Ross Douthat is at it again, with an incitement towards monogamy and fewer sexual partners as a path to happiness. (Yay happinesss, by the way!) First, there is history! "Yes, in 1950 as in 2011, most people didn’t go virgins to their marriage beds. But earlier generations of Americans waited longer to have sex, took fewer sexual partners across their lifetimes, and were more likely to see sleeping together as a way station on the road to wedlock." Sure. Like in the late 1700s, when at least 1/3rd of all brides gave birth on average just five months after their wedding day. And then, to his point: "they may have been happier for it." They may have! (Also, they may have had untreatable syphilis too.) Then he goes into some recent science, which finds that the more people you've slept with, the more "unhappy" you may be! READ MORE

"A Millionaire Matchmaker 'mixer' will look familiar to anyone who has seen Cathouse, the HBO reality show about a legal Nevada brothel. A recurring Cathouse motif-it's featured in the show's intro-is the "lineup," when new clients enter the Bunny Ranch and all available prostitutes come rushing from their rooms so that the potential buyer can inspect the merchandise. 'Girls, come and meet my millionaires,' Patti cries, and whatever cavernous LA-cheesy venue she's selected becomes an ad hoc brothel."