Sunday morning roundup

Karaoke is apparently a blood sport in the Philippines--one that creates a niche market for gay men, to boot.

Amy Wilentz writes that the aftermath of the earthquake shows how far Haiti's come since Baby Doc fled twenty-four years today.

This coming Thursday marks another meaningful anniversary for freedom. I recommend you read all the brief (and very poignant) statements linked in that article, but I'll single out this especially articulate, compelling piece. I have to ask out loud, as much as part of me wants to keep out the snark, how the Tea Partiers fancy themselves freedom fighters.

More locally, the storm has screwed with just about everyone.

Oh, Lori Gottlieb. I understand the point you're trying to make, and I *still* disagree with you, kind of. I mean, I agree with what I think you mean, i.e. it would behoove women, and men--because everything you say applies to men as well (they can get lonely, crave companionship, and reject women who don't look 'perfect')--to redefine their idea of Mr. or Ms. Right. But I think all too often women make the opposite mistake, too, and you're dwelling on women being too picky--because you've been too picky--but the grass is always greener, and single women like you can write about how you wish you'd "settled" but you'll find few married women--among those miserable in their marriages--admitting that they wished they'd thought more carefully about whom they'd chosen to share a life with. At least we do have women who divorce, like Jenny Sanford, to offer that perspective. But wait, apparently, you don't think this settling stuff applies to men. Sorry, I think you're full of $hit (well, I can only speak for myself, and I would rather be single).

Here's where I do agree with her: we should be to decouple, in our discourse, loneliness from desperation (and from gender). Friends have reported feeling guilty, from an independent woman perspective, for wanting to be in a relationship. There's nothing anti-feminist about wanting companionship (like I said, men do it, too), just like there's nothing anti-feminist about being mindful about what you eat. No one should get slammed for having a full life and yet acknowledging that it might be more fulfilling with a partner (see Sonya Sotomayor). And here's where I'll reiterate what I said in the previous paragraph: it won't be more fulfilling with just any partner. Yes, by all means, let go of the Adonis thing, but stick to your standards, if they're reasonable, for character, and never, ever compromise those because you'll end up just as lonely except with a huge, hard-to-get-rid-of burden in your life in the form of another person.