I really wish I had a magic button to push this out of the grey, because it is an important contribution. Maybe we should all get one "de-greying" a day to use as we see fit.

I think this is all about tone/intent/phrasing. "What are you?" is just terribly dehumanizing. The question about the last name seems perfectly normal to me, as long as it is asked in a tone of curiosity and genuine interest rather than a tone of trying to assess if someone is a "real American."

I often ask folks…

I always wonder what great evil all of us are putting up with, that will cause our grandchildren to look back at us with horror. The Christian Right would have you believe that it is abortion, but I'm starting to think it is global climate change.

I think you are overestimating the degree to which WWII was about the Holocaust, to be honest. From an American perspective, yes, it might feel like WWII and the Holocaust are synonymous, or that everyone MUST have known, but that's just not the case.

First, as others have pointed out, the Nazis went to lengths to…

The shocking thing to me about this quote is that the WaPo is not a liberal paper. Not by a long shot. The WaPo's editorial page provided one of the loudest drumbeats to war in 2002-3, and has consistently taken a pro-business, pro-establishment, pro-security state approach. If I were to make a list of major…

Can I ask if you have kids? We're South of Nine in Ferndale, but the school situation is keeping us from making the move to Green Acres or Sherwood Forest. There are some private options, but they are spendy (Detroit Waldorf) or seem to be in constant danger of closing (Detroit Friends). I think, for a lot of…

This varies by state, actually. Some are strict, some are really really lax. Cali is one of the lax states.

It's worse than that. California has very lax vaccine requirements, so you just have to sign a waiver saying that you are opposed on philosophical grounds. Done!

So, yeah, Waldorf schools (a bastion of the rich) are part of the problem, but California's laws allow every public school to be as unvaccinated as your…

This is part of it. There was a Waldorf school ($30K a year in these parts) in California that had to shut down for weeks because of a measles outbreak. Private schools can make their own rules, so they can either require vaccines with no exemptions other than medical (the stance of the Archdioceses in my city) or…

My point isn't that the US has a simmering Chechnya-esque problem, it's that everything "has never happened" until the day it does happen. Before 9/11 the operating assumption when a plane was hijacked was that the hijackers had a list of political demands that could, potentially, be met. The idea that someone would…

I can't recall a single instance here in the US where we've had a genuine suicide bomber——and certainly not a female one.

Maybe the real issue here is that Jezebel and other blogs/sites that are sensitive to this stuff ought to be making it clear that Rebel had a huge role in this. She isn't just the "lead actress," she's the creator.

Perhaps it also doesn't matter that she's okay with it. If the jokes turn off the target audience,…

I am responding to this in the vain hope that enough responses will get you pushed toward the top.

If that child is Latina and "advanced," apparently. If the child is white, probably not.

Others have answered your question, but there is also a distressing racial element here. The rapist is white. The girl was Latina. This judge's rationalization, that she was "mature" plays right into stereotypes about Latina girls being oversexed and culpable in their own sexual assaults.

Clinton's indiscretions did hobble his second term, however. There's a lot that he was unable to get done because his time and political capital were tied up in fighting impeachment. Hillary (and anyone else who cares about things like Middle East peace and health care reform) probably should feel a bit of…

This. I believe that Clinton values Abedin. Everything I've read and seen suggests this is true, and Abedin has been very loyal to Clinton even through her darker days. However, I just don't see how Clinton can continue to have her name linked to dick-wagging Anthony Weiner. It brings back the exact same narrative…

I think the media releases the names of ALL accused criminals who are over the age of 18, not least because it is a matter of public record.

This is exactly what I'd been trying to say, but was having trouble finding the words. I'm glad you do what you do, but I'm very sorry it is necessary, because it does come with risks for both those women and for you.

I don't know, but I do know that folks who I really like (or used to like) have been vigorous in his defense. Jodie Foster is one of them.