There are eight million stories in the naked city—a vanishingly small number of which, sadly, feature hookers dressed in cotton candy mini skirts and a protagonist named “Fudgy.” I blame the trans-fat police.  And of course the entire state of New Jersey.

Jill at Feministe writes a long and courteous response to my MLK Day post that attempted to detail just how racial categorizations are structured, and how—when pressured—they tend to collapse under the weight of their own logical incoherence.  Some of her commenters, naturally, weren’t so courteous—I’m a faux Jew, an idiot, long-winded and hopelessly daft when it comes to appreciating differences, etc.—such responses being par for the course when what

Progressive podcast kvetch and former leftwing radio talk show diva Taylor Marsh accuses conservatives of “freaking out” over the potential return of the Fairness Doctrine, scuttled in 1987 by Ronald Reagan after its dubious 18 year hold on broadcast radio. Writes Marsh, who accuses me of being my “usual obtuse self” (glad to know you read my site, Taylor!): The short version of the Fairness Doctrine is that in 1987

Carter:  “I don’t care that we don’t ‘need’ anymore just now.  When I tell you to shove more bagels into the ovens, I expect you to shove more bagels into the oven.”* **** h/t CJ Burch

me: “I hate to admit this, but I had one of those flaky breakfast croissants the other day?  And it was freakin’ awesome!” my patriotism: my patriotism: my patriotism: “I don’t even know who you are anymore, man.”

So, it’s goodbye, then? Let me leave you with this. Thanks for letting us play in your traffic, Jeff. It’s been a hoot. But it isn’t pw without you. Welcome back. (I can’t believe I just catblogged protein wisdom. Eat my dust, Simon!)