The Continuing Crisis

• Superman: While thousands of Japanese women accept commercial pornographic movie roles, only a dwindling number of males (by one estimate, only 30 industrywide) are available to pair with them ("stallions on call," according to one producer). That makes the undisputed king of Japanese porn, "Shimiken," 35, in such demand that he works as many as six movies a day with few days off. His oeuvre, according to a double entendre-laden March profile in Details magazine, includes 7,000 films, with at least 7,500 "co-stars," including, once, 72-year-old twins. To maintain his vigor, he hits the gym fanatically and downs mineral supplements and complex amino acids -- but no Viagra. "I haven't had to use it," he said (adding, after a pause, "yet"). [Details, March 2015]

• Among Colorado's legal contortions to improve mass murderer James Holmes' chances of getting a "fair" trial, officials in January called more than 9,000 people to choose its jury of 12 (plus 12 alternates) who will somehow surmise whether the Aurora theater shooter was legally sane at the time he killed 12 and wounded 70. The 9,000 first had to complete lengthy questionnaires, with "thousands" returning for individual interrogation, and many for follow-up screening. (Among the prospects the judge encountered was one man skeptical of the death penalty -- except in the case of a "zombie apocalypse." Said Judge Carlos Samour Jr., "You meet some interesting people in this job.") [Associated Press, 3-9-2015]

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