If you had chanced upon last Sunday's headline news in a leading English tabloid ("Crude, Rude and Abusive"), you would have been forgiven had you speculated that another set of photographs of Iraqis abused in Abu Ghraib had been released, or that 'BDSM-meets-American Idol' was the latest trend in our fair land.

There were elements of force, domination, humiliation, voyeurism, exhibitionism, forced confinement, a variation of golden showers, dirty talk reserved for the women, and 'blowing' (into a breathalyzer) for men.

No one wants to be prudish here. If consenting adults want to play games in the privacy of their bedrooms, by all means, go ahead.

But the tabloid was not offering our daily dose of sensational sleaze.