Those Who Are Tardy Do Not Get Fruit Cup

Does Jesus haz a sad? This is being passed around on Facebook today:Jesus: Santa.Santa: Yes?Jesus: I'm sad.Santa: Why are you sad? It's Christmas right? It's your birthday!Jesus: Yeah. That's the pointSanta: Why? Jesus: Because whenever its Christmas the kids only wait for you and not me! They only celebrate Christmas because of you! Why Santa, why not Jesus? -Dec. 25 is for Jesus not for

Those Who Are Tardy Do Not Get Fruit Cup

Does Jesus haz a sad? This is being passed around on Facebook today:Jesus: Santa.Santa: Yes?Jesus: I'm sad.Santa: Why are you sad? It's Christmas right? It's your birthday!Jesus: Yeah. That's the pointSanta: Why? Jesus: Because whenever its Christmas the kids only wait for you and not me! They only celebrate Christmas because of you! Why Santa, why not Jesus? -Dec. 25 is for Jesus not for

The Production of Ignorance

I'm almost caught up on topics I've wanted to write about, though some have just slid away and been forgotten. This one will almost bring me up to date. For this week.Last Sunday one Nathan Jurgenson published an article on Salon claiming that Noam Chomsky is "wrong about Twitter." His chief source was an interview Chomsky gave to a fanboy blogger last March, though he did link to a 1997

The Production of Ignorance

I'm almost caught up on topics I've wanted to write about, though some have just slid away and been forgotten. This one will almost bring me up to date. For this week.Last Sunday one Nathan Jurgenson published an article on Salon claiming that Noam Chomsky is "wrong about Twitter." His chief source was an interview Chomsky gave to a fanboy blogger last March, though he did link to a 1997

People Are Not Excess

I finally got a copy of Fred Barney Taylor's 2007 documentary The Polymath; or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman, and watched it tonight. TLA Video had it on clearance, so I snapped it up, but it can be ordered directly from the filmmaker. It's an odd sort of documentary, consisting largely of Delany talking over solarized footage of water, rivers, train tracks, and the like;

People Are Not Excess

I finally got a copy of Fred Barney Taylor's 2007 documentary The Polymath; or, The Life and Opinions of Samuel R. Delany, Gentleman, and watched it tonight. TLA Video had it on clearance, so I snapped it up, but it can be ordered directly from the filmmaker. It's an odd sort of documentary, consisting largely of Delany talking over solarized footage of water, rivers, train tracks, and the like;

Trouble and Turmoil, and Reagan's Third Term

If I hadn't been off my feed for the past couple of weeks, my Right Wing Acquaintance 1 was giving me plenty of fodder for blog posts, like his link to this National Review Online article on Hugo Chavez, to which he added this comment:Venezuela is in for trouble and turmoil, whatever Chavez's health. He has been Castroizing the country with the help of experts from Cuba, and the opposition is

Trouble and Turmoil, and Reagan's Third Term

If I hadn't been off my feed for the past couple of weeks, my Right Wing Acquaintance 1 was giving me plenty of fodder for blog posts, like his link to this National Review Online article on Hugo Chavez, to which he added this comment:Venezuela is in for trouble and turmoil, whatever Chavez's health. He has been Castroizing the country with the help of experts from Cuba, and the opposition is

I Feel Your Pain, Equivalently

There are a couple of interesting articles at Slate today. One is a column by Christopher Hitchens, enraged by Noam Chomsky's recent remarks on the assassination of Bin Laden, and -- typically for Hitchens when he talks about Chomsky since the 9/11 attacks -- full of distortions.For example, Hitchens writes:He is still arguing loudly for moral equivalence, maintaining that the Abbottabad,

I Feel Your Pain, Equivalently

There are a couple of interesting articles at Slate today. One is a column by Christopher Hitchens, enraged by Noam Chomsky's recent remarks on the assassination of Bin Laden, and -- typically for Hitchens when he talks about Chomsky since the 9/11 attacks -- full of distortions.For example, Hitchens writes:He is still arguing loudly for moral equivalence, maintaining that the Abbottabad,

"I" Is An Other

While I was in Korea I read one of Noam Chomsky's two new books, New World of Indigenous Resistance (City Lights Books). Actually it's not really by Chomsky in the way that, for example, his other new one, Hopes and Prospects (Haymarket Press) is, even though he gets top billing. He gave three interviews to co-editor Lois Meyer. The first two were translated into Spanish and given to a passel of

"I" Is An Other

While I was in Korea I read one of Noam Chomsky's two new books, New World of Indigenous Resistance (City Lights Books). Actually it's not really by Chomsky in the way that, for example, his other new one, Hopes and Prospects (Haymarket Press) is, even though he gets top billing. He gave three interviews to co-editor Lois Meyer. The first two were translated into Spanish and given to a passel of

Good News for Modern Persons

There was an interesting post at A Distant Ocean recently, about an American Iraq War veteran named Victor Agosto, who refused deployment to Afghanistan. As a result he was court-martialed and sentenced to a year in prison. He appeared on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, and explained how he got to the point where he began to resist.VICTOR AGOSTO: It just didn’t make sense to me why we were

Good News for Modern Persons

There was an interesting post at A Distant Ocean recently, about an American Iraq War veteran named Victor Agosto, who refused deployment to Afghanistan. As a result he was court-martialed and sentenced to a year in prison. He appeared on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, and explained how he got to the point where he began to resist.VICTOR AGOSTO: It just didn’t make sense to me why we were

Doomed to Repeat It

Noam Chomsky has a statement up about the Israeli hijacking of the Mavi Marmara, with this important reminder:It is worth bearing in mind that the crime is nothing new. For decades, Israel has been hijacking boats in international waters between Cyprus and Lebanon, killing or kidnapping passengers, sometimes bringing them to prisons in Israel including secret prison/torture chambers, sometimes

Doomed to Repeat It

Noam Chomsky has a statement up about the Israeli hijacking of the Mavi Marmara, with this important reminder:It is worth bearing in mind that the crime is nothing new. For decades, Israel has been hijacking boats in international waters between Cyprus and Lebanon, killing or kidnapping passengers, sometimes bringing them to prisons in Israel including secret prison/torture chambers, sometimes

The Beautiful Killers

Chomsky.info has a link to this interview with Chomsky by Israeli TV, in the wake of Israel's refusal to let him into the West Bank. (Still called "Israel" in a number of online sites.)It's reasonably entertaining to watch him fillet the interviewer, who lobs one bit of Israeli propaganda after another at him, only to have him shoot them down. It's also a reminder that Chomsky's a Zionist, a

The Beautiful Killers

Chomsky.info has a link to this interview with Chomsky by Israeli TV, in the wake of Israel's refusal to let him into the West Bank. (Still called "Israel" in a number of online sites.)It's reasonably entertaining to watch him fillet the interviewer, who lobs one bit of Israeli propaganda after another at him, only to have him shoot them down. It's also a reminder that Chomsky's a Zionist, a

How to Write a Headline

Via Counterpunch, which called the link "Chomsky Denied Entry Into Israel". I think it's remarkable that ABC News even covered it: Noam Chomsky Denied Entry to Israel Israel Admits Error in Denying Left-Wing, U.S. Intellectual Noam Chomsky Entry Into Controlled Territory That was odd. I'd already read the story at the BBC site, which made it reasonably

How to Write a Headline

Via Counterpunch, which called the link "Chomsky Denied Entry Into Israel". I think it's remarkable that ABC News even covered it: Noam Chomsky Denied Entry to Israel Israel Admits Error in Denying Left-Wing, U.S. Intellectual Noam Chomsky Entry Into Controlled Territory That was odd. I'd already read the story at the BBC site, which made it reasonably