As in, it takes testicles the size of peanuts to murder a man who is peacefully communing with nature, with his eyes closed.

"Hanging's too good for him. Burning's too good for him! He should be torn into little bitsy pieces and buried alive!!"

Bellamy’s consummate lack of respect for the sanctity of life is what outraged me about this entire tragedy in the first place.

Big difference between the killer's life and victim's.

I'd point out that the demographic aspects of this incident are a lot more common than the demographics of the much feared "hate crime"...but I guess that'd be impolite.

i think what happened is terrible but this is still america. let the court find him guilty before we all jump on the capital punishment bandwagon. innocent until proven guilty... being brown in this country, we need to sustain this principle for our rights and freedoms so let's not cast it aside when one of our own is a victim of this horrendous crime.

very well put, absolutgcs. i guess it's not clear from my rather emotional post, but i agree..that's why i bolded the "if".

:+:

gc, i knew you were going to write that. :)

this world has gone fricking bonkers.. i tell ya..it's a scary world...

It's funny how African Americans have the gaul to keep complaining about how they're marginalized and how they're all victims of "the man" and then are consistently found at crimescenes and drugbusts, which in no way reverses the stereotype.

you know, i almost didn't put up his picture, b/c i was worried that this might happen. this isn't about race, it's about the untimely death of someone gentle, who deserved to end his meditation on his own terms, vs at the behest of a bullet. i don't know akhil, but he seemed like a good, enlightened soul. i'd hope that we could pay tribute to such a life by being respectful and kind, but it's up to you guys to decide if that's what you'd like to do with this thread.

wtf?
Sandeep A. More like Sandeep Gay. Your post was just way too stupid, so I decided to write down to your level.

I'd point out that the demographic aspects of this incident are a lot more common than the demographics of the much feared "hate crime"...but I guess that'd be impolite.

What?!? No links to the gnxp page with all the statistics?

It's funny how African Americans have the gaul to keep complaining about how they're marginalized

It's gall, not gaul.

and how they're all victims of "the man" and then are consistently found at crimescenes and drugbusts, which in no way reverses the stereotype.

What's consistently found is that high profile crimes are often more highlighted then others by the media. Death rules the ratings and really gruesome deaths rule even more. I dare you to find any stats proving otherwise. Besides being the "victim of the man" has more to do with socio-economic policies more than anything else, but I wouldn't want you to strain the grey matter too much about it;

Aww how cute, I've started up a storm. Sorry, my extreme hate for rap music brought that out. It's not that I'm racist you oversensitive liberal pricks; I just observe certain behaviour among certain groups of people these days...sort of like how browns kept screaming "racial profiling" anytime they get checked at a transit, airport etc.

Watanabe,
F--k you. As they say here: put up or shut up.

Sluggo,
Sorry for the grammar error; I had an Asterix book next to me when I typed that. And you're right. The majority of serial killers tend to be white middle class men and I am familiar with the histories of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr and I have read Roots. In fact, I listen to jazz quite often. However, what specific socio-economic policies are you talking about? If you're going to try and say that you agree with the African Americans who say Al Sharpton dosen't get elected ONLY because he's black, I find no reason to take that seriously. However, please elborate on your point.

this isn't about race

Sorry, Anna, but it is. Blacks commit murders at very high rates. We can't make simple statement of that fact taboo. When it can be voiced without people screaming at you for voicing it, then I'll agree that it's "not about race". Till then we are pursuing suboptimal policing procedures simply because people will scream at truth tellers like Sandeep. Case in point:

Sandeep A. More like Sandeep Gay. Your post was just way too stupid, so I decided to write down to your level.

Watanabe, you really are a joke. Don't you realize that criticizing someone's ostensible "racism" with a slur others would construe as homophobic is an own-goal?

No links to the gnxp page with all the statistics?

Ah, Sluggo. Of course, anecdote should be privileged over data, right? Preferably if it's brainless but emotionally delivered mush about the children...or about how blacks in the US are more victims than victimizers.

The majority of serial killers tend to be white middle class men

Sandeep -- this is true, but only because blacks are not as overrepresented in this category than they are in the class of general murderers. Source:

According to experts such as Dr. Scott Thornsley, an assistant professor of criminal justice administration at Mansfield University in Pennsylvania, at least two studies show that the percentage of America’s serial killers that are African-American is between 13 and 16 percent, compared to our 12 percent black population. Nothing consoling there.

more:

If the victims were predominantly white, authorities assume the killer is too, since most homicides are same-race. About 70 percent of all serial killers are white and 95 percent are males. This method was used in both cases.

As less than 70% of the US is white, this means whites are probably underrepresented among serial killers -- as they are among murderers in general. (Asian Ams are underrepresented in both categories, of course).

What's consistently found is that high profile crimes are often more highlighted then others by the media. Death rules the ratings and really gruesome deaths rule even more.

I think this quote is apropos:

Chris Rock: "Why you gotta say that? It ain't us, it's the media. The media has distorted our image to make us look bad. Why must you come down on us like that brother?" Please cut the fuckin' shit, ok. When I go to the money machine tonight, I ain't lookin' over my back for the media. I'm lookin' for ni*****! Ted Koppel ain't never took shit from me.

I dare you to find any stats proving otherwise.

I thought you didn't like statistics? In any case, all the stats you need to see that blacks are heavily overrepresented in virtually every category of violent crime come from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports and the US Census. All you need to do is divide. For example, divide the fraction of FBI-reported murderers who are black vs. the Census-reported fraction in the general population, and compare that to the corresponding ratio for whites**.

I leave the result as an exercise for the reader. Hint: the black/white murder rate ratio is comparable to the male/female ratio. But I suppose next we'll have Sluggo demanding -- no, *daring* -- someone to prove that males are more violent than females...

** You can do the same in every other country with a significant black population and reliable statistics. Unsurprisingly, the UK, Brazil, South Africa, and the US all seem to have problems with black crime...even though the first country on that list had voluntary immigrants, the second had long term intermarriage, and the third has a black majority -- all factors which have been invoked as ad-hoc explanations for the state of the fourth.

gc,

to me, it's NOT about racism-- i wrote this post to keep our readers updated about a disturbing murder. i'm not screaming at you for voicing it--i never wanted to instigate a race debate on a comment thread that akhil chopra's friends or fam might one day stumble on...i think i would feel the same level of outrage if the suspect in custody was white. or pink. i'm serious. murderers don't suck less if they're paler.

i sometimes agree with you, my godless friend (shocking! simmer down now, y'all.) but this time, i really don't. i never wanted the focus to be on bellamy-- it's bad enough that he might be behind this heinous crime, he doesn't deserve SM airtime b/c of it. :( i'm not coming at this from an academic perspective; i'm telling you what was going on inside me as i wrote this post.

i sometimes agree with you, my godless friend (shocking! simmer down now, y'all.) but this time, i really don't.

Anna, that's fine. My beef is not with people (like yourself) who will acknowledge these truths yet consider them impolite/unnecessary to mention at an awkward time for Chopra's family.

No, my beef is with guys like Sluggo and watanabe who will scream, yell, and lie about the relevant statistics when guys like Sandeep bring them up. The numbers *do* matter, and one cannot remain silent in the presence of *lies*...lies which have real costs in the form of depoliced neighborhoods and free-roaming thugs.

i think i would feel the same level of outrage if the suspect in custody was white.

Of course! I think, though, that you are an exception here. Huge amounts of attention are devoted to the statistically miniscule number of "hate crimes" committed by whites against browns...because that's "man bites dog" in its infrequency. The far larger number of taxicab killings, convenience store slayings, and (now) mid-meditation murders which are committed by the supposed "crushed of the earth" do not receive anywhere near as much attention.

Put another way, one group will give you far fewer occasions to feel outrage than the other.

gc
tripe - the correlation computation is suspect because to me "black" suggests genotype although "black" in the societal sense is the phenotype - the study you are citing is american and the sample you've drawn is not representative of the world at large - all things considered, correlation does not imply causality... it's a crappy argument
That being said... this chatter is an abomination to the memory of the victim - so lay off the trolling, hear?

Aww how cute, I've started up a storm.

Wheee!

Sorry, my extreme hate for rap music brought that out. It's not that I'm racist you oversensitive liberal pricks;

I think you had some cognitive dissonance there Sandeep, i.e. Liberals = Sensitivity.

I just observe certain behaviour among certain groups of people these days...sort of like how browns kept screaming "racial profiling" anytime they get checked at a transit, airport etc.

Maybe not racist but quite prejudiced. I guess your right though, your obversing proves your original statement. So it's not profiling? Aren't they supposed to be using profiling to determine the potential backgrounds of terrorist? Although I think they should believe that anyone is a potential terrorist and treat it in that manner, however they don't do they? See I can observe too.

Sorry for the grammar error; I had an Asterix book next to me when I typed that. And you're right. The majority of serial killers tend to be white middle class men and I am familiar with the histories of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr and I have read Roots. In fact, I listen to jazz quite often. However, what specific socio-economic policies are you talking about? If you're going to try and say that you agree with the African Americans who say Al Sharpton dosen't get elected ONLY because he's black, I find no reason to take that seriously. However, please elborate on your point.

So your familiarity with Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Roots (LoL), and listen to jazz music as source for all knowledge about black social/political/economic/music information? What about:

• Jim Crow a huge part of the institutionalized racism in America towards black people for over 100 years. And no it wasn't just in the south. People would like to believe that it magically disappeared in the 70s, but not really. And before anyone else's gets in a huff Jews and Irish were treated in a similar fashion for a while, but not to the same degree.


• Ghettos created from segregation laws.

Sorry, Anna, but it is. Blacks commit murders at very high rates. We can't make simple statement of that fact taboo. When it can be voiced without people screaming at you for voicing it, then I'll agree that it's "not about race". Till then we are pursuing suboptimal policing procedures simply because people will scream at truth tellers like Sandeep.

Sure Blacks commit murders, so do Whites, as well as Browns..the truth is that you believe that only blacks are capable of commiting murders because they are genetically predisposed towards such behavior, and that makes you a "racist".

Ah, Sluggo. Of course, anecdote should be privileged over data, right? Preferably if it's brainless but emotionally delivered mush about the children...or about how blacks in the US are more victims than victimizers

Aww shucks, but I so liked that special page you had devoted to just such discussions. *sigh* I miss it so much. But then again statistics can be manipulated to how you would want to represent, and as dhaavak pointed out correlation doesn't equate to casuality. Nothing like the smell of hypocrisy. It's curious though you never did reply to that emotional post..those elite cognitive powers starting to fail?

Of course your next post illustrated that twisting of statistics.

Sandeep -- this is true, but only because blacks are not as overrepresented in this category than they are in the class of general murderers......As less than 70% of the US is white, this means whites are probably underrepresented among serial killers -- as they are among murderers in general. (Asian Ams are underrepresented in both categories, of course).

What?!? Not all white people are serial killers?

/sarcasm on
Gee, a Chris Rock quote, like you haven't used that before? And, wow, you never stopped from showing racial slurs before ...how strange.
/sarcasm off

Let's go to the rest of that

There's like a civil war goin' on with black people. And there's two sides; there's black people and there's n****. And n**** have got to go. Everytime black people wanna have a good time, ignorant ass n**** fuck it up. Can't do shit without some ignorant ass n**** fuckin' it up. Can't keep a disco open more than three weeks. Grand opening--grand closing! Can't go to a movie the first week it come out. Why? 'Cause n**** are shootin' at the screen.

So certain amount of people in one race equates them all to be predisposed to this behavior? Generally isn't there people like this every racial group?

I thought you didn't like statistics?

Sure, I like stats, but of course stats can be used to twist a lot things.

In any case, all the stats you need to see that blacks are heavily overrepresented in virtually every category of violent crime come from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports and the US Census. All you need to do is divide. For example, divide the fraction of FBI-reported murderers who are black vs. the Census-reported fraction in the general population, and compare that to the corresponding ratio for whites**.

Since you obviously had nothing to show, you just threw some pages out there;

I leave the result as an exercise for the reader. Hint: the black/white murder rate ratio is comparable to the male/female ratio. But I suppose next we'll have Sluggo demanding -- no, *daring* -- someone to prove that males are more violent than females...

Wow, you used to have all this data at your fingertips, what happened? Just can't really back up it any longer? I guess I'm going to have to assume what your talking about. I used table 43 of the FBI document that already shows the information in relation to population, and it's obivious you didn't even really look at it;

First Number White, Second Black.

Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter 48.9 48.1
Forcible rape 64.1 33.4
Robbery 35.2 62.8
Aggravated assault 59.3 38.3
Burglary 71.4 26.1
Larceny-theft 69.8 26.7
Motor vehicle theft 56.1 40.3
Arson 81.3 16.9
Other assaults 61.4 36.3

If we were following your logic then, except for Robbery, white people genetically are predisposed towards more violent crime.

If we were following your logic then, except for Robbery, white people genetically are predisposed towards more violent crime.

huh, you're joking right?

i sometimes agree with you, my godless friend (shocking! simmer down now, y'all.) but this time, i really don't. i never wanted the focus to be on bellamy-- it's bad enough that he might be behind this heinous crime, he doesn't deserve SM airtime b/c of it. :( i'm not coming at this from an academic perspective; i'm telling you what was going on inside me as i wrote this post.

Anna, I understood that. In fact this person (or persons) have not even beent tried and convicted yet. But that doesn't stop a racist like GC.

Anna, that's fine. My beef is not with people (like yourself) who will acknowledge these truths yet consider them impolite/unnecessary to mention at an awkward time for Chopra's family.

Dude, Anna didn't say anything like that..your the one that went off about black people.

No, my beef is with guys like Sluggo and watanabe who will scream, yell, and lie about the relevant statistics when guys like Sandeep bring them up. The numbers *do* matter, and one cannot remain silent in the presence of *lies*...lies which have real costs in the form of depoliced neighborhoods and free-roaming thugs.

1) I didn't lie about any statistics. I asked you for the that special page you kept around for these kinds of posts, but it has mysteriously disappereard from gnxp much like your ballyhood biography.
2) I agree *one* can't stay silent to lies. What I've noticed over the past year, is that you will savage anyone with ad hominen attacks and name calling, at the same crying for rational discussion.

i think i would feel the same level of outrage if the suspect in custody was white.

Of course! I think, though, that you are an exception here. Huge amounts of attention are devoted to the statistically miniscule number of "hate crimes" committed by whites against browns...because that's "man bites dog" in its infrequency. The far larger number of taxicab killings, convenience store slayings, and (now) mid-meditation murders which are committed by the supposed "crushed of the earth" do not receive anywhere near as much attention.

Put another way, one group will give you far fewer occasions to feel outrage than the other.

You are a consistent and constant liar, not to mention a cowardly hypocrite. You have never espoused this viewpoint in any post referring to white individuals. Especially not on Sepia Mutiny.

I just observe certain behaviour among certain groups of people these days

I reread this and it made me remember a play by Euripides called the Trojan Women. Like the wiki entry says it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean island of Melos by the Athenians earlier in 415 BC (see Milos), the same year the play premiered. But more than that it's a commentary on the nature of man and war. That no matter what both the victim and victor both eventually lose. The above statement is something I regard as the constant problem with humanity - "self absorption". People have been treating each other like crap for centuries, but no matter what it's always "these days" because it's all relative. Human beings are going to continue to keep doing bad things to each other -- this is not NEW. Stop saying such stupid phrases.

huh, you're joking right?

About what? From the very first posts, this has been crux of GC's argument in terms of other races, especially when it has to do with similar posts.

All ye brutha lovers answer a simple question: Where you would you buy a house for your family (consisting of yourself, missus, and 2 juniors) - in an all white neighborhood or an all-black one? You HAVE to choose one of the above options instead of taking some soft middle ground. Why are the unsafest part of cities black dominated. Before you spew all your "socio-economic" crap think why poor whites dont take to crime as much as the blacks?
Sad that you have to be PC all the time. We need more Vincente Foxes.

sluggo, it's obviously fine for you to disagree with GC's posts, but come on. frequency matters. arguing that those numbers show that whites have a genetic predisposition to crime is like saying that india has south africa's HIV problem because the absolute numbers might be similar.

argue with GC all you want, but why dangle such low hanging fruit? he was clearly making an expectations based argument.

Here's a link to another Houston story about a brown man accused of killing a 2 year old black girl over a broken window.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/4769576/detail.html

Interesting discussion, and as Anna has commented, it's unfortunate that it's going in an entirely different direction from the one which she had originally intended.

However, while we're on the topic of "groups of people apparently predisposed to certain types of behaviour", let's think about this example:

Since Indian independence, there have been at least 4 major instances of mass riotings and lynchings between people of different religious affiliations ('47, '84, Bombay in the early 90s, and the recent events in Gujarat). Extrapolating this, there have been no mass, mob-related riots against Muslims (or South Asians in general) either in the US, Canada, or here in the UK, after the events of 9/11 and of course the recent London bombings. I would bet you a significant amount of money that this would not have been the case if 9/11 or 7/7 had happened in India instead.

Since we're talking about groups of people allegedly being predisposed towards criminality and violence, bearing in mind the paragraph above, do you think this implies that Indians are genetically predisposed towards religiously-motivated acts of mass violence against other groups ? Or is it just that the surrounding culture implicitly or explicitly condones/justifies/encourages such behaviour -- "extreme anger in the context of self-righteousness" ?

My questions above are mostly rhetorical, and hopefully you can all understand the analogy I'm making here. One needs to be very careful indeed in these issues, especially if it involves the argument of "genetic predisposition" as opposed to cultural and environmental factors; this train of thought can veer dangerously in the direction of statements such as “It’s in their blood”, “It’s part of their nature”, and although – as we all know – assigning negative characteristics to people purely due to their affiliation to certain ethnic/religious/national groups (and making sweeping generalisations abouut these groups) is a very, very Indian thing to do, it doesn’t mean it’s necessarily rationally (or indeed scientifically) correct or morally appropriate.

If we are talking about so-called "predospitions to committing violence and crime" - let's also not forget who is responsible for global mass death just in the last few years: indiscriminate bombing that has killed thousands in the middle east, corporate misconduct, brutal economic sanctions, torture, the hyper corporatization of life-saving AIDS drugs.
Its not poor Black people who run this show...

sigh. :|

Jai Singh...ur reasoning is flawed. Hindus are involved in violence only in India and even there they are usually not the instigators. Hindus any where else in the world are always part of the model minority clan - whether they are laborers in the middle east or research scientists in the US. On the other hand, we know that muslims more often than not create trouble in their adopted countries. So, you can say they have a predisposition towards violence. It surely isnt genetics in this case. Its the religion and the environs.

So, there is truth in all these profiling. Blacks have a higher probability to become muggers and muslims have a higher chance of getting recrited in Terror Inc.

How is Akhil's family dealing with it?

Does anyone remember the movie Saaransh.. that scene with Anupam Kher begging for his son's ashes is burnt in my mind.

What if?

Um, no one ever said anything about assuming blacks or whites were PREDISPOSED to crime. I know quite a few African Americans who are good citizens and very intellectual people. The problem is that there are only a few African Americans who go through the American educational system and go on to graduate high school, much less college. Those are the ones I get upset at - the ones that whine about the poverty, ghettos and stereotypes, but don't do anything to assuage them. As GC pointed out, African American comedians like Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle recognize this as well.

And if you're going to point out Jim Crow, you'll also have to take note of the Harlem Renaissance and the huge increase of black literature around that time. That same spirit seems to have waned over the years. You could also look at the Japanese internment during world war two and the Chinese Exclusion Act as perfect examples of racist legislation and then see the subsequent success of both groups in the latter years.

However, such is life. I guess getting rid of the high school exit exam will further motivate disadvantaged African American and Latino children to work harder in school and come up. Or not. Time will tell.

Truth sux - Actually my reasoning isn't faulty in this particular instance -- I was drawing a deliberately-flawed analogy for people who make negative assumptions/generalisations about groups based on the theory of certain behavioural traits being "genetic".

I do actually agree with most of your own post -- hence, in my previous message, the key words "rhetorical" and "analogy".

You are a consistent and constant liar, not to mention a cowardly hypocrite.

Please attack the argument, not the person.

Saaransh' is the story of how a retired school teacher B.V. Pradhan and his wife Parvati come to terms with life after the death of their only son who has been killed in New York in a senseless mugging incident. Pradhan feels that life is meaningless while Parvati has taken refuge in religion. Her new-found guru has assured her that her son will be re-born very close to her.
... Read more

Here's a wav file that's something to think about

that's a hell of a story

A meaningful way to honor this man's life is to consider his commitment to the difficult path of self-knowledge, and perhaps to begin the equally difficult task of working for the well-being of others.

Christopher

Saaransh' is the story of how a retired school teacher B.V. Pradhan and his wife Parvati come to terms with life after the death of their only son who has been killed in New York in a senseless mugging incident.

I remember the scene when Pradhan goes to the customs department to collect his son's ashes. After a few hours of being given the runaround he barges into the department head's office and starts yelling about how unfair all this system is.

The head says - "hey mister, everyone here is in a hurry to get his color tv"...
And Pradhan says - "I'm not here to get a color tv. I'm here to get my son's ashes"... and that's what's burnt in my memory - the change in expression, the anguish - I felt my facial expression change - I was mirroring the screen actor's expression - it was corny - and I was embarassed at being caught up in the melodrama - i would wish this situation on noone.

Akhil's in a better place ... what are his parents going through..

I reread this and it made me remember a play by Euripides called the Trojan Women. Like the wiki entry says it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean island of Melos by the Athenians earlier in 415 BC (see Milos), the same year the play premiered. But more than that it's a commentary on the nature of man and war. That no matter what both the victim and victor both eventually lose.

Hello Sluggo,

You might be interested to know that the theme of Simone Weil's great essay on Homer's Iliad (The Poem of Force)is very close to this. Weil surveys Homer's war and concludes that all at the scene of battle are prey to power and force. All are degraded: whether strong or weak, free or slave, living or dead.

And thus a terrible murder happens and all in the community suffer.

(I'm not sure if this is the place for intellectual comment. But perhaps in a future reflective effort, a reader might turn to this great essay and find something valuable in it.)

I remember that "Saaransh" scene about ashes. It was amazing performance by both Anupam Kher (this role practically made his career) and even Akash Khurana, who played the govt. employee in that scene.

I'm sorry, but some of these comments are making me ill. I am an Indian American who lives in Houston and who works with a predominantly black and latino low income community organization. Some of the statements being made are total garbage-maybe some of you aren't racist, just ignorant. I did not know Akhil personally, but I know many people who did. I don't think he'd find this a suitable tribute or be comforted by the fact that his death led to a discussion of why black people are pre-disposed to violent crime..... tomorrow is Houston's annual Janmashtami celebration. Akhil will be missed terribly by his friends, family, and community....

sorry- I read ALL those posts at once and it made me a litte crazy. (I wasn't responding to the last post).I guess my point is that by all accounts Akhil was a peace loving, open minded person and I wish that this dialogue that has resulted from the news about his death and the suspect was more thoughtful and positive in nature.

Slug has (goo)ed this site.

Mini,

I am so sorry that these comments upset you. I never meant for this post to inspire a heated debate on crime, racism or anything else for that matter. I just wanted to remember a life worth emulating, which was taken too soon and too senselessly. Again, my apologies. I wish the dialogue were different, too.

Hmm, it's a bit amusing to run across another 'Kumar' on this blog, especially one whose ideology is orthogonal to mine. But welcome, anyway !

Kumar

*Sigh* Fine, I'm sorry. It was a rather careless statement on my part and I didn't fully understand the meaning of the entry. To kill a man while he's praying is a cruel and heartless act. Akhil certainly will be mourned.

I've resisted the urge to comment on this thread for a similar reason, as it seemed to inspire nothing in me but the nihilistic rush of reflexive name calling. I'm mixed, my mother is Indian, my dad African, and I grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. And trust me, I've got no shame in calling some of my black bretheren animals. Yeah Sandeep Gay, and your imaginary friend gc, I read Roots too...and a bit of James Baldwin for good measure. After reading the crap on this thread, I realized what a waste of time and energy this whole blogging thing is. Just a bunch of egos running their predictable course, projecting solipsistic histrionics under the guise of contributing to some greater democratic good. So fuck y’all. Sepia Mutiny, you can delete this shit, and I’ll post my address if you want to suck my dick as well. On second thought, fuck that. I’m out to do some real shit and lead a real life, like that poor cat who got popped was probably trying to do. The fact that I will not be missed is the only redeeming quality of blogging(trolling?) on this site.

Anna, Please don't apologize. Your post was very thougtful (as was the title). Most of the comments were insightful, but I just felt compelled to say something about the downward spiral of it all... and since I am certainly not an advocate of censorship, to have a vibrant site with dialogue back and forth as you do, requires all of us to tolerate the good, the bad, and infuriating. I don't read the blog daily, but when I do I always enjoy it. Keep up the good work!

I think it's sad that SepiaMutiny has lost "Watanabe." Yours was an important and interesting perspective. You should reconsider. People with actual insight are needed to respond to the moronic....