STUPID, MORALISTIC TEA PARTY REPUBLICANS . . . OH, WAIT: U.K. Censors Online Porn; Spanking, Rough Sex, Other Assorted Kink Banned.

Continuing on its recent censorship-happy path, the U.K. government amended regulations this week to prohibit online porn from depicting a variety of erotic activities. Now-illicit acts range from the very specific (female ejaculation; “spanking, caning, and whipping beyond a gentle level”) to the incredibly broad (“verbal abuse”). But basically, the U.K. has banned BDSM and certain forms of fetish porn—or at least, charging money for that sort of porn. . . .

This comes in the wake of increasing action from the U.K. government (as well elsewhere in the European Union) toward censoring the Internet. The more I read about things like this latest round of U.K. porn censorship or the Europe Union’s new “right to be forgotten”, the more I do stop and appreciate the speech protections we have in the U.S., even if those are ever under-attack from over-zealous politicians and culture warriors.

Indeed. Apparently, though, much of the impetus for this censorship came from feminists.

TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): Jury convicts Grand Rapids tutor of statutory rape of boy. “The teen testified that he was a virgin before his involvement with Simon and she introduced him to a world of rough sex.”

CHANGE: Circumcision Guidelines Target Teenagers. “Doctors should start telling sexually active teenage boys who aren’t circumcised that if they have the surgery, they can reduce their risk of contracting H.I.V. and other sexually transmitted infections from their female partners, federal health officials propose. Similar counseling is urged for adult heterosexual men who remain uncircumcised and for expectant parents who will be making a decision about newborn circumcision if they have a boy, according to the new recommendations, proposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

UNLIKE FERGUSON, THIS ONE SEEMED PRETTY CLEAR-CUT TO ME: No Indictment in Videotaped NYPD Chokehold Death. A few observations:

(1) His initial crime: Selling “looseys” — individual cigarettes — in violation of NYC tax law. When you pass a law, however trivial, you are providing an opportunity for police to use lethal force. That’s why I favor fewer laws, not more.

(2) I saw someone on Twitter saying that if you expect a Staten Island grand jury to indict a cop, then you don’t know Staten Island. That may be the case, but it shouldn’t be. If police can’t be accountable for their use of force, then we shouldn’t have police. Fire ’em all and privatize. We’re not supposed to have titles of nobility in this country.

(3) Listening to NPR on the way back from the UT Studio — I taped a segment on this for The Independents on Fox Business tonight — they kept stressing that it was a WHITE officer who had killed a BLACK MAN. You could pretty much hear the capitals in their voices. They’d never stress race that way in other circumstances. And it’s not clear that excessive force by police is especially a racial problem. In Alabama, we had the shooting of a unarmed white 18-year old by a black cop; in Utah, we had the Dillan Taylor shooting, also unarmed, also not prosecuted. Racializing the issue makes it more divisive and less likely to be addressed.

UPDATE:

Government is simply a word for the things we decide to do together. Like choke men to death over rules governing the sale of cigarettes.

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) December 3, 2014

HOW SOME VIDEO STORES STILL THRIVE IN AN AGE OF NETFLIX.

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PROFILE: Google’s Intelligence Designer: The man behind a startup acquired by Google for $628 million plans to build a revolutionary new artificial intelligence.

YES. NEXT QUESTION? Is Obamacare Destroying the Democratic Party? “The ability of the Democratic Party to convince middle-class voters that it is on their side is by no means guaranteed.”

PERSONALLY, I HAVE MORE FAITH IN ELON MUSK AT THIS POINT: Everything You Need to Know About NASA’s Orion, the Spacecraft That Could Take Humanity to Mars.

READER BOOK PLUG: Moving On, by Diana Taylor Hart. Technically, I think her husband is the InstaPundit reader, but close enough.

IT HASN’T GONE AWAY, IT’S JUST GONE OUT OF THE NEWS: New Concerns Over Response to Ebola Crisis.

DOING THE JOB AMERICAN JOURNALISTS WON’T DO: Judicial Watch: Documents: Obama Administration Paid Baptist Family Services Over $182 Million to House Illegal Aliens.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Psycho Frames Ex with Fake Racist Facebook Posts. You know, we had a rather brief period in American history were even the faintest suspicion of being a communist could ruin lives and careers. We seem to be having a somewhat longer period in which even the faintest suspicion of being a racist or sexist can do the same.

ASHE SCHOW: If false, Rolling Stone story could set rape victims back decades. Yep. And can I say that a reporter who refers people with questions about a story to the magazine’s PR department doesn’t look like a reporter who’s secure with her reporting?

TAXPROF ROUNDUP: The IRS Scandal, Day 573.

WHY NIGERIA MATTERS:

Throughout the Sahel, the semi-desert stretch below the Sahara, various militias and jihadist groups are trading huge amounts of weapons and supplies to each other. This booming terrorist corridor is shaking the foundation of the all too unsteady nations in the region. France is once again fighting Islamists in Mali, while also lending support to a number of its other former colonies in the region. The ruins of the Libyan state have become a convenient arms depot and shelter for militants from many countries; since a re-stabilization of the country looks at best unlikely, it will be so for quite some time.

In and below this region lies Nigeria, now the largest economy in Africa, a longtime friend and even proxy of the United States on the continent, and a country beset by its own Islamic Caliph-aspirants: Boko Haram. It is worth considering what America can do to make sure this useful and often promising country doesn’t fall into chaos. . . .

Nigeria’s problems aren’t easily solved, and it is still possible that Boko Haram will get its religious kingdom in the North. But a stable Nigeria is important to Africa, and it is important to us—not only for our interests on the continent but for the longterm global war on terror. The weak states of Africa could be incubators of “boondock jihadists”, as we’ve called them, for decades. While these militants, like Boko Haram, may be far more inclined to terrorize and subjugate locals than attack the West, they can still provide materiel, training, and moral support to jihadists in Syria, Iraq, and perhaps Europe. The prospects for containing this threat, and likely for saving thousands of lives in Africa, will be much dimmer if the Nigerian state falters, let alone fails.

The Emir of Kano seems to have been good about resisting Boko Haram. We should help him out. Frankly, the traditional rulers like him may have more skills than the Nigerian federal government.

LIFE IN EUROPE: Paris Jewish Community in Shock Over Rape, Home Invasion ‘Because You Are Jews.’ Buy a gun, or get out. Nothing good is going to come of this.

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: Mining Engineers Led by Communications Studies Majors. “Falling oil prices will temporarily weaken the Russian and Iranian positions vis a vis the forces supported by the Gulf Emirates. It will also diminish logistical support for Assad in Syria. The administration finds itself in an accidental position of strength. US domestic oil production which it has tried so hard to discourage, has inadvertently given it a trump card. But does it know what to do with it?” No. Next question?