Humiliation

Humiliation Wayne Koestenbaum Picador: 186 pp., $14 paper We've all been there: The outburst that drew unwanted attention, the embarrassing revelation, the shameful joy of schadenfreude, the lash of the cutting remark. "Humiliation is always personal …," Wayne Koestenbaum writes in "Humiliation," his meditation on the subject. "Humiliation's wounds are always intimate, pointed punctures. " For Koestenbaum, that's why it appeals and why it discomforts, the way it connects us at the deepest level even as it tears us apart.

Oh, Gwyneth Paltrow, even being humiliated looks good on you! Paltrow got down with some girl talk on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" Friday when the host brought up the dramatic, see-through dress the "Iron Man 3" star rocked at the Hollywood premiere Wednesday night. You know the one . It was sheer down the sides from waist to toes? Ellen tried to be genteel about it, but Gwyneth was more direct. PHOTOS: 50 most beautiful female celebrities "I think there's questions here," said the host, "and the question to me is ... " "Why is her [booty]

Regarding "We Have All Been Robbed by Deceit of 3 'Geniuses,' " (Viewpoints, March 1): As the courts and legal system are so lenient on so-called first-time offenders such as Dennis B. Levine, Martin A. Siegel and Ivan F. Boesky--even though millions of dollars have been stolen and all our lives affected by their illegal activities--may I suggest an appropriate punishment in the form of public humiliation? That is clearly the only thing these men fear--public exposure of venal, low crimes.

At 35, Kelly Oxford is Hollywood's latest "It" girl, a Twitter superstar with a following of more than 460,000, who last year sold her first screenplay to Warner Bros. (Drew Barrymore is in talks to direct) and will soon begin work on a television pilot. Now the Canadian-born mother of three has published a book of essays, "Everything is Perfect When You're a Liar" (It Books: 318 pp., $25.99), which chronicles her misadventures growing up in Edmonton. Oxford's writing is marked by the same wry voice that's made her a social media sensation.

With tears pouring off my face and agony in my chest, I read staff writer Duane Noriyuki and photographer Al Seib's excellent "A Swing and a Miss" (April 22). In addition to being Kevin York's story, it was my story--but with a key difference. I played Little League baseball one season when I was in the fourth grade. Despite hours spent at home trying to get wood to meet horsehide--even with the ball standing still on a tee or hanging from a string--I was hopelessly inept. Our coach played only the stars.

The events in Tian An Men Square during the early morning hours of Sunday seem certain to rank among the most momentous and infamous episodes in four decades of communist rule in China. Three weeks after the first student sit-ins that disrupted the summit meeting with visiting Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and two weeks after the initial declaration of martial law, a besieged, desperate leadership finally decided to act. Having failed to persuade or intimidate the students and their supporters, having refused to negotiate with them, and finally having been unable to out wait or outwit them, the authorities turned to the use of force, without regard to the loss of life.

An open letter to the producers of "Damn Yankees" (which played the Orange County Performing Arts Center Dec. 5-10) and Jerry Lewis in particular: Don't you know that Polish jokes are passe? So-called "humor" based on ethnic humiliation has no place in today's world. I was offended by Lewis' remarks, and I'm not even Polish. The Performing Arts Center must set a better example for all of us. JOHN LAGOURGUE Monarch Beach

It's about time that "Van Smack" got smacked. The arrogance of Jim Rome is insulting. Everett had every right to "sack Van Smack." It's a shame that Jim Rome, once an enjoyable sports talk host, has added Howard Stern humiliation tactics to his glossary. R.J. DEAKINS Temecula

As a young Ram fan in the late 1950s and early '60s, I suffered tremendous humiliation for being just that--a Ram fan. George Allen changed all that. Thank you, George. RODNEY K. BOSWELL, Los Angeles

While the news media lament the presidential candidates' appearances on the so-called "soft" interview shows, they fail to note that they themselves are by and large responsible for this trend. Why will a Ross Perot or a Bill Clinton subject himself to humiliation after humiliation as dogged reporters ask the same question over and over and attack the same topic with monotonous repetition? The exodus to the talk shows is not because the candidates want to avoid discussion of their platforms, it's because they want to be heard and questioned by Americans who want real answers to their concerns, not to be terrorized by minor league reporters who are covering their first campaign and trying to ingratiate themselves with their editors.

MEXICO CITY - Officially the game ended in a tie. But try telling that to the U.S. and Mexico, which fought to a scoreless draw in a World Cup qualifying match that left both teams heading in different directions. For the U.S., Tuesday's result felt like a win - especially since it came at a sold-out Estadio Azteca, a place where the Americans have never won a World Cup qualifier. Plus it leaves the U.S. in third place three games into the six-nation, 10-game qualifying tournament for Brazil 2014.

Imagine what it was like Sept. 7 to be part of the Long Beach Poly football program on the night the Jackrabbits lost to Harbor City Narbonne, 56-0, their worst defeat since 1916. "We were all totally embarrassed," Coach Raul Lara said. "It was hard, especially because everyone was ridiculing us. " Fast forward to Friday night in the Pac-5 Division quarterfinals, when Poly upset No. 2-seeded Mission Viejo, 21-16. The Jackrabbits are "the phoenix of high school football rising out of the ashes," Santa Margarita Coach Harry Welch said.

A former Penn State graduate assistant who complained he saw former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky showering with a young boy on campus and testified at Sandusky's sex abuse trial sued the university Tuesday for what he calls defamation and misrepresentation. Mike McQueary's whistle-blower lawsuit claims his treatment by the university since Sandusky was arrested in November has caused him distress, anxiety, humiliation and embarrassment. The complaint, filed in county court near State College, where the university is based, seeks millions of dollars in damages.

Normally meat-centric McDonald's confirmed that it plans to open two all-vegetarian locations in India - and now customers, herbivore activists and others are buzzing. One no-meat branch will be based in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in northern India and another in Katra near the Vaishno Devi cave shrine in Indian Kashmir, said spokeswoman Becca Hary in a statement.   The chain expanded into India through New Delhi and Mumbai in 1996. Many Indians avoid meat - especially beef and pork - for religious reasons.

John Mayer isn't afraid to take blame for the heartache he's inflicted on various Hollywood and music starlets -- and in the case of Taylor Swift, he's not afraid to dish it out either. Particularly when it comes to the 2010 Swift track "Dear John. " Mayer was "really humiliated" by the tune, allegedly written about their romantic entanglement and its wrenching end, he told Rolling Stone. "I didn't deserve it," he said . "I'm pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Two portraits of John Edwards emerged in opening arguments at the trial of the disgraced politician, who is accused of breaking campaign finance laws by accepting more than $900,000 in illegal contributions to help conceal an extramarital affair during his 2008 bid for president. The prosecution on Monday portrayed Edwards as a liar and a deceiver who went to great lengths to cover up his affair to protect his campaign image as a family man. The defense portrayed him as a man who committed a sin - a sin Edwards acknowledges - but did not break the law. The former senator from North Carolina has pleaded not guilty to six criminal counts related to campaign finance violations.

The unnecessary arrest and deliberate humiliation of Anna Nicholas by Santa Monica police is another indicator that police in the L.A. area have too little to do. More cops are not needed. What is needed is sensible deployment of available manpower. Stop assigning police to the harassment of motorists and the collection of "taxes" (fines), and make them work on the prevention of real crimes such as assaults and robberies. KENT CARROLL Point Mugu

Here we go again! No bombing of Iraqi cities, no atomic weapons. Just a prolonged, politically constrained, half-hearted ground war in which thousands of American lives are sacrificed for an inconclusive Korean stalemate or another Vietnam humiliation. We are heading for a war that can tear apart our country and alienate most of our so-called allies. Why can we never learn from our mistakes? SAM COUNCILMAN Long Beach

Selena Gomez opened up Friday morning about the moment that just made her die inside -- though hordes of Beliebers might not really believe her experience was that harrowing. Pushed by Ryan Seacrest to spill the dish on her kiss-cam moment with Justin Bieber at the L.A. Lakers-San Antonio Spurs game Tuesday night, Gomez didn't exactly stand by her man. "That was probably the most humiliating thing that has ever happened to me," she said. "Probably. "  See? Watching the kiss-cam is all fun and games, until someone gets hurt.

A UCLA physician has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the UC Board of Regents, alleging that he was routinely publicly humiliated and once was depicted as a gorilla being sodomized in a slide show presentation during a resident graduation event. In a 40-page complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, Dr. Christian Head, a head and neck surgeon, accused the university of failing to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation. "I am very discouraged," Head said in an interview.