Justine Hankins
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/ 18 May 2005

A touchy subject

I find it impossible to comprehend how anyone could pay for sex. I’m not keen on the commodification of the body, its coarsening of sexual expression or the exploitative working conditions. But my difficulty is less a question of deeply held principles and more a matter of my reservations about paying to be touched by strangers.

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/ 31 January 2005

Lab rats versus home cats

If your pets can benefit from medicines developed as a result of animal research,
does that leave you with a moral dilemma? The United Kingdom’s Animal Liberation Front, unsurprisingly, thinks not. According to its website, ”the immorality of rights-violative practices is not attenuated by claiming that the victims and beneficiaries are of the same species”.

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/ 23 April 2004

For goodness’ sake, get a cat

They foul your virtual living-room floor and go for walkies across your desktop. But cyberpets are no substitute for the real thing. Conversing with a cat or dog may seem dotty to some, but it’s not as crazy as trying to reason with a machine. Yet, according to a recent overseas poll, one in seven computer users “often talk” to their PC.

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/ 7 April 2004

Love me, love my dog

On the face of it, taking the dog for a walk appears entirely unrelated to affairs of the human heart. Wearing muddy wellies and carrying a poo bag isn’t the most obvious of conditions in which to employ your skills of seduction. But a spot of flirtation adds a certain frisson to any dog walk.