I’ve decided to try a daily links blog, where I can and will go off-topic a
little bit, as well as throwing in a lot of those interesting things I run across
every day but never get around to writing about. We’ll see how long it lasts.
Files Patent Lawsuit Against Vonage: another abuse of the patent laws
on whether free newspaper websites cannibalize subscriptions
state-by-state map of house prices: CA is the biggest loser, HI is the biggest
gainer, and NY is still non-negative
As far as I can tell, the N-word is nothing but a way for white people to
be able to say nigger without feeling guilty and uncomfortable. Sorry, but
that’s exactly how white people should feel when they use a racial epithet.
It’s not the media’s job to let them off that hook.
Hyde: Lies, hysteria and contempt. Because we’re worth it
Take Dove, whose campaign for "real beauty" has won plaudits
from most corners. Its current ad is called Onslaught, and shows a young girl
being bombarded with mind-bendingly suggestive beauty industry imagery. Slogan:
"Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does".
Yet for every brand like Dove, there are 10 more like Fair & Lovely, which
sells whitening face creams to Indian women. Fair & Lovely’s packaging
depicts an unhappy dark-skinned woman changing into a happy light-skinned
woman. The New York Times recently pointed out that "it once focused
its advertising on the problems a dark-skinned woman might have finding romance
… The company’s ads now show lighter skin conferring a distinct advantage:
helping a woman land a job normally held by men … Their current ad is taglined
The Power of Beauty". Perhaps needless to say, both Fair & Lovely
and Dove are owned by Unilever.
On the other hand,