As IF Times

link Could you give up washing? | Environment | The Guardian.

As if.  Mind you, this is a story from a Brit tabloid paper, so there may be a correlation with the previous piece on Stephen Fry…which perhaps validates his contention that women find men disgusting.  I will stick my neck out and state that not bathing regularly is less an observance of environmental consideration as it is a symptom of sloth. 

Unless you were one of those unfortunate men trapped in a mine shaft in Chile, there is no excuse not to bathe daily.  The miners were somewhat impeded by lack of facilities and besides, it was dark, so no one really knew who stunk anyway.  But in the real world with most homes having running water, there is no excuse for not running the soap bar over yourself daily.

In the article, a woman is quoted as habitually running a few lemon slices on her armpits before venturing forth on her day.  Ick on so many levels.  I’m not sure why such an article would be written unless they’re trying to validate slobbery as the new social chic.  Anyone who thinks this trend has legs should ride the London or New York  subways during July.  Or sit next to a practitioner of the above bathing routine on a long overseas flight. The sweet smell of lemons doesn’t quite overcome the robust aroma of dead skin cells and bacteria.

It’s only a small leap to go from non regular bathing to non regular teeth brushing, again, considering it’s Britain, not a stretch.  Imagine being cornered in conversation on a crowded subway train in July by a non bathing disciple with halitosis.  Guantanamo prisoners had it better.

If anything, governments should move to legislate mandatory bathing.  Rather than allow people to freely wage olfactory terrorism on fellow citizens, there should be minimum standards of personal hygiene if people want to be allowed out in public.  Unless you are involved in a kinky sex ritual which encourages such deportment between paying adults, you should not be legally allowed to pollute public common breathing spaces with your personal essence de oh my!.  Congregating in enclosed public spaces should not be an exercise in enduring mustard gas.  Advice for the ignorant, odor is not French for smell of gold.

It’s hard to even imagine that anyone supposedly interviewed for this article would even admit to not bathing regularly.  This is truly the indicator of a declining society.

link Stephen Fry: Women don’t really like sex. What would he know, ask feminists | Mail Online.

As they say, opinions are like, well, you know, the thing that everyone has one of.  I won’t pretend to vouch for the veracity of Mr. Fry’s comments since of course, I don’t really know.  While it’s certainly possible that being gay confers upon him some special insight on the wants and needs of women, notably in the area of fashion, it’s a stretch in the area of sexual pleasure.  Certainly, it’s hard to argue against his views in the case of say,  Michael Moore or Mick Jagger.  However Warren Beatty or George Clooney may have divergent views and perhaps we should hear their opioions.   What’s most interesting about this article is, who cares what Stephen Fry thinks and how does his opinion get any press?

In a world of 3 billion plus people, how does an effete whatever he is manage to grab the attention of media which then broadcasts his wisdom for all to consume?  Has this person attained some great feat of discovery?  Does he have a history of providing grist to the collective  intellectual mill.  How did he manage to attain such sage status with his pronouncements that people would stand up and take notice?  Apart from his circle of merry men, who has even heard of this guy before?

The article describes Mr. Fry as ” the cleverest man in Britain” and “one of the country’s most famous homosexuals”  !!! 

Really? How does one get to such an exalted position in society?  Was there a contest or was it simply by selection of his peers? Are there courses you can take in school to prepare yourself for the running for such a position? How does one rise from the pool of merely clever men to the being the cleverest?  Not just the cleverest, but the most famous homosexual as well! 

How does the media decide that such a story is even newsworthy?  Like most newsrooms, I imagine that meetings are held in the mornings to discuss the contents for the coming day.  The war in Afghanistan.  Earthquake in Haiti.  Volcano in Indonesia.  Elections in the U.S.  Riots in France.  But wait!! There’s a proclamation by Stephen Fry! Stop the presses! 

Historians will one day dig up old archives representing glimpses of our society hundreds of years from now.  Among the pieces of old newspapers will be stories of Stephen Fry, one of the sages of his time whose pronouncements were heeded by all.  Da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Marconi, Gandhi and Mother Teresa, mere footnotes in the archives of history.  The evidence will show that the really avant garde thinkers of our time were gay since their opinions were sought after on every aspect of daily living.  Come to think of it, he compelled me write about him.  Boy he IS clever.