It’s a fascinating psychological trick that all fascist movements feel the need to portray their aggressiveness as merely a defense against the other side’s (imagined) aggression. When Mussolini invaded Greece in 1940, he gave a long speech about how aggressive the Greeks were, when in fact the Greeks had done…

My mom has been an ardent feminist since the 1940s. She was a lone voice for feminism in the conservative 1950s. She has been a strong advocate of what (limited) social progress the USA has managed to make since the 1960s. She was thrilled to think we were about to get our first female President. She ran out to the…

Trump was caught bragging about sexually assaulting women. That means he is illegitimate. We don’t have to show any respect for his Presidency.

In her book The Rape Of Nanking, Iris Chang wondered why the Japanese soldiers felt such a strong need to document the rapes they committed. They typically had friends photograph them while they were doing the rape. They were proud of it at the time. After the war, some of them were tried as war criminals. Then they…

I don’t regard this as a compliment:

I think dividing into 3 countries would be a great step forward for us and for the World. I suggest 3 countries:

Or we can get rid of the sex offender list, since we all know that as long as it exists, some politicians will abuse it. We could simply move to a system, as other Western nations have, where those who are regarded as mentally unstable are watched, and those who are not unstable are allowed to simply server their term…

This is similar to George R. R. Martin’s defense of Game Of Thrones:

Does anyone have a list of games by women, released on Steam? It would be interesting to do a comparison of how male and female game developers treat sexuality.

It remains a historical controversy whether or not Marie Antoinette was stupid or smart. Many historians now doubt that she actually said “Let them eat cake” (the phrase comes from an accusation made by Rousseau). But Melania Trump reminds me of the old cliches about Antoinette. That lack of reality, that distance…

I had the impression she was making a point about being comfortable with her body. Something about weight. I like her video, though I agree the racial tension this triggers is so bright that it is hard to see the video as simply being about female artists offering a tribute to female artists. But I could also imagine…

She needs 8 years of rest, but she’ll be back in 2024, and she will make a great President.

I am very excited about the year 2024 when Michelle Obama becomes our second female President!!!!!

Yeah, it’s like in 1996 saying “Nobody can make that shot” but you’re talking about Michael Jordan. There are the occasional stars where you have set all normal expectations aside.

How did this nightmare get so far in USA politics? If he wins, someone will need to write the comedy/tragedy version Auden’s old verses:

Bloggers versus the industry elite? Wow, what a blast from the past!

Why focus on legs? I once worked as a mountain guide. I went a summer where we (myself and the other guides) all went swimming in a mountain creek every day, several times a day. I didn’t use soap at all that summer. I think we all smelled the way you might think rushing water in a mountain creek smells, which is…

Maybe it’s place where women wear very little but are paid to dance? Sort of a hybrid mashup of a dance club and a strip club and Hooters?

About this:

Detectives apply Occam’s Razor to every crime except rape. If a man is found dead of a knife wound and another man is found nearby, covered in blood, with a knife, then Occam’s Razor says the second man is the murderer. Reasonable enough. But if a woman is found beaten to a bloody pulp, and nearby a man is found with…