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"Over time, it has become clear that anti-negativity is a worldview of its own, a particular mode of thinking and argument, no matter how evasively or vapidly it chooses to express itself. For a guiding principle of 21st century literary criticism, BuzzFeed's Fitzgerald turned to the moral and intellectual teachings of Walt Disney, in the movie Bambi: 'If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all.'"
comment posted at 12:53 PM on Dec-5-13

“This was what was missing on the set: lesbians.” [SLNYT]
comment posted at 11:43 AM on Jun-7-13

"Oh, the indignities of pregnancy! They told me it would be beautiful and glowing. They did not tell me about farting loudly at bus stops." -- Sophia Collins writes about the horrible truth of being pregnant and why consent matters.
Rachel Coleman Finch concurs and explains why it made her more pro-choice: One of my mantras for getting through the hideousness that was my last pregnancy was "I consented to this".
comment posted at 12:30 PM on May-17-13
comment posted at 1:12 PM on May-17-13

Mountain Dew Pulls 'Most Racist Commercial in History'.
comment posted at 12:58 PM on May-1-13

"At the finish line of the Boston Marathon, two explosions have left multiple people injured." via ParadisePost. CBS Boston has a live video feed up of the finish line.
comment posted at 2:24 PM on Apr-15-13
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comment posted at 2:52 PM on Apr-15-13
comment posted at 1:06 PM on Apr-16-13

Kelly calls herself “a flaming liberal” and a feminist, too. “I want my daughter to be able to do anything she wants,” she says. “But I also want to say, ‘Have a career that you can walk away from at the drop of a hat.’ ” And she is not alone. Via.
comment posted at 3:03 PM on Mar-18-13

Ethics of preemptive incarceration for deviant sexuality, specifically pedophila (Trigger warning) ...recognizing as a society that certain individuals are intrinsically attracted to children need not and does not imply that we condone acting upon these desires. [Previously] Found via the excellent PsyDoctor8 [tumblr link].
comment posted at 12:26 PM on Feb-21-13

'I'm a White Girl': Why 'Girls' Won't Ever Overcome Its Racial Problem-an article from The Atlantic with several interesting links on the larger issue of including (or not) black characters into American television.
comment posted at 1:58 PM on Jan-23-13

In less than an hour, the Supreme Court will hand down its final judgment in what has become one of the most crucial legal battles of our time: the constitutionality of President Obama's landmark health care reform law. The product of a strict party line vote following a year century of debate, disinformation, and tense legislative wrangling, the Affordable Care Act would (among other popular reforms) require all Americans to buy insurance coverage by 2014, broadening the risk pool for the benefit of those with pre-existing conditions. The fate of this "individual mandate," bitterly opposed by Republicans despite its similarity to past plans touted by conservatives (including presidential contender Mitt Romney) is the central question facing the justices today. If the conservative majority takes the dramatic step of striking down the mandate, the law will be toothless, and in danger of wholesale reversal, rendering millions uninsured, dealing a crippling blow to the president's re-election hopes, and possibly endangering the federal regulatory state. But despite the pessimism of bettors, some believe the Court will demur, wary of damaging its already-fragile reputation with another partisan 5-4 decision. But those who know don't talk, and those who talk don't know. Watch the SCOTUSblog liveblog for updates, Q&A, and analysis as the truth finally comes out shortly after 10 a.m. EST.
comment posted at 7:37 AM on Jun-28-12
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comment posted at 7:57 AM on Jun-28-12

"What facts about the United States do foreigners not believe until they come to America? In the episode "True Urban Legends" [originally aired 4.23.2010] of This American Life, Mary Wiltenburg asks refugees to share the rumors they'd heard about America but didn't think were true, only to discover on arrival that they were. Examples include homelessness and Christmas lights." Quora members weigh in.
comment posted at 10:56 AM on Jun-21-12

Not So Pure Michigan (youtube), a play on Michigan's "Pure Michigan" tourism campaign. (For more on Michigan's troubles with its neighbors see Mitten-gate.)
comment posted at 3:02 PM on May-16-12

Dick Tracy is a 1990 Walt Disney film directed by and starring Warren Beatty based on Chester Gould's 1930s comic strip about a detective fighting crime in a city inhabited by oddly deformed gangsters.
comment posted at 12:09 PM on May-10-12

Duncan Black, the blogger formerly known as "Atrios," coiner of the "friedman unit," popularizer of the "very serious person" as a term of derision, chronicler of wanking in the punditocracy, has been counting down: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, to the THE ONE TRUE WANKER OF THE DECADE.
comment posted at 1:03 PM on Apr-18-12

Tom Vanderbilt on walking in America, in four parts: The Crisis in American Walking, Sidewalk Science, What's Your Walk Score?, and Learning to Walk. (Previously on jaywalking and on cities for people.)
comment posted at 10:31 AM on Apr-13-12

"He is a jackass... but he's talented." - Barack Obama. The Atlantic profiles Kanye West.
comment posted at 2:34 PM on Apr-12-12

Andrew Breitbart, conservative provocateur, has died.
comment posted at 8:17 AM on Mar-1-12

Not Guilty! Not exactly innocent... Ryan Braun, the left fielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, won the Most Valuable Player award in 2011. Through a test report that was leaked to the New York Times, it was learned that Braun had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. He has repeated that he is innocent and rumors have swirled around what supplement he was taking that could have lead to a false positive. His suspension was overturned today because of a technicality. "There was improper protocol followed in the collection of Braun's urine, the persons said, noting the collection was stored and refrigerated at the home of one of the drug administers, but not sent immediately to the drug testing lab." The reaction to this is mixed.
comment posted at 2:22 PM on Feb-24-12
comment posted at 4:22 PM on Feb-24-12

The World of Corporate Logos as Seen By a Five-Year Old (SLYT)
comment posted at 10:55 AM on Jan-31-12

How Do You Explain Gene Weingarten? (Via).
comment posted at 12:37 PM on Dec-6-11

Sorry, kids I ate all the candy!
comment posted at 8:34 AM on Nov-4-11
comment posted at 7:05 AM on Nov-5-11

Giving the F.B.I. What It Wants. "A Bangladeshi-born artist and academic is mistakenly detained at the Detroit airport. He doesn’t get mad. He gets even." [Via]
comment posted at 8:07 AM on Nov-1-11

How the Joy of Sex was illustrated. [BBC] Forty years ago, a London publisher was working on a groundbreaking sex manual - a "gourmet guide" to sexual pleasure, with copious and detailed illustrations. But how could this be done tastefully and legally?
comment posted at 2:48 PM on Oct-27-11

For weeks, Occupy Oakland had been developing into a miniature city in Frank Ogawa Plaza—renamed Oscar Grant (previously) Plaza by the occupiers—in front of City Hall:

Still, seven days into the protest and there is no longer any room for tents on the plaza’s large lawn. Tents are squeezed together so tightly that in many areas there is no room to move in between them, for me in my wheelchair or for someone who walks. There is more access to the community tents. There is a free school, an art station, a Sukkot tent, a medical tent, a children’s area, a people of color tent, and a quite remarkable food station, where huge batches of soups and beans are made, and tea, coffee, and healthy snacks seem to be abundant. The various projects the camp is working on include installing solar panels, and reclaiming parts of the park as a community garden.
—Sunaura Taylor writing in the excellent Occupy! An OWS-Inspired Gazette from n+1 magazine (PDF, quote from page 21)

Early yesterday morning the occupation was forcibly evicted by Oakland police. Last night, occupiers marched to reclaim the plaza and were again attacked by police using tear gas, flash grenades, bean bag rounds, and possibly rubber bullets.
comment posted at 8:57 AM on Oct-26-11
comment posted at 9:23 AM on Oct-26-11

Wes Anderson: I knew Bill Murray had my back from the first time I saw him standing on top of that rock, wearing a cowboy hat. The director and part of the cast of the Royal Tenenbaums talked about the movie at the New York Film Festival, where there was a special 10th anniversary screening. They had a lot to say about Gene Hackman, mostly of the 'well, at least he didn't kill any of us' variety.
comment posted at 8:27 AM on Oct-20-11

Occupy George is an attempt to convey the current wealth distribution of the United States by using dollar bills as a medium. But is it legal?
comment posted at 9:52 AM on Oct-17-11
comment posted at 10:37 AM on Oct-17-11

Organizers for the 40 year-old Portland Marathon arrived at the start/finish area this morning to find the area held by the Occupy Portland protest.
comment posted at 1:57 PM on Oct-7-11

The FBI presents: Laser Pointer Leads to Arrest. Laser events logged by the FAA in 2010 nearly doubled from 2009, with 2,836 reports.
comment posted at 9:17 AM on Sep-30-11

No "He said, she said"
comment posted at 3:02 PM on Sep-26-11

"In a dramatic move, Canongate has defied Assange's wishes and secretly printed thousands of copies of The Unauthorised Autobiography, by Julian Assange, copies of which have been shipped amid strict security to booksellers in preparation for imminent release."
comment posted at 2:44 PM on Sep-21-11

Sady Doyle of Tiger Beatdown (warning: spoilers in all links) reviews the first four books of A Song of Ice and Fire and declares that "George R. R. Martin is creepy. He is creepy because he writes racist shit. He is creepy because he writes sexist shit." Alyssa Rosenberg of Think Progress responds, as does Delphine on GeekMom.
comment posted at 2:37 PM on Aug-31-11
comment posted at 2:48 PM on Aug-31-11

Rosie is an adorable golden retriever, trained as a therapy dog to help calm the stressed. She recently made an appearance in a courtroom to help a 15-year-old girl testify against her father in an incest case. The father was convicted, and his lawyers are now appealing the conviction on the grounds that Rosie was just too darn cute.
comment posted at 1:35 PM on Aug-8-11
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comment posted at 1:45 PM on Aug-8-11
comment posted at 1:58 PM on Aug-8-11

The winners of the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest have been announced for 2011. The contest challenges entrants to compose bad opening sentences to imaginary novels.
comment posted at 9:01 AM on Jul-26-11

Subliminal Sex Messages and Pornography in Advertising and Cartoons (SLYT-SFW)
comment posted at 8:39 AM on Jul-26-11

Sady Doyle, writing for Global Comment, has released a glowing retrospective of Joanne Rowling's beloved Hermione Granger series of books and movies.
comment posted at 2:18 PM on Jul-20-11

Because of a regulatory beer labeling registration snafu, Minnesota beer supplies will soon be down 38%. Another stunning example of inefficient state bureaucracy getting in the way of one's alcohol consumption.
comment posted at 1:36 PM on Jul-13-11
comment posted at 1:46 PM on Jul-13-11