• LeBron James: A Fan of the Subtle

    In the summer of 2010, Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James will be an unrestricted free agent. For the better part of two years, it has been speculated that James would bolt to the New York market and resuscitate the tragically inept Knicks franchise, one that seems to have done nothing other than clear cap space…

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  • Our Keith Bardwell Problem

    Ta-Nehisi Coates’ quote of the year comes from none other than Keith Bardwell, former Louisiana justice of the peace, who refused to marry interracial couples “I’m not a racist. I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way…” Yeah. That’s a fail. And at the risk of sounding like we’re excusing Bardwell’s absurd notions—which…

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  • President Obama's Letter to the CIA

    In the wake of the seven deaths at a CIA base in Afghanistan, President Obama has sent a letter to CIA employees To the men and women of the CIA: I write to mark a sad occasion in the history of the CIA and our country. Yesterday, seven Americans in Afghanistan gave their lives in…

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  • No Questions! No Questions!

    Sarah Palin is a scion of freedom and her Going Rogue book tour is fueled by liberty. This is a movement for the people. Except for people that might ask questions. Don’t believe it? Yesterday, TPM Media released Palin’s blogger non grata rider. And just in case you thought this was a game, just know…

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  • A Highly Opinionated Take on the Top 10 Movies of the Decade

    I’ve been a movie junkie all my life. Reruns of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Wizard of Oz and the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ruled my elementary school world. And I spent most of the ‘00s watching movies, reviewing them, writing about them, interviewing the folks in them and talking to the…

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  • So…Fox News Is…Real Reporting Now?

    It’s the last day of 2009 and Fox News is turning over a new leaf. They’re focusing on hard news and reporting and going away from the divisive drivel that has done little to further dialogue. Three cheers for progress! …Only problem here? They’re the same old same. As Jed Lewison of Daily Kos points…

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  • Skip Gates: The Movie!

    We’re all aware of what went down this summer in Cambridge. Drama. Intrigue. Handcuffs. Beer. Dr. Gates’ arrest has box office gold written all over it. But who would play the essential cast of characters in this mid-summer tour de force? The Daily Beast has been casting 2009: The Movie and in casting Skip Gates:…

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  • Seem Grimy, You'll Last Longer

    Charlie Sheen is a well-documented Hollywood bad boy cum highest-paid actor in television. When news broke of his alleged abuse of his wife over Christmas, people weren’t particularly surprised or outraged. In fact, paralleling his latest dust-up with the Tiger Woods scandal, which is reasonable, though imperfect in relation. Tiger’s in trouble because he couldn’t…

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  • "The Nigerian Lawyered Up"

    Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab has retained legal representation after failing to blow up flight 253 and The Weekly Standard’s Michael Goldfarb is outdone It sounds like he was singing when they first got him, and of course we now know that the government already had enough information on him to justify sending a Blackwater hit team…

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  • The Root Interview: Claude Steele on How Racial Stereotypes Harm Performance

    Henry Louis Gates Jr. talks to Columbia Provost and Professor of Psychology Claude Steele about de-fanging the “stereotype threat,” changing white colleagues’ attitudes and “hypnotizing” black people. Video provided by the Du Bois Review. The full interview can be seen on the site of the Du Bois Institute.

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