It’s times like these when a list of the 101 hottest tattooed women in the world seems fascinating. Somehow, though, putting Angelina Jolie as #1 doesn’t seem very creative anymore. Not that I disagree with the choice.
Call it the ingenuity of American capitalism fueled by the Internet.
Call it a crass, insensitive insult to the departed.
Call it karmic retribution.
Call it a kinda funny, kinda stupid t-shirt.
I’m most likely done with Falwell commentary now.
Imagine making your first visit to the house you just bought in a foreclosure sale, only to find the mummified remains of the former owner, which had been sitting on the couch for around five years…
I think the moral here is to get to know your neighbors well enough that they’ll look for you at least every five years or so.
From Eat the Press:
We will say this: No matter how frustrating, sexist and occasionally incoherent [Christopher Hitchens] can be, when he is on he’s on. This appearance was a tour de force. A sample:
COOPER: Christopher, I’m not sure if you believe in heaven, but, if you do, do you think Jerry Falwell is in it?
HITCHENS: No. And I think it’s a pity there isn’t a hell for him to go to.
COOPER: What is it about him that brings up such vitriol?
HITCHENS: The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing, that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called reverend. Who would, even at your network, have invited on such a little toad to tell us that the attacks of September the 11th were the result of our sinfulness and were God’s punishment if they hadn’t got some kind of clerical qualification?
People like that should be out in the street, shouting and hollering with a cardboard sign and selling pencils from a cup. The whole consideration of this — of this horrible little person is offensive to very, very many of us who have some regard for truth and for morality, and who think that ethics do not require that lies be told to children by evil old men, that we’re — we’re not told that people who believe like Falwell will be snatched up into heaven, where I’m glad to see he skipped the rapture, just found on the floor of his office, while the rest of us go to hell.
How dare they talk to children like this? How dare they raise money from credulous people on their huckster-like Elmer Gantry radio stations, and fly around in private jets, as he did, giggling and sniggering all the time at what he was getting away with?
Do you get an idea now of what I mean to say?
COOPER: Yes, no, I think — I think you’re making yourself very clear.
It is tempting to give Jerry Falwell the same amount of respect in death that he gave to others–i.e., none. It is probably impossible to keep snide comments from slipping in throughout anything I say or write about him. But I say this with no particular malice or disdain, but rather as an observation I have made based on reality as I see it:
Jerry Falwell was a truly terrible, dangerous man, and the world is no better off now that he is gone.
Jerry Falwell did not create bigotry or intolerance, nor was he the first to turn Christianity from a religion of peace to one of war. He was just a spokesman, enabled by all of those who gave him a forum from which to spit venom. There is any number of similar hacks lined up to take his place, if those who would provide them that same forum will let them. If anything, Jerry Falwell was the scorpion:
A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.” The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream, the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown, but has just enough time to gasp “Why?” Replies the scorpion: “Its my nature…”
Proving once again that my city can kick your city’s ass, the lineup for the Austin City Limits 2007 Festival has been announced, headlined by the coolest human being to have ever lived, Bob Dylan.
I haven’t gone to the festival for the past couple of years. My experience in 2004 led me to conclude that I could have about as much fun if I spent the day inside an oven with an iPod and a large bag of cat dander (I’m allergic). Sweat and sneezing do not go well together.
However, with Bob at the helm, this year is going to kick ass. Suck on it, rest of America!
Then came Rita…
Now we have Kansas…
It has been revealed what a complete joke Texas’ disaster preparedness is.
The people who claim that only they can protect America from terror have co-opted the front-line defense for natural disasters.
Last November, Newt Gingrich tried to scare everyone by invoking the specter of losing an American city:
We need to get ahead of the curve rather than wait until we actually literally lose a city, which I think could literally happen in the next decade if we’re unfortunate.
New Orleans, Louisiana…
Greensburg, Kansas…
That’s two cities we’ve already lost. Is anyone paying attention?
Arianna pointed out something that had eluded me in my earlier post mocking Paris “Jailbird” Hilton–namely, that hopefully this will not be the only time that an absurdly wealthy, mind-bogglingly vapid aristocrat has finally been taken to task for repeatedly pissing on the rule of law. At least this is someone we’ve all seen naked. Honestly, I had merely thought of it as yet another distraction to keep us proles in line, but in a broader context, perhaps this is a harbinger of greater things to come. No, I do not mean a Condi Rice sex tape, I mean more accountability for people who think they can get all Judge Dredd or Joe Francis whenever they want. One can dream.
…or I might be a Kiwi by now:
Every week, successful Americans are making the decision to sell up, pack up and move out to a small nation in the South Pacific. Why?
Try freedom, a more relaxed pace and a new life in a land abounding with fresh and exciting opportunities and possibilities. And you’d be on the right track. Those who’ve experienced New Zealand tend to agree that it is one of the friendliest nations under the sun. It has a population of just over four million and one-third of the country is protected by national parks; but that doesn’t leave this small yet diverse nation without sophistication.
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