With the announcement today that Hostess is shutting down operations, a number of disturbing questions are raised. Foremost among these questions is this–if indeed this means the death of Twinkies (one of Hostess’ most popular “food” products), what food-related term will we use instead to insult Asians who are “yellow on the outside and white on the inside”?

Yes, I realize we still have the traditional go-to-standard—the banana—but that’s become the lazy man’s slur. It’s too obvious, too overused, too cliché—frankly, it just doesn’t have the same impact anymore.

Considering that the Twinkie has a shelf life of one billion years, it’s possible that even if Hostess were to stop manufacturing them right this second, that they’ll still be around for a long time and calling an Asian a Twinkie will still be an acceptable part of the zeitgeist. But also consider that many stores are already reporting a run on Twinkies which means there’s a very real chance that they may disappear sooner than we can imagine. It’s possible that Twinkies may be forgotten as soon as the next generation (insert sound of chill going down my spine).  Read more...