This Ann Coulter article really pissed me off. She criticizes how people around the country are gushing because Nancy Pelosi will be the first woman speaker of the house. Her main point is that we should be past these politically correct milestones. Her secondary point, which is to show how ridiculous all the uproar is, demonstrates that Bush has appointed the most diverse cabinet ever. She calls it the Benetton-ad presidency. *eyeroll* Now what exactly angers me about this article is hard to articulate, so that’s why I’m blogging about it. For me, it goes back to Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas politics. Clarence Thomas was appointedRead More →

Women can see variations on red better than man can, according to this CNN bit, because women have double hits of a red-seeing gene. People are too casual about the outcome of genetics. The article reports this red-seeing gene as a fait accompli, and never once questions the causal, teleological relationship between a gene and its manifestation or itsexpression. The article even goes so far as to attribute this gene’s presence to CAVEWOMAN days when women foraged for berries. What should we call these trivial assumptions. I find I cannot ignore them. They are like crackerjacks. I hate crackerjacks. I hate peanuts. I like theRead More →

The Quiet American. deserves the high rating from Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was good: it was disturbing, haunting, and difficult to watch. The movie effortlessly metonymizes Vietnam with the woman character, Phuong, who is the object of both Michael Caine’s and Brenden Fraser’s attention. The best review is from Kamera.com in the UK. They like the film because it pushes us away from the tired “Miramax orientalism.” Excellent phrase! Nobody seems to be talking about what it means to turn Vietnam into a mistress or prostitute in that movie. That’s probably due to our “me so horny, me love you long time” consciousness. Given ourRead More →