@brokenscope: I agree...on it's own it's pretty tame and clearly a pro-hunting thing (another commenter showed it's being sold by Cabelas, which is an outdoorsman store.)

@shorty63136: The mailbox on its own seems pretty benign as a hunting/outdoorsman-type thing...it's just when in combination with the collection of racist "ornaments" that it seems like there's something else going on.

@joq8: I think the significance of it is mainly as a symbol of violence (taken in context with the other "items"). The idea that "true Americans" are racist, pro-gun, etc.

@Highsmith: I'd really recommend not labeling someone with an eating disorder just because they are fat. The two are separate things that are sometimes related, but not always...just as being thin does not mean someone is an anorexic.

So, let's see, we've got: (1) extreme calorie restriction (2) insanely overdone workouts for up to 5 hours at a time (3) trainers telling contestants to *go against* medical advice (4) contestants practicing fluid restriction to the point of peeing blood (5) rapid, unsustainable weight loss as opposed to the…

@Highsmith: How's that? I didn't see anything to suggest that she had an eating disorder before the show. Am I missing it?

Didn't Opal find Bobby Martin's skeleton in the closet? Damn, those Martins don't keep too close an eye on their kids, do they?

@sportz.star: Elaine Benes agrees. Some mirrors are "skinny mirrors" and some are not.

Thank you to the commenters who have weighed in against the "Sometimes this is what the fatties need to motivate them" crowd.

@needmorecoffee: She says they never told her and, frankly, I'm inclined to believe her (because it sounds like she would have walked away from joining that particular gym if they had—rather than go through the humiliation of being told to get off the machines.)

@needmorecoffee: Sorry, but what if she doesn't want to do water aerobics? (Or like to swim? Or want to get in a swimsuit to work out?) She should have to accept it just because that's the price she has to pay for being fat?

@kad9k: So true. As part of the Outlaw Country movement (and as part of the Highwaymen) he was a part of showing that not all country music is right-wing jingoistic sexist drivel. (There are some great Highwaymen songs, including a cover of Woody Guthrie's "Deportee" and a song called "Welfare Line" which talks about…

Kris Kristoferson is awesome.

Charles Mudede, the girl's dad, has been blogging about this (he works for the Seattle weekly paper The Stranger) since it happened. I love the way he's standing up for his kid.

@sissylarue: There's a wonderful interview by Michael Lenehan with the late, great Studs Terkel where they talk about editing oral interviews. Lenehan makes the point you do—that even the most articulate person's speech sounds like gibberish when transcribed verbatim. Terkel talked about the fact that it was important…

@sissylarue: I don't mind reporters having a viewpoint or even being biased. (Speaking as a biased reporter myself—I just happen to write for a publication that openly proclaims its biases.) When you start an article you usually do know where it's headed, no matter the subject. (Though granted there are some…

@sissylarue: I read it as more controversial. Because there was much more context to the bit she said about Bono—which Hirschberg grafted onto the first quote. By cutting out that context it substantially changed my perception of what MIA was saying. It seemed designed to make her seem like a violent asshole—but when…

@sissylarue: But most reporters will at least add in an ellipsis, which she didn't, in order to note that there's missing material. And yeah, in this case, the doctoring of the quote/taking it out of context of the rest of what she said does cast MIA in a more negative light.

@Puddlefish: Well, her criticisms are her own opinion, which she's entitled to. But splicing together the quote and eliding parts of it to in order to make it appear more "controversial" while taking it out of context? Um, yeah. That's unethical.

@roadrunnerbeepbeep: It will be on the U.S. Socialist Worker site (www.socialistworker.org)...probably on Monday or Tuesday.