ComPost: January 23, 2011 - January 29, 2011

MTV Skins vs. Jersey Shore: Are the kids all right?

MTV "Skins" cast. (MTV) I have had a lot of trouble writing about "Skins." The problem with trying to write a piece about the recent controversy surrounding MTV's Skins is that in the course of it you are forced...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 28, 2011; 4:01 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
Categories:  Petri, Reality? Television  | Tags:  Skins, kids these days, reality, the power of myth  
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Did Chinese TV actually use Top Gun footage as a military drill?

ForeignPolicy.com is now reporting that Chinese bloggers caught the CCTV repurposing footage of Top Gun for a story on a recent military drill. This is as hilariously absurd as it is probable. This is what happens when you feel...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 27, 2011; 5:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (3)
Categories:  Mulligans, Petri, Reality? Television, Seems Suspect  | Tags:  China, Top Gun, oops  
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I have a cold! Or do I? Can I Google it?

I have a cold. I noticed this yesterday when I began to experience a sensation that felt as though a small army of ants in sandpaper shoes were marching down my throat in single-file. I went home, rested, ate some...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 27, 2011; 1:57 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Bad Advice, Only on the Internet, Petri, That's awkward  | Tags:  Google, colds, slow news day, the power of myth  
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WTF Moments with Palin on the 'Race to Space,' Sputnik, and Spudnut

Dear Sarah Palin, Based on your comments to Greta van Susteren on Fox News last night about the State of the Union address, I think there has been a slight misunderstanding. Or, possibly, several large misunderstandings. I liked your coinage...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 27, 2011; 11:55 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (33)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Epic Failures, Petri, Worst Things Ever  | Tags:  Sarah Palin, Sputnik, state of the union  
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NASA announcement: They found the set of Star Wars!

NASA's Hubble telescope spotted the oldest, most distant galaxy ever! A galaxy that's far, far away and long, long ago? I think we've found the set of Star Wars! It might also be a smudge in the data! But...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 26, 2011; 5:48 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (5)
Categories:  Big Deals, Petri  | Tags:  NASA, Star Wars, aliens, space  
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No more Sputnik moments for the millennial generation

"This is our generation's Sputnik Moment," President Obama said during Tuesday's State of the Union. Our generation's Soviet Space Program needs to get its act together! I thought. But then I worried that this sort of comment made me...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 26, 2011; 2:33 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (3)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Big Deals, Only on the Internet, Petri  | Tags:  Sputnik, millennials, space, state of the union  
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Thanks, Academy! What the 2011 Oscar Nominees say about us

Forget the State of the Union. The films nominated for Best Picture for the 83rd Academy Awards say more about who we are and how we're doing than President Obama ever will. And we don't have to stand up and...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 26, 2011; 11:10 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Petri, Top Lists  | Tags:  America, Oscars, movies  
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Top five State of the Union moments

The State of the Union is ... awkwardly crouched trying to decide whether this should be a standing ovation or not. There was bipartisanship Tuesday night, all right. There was also ... whatever half of bipartisanship is. But the evening...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 25, 2011; 11:50 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (9)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Big Deals, Congress, Top Lists  | Tags:  America, Barack Obama, state of the union  
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The State of the Union Drinking Game

"He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union," reads the Constitution. And we shall, from time to time, play a drinking game while the speech occurs. Every year since the...

By Alexandra Petri and Stephen Stromberg  | January 25, 2011; 5:03 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (0)
Categories:  Bad Advice, Barack Obama, Congress  | Tags:  alcohol, state of the union  
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State of the Union: Competitiveness, the Super Bowl, and Amy Chua

The economy's up a little. Although chastened by tragedy, we're feeling more civil to each other. Except for that awkwardness with the piano music, the dinner with China was a success. Now, with the State of the Union Address, it's...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 25, 2011; 11:34 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Congress, Epic Failures, Petri, Senate  | Tags:  America, Barack Obama, football, state of the union, tiger mothers  
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This is why we're fat: Missing Jack LaLanne

Jack LaLanne passed away on Sunday at his home in Morro Bay, California, at the age of 96. He began the fitness movement. The only way you can hurt the body is not to use it, he said. That seems...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 24, 2011; 3:38 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (3)
Categories:  Epic Failures, Petri  | Tags:  Jack LaLanne, food, kids these days  
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Justice Scalia and the Tea Party

It's times like these when I wonder whether Justice Scalia's direct line to the Founders is functioning as well as he seems to think it is. Justice Scalia is speaking today at the Conservative Constitutional Seminar, hosted by Michele Bachmann's...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 24, 2011; 12:26 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (5)
Categories:  Congress, Epic Failures, Petri, Seems Suspect, Tea Party  | Tags:  America, oops, supreme court  
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