Happy Birthday to David Lovering, 52. I'm more of a Kim Deal fan than I am a Pixies fan, I suppose. Still, good band. Good drummer.
Right to the good stuff:
Henry Farrell on Iran sanctions and negotiations.
Steve Kornacki goes back to 1992 to talk Cuomo/Clinton -- a five part series.
And a fine rant from Alyssa Rosenberg.
The end of Alyssa's rant is more-or-less the definition of ad hominem.
ReplyDelete"I think it’s always worth remembering that it’s a luxury to be able to let the casting of a single character–or even the characters in an entire genre of movies–pass by without comment. "
ReplyDeleteSeriously? Someone was actually able to type that?
This is relevant. Wonder Woman fits the pattern: 'Yeah, we're drawn to power fantasies and visions of responsible hypermasculinity, but we demand those fantasies and visions occasionally have a female protagonist!'
Given all the recent articles about US constitutional failure in terms of separated powers and electoral representation, it's pretty fascinating to follow what's going on in Italy. After some constitutional court rulings, and some high-level negotiating between party leaders, Italy looks to be in for major electoral reform in 2014.:
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303997604579240221296983360
Leaders are thinking about adopting some version of France's two-step run-off system.
Rosenberg is hysterical:
ReplyDeleteI, and so many other critics, would love to be in a position where every depiction of a woman or a person of color in a superhero movie, or a romantic comedy, or a police procedural, or a supernatural drama didn’t feel freighted with significance.
Progs feel so hard at things. Apparently, based on the sweep of genres describe, every single non-white male cast in every single TV show or movie has deep, shattering implications for the zeitgeist. Every female starship pilot, starship captain, time traveler on Heroes, Vampire slayer, detective with a planet for a last name, is a huge step for Womyn every single time. And what about black actors?
When was the last time we saw a black man get a decent role? Every role a black man gets in pop culture has deep psycho-social significance!