We disagree. I could cite many articles about corruption the pharmaceutical industry, drugs that caused harm and then were taken off the market (after a coverup). We disagree on whether you should trust what the scientific establishment is saying.

You all have a touching faith in the media, the pharmaceutical industry, and our regulatory agencies. And a terrifying willingness to go with Internet pitchforks against whoever the media whips you up against. It is scary how people have nearly unanimously raved against people who don't vaccinate in fear over…

Yeah, what I'm really wondering is what kind of parents raise boys that end up doing stuff this horrible to women. We've heard about enough rape cases; I would like to hear from some of the parents (anonymously) of the rapists. Do they have regrets? Do they have advice for other parents on what *not* to do when…

I agree! You can't reimburse for patchwork quilts made by your grandmother. In my family those are supposed to be treated like sacred relics.

If there really is a devil and he (she!) wanted to create a society that is incredibly competitive and un-compassionate, where the people in positions of authority won't question people in power, I don't think you could invent anything more effective than the Greek system.

Thank you for bringing attention to this. It is pretty shocking. It makes you wonder what kind of abuses of poor children without protectors are going on currently. I am not sure what kind of justice/reform is needed, but I hope that it happens.

Good explanation of "can" vs. "should". This article is explaining how people may take different messages from male jewelry than the man intended. This is intended as a service to men so they can make educated decisions. It's not saying you can't wear jewelry. Of course you can! But you don't have any control…

My mother (my mother!!) and I were talking about who was the sexiest male actor. It was not long after Kiss of the Spider Woman. And both of us, independently, living far far apart, said Raul Julia. What does that mean when you find the same type of man sexy as your mother, that's a little creepy. I suggest not…

Harvard Club. We were in our 20s in grad school. Most of the people there were old dudes with younger women. I was under-dressed. It was incredibly boring and it was depressing to think that we (my boyfriend) was impressed enough with his Harvard cred that he had wanted to do this. Sitting at home now watching…

Thank you for the very thoughtful, respectful answer. Here is the reason why I think a propensity to be charismatic is somewhat inborn. Having had a relative on the autism spectrum, I can say that the inward focus that comes with that makes charisma impossible. A lot of nerds have said they feel like they are…

This was a very interesting article, but the chances are that if you're lacking confidence it's going to be hard to do most of these things. Also I disagree that charisma is not inborn. I was born into a family of incredibly charismatic men. From observation, I would say that "confidence" and caring about other…

Right, design your life around punishing states for their traffic ticket policies. Honey I would like to go to Virginia Beach and Williamsburg. Sorry, dear, we are not setting foot in the state of Virginia for any reason ever because of their policies on speeding. Living where I do, it is unavoidable anyway. And I…

Wedding dances are my guilty pleasure! I had to take a break from the news yesterday for some Youtube wedding dance watching. We don't dance enough in groups in the US, so I welcome this trend, even if it does seem self-serving at times. It's still way more joyful and fun that sitting around at the reception…

Here's two posts from frat boys about how much they hate Jackie, when someone asked on "Greekrank.com" whether the frat is filing a defamation lawsuit against Rolling Stone. This is why Rolling Stone threw Jackie under the bus, I assume:

What kind of bullying tactics do you think frats have to use in order to keep open after everything that they've already done, for years and years? Well, whatever it is that they do, they did it again. They were powerful enough to break Rolling Stone. Shame on everyone for falling for it. Don't you get it, it's…

There is something appealing about Reign, even though I kept thinking it looked Mary and her friends would make a great Anthropologie commercial whenever they were all together. That was attractive, but distracting. But I won't watch rape. I stopped with Downton Abbey after the rape. That was it. Last episode.…

I was very excited when I read the title of this post since my daughters (one teen, one 20) spend a lot of time on their Tumblrs and the one they do together. But they are not interested in Kylie Jenner, fashion, fashion bloggers of the moment and are not getting a $300 Polaroid camera. Girls are not all interested…

I think maybe a small amount of these stories is helpful, a large amount is discouraging . I think the intention was good and for me, a white person, it really is an eye-opener. It makes the disparity more concrete. It is another hammer hittting at the wall of comfortable delusion and…

The St. Louis police organization got the "sorry, not sorry" treatment and are pretending not to understand it. Regular people everywhere can enjoy their meltdown.

The words that seem to describe Ferguson and the general tenor of our civic life now: "impunity" and "doubling down".