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:headbutt: :headbutt:

It makes me VERY mad when I read an article that almost makes me ashamed to be a Christian.

1. There is NOTHING wrong with being gay.
2. I HIGHLY doubt this video promotes homosexuality (although I could not watch it on my computer).
3. EVEN IF it does promote homosexuality, so fucking what?! There are a million shows that promote being straight, so what is the problem if one supports being gay?! You cannot "brainwash" someone into being gay. Being straight or gay is the way you were born and a person's environment DOES NOT influence it.

I feel like tracking those people down and strangling them. :furious:
 
Yep, your right, I just watched the whole thing, no mention of homosexuality whatsoever,as far as I can see it's about tolerance but these people wouldn't understand that.
 
Psychedelic Drug Found in Valentine Candy


Feb 9, 5:58 PM (ET)

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) - Authorities doubt Cupid had any part in the 9 pounds of heart-shaped candies discovered during a traffic stop.

The candies, found Monday by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, tested positive for psilocybin, a psychedelic drug extracted from a mushroom of the same name.

The estimated value of the faux Valentine's Day chocolate was more than $408,000, DPS officials said in a news release.

The troopers found the candy in a plastic bag after stopping a San Francisco man's 2005 Toyota Corolla on Interstate 40 about three miles west of Amarillo.

Craig Allen Moreland, 30, was arrested and taken to the Potter County Detention Center on drug charges, the release said.

---

Information from: the Amarillo Globe-News, http://www.amarillo.com

Source
 
RainyOcean said:
:headbutt: :headbutt:

It makes me VERY mad when I read an article that almost makes me ashamed to be a Christian.

1. There is NOTHING wrong with being gay.
2. I HIGHLY doubt this video promotes homosexuality (although I could not watch it on my computer).
3. EVEN IF it does promote homosexuality, so fucking what?! There are a million shows that promote being straight, so what is the problem if one supports being gay?! You cannot "brainwash" someone into being gay. Being straight or gay is the way you were born and a person's environment DOES NOT influence it.

I feel like tracking those people down and strangling them. :furious:

Rainy, I can add nothing more to this excellant outburst against intolerance. I heartliy agree with you.
 
And on a lighter note:

Couples Lock Lips at Kissing Festival


Feb 12, 9:41 PM (ET)


MANILA, Philippines (AP) - Thousands of couples got Valentine's Day celebrations going early, locking lips at midnight Saturday in what organizers dubbed "Lovapalooza 2."

More than 5,300 couples kissed for at least 10 seconds last Valentine's Day in Manila for an event known as "Lovapalooza," breaking Chile's record of 4,445 in the Guinness World Records book.

This year's event was aimed at "a million kisses, a million heartbeats, and probably a million people falling in love the second time around," said a statement from toothpaste maker Unilever Philippines, one of the event's organizers.

The kissing festival was held simultaneously in at least four cities nationwide. Despite the large crowds, the figures appeared to be well below the target.

"We're not beating any record this time, we're building a tradition only," said Unilever's Mia Fuentes. "A lot of people have been wanting to go and relive the whole thing."

Cheers erupted from the crowd along a Manila bayside boulevard as fireworks went off over Manila Bay when the couples kissed.

Source
 
Ah a celebration of love:

Deputies, teens brawl at Valentine’s dance

Alcohol factor in ’near riot’; six students arrested

February 15, 2005
Amber [email protected]

Punches were thrown, arrests were made, and sheriff's deputies used a police dog to subdue one teenager during an alcohol-fueled brawl that erupted between high school students and law enforcement officers at a Valentine's Day dance over the weekend.

The Escambia County Sheriff's Office is continuing its investigation of the fight, which broke out among students from several area high schools during an annual dance at the Hadji Shrine Temple of Pensacola.

Four students among the approximately 200 at the dance were arrested, and two more were charged Monday. Three students were sent home drunk.

Las Javanas, an exclusive girls' social club, sponsored the dance. The club's members are drawn, by invitation, from high schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties.

The State Attorney's Office is continuing to review the night's events, which Deputy Ray Briggs referred to as a "near riot."

"It could have become a real nightmare scenario if deputies hadn't shown the restraint they did,'' said Briggs, a chaperone to the dance that his daughter attended.

Wildly different versions of the Friday night events have been offered by law enforcement and an attorney representing at least two of the students involved.

Terry Gross, a local attorney whose son was charged with disturbing the peace, said deputies used excessive force against students, including several students who were trying to clear up a misunderstanding.

"They were out of control," Gross said of officers who were involved in the brawl. "I've spoken to at least 20 kids about what happened, and it's shocking."

One boy, Gross said, suffered 47 puncture wounds after deputies unleashed a police dog on him. Gross said the same boy was struck by a deputy with a large flashlight, while another had his head slammed into the side of a patrol car.

"These are all good kids, straight-A kids,'' Gross said. "Many of them have never been in trouble before.''

Deputy jumped

Sheriff's Office reports, however, paint a different picture of the evening's events-- one of deputies being attacked by a large group of drunken, violent teenage boys.

The fight erupted after 11 p.m., when deputies providing security for the dance were notified of a fight on the dance floor.

Steven Helmkamp, an 18-year-old Gulf Breeze High School student, had been punched in the nose and was bleeding heavily from his nose and mouth.

Deputy Jeremy Jarman rushed into the crowd.

In his report, Jarman said he saw 17-year-old Travis Roth, a Gulf Breeze High School student, reach back his fist "as if he was attempting to strike another individual."

Jarman reported that he grabbed Roth and ordered him to back up, at which time the boy allegedly struck the deputy in the face. Jarman said Roth attempted to strike him a second time, but he knocked the boy to the ground and attempted to handcuff him.

"Several male juveniles jumped on my back and on top of me and began to strike me with their fists and feet," Jarman wrote in his report. "Subsequently, I had to start pushing subjects off of me, and for the more aggressive subjects that were striking me, I had to strike them in order to get them to retreat."

Several event chaperones, including Briggs, rushed in to help Jarman.

Briggs wrote in his report that furniture had been overturned, and a number of teenagers were "pushing, pulling and yelling at" Jarman, arguing that he had taken the wrong person into custody.

Difficult arrest

Eventually, Jarman subdued Roth and escorted him out the door, at which point Jarman wrote that he was again attacked. Jarman reported that 17-year-old Addison Salter, a Gulf Breeze student, assaulted him from behind, wrapping his arm around Jarman's neck in an attempt to free Roth.

While Jarman struggled to keep Roth, who he reported was attempting to pull away, under control, Salter allegedly struck him in the back of the head. Salter allegedly fled on foot.

Meanwhile, Jarman reported that he attempted to place Roth across the hood of another deputy's vehicle. While he was doing so, "Roth began to pull even harder" and struck his head against the vehicle, causing a large dent, Jarman wrote.

According to reports, Salter returned to the scene and began shouting and swearing at Jarman, moving toward him "in an aggressive manner" with his fists clenched.

Deputy Timothy Taylor wrote that he put his hand out to stop Salter, but the boy slapped Taylor's hand down.

Taylor said he attempted to place Salter under arrest, but Salter tried to flee.

"He continued to slap, punch and push me away," Taylor wrote. "During this time he was punching and pushing me in the chest. At one point, he hit me on the right side of the face."

Police dog used

Unable to get Salter into his cruiser, Taylor reported that he activated his remote door opener and freed his police dog Awny.

Taylor wrote that he ordered Salter to get down on the ground, but he refused. At that time, he ordered Awny to "seize Salter."

According to Taylor's report, the dog bit Salter on the left buttock, preventing him from running farther. Taylor wrote that he attempted to place Salter under arrest, but the boy continued to fight, prompting the dog to grab Salter again on his right arm.

Taylor eventually was able to handcuff Salter, who suffered dog bite punctures to his buttock and arm.

Both Salter and Roth were charged with resisting arrest with violence and assault on a law enforcement officer.

While the fight escalated outside, Gross' 17-year-old son, Marcus, was taken into custody inside the building.

According to reports, event chaperones were asked to hold students inside the dance until things were under control outside.

Deputy Donald Brunson was attempting to help Jarman and Taylor when he heard shouting from inside the building.

Brunson wrote that Marcus Gross was "attempting to push the front doors open" and "jumping around and bumping into other people while yelling."

However, Gross' father, Terry, said deputies embellished their stories. He has been collecting statements from students who witnessed the altercation.

Marcus Gross turned 18 on Saturday while confined in the patrol car.

"It's the word of a bunch of kids against the word of law enforcement officers,'' Terry Gross said. "They feel totally disillusioned about police after this. All they were trying to do was explain what had happened and tell them they had the wrong person.''

Investigation continues

Briggs said the Sheriff's Office is continuing its investigation.

On Monday, two 18-year-old Catholic High School students, Joseph Nunnari and Robert Bonifay, were served with criminal summonses charging them with battery.

According to reports, they participated in the fight with Helmkamp that sparked the chaos on the dance floor.

Briggs said he could not say for sure how many of the youngsters were drinking alcohol at the event. A 17-year-old Catholic High School student was arrested early in the night on a charge of disorderly intoxication, and three other students were sent home with their parents for showing up drunk.

"I didn't see any kids openly drinking at the dance, and it's something I did look for,'' Briggs said.

"What's scary is that this could have been a lot worse," he added. "These teenagers were swinging at a sheriff's deputy, jumping on him and attacking him. At no point did he do anything other than try to defend himself."

-----------------------
©The Pensacola News Journal
February 15, 2005

Source
 
In an acknowledgement that Valentine's Day is really for the ladies someone has proposed making March 14th one for the guys to feel loved and appreciated on:

Steak and BJ Day

You know the drill. Every 14th of February you get the chance to display your fondness for a significant other by showering her with gifts, flowers, dinner, shows and any other baubles that women find romantic. Every Valentines day you rack your brains for that one special, unique gift that will show your wife or girlfriend that you really do care for them more than any other. Now ladies, I'll let you in on a little secret; guys really don't enjoy this that much. Sure seeing that smile on your face when we get it right is priceless, but that smile is the result of weeks of blood, sweat and consideration. Another secret; guys feel left out. That's right, there's no special holiday for the ladies to show their appreciation for the men in their life. Men as a whole are either too proud or too embarrassed to admit it.

Which is why a new holiday has been created.

March 14th is now officially "Steak and Blowjob Day". Simple, effective and self explanatory, this holiday has been created so you ladies finally have a day to show your man how much you care for him.

No cards, no flowers, no special nights on the town; the name of the holiday explains it all, just a steak and a BJ. Thats it. Finally, this twin pair of Valentine's Day and Steak and Blowjob Day will usher in a new age of love as men everywhere try THAT much harder in February to ensure a memorable March 14th!

The word is already beginning to spread, but as with any new idea, it needs a little push to start the ball rolling. So spread the word, and help bring love and peace to this crazy world. And, of course, steak and BJ's.

www.steakandbjday.com
 
Emperor said:

What a load of old pony, so what this is suggesting that all men crave is red meat and oral sex? No ladies we need love, attention, the physical intimacy that concretes a relationship like massages, being made to feel special, then we need red meat and oral sex.
 
That annual festival of erotica, Valentine's day, will soon be upon us.

Sadly, the sexiest thing I could find was this:
MEN TAUGHT TO PREPARE FOOD OF LOVE

11:00 - 06 February 2006
One group of men will have no excuses for not cooking a delicious meal for their loved ones on Valentine's Day next week, after they attended a special male-only cookery school. The Soar Mill Cove Hotel, near Salcombe in South Devon, threw open its doors to 20 men for the one-off event yesterday. The novice cooks were given a chance to learn from the hotel and restaurant's chefs to ensure they know how to treat their partners to a special three-course meal next Tuesday.

The two-hour lesson gave the men a chance to learn how to cook a starter, main course and dessert. Keith Makepeace, chef and patron of the hotel, said: "They have learnt how to produce a special meal for their Valentines - something that has a wow factor. It was intensive but a lot of fun. We wanted them to go away and know they could cook something really special."

The hotel, which is launching a regular series of weekly cookery schools for men and women from this Sunday, organised the event after it was approached by Thurlestone Primary School. The school's staff asked staff at the hotel to help raise funds for its pupils to use sporting facilities at the new Thurlestone Parish Hall. The cookery school raised £400.

Mr Makepeace said that while a cookery school for men and women will be held each week in future, more single-sex events are also planned.
WMN
 
A couple of good articles over at Fate:

From Werewolves with Love: The History of Valentine's Day
www.fatemag.com/2006_02article2.html

Where in the World Is Saint Valentine?
www.fatemag.com/2006_02article3.html

---------
And why don't I feel sorry for them? ;)

Valentine's a crisis day for cheaters

Nancy Keates
Wall Street Journal
Feb. 10, 2006 02:31 PM

It was the Valentine's Day card that finally cracked the case for private detective Art League.

League had been trying for weeks to catch a client's husband cheating, but it wasn't until Feb. 14 that the evidence surfaced. After tailing the man to an office parking lot, League spied him placing a card on another car before driving away.

League swiped the card - which was festooned with hearts and professed true love - and surreptitiously videotaped the woman who later showed up frantically looking for it. He presented the card and the video to his client, and the case was closed.

"It's a good holiday for business," League says. The Greensboro, N.C., gumshoe has already scheduled five infidelity investigations for Tuesday, and plans to add two part-time sleuths to his staff of four to handle the demand.

Valentine's Day is the biggest single 24-hour period for florists, a huge event for greeting-card companies and a boon for candy makers. But it's also a major crisis day for anyone who is having an affair. After all, Valentine's Day is the one holiday when everyone is expected to do something romantic for their spouse or lover - and if someone has both, it's a serious problem.

"If anything is going on, it will be happening on that day," says Irene Smith, who says business at her Discreet Investigations detective agency in Golden, Colo., as much as doubles - to as many as 12 cases some years - on Valentine's Day.

Martin Investigative Services in Anaheim, Calif., has been booked up for Valentine's Day assignments since the end of January. Founder Thomas Martin, a former agent of the U.S. Justice Department, says the firm, which charges $95 an hour, will handle 14 to 20 suspected infidelity cases that day, nearly double its usual load.

One of Martin's Valentine's Day clients is a doctor whose wife, also a doctor, aroused his suspicions when she told him she would be changing her regular daytime shift on Tuesday and instead working until 8 p.m. Like virtually all private detectives, Martin won't reveal his client's names. He says private eyes from the agency also will be following an attorney who told his wife he can't have lunch with her on Valentine's Day because he'll be in court; the wife, also an attorney, knows that her husband always gets a lunch break in court.

The Institute for Divorce Financial Analysts, a Southfield, Mich., trade group of professionals trained to review divorce settlements, says filings typically spike in mid-February. "It's so consistent I can't deny a pattern," says Natalie Nelson, a divorce financial analyst in Boulder, Colo.

Indeed, divorce lawyers say they frequently turn up evidence of Valentine's Day duplicity when they review financial documents. Credit-card receipts from restaurants or purchases at fancy jewelry stores are the most common giveaways, says Heidi Harris, a partner at New York law firm Sheresky Aronson & Mayefsky. New York attorney Raoul Felder concurs: The kinds of purchases documented for Feb. 14 "give an indication of how serious the relationship is," he says.

Christine Gallagher, a 43-year-old writer in Los Angeles, was so incensed after she caught her boyfriend cheating on Valentine's Day that she launched a Web site called RevengeLady.com, where she gives advice on how to get back at people. Ms. Gallagher was dating the man, whom she declines to name, for over a year when he told her he had to go away over Valentine's Day to visit a friend dying of cancer in Switzerland. Ms. Gallagher spent the holiday alone at home with her 180-pound mastiff, Thomas.

It wasn't until several weeks later that Gallagher learned the truth. As she was out walking Thomas she was approached by a woman who said she had just returned from a vacation in Italy - with Ms. Gallagher's boyfriend. Before coming up with the idea for her Web site, Ms. Gallagher broke up with the man, then found an unusual way to get back at him: She unscrewed the driver's-side door panel of his beloved Audi coupe and stuck a marble inside, figuring that the rattle would drive him crazy. Sure enough, it did. He took the car to mechanic after mechanic until one finally found the marble - and a little note Ms. Gallagher had included: "So you finally found it, sucker." Ms. Gallagher says her ex-boyfriend now lives in New Zealand; he couldn't be located for comment.

Indeed, planning a "business trip" that falls over Valentine's Day is a typical mistake cheaters make, says New York detective Stephen Davis. Mr. Davis handled a case in which a husband took his mistress to Florida for a two-day holiday, claiming he needed to be away for work. Though it was part of an ongoing case, the Feb. 14 rendezvous was "one more nail in the coffin," Mr. Davis says. The detective verified the tryst with photos. "It's a classic conflict day," he says.

This year, Valentine's Day spending is expected to reach $13.7 billion, an increase from $13.19 billion in 2005, according to the National Retail Federation. But clearly, some of the dough shelled out that day won't go for proclaiming love, but for verifying it. Just in time for Feb. 14, a New York company called Tru-test Inc. has released an $80 DNA collection kit that it says will help detect whether a partner has been intimate with someone else by analyzing suspicious stains. "I thought this was a good time to do it, because this is when people want to see if a spouse is cheating," says kit creator David Vitalli. Manhattan detective agency Beau Dietl & Associates, which charges clients $100 per detective per hour for surveillance, says it expects Tuesday to be such a busy day that the firm will need to call in six part-timers to work on adultery projects.

The firm's surveillance expert, Sean Lanigan, says he worked on a Valentine's Day case last year for a married client who was planning to be out of town with his wife - and wanted to spy on his mistress. Mr. Lanigan says he followed the girlfriend to a card store where, using a special pinhole camera built into the button of his shirt, he videotaped her buying two Valentine's Day cards. Her next stop was a store where she bought a dress using the client's credit card - and finally at a hotel to meet another man.

Ruth Houston, author of a book called "Is He Cheating on You? - 829 Telltale Signs," says she generally recommends against spending money on private detectives to catch cheaters because the indications are so easy to read. (Sign No. 3 under "Gifts": He tries to convince you he bought expensive chocolates for himself.) But Valentine's Day, she says, is an exception. "All the cheaters have to make contact that day," says Ms. Houston. "This is the one time you're not going to come up empty."

Lauren Gorence, a 24-year-old medical assistant in Boulder, Colo., says she didn't pick up any signs her boyfriend was sneaking around on her ... until Valentine's Day. When her boyfriend didn't show up for a planned dinner that night, Gorence called his best friend, who said the boyfriend was out to dinner with a woman but he didn't know where. Gorence waited outside her boyfriend's house until 1 a.m., confronted him and never spoke to him again. (She declines to name him.)

Ever since then, Gorence says, she doesn't attach any significance to Valentine's Day. For the past several years she's spent Feb. 14 hanging out with friends and plans to do the same this Tuesday. "It's an overrated holiday," she says. "I think every day should be just as loving as the next."

www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0210 ... 10-ON.html
 
No excuses then:

Asda launches 8p Valentine's card

A supermarket chain is selling 8p Valentine's cards to ensure even the most cost-conscious Casanovas will have "nowhere to hide".

Asda says the "economy" card - in the retailer's Smart Price range colours of black, white and red - is the cheapest on the market.

"Romance is not dead - it is being done on a shoestring," a spokeswoman said.

The card was launched after 30% of 2,000 people surveyed by Flora called Valentine's Day "too commercial".

"We have got all the luxury cards, chocs and flowers - but wanted to come up with something that gave the fellows absolutely nowhere to hide when it came to sending a Valentine's card," the spokeswoman added.

Small gestures

The Flora online "spread the love" survey, conducted in January by Tickbox.net, indicates 72% of British people believe Valentine's Day has "lost that loving feeling".

It is "loved" by 8% - but 28% of those who do not like the day will buy a card anyway, the survey suggests.

Out of every 20 women, 19 prefer small gestures throughout the year to a Valentine's Day gift, it indicates.

------------
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4706320.stm

Published: 2006/02/12 16:18:43 GMT

© BBC MMVI
 
Good Lord! :shock:

From the Edinburgh Evening News (needs registration)

CHINA'S obsession with plastic surgery is finding fresh demand from couples who are going under the knife to get their noses and even their eyes done to match each other as a sign of their love, according to reports.

Business at Shanghai's plastic surgery clinics has risen by up to 30 percent since the beginning of the month, fuelled by Valentine's Day.

Some clinics even advertise special Valentine's Day packages, with one offering a 20 per cent discount and free roses in a bid to woo more customers.
 
And to sign valentine's Day off for another year:

While farting dogs are funny the rest of the story is messed up and awfully sad (15 year old girl contsantly running away to shack up with older guy):

Stinky dog helps police smell a rat in runaways' story

Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Gabriel Baird
Plain Dealer Reporter

A flatulent dog saved two girls from a Valentine's Day rendezvous with a rape suspect.

The two New York girls, ages 12 and 15, ran away from home Monday on an overnight bus to Minneapolis. One of the girls brought the family dog, Bambi.

She told the bus driver that Bambi was her guide dog. The girls fed the dog junk food on the bus. It gave the dog gas.

Other riders complained about the malodorous mutt. The driver alerted security guards at Cleveland's Greyhound station and guards called police.

"Of course we quickly figured out this wasn't a Seeing-Eye dog and neither of the girls is blind," Lt. Thomas Stacho said.

The rest of the story:
Source
 
Mighty_Emperor said:
In an acknowledgement that Valentine's Day is really for the ladies someone has proposed making March 14th one for the guys to feel loved and appreciated on:

Steak and BJ Day

You know the drill. Every 14th of February you get the chance to display your fondness for a significant other by showering her with gifts, flowers, dinner, shows and any other baubles that women find romantic. Every Valentines day you rack your brains for that one special, unique gift that will show your wife or girlfriend that you really do care for them more than any other. Now ladies, I'll let you in on a little secret; guys really don't enjoy this that much. Sure seeing that smile on your face when we get it right is priceless, but that smile is the result of weeks of blood, sweat and consideration. Another secret; guys feel left out. That's right, there's no special holiday for the ladies to show their appreciation for the men in their life. Men as a whole are either too proud or too embarrassed to admit it.

Which is why a new holiday has been created.

March 14th is now officially "Steak and Blowjob Day". Simple, effective and self explanatory, this holiday has been created so you ladies finally have a day to show your man how much you care for him.

No cards, no flowers, no special nights on the town; the name of the holiday explains it all, just a steak and a BJ. Thats it. Finally, this twin pair of Valentine's Day and Steak and Blowjob Day will usher in a new age of love as men everywhere try THAT much harder in February to ensure a memorable March 14th!

The word is already beginning to spread, but as with any new idea, it needs a little push to start the ball rolling. So spread the word, and help bring love and peace to this crazy world. And, of course, steak and BJ's.

www.steakandbjday.com

Well the ladies are in on the action now with:

April 14 is Cake and Cunnilingus Day!

Why? Well, as some enterprising men have declared March 14 to be "Steak and Blowjob Day", we women thought we'd get in on the act as well, a month later.

www.cakeandcunnilingus.com
 
. . . and the Church has just declared there are 365* Stick-it-in-the-right-hole-within-marriage-only-for-procreation-days.

*Or 366 in a leap-year, you needn't plan anything different for that!

:(
 
What better Valentine's Day could you think of??

Birds do it, bees do it, even big ol' manatees do it ...

By PHIL DAVIS

The Associated Press

STEVE NESIUS / AP


TAMPA, Fla. — Genevieve Chandler has been visiting the Lowry Park Zoo since she was a kid, but the tour she got the other night was definitely not the G-rated fare of her childhood.

Among the things Chandler, 30, and her date learned on their "Wild at Heart" zoo tour: Male pigs have a unique corkscrew endowment and impressive, um, output; manatees have orgies and don't really care if their partners are male or female; and a male porcupine has only one four-hour window a year to mate — very carefully, of course.

Valentine's Day is the time of year when zoos around the nation seek to woo a new adult audience with risque tours that couple champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries and candlelight dining with impressive facts about how animals do the wild thing.

Credit for the concept goes to Jane Tollini, a former penguin keeper at the San Francisco Zoo. Tollini conceived the idea two decades ago while watching her penguins' courtship ritual, which culminates in what she describes as "bowling pins making love."

"The keepers get there early and we see things that other people don't see," Tollini said. "And I went, 'My God, that's fascinating.' "

She set the ritual to Johnny Mathis — the makeout tunes of her generation — pitched it to her bosses and a new zoo tradition was born. The idea soon spread to other zoos.

San Francisco calls it "Woo at the Zoo." New York City's Central Park Zoo calls it "Jungle Love." Zoo marketing folks in Boise, Idaho, named the tour "Wild Love at the Zoo."

Zoos charge about $50 per person for the tours, and crowds are kept deliberately intimate. Many zoos, including Lowry Park, have added additional nights to handle Valentine's overflow.

"It's a fundraiser, but it's definitely not our largest," said Rachel Nelson, Lowry Park's director of public relations. "It's a way to introduce a new audience to the zoo."

Tollini puts it more bluntly: "Sex sells."
advertising

However, zoo sex tours tend to be all talk and no action. Animals do it when they please, or, in some cases, when their human keepers deem it appropriate.

Tour guides in Tampa warned of possible manatee makeout sessions. But the giant mammals were content to munch on vegetation while the tour group ate a candlelight dinner in front of the zoo's massive aquarium windows.

"Manatees are not particular," Nelson said. "We have only males right now and they don't seem to care."

Despite the blunt talk on the tour, many in the Saturday crowd in Tampa were coy about their reasons for attending.

"I really like the zoo and I thought it was a nice thing to do with my boyfriend for Valentine's Day," Chandler said.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... sex14.html
 
Well, here we go again...!

Three offerings from Matt:

Roses are red
Daffodils are flutey
My love for you grows
In line with fuel duty

Roses are red
But take some affording
I confess that I love you
- without waterboarding

Roses are red
I stand here in awe
I'm much keener on you
Than the thought of Sharia Law


Well, I've already PM'd Valentines to my girlfriends here.

What, you didn't get one..?

Er, sorry, wrong message board! :D
 
Now, back to your studies:

Secrets of Cambridge 'porn' library revealed
By Stephen Adams
Last Updated: 6:29am GMT 14/02/2008

For decades generations of Cambridge undergraduates have fantasised about a secret stash of Victorian pornography in the university's library tower.

Many have tried to gain access to the chamber to uncover its illicit secrets. So intrigued was Stephen Fry by the collection that he wrote about it in his first novel, The Liar.

Despite the brilliant scientists, spies and politicians that the university has produced, no student is believed to have gained access to the closely-guarded hideaway.

But now it seems all their efforts have been in vain.

For all that is contained within "this magnificent erection", as Neville Chamberlain is said to have described the 1934 tower, are distinctly restrained guides on the finer points of Victorian romantic etiquette.

According to the university's authorities, the 17 floors of the 157ft-high tower contain nothing more racy than books with titles such as The Lover's Guide to Courtship (Illustrated).

Vanessa Lacey, the manager of the Cambridge University Library Tower Project, said: "The traditional student rumour is that the contents of the tower are pornographic.

"In fact we now know it to be a treasure trove for people who want to know more about Victorian society, and among the books are these late 19th and early 20th century lifestyle guides designed to teach young couples the art of courting. At the time they were acquired, they were not considered the sort of thing that serious students should be reading, so they were put away.

"Many of the 200,000 books in the tower have barely been read and some were never opened, but now they give us a fascinating insight into the life and society of the time."

The university has made the disclosure because it is in the process of putting all the titles online.

The books - likely to be of interest to historians rather than excitable students - that have been unearthed include A Golden Guide To Matrimony (1882).

It advises: "It should be the young man's duty to make the first overtures towards a closer relationship than that of mere friendship.

"Young women cannot be too reserved in this respect. Prudence is of the highest importance."

Other titles include Flirting Made Easy and Courtship And Marriage, which sensibly warns: "The young man who marries not, except in a few exceptional cases arising out of ill health, deformity, malformation, or great perversity of temper, or eccentricity of character, fails in one of the most palpable duties of life."

Students of pornography can take heart, however, because more recent erotica is kept there thanks to its copyright library status.

Mrs Lacey said: "There's plenty of pornography in the library which is more recent.

"People can come and have a look at it - for their research. But there's nothing terribly racy from the 19th century. What we found is the Mills and Boon of the era."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... dge114.xml
 
We seem to have missed a year here, unromantic b*ggers that we are. Let's try again with this:

Manchester Airport Valentine code for secret proposals

Air passengers who plan to propose to partners on Valentine breaks can give a code phrase to staff to stop the ring being revealed in security searches.

Manchester Airport says romantic surprises have been spoilt in the past when the ring was pulled out as staff rifle through bags.

Now passengers who say "Be my valentine" will be whisked away for a private search.

They will be taken behind a screen so the hidden ring is not revealed.

Mike Fazackerley, Manchester Airport's director of customer services and security, said: "Our security staff are more than happy for passengers to use the secret phrase especially if it avoids ruining a romantic proposal they had planned.

"We want to make all of our customer's journeys easier but also to ensure our high standards of security are not compromised."

The airport aviation procedures document has had a temporary clause added until Monday - the day after Valentine's day.

It states: "Aviation security officers at outbound control are to inspect passenger hand baggage behind the privacy screen if given the code words 'Be My Valentine' by the passenger at the point where he/she is advised that further baggage inspection is required."

The airport is advising passengers that all of their carry-on items may be subject to inspection by staff.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manc ... 512460.stm

But what if your intended already knows the code words? Do they change them every year? Are they the same at other airports...?
I'm not sure this has been thought through properly...
:twisted:
 
Mamas, don't let your sons grow up to be cowed-boys ... Make 'em find their own Valentine sweethearts ...
Not a rom-com: Mom scouting date for son draws campus ire
It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and at Towson University in Maryland a mother has been trying so hard to find a date for her son that police are concerned.

The Baltimore Sun reports that a woman in her 50s wearing a multicolored scarf approached students in two campus buildings last week, showing them a picture on her cellphone and asking if they would date her son.

After receiving multiple complaints from the mother’s picks, campus police issued an “incident advisory” that included a link to pictures of the woman so that she might be identified. Chief Charles Herring said her reported behavior “may cause concern.”

University officials say the woman isn’t being sought for a criminal investigation, but they do want the third-party propositioning to stop.
SOURCE: https://www.apnews.com/c9e289b46b484d698c29d842a63fe577
 
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... And for those who feel it more important to spend Valentine's Day exorcising past sweethearts ...
Wildlife center will name salmon for your ex, feed it to a bear
An Oregon wildlife center is offering a fresh twist on Valentine's Day naming promotions -- allowing patrons to name a salmon after an ex and have it fed to a bear.

The Wildlife Images Rehabilitation Center in Oregon said the "Catch & Release" promotion offers a unique Valentine's Day gift in exchange for a $20 donation.

The center said patrons can pay to have a salmon named after an ex-lover, and the salmon will then be served to brown bears Kodi and Yaki.

Wildlife Images said the $20 package includes a special certificate and photos of the bears eating the salmon.

SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2019/0...-for-your-ex-feed-it-to-a-bear/9251549902697/
 
Here's another 'alt-Valentine' program underway today ...
Cockroaches named after exes to be fed to Texas zoo animals
Not in the Valentine’s Day spirit? A Texas zoo has a cockroach that can help.

The El Paso Zoo is running a promotion called “Quit Bugging Me” that allows people to name cockroaches after ex-spouses, former friends or anyone else on the nope list. On Thursday, the cockroaches will be fed to various zoo animals.

The zoo’s Facebook page features dozens of pink-heart graphics showing black cockroaches and various first names or initials of people’s exes. Zoo officials say the response has been so overwhelming that they’ve had to cut off the submission period.

The zoo’s meerkats exhibit will be decorated with the submitted names on Thursday. And later in the day, cockroaches will be fed to meerkats, tamarins, marmosets and other zoo animals.

SOURCE: https://www.apnews.com/619f0f473b9b4f099c2a2f9b6cfa6a91
 
If you hate Valentine's Day ...

The 10 Best Movies on Netflix for Valentine's Day Haters

Thursday is Valentine's Day, a day during which you honor your feelings, surround yourself with those you love, and try to hit that miraculous sweet spot between eating a ton of food in a romantic restaurant with your sweetheart and wanting to fool around just hours later.

But not all of us have sweethearts, and if the feelings you'd rather honor this V-day fall more in line with guttural howls than cheery whoops, you should still be able to celebrate. Here are 10 hardcore movies currently streaming on Netflix for those of you who'd sooner rip open a teddy bear on the off-chance it's filled with fun, illicit drugs than buy one for a crush.

https://www.gq.com/story/the-10-bes...L_SEG_APR18&utm_term=FYE_Active_Gmail_Openers


https://www.gq.com/contributor/tom-philip
 
Here's another 'alt-Valentine' program underway today ...
Cockroaches named after exes to be fed to Texas zoo animals

Another Texas zoo (this time in San Antonio) is offering the same sort of Valentine service this year. The subscribed "executions" will be live streamed so the buyers can watch. I kinda like the campaign title: "Cry Me A Cockroach."
Zoo will name a rat after your ex, feed it to a snake

A Texas zoo is allowing jilted Valentine's Day revelers to name a cockroach or a rat after their ex -- and then see it fed to a larger animal.

The San Antonio Zoo's "Cry Me A Cockroach" event allows visitors to the zoo website to pay $5 to name a cockroach after their ex, or $25 for a rat.

The roaches will be fed to various animals, while the rats will be fed to snakes.

The feeding will be live streamed online so purchasers can witness the demise of their named animals.
SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2020/0...our-ex-feed-it-to-a-snake/4931580842022/?sl=5
 
In California, you can have Valentine's Day greetings delivered by scary clowns working off-season ...
Send in the clowns: These Valentine’s Day grams are being delivered by haunted house performers

Roses are red, violets are blue. If you’re into clowns, have we got news for you.

Some dark-humored Californians will be surprising their sweethearts this Valentine’s Day with balloons and flowers — personally hand-delivered to their door by clowns who typically make their living scaring the living daylights out of visitors to a haunted house.

What started as a joke has resulted in booming business for the Turlock, Calif. branch of Ranch of Horror, a family-operated haunted attraction with parks also in Louisiana and Missouri. For the past six years, Halloween has predictably been the company’s bread and butter. Now its sinister-seeming clowns are giving Cupid a run for his money by delivering Valentine’s Day grams to unsuspecting lovebirds — and the orders are flooding in. ...
FULL STORY (With Pics & Video): https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/valentines-day-gram-clown-192226998.html
 
I don't think I'd ever heard of "vinegar Valentines" before ...

This 2017 New York Times piece mentions the obverse / flip side / dark side Victorian Valentine's Day tradition that may warrant resurrecting.

Some traditions are born great; some achieve greatness; and some have greatness thrust upon them. I think the American people should thrust greatness upon vinegar valentines, a once-prospering Victorian tradition in which people sent anonymous, hateful little poems to their enemies on Valentine’s Day. With the country more divided than ever, it falls to us to resurrect this pungent convention—and to bombard those we hate, especially in seats of power, with more vinegar valentines than our fragile postal service can handle. AbeBooks has a primer on them: “Gluttons, drinkers, hen-pecked husbands, braggarts, windbags, spinsters, sharp-tongued wives, unfaithful lovers, cowards, lazy colleagues, uncaring bosses, ugly people, fat and thin people, vain people, and stupid people—they were all fair game to folks who posted vinegar valentines. They could be delivered to enemies, or people who had treated you badly, or someone you thought needed to be brought down a notch or two. The tone of verse ranged from gentle to downright vicious and abusive.”
SOURCE: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2017/02/08/i-hate-my-valentine-and-other-news/

See Also:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nothing-says-i-hate-you-vinegar-valentine-180962109/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar_valentines
 
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Here's a curmudgeon's take on Valentine's Day - a reflective essay on the holiday's murky origins and the many ways in which it fosters as much stress as ardor.
Valentine’s Day: A Festival of Love or a Giant Scam?

Breaking hearts, brains and bank accounts since at least the 14th century.

Nobody really knows how Valentine’s Day began. Depending on your sources, its origins can be traced back to an ancient Roman fertility festival involving sacrificial goats or to a Chaucer poem about birds. “It is one of those mysterious historical or antiquarian problems which are doomed never to be solved,” The Times wrote in 1853.

It’s perhaps just as well that the holiday’s history remains disputed. Either thousands or hundreds of years later, Americans seem likewise unable to agree on whether Valentine’s Day is a hallowed celebration, a marketing scam that entrenches the hegemony of the nuclear family or just a harmless convention that everyone needs to calm down about. Here’s a bouquet of perspectives to help you figure out your feelings about the tradition, which, unlike most relationships, is not going to end. ...
FULL STORY: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/opinion/valentines-day-galentines.html
 
I've always found Valentine's Day a decidedly awkward affair. If you appreciate your other half then you should really be expressing that appreciation as often as possible, and not with staged commercial rituals - and if you value your relationship there should be many other days much more important to you than this.

Fortunately my partner is from Barcelona, and agrees with me. In Catalonia they don't do Valentine's, but on April 23rd they do Sant Jordi - the equivalent of England's St George's day - which is kind of similar, but much more civilised, I think. You give each other a book. Traditionally (and predictably) it was a book for the man, a rose for the lady - these days it tends to be a book each way, although there are roses all over the place as well.

As I posted over on The Bibliophilia Thread, back when we were living in Barca a couple of years ago:

Man...it's HUGE!! Plaça de Catalunya and all the major thoroughfares leading onto it were lined with bookstalls and the entire area was absolutely rammed with crowds of people all day long. Many of the stalls have long queues for the author signings, which go on into the evening. The bookshops have queues reaching from one end to the other. Everyone in the mass of people milling about seems to be carrying a bag with books in it.


Seriously, if you like books and you actually like your partner, it's a fantastic day. (The holiday supermarkets haven't really discovered it yet, and you could probably still realistically work it into a bit of an extended city break). It would be such a great thing to do over here, too - a great alternative to the besozzled flagwaving that hijacked England's patron saint's day a long time ago.
 
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