It is when it happens to the country's major supplier of fruit, nuts and vegetables.

Sigh. Poor Theon. He's the one character I sort of want killed off, just so he's put out of his misery. Knowing Martin, he'll survive the whole thing.

Yes, the books are more internal with their close third-person point-of-views. There are POVs that seem to be there because Martin wants to get some info out, but a lot of events are less about the event than how the person viewing it is affected by it.

No. It's not a scene in the book, it's something Tyrion thinks about and talks about. Tell, not show, in this case. I said original storyline. Martin's work has less sexual violence than the show.

I think Shae's better developed in the show, but I don't think the Shae in the books is simply ditzy. My sense was that Tywin knew Tyrion was keeping her and deliberately seduced her because of it. Shae A) wasn't in a position to say "no." and B) was visibly frustrated with being hidden away by Tyrion. He was…

The switch in Tyrion's storyline wasn't a jump-the-shark moment for me, but I prefer the original. If the show had inserted less violent sex that wasn't in the books, they could have kept the original storyline—and the horrific betrayal of it—it's a completely perverse expression of Lannister pride while the…

Illegal immigration keeps down wages, which benefits businesses. It's actually in the interest of many GOP supporters to keep the status quo—a large pool of undocumented workers with no rights who are paid next to nothing. Which is why GOP pols bluster about illegal immigrants, but do almost nothing to actually…

Every group has its bad apple—the Quakers didn't deserve Nixon. Though, looking back, I consider Reagan and Bush II more destructive presidents. Nixon's dishonesty and policies in Southeast Asia were reprehensible (as was his earlier behavior with HUAC), but Reagan's Iran-Contra shenanigans and dismantling of basic…

Oh lots of the Game of Thrones stuff—Tyrion's back story, which makes his arrowing pops a lot more understandable—makes it clear just how much Tywin has controlled and distorted everything about Tyrion's life. The Tyrion who kills his father over Shae is a different character than the Tyrion who kills his father over…

That's not anti-egalitarian though. That said, Quakers rock—everyone else comes out lacking next to them. They were just so damned decent—it's nice to remember that they were around and doing things like opposing slavery from early on. Plus, Ben Franklin, who just has to be considered the most fun of the Founding…

Oh, I'm descended from the earliest Puritan thief. I take a perverse pride in that. Failed Puritans for the win.

The Pilgrims, though, weren't elites. Neither were most of the Puritans. They were artisans, small farmers, tradesmen—which explains a lot about the egalitarian tendencies in colonial New England. Where you did get the elites was in the south, where many of the First Families of Virginia really were younger sons of…

Agreed, but the whole concept of reality being an illusion subject to change by creatures controlling humans showed up in Dark City several months before the Matrix. Dark City's beautifully made as well. I saw Dark City during its original release and when I saw The Matrix a few months later, I definitely had a…

Throw in Dark City as well.

Finished two chapters of a novel about a post-apocalyptic society that has undergone such a dramatic series of genetic alterations (in order to survive the apocalpyse) that they now have problems breeding a sustainable population.

Oh, and knitting. A lot of knitting.

Hmmm, let's see, anecdotal experience v. a controlled study. And you don't see why the latter is a stronger piece of evidence than the former? I think you just gave a fine example of why Tea Partiers don't deal well with science. Or reality.

No. That's a false equivalence. I don't know of a large liberal group that's disputing a scientific consensus on something that has a long and significant impact on all of us.

Yep, I kind of like her for the same reason I like Reese Witherspoon—because she's a bitch, not in spite of it. I feel very different about such people, however, if they have power over me.

I've heard multiple times that Martha Stewart is a brutal boss—really, really wouldn't want to be her barrista. The hell of Martha Stewart with no career path. (shudder.)

Names are supposed to trickle-down—so, Sophia (and Ava) have been rich girl names, but as they become more popular, they'll lose their posh edge and we'll hear something else. I'm sure, actually, that it's already happening. One of the richest kids I know is a Sophia, but she's heading into middle school.