Month: September 2015

She’s got me by the balls

Castration is still legitimate justification for the cancellation of a marriage in Iran. But is there any restriction on DIY? “Khomeini concludes that a man may have intercourse with a girl under nine years old and divorce her without restriction,” so it would seem most unfair if that exit route were precluded. Danton having a…

The Catalan oligarchy

… and the obscene under-representation of mother-tongue Spanish speakers in positions of power.

Dutch words that sound obscene in English

Cock/Kok: family name. Also kok: cook, coccus. Re David Cameron’s #piggate laddishness, British Labour MP Emily Thornberry has posted a pack of pickled smoked cut beef (not pork) marketed under a brand of Darwin Award-worthy stupidity, Cock’s Fresh. De Cock is the family name and the products are preserved, not fresh. If you tell a…

Nasser and the hijab

Jokes with the party faithful about the negotiations with the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood following the 1952 revolution.

Did church attendance decrease post-Reformation?

If so, was it because the church recommended that people do something more useful with their time, or because all the fun had gone out of the church and people lost interest? Fundamental questions, but no good general answers to be found. I’m basically interested in N Europe & if poss areas where absenteeism wasn’t…