s reign lasted about five minutes in total. It was heartbreaking, but also thrilling.

But far more importantly on the Dish today, we continued to chronicle the escalating carnage in Egypt, something that National Review and Commentary seemed to endorse by backing the military crackdown. (Maybe instead of sending the junta billions of dollars, the US should start sending civilians bulletproof whiteboards.) The increasingly violent Muslim Brotherhood already looks doomed while the Egyptian press is under threat by both sides of the conflict.

Death seemed to be the overriding theme of today’s Dish; we honored the passing of Christian political theorist Jean Bethke Elshtain, drew larger lessons from a sports journalist who killed himself on his birthday, continued to joke about suicide, and studied the science of near-death experiences.

A better note to end on: another scenic window view from a reader on the can.

How Best To Challenge Putin? Ctd

by Chris Bodenner

Face Of The Day

by Chris Bodenner

Freshmen at Colorado School of Mines, class of 2017, haul 10-pound rocks up to the university’s iconic mountainside M on Mt. Zion, August 19, 2013. The incoming students climb to the university’s M to give the landmark, and their classmates, a fresh coat of whitewash. By RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via Getty Images.

Cool Ad Watch

by Chris Bodenner

Copyranter spotlights a campaign that he calls “the best beer advertising in the world”:

The “No Bollocks” tagline is perfect: It gives you a taste of the beer’s blue collar British heritage without cramming it down your throat, and it serves as a challenger brand positioning against pretty much every other beer in the world. It’s especially brilliant when placed side-by-side with the bad base beer advertising of America’s big spenders Budweiser, Coors, and Miller.

Head here to watch several more TV spots.

Mental Health Break

by Chris Bodenner

How Russians do water parks: