Best read of the week: If you read nothing else, please try to find a few minutes for a Washington Post article that ran on Friday. It’s called Disconnected from Obama’s America and it’s a look at the feelings and attitudes of rural Arkansans after the election of a black president. To say their racism left a bad taste in my mouth is an understatement. Consider this sentence, and the emphasis is mine: “He has noticed that blacks around Brinkley — many whose families originally came to this region to pick cotton — have a newly emboldened attitude.” You just know the man had two words in mind — uppitty n******. It’s worth noting Arkansas was one of the few states to vote more Republican last November than in 2004. Maybe the bitters will console themselves with Joe Biden, the old white guy.
Speaking of isms: Jezebel had a terrific post recently about sizism and classism among fashion writers indulging in and perpetuating a stereotype of overweight Americans as low-class, poor and under-educated. Jezebel looks, at first glance, to be fluff but it has emerged as the smartest, best-written blog in the Gawker group.
Chatter: People are still chattering about Matt Taibbi’s eviscerating piece in the New York Press this week about Tom Friedman. “Where does a man who needs his own offshore drilling platform just to keep the east wing of his [114,000 square foot] house heated get the balls to write a book chiding America for driving energy inefficient automobiles?” F-bomb alert.
Other stuff: National Geographic has a compelling piece about the inner workings and history of the White House by Elizabeth Bumiller of the New York Times. A companion program from the Geographic Channel is available free for the next few days on Comcast On Demand and probably other cable systems. In my frequent shallower moments, I enjoy things like Vanity Fair’s list of celebrities who will be at the inaugural shindig. I’ve never heard of a few — Ne-Yo? — but many are favorites, including Giancarlo Esposito and Ron Howard. Boomers might enjoy a look at classic tv houses, posted on the blog of a real estate company that I’ll bet is owned or run by a boomer.
Picture of the week: An atheist’s gravestone. Just for fun.
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Giggles aplenty here re: the tombstone photo.
I was at a party once when the conversation turned to such and we all started writing our own epitaphs.
The University entymologist – “You Can’t Bug Me Any More”
The two Austin tv news anchors/reporters – Matching blank tv screens and the words, “Stay Tuned. We’ll be Right Back”
Me, the boat refinisher – “She Varnished from Our Sight”
Believe I’ll spend some time today coming up with an epitaph for the outgoing administration.
shoreacres’s last blog post..Paper and Pixels and Ink, O, My!
Those are really cute, Shore! I especially like your varnished pun. Can’t wait to find out what you come up with for the buh-bye gang! (still giggling…)