The Good

I don’t think I noted it when he said it, but George Bush made headlines when he said that the lowest moment of his presidency was when Kanye West said “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” Not the government’s, disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina, not the devastation Katrina victims experienced, but being called out in public for his incompetence — THAT was his lowest point. Kanye has since recanted, but Jay-Z rightfully says he shouldn’t have had to.

Here’s a great account of one woman’s sex ed (or lack thereof), and how we can explain sex better to kids, rather than keeping it hushed up and being surprised when young girls get pregnant and STI rates soar.

Tami Winfrey Harris has a wonderful piece that clarifies a point it seems far too many of us forget: freedom of speech is not equivalent to exemption from criticism. You can say what you like, but everyone else gets that right too. So if you’re selling reprehensible “antique” soaps that appeal to that lucrative racist market, don’t be surprised when people call bullshit, and don’t try to paint yourself the victim in this scenario.

Towson University and a few other colleges around the country succeeded in closing the graduation gap between blacks and whites, largely because they acknowledged there was a problem and that they could do something about it, unlike most colleges in the country, which shrug and say it can’t be helped (sadly, MSU is among the latter group).

The Bad

This is a chilling account of how one billionaire couple has bought up the rights to water in huge chunks of California and Fiji — and how the people who work on their farms are denied access to that very water. The Awl article is a good summary, but the longer Alternet article it’s based on is definitely worth a read as well. It is terrifying to me that this is possible in the year 2010, but I know it’s not uncommon.

I will never understand why a police department works so hard to frame someone for murder — don’t they want the actual killer caught just as much as the rest of us? And why do we still sanction state killing when this kind of thing is possible? (Via.)

Nope, saying everybody knows everybody’s position is not the same as saying, “This man is full of BS and we don’t agree with it here at the White House.” Guess which one of those things the press secretary is saying and which one he should be saying.

It would have been bad enough if this government employee had harangued Amber Yust while she was visiting the DMV, but the fact that he sent materials to her home address and gave her personal information to his church is a frightening breach of trust we put in public employees and a clear case of harassment. I agree with Melissa McEwan: why is he not fired or arrested?

The Silly

Should anyone be looking for a last-minute Christmas present for me, please feel free to make these fake covers a delightful reality! (Thanks to Oona for the link)