White America is passing. Browse the analyses of the Republican Party's presidential defeat, its two decade long trend of overall loss. Read the stories, and one theme emerges insistently, inexorably : demography. America is becoming less white, and therefore less re… Read full post »

Well, you are, in the sense that you are surrounded by human beings, who possess these things. But contrary to what you think, you are not in fact surrounded by objects which look like penises and vaginas.

You don't think that, you say? Think again.

Americans suffer from penis-vision. We see… Read full post »

 

 

Colorado writer Kristen Iversen has recently published a damning expose of US government malfeasance at the former nuclear weapons plant in Rocky Flats, Colorado. The book was profiled yesterday by Fresh Air on NPR. In a nutshell, the government and the private contractors r… Read full post »

 

 

As I have already blogged, on Tuesday "North Carolina voted to enshrine discrimination against gays and lesbians in its state constitution. Amendment One, banning gay marriage, passed with the approval of 59% of voters."

This whole episode reminds me of just how important it is t… Read full post »

 

 

Yesterday, North Carolina voted to enshrine discrimination against gays and lesbians in its state constitution. Amendment One, banning gay marriage, passed with the approval of 59% of voters.

Even so, anti-gay conservatives are losing. They are losing badly. They are losing so ba… Read full post »

 

 ‎"One of the great things about America is that when you go to France, the government is the safety net. But here, it's charities". Paraphrase from a guest on today's Diane Rehm Show.

So basically, in France, everyone has health care and no need of charity due to the inafforda… Read full post »

 

 

I know that the answer to that question is no. 

 

To Asian-Americans, especially the men, Jeremy Lin is our Great , Slam Dunking, 3-Point Sinking, Yellow Hope, shatterer of, weak, emasculating stereotypes.

 

Asians are not the subject of such stereotypes in Asia. H/… Read full post »

 

One of today's BBC headlines :

"Libyan detainees die after torture, says Amnesty International"

Torture by the former rebel militias that ousted Ghaddafi, that is.

So……if we were in Libya to protect people from torture and murder……when are we going to start/… Read full post »

 

America has the stupidest dance culture in the world. By this, I refer to what passes for "dancing" for most people : grinding, men and women rubbing rhythmically against each other to music in clubs. It is stupid because neither participant is actually interested in dancing, and… Read full post »

I have the biggest crush on Elizabeth Warren. I left-crush her, I liberal-love her, I socialist swoon for her. I'd have her baby.

And I'm not the only one. Progressive America seems to be very susceptible to such infatuation. Back in 2008, we thought Obama was on a/… Read full post »

How good of a movie is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II? As is frequently so for big screen adaptations of beloved books, that's really two questions rolled into one : how good of a movie is it for the fans, and how… Read full post »

 

I give this movie a 7 out of 10. (Yes, I just now got around to watching it, in preparation for watching the final film.)

Why not higher? Every scene in the movie is tremendously well done. Brilliantly acted (well, maybe not *brilliant* on the part of Rupert Grint/…

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The necktie is one of the defining pieces of men's clothing of our time. Ubiquitous, it is worn by heads of state and waitstaff alike. Versatile, it is de rigeur for work and weddings while suitable for partying or performing a rock concert in. It is also profoundly/…

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Does torture work? Osama bin Laden's death has thrown new fuel on an old debate.

Information is still coming out and our picture of how the hunt for bin Laden unfolded is still highly incomplete. Partisans of the debate, including current and former officials, are already spinning things/… Read full post »

 

 

 

Qaddafi. Mubarak. Ben-Ali. Saleh. Saddam's absence from the dishonor roll of recently deposed or threatened Mideast dictators glares. A man who was public enemy number one for the United States all through the nineties and an object of maniacal obsession for the Bush… Read full post »

 

One of the Gap's designers seems to have something on his or her mind. Something he wants to get off his chest, maybe? Read full post »

 

 Note : Spoilers ahead!

Megamind is Dreamworks' latest animated release, a tongue-in-cheek superhero comedy. Much like Pixar's 2004 hit "The Incredibles", the movie puts a twist on the traditional superhero flick by humanizing its characters, giving them realistic flaws and foible…

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