I feel like I'm living in some kind of fucked up alternate reality these days. I've always considered myself a feminist, but I used to kind of laugh off the idea that men could feel threatened by women, particularly the power of women's metaphoric "voice". But between the official efforts to restrict women's…

John Kelly's The Great Mortality is a fascinating account of the Plague in Europe, and how it exacerbated xenophobia. Frightened people do frightening things.

That said, I absolutely take your point about the culturally loaded word "hygiene" when it comes to colonialism. The media is playing into the public's wishful…

The first thing I noticed about Terminus was how few people there were, total. It seemed like an awful lot of space for a few people to be milling around in, when there had been signs up all over the place telling people to come. It should have looked more like a refugee camp. There seemed to be a LOT more people when…

Glad I'm not the only one. I can understand if a sense of purpose kept them together at the beginning, but as feckless as he is under pressure? Either they really do believe him or there's some other reason they want him around, because otherwise he is totally dead weight. He shot up their truck!

Is that the guy from "Xanadu"? More importantly, what important fact about my life have I forgotten to keep his face in my memory?

Yes, there's just this nagging feeling I have... keep them working while they're cheap (in their twenties and thirties), and then have an excuse not to make them partner in their forties because they took maternity leave. I have discovered a very large cynical DNA chain in my genome, and it's called "women in the…

THAT is interesting! Makes me wonder why they'd be so gung-ho to protect him, if they know he's full of shit, though. I do actually think he's full of shit because of the way he talked about what he planned to do when he got to DC. "Flip the switch?" Uh-huh. Sounds legit. There is no scenario in which flipping even a…

Beth's going to have to have 100% less annoying when/if she comes back, if they're going to make me- I mean, Daryl- choose her over Carol. I know her character works as is, but not as a partner for my Daryl.

Hershel et al weren't evil. Misguided in their views on the walkers, but not evil.

Why is my first thought that this is to make sure they work their asses off and don't have "an excuse" to take maternity leave? I can just see someone's boss saying: "You know, we've got a pretty long-range product development in the works. Everybody's cool with just freezing their eggs, right? The company will cover…

I feel like my favorite aunt and my most annoying cousin are fighting, and I'm mad at my aunt because she's making me feel sorry for my cousin, who I prefer to roll my eyes at.

Never punch down, is all I'm saying.

I know! I was thinking that when Carol grabbed Daryl's crossbow- GET THE SWORD! MICHONNE NEEDS HER BLADE!

As terrible as it sounds, if it scares companies with LOTS of money into doing the right thing, I guess it's a net positive. I just wish we didn't have to sit and wait for those few incidents in which corporate and public interests align (looking at you, ineffective blowhards in DC).

My immediate thought is that this would be the only way to reduce the risk of being around this guy.

I know this will sound like complete looney tunes, but at a fraud investigation seminar I attended once, a presenter gave analysis of the unspoken language in faces- the "sleepy eyes" is a major red flag. It indicates that the person isn't really "here," but in an alternate reality. He showed the 9/11 high jackers…

I appreciate your thoughtful response and insight. I don't know enough about Galliano to know if he really was as severe an addict as you describe (or if his blackout was just a very convenient way of distancing himself from his remarks), but I'll assume you're right. I am sad, though, that society doesn't seem to…

A good friend got my kid Maurice Sendak's "Brundibar" for a birthday, and neither one of us has opened it since the first time we read it. Hey kids, let's enjoy this allegory of the Holocaust dedicated to kids just like you who died at Theresienstadt!

My heart just breaks for her and her family. I can't imagine how much it hurts to not know yourself what's true and what isn't, not be able to trust reality. Mental illness is no joke, and I hope she gets the help she needs for all of these issues.

That's perfection.