Saturday morning roundup and response to comment teaser

Amid the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, outrage and dilemmas persist in Japan.

Can social media fight Egypt's epidemic of police brutality?

Nixon loyalists in denial about the wrongness of Watergate are challenging the National Archives' representation of it.

Those nooks and crannies might be the next test for Wikileaks, and a less damaging one, at that. Who knew that Hostess was so scheming. I guess there's only so many Twinkies you can sell without resorting to corporate espionage to broaden your horizons.

This is a really dumb article on the "new" youth bulge in the federal workforce.

Alexandria lost so many old trees in the recent storm because so many of our trees are very old. I saw one or two, or twenty, on my ride home, just removed from the trail.

Some of these people's complaints about their dining companions bother me. What's so picky about asking for dressing on the side? I told you about how my overpriced shredded cabbage salad at Founding Farmers was barely edible because it was overdrenched in dressing (which, incidentally, I'd requested on the side). I'm all for people paying more attention to what they eat. On that note, it turns out most people do read nutrition labels.

It also turns out that women by sexier clothes when ovulating. Here are some other interesting social biology tidbits.

I wasn't sure where Alexandra Petri was going, but I appreciate her point: a wedding is a big deal:

This day is big not because Bill doesn’t expect his daughter to lead a fulfilling and exciting life -- but because it marks a special occasion that is qualitatively different from a professional milestone like being elected president, the kind that stands out even in a rich life. It is a celebration of finding the proverbial needle of love and commitment in the haystack of the singles scene.

Which brings me to the romcom issue, the full reply to which is still developing. There are two issues there: the one invoked in the original column, which is that people care less about language, dialogue, etc.; and the one about the sad state of romance bringing down the art form that was the quality rom com. I do agree that they're no longer gender-neutral: even some not-bad ones that I watched at the behest of a male friend ("The Two Ninas," "The Tao of Steve,") were clearly, obviously guy movies. More later.