Politics
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I Want to Hold Your Hand
A same-sex hand holding relay was held in London as part of a three-day celebration that kicked off the countdown to the 2012 Olympic Games. Same-sex hand holding, or “sshh,” is used to promote “visibility for same-sex couples and quietly…
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An Ugly Policy from American Apparel
A “pissed-off American Apparel store manager” has blown the whistle on Dov Charney’s latest business strategy. It seems the CEO “is demanding the firing of employees he deems unattractive and thus detrimental to the ‘AA aesthetic,’ as he feels they…
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Time is Real!
Not too long ago I reviewed a movie called The Examined Life, by director Astra Taylor, which featured ninety minutes of fascinating, exhilarating discussions with eight contemporary philosophers. The film left me hungry for more, and recently The New Press…
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Jamba Juice Responds
Get Your War On and My New Fighting Technique Is Unstoppable creator David Rees has been ripped off in a major way by Jamba Juice’s latest ad campaign. To read our earlier posts on the matter, click here and here.…
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The True Politics of Whole Foods
I usually shop for supplies at the corner bodega, rarely making it to an actual grocery store. But, when imagining a more responsible me, I picture myself with a steady girlfriend shopping at the local Whole Foods. Whole Foods seems…
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By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld
PART I: WHY RUMSFELD, WHY THIS BOOK? Donald Rumsfeld is my grandmother.
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Immigrants Make For Safe Cities
“If you want to find a safe city, first determine the size of the immigrant population,” says Jack Levin, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. “If the immigrant community represents a large proportion of the population, you’re likely in…
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The Rumpus Interview With Sophia Raday
Sophia Raday’s new book, Love In Condition Yellow–A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage, is a beautifully rendered, often hilarious, account of how opposites can attract, and maybe even should. It’s also insightful meditation on America after 9/11 as it struggles…
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Berlusconi in Tehran
In his piece for the London Review of Books, “Berlusconi in Tehran,” about the danger of authoritarian power within democracies, Slavoj Zizek examines the possible similarities between the victorious Iranian Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In light of the…
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A Found 1969 Editorial on the Moon Landing
Mumpsimus was digging through his attic and found an old editorial his grandfather wrote for The Needham Times after the moon landing. Funny how a forty year old opinion piece is a million times more enlightened than Sarah Palin’s recent op-ed…
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Aunt Mary’s Storybook Project
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be around while one of my best friends gave birth to a baby boy. It was an amazing experience. As a result, unfortunately, I had to spend a lot of time…
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The Rumpus Long Interview with Doug Fogelson
I keep the first picture in mind, but I frame each new picture as if it’s its own composition, bearing in mind that it is related to what came before it and what’s coming after it.