Friday evening roundup

Intolerance is not a victimless crime. See: Uganda.

Nostalgia for the good old days when snarky soundbites were backed by substance.

What can be said about culture?

I apologize for neither acknowledging, nor even realizing, the racial aspect of the Gabby Douglas hair debate when I blogged about it yesterday. It was an oversight, since it's an important element. But here's my question: as a white woman, am I still in a position to blog about how inane it is?

I'm not an authority on hair, much less black hair, so the above oversight doesn't undermine my credibility (if you're asking yourself, "what credibility," just roll with it for a minute). You've heard me question the credibility of writers who make incomprehensively ignorant statements (for example, Jennifer LaRue Huget advising her readers to ensure that half of their six servings of grains are refined). Well, Organic Gardening just joined the lost credibility crowd: they're advising their readers to make their hot dogs healthier by--wait for it--ditching the bun. Because that's the unhealthy thing about hot dogs. In later slides (slides, plural--not just one), they go on to dismiss potatoes. That's right, people: slim down by eating hot dogs and shirking potatoes. That kind of diet is just the brain food you'll need to one day write for Organic Gardening.

Read more about the environmental impact of meat here (actually, the entire Oxfam report is quite good) and watch a video about it here:

Apparently, most tattoos are not vegan.

Remember my post the other day about people assuming judgment from other people? See these comments where people insist that the letter writer's issue with a guest's diapers in her trash are a judgment on the guest's use of disposable diapers. I was once horrified when a friend changed a diaper on my coffee table. I was speechless--all I could do was let it go, and besides, she's not a frequent visitor so it wasn't a recurring issue (though, unsurprisingly, the last time she did visit, her now older kids were obnoxious and ill-behaved)--but I couldn't believe she thought it was totally normal. And it had nothing to do with the nature of the diaper.

Amy also has some advice for managing an overbearing mother-in-law.

Miss Manners has a wonderful column in the paper, but it's not online yet. Hopefully I'll be able to post it in the next few days.