the Bleeding Heart Capitalist

The survey, conducted in 16 countries by Canadian romance publisher Harlequin Enterprises, asked men and women on six continents about traits they liked or disliked and how they went about trying to meet Mr. or Ms. Right.

The poll revealed differences between countries in the way people tried to impress the opposite sex.

Australians and British men frequently admitted drinking too much, while about half of German and Italian men said they had lied about their finances. Spaniards were the most likely to use sex to catch someone’s attention.

Eighty percent of Brazilian and Mexican men said they had lied about their marital or relationship status, as did 70 percent of German women, the survey said.

I’m not surprised by most of this, but 70 percent of German women lie about their marital status? Why? Are German chicks that promiscuous? Where have I been?

They unfortunately do not give a link to the findings, so I had to be content with their summary, which juggled intelligence, looks, money and a sense of humor throughout the many cultures. I have to say that people must lie on these things to a large degree or they give narrow choices. Men were apparently not given the option of a mute nymphomaniac, nor were women offered tall, wealthy, robotically romantic mind readers. That is certainly how things looked when I was single in the 90′s.

Here’s my take from my own "field work." Look at who you are with and you’ll see the best you could do. Those more cynical than I would tell you that whomever you are with is the least you were willing to settle for. It might be compatible neuroses. Perhaps it is  varying ratios of all of those things. A business associate of mine put it a similar way when we were both discussing personal standards. "Look a a guy’s wife," he said "and that will tell you his minimum standard." I am a lucky guy, because, by his measure, I appear to have some pretty lofty standards.  I know this much; she’s not with me for my height or my money.

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The exiled political head of the radical Islamic group Hamas said Saturday in Damascus, Syria, that the group would adopt "a very realistic approach" toward governing the Palestinian Authority and would work with the Fatah president, Mahmoud Abbas, on an acceptable political program.

But the leader, Khaled Meshal, also said Hamas would not "submit to pressure to recognize Israel, because the occupation is illegitimate and we will not abandon our rights," nor would it disarm, but would work to create a unified Palestinian army.

If so, Israel will utterly crush them, and the only negotiated settlement will be with the widows, maimed survivors, and orphans. How sad that Meshal wants to engage in an unwinnable fight rather than draw upon the political leverage the election bestowed upon his group.

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The investigation began this month when police became suspicious of ads in periodicals and newspapers that offered the exotic body massages.

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When Judge Edward Cashman sentenced a man to a 60-day prison sentence for sexually abusing a child, he said he wanted to make sure he got treatment that was unavailable to the criminal from inside a jail cell.

Ever since, he’s been vilified by television commentators, bloggers and others who say he was too soft.

Thursday, the case is scheduled to return to court, where the state hopes to convince Cashman to reconsider the sentence.

The state prosecutor, Robert Simpson, said in court papers that the 60-day jail time was insufficient to constitute punishment.

"This court’s sentence must consider and include punishment for the defendant’s action in repeatedly sexually assaulting this child," said Simpson.

The firestorm began when Cashman sentenced Mark Huelett, 34, who pleaded guilty to charges that he had sexual contact with a girl during a four-year period beginning when she was 6.

During the sentencing, Cashman said the best way to ensure public safety was to get Hulett out of prison so he could receive sex offender treatment. Because the Corrections Department concluded that Hulett wasn’t likely to reoffend, he wouldn’t be eligible to receive sex-offender treatment until he reached the end of his jail term.

The state has since offered to give the rapist treatment so that Cashman can stiffen the sentence without the treatment objection in play. People who side with Cashman’s original sentence cite that he has the details and we don’t. If you know of a detail that could possibly make my children safer than locking the guy up for 25 years and giving him treatment while incarcerated, do tell.

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