So do you believe that we should all just stop having sex until no one is exploited for sexual purposes, or is strictly procreative sex okay in your book?

Did you leave out a word there, or do you really think that it's morally wrong for people to enjoy sex at all when people are being exploited?

That's how I've usually done it, too. I'm queer but have dated both men and women, and expect the rules to be about the same. I have had some guys get weird about me paying early on in dating though, so I just quietly let those guys pay and usually don't go out with them again because it kind of weirds me out.

I don't think it's necessarily that creepy. As a teenager, I used to regularly go backpacking with an adult male family friend, because we both loved doing it. My dad would join us when he could, but his work at the time didn't allow him to go on most of the longer trips. This guy had known my parents for decades and…

The news report I read said that the agents were watching them for a little while before the two got some distance apart, then they rushed in and grabbed her but he resisted. It gave the impression that she was gone from the scene before he was shot.

I missed that one, thank god. But I live in NM and we occasionally get the same type of stuff here, not nationally that I know of but in more local/regional publications. What is so terrible too is that there are some amazing Native American-led groups that actually are working on these problems (I have a dear friend…

I appreciate this comment. It infuriates me when people act like it's an either/or thing...either you work to improve conditions on the reservations, or you care about pop culture racism directed against Native Americans. That comes up all the damn time when this conversation comes up, and it is bullshit. The problems…

I don't know how you can argue that white progressives are behind this when a group of Native Americans are the ones who are behind the lawsuit to get the team to change its name. Other Native Americans have also come out against the team name. I know Adrienne Keene of the blog Native Appropriations often talks about…

A telephone poll is especially flawed in this case because it leaves out many Native Americans who live on reservations. Most on the reservations near me don't even have phone lines to their private residences and instead rely on cell phones. This isn't a function of poverty even as some of the local nations are…

I also really have a problem with Jezebel's coverage of Chris Brown, but I do just want to point out that Jodi Arias is a bit of a false equivalency since she wasn't famous until she was charged with murder.

Generally the only time I have seen comments like that is when someone makes the inevitable, "Islam is inherently oppressive! All Muslim women are oppressed!" statement, which is a huge and inaccurate generalization. I've never seen someone on this site claim that Islam (or other religions made up of predominately…

So I'm not usually one to defend the Amish as I think there are a lot of abuses of both people and animals in that community, but I do have to comment on the "faxes in the barn" thing. It's not about screwing outsiders. The Amish stance on technology is complicated, but in general they are permitted to use modern…

The fact that the cops weren't involved for so long kind of hints at part of what scares me so much about cults like this. I mean, generally in order for them to really get involved, there has to be some kind of complaint (or clear evidence of a crime, of course). But by the time they're so involved in the cult, the…

The problem is that they don't know the history until they've already drank the kool-aid, as it were, and then it seems justified. Scientology has preying on lonely, vulnerable people down to an art.

Haha, I had a similar experience happen with a local message board I ran years ago. It was never very big and even contentious threads were slow moving, so imagine my surprise when I saw a thread that had been started the day before suddenly had like 200 comments on it, and COINCIDENTALLY I'M SURE we suddenly had like…

Planned Parenthood literally provides all of those. They're not trying to talk people into getting abortions or having them do it uninformed. The counselors are there to explore options with the patient, including working out moral concerns they may have regarding abortion and referring them to support groups or other…

I don't think Oprah was asking anyone to shed a tear for her. I thought it was pretty clear that her point was that racism still affects everyone, no matter how wealthy or famous they become. She even said that the way she experiences is far more subtle than how others do because of her power in society, but even she…

I don't think it's so logical as that. I bet if you asked them, they'd acknowledge that obviously some black people are very wealthy. But when they're faced with looking at a black person they don't know, they're not thinking about those wealthy people. They just see the stereotype they have in their minds of a poor…

It wouldn't surprise me if she would use similar language for female medical issues. It seemed clear to me that the "made-up dick disease" part referred to the fact that Low T is being mass-marketed as basically a form of erectile dysfunction, when actually erectile dysfunction is just one of many serious symptoms.…

I used to have similar mixed feelings on burqa bans, until it was pointed out to me that often the practical result of those bans is preventing those women from having any participation at all in the public sphere. In other words, if burqas are banned, it doesn't stop women from wearing them, it just prevents them…