Saw it tonight and quite liked it—the only major flaw for me was the lack of development of Ramona's character. Yes, Mario has to fight for something more than just the Princess—but for once it'd also be nice to see a truly self-rescuing Princess.

@amake616 misses MizJenkins: I guess I kind of disagree with the idea that "everyone is entitled to their own opinion" on abortion because I think that the framing of abortion as a moral/ethical question as opposed to a strictly medical question is one of the main reasons that the right has been so successful in the…

@Uhuh. wants Miz.J back: Would it have been better for her to have a child that she didn't want and resent it and possibly wreck her marriage as well? Should she have given it up for adoption? Or did her willingness to selectively reduce mean that she should not have had any more children? Is it that she doesn't seem…

@Lymed: I think people generally have more sympathy to poor women aborting, as opposed to middle class or wealthy women aborting. (They *could* afford a child but don't want to make the sacrifice, is the suggestion.) But, again, that to me seems to suggest that there's an abortion hierarchy—the "worthy" vs.…

I'm not sure I understand the chorus of "It's her right, BUT..." followed by moral judgments about her choice.

Perhaps someone can force her to watch this when it comes out:

I believe he's auditioning to be the next Tucker Max, shitty writing and misogyny included.

@akarpens: To be fair, Miéville is a definite partisan of fantasy and "weird fiction," so I don't think he's too interested in scientific accuracy.

@akarpens: Fair enough—my mistake. (I still do agree with his assessment of Whedon v. Abrams though.)

Comparing the finale of Lost to that of Buffy and Angel? I'm totally on China Miéville's team here (even allowing for the cliff-hanger of Angel).

That comparison made me throw up a little in my mouth.

@velvetlenin: Joya gave a speech in November of last year where she argued that the US/NATO occupation of Afghanistan is a barrier to the liberation of Afghan women (and all Afghan people):

See what Kelly Cutrone has wrought?? She's created an epidemic of public crying being inflicted on innocent bystanders!

Agreed that there's a point where it's definitely not "innocent"—and I'd say that's true of leers as well (even though, of course, there's nothing illegal in looking). I've had at least two instances where I've been on the el, reading a book with my headphones on, when I look up to find a guy has positioned himself,…

@Canadarling: It's definitely a valid concern...but I think any U.S./NATO presence in the country, in the long run, only makes the development of secular groups and civil society orgs that could be an alternative to warlords or the Taliban less likely. (Since the main driver of growth of the Taliban today is the U.S.…

Hi China -

@Canadarling: Well, the U.S. hand-picked Karzai. If the U.S. wasn't there to prop him up, I don't think he'd be in power for long. (He has very, very little actual power outside of Kabul.)

@ChildBride: Alison Kilkenny has a brilliant rejoinder to this. Perhaps, she suggests, Time should to a follow-up cover with the title "What will happen if we DON'T leave Afghanistan"...with photos of, say, the civilian victims of errant U.S. bombs? (Warning: the photo content at the link is extremely graphic.)

This cover is infuriating.

@kepster: They did touch on it a little in the article, but yeah, I hear you. I was really annoyed when Old Navy took plus sizes out of the store and made them on-line only...because they also CHARGE for mail returns, which is the only way you can return plus size clothes! So fat women end up paying $6 to return…