Tony Perkins' genital politics

Last updated on: June 22, 2012 at 12:10 pm By Fred Clark

So back on Wednesday the House of Representatives passed the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, approving funding for the State Department and the Peace Corps for another two years. The official summary for H.R. 2410 reads: To authorize appropriations for the Department of State and the Peace Corps for fiscal years 2010 and 2011, to modernize the Foreign Service, to authorize democratic, economic, and social development assistance for Pakistan, to authorize security assistance for Pakistan, and for other purposes. "Other purposes"... Read more

TF: Skip verse 10

Last updated on: June 22, 2012 at 12:08 pm By Fred Clark

Tribulation Force, pp. 53-55 Buck Williams spends a few more pages reviewing and admiring his miraculously complete Global Weekly cover story on the various theories circulating to explain the disappearance of every child on the planet, plus another few hundred million adults. In that one sentence I've already described the Event in more detail than Buck seems to have done in his article. He's not alone in this — in the world of Tribulation Force, no one stops to ask... Read more

Wanderlust-Warning Sign

Last updated on: June 11, 2009 at 9:18 pm By Fred Clark

Tell me what you want, what you really, really want … "Wanderlust," Bjork"Wanderlust," Delays"Wanderlust," R.E.M."Wannabe," Spice Girls"War," Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band"War Pigs," Cake"Warakurna," Midnight Oil"The Warbler," The Choir"Warning," Green Day"Warning Sign," Talking Heads Yes, the quote above is from the Spice Girls. But for a moment try to forget that's where that line is from and try not to think about that silly song. Is there a more important or more intimate question than this? It's not... Read more

Etymology

Last updated on: June 11, 2009 at 11:06 am By Fred Clark

Warren Clements of The Globe and Mail is the latest language columnist to discover the words slacktivist and slacktivism. The Globe and Mail is based in Toronto, so it's a bit of a shame that Clements misses the local angle: that word slacktivism was coined by a native son — by Dwight Ozard of London, Ontario, in fact. If you're searching for the origin of this word, Google tends to direct you to Paul McFedries delightful Word Spy site, and... Read more

Talk to Tall Trees

Last updated on: June 5, 2009 at 5:19 am By Fred Clark

Let's go to the movies or somethingbefore time gets the best of us both … "Talk About the Passion," R.E.M."Talk Memphis," Pierce Pettis"Talk of the Town," Jack Johnson"Talk of the Town," The Pretenders"Talk to Me (I Can Hear You Now)," Iam Siam"Talk to the People," Johnny Clegg & Savuka"Talkin' at the Texaco," James McMurtry"Talking in Circles," Mark Heard"Talking Myself Down," The Go-Go's"Talking Old Soldiers," Bettye Lavette"Tall Trees," Crowded House My favorites out of the above are the REM and Mark... Read more

20 years ago

Last updated on: June 4, 2009 at 6:46 pm By Fred Clark

Rolling over demonstrators with tanks works, for a little while. But not forever. Some day — maybe within the next 20 years, maybe longer, but some day for sure — this picture will hang where pictures of Chairman Mao hang today. And some day, there will be a statue, life-size and bronze, on or near that very spot, and schoolchildren will line up to marvel at it and to hear again the story that they all already know by heart... Read more

No pie needed

Last updated on: June 22, 2012 at 12:07 pm By Fred Clark

This is just to say thank you for the conversation in the previous thread. I forgot to do what I usually do following a post that mentions abortion, which is to provide a second open-thread post about pie or baseball or Buffy or some other relatively safe topic as a kind of shelter for those fleeing the stridency and venom that tends to arise in conversations on the topic of abortion. But while there's no shortage of opinions expressed in... Read more

Killing in the name of

Last updated on: November 21, 2017 at 5:06 pm By Fred Clark

What I realized then, in 1994, as I watched these groups line up to condemn violence against "mass-murderers" and to renounce armed opposition to "the Holocaust," was that these folks didn't really mean any of it. They were horrified by the spectacle of someone taking their own rhetoric and arguments seriously. Read more

TF: What's the story, Mr. Exposition?

Last updated on: May 29, 2009 at 7:42 pm By Fred Clark

Tribulation Force, pp. 45-52 Buck drops by the New Hope Village Church to talk to Bruce, who welcomes him and says Hello. For Bruce, inevitably, "Hello" consists of a half-page rant about his own extra-special heavy burden from God and the extra-special humility with which he's facing it: "Another long feast on the Word. I'm making up for lost time, you know. … I'm trying to decide how to tell the congregation, probably within the next month, that I feel... Read more

Sally to Samson

Last updated on: May 29, 2009 at 2:32 pm By Fred Clark

Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose … "Sally," Gogol Bordello"Salty Man (Sir Psycho Salty)," WNOC"Sam Stone," Laura Cantrell"Same Direction," INXS"The Same Fire," Bishop Allen"Same Girl," Randy Newman"Same in Any Language," I-Nine"Same Kooks," The Hold Steady"Same Story," After Eleven"Samson," Regina Spektor Let me recommend Regina Spektor's wistful reimagining of the story of Samson, as told from Delilah's perspective — or from the perspective of Delilah had she truly loved the guy. Maybe she did. The story says he loved her... Read more