My morning tip of the day: never, ever try to walk up slick wooden stairs with a cup of coffee and a MacBook in one hand and a book in the other. My guess is that I’m not the first to learn such a lesson. I might be, however, the first to learn such a lesson at age 42.
My good friend, Carl Olson, who runs Ignatius Insight Scoop has issued a challenge:
I encourage you all to go over to his site and mock, I mean, answer him.
The New York Times this morning reports that Venezuela is probably the unsafest country in the world. Last year, over 16,000 people were murdered. Indeed, the murder rate is 200 per 100,000!?!? According to the article, Dictator Hugo has been seeking help on the matter from Cuba and Nicaragua. Hmm, I’m sure all Venezuelans are sleeping better knowing this.
Fox News claims “hundreds” showed up yesterday for a protest and counter protest regarding the proposed Islamic center near the former WTC. One counter protest sign read “Say no to racist fear.” Racist? Do they mean “theological fear” or “theological intolerance”? I must admit, I’m confused. And, I doubt if the numbers exceeded the numbers that protested King Barack speaking at Notre Dame last year—dismissed by the NYT last year as insignificant. At least no one held up such goofy signs.
One last thought: Were there such sign-carrying folks in Constantinople in 1453? If so, I wonder how they fared?
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I have mixed feelings about the mosque. Still, I have to say that the wholesale and irrational application of racism to pretty much any idea that isn't neo-liberal is getting extremely old. A thesaurus and an OED would go far in improving bumper stickers and protest signs.
Mark, agreed. The word "racism" has been so grossly overused that it essentially means nothing. Of course this means that those who wield the most might will define the now hollow word with any meaning that fits their purpose.