Who says that texting and the internets have rendered the youth of today inarticulate and dumbed-down? Fie, I say! 'Tis not true. Why, just look at the case of Emma Sullivan in Kansas:
Shawnee Mission East teen Emma Sullivan insulted Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback over Twitter while on a school field trip to the state capitol last week.
"Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot," she wrote to her 60 followers who tuned in to her sporadic updates about the Twilight films and Justin Bieber. In fact, Sullivan hadn't said a word to the governor during his brief speech, and she now says the Twitter comment was just an "inside joke" among her high school friends who were also on the Youth in Government field trip and disagreed with Brownback's politics.
Mind you, when I had my column at the Star (and when I occasionally publish freelance pieces there) I frequently got emails telling me I sucked. Of course, this is the Star we're talking about, so I also got called a "Jew-lover," a "Zionist" (can't really see why either of those constitute an insult) and the ever-popular "bitch."
I had never seen this movie before last night, when the boyfriend (it's one of his favourites) and I watched it -- it's terrific. James Cagney found making it so stressful that he didn't make another for twenty years, though! Here's a snippet from early in the picture -- Cagney and his German assistant are a scream together:
Unbelievable that this passed vetting -- who allowed it to go up in the first place? Or maybe the question is, who did the vetting?
A billboard for Wodka vodka in NYC has been taken down and destroyed after complaints that the advertisement's message is anti-Semitic. The New York Times reported that the billboard featured a long-haired dog wearing a yarmulke and another dog wearing a Santa hat with the words, "Christmas quality, Hanukkah pricing," alongside the photo.
The backlash against the billboard was nearly instantaneous.
I so wish this had not happened. I am not the most ardent fan of Michelle Obama, but I would not boo her, particularly when she was attending an event meant to support military families. It would be one thing if she were saying something political, but she was being innocuous.
Jill Biden -- or rather, "Dr. Biden" -- on the other hand, I might boo, if only because people with PhDs who insist on being called "Doctor" are eminently boo-able. If you can't write a prescription, you should never insist on being called "Doctor."
Attended the Munk Debate on the North American economy on Monday -- loads of fun, if you enjoy bleak forecasts. Seriously, though, it was a panel of heavyweights. My favourite was Ian Bremmer for his showmanship, his energy and his sartorial splendour (his socks rocked). I think Larry Summers was the brightest, though.
A good write-up here and another here -- though the latter is lacking in that if fails to mention me, my friend Gerry Nicholls and my beautiful niece, Bonnie (who came with me), as being among the celebs in the audience. (It also mentions my boyfriend's resemblance, in some ways, to Woody Allen, though it fails to mention that he is, like, a million times sexier than Allen.)
Oh, and Paul Krugman shares his thoughts here. I see his point about his name: professionals should be able to say someone's name correctly, especially when it isn't exactly complicated. But I don't know that I would publically kvetch about it. It seems a bit small of him.
