Carrie was his first book. So I guess he’s had nowhere to go but down?

Good point, although I would point out that Carrie was just his first *published* book. By his own admission, it was published because it was a significant step up from any of his previous stories.

I like the main character in the story because he didn’t cop out and write her as a cardboard villian. The character’s pain and rage were plausible.

The good times are coming to an end, I’m afraid, since only “bigots” are worried about demographics, or the fact that Muslims are ghettoizing themselves and not integrating to European Values (wishing this is Cultural Imperialism, of course).

Don’t start with this again. We are not here to provide you space for your ravings.

The Dutch government has apparently invited either some religion or some Third World culture into the issue of sex ed in schools, depending on the race of the students:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3398769.stm

“…’Often they are very careless, especially the young ones, 13 and 14 years old. The men don’t like using condoms. And there is not such a taboo surrounding teenage pregnancy.’

“Ms van Kooten says girls from Holland’s ethnic minorities live in two cultures – the conservative one of their parents and the open one of Dutch society.

“‘It is not easy to reach them with sex education. It is not even taught in schools where the population is overwhelmingly immigrant.’…”

As if being silent about condoms in case a teen’s parents get offended wasn’t bad enough, now they’re silent about even abstinence in case a teen’s in-laws get offended.

Religion tends to insert itself less in government policy on sex education, contraception and abortion in Western Europe than in the United States,

You mean Christianity, obviously. When Western European countries get a Muslim majority, I’m guessing religion will start inserting itself quite much into everything.

The good times are coming to an end, I’m afraid, since only “bigots” are worried about demographics, or the fact that Muslims are ghettoizing themselves and not integrating to European Values (wishing this is Cultural Imperialism, of course).

I don’t think sex can only happen when you’re in love. But when you’re young and inexperienced, being that vulnerable with someone who you don’t love (or even who you do) can be emotionally rough. I don’t want to tell the kid “fuck whoever you want- it might be fun” (though that is my thinking after years of practice) but I also don’t want him to think that there is something wrong with wanting someone when you’re not in love with them.

That’s no more hypocritical than me telling my three-year-old she shouldn’t drink beer, though, right? As Chef says, there’s a time and a place for everything — and it’s called college.

So the plan is to be honest. Sex makes you vulnerable- not just to disease or pregnancy but to all sorts of emotions. When you’re older and have some experience then it’s easier. But he should make sure that when he has sex for the first time it should be someone he is totally comfortable with and that means he should love and trust the person and they should love and trust him too.

Sounds right-on to me.

I don’t think sex can only happen when you’re in love. But when you’re young and inexperienced, being that vulnerable with someone who you don’t love (or even who you do) can be emotionally rough. I don’t want to tell the kid “fuck whoever you want- it might be fun” (though that is my thinking after years of practice) but I also don’t want him to think that there is something wrong with wanting someone when you’re not in love with them.

So the plan is to be honest. Sex makes you vulnerable- not just to disease or pregnancy but to all sorts of emotions. When you’re older and have some experience then it’s easier. But he should make sure that when he has sex for the first time it should be someone he is totally comfortable with and that means he should love and trust the person and they should love and trust him too.