Vaughan Bell extolls recent research into the wild and crazy history of nude psychotherapy:
[P]erhaps most notable was an exercise called “crotch eyeballing”, designed to dispel guilt about the body, in which participants were instructed to look at each others genitals and disclose the sexual experiences they felt most guilty about while lying naked in a circle with their legs in the air.
Jessa Crispin refuses to read Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen:
The idea that as a literary person there are a certain set of books you must read because they are important parts of the literary conversation is constantly implied, yet quite ridiculous. Once you get done with the Musts — the Franzens, Mitchells, Vollmanns, Roths, Shteyngarts — and then get through the Booker long list, and the same half-dozen memoirs everyone else is reading this year (crack addiction and face blindness seem incredibly important this year), you have time for maybe two quirky choices, if you are a hardcore reader. Or a critic. And then congratulations, you have had the same conversations as everyone else in the literary world.
The Atlantic's B.R. Myers' torpedoed Franzen in the latest issue. Responses to that biting review are here.
James Ledbetter documents the plight of the American salesman:
[T]he biggest culprit in killing off sales jobs is right in front of you: the Internet. There was a lot of talk in the dot-com era, mostly positive, about "disintermediation," or creating direct connections between consumers and suppliers. Think of all the purchases you make today online that once would have been accompanied by a salesperson: a sweater, a book, a "compact disc," a small appliance or piece of electronic equipment, shares of a stock or mutual fund, airline tickets, etc. Even in my own industry—media supported by advertising—some ad space can be booked online, as Slate writer Seth Stevenson demonstrated in a video earlier this year. The precise impact of Internet selling on sales jobs is hard to quantify, but it's a big contributor and it's irreversible.
Anthony Doerr fears a future that necessitates geo-engineering:
Most geoengineering proposals sound like something straight out of H.G. Wells. We could, for example, drizzle iron sprinkles into our oceans, which would encourage vast carbon-eating plankton blooms. Or we could launch a trillion giant ceramic tea saucers into space to serve as gravitationally suspended sunshades. Or we could use gigantic hoses to spew ultra-fine sulfur particles into the atmosphere, in effect mimicking the effects of a massive volcanic eruption. The sulfur, like the giant tea saucers, could deflect a portion of incoming sunlight, which could theoretically cancel out a century’s worth of warming.
Yes, respected scientists are contemplating this stuff. Pollute the crap out of everything to save everybody…
Yglesias asks how the American press corps would react if China decided to pursue geo-engineering.
Steven Johnson explains how "liquid networks," or English coffeehouses, served as breeding grounds for some of humanity's greatest ideas, and how that relates to the web today.
Lydia Davis applies survival of the fittest to books in translation:
Of course we may have any number of translations of a given text—the more the better, really. We say to ourselves, complacently looking to Darwin, that they will compete with one another and the fittest will survive. But a significant problem is that the fittest will not necessarily be the best, although it, or they, may be. The ones that survive may be the best edited, and/or the best promoted, and/or the cheapest, and/or the ones accompanied by the most useful apparatus—survival may be helped by how much the publisher pays the chain bookseller to display the book prominently; or how cheap the paper and how low the other production costs may be, to keep the price of the book down; or how many smart academics contribute essays to the volume, to accompany a poor translation.
Ben Street reviews a new Jeremy Deller display at the Imperial War Museum, London. It features a burnt-out car, mangled in an an explosion in Baghdad in 2007:
It’s not an “installation,” it hasn’t been “curated,” and it’s not (according to the artist himself), even an “artwork.” It’s not, in other words, “by” someone, and what it’s about is, in part, the idea of authorship, and the meaning of authorship in a context of modern warfare. Deller’s disavowal of the word “art” to describe the car – which does have a title (5 March 2007), and was displayed in Deller’s show It Is What It Is at the New Museum, New York, last year, so has all the hallmarks of being a work of art – has parallels with the perhaps apocryphal story of the Gestapo officer stalking through Picasso’s studio, chancing across a postcard of Guernica, and asking the artist “Did you do that?” “No,” replies the artist, “you did.”
Today on the Dish, the lionization of Petraeus and the military incensed Andrew. The GOP pledged to America to massively deepen its debt, and wasn't much better on civil liberties according to Conor's tally. Massie compared Palin to Gerald Ford, and Graeme Wood exposed Glenn Beck on his anti-Semitic (and insane) source. Lexington argued against "constitutional idolatry," Gene Healy reconsidered Carter, and Democratic complacency could ruin their chances this fall, unless they devote themselves to the debt.
Andrew bucked against the dissent of the day, and defended calling bullshit on the Dems and HRC. Readers see-sawed over Log Cabin Republicans, and Dan Savage bemoaned Obama's absence on the day of the DADT debate, though he did have time to call some WNBA players.
We learned the science behind lethal injection, Jonathan Weiner waged war against aging, and drug companies risked major money to save lives. Matthew Kahn believed the Spocks could save the Homer Simpsons from global warming, commuter and hobbyist bicyclists clashed, and this guy had a death-wish to fly. Middle class incomes haven't changed in a decade, college subsidies don't always work and you can check your job against your divorce rate. We saw life through the eyes of Muslim America, and abroad, and Johann Hari protested the Pope while supporting Catholicism.
McArdle gave hope to nerds, Chris Good paved the way for a Mustached American leadership, and Ta-Nehisi loved living in sin. Yglesias award here, FOTD here, VFYW here, and MHB here. The Facebook fail made it hard for us to find out who was hungry or tired, more content and more clicks signaled tragedy for our attention-span, and Colbert explained corn-packer to a congressman.
Thursday on the Dish, Andrew assailed the Republican Party's "Pledge To America." Reax here and here. The Obama administration decided to defend DADT against Republicans. Andrew called for Solmonese's head and sparred with other bloggers over Dem inaction. Steinglass instructed HRC to take notes from the Tea Party.
The "all fags must die" plot thickened. A Dem congresswomen race-baited her opponent, Boxer and Fiorina went a round, a conservative group aired a maudlin ad against Obama, and Larison rolled his eyes. Snapshots from the Tea Party here and here. Christianism watch here and Trig watch here. DiA disagreed with Douthat over Palin, a GOP congressional candidate slammed her celebrity, and Sharron Angle pwned the press. Wilkinson wanted members of the media to stop picking on red-staters, while Dan Savage sought to keep bigots from picking on suicidal teens.
A drug warrior in Spain came to his senses, Iran kept oppressing its press, and we may have already attacked the country's nuclear plants. The world got fat, but cookstoves could be cleaner. Adam Ozimek looked at illegal immigration around the world, Felix Salmon warned us about market forecasters, Tyler Cowen defended the liberal arts, and Kate Hopkins kept the "culinary luddite" thread going. Readers dissented over Andrew's portrayal of Burning Man, and a combat vet called for showing more graphic content.
Blockbuster finally bit the dust. David Broder and Bob Woodward buck-raked to their wallets' content. A clever new ad strategy is coming to your captchas and this app went from cool to profound. MHB here, VFYW here, and FOTD here. Be lucky your name isn't Sarah Palin.
Edinburgh, Indiana, 6.57 am
Wednesday on the Dish, the New York Times torture farce continued. Andrew was unimpressed with Woodward's excerpts, but more importantly disappointed with Obama's ultimate decision for Afghanistan. But at least the president spoke to Americans like adults.
McCain knew nothing about DADT. Andrew sparred with readers over yesterday's vote, HRC and the Democrats weren't any help, Reid was indefensible, and Mataconis spread the blame around. A Chambliss staffer didn't know the internet could trace his homophobic rants, and Dan Savage reminded gay kids that things will get better.
Following her mama grizzly mentor, O'Donnell swore off the national media. Bernstein and Douthat debated Palin's chances, another of her proteges campaigned on bigotry, and Nyhan charted her unfavorability; she looks a lot like Dan Quayle.
Andrew responded to Ross on what might change for the GOP base between now and 2012, and he agreed with Mark Greenbaum that divided government could benefit Obama. Rand met with the neocons, and Kos got so defensive it sounded like straight-up paranoia. The FBI lied to Congress over monitoring activists, a cartoon helped us understand health care, and Stewart and Colbert blurred what little is left of the line between media and politics. On race, Ta-Nehisi went after Marty, Matthew Duss called out a double standard for Jews and Palestinians (eg Helen Thomas and Marty), and Pat Buchanan played the race card. Sullum and Stimson argued over intoxication, while support for Prop 19 kept getting higher.
VFYW here, MHB here, and FOTD here. More Americans believed Obama was a cactus, Milton's Paradise Lost was headed for 3D, and Burning Man made people all sorts of happy.
By Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty.
Tuesday on the Dish, McCain stooped to a new low by stalling the repeal of DADT, while gay soldiers continue to sacrifice. We compared the Tea Party to its establishment counterparts and investigated the Palin model of doing business. Serwer pointed out that "individual liberty" extends to marriages – whether they involve children or not – and Boaz called out conservatives for ignoring divorce. Andrew unearthed the reality behind O'Donnell on wanking.
There was little progress made on punishing torture in Iraq, even if atrocities are committed by our own soldiers; but waging a different sort of war on Congo's rebels could offer a smarter way forward. The recession may be winding down but unemployment isn't (a reader shared his own view) and taxing pot may solve our revenue woes. Climate change critics stayed quiet over record summer temperatures.
Skip Gates defended Marty, Pat Buchanan played the race card, and a reader backed artisanal foods. Cool ad here, MHB here, and dissent of the day here. Bristol tapped "virgin territory", Kenny Powers mastered the art of seduction, and Antoine Dodson laughed all the way to the bank. VFYW here, and a stump-worthy window contest here.
Monday on the Dish, O'Donnell was a bit of a flake; Palin urged CQ Politics to "print truth;" Tea Partiers weren't quite libertarians; and a review of the full O'Donnell files can be found here. A majority of Americans were for marriage equality , even if the National Review thought marriage was only for mating and we reiterated that DADT isn't just about parades.
Andrew fired back at the Krauthammer dissent, defending his Malkin award; and Newt was today's inductee for his Sebelius "in the spirit of Soviet tyranny" remarks. We mined history for the roots of Marty's mistakes; and while the American right was scary, it still didn't hold a candle to the Taliban. Graeme Wood wondered about the Medal of Honor; Ta-Nehisi grappled with compassion and the Civl War; and Buckley got real on the Boomers.
The Life Sack saved lives; hype trumped security in Haystack; and Fidel Castro helped create the gay rights movement in the U.S. Pope protestors created quite the signage; the killing continued in Iraq and even journalists weren't immune from PTSD. Weed got crowd-sourced; essay mills weren't worth the money; and Rachel Laudan wrote in defense of processed foods. Jeff McMahan wondered whether all meat-eaters on the planet could be evolved into herbivores; green jobs were made to move abroad; and the war on Christmas came early this year. You can find the VFYW here; MHB here; and FOTD here. Ira Glass read the New York Times; Livejournal remained timeless; we gazed at shrooms and capitalism killed Prep.
–Z.P.
The LA Times comes out against Prop 19, in part because the bill would “would set up an inevitable conflict with the federal government that might not end well for the state.” Thoreau counters:
[C]hange will not come from DC. Change will have to start at the local and state level. The Feds can continue to arrest whoever they want to arrest. All that Prop 19 says is that the state will not be prosecuting anybody. There will be hard legal questions and state-federal tensions over this, but waiting for Congress to fix this means you’ll wait forever.
Drum agrees:
I find this to be one of the strongest reasons to vote for Prop 19. Frankly, I think a showdown with the federal government might be long overdue, and contra the Times, I’d say our experiment with medical marijuana, on balance, has been a good thing.
If we had waited for the feds, we would have no gay marriage rights at all.
A reader writes:
This video is my personal favorite. Kinda annoying at first, but it really grows on you, and the last moment made me choke up.
Another writes:
This video project is inspiring. I am not gay, but I hated high school, too. I mostly survived by not talking to anyone and laying low. Senior year I finally found a place on the academic decathlon team and made some friends (we made it to the national competition, no less). I went to college out of state and flourished. Just a year or so after graduation, I went back to my high school to speak to the academic decathlon team, and my message was the same as that Dan Savage is trying to get across: In high school, it seems like whatever your lot is, whoever you are there, that will always be your life. But that isn't the case. You graduate, everything changes, and you can start fresh. You will find there are others like you, and different people who like you.
I wish I had seen these videos when I was in high school. I know they are not meant for me. But isn't the fact that I identify with the speakers yet more evidence of the wonderful point? Your humanity, gay or straight, cannot be obscured forever. It will shine through. It is beautiful to see.
There is a huge crowd-based video being scheduled in the Castro for Sunday. These are the things that change the world. Politics will follow. Eventually. But you have only today to live right now. So live it. And let the rest go.
The Dish 