I have a Facebook friend whose posts are absolutely fascinating: vilification of Monsanto (down with big business!), vilification of Planned Parenthood (“Planned Murderhood”), vilification of not just Democrats and Republicans but democracy and republicanism.  It took me some time to make sense of it, but as it happens, this apparently schizophrenic constellation of political philosophyRead moreRead more

I was going to write a quick bit about the whole Daniel Tosh business (or, as I like to call it, the Annual Rape-Joke Discussion: In Which Comedians And Assholes Everywhere Band Together For The Right To Publicly Act Like Dicks Without Any Consequence Ever, And Then Call It “Just Comedy,” As Though Comedy IsRead moreRead more

I know I said I wasn’t going to post a big long thing about “A Song of Ice & Fire,” but in email conversation with my dear friend Patrick Barry (who is, like, 80% responsible for the existence of this blog in the first place), it came about that I have Lots of Thoughts aboutRead moreRead more

I recently completed a breakneck, obsessive read of George RR Martin’s “A Song of Ice & Fire” series (aka “the Game of Thrones series”, as HBO has made it known).  My brother, a devoted fantasy fan, has been attempting to get me to read the books for well over a decade; other friends have chimed in overRead moreRead more

The time has come… for retractions.   Last fall, I posted about “New Girl,” the Zooey Deschanel sitcom which debuted to great hype on FOX.  (Remember when that was supposed to encapsulate the experience of the contemporary twentysomething?  Before Lena Dunham showed up?)  Back then, I decried the show’s stereotypical deployment of the Manic PixieRead moreRead more

So, I just watched “Girls.”   For those who do not live in the intersection of “feminism” and “comedy”, whose worlds may not have been filled for the last two weeks with “Girls”-related chatter: “Girls” is a new show on HBO, written, directed, produced, created by and starring a young woman named Lena Dunham.  ItRead moreRead more

Illegal immigrants don’t take jobs Americans won’t. They take jobs Americans won’t—actually, can’t—under those conditions. They work below the minimum wage and without the protection of occupational health and safety laws or even the most theoretical rights of collective bargaining. Basically, they exist as if the New Deal never happened. Their enforced docility and legalRead moreRead more

…doing good is hard work. It’s humbling work, it’s a lifelong commitment, and it requires us to face hard questions about the way we live. And doing good, sometimes, requires us to wage war on sentimentality. -my friend Jialan Wang, on Kony2012 and this article in particular   In the wake of Kony2012, there’s aRead moreRead more

Bank of America!  The new monopolies!  Credit card fraud perpetuated by credit card companies!  Shameless abuse of the tax system!  As if any of those four stories weren’t incentive enough to want to join the apparently consequence-free ranks of the one percent (or corporate personhood – science fiction authors have long written of transference ofRead moreRead more

When I talk about bad approaches to social issues, this is the kinda thing that fits the bill.   Many Internet commenters are saying things like “But hey! Homeless people are earning money!  WHERE’S THE PROBLEM?!”   The problem – like the problem with Kony2012 – is in thinking that this is actually accomplishing anything.Read moreRead more