Month: August 2012

A reader sends the above photo:

Re: the hooligan pigs in the Faces of the Day, such statues are found all across the Chinese cultural sphere. Here is one from central Taiwan that is even more graphic. I'ts right along a major north-south road, and made of high-quality plastic. Pigs are symbols of virility and fertility in Chinese culture, and more information on the subject can be found at Frog in a Well, the great Chinese history blog.

Another reader:

I lived near Zhengzhou for a number of years but unfortunately left before seeing that masterpiece. When it comes to depictions of filial piety, there are plenty of traditional examples that could compete for this one: the 16th Paragon of Filial Piety from the Classic of Filial Piety is where a dutiful son must eat the faeces from his sick father to determine what sort of sickness his father might succumb to. Dare to imagine a statue of that one. Blech.

Several readers made this connection:

I remember when I was a kid back in the late '50s going to the men's room at the neighborhood Sunoco station where they had $.25 condom vending machine that had a sign in bold letters "SOLD FOR THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE ONLY".

Another writes:

So they're not illegal, but condoms can be used as evidence of prostitution – in court and as a basis for arrest. This means that sex workers are sometimes afraid to carry enough condoms, putting themselves and their clients at risk. I know this is a problem at least in New York, North Carolina, and San Francisco and I assume there are other places with similar legal issues. Here's an article from the Atlantic about it.

Earlier post here.

Deadly protests over dismal pay and poor housing at a platinum mine peaked on August 16 when 34 miners were shot and killed by police in a matter of seconds (seen above). Roy Robins steps back:

[T]he country is still reeling. The Marikana massacre, recalling apartheid-era violence and portending potentially devastating conflict, is South Africa's "Back to the Future" moment. It reminds an already fragile nation that it lacks responsible leadership, basic public services like safety and security, and, too often, rule of law. The country remains one of the most violent in the world, with 43 murders reported every day. Many remember the apartheid-era police, who saw black people as inhuman and therefore eradicable, and see this inhumanity echoed in the actions of today's police force.

Daniel Magaziner and Sean Jacobs see the tragedy as a growing pain for the relatively new democracy:

Human rights and democracy are wonderful and the world justly celebrates South Africa for having attained them. But the years since 1994 have demonstrated that poverty and inequality can be far wilier foes than white supremacy. South Africa was white supremacist, but it was also characterized by a particularly brutal form of capitalism, with few or no protections for workers. That latter hasn't changed much. In the days since the massacre, Lonmin has ordered the miners back to work without adjusted wages; the company's public statements [PDF] have fretted about what it means for their shareholders' bottom line. In the years since 1994, state violence against protesters has been frequent — witness the 2011 police killing of schoolteacher Andries Tatane during a protest calling attention to squalid conditions in townships. In post-apartheid South Africa, Marikana was not aberrant; it was just excessive.

More thoughts from readers on the Armstrong controversy:

I was in Paris in 2000 and 2004 and was on the Champs Elysees both times to watch the peloton come home on the final stage and see Lance win the Tour. (Hearing the Star Spangled Banner waft up the Champs was one of the cooler moments in my life.) I thoroughly enjoyed watching Lance all those years, particularly the crazy-filled 2003 Tour. I firmly believe Lance doped through all of those Tours. I also firmly believe that most of the people he beat were doping. And I just don't care.

That was the culture of cycling (and to some extent still is). But after all these years what still stands out is that Lance Armstrong was a bad-ass cyclist. For me, that's enough. I get why he continues to deny, but in my opinion that just shows the perils of building a too-good-to-be-true persona.

Another writes:

I've no idea if Lance Armstrong cheated, but it's very obvious that there is an out-of-control witch hunt culture at work when it comes to doping and drugs amongst athletes.

Whether it's snowboarders getting kicked out of the Olympics for smoking pot or baseball players getting dragged before Congress and charged with purjury, this is what happens when a myth of purity meets men with too much power.

We'll look back at the battle over PEDs in sports some day and laugh, since pretty much every aspect of human performance will soon be modified by our expotentially growing understanding of biochemistry. We already use our increased scientific knowledge of the body to make old records tumble. Whether you improve on the past through a strictly manipulated diet, scientifically programmed exercise routines, shoes designed by physics PhDs, or through ingesting a tablet, it will become a line so blurred as to be meaningless.

Right now we are in a moment of bio-chemical counter-enlightenment; the backlash that comes when new knowledge pours onto the scene. Armstrong might be the Giodano Bruno of biochemistry, or he might be a totally innocent man caught in an hysterical culture. Whether or not he swallowed a pill, he's still getting sent to the stake, and we'll still shake our heads some day.

Continued conversation at our Facebook page.

Today on the Dish, Andrew analyzed the personal character of both Romney and Ryan, hailed The Economist's editorial on Romney and missed Hitch's jokes. After hailing the corner-turning in the culture war, he then lamented the extremism of the Republican Party, and as the American Academy of Pediatrics endorsed circumcision, Andrew stood firm in his opposition.

Chris Matthews went to town on Reince Priebus and the GOP, Issac threatened and
Barone observed how counterintuitive convention bounces can be. Moore-style Republican "documentaries" arrived, Hanna Rosin defended the convention tradition, Daniel McCarthy pilloried the GOP for its "mercenary fusionism," and Romney's birther joke raised reader hackles. Meanwhile, as the GOP kept going with its baseless welfare attack, Obama's team released its Tampa onslaught. And the first class warfare ad aired in 1912.

Looking abroad, an Israeli rabbi called for obliteration of the Iranian regime, Gideon Rachmann unhooked himself, and New Zealand announced its withdrawal from Afghanistan. And as Max Fisher explicated the subversive elements of "Gangnam Style," a readers reflected on the excruciation of cataloguing child pornography.

While Anthony Lane eulogized Neil Armstrong, the blogosphere debated another Armstrong's decision. Yglesias grumbled about the "pinch to zoom" verdict, Adam Frucci argued that sexy women were indeed funny and Jesse Bering discussed gay adaptation. And as Garret Keizer explained why privacy is sacred, farters met with punishment in some cultures. Andrew highlighted a bear culture slide-show, readers called "sexism" in Dish sports coverage and car sickness affected women more. Meanwhile, David Brancaccio investigated why we don't share our salaries, Kal Raustiala and Chris Sprigman mulled marijuana branding and snug clothes helped with weight loss.  Cute Andrew picture and anniversary shout-out here, MHB here, Cool Ad Watch here and VFYW here. And don't forget to vote on Ask Hanna Rosin anything!

– G.G.

Anthony Lane eulogizes Neil Armstrong:

Nothing is more typical of Armstrong, or more estimable, than his decision not to go into politics; heaven knows what the blandishments, or the invitations, must have been. That is not to deprecate the service rendered by, say, John Glenn, but simply to remind ourselves that political ambition, like our other passions, is in the end a low sublunary affair; and that Armstrong, by dint of being the first man to tread not upon terra firma but upon the gray dust of terra incognita, rose above the fray and stayed there.

Likewise, Fallows observes:

What came afterward, in contrast to [Charles] Lindbergh's later years, was a life lived deliberately away from the limelight and with scrupulous attention to avoiding any controversy or indignity that might reflect upon the space program of which he'd played such a crucial part. He went back to Ohio and to academia; he avoided direct or indirect involvement in politics; he was careful about his business engagements; and he seemed always to be aware that he stood for more than himself. I saw people sheepishly ask him for autographs at the Wright Brothers centennial event. He politely declined — as he had for years, after he learned that they were being re-sold by scalpers.

I don't mean to idealize him; I don't know the details of his life well enough to speak with authority, and I'm sure that like everyone he had his contradictions. But the face and example he presented to the public seemed wholly admirable.

(Photo by Steven Duong)

Over the weekend the Obama campaign released a coming attraction for Romney's convention:

Obama's people also put out an ad quoting the AARP against Romney and Ryan's approach to Medicare (running in five states for unknown length of time):

Meanwhile, the Romney campaign put Craig Romney on the radio to tell Hispanic voters how George Romney was born in Mexico. They also played a little gotcha with a TV ad made from '08 footage of Obama attacking McCain on Medicare cuts with the same line of reasoning the Romney campaign is currently using on Obama (size and scope of ad unknown):

In miscellaneous web ads, the DNC displays its tin ear with "The Romney Bunch", the liberal Super PAC American Bridge makes fun of the Romney/Ryan bromance (which happens to be the theme of the current New Yorker cover), and MoveOn.org deploys another lame metaphor with this Tampa-only TV ad airing during the convention:

Elsewhere, the maker of Paul Ryan's P90X workout regimen is apparently advertising on Google around "Paul Ryan fitness" while Libertarian Gary Johnson is advertising his love for Ron Paul to coincide with the start of the convention (and the inevitable alienation of Paul supporters).

Ad War archive here.

A reader writes:

Yeah, this is an issue for police officers too. For a newspaper story I worked on, I had to talk to an investigator in our local PD's computer crimes department. Her job involved spending hours not just combing through child porn but also writing out descriptions of each image because the actual pictures or videos can't be shown at trial. As the mother of a young girl, she said it was understandably awful. Eventually she realized she needed to take a break from that specific work, and that she needed therapy – and fortunately, her superior agreed. According to her, it's an area where police departments are way behind: It's policy to recognize that officers need therapy after a traumatic event like a shooting, but they're still figuring out how to address an issue like this, where it's a constant stream of awfulness getting poured into your mind and soul. And some departments probably haven't even realized they have to address it at all. Ugh.

The world can be harsh on wind-breakers:

Consider the sad fate of Pu Sao of the Tikopia in Polynesia, who was so overcome with shame after farting in the presence of the chief that he committed suicide by climbing a palm tree and impaling himself through the rectum with a sharply pointed branch. Sanctions are less severe among the Chagga of Tanzania, but feminists have a lot of work to do there. If a husband breaks wind, the wife must pretend that it was really she who discharged, and she must submit to scolding about it. Failure to accept responsibility can cost the negligent wife three barrels of beer.

Yglesias is saddened that "Apple should have a legal monopoly on the pinch-to-zoom feature" and thinks it's a "great example of how the modern-day patent system has gone awry":

Think about cars and you'll see that, of course, lots of different companies make cars. But they all have some very similar user interface elements. In particular, there's a steering wheel that you turn left and right to shift the wheels and there's a gas pedal and breaks that you hit with your right foot. Imagine if the way the automobile industry worked was that each car maker had to devise a unique user interface. So maybe GM cars would have a steering wheel, but Toyotas would have a joystick, and Honda you would steer with your feel and use your hands to control the gas and breaks.

Jesus Diaz differs:

The truth is that Apple's win only kills the shit smartphones and the unimaginative copycats who poop them out of their design boards busting with carbon paper. The people at Google, Samsung and HTC who thought "oh fuck this, let's all do the same."

Alexis rounds up more reaction.