The Barbie doll is one of the most popular toys ever created. Today Barbie is sold in 150 countries at the rate of 3 dolls every second, and the manufacturer, Mattel, claims that over a billion have been sold worldwide. Barbie is a money-maker for Mattel, in no small part due to the plethora… Continue reading
The association between light skin color and high social status has a long and distinguished history in Western society. In Victorian England, light skin was venerated and considerable effort was expended to keep women, particularly the upper class, out of the sun. Women in the Victorian period went to great lengths to avoid sun exposure… Continue reading
I am neither a lawyer nor psychologist, so I have license to hold opinions unfettered by professional concerns about the sentence given Ethan Couch who killed four people and injured two others while driving drunk. Couch is the 16-year old son of a wealthy Texas businessman, who drove a truck owned by his father’s company… Continue reading
Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Eastern Samar province of the Philippines, on the southern tip of Samar Island on November 7, 2013. When the storm departed, thousands of people were dead, millions displaced, and there was massive property damage. News about this natural disaster was everywhere. Aid organizations quickly sprang into action, and urgent… Continue reading
CNN premiered the movie Blackfish last week. The movie tells the story of Tilikum, a 6-ton performing whale (Orcinus orca) that killed three people, two trainers and one park visitor, while in captivity. Directed and produced by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Blackfish is a documentary of the life of a killer whale, from his capture off Iceland… Continue reading