@BeRy51: College-level play is different than professional play in most sports, and people still watch both, appreciating it for what it is (because when it comes down to it, its entertaining as hell to watch teams, who devote themselves to training and being premier athletes, compete against one another). Read more

@emfish55: this style of parenting places enormous pressure on parents within a community to live up to a very high standard of involvement. Read more

@Sleuthy Sleuthstein: I think you're right, but the Time article used "mammone" for both singular and plural, so I went with their convention. I'm not sure if a gender joke (as thoughtthinker alleges) is being made here or not. #overprotectiveparents Read more

@msAnthrope: i also don't agree that "home is where they have to take you in." i think there are plenty of kids with no direction or ambition who would love to drop anchor back at home and never move out, because they "just can't find a job in this economy," etc. Read more

@kontrolle: My mom pointed me to Finca International ([www.villagebanking.org]) but I've heard good things about Kiva too. #rhodajanzen Read more

@Island of Misfit Toys: See, I think Self wants us to think it's in a whole different category from Vogue or Cosmo — and it does have some different content. But the focus on a thin body is the same. As much as they talk about health and self-esteem, a lot of it is about slimming this or that or trimming calories… Read more

@lilbobbytables is a la-di-da feminist: Allie says she doesn't want prostitution legalized, because it would drive down her wages. But people frequently argue that legalization would make life safer for street prostitutes (like LaSheena). Just another way their interests are opposed. #prostitution Read more

@wealhtheow: There's a specific review in the New York Review of Science Fiction that he was referring to, which I wasn't able to find on their site. It sounded like the review said he was misusing the scifi references in some way, or didn't know enough about scifi to talk about it. I'll look again for the link… Read more

@HeatherNumber1: I don't know — I like books more than movies, TV, or videogames, in general, but I'm not sure they're actually any less passive. Videogames require actual physical interaction, for instance, and I think can improve some types of coordination and cognition. I do think that Diaz's point about… Read more

@K.H.: I think maybe they have psychological problems, perhaps related to captivity. How else to explain my brother's crab's Dahmer routine? #hillary Read more

@LaMorenita: I was one of those people who called Letterman's behavior an "abuse of power," but I now sort of regret that word choice because it does imply coercion, and there's no evidence that went on. What did go on was a situation that was potentially "kinda shitty for everyone else," and you're absolutely right,… Read more

@bluebears: It didn't seem that way from Larry King — the dad said the Ft. Collins schools were out of session yesterday, implying that the kids attend them. #balloonboy Read more

@HarpMadness: I can actually tell when I'm having a good self-esteem day by how I respond to other women. If I look at a woman and think, "Damn! That's a hot woman! What a pleasure to look at her," then I know I'm feeling good. If I think, "I will never look like that," I know it's a bad day. #selfesteemandmodels Read more

@lalie (apologetic mess): I think that is my layperson's knowledge of anthroplogy talking, not his. That is, the comparison is all his, the word "ancestors" is mine. Read more

@frozengrapes: Yeah, while I get what people are saying who just want her to go away, I think she is a great representative of how totally ridiculous the birther "movement" is. Read more

@SarahMC: Thanks for this — I was struggling a little with the wording here, and I realize "acquitted" makes it sound like she went to trial. I'll go in and fix! Read more

@cate3710: I'm not surprised that SSRI's help in some cases — I think sometimes they can actually mess with the neurological pathways that lead to arousal, not just mental desire and/or sex drive. Apparently the BoingBoing writer is not on them, but they helped some women in the MSNBC article. Read more

@samplesize: Yeah, there's a weird veiled suggestion that she even made the roofie up. Read more

@Sev: I have also walked to an ER in a city far from home, where I didn't really know anyone, and it is kinda good for your self-esteem to know you can do this. Self-reliance is good, but as you say, shitty friends are still shitty. Read more

@veronykah: Battlefield images, too, are gruesome, but not everyone who is anti-abortion is a pacifist. The argument usually goes that casualties in war are necessary, whereas abortion is not — and this very idea that it's unnecessary is kind of where pro- and anti-choicers inevitably part company. Read more