In his New York Times column, Frank Rich calls that NOM ad (see the previous post) a “camp classic,” which it is, and sees it as “the bigots’ last hurrah,” which I’m afraid it isn’t. The ad alludes to several cases of Christian chauvinists “suffering for their faith” because they ran afoul of anti-discrimination laws. None of those cases has anything at all to do with same-sex marriage, mind you, and none of them is really explained in the ad.... Read more
By now I'm sure you've seen this ad, from the National Organization for Marriage: We could go through a point-by-point refutation of the ad's innuendo about the Big Gay Stormtroopers menacing California doctors, Massachusetts parents and tax-free beach-front property managers in New Jersey, but it would be wrong to dignify such brazen BS by pretending that anyone shoveling this crap might even slightly believe it to be true. So instead we'll just stick with the two-word rebuttal of everything this... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 21-27 After spending much of the first chapter presenting their notion of the Proper Limited Role for Women, the authors begin Chapter 2 with some reflections on Manliness. Both of these discussions are excruciating, but where the previous one was often infuriating, this one is just kind of awkwardly embarrassing. Godly manly men must be manly, it seems, yet still in touch with their feelings — but not in, like, a gay way or anything. Manly men... Read more
Sign me up. "Machines," Twitchen Vibes"Machines (Live)," Twitchen Vibes"The Mack Daddy on the Left," De La Soul"Macy's Day Parade," Green Day"Mad About You," Sting"Mad Drums," The Delgados"Mad Mission," Patty Griffin"Mad World," Gary Jules"Mad World," Sara Hickman"Made in the Dark," Hot Chip The Gary Jules cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" is of course from the soundtrack for Donnie Darko, which easily earns a place in my all-time Top Five List of Movies With Giant Rabbits. Read more
That Fox News varnish is getting out of control and the effect seems to be spreading. So let this be a lesson to you kids out there: Don't huff the varnish from Fox News. It'll make you stupid and crazy with rage. And stupid and angry never leads anywhere good. The photo on the left, from AP photographer John Bazemore, was taken from a "Tea Party" rally orchestrated in Atlanta yesterday where varnish-huffing angry people waved signs suggesting that President... Read more
Strange but true. And on Easter Sunday no less. Warren canceled a scheduled appearance Sunday morning on ABC News' "This Week," saying he was "sick from exhaustion." Exhaustion seemed like a reasonable explanation — the guy preached six Easter sermons, after all, at the end of the holiest, and therefore busiest, week of the Christian calendar. He'd been scheduled to preach 12 sermons, plus the appearance on ABC, which seems to me a bit too much for anyone to take... Read more
The anti-tax Tax Foundation gets a lot of attention each year when it announces its annual calculation for what it calls "Tax Freedom Day." I don't understand why we're supposed to take this seriously. What they do, more or less, is divide total tax collections by total income to arrive at a rough estimate of the difference between gross pay and after-tax net income. They calculate what percentage of the total that difference is, then pretend the calendar is a... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 16-20 The second section we'll be looking at today, the final vignette in the first chapter, begins like this: Rayford and Chloe arrived at New Hope early. Bruce was there, finishing a sandwich he had ordered. He looked older than his early thirties. After greeting them, he pushed his wire rims up into his curly locks and tilted back in his squeaky chair. "You get hold of Buck?" he asked. That's a bit awkward (Bruce "was there"),... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 5-20 I have to admit that the Buck and Verna subplot has me back on my heels. This tale of the Humiliation of the Uppity Woman is stomach-churningly ugly and I'm finding it difficult to get through or over or around, so before we plow through the last of it, I just need to vent a bit. It's a nasty piece of work and the authors revel in its nastiness. And that reveling is revealing. Throughout most... Read more
Undress, discard, let fall "The Last Balloon," XTC"Last Boat Leaving," Elvis Costello"Last Dance," Sarah McLachlan"The Last Day of Our Acquaintance," Sinead O'Connor"Last Fair Deal Gone Down," Crooked Still"Last Goodbye," Jeff Buckley"Last Hard Bible," Kasey Chambers"Last Night," The Mar-Keys"Last Night," Over the Rhine"The Last Testament of Angus Shane," The Lost Dogs"The Last Time," Mightyhead"Last to Know," Pink"Last Train to Clarksville," Cassandra Wilson Almost any dull task or awkward social situation can be made more bearable by imagining that "Last Night" by... Read more
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