I would argue that the original stories could be called classist, but not really racist. Having lighter skin was associated with not having to work in the sun, hence prosperity (in a world where it was much harder to survive), hence beauty. Everyone involved in these stories was of the same ethnicity, as pretty much…

After he quit acting and started a boxing career, then quit boxing to go back to acting, he had some plastic surgery to try to clean up what the boxing had done to his face.

You do know that Rourke is one of those whacky Method actors, right? Should've asked him about that.

This should hardly be surprising to find in a field of endeavor that funds itself, effectively, by begging for money — just imagine what effect that has on the political environment among its practitioners.

Thanks for clearing that up. I speak English and am fairly conversant in German, and though I have little knowledge of Dutch, I thought it might stand to reason. Too bad. That is very interesting info — it's been a few years since I studied the history of the German language, and that class mostly covered the…

"Astronomers have seen spiral arms before…"

Silver lining: wetenschapper is an awesome word for scientist, and it also indicates that there must be a verb form, if wetenschap is science, and wetenschapper is one who does science.

There are much stranger Apple things afoot this week.

The only reason I hadn't preordered this was I wasn't sure if I wanted the hardcover or the Kindle edition. If I got the hardcover, there was the tiniest glimmer of a chance I could somehow get Steve to sign it. (I have a signed copy of Woz's book, so it would have been a complete set.)

One of my most treasured possessions is a signed copy of Woz's book.

You missed some fairly prominent papers, although it's nice to see appropriate observances from Maysville, Kentucky and Bakersfield, California.

The reason the president is exempted is that he is a head of state, a role which customarily involves giving and receiving gifts. (And the VP is like a junior head of state.)

Apple is one of the most successful U.S. corporations, if not the most.

Anyone who reads Slate should add this Adblock filter manually: www.slate.com###share-box-flank

The "black market" is not really very accessible unless you're already pretty heavily into organized crime. People who have that kind of stuff wouldn't stay in business very long if they advertised.

One caveat, though, is that the Fire may just be a RIM Playbook with a slower processor.

That did occur to me, but then I wondered what the Android equivalent to an iPod Touch is. I knew I'd never heard of one, but I didn't know there was no such thing, and honestly I didn't feel like looking it up.

Apple doesn't do web search.

I remember reading that most of the government offices around the explosion had already closed for the day, or there would have been more people killed by the bomb.

There hasn't been a C-130 shot down since the first Gulf War in 1991, and that one was a special ops gunship providing air support for marines on the ground.