Month: February 2007

London Life

A reader writes:

This morning I was in an internet cafe in Hackney – of course you’ll know it’s one of the poorer Inner-London boroughs – checking my emails when I witnessed something odd; the Somalian owner interrupting his morning prayers (which were taking place behind the counter) to help out a middle-aged skinhead who’d managed to crash his computer when posting messages on a British National Party chatroom.

Quite what this says about British multi-culturalism, I don’t know.

It says good things, I’d say. Of course, when your computer goes down, prejudice always tends to evaporate.

My Mum

I explained. She’s fine. But I forgot about this. Not a good idea to tell your mum (and yes, she’s English so I’m sticking to the vowel) that two people were shot on your block last Saturday afternoon. That doesn’t happen much in East Grinstead. A reader chimes in:

My mom told me recently she thought I should get a storage unit. I foolishly bit and asked why. She said because "you have so many books, and what if there’s a fire?" Because, as we know, things spontaneously combust all the time.

Well, you never know.

Padilla

The latest. The question seems to be whether his inability to answer questions is a function of allegedly reading an al Qaeda training manual (no evidence has been brought that connects him to one), or whether he has been so traumatized by imprisonment that he cannot speak. This may not even be evidence of torture. It may be the consequence of years in a blacked-out isolation cell with no confidence that he would ever see a day in court. This is not merely a function of the sadism at Gitmo. It is a real problem across the U.S. prison system – a system that cries out for reform. Memo to the religious right: if you want to improve your reputation and follow Jesus, campaign for prison reform. It’s what Jesus really would do.

Hathos

A reader writes:

I clicked. You Bastard! I did it. I couldn’t help myself. Some nights I tune in to Olbermann just to see how long I can last. I almost never make it past the countdown segment.  "Which one of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow?" Hmm … none. Has he ever had a guest with a contrary view on that show?  Someone who supported the war, or still does? It’s pure echo chamber. It’s not just the content that turns me off, it’s the smarmy, yuk-yuk tone of the thing. You can talk about Iraq and Afghanistan in the same way you talk about Paris and Britney, but then you shouldn’t complain when people think you’re a bit of a clown.

Also, maybe you can confirm one of my suspicions. I watch Chris Matthews all the time. Whenever I see those two on the same set (election night, state of the union, etc.), Matthews has his arms crossed and this pained look on face like, "Why do I have to sit next to this guy?" Am I "projecting" Andrew? What’s the deal there?

As for Beck, I don’t watch him either. His network airs Nancy Grace. No point in encouraging them.

I have no inside information on Chris Matthews’ relationship, if any, with Keith Olbermann. The reader notes, however, an interesting and common phenomenon. Call it "hathos", as someone I can’t recall once coined. Hathos is the attraction to something you really can’t stand; it’s the compulsion of revulsion. I feel that way about Bill O’Reilly. Hannity is just evil. Grace is unwatchable past two minutes. O’Reilly, however, is compelling in some mysterious way. I need a fix every now and again – and not just of the turkey wobble neck. You find yourself watching him the way you sometimes smell your own farts: it’s disgusting, but you can’t help yourself.

Face Of The Day

Levinchipsomodevillagetty

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) presides over full committee hearing about national intelligence on Capitol Hill February 27, 2007 in Washington, DC. National Intelligence Director John McConnell testified during the open hearing on current and future worldwide threats to the national security of the United States, including the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Britain’s Religious Warfare

It’s getting bad in Blighty – yes, good old secular Blighty. Money quote:

"We are witnessing a social phenomenon that is about fundamentalism," says Colin Slee, the Dean of Southwark. "Atheists like the Richard Dawkins of this world are just as fundamentalist as the people setting off bombs on the tube, the hardline settlers on the West Bank and the anti-gay bigots of the Church of England. Most of them would regard each other as destined to fry in hell.

"You have a triangle with fundamentalist secularists in one corner, fundamentalist faith people in another, and then the intelligent, thinking liberals of Anglicanism, Roman Catholicism, baptism, methodism, other faiths – and, indeed, thinking atheists – in the other corner. " says Slee. Why does he think the other two groups are so vociferous? "When there was a cold war, we knew who the enemy was. Now it could be anybody. From this feeling of vulnerability comes hysteria."

And from hysteria can come very dangerous governance.