English for trippers: Taboo tattoo

When I grew up basically only some prostitutes, sailors, and soldiers were wearing tattoos in Germany. Otherwise, only some far away ethnic minorities were known to practice tattoos like the Māoris of New Zealand.

How times have changed! Now some people can not have enough tattoos covering their whole body. Tons of adult actors are wearing and showing them off.

In 2023, I blogged here about Mormons in Utah loosening up on tattoos.

Masturbation evolved in primates about 40 million years ago functioning at a macroevolutionary scale

Caution: Taboos! Of course, science can not and should not resist to investigate and examine societal taboos!

Some of the language here seems bombastic!

It maybe healthy and good for fitness for various reasons!

Did you know that male masturbation in the wild is easier to observe than female masturbation?

"Though masturbation is common across the animal kingdom, it seems, at its face, to be an evolutionary paradox: Why would an animal waste time, energy and reproductive resources on self-pleasure instead of copulating with a partner? ...
A new study ... suggests that the evolutionary history of masturbation in primates extends back at least 40 million years, and the behavior might indeed help male primates be ready to mate when they get the chance, and also stay free of disease. ...
To fill gaps in the data due to masturbation not always being easy to observe (or looked for at all) by biologists, [paper researchers] sent out questionnaires to researchers to ask about their observations of primate masturbation that weren’t reported in the literature. This was especially important for information on female masturbation, ... which tends to go unnoticed ...
Male Cape ground squirrels (Geosciurus inauris), for instance, are known to masturbate after sex to cleanse their systems of infectious agents. ..."

From the abstract:

"Masturbation occurs throughout the animal kingdom. At first glance, however, the fitness benefits of this self-directed behaviour are unclear. Regardless, several drivers have been proposed. Non-functional hypotheses posit that masturbation is either a pathology, or a byproduct of high underlying sexual arousal, whereas functional hypotheses argue an adaptive benefit. The Postcopulatory Selection Hypothesis states that masturbation aids the chances of fertilization, while the Pathogen Avoidance Hypothesis states that masturbation helps reduce host infection by flushing pathogens from the genital tract. Here, we present comprehensive new data documenting masturbation across the primate order and use these, in conjunction with phylogenetic comparative methods, to reconstruct the evolutionary pathways and correlates of masturbation. We find that masturbation is an ancient trait within the primate order, becoming a more common aspect of the haplorrhine behavioural repertoire after the split from tarsiers. Our analyses provide support for both the Postcopulatory Selection and Pathogen Avoidance Hypotheses in male primates, suggesting that masturbation may be an adaptive trait, functioning at a macroevolutionary scale."

When and why did masturbation evolve in primates? A new study provides clues The behavior may help males be fertile and disease-free. But data on females are lacking

The evolution of masturbation is associated with postcopulatory selection and pathogen avoidance in primates (open access)

The researchers avoided to use color for their figures in their paper! See example below. 😊

Figure 4. Coevolution between masturbation occurrence (present versus absent; left-hand side of circles in schematic) and pathogens (present versus absent; right-hand side of circles in schematic).

Cannibalism is now recognized to be widespread and to contribute broadly to the self-regulation of many populations

Don't try this yourself please! 😄

"Eating your own kind is fairly common throughout the animal world, from single-celled amoebas to salamanders ... report in a new review in Ecology. But not as many species snack on their brethren as one might expect—and the team has detailed the reasons why.

First off, cannibalism is risky. ...

Cannibalism is also dicey from a disease perspective. Many pathogens are host specific, so if a cannibal devours an infected companion, it risks picking up the same disease. Different populations of humans have found this out the hard way multiple times. ...

Finally, cannibalism is a terrible way to pass down one’s genes. ...

Although cannibalism is far from ideal, certain conditions appear to make the risky behavior worthwhile. ... if you’re starving, you’ve got to protect your survival, ...

In their review, ... pinpoint specific hormones—octopamine in invertebrates and epinephrine in vertebrates—that appear to be linked to increasing rates of cannibalism. As conditions become crowded and food becomes scarce, the amounts of these hormones spike and “hangry” animals attack whatever they can snatch with jaws, legs, or pincers. ...
The study also highlights how certain conditions make some young amphibians such as tiger salamanders and spadefoot toads turn into supercannibals.  ...
Other creatures, such as the highly invasive cane toad, take the opposite approach. When hungry cannibals are lurking, vulnerable toad larvae accelerate their growth and development, tacking on mass to become too big to scarf down. ..."

From the abstract:

"Cannibalism, once viewed as a rare or aberrant behavior, is now recognized to be widespread and to contribute broadly to the self-regulation of many populations. Cannibalism can produce endogenous negative feedback on population growth because it is expressed as a conditional behavior, responding to the deteriorating ecological conditions that flow, directly or indirectly, from increasing densities of conspecifics. Thus, cannibalism emerges as a strongly density-dependent source of mortality. In this synthesis, we review recent research that has revealed a rich diversity of pathways through which rising density elicits increased cannibalism, including both factors that (a) elevate the rate of dangerous encounters between conspecifics and (b) enhance the likelihood that such encounters will lead to successful cannibalistic attacks. These pathways include both features of the autecology of cannibal populations and features of interactions with other species, including food resources and pathogens. Using mathematical models, we explore the consequences of including density-dependent cannibal attack rates on population dynamics. The conditional expression of cannibalism generally enhances stability and population regulation in single-species models but also may increase opportunities for alternative states and prey population escape from control by cannibalistic predators."

Why some animals turn cannibal | Science | AAAS Study finds good reasons to go after your comrades—and some bad ones, too

Pathways to the density-dependent expression of cannibalism, and consequences for regulated population dynamics (open access)

Dial 988 and get urgent, personal mental health help in the U.S. beginning on 7/16/2022. Finally!

Bravo! It is high time and long overdue for such an easy to access service in the U.S. like dial 911!

Mental disorders have been stigmatized and treated like a social taboo for too long! It is understandable, but unhealthy!

If I am not mistaken, mental disorders, if left untreated, have a higher probability to get worse. What started as a minor disorder may over time deteriorate. 

E.g. if it helps to prevent suicides or only one mass shooting ...

On the other hand, there is the real risk of overdiagnosing. Healthcare is big business etc. 

"Starting on Saturday, anyone in the US can punch in the 3 digits and talk with a trained counselor who can help them with a mental health emergency—including self-harm, suicidal ideation, and substance use issues—and connect them with mental health and substance use treatment ..." (Source)

On A Retrospective Observational Study of Psychosocial Determinants and Psychiatric Diagnoses of Mass Shooters in the United States study of 2022

This is perhaps one of the few, recent and comprehensive studies ever conducted in the U.S. about mental state of mass shooters. I did not have time to read the whole study.

Unfortunately, the study seems to come up short on the age of the mass shooter or any substance abuse behavior. The study also puts more emphasis on those mass shooters, who survived the mass shooting in contrast to those who died.

From the abstract:

"Our aim was to better understand the underlying psychiatric, psychosocial, and psychodynamic aspects of mass shootings in the United States (US). The Mother Jones database of 115 mass shootings from 1982–2019 was used to study retrospectively 55 shooters in the US. After developing a psychiatric-assessment questionnaire, psychiatric researchers gathered multiple psychosocial factors and determined diagnoses and treatment by evaluating the clinical evidence obtained by interviewing forensic psychiatrists, who had assessed the assailant, and/or by reviewing psychiatric evaluations conducted during the judicial proceedings. All 35 surviving-assailant cases were selected. Additionally, 20 cases where the assailant died at the time of the shootings were randomly selected from the remaining 80 cases. The majority of assailants (87.5%) had misdiagnosed and incorrectly treated or undiagnosed and untreated psychiatric illness. Most of the assailants also experienced profound estrangement not only from families, friends, and classmates but most importantly from themselves. Being marginalized and interpersonally shunned rendered them more vulnerable to their untreated psychiatric illness and to radicalization online, which fostered their violence. While there are complex reasons that a person is misdiagnosed or not diagnosed, there remains a vital need to decrease the stigma of mental illness to enable those with severe psychiatric illness to be more respected, less marginalized, and encouraged to receive effective psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic treatments."

A Retrospective Observational Study of Psychosocial Determinants and Psychiatric Diagnoses of Mass Shooters in the United States | Psychodynamic Psychiatry (open access)

Credits: Illinois shooting suspect latest in familiar pattern of disturbed young men leaving bloody trail

Highland Park 4th of July mass shooting suspect latest in familiar pattern of deeply disturbed young men

Update: According to latest news, the father of the subject sponsored his son's Firearms Ownership Id card at age 20 just one months after his son threatened to kill everyone in the family. Bizarre!

Very recommendable! I guess, in the future if someone threatens deadly violence against others this needs to be taken very seriously and should be prosecuted immediately!

Proper healthcare for juveniles or adolescents with mental disorders have to be taken much more seriously in the U.S. and other Western countries. As a last resort, admission into a psychiatric ward ought to be included. 

The social stigma of mental disorders needs to be reduced! We are living now in the 21st century, but mental disorders are still perceived like we are in the medieval ages! Much progress was made on e.g. ADHD and PTSD and so on, but this is not enough by far.

For several decades, individuals with severe mental disorders were systematically deinstitutionalized for ideological and humanitarian reasons. This malpractice needs to be reevaluated!

Perhaps, parents, foster parents, or custodians need to be held accountable for failure to seek and provide treatment even after their child turns adult!

Stricter gun laws and more gun control make little sense and are obvious red herrings!

Unfortunately, the long article is silent on any substance abuse by the mass shooter. Laura Ingraham yesterday hinted that the suspect was a pot user.

Some of the the social media activity of the suspect also indicated a tendency to wards deadly violence and that he felt an urge to commit such acts.

"In September 2019 [at age of about 18], the suspect told his family he would "kill everyone," ... "The threat was directed at family inside the home."

Police were called to Crimo's parents' home, where officers seized 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword that Crimo had stashed there.

At the time, he hadn't applied for a firearms license in Illinois, said Covelli. Highland Park police reported Crimo to Illinois state police, but ultimately, no charges were filed. Crimo then dropped off the radar of authorities.

The incident occurred about five months after Crimo attempted suicide, according to police, who explained a third party reported the suicide attempt in April 2019 about a week after it happened.

These were Crimo's only two encounters with law enforcement before the July Fourth shooting. ...
His mother was once reportedly arrested on suspicion of domestic battery ...

Crimo appears to broadly fit the profile of several recent mass shooters: young, male, isolated, emotionally disturbed ...

Dr. Ira Glick, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University Medical Center, recently explained ... that no one had ever conducted a true scientific study on mass shooters until he and a few colleagues did so last year. ...

Glick's team studied 35 mass shooting cases that occurred in the U.S. between 1982 and 2019, analyzing a wide variety of sources to find that many mass shooters in America suffered from a mental illness that wasn't being treated when they committed their crime.

Specifically, 28 of the 35 had mental illness diagnoses. None of the 28 were medicated or received other treatment for their disorders prior to their crimes. ..."

Illinois shooting suspect latest in familiar pattern of disturbed young men leaving bloody trail | Just The News Robert Crimo III, an amateur rapper, posted violent imagery online, demonstrated troubling behavior before allegedly opening fire on Fourth of July parade.

Actor Terry Crews recounts his mother's 'heinous' way of checking to see if he'd entered puberty

When male juveniles are sexually molested by women! Another social taboo subject! How many men are out there who had similar experiences?

A case of gender equality! Debunking the myth of mostly males perpetrating child molestation! 

Why do some men become child molesters or sexual abusers of women? Perhaps some of them were mistreated in childhood by their mother or other close female relatives!

"... recalled the moment his mother subjected him to a physical examination to see if he'd entered puberty.

Crews, 53, said that his mother made him pull down his pants for inspection. ..."

These molestations had according to his recount a devastating effect on his  life and probably also affected his relations with women later in life.

Terry Crews recounts his mother's 'heinous' way of checking to see if he'd entered puberty: 'It was abusive' - TheBlaze

Venice: Ponte delle Tette

Most tourists visiting Venice were probably not aware! Neither was I! 😄

"Ponte delle Tette is a small bridge ... in ... Venice, Italy ... It takes its name ("Bridge of the Tits") from the use of the bridge by prostitutes, who were encouraged to stand topless on the bridge and in nearby windows to entice and convert suspected homosexuals. ...

The Serenissima restricted prostitution in Venice to the area Carampane di Rialto by official decree in 1412. The prostitutes were severely restricted in their movement and behaviour. The buildings of the area had become property of the Serenissima when the last of the rich Rampani family had died without an heir. A curfew was imposed on them, and they could not leave the area except on Saturdays, when they had to wear a yellow scarf, as opposed to the white scarf of a marriageable woman. They could not work on certain holy days, with transgression of the rules sometimes resulting in flogging.

During the 16th century, the prostitutes faced strong competition from homosexuals and formally asked the Doge to help them.[7] The authorities, keen to suppress homosexuality (which was perceived as a social problem), allowed the prostitutes to display their breasts from balconies and windows near the bridge to attract business.[7] At night they were permitted to use lanterns to illuminate their breasts.[8] To divert with such incentive the men from sin against nature[1] the Serenissima also paid prostitutes to stand in a line across the bridge with breasts exposed.[2] The display of breasts also served to exclude transvestite prostitutes. ..."

Ponte delle Tette - Wikipedia

Amber Heard admits hitting Johnny Depp in secret recording

Me too! If you were indoctrinated by e.g. feminists that only men beat women, you probably need some reeducation! 😄

It has been known through anecdotes etc. for a long time that women hit weak men in the privacy of their home! These incidents may occur more often then one would expect. It is a taboo subject. Some men put up with it for love or other reasons. Some men even like or experience pleasure being hit by a woman (e.g. Marquis de Sade).

"Amber Heard admitted to hitting Johnny Depp in a secret recording that was unveiled during the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star's $50 million defamation trial. ...
Secret recording of Heard hitting Depp revealed

A recording was played during the defamation trial in which Heard admits to starting a "physical fight" with Depp.

"I didn't punch you. ... I was hitting you, it was not punching you. You didn't get punched, you got hit. ... I did not f***ing deck you, I f***ing was hitting you. ..."

Amber Heard admits hitting Johnny Depp in secret recording. Depp reveals addiction to opioids during defamation trial. - TheBlaze

Violence by Women Against Men Is Rising in the UK

This has been known for decades to be a widely and severely underreported subject!

"Domestic violence by women toward family members has risen twice as fast as those by men in the United Kingdom. According to statistics ... female perpetrators now account for 28 percent of cases of domestic violence – compared to 19 percent a decade ago. "

There have also been reports in Germany that male victims of domestic violence perpetrated by their female partner do not exactly go public with their experience!

This is a huge taboo subject! It punches a significant hole into the all to convenient narrative of feminists etc.!

Violence by Women Against Men Is Rising in the UK: Victims of female perpetrated violence should be just as protected as those of male offenders. The media needs to stop glamorizing violent women.

Native Americans Owned Many Black Slaves

Posted: 5/25/2019

Here is some history they usually do not tell you about because it does not fit the narrative, we are made to believe every day!

I was just listening to the Larry Elder radio show while driving on a highway, when he discussed the absurdity of reparations for slavery. My jaw dropped several times and I said what!

Among other astonishing things that I do not remember ever having been aware of was that there were about 2,000 black slaves on the infamous Trail of Tears owned by American natives.

Here is a pertinent article by the Smithsonian Institution about the subject of American natives owning black slaves: How Native American Slaveholders Complicate the Trail of Tears Narrative The new exhibition ‘Americans’ at the National Museum of the American Indian prompts a deeper dive for historic truths (published 3/6/2018). Unfortunately, this article is mute on numbers of slaves etc. Here are some pertinent quotes:

1. “... Cherokee slaveholders, foremost among them Cherokee chief John Ross ...”
2. “.... numerous African-American slaves, Cherokee-owned, who made the brutal march themselves, or else were shipped en masse to what is now Oklahoma aboard cramped boats by their wealthy Indian masters ...”
3. ““The Five Civilized Tribes [Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and Seminole] were deeply committed to slavery, established their own racialized black codes, immediately reestablished slavery when they arrived in Indian territory, rebuilt their nations with slave labor, crushed slave rebellions, and enthusiastically sided with the Confederacy in the Civil War.””
4. “Perversely, Native American ownership of black slaves came about as a way for Native Americans to illustrate their societal sophistication to white settlers.” [Sounds like historical revisionism or to invent excuses]

As an aside the Wikipedia article on the Five Civilized Tribes does not even mention slavery and slaveholding by these tribes.

This is just one of the many horrible facets of the history of slavery!

Huge Taboo Of Female On Male Domestic Violence

Posted: 4/22/2017

Women Are Not Angels

Anyone, who believes women are angels or that women are so much more merciful and caring is seriously mistaken! I have previously blogged about this subject of violent women e.g. here.

Trigger

Just read Wenn Frauen zuschlagen Hunderttausend Frauen in Deutschland sind von häuslicher Gewalt betroffen. Was wenige wissen: Auch Zehntausende Männer leiden darunter. Unsere Autorin hat eine Täterin und ein Opfer getroffen. (in German; excellent article)

Underreporting Probably Rampant

In the above article, we learn that in 2015 about 23,000 men in Germany alone were suffering from domestic violence inflicted on them by their female partners as reported. I was totally stunned to read that. Not only that, some of these attacks by women on their male partners are quite vicious and bloody requiring sometimes a hospital visit.

The above article describes:

1. Out of fear, many male victims are very reluctant to come forward, seek help, or report their suffering. Significant numbers of the male victims become depressive etc.
2. Many of the male victims do not fight back even they are often physically much stronger than the female aggressor. They act out of chivalry or because they do not want to hurt their partner despite the violent attack
3. Many of the male victims are just too shy or introvert, some of them still love their partners and have difficulties to separate etc. Other men, who learn of the suffering of someone they know, are dismissive or make fun of the victim etc.
4. Frequently these violent relationships go on for years
5. When police officers are called by male victim, they would often remove the male victim from the home not the female perpetrator despite visible signs of violence and despite the male victims reporting the violence committed against them

Bible Study: Lot And His Daughters

Posted: 9/7/2014

Trigger

Just read “Solving the Enigma of Petra and the Nabataeans”. This article only mentions Lot’s Cave in Jordan. But I became curious …

According to a Wikipedia article about Lot, we read (Genesis 19:30–38; emphasis added):

“Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. Let's get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father."

That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I slept with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.

So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.”

I believe, I never read or heard of that story about Lot and his daughters before. Is this story even, to use a contemporary term, politically correct given the incest taboo? :-)

I freely admit that I am not very familiar with the Bible. But I am aware that the Bible contains e.g. many morsels of wisdom, human understanding of life and much more. In brief, it is a very remarkable book written over hundreds of years over 2000 years ago.

A Few Thoughts

We attach some authenticity to the story here if only for arguments sake.

1. What surprised me in particular was that it was the two daughters who planned and carried out this plan.
2. Why was it emphasized that the father was not part of the plan?
3. From a biological standpoint how was this even possible? The father was asleep and possibly drunk. Was perhaps some kind of ancient artificial insemination used?
4. Is this a story about incest, although the two daughters planned this to happen without the consent or even knowledge of the father.
5. Did such incest indeed happen in the past to preserve the family? I would say this is a concept, which I believe is not well known anymore in modern times at least in the Western world.

The Parents Of Jared Loughner Had More Than A Hunch

 Parents Admitted They Were Aware 
Of Their Sons Mental Illness

To quote from a New York Times article published on 3/27/13 (emphasis added):

“The parents of Jared L. Loughner, the man who killed six people and wounded 13 others during a … event hosted by former [US] Representative Gabrielle Giffords in 2011, told the authorities after the mass shooting that they had become so concerned about their son’s strange behavior in the previous months that they had taken away his shotgun, insisted he get psychological counseling and had even begun to disable his car so that he could not go out at night … The documents, released by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department after Freedom of Information requests from news organizations, reveal the depth of the worries that Mr. Loughner’s parents had about their son’s rapidly deteriorating psychological stability.”

Other Example

The murderer of John Lennon, i.e. Mark David Chapman, confessed to his wife he was obsessed with John Lennon and he had planned to kill him. His wife did not report him.

Take Away

I don’t have the time at the moment to research this further, but I have an inkling that mentally ill persons more often than not confide to loved ones or other people close to them what they are up to. Or loved ones or close ones often sense that something terrible is going to happen.

Thus, it would be a great and long overdue idea to overcome the stigma and taboo that still surrounds mental illness in our society. As far as mental illness is concerned we are not much better off than the medieval ages. Yes, we do not subject mentally to harsh treatments anymore; yes, we do not keep mentally ill in lunatic asylums anymore; yes, we released involuntarily committed mentally ill to live among us.

However, seriously mentally ill people need treatment and care not incarceration in prison or a life as a homeless. Did the parents of Mr. Loughner have the knowledge how to provide treatment and care? If not, why?

I would also suggest that parents or other close individuals should be held liable for acts of mentally ill people, if they neglected to act. Like parents, who leave their baby to starve of food.