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Hitchens

Dec 16th, 2011 10:34 am | By

More on Hitchens, in no particular order.

Michael Weiss at the Telegraph -

The last few days had been, for those of us who knew he hadn’t much time left, a strange bundle of suffering commingled with the joy of recollection. We got to relive what endeared him to us from the start: the hilarious tabletalk, the Borgesian library of political and literary arcana that he kept inside his head, and the writing. Of course the writing, particularly the put-downs that never let their subjects get back up again: “No one has a higher opinion of Alexander Haig than I do, and I think he is a homicidal buffoon,” “a herd of antis in search of a climax,” “not only

… Read the rest

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Michael Weiss on Hitchens *

Dec 16th, 2011 | Filed by

If  you think the hatred of the clerics and the censors and the commissars began after 9/11, you weren’t really paying close attention.… Read the rest

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Peter Hitchens on his brother *

Dec 16th, 2011 | Filed by

I have another memory of him, white-faced, slight and thin as we all were in those more austere times, furious, standing up to some bully or other in the playground.… Read the rest

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Christopher Buckley on Christopher Hitchens *

Dec 16th, 2011 | Filed by

Intellectually, ours was largely a teacher-student relationship, and let me  tell you—Christopher was one tough grader.… Read the rest

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Hitchens the writer

Dec 16th, 2011 9:03 am | By

Another repost, this time of a repost – metametapost. I wrote it in 2002 or early 2003 when B&W was new, and reposted it last year, on

July 1, 2010

I wrote this about eight years ago for “In the Library.” It hints at why I hope Christopher Hitchens stays around.

Christopher Hitchens is a standing reproach to people who write the odd essay now and then. He is like some sort of crazed writing machine, he seems to average three or four longish essays a day, along with reading everything ever written and remembering all of it, knowing everyone worth knowing on most continents, visiting war zones and trouble spots around the globe, going on television and overbearing … Read the rest

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The Hitch

Dec 16th, 2011 7:29 am | By

Update: a couple more. I didn’t include Salman Rushdie’s because it was more personal, but I see it’s also on Twitter where anyone can see it, so -

Goodbye, my beloved friend.  A great voice falls silent. A great heart stops. Christopher Hitchens, April 13, 1949-December 15, 2011.

And Richard Dawkins -

Christopher Hitchens, finest orator of our time, fellow horseman, valiant fighter against all tyrants including God.

My thoughts exactly.

Francis Wheen at Facebook -

BBC radio news at 7am reports the death of Christopher Hitchens, “an alcoholic”. How I wish Christopher was still here to challenge imbecile reporter Nick Higham over this lie. His epitaph, he once told me, should be “He never missed a deadline”. Farewell, dear

… Read the rest

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How dare you ask for evidence?

Dec 15th, 2011 5:13 pm | By

Nice piece about Rhys Morgan in the Guardian.

So why does this floppy-haired teenager bother? Wouldn’t it be less hassle to focus on becoming even better at Team Fortress 2 or just kicking back and listening to his favourite bands, Muse and Radiohead?

“It can be nerve-wracking but I think that getting the message out there is a lot more important than me being sued,” says Morgan. “I think there’s a need for more people to speak out. I hate the idea of anyone being taken for a ride.”

And there you go. That’s what a lot of speakers-out think, and that’s why they speak out. Most of us weren’t clever and together and dedicated enough to do it … Read the rest

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MRAs respond to fraternity’s “who would you rape?” survey *

Dec 15th, 2011 | Filed by

“We should be celebrating young men who stand up against misandry. We should be celebrating the frat that said ‘no means yes’.”… Read the rest

Posted in Latest News


Killing of Dagestani journalist must be investigated *

Dec 15th, 2011 | Filed by

Today’s murder of Gadzhimurad Kamalov, founder of the independent newspaper Chernovik, is a lethal blow to press freedom, said the Committee to Protect Journalists.… Read the rest

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The Guardian talks to Rhys Morgan *

Dec 15th, 2011 | Filed by

“They told me I was being rude and inflammatory by questioning other people’s choices.”… Read the rest

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More weasels

Dec 15th, 2011 11:22 am | By

I’m starting to think it’s a pattern. I’m starting to think it may be that only opponents (or at least non-fans) reported this particular bit of legislation honestly.

Here’s the CNS version:

The legislation would prohibit taxpayer funding for abortions and bar  women from using subsidies under the Obama health care law to buy  health insurance that covers abortion, except in those cases involving  rape or incest or when the mother’s life is endangered. Also, the  legislation would protect health care providers who are opposed to  abortion for moral or religious reasons.

Again: that’s it. It doesn’t spell out that that means the legislation would make it legal for health care providers – including hospitals, not just individuals – … Read the rest

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Weasels

Dec 15th, 2011 11:04 am | By

Interesting. The supporters of the “Protect Life Bill” aka the Let Women Die Bill are so ashamed of the let women die part that they conceal it in their press coverage; at least, the people at LifeSiteNews do.

The measure would amend President Obama’s Affordable Care Act to reflect the Hyde amendment by prohibiting taxpayer dollars from funding any health plan that includes coverage of elective abortions. The measure retains Hyde’s exception for abortions performed due to the child’s conception in rape or incest or to save the mother’s life.

The bill also makes clear that no health insurance carrier may be forced to provide coverage of abortion in any of its health plans, and strengthens the conscience rights

… Read the rest

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Projects

Dec 15th, 2011 9:28 am | By

Another item from the archive. No reason. Just for the hell of it. I saw a link to it somewhere and was reminded of it so thought I would summon it from ur-B&W.

June 17, 2011

I have a new project. My new project is to convince people on the left that they must work together with Tea Partiers.

This may seem like a difficult thing to do, but I like a challenge. There are many urgent problems in the world, such as countless people who still have the wrong kind of light bulbs, and the only way those problems can be solved is if I – yes I, I alone, I personally, I bravely yet gently yet determinedly … Read the rest

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And how much deadly force would I use?

Dec 14th, 2011 5:10 pm | By

Frat boys are such fun. The very word reminds me of fun-loving George Bush, whom I usually thought of as frat boy. Some frat boys at the University of Vermont sound super fun.

The fraternity circulated a questionnaire to its members, asking their names, major, favorite frat-related memories, favorite actor, and who they would pick to rape. Just normal questionnaire stuff, you know.

Another source:

We were sent a copy of the questionnaire, which mostly consists of benign questions like name, birthday, major, amount of time with SigEp and favorite SigEp memories, hobbies, future goals, etc. It’s actually kind of nerdy and cute, until you get to the final three “personal questions.”

1. Where in public would I

… Read the rest

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Fraternity asks “If you could rape anyone who would it be?” *

Dec 14th, 2011 | Filed by

The fraternity circulated a questionnaire to its members, asking their names, major, favorite frat-related memories, favorite actor, and whom they would rape.… Read the rest

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Bishops run amok

Dec 14th, 2011 4:24 pm | By

Laura Bassett on the power of the bishops.

Terry O’Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women

 finds it troubling that a group of men that has historically denied women the opportunity to participate in leadership positions is exercising so much power over such a broad range of women’s reproductive health legislation.

“Clearly there’s a problem when men take such an interest in the sexual function of women,” she said. “There’s something deeply off about it.”

Especially those men – men who are officially celibate, men at the top of a men-only hierarchy, men who have spent their entire adult lives in an all-male profession – and, of course, men who think they’re taking orders from the Topp … Read the rest

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President Sarkozy and Angie Baby

Dec 14th, 2011 4:00 pm | By

And another thing. Not up there with US legislators telling Catholic hospitals go right ahead, let pregnant women die if you don’t want to give them abortions, but still annoying.

The BBC World Service was talking about the economic mess in Europe last night, as it does every night, and it said something or other was decided or discussed or fretted over or laughed at by President Sarkozy and Mrs Merkel.

Excuse me?

It already bugs the shit out of me when they call the US Secretary of State “Mrs Clinton,” but to give the man his title and then immediately reduce the woman to Mrs is just infuriating.

That’s Chancellor Merkel to you, beeb.… Read the rest

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Well, you see, it’s just women

Dec 14th, 2011 12:30 pm | By

Dahlia Lithwick on the Let Women Die bill.

The other noteworthy element of the bill is a “conscience” provision that would allow hospitals to turn away women who need abortions, based on policy set by religious leadership. The provision ensures that the approximately 600 hospitals affiliated with the Catholic Church will now be legally protected if they turn away women seeking abortions medically necessary to save their lives. Oddly enough, Pitts says the conscience provision is redundant, as it’s simply “preserving the same rights that medical professionals have had for decades.” So that makes both provisions of the bill redundant—or maybe only one is while the other literally gives hospitals cover to allow women to die. Rock on,

… Read the rest

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The Church and her bishops have a heightened moral responsibility

Dec 14th, 2011 12:02 pm | By

The following post from last year.

December 26, 2010

Mark Jones found the confirmation I was looking for, in the shape of the letter the bishop of Phoenix wrote to the president of Catholic Healthcare West. It is unbelievably disgusting.

He’s pissed off that the president of CHW told him that this is a complex matter on which the best minds disagree – not, as one might hope, because he thinks there should be no disagreement on whether or not a pregnant woman should be allowed to die along with her fetus rather than prevented from dying at the expense of her fetus, but because he is The Bishop.

In effect, you would have me believe that

… Read the rest

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Episcopal evil

Dec 14th, 2011 12:00 pm | By

Reposted from last year.

December 26, 2010

The ACLU letter to the administrators of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says something I hadn’t known, something quite staggering. The trouble is, I haven’t been able to find it anywhere else, so I can’t be sure it’s accurate. I would email the ACLU to ask, but they say they get too much mail to answer.

…just last week it was revealed that the Bishop of Phoenix threatened to remove his endorsement of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center – where, as discussed in our previous letter, doctors provided a life-saving abortion to a young mother of four in November 2009 – unless the hospital signed a written pledge that

… Read the rest

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