Anytime you see a desired outcome framed as a scientific fact and supported by pseudo-science and then supported by government money, it is a public danger and needs to be assaulted by reason until it shrivels up and dies like the Wicked Witch it is.

Let's pound on the numbers some more, until the volume of them arouses the true believers from their collective daze:

THREE-FOURTHS of the claimed rape victims refused to say they were raped! And almost HALF of them DATED THE SAME GUY AGAIN!

Now ask ME, a normally horny, women-loving male, that key question: Did I ever have sex with someone when I didn't really want to after a woman gave me alcohol or drugs? Oh, yeah. Did I feel raped? Violated? Imposed upon? Angry? NO. Sometimes I was glad I did it because the experience turned out to be much nicer than I thought it would be, and I remember them fondly. Sometimes I scolded myself that I really needed to say No in those situations -- which obviously is how most of the female "victims" in this survey came away feeling. But if I had been truly repelled, I would just not do it.

So to the extent that people are getting grant money and employing people to sit by phones that never ring and promoting a bogus notion about sex, it is just one more campaign by people who hate sexual freedom for one reason or another and lie, cheat and steal in order to repress others.

However, there is a serious issue here which is being overlooked and unattended to by the grantwriters: some women have a hard time saying No. I have talked to a lot of them about it, enough to qualify statistically as more than anecdotal evidence, and I know that some percentage around 20% have difficulty in saying No in situations where if things were a bit different they might say Yes. And the deed happens and they are unhappy about it and they wish they had said No but didn't and they overcompensate by refusing to have anything to do with that guy again. It happens because these women are nurturing and gentle and don't like to disappoint a man they are close to, even as just a date.

Some of us had long discussions about this. At first, the men would say, Martian-like, well, you just have to learn how to speak up and say Stop. And the women would reply, you're missing the point. Finally, one of the men asked, if we asked you if you were OK with this or that, would you tell us the truth? And invariably the answer was, Yes. That is, they would say Yes if they were unequivocally not wanting to do what was being suggested. If there was doubt, they might do it anyway and accept the consequences.

So the lesson for men here is, if you perceive any doubt, ask instead of just making your usual moves.

I think that will reduce the number of women claiming to be rape victims under the pseudo-survey by half -- unless the survey is not designed to pick up women who affirmatively say No and end up true victims of date rape. That remains a serious problem, and resources need to be diverted away from the people minding the phones that never ring to the people helping to stem and punish date rape.

When the poet and novelist James Dickey lay dying, a friend remarked that his and other great writings created something real, and Dickey replied emphatically, "Yes, it IS real!" That is what theoreticians of art are driving at when they talk about suspension of disbelief, except that as long as they talk about merely suspending disbelief they haven't accepted the reality of the creation unfolding before them. And sometimes it doesn't become real, and in its imperfection you see that it's just actors on a set or stage. But when that marvelous collaborative creative process works, you're not looking at an artifact, you enter and become a part of the world those created characters live in. It is as real as memory: you cannot change it but you were there.

"The Wire" was real. It was as good as "War and Peace". I feel privileged to have been allowed in.