First things first, Christopher Hitchens.
Whilst agreeing with his general take on life on earth
I was not in agreement when it came to his take on 'terrorism' and our interference in Iraq, the 'stan and so on.
Hitchens received the most coveted compliment that exists on earth when Gore Vidal endorsed him as his 'successor'.
And then Hitchens pissed it up the wall with his views on terrorism and the Iraq War.
He pissed it away.
Vidal 1 Hitchens 0
In other news, I feel there are not enough hours in the day to get my head ready for The Coming Trip.
It has been far too long.
Mental exhaustion has crept up on me and I found myself dead to the world by 9pm last night, sleeping all the way through - cold 'hot' water bottles couldn't even wake me - until 5am this morning.
It is a beautiful day, my feet are warm upon the 'yutampo', I have a couple of mugs of hot lemon water steaming by my bedside, it is 7:30am, and this is my final weekend in Japan for 2011.
Praise be to the Lord!
Whilst agreeing with his general take on life on earth
“Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the 'transcendent' and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.”and his opinion on organised religion
“Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it.”
I was not in agreement when it came to his take on 'terrorism' and our interference in Iraq, the 'stan and so on.
Hitchens received the most coveted compliment that exists on earth when Gore Vidal endorsed him as his 'successor'.
And then Hitchens pissed it up the wall with his views on terrorism and the Iraq War.
He pissed it away.
Vidal 1 Hitchens 0
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| Sparkle mode |
In other news, I feel there are not enough hours in the day to get my head ready for The Coming Trip.
It has been far too long.
Mental exhaustion has crept up on me and I found myself dead to the world by 9pm last night, sleeping all the way through - cold 'hot' water bottles couldn't even wake me - until 5am this morning.
It is a beautiful day, my feet are warm upon the 'yutampo', I have a couple of mugs of hot lemon water steaming by my bedside, it is 7:30am, and this is my final weekend in Japan for 2011.
Praise be to the Lord!
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| I love the enema bag in 'draw' mode |
4 comments:
I'll wager it was a mordant surprise to Vidal to outlive his "successor", a man 25 years his junior.
While you could still enjoy Hitchens despite his fairly reactionary pro-Americanism (just as one can enjoy Vidal for his unceasing criticism of his homeland), I think both men will be remembered for the clarity of their thoughts and the elegance with which they expressed them, rather than the contents of their arguments.
I'm not sure Hitchens actually made anyone slap his/her forehead and think "what an idiot I've been, being religious all these years!" But it's safe to say he sure bucked up atheists and agnostics who have, in the face of prejudice from the religious majorities of the world, kept too quiet for too long. Hitchens gave them courage to say "your nonsense should not apply to me".
Like many atheists, I don't want to tear down someone else's beliefs so much as I would like others to stop imposing those beliefs on me. (And stop buggering kids and start paying taxes and stop taking public money for separate schools and so on).
The Muslims in Canada are in a stir because our government wants women who are taking the citizenship oath to remove their face coverings (and when testifying in court, too). Half the Muslims say "it's a religious requirement" (funny headgear always is, when you think about it), and the other half say "it's pre-Islamic tribal bollocks and isn't in the Koran".
I'm not sure where inclusivity should stop, but I'm also not sure I want immigrants who aren't prepared to accommodate to the culture of the country to which they are emigrating.
I absolutely concur with you, r, albeit I think Vidal is right to ceaselessly criticise his country - it deserves it.
Yes, both were/are great speakers, able to get their messages across, and it was nice for the atheists out there to have such an eloquent voice out there to state their case, and for sure, Vidal must be surprised that he outlasted Hitchens, but then Vidal's bones for contention were not as self-destructive as that which Hitchen's carried with him his entire life.
Vidal will always be my number one, if only because of his relentless pursuit of the truth, and/or exposing of all the bullshit.
Hitchen's support for Iraq etc has discoloured my final opinion of this man, but on the whole he was, indeed, a shining light in intellectual and stimulating debate.
You know, if the enema bag *isn't* in "draw mode", you probably need to raise it higher than your backside.
The things I've learned fixing bilge pumps. I'm like fucking Archimedes and his screw.
You're preaching to the choir here, r.
The bag is high.
It makes for a better 'whoosh' into the butt, driving the coffee deep into the colonic tract.
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