The Holocene Mass Exinction Event

ta-nehesi coates writes a post called "Why 'Accidental Racist' is Actually Just Racist", which we all know is some kind of irresistible siren song to a certain type of commenter. you know the kind. you've back-clicked from their "arguments" on countless news sites, you've had that extra rum-infused eggnog at thanksgiving to stop yourself from strangling them, etc. the great thing about TNC is he moderates the hell out of his online space, which means actual conversation can happen there. and when those inevitable, inescapable commenters appear, they, for once, don't get coddled. they get, very politely, very articulately, and very definitively taken down.


I have not in fact called him racist. I have called the song racist. You may say that something I have said is stupid or ignorant or mean. You have not, in fact, called me a stupid person or an ignorant person or a mean person.

I strongly suspect that you know this. I do not care what is preferable. I do not write to rescue you from your own need to take offense. I will not make this easy for you. I will not address you as though you do not know the difference between describing what you are doing and what you are.

I will not write for "many white people." Tell them to read a book. This ain't built for them.


it's glorious.

Here is a poem I wrote about the recent discovery of soft tissue in a Tyrannosaurus rex fossil:

soft science/
hunk sandstone forced break solid fossilized bone rock lab chemically hard cold lab bone dead minerals bone fossilization fossils fossil fossils sandstone excavated fossil cracked cracking bones cut bone cut
hard science/
yielded soft tissue blood vessels cells blood vessels bone cells blood cells transparent flexible vessels flexible squeezed cells flexibility transparency soft tissue soft tissues warm living blood vessels blood vessels yielded flexible fibers cells soft tissue wrapping soft tissue soft tissue



And here is a link to the article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7285683