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Culturally Speaking #40

By Sarah Stodola

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You live in New York long enough and things change. I've been here for four years now, and lately a lot of the places that, as a rookie New Yorker, I used to idolize, have been shutting their doors (Halcyon, Plant Bar, L Cafe, Twilo, The Russian Tea Room, etc). And with each closing you have little bit more tangible evidence of the fact that you are aging. And you realize that one day you are going to wake up to a New York that is completely different from the one you knew in your youth. I think I'm halfway there.

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Congrats to my old buddy Lindsay Robertson, whose website made her "The Best Blogger Likely to Deservedly Strike it Rich," according to The Village Voice.

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3/4 of Americans want the president to be "of strong religious faith." There are so many things wrong with 3/4 of Americans I don't even know where to start. First of all, what does religious faith have to do with running the country. Second of all, the freaking terrorists are of "strong religious faith" as well, my friends - it's not necessarily a good thing. Third of all, this country was rightly not founded upon a religious platform. Instead, it was founded upon the idea of SEPERATION OF CHURCH AND STATE, meaning that religion has no place in the government. Religion is none of the government's business. People are free to worship or not worship as they please and this had nothing to do with their leaders.   And in fact, religion should not play a part in decisions made by the president. The well being of ALL citizens of America, regardless of religious conviction, is what the president should be concentrating on.

And now, I quote from George Bernard Shaw that everyone - especially the religious wackos - should take to heart:

"Religion is a great force: the only real motive force in the world; but what you fellows don’t understand is that you must get at a man through his own religion and not through yours."

You don't convince people by telling them that they must be just like you, but by helping them relate to you. It's no wonder America is going down the drain.

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It's so great when as a writer I have never heard of the newly announced Nobel laureate in literature.

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Interesting documentary on The Carlyle Group, the Washington D.C. firm that so slickly merges government and business...

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On a lighter note, this newspaper photo is hilarious (via NewYorkish).

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Sarah Stodola is the Managing Editor of Me Three.  She can be contacted here.

© 2004 Me Three