Category Archives: Culture

Hitchens and Fry and Blasphemy, Oh My!

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Hitchens LetusprayChristopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry, together again for the first time!!!

I love both of these tubby old coots as writers and currently loathe them both as human beings (isn't that always the way with the ones we once loved?), so I was delighted to find, on the Guardian Culture Vulture blog/dumping ground, their blasphemy debate from last year at the Hay Festival. No transcript available, of course, because that would be uncharacteristically bloggy, but here's the MP3. Right click, save, savour. If I'm being uncharacteristically ambitious, I may actually write a transcript, but at 78 minutes running time, don't be holding your breath!

One of the most talked-about events at last year's Stephen Fry, Bright Middleaged ThingGuardian Hay Festival was the Blasphemy Debate, chaired by Joan Bakewell and inspired by the Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill, which had been announced in the Queen's Speech the previous month. The speakers at the debate were the actor and writer Stephen Fry and the journalist Christopher Hitchens, and their frequently heated discussion covered issues of freedom of speech, religious tolerance, multiculturalism and orthodoxy…

Feelin’ Smaug

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and you would, too, if you had a bag this cool. No word on the cost, but given the amount of work involved it's gotta be like yachts: if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Dragon Bag Side View

Dragon Bag Side View

The Two Towers, the heavy Spanish accents

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Who cares if you can't understand them; they're hot! A fan-made recreation of The Two Towers, from a group of twentysomething Spaniards.

Reported in raincoaster: Reported in Gawker

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Kurt Said Plagiarism Might Be Everywhere

READ MORE: forbes, new york times

20060508steveforbes.jpgFrom “Forbes May Seek Investment From Outside,” by Andrew Ross Sorkin, NYT, today:

Malcolm’s son Steve took over in 1990 and has used the magazine as a launching pad to seek political office, failing to win the Republican nomination for president in 1996 and 2000. Besides his brand of untrammeled free-market politics, he has adopted an antiabortion stance, advocates a flat-tax system and is skeptical toward the United Nations.

From “Forbes Goes Outside Family for Funds,” by Jason Nisse, London Independent, yesterday:

Steve, Malcolm’s son, took over in 1990 and has used the magazine as a launchpad for his political ambitions, twice failing to win the Republican nomination for presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000. His brand of right-wing, free-market politics includes an anti-abortion stance, and advocating a flat-tax system and an anti-United Nations foreign policy.

Forbes May Seek Investment From Outside [NYT]
Forbes Goes Outside Family for Funds [Independent]
Related: Generation Xerox [NYM]

Your Canadian Tax Dollars at Work…for Americans

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All Hail our Yank OverlordsHere's an interesting post from BoingBoing.

It seems the Canadian Census, that genius organization which employed me for part of last year until they decided to change the terms of employment mid-stream (if I could afford a car, would I be working for you for $12 an hour sweetheart?) allows you to fill out your census forms online.

Using only American software.

Actually, given that it's the Federal Guvmint, we're lucky they didn't insist we print out PDF's, scan them, and send in Bitmaps. Shhhhhhhhhh, don't tell them; they might think it's not too late…

Statistics Canadian [sic]– a Federal agency — is conducting a national census that Canadians can participate in via the Web, but only if they use Microsoft's Internet Explorer or Apple's Safari. Free and open browsers like Firefox are explicitly excluded. There's two jaw-dropping elements to this story: one, that the Canadian government requires Canadians to use American software to complete the national census; and two, that they require all kinds of high-tech crapola to fill in a survey

All hail our Yank overlords.