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Everything from drawing behavioral limits to sex and sexuality, to how to live with a difficult person -- under the banner of "Human relationships," you'll find it here.

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'Guess what? Sex is beautiful' *
When Thai massage mogul Chuwit Kamolvisit declared war on the police, no one dreamed he could make a government embarrassed by the flesh trade consider making it legal. CHRIS TENOVE reports from Bangkok. [More]

A few crass words about the artful poor *
Have you ever wondered why people tell you it's crass to discuss money? To shut poor people up, is why. The idea that personal finances are not a fit topic for polite company is a luxury affordable only to the middle class and those further up that gilded ladder we're always hearing about... [More]

Burning out on social networking *
"Being exposed to details, from someone's painful breakup to what they had for breakfast -- and much more sordid details than that -- feels like voyeurism," says one social networking dropout. [More]

Consciousness: A User's Guide -- Consciousness confronts itself *
Know thyself!" is the ancient Delphic command that Socrates adopted into the heart of Western philosophy. It is answered these days by countless books on consciousness, for we are conscious beings. Of these books, Adam Zeman's must be among the most thorough -- and the most readable. [More]

Escape from Intimacy ****
While critics may find Schaef's style somewhat controlling, proponents are likely to say it changed their lives -- especially if they see themselves in her work. A 12-step program to getting over your addiction to relationships. [More]

Failing Our Kids: How We Are Ruining Our Public Schools -- Why Jonnee kant spel gud *
A major difficulty in giving prominence to education is that it is seldom newsworthy. Although everyone knows education is important, it never seems to attain the priority of a police search for a criminal or a health crisis such as the need to contain SARS. [More]

Find a Husband After 35 Using What I Learned at Harvard Business School: When cupid turns headhunter *
Can't find a romantic partner? Take some tips from a Harvard MBA grad on how to find the perfect match [More]

Getting To Know You ****
Getting To Know You brings humor and insight to the often-complicated relationships of the new millennium. [More]

Good girls do *
School counsellors, researchers and teenagers themselves say that girls as young as 12 and 13 are performing oral sex -- not just the class 'bad girls,' but students from every walk of life. They don't consider it real sex, but an act almost as normal as acne and cafeteria gossip. In today's oversexed consumer culture, reports SARA WILSON, popularity commands a high price. [More]

Interpretation: Could be good or bad *
So much of what is dangerous has been quantified, yet we continue to interpret the world in much the same verbal, non-mathematical way as humans have done since they first evolved. We don't cross the street saying to ourselves, "I have a .0006-per-cent chance of being hit by a car while doing this." We don't sunbathe on the beach thinking, "My risk of skin cancer has gone up .00014 per cent." [More]

Kurt Vonnegut's list *
Kurt Vonnegut's list -- as partly delivered in his interview on The Daily Show in September, 2005 -- seems to have been removed from Comedy Central's website. So here it is! [More]

Losing their way -- when teens become trouble *
'I should have been firmer." What parent has not said this? Or more likely, what mom, since they're the ones more often who question their methods, doubt their successes and bear the family load for the seeming failure of their children to weather the stormy passage into adulthood. [More]

Pill using spider venom would combat impotence *
Chilean researchers said yesterday they aimed to develop a new pill to combat impotence that would have the added bonus of being a male contraceptive, based on experiments with the venom of black-widow spiders. [More]

Sex for Dummies *** 1/2
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Sexual lyrics linked to sexual activity? Is this for real? *
We all know statistics can be bent to support any thesis, so take this report with a grain of salt. Or even a PILLAR of salt. [More]

The Lovers' Guide: The Art of Better Lovemaking ***
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The Myth of Ability: John Mighton, educational alchemist *
Does this Toronto playwright have the secret to turning dunces into fraction-cracking mathletes? As TRALEE PEARCE reports, his new book uncloaks the mystery [More]

The new traditionalists *
Living together isn't all it's cracked up to be, say a growing number of women who are asking for a commitment before agreeing to share towels. LEAH McLAREN examines the cohabitation backlash [More]

The porn queen's sad epiphany *
When Linda Lovelace, a woman best known for carnal abilities that rivalled Saracen the Sword Swallower's, published Ordeal, her third autobiography, in 1980, she triggered the coining of a phrase in porn circles known as "The Linda Syndrome." [More]

The Primal Teen: What the New Discoveries About the Teenage Brain Tell Us About Our Kids -- Families: Please excuse the mess *
There's a reason teenagers sometimes seem crazy, writes MICHAEL VALPY. Underneath that baseball cap, there's a brain that's still under construction [More]

The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as An Act of Love (hardcover) ** 1/2
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The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as An Act of Love (paperback) ** 1/2
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Voices: A collection of inspirational stories from British Columbians (Garber review) ** 1/2
When you purchase this book, the publishers will donate $3.00 directly to Special Olympics BC. [More]

Wallflowers born, not made *
The urge to shy away from unfamiliar faces and situations may be a trait people have throughout their lives, a new study suggests. [More]

You don't have time for sex? Try 2:30 p.m. *
There's a brilliant New Yorker cartoon of a middle-aged couple in bed, with the woman turning her back on the man. "I can understand a sexless marriage," she says. "But we're having an affair!" [More]

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Canada's vanishing Christians *
The release of the 2001 census data on religion confirms that Christianity -- especially mainline Protestant denominations and francophone Catholicism -- is nearing free fall in Canada. [More]

Doctor Earle's diagnosis *
Singer Steve Earle, no stranger to rehab himself, has a few prescriptions for an ailing America, ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN writes [More]

Getting even is healthy, says author *
In his new book, Life's Little Annoyances, New York Times reporter Ian Urbina offers a compendium of the molehills we turn into mountains and our inventive strategies for coping with them. [More]

Grumpy old folks mostly myth, study suggests *
Aging may help us accentuate the positive and foster good feelings, a new study says. [More]

Imprisoned physicist allowed to refuse medication *
A brilliant physicist who has spent four years in a pyschiatric institution rather than submit to forcible medication has won his bid to refuse drug treatment. [More]

Lack of curiosity killed the chat *
There are limits to conversational generosity. I'm not really blessed with completely unquenchable curiosity. [More]

Marriage helps men live longer *
Canadian men looking to lengthen their lives may want to add a marriage proposal to their routine of regular exercise and a daily glass of wine. [More]

Maternal care influences future stress levels, study shows *
The way a mother cares for her baby can determine how stressed out the child will be as an adult because maternal nurturing can permanently change the way an infant's genes operate, according to a new study on rats that was led by a professor of medicine at McGill University in Montreal. [More]

SOCIAL STUDIES -- Wednesday, November 19, 2003 *
A DAILY MISECELLANY OF INFORMATION BY MICHAEL KESTERTON [More]

The Everything To Do With Sex Show *
Author:Item courtesy of Geneviève Lemarchand
Naughty but nice, it is entertainment, education and fun in a non-threatening atmosphere...with more than 100 exhibitors, fashion shows, product demos, seminars, celebs and autographs, workshops, unique contests and live broadcasts. [More]

The soul in science *
The West may lead the world in research and technology, but Muslim scientists have much to contribute in integrating inquiry with ethics, says SHEEMA KHAN [More]

Wedded bli$$ *
My husband is very rich, but I am not. I don't regard my husband's money as my own. Having married very wealthy men before my current husband, I can guarantee that I parted from them leaving both their fortunes and my opinions intact... [More]

Welcome to Canada. We lied about the opportunities *
The census figures, released earlier this month, offer a disturbing snapshot of Canadian society. It's not the more egalitarian society we hoped for -- rather, a Dickensian social order where the rich get richer and many of the hard-working poor stay poor. [More]

Who wants salary and benefits when a stroll through the park can bring in minimum wage? *
Perhaps it is the time of life, more likely just the time of year. Or as Joni Mitchell sang it: "Maybe it's the time of Man." [More]

Young and shunned in Canada *
With 50,000 young people on the street in Canada, film director Daniel Cross thought it time to show what life is like for squeegee kids, REBECCA CALDWELL writes [More]