@Xagest: You just made my coffee come out of my nose, so applause for that.

@Persistence: Maybe actually planting devices is not so common, but as a member of a left-wing group I've seen more than my fair share of undercover cops trying to worm their way into perfectly legal meetings on constitutionally protected activities.

@Mathias Jørgensen: Palmer raids, Red Scare, Cointelpro, infiltration of antiwar groups...but sure, yeah, people under surveillance by the state probably deserve it.

@armadillo: I think it was actually supposed to be a stylized version of a Beefeater (Guards at the Tower of London) uniform. But yes, still awesomely crazy.

Are my eyes deceiving me, or do they literally walk the girls down a hallway with a sign that reads "Nobody's ugly at 2 a.m." hanging on the wall?

What's even sadder is that the kids profiled for the most part had understanding, caring parents who were aware of the problem and were really conscious of trying to help them work through it. (Like the little boy who wouldn't count to 10 out loud until he was sure he could do it without messing up.)

I can't imagine The Dead Zone without King's spot-on characterization of Greg Stillson as a small-town psychopathic bible salesman working his way up through political office as a right-wing, patriotic Republican. At one point there's a passage about Stillson campaigning for adding more police and cutting funds for…

@rebeldevil: Except those bad guys are more representative of Stalinism—and most socialists, including Orwell (given his experiences watching the Stalinist CP stab anti-fascist fighters in the back during the Spanish Civil War) would argue Stalinism has nothing to do with genuine leftism or progressivism.

@angelheadedhipster: You're right about "The Walls Do Not Fall." I also remember coming across "HERmione" in college and being fascinated.

H.D.? (Hilda Doolittle)...went to Bryn Mawr where she encountered William Carlos Williams and Marianne Moore; had a nervous breakdown (sleeping with a fascist like Ezra Pound will do that to a girl); and had a number of relationships with women (and was very open and unapologetic about it).

@yeahisaidit: Thanks! I babysit for a little boy who, just the other day, asked me to help him get dressed in his sister's fairy princess costume and tiara (He pulled them out of the dress-up box that also contained a fireman's hat, pirate sword, etc). He was adorable and so happy getting to be his fairy princess…

@PrisonBreakShaker: Thanks! I'm in the ISO myself, but I have a lot of respect for DSA.

If a dress was good enough for Jesus, why isn't it good enough for little boys?

For a great take on the lunacy of the "controversy" around Semenya's gender, I'd recommend people read this piece by The Nation Sportswriter Dave Zirin and author and activist Sherry Wolf from April:

Wow, to all the folks who are saying "she was much prettier before" (or that her hair looks bad now, or that she looks unhealthy now, or whatever)...I understand (I think) what you're trying to say, but I think you're missing the point a bit.

@jabberjabberwock: : Personal preference is one thing. But people who feel such a need, in a post about very real discrimination against fat people, to inject how much they prefer a thin body type and how unnatural they find fat? That to me is both insulting and totally missing the point—unless you think those…

@Nico Coer: and @firefoxx66:

@ladyneeva: I'm getting the kitty disdain look from my own as I type...I always take cat attitude as praise.

@weirdette: thanks for the compliment!

Yeah, I don't think it's a crisis of empathy. I think it's a result of the constant demonization of Pakistan in the media and by US politicians for the last 9 or so years and, as others have said, the Islamophobia that is being exploited in a particularly gruesome way right now.