12.9.05
Culturally Speaking #73
By Sarah Stodola
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Yeah, I wasn't really sure if I'd ever be back with Culturally Speaking either. But here I am...and while I can't promise that it'll be appearing on a weekly basis, every single Friday, like it used to, what with my time being taken up by the print journal and Londonist and job searching and (any leads are more than welcome) and my novel-in-progress and an actual job, I can promise that it will appear...um...sometimes. And it when it does, it will still be on Fridays. So welcome back, me!
Now that's out of the way, on to the culture stuff...
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Remember a couple of years ago when Me Three ran a lengthy interview with Christopher Hitchens? You may recall the following passage:
Christopher Hitchens: ...Religion is the cause of immorality. And one can see it every day, everywhere. The biggest moment in life, I guess, is when I worked that out for myself, when I was about 14, which any fool can do.
Mark Grueter: Have you ever thought about writing a book about this?
CH: Everything I write is about this.
MG: I know, but what if you wrote ‘A Case against Religion’ and you stated it directly and explained why it’s immoral, how it causes immorality, etc?
CH: Well my letters (Letters to a Young Contrarian) have a bit of that.
MG: Yes, why not extend it? Because I know you know the subject, I know you read the Gospels…
CH: Yes, I read them again for this piece on Mel Gibson. I could do that (write a book) but there may be no reason to. It’s been done repeatedly. Everyone who has studied Spinoza and Hume - it doesn’t even have to be Voltaire - or who knows that religion is based on a false premise and a false promise. It’s been written about for a long time.
I guess he changed his mind.
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Why am I White?: I've just finished reading Jared Diamond's monster of a book, Guns, Germs and Steel. It's a great book for understanding how human civilization has evolved. According to Diamond, everything basically hinges on who had the most domesticable plants and animals -- it all grew from there. GG and S is almost entirely comprehensive. The one thing I wish it had included, though, is an explanation of the formation of races. I want to know why Chinese people look Chinese, caucasions caucasion, and so on, and he didn't get into that.
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Yeah, Sure, It's a "Novel": This is a picture of the block where Dylan grows up in Fortress of Solitude, Dean Street between Bond and Nevins in Brooklyn. Lethem grew up in a house at the far end of this block:
I was totally expecting to get yoked for taking this picture...
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Sweet, Sweet Ritalin: Finally, a major publication has published an article promoting the recreational, occasional use of Ritalin by adults -- just so we can get things done for a change! Here's the best line:
What's interesting about ADD drugs is that they are remarkably effective regardless of how your brain looks when scanned, achieving what for centuries we've turned to coffee to accomplish, with about the same potential for side effects. So here's a radical thought: Why not just put them in the same category?
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Liberals Have a Sense of Humor After All: Here are a couple of links to some funny things made by liberals with too much time on their hands: here and here.
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When Bad Sex is Good: You can read the passages nominated for this year's "Bad Sex in Fiction" award here.
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More Priceless Logic from Our Leaders: The US Government is spending millions of dollars to undermine a program that it is spending millions of dollars on -- in this case, the creation of a free Iraqi press.
Click here for the last Culturally Speaking.
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Sarah Stodola is the Executive Editor of Me Three. She can be contacted here.
© 2005 Me Three
