It’s the equivalent of a 100 page newspaper where 3 of the pages are international news, 8 of the pages journalistic pieces or updates, and 89 of the pages are devoted to op-ed pieces that aren’t always labeled as op-ed pieces. It leads to elevating sensationalist stories, blowing minor controversies out of…

In this case the other woman was black as well, so at least her right to self-defense is being upheld. If the mother had been white I doubt even a confession from the mother saying she started the altercation would have resulted in the shooter not getting charged. It’s bs for the state to treat a fetus as a person …

So in the future he can lie about whether he was indicating support or just wanted to comment depending on who he’s talking to?

Romantic scenes and a romance subplot aren’t enough. For it to be romance, there absolutely has to be a happy ending. Happily Ever After (usually marriage) or sometimes Happy for Now. The relationship also has to be the main focus. I think the Sookie Stackhouse series is more Urban Fantasy, a genre where a love…

The genre is so maligned that an unapologetically progressive black woman who looses the Governor’s race in Georgia by the skin of her teeth can have her background as a romance writer treated like something she should be embarrassed about, and sex scenes from her book read aloud on air against her expressed wishes.…

Younger black voters aren’t trending the same way. I’m surprised that Biden has just managed to outpace Sanders recently with younger black voters. Hopefully enough younger black voters come out to tip the scales. In the meantime, Buttigieg isn’t doing good with young black voters or the demographic as a whole.…

I begin to wonder if some of the candidates, namely O’Rourke and Buttigieg, are using this as their audition for VP candidate and plan to drop out by the fall. Throwing their hat in as serious contenders given the largeness of the field, filled with people with decades of experience and multiple election wins, seems…

The shift right is so unnerving, especially given the disconnect between elected officials and the public on supported policy positions. Fifteen years ago the late Arlen Specter was a solid moderate Republican. His lifetime rating his last year in office with the American Conservative Union is about two points lower…

“Even something neutral like ‘reinforced gender disorder’”

Interesting how Michael Ian Black can say that “boys are broken”, yet the same people wringing their hands over the phrase Toxic Masculinity don’t go after him with accusations of thinking all men and boys are harmful, or needing to find a less alienating phrase.

This term and similar ones were heavily used by men who wanted freedom from toxic constraints and to promote a vision of masculinity that allowed for more emotional and social freedom. Robert Bly wrote a bestseller based on that philosophy that stayed on the bestseller lists for months.

Do you think there’s no connection whatsoever between your boss not knowing what the term means and people with large platforms promoting a misleading narrative about what the term means? This is already being parroted by Fox News. People are going to see this and feel vindicated that they were right about the term,…

Aside from the age argument ignoring the long history of the concept, a problem I have with this argument for people with Streep’s influence is that, given the weight their words carry in a public setting, if they don’t know what a term means they could consider not using it or explaining what it means to them to…

The problem I have with the age argument is that it seemingly ignores the history of the term. Descriptors like hegemonic, toxic, and superficial masculinity have been used by social scientists and members of the general public for at least thirty years to describe harmful masculine stereotypes. Streep is a…

I’m thrilled with the consolation prizes if the first place prize would have been watching a despotic self-appointed “liberator” succeed in conquering a country she has never stepped foot in before and assume  her “rightful” place on the throne because birthright. 

The shot of the single blade of grass sprouting through the snow was s nice touch and call back to why they were waiting around.

I have decided to tell myself it’s because she’s a goldcloak and not a King’s Guard member. Podrick’s uniform looked the same and it’s doubtful he intends to remain celibate and he knows better than to flagrantly break his oaths under the command of Ser Brienne of Tarth. This way Brienne remains heir to House Tarth…

I was a hardcore Bernie supporter in 2016 (Warren 2020), but unfortunately not the straw woman you’re looking for. 

It feels reassuring not to be alone in this. I read the synopsis of “It Follows” and a video analysis of some of the themes and cinematography choice. I still get creeped out about it. 

I think they’re established as uncommon, even less common than first cousins marrying, but definitely not taboo. There are at least one or two cases involving uncles and half-uncles in the Stark family tree. So it might have been unusual, but shouldn’t have been a dealbreaker given the extreme circumstances and what…