Domestic Psyops Psychological warfare for picking up women - single males, take note. Here are some of the more amusing tips:

Number 9 Umpire or referee a women's sports team Not only do you get to be surrounded by a group of sweaty, athletic women, but you also may meet someone who shares your love of sports. Try consoling a woman from the losing team and point out one of the excellent plays she made. Or, approach a woman from the winning team. Since her endorphins will be soaring from the exercise and the victory, she may be in a state to say yes to just about anything. ... Number 4 Lectures or demonstrations These events are usually rallied around passionate and controversial subjects, and the atmosphere is usually emotionally charged, making female attendees more emotionally available (or vulnerable) and open to discussing the events with a fellow concerned citizen. Try attending poetry readings, anti-clear-cutting lectures, or demonstrations to free Tibet. But make sure you actually have a somewhat intelligent opinion on the subject; otherwise she may run straight into the arms of the sensitive zealot with the banner and the guitar.

This has been forwarded around quite a bit because of its bluntly Machiavellian references to "emotional vulnerability". In fact, the site is full of this sort of psyops stuff - such as Can You Hypnotize Women Into Wanting You? , When "The One" Isn't Pretty Enough , and Fighting With Your Woman The Right Way. The message? Relationships are just another type of warfare. Murtaugh commented on the phenomenon of genomic imprinting recently, something I'd been meaning to talk about but never gotten around to. Briefly: even at the molecular level, there's a battle of the sexes for whose parents' genes are expressed in the infant's body. For the cynics among us it's just another brick in the wall, as the biological evidence is already conclusive: males & females cooperate, but only insofar as they need to in order to pass on their genes. Fortunately or unfortunately, this battle is something of a genetic stalemate. Kissinger said it best - No one will ever win the battle of the sexes; there's too much fraternizing with the enemy. Update: This could be an interesting thread. Male readers - I call upon you to add to the wisdom of John Brothers and Martin. Their tips:

Brothers: #11 - tutoring elementary school children I volunteered to tutor kids at a local elementary school. I discovered two interesting side effects - the teachers (who are invariably female at this level) were very nice, and delighted that you were helping out. Secondly, walking through the halls on the way to the library for the tutoring, every door had the name of the teacher on it, along with a Mrs or a Ms. So you know which ones are available. (I was already married at the time, so I didn't pursue this strategy. But I'm sure it would have worked). Martin: Corollary to Number 9 Your boy is 100% correct on the demonstrations. About 1990, I was in Los Angeles, loitering outside a store while my then girlfriend was shopping. Walking down the sidewalk, I noticed that all these girls were stopping to look at me, generally smiling, and about half saying hi or otherwise oozing good vibes. Although I admit to above average looks, I usually don't attract such attention. About 20 minutes later I figured out why. The women started having a streetside pro-choice rally -holding up signs and encouraging cars to honk. Because of the general lack of pedestrians in LA-these women assumed I was there to partake in the demonstration-major brownie points. My girlfriend exited the store before I had a chance to start one of those girls on the road to an abortion , but I later passed on the tip to my LA friends, whose subsequent abortion rights advocacy did indeed serve them well.

Editorial note on Martin's comment: Those of a libertarian/centrist bent generally can't get too enthused about attending protests to pick up women. Unless you're looking for a short fling, ideological incompatibilities and the eventual revelation that you were faking your zealotry would put an end to the relationship in short order. But pro-choice rallies are a huge exception, at least for the group I travel in. Perhaps there are others as well that I'm missing. What other rallies are frequent, well populated by females, and don't require intellectual compromise? Note that this excludes the standard pacifism/Free Mumia/anti-globo rallies that would be ideological poison to most readers of this blog... Second note: I actually prefer the bookstore, which is number 5 (I think) on the list. Perhaps that's because I prefer thinkers to political zealots or "those who can't" ;) (kidding!)