Free Republic

They say the first step is admitting you have a problem. I think many readers of this article will respond with outrage, and many will see it says things they already knew to be true—and I think these two groups will largely overlap. The most powerful obstacle to confronting a destructive addiction is denial, and collectively we are in denial about pornography. Since it seems somehow relevant, let me state at the outset that I am French. Every fiber of my Latin, Catholic body recoils at puritanism of any sort, especially the bizarre, Anglo-Puritan kind so prevalent in America. I...

At the age of 18, Mitsuhiro Matsushita already has a good idea of his ideal future. After he graduates from university a few years of work will be followed by marriage to an industrious wage earner. When children arrive it will be Mitsuhiro who stays at home looking after them, baking cakes and biscuits and living the traditional life of the Japanese housewife. None of this would be noteworthy but for one thing. Mitsuhiro is not a conventionally minded Japanese woman, but a thoughtful, articulate and fashionably dressed young man. And far from being a marginal eccentric he is a...

I've never met a vegetarian I liked. Believe me, I've met my share and have more than an intimate knowledge of the subject having closely researched it for the best part of 15 years. The mung bean mafia are generally prone to flatulence, have poor personal hygiene, make terrible dinner companions and share a gastronomic gene pool with those disposed toward mass murder and violence. And quite possibly fat. Case study one: Adolf Hitler was a herbivore. The Dalai Lama is not. Case study two: Russell Crowe's past crankiness and weight problems can be blamed on a vegetarian diet and...