She describes vagina as an "invisible word",

yet it's the visible one that's in need of reclamation

That's why the most memorable moment

of her show is when she gets

the inevitably largely female audience

to shout "cunt" at the top of their voices

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Keywords: genitalia, sex, vagina, taboo, cunt, women

Cowboys Kill the Baddies

If victory is redefined as eliminating individual personalities rather than defeating a complex network or ideology, the bitter pill of failure can not only be sweetened but also showcased as a sweetmeat for citizens' consumption.

This carefully crafted ruse of selling defeat as success begins with lionization of an al-Qaeda-affiliated leader through relentless coverage of his dreaded activities in the state-browbeaten media.

The next step is to keep releasing stories that a hunt is on for the high-value target and that US/North Atlantic Treaty Organization intelligence is closing in on the star figure.

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And yet there was something just a bit creepy about the mass messianism — "We are the ones we've been waiting for" — of the Super Tuesday speech and the recent turn of the Obama campaign.

"This time can be different because this campaign for the presidency of the United States of America is different. It's different not because of me. It's different because of you."

That is not just maddeningly vague but also disingenuous: the campaign is entirely about Obama and his ability to inspire.

Rather than focusing on any specific issue or cause — other than an amorphous desire for change — the message is becoming dangerously self-referential. The Obama campaign all too often is about how wonderful the Obama campaign is.   more »

The economic news has been fairly dire this week. The credit crunch is getting worse, and a widely watched indicator of trends in the service sector — which is most of the economy — has fallen off a cliff.

It’s still not a certainty that we’re headed into recession, but the odds are growing greater.

And if past experience is any guide, the troubles will persist for a long time — say, into the middle of 2010.

The problems now facing the U.S. economy look a lot like the problems that caused the last two recessions — but this time in combination.   more »

In the case of Hillary v. Obama, experience turns out to be most useful as a proxy for the vast sociological chasm between the two camps.

On the one hand, many of Hillary's most loyal supporters lack college degrees and toil away at low-skilled jobs.

Now if you happen to be a poorly educated worker who's nonetheless eking out a decent living, no prospect is more alarming than the thought of losing out one day because someone a little younger, a little flashier, leapt ahead of you in line.

There is a comforting order to the world you know. And that order demands that people pay their dues before getting promoted. The alternative is a bitter competition between you and your co-workers — and who knows how you'll fare in that? Solidarity is preferable to cut-throat competition.   more »