Even an anal-sex memoir could be a good book. If it was a good book.

i.e., never judge a book by its pucker

e.g. is eram a atrum quod tempestuosus uredo (it was a dark and stormy blight)

Posted at October 4, 2007 3:51 PM in response to Feminist Biographies and Tell-All Confessionals

Bentley's memoir Surrender, according to her website,

... is the story of a woman’s unusual path to sexual and spiritual discovery inspired by a powerful experience of what is perhaps the last remaining sexual taboo.

What taboo? Bentley:

Bliss, I learned from being sodomized, is an experience of eternity in a moment of real time ... The penetration is deeper, more profound; it rides the edge of sanity. The direct path . . . to God, has become clear, has been cleared.

Bentley "blissfully, "deeply," "profoundly" appreciates the "shameless", "dignified" godliness of male anal penetration -- "eternally," literally and "spiritually."

Thus, what Bentley "clearly" resents is Pollitt's heretical inability to appreciate the same.

Posted at October 3, 2007 11:59 PM in response to Humanizing Feminism: The radical notion that feminists are people

Are the bursting housing bubble, the credit crunch, and recent financial market turmoil having a negative impact on the job market?

The answer is an unequivocal “yes.” The fingerprints of these problems are all over today’s jobs report.

Unequivocally, "maybe."

August 2005
Total nonfarm payroll employment: 134.0 million
Civilian labor force: 149.8 million
Labor force participation rate: 66.2%
Discouraged workers: 384,000
Employment-population ratio: 62.9%
Total employment: 142.4 million

August 2006
Total nonfarm payroll employment: 135.5 million.
Civilian labor force: 151.7 million
Labor force participation rate: 66.2%
Discouraged workers: 448,000
Employment-population ratio: 63.1%
Total-employment: 144.6 million

August 2007
Total nonfarm payroll employment: 138.0 million
Civilian labor force: 152.9 million
Labor force participation rate: 65.8%***
Discouraged workers: 392,000
Employment-population ratio: 62.8%
Total employment: 145.8 million

*** BLS: "[Labor force participation] declines were largely due to a drop in labor force participation among teenagers; their
participation rate fell to 39.7 percent (see also teenagers employed: 16.1% Aug/2007; 16.2% Aug/2006; 16.5% Aug/2005).

Posted at September 7, 2007 11:56 AM in response to Job Growth Hits the Wall as Financial Turmoil Hits the Job Market

I spent 13 years teaching full-time in university settings. Since then, I have regularly visited campuses. I can say flatly that the intellectual openness and lack of orthodoxy at AEI exceeds what I have seen on any college campus -- and without faculty meetings. I have many pro-choice colleagues, along with a number of pro-life ones. There are many libertarians on issues like same-sex relationships. And, even though my writings have frequently ticked off conservative ideologues and business interests -- especially my deep involvement in campaign finance reform -- I have never once been told, "You can't say that" or "You better be careful."

Shorter: I am the balance in fair and balanced. I speak the truth to AEI nonpartisanship. I am the diss in AEI dissent. I'm hetero and I'm out -- to refute AEI orthodoxy. I am ... Alan Colmes. Hear me roar.

P.S. I also chair AIPAC panel discussions and cruise with AIPAC "leaders," bless my moderate, centrist, non-Likudist Heart.

Posted at August 31, 2007 4:09 PM in response to Norman Ornstein's AEI/Neocon Problem