Founded 1983: Liberal Mindset; Conservative Morality

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January 14, 2014January 14, 2014

Superman, Batman and Spider-Man: How Murdering Loss Creates Comic Book Character

Over the holiday break, I decided to watch the newest Superman movie and I was certainly disappointed in the silly story, the rebooting of the franchise, and the awful acting of the lead character. Superman should be wily, and funny, and tough. He never preens.

It’s always boring when movie production houses feel they have to re-start a story that’s been never-endingly told for generations. We pretty much know the backstory of Superman and we don’t need to re-live, over and over again, every 10 years or so, just how the star child becomes the Superman on earth.

In my short life, I think I’ve lived through at least a dozen iterations of Superman in film and on television and I would be perfectly fine to have a new Superman just appear in media res. We get it he’s special and Superhuman, so just drop him in and let the story start with no explanation necessary!

Continue reading → Superman, Batman and Spider-Man: How Murdering Loss Creates Comic Book Character

May 22, 2013

When Anti-Infant Immunizations Become Childhood Onset Diseases

On February 17, 2012 I wrote an article — When Doctors Fire Patients — that dealt with, among other things, the anti-vaccination efforts of some people — led by debunked semi-celebrity Jenny McCarthy — who believe childhood immunizations cause Autism even though there is, and has never been, any empirical medical proof for that claim. When pressed for scientific evidence, the anti-vaccine believers simply talk about “mother’s intuition” and other nonsense that not only puts their non-immunized children at risk for disease, but the rest of society at risk as well as these unprotected children become certain carriers of diseases that should have been eradicated from the face of the earth.

Continue reading → When Anti-Infant Immunizations Become Childhood Onset Diseases

December 2, 2010

Precocious Puberty and the Age of Sexualization

In Gordon Davidescu’s excellent article — Tznuis and the National Football League — we shared a fascinating conversation in the comments stream about Jewish law and children and the age of sexualization of the female body.

Continue reading → Precocious Puberty and the Age of Sexualization

August 19, 2009

From Boy Box to Plastic Man

There is something viscerally pleasing when your fingers have to dig in to the corners of a candy box to lift the flaps to reveal a hidden taste from the void. Unfortunately, the boxed candy of my childhood has been replaced with the convenience of — and the impossibility of tearing open — a plastic bag.