Sandwich Monday: A Spamwich For Women

Starting today in Japan, Burger King will offer a new sandwich with the slogan “What Women Want, Women Get.” What Women Want, apparently, is a tiny cheeseburger with Spam instead of burger. Burger King describes the sandwich as, enticingly, “suitable for women.” We made our own. Ian: Our slogan should be “What We Don’t Want, [...]

Mummies: ‘Visitors From The Past’ Who Can Help Solve Mysteries Today

What is it about mummies that fascinate so many people? “Mummies seem to have an intrigue,” says James Delay. They are “visitors from the past if you will. … They carry a mystery.” He should know. Delay, who spoke with All Things Considered host Michele Norris earlier today, is director of exhibition development with American [...]

Skeptics Question AT&T’s Logic In T-Mobile Deal

When AT&T officials announced plans to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion, they cited the so-called spectrum crunch as a big reason for the merger. AT&T says it needs more wireless spectrum to avoid dropped calls and to satisfy its customers’ growing hunger for data. Now government regulators are asking AT&T to back up those [...]

Marines Team Up With Afghan ‘Neighborhood Watch’

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is in Washington this week. He’s already met with President Obama, and the White House is debating how many troops to withdraw from Afghanistan. One factor in that decision: whether Afghans can take over the fight. An area of Afghanistan that was the scene of major [...]

Syrian Refugee Gives Vivid Description Of Torture

When Syria’s mukhabarat, the secret police, couldn’t get Abu Ali to tell them the names of the leading activists in his town of Jisr al-Shughour, the 43-year-old says they blindfolded him and tied his hands and feet to an apparatus on the floor. His interrogators told him he was about to take a trip on [...]

Thailand To Tattoo Tourists: Think Before You Ink

Many of Thailand’s tattoo tourists find their way to Bangkok’s Khao San Road, where tattoo parlors are nestled among the Internet cafes, noodle stalls and other backpacker hangouts. A visitor along this road might pick up a tattoo, along with some beads and dreadlocks, and perhaps even a nose ring. The Thais are famously welcoming [...]

Hundreds March Against Sexual Assault In ‘SlutWalk’

This spring and summer, scantily-clad women, and some men, are taking to the streets in what are called “SlutWalks.” They say they’re protesting a culture in which the victim of a sexual assault is blamed, rather than the perpetrator. Hundreds of women in skimpy outfits — plunging necklines and the shortest of shorts — disregarded [...]

‘Popular Crime,’ Where Good Writing Transcends Genre

Bill James has written a true-crime book, Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence, and you will probably enjoy it if 1) you’ve enjoyed James’s other work; 2) if you’ve never heard of James, but like the true-crime genre; or 3) if you’ve never heard of James and you have historically avoided the true-crime [...]

Presidential Pretenders Share Their Best Moments

This week’s Washington Post Magazine article “Political Faux” features two presidential impersonators: Larry Graves as Barack Obama and Bob Heck as Bill Clinton. Larry Graves is actually a teacher, and when recalling how he got into the impersonation gig, he says his students once chased him around the playground while shouting “Mr.President! Mr. President!” He [...]

When Running A Campaign, Don’t Use The Race Card

There’s a saying that you shouldn’t kick a person when he’s down. But my commentary today is about Anthony Weiner, so let’s just say I don’t think anybody will mind if I suspend that rule. Congressman Weiner, of course, is the lawmaker from New York, a rising progressive star mentioned as a possible future candidate [...]